VeloceToday.com

The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts

Vignale Part 2: Coacbuilder to Ferrari

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badge-sf-300 This week we take you on a journey through the wonderful world of the Vignale Ferraris, all but one sketched by the amazing artist Giovanni Michelotti and translated into metal by Alfredo Vignale and his crew of talented panel beaters. Our photographers are Michael T. Lynch, Alessandro Gerelli, Hugues Vanhoolandt and Jonathan Sharp; in addition we have never-before-published color images of Vignale Ferraris in the era, taken by Robert F. Pauley and his brother at a number of events in the early 1950s.

By Pete Vack

The relationship with Michelotti coincided with Enzo Ferrari’s desire to change coachbuilders. Luigi Chinetti Sr. had con¬vinced Ferrari to construct a series of road cars and Chinetti was sure they could be sold in the U.S. Vignale could under-price and out-produce Touring, Ferrari’s main coachbuilder, and apparently Ferrari liked Michelotti’s ideas.

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It was fine with Alfredo as well. “For Vignale, each new Ferrari chassis was analogous to the sculpture’s block of marble, a new challenge to his ability to give concrete form to his flight of fancy…” wrote Marcel Massini in his book “Ferrari By Vignale”. Vignale’s first Ferrari rolled out of the shop in 1950; about 156 Ferrari bodies were built, and after 1954 Vignale gradually stopped producing bodies for Ferrari and instead concentrated on the new Maserati 3500 as Ferrari teamed up with Pinin Farina for a new line of Ferraris.

Below: 20 delectable Vignale Ferraris by Serial Number

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A Mussolini Alfa Romeo Mystery

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The two motorists in this photo are about to share a tragedy and create an international incident hushed up for decades. Is it possible that this photo provides new evidence about this strange interlude?*Photographer unknown.

By Pete Vack

Dale La Follette, proprietor of Vintage Motorphoto, has been a fan of VeloceToday for years and often sends us photos from his amazing collection. Some are not identified, and one of our happiest yet most frustrating tasks is to identify the car or individuals in a photo. Recently, he sent us this photo with the comment, “1931 (or is it 1937?) Mussolini and Cornelius Vanderbilt taking a drive in a dual cowl something or other, oh my, not OUR Cornelius??? This is great fun sending you all my problems as you keep rising to the bait……..”. On the back of the print were vague clues including a date and an incomplete newspaper clipping. [Read more…] about A Mussolini Alfa Romeo Mystery

Vignale History, Part 1 The Early Years

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bagde-finalAlfredo Vignale, who at one time didn’t drive or even like to ride in cars, died in an automobile accident in November of 1969. According to his brother Giuseppe, interviewed in 1956, “Alfredo’s passion for automobiles begins and ends with his coachwork. He doesn’t own a car, won’t drive a car, and only rides in one with great reluctance.” It is perhaps ironic, but the man who was Vignale and Company was responsible for some of the finest and fastest automotive sculptures of our the twentieth century.

By Pete Vack

From 1946 to 1969, the workshop of Alfredo Vignale of Turin, Italy, was among the vanguard of a number of illustrious and creative Italian carrozzeria which included Allemano, Bertone, Ghia, Motto, Pininfarina, Touring, Viotti and others. In 1947 he created the amazing and advanced Cisitalia MM from the drawings of Giovanni Savonuzzi and by 1950 became Enzo Ferrari’s primary coachbuilder, usurping Touring for the honor.

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Gijsbert-Paul Berk: Retro Rockets and Chinese Italians

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Gijsbert-Paul Berk recently turned 85 years young. He has been our kind and generous mentor since his book, André Lefebvre and the cars he created for Voisin and Citroën was reviewed by us in 2010. His first article for VeloceToday was The 1923 French Grand Prix, in 2012, Part 1 of a massive 9 part series dealing with this epic race in depth.

What fascinates us most about Gijsbert-Paul, is that like all really great journalists, he is interested in the present and ponders the future, even while researching the past in depth. From 3D additive manufacturing to self-drive cars, he refuses to let history get in the way of absorbing the latest, constantly reminding us that we must stay abreast of industrial and automotive news although immersing ourselves in the distant past.

Below, he reports on the upcoming Rétromobile display of the 1905 Darracq V8 Record Car, and follows that up with the all-electric Neo concept car created by the Italian-Chinese collaboration of Icona and shown at the recent Festival Automobile International in Paris.
[Read more…] about Gijsbert-Paul Berk: Retro Rockets and Chinese Italians

Where to Shop and Eat at Rétromobile

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In 2010, Lizzie Sexton accompanied her husband John to Rétro, but instead of hanging about at the show, she decided to explore the 15th arrondissement. “Not all of us are car fanatics,” she wrote. “But that’s not an excuse to skip the wonderful Rétromobile. Take advantage of the trip to discover a part of Paris with culture, food and fun.”

With the 2016 version of Rétro opening this week we re-publish Lizzie’s article sharing her experiences with our readers.

Story and Photos by Lizzie Sexton

Rétromobile is housed in the Parc des Expositions at the Porte de Versailles, on the southwest border of Paris and at the base of the 15ième arrondissement. Nine of ten residents of the 15ième will rank the number 12 métro line to downtown as the best thing coming out of their area. But luckily I met Antoine, the one in ten who urged me to “Restez ici chez nous pour un peu!” (Stay here with us for awhile!). [Read more…] about Where to Shop and Eat at Rétromobile

Bugatti and Gordini Racecars at the Schlumpf

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1928 Bugatti Type 35A; 8 cylinders, 1991cm, 95cv, 190 km/h. This car was equipped with mudguards and headlights as a two-seater sport version. It belonged to Elisabeth Junek who raced Bugattis in the Targa Florio.

Photos by Jonathan Sharp

Dear reader,

Last week we brought you Part 1 of cars at the Schlumpf (click here). Below we present just a few of the Bugatti and Gordini race cars at the National Museum at Mulhouse. We have not attempted to identify the Bugattis by chassis number; we have asked for a list of cars and chassis numbers from the Museum but no response yet. Even simple identification is often difficult; for example is the wire wheeled Bugatti below a T35 or T37? We are not sure.

Therefore Mr. Sharp has made use of the placards at the Museum, the official Museum booklet, and the Museum Internet site to try to verify that the identifications in the captions below are as correct as possible. Our staff also checked sources from a variety of Bugatti and Gordini books. In some cases, we are still not sure we are 100% correct. Perhaps readers could help. We would also like to know if readers have had similar experiences.

The situation was no better with the Gordinis. Placards were often incorrect. We used Christian Huet’s landmark book, “Gordini” as well as Roy Smith’s recent work “Amédée Gordini-a true racing legend” to identify the cars by chassis number and type – always a difficult matter at best as Smith will attest to. So enjoy; comments welcome as usual! [Read more…] about Bugatti and Gordini Racecars at the Schlumpf

Ferrari In Art: A Look Inside

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Ferrari In Art: A Celebration of the Legend
Art,Text and Design by Paul Chenard
Paul Chenard, Blurb Books
ISBN 9781364577919
Hardcover, 10 x 8, 28 pages, full color art
$68.79 USD plus shipping
Order here

Review by Pete Vack
Click on art to enlarge

Paul Chenard has been around for a long time; his art has been featured in Classic and Sports Car, Motorsport, Octane, and Vintage Motorsport to name-drop just a few. Recently he sent us an email announcing his latest work, which he thought might be of interest to the VeloceToday readership.

He added an image of three Ferrari Sharknoses (pardon the use of a capital letter on Sharknose) in the garage at Spa in 1961. Instead of using red to attract attention, Chenard featured the yellow 156 of Gendebien as the focus of the pen, ink and watercolor painting. In the background brown is used to accentuate a busy scene of tires, trucks, boxes and workers. It is an image that comes to life and adheres itself to the mind’s eye. Send us more, we responded.

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Belgian driver Olivier Gendebien’s yellow Ferrari “Sharknose” receiving its number before the 1961 Belgian Grand Prix.
Pencil, pen&ink and watercolours on 12″x 9″ (30.4cm x 22.8cm) watercolour paper.
© Paul Chenard

[Read more…] about Ferrari In Art: A Look Inside

Gauld Drives a Rare Aravis Bugatti

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By Graham Gauld

I lost a good friend a few years ago, when the 20th Earl of Moray, from one of Scotland’s older noble families, died at the age of 83. Though born in Africa he lived for most of his life at the family’s Scottish estates in Perthshire and Moray. So why am I talking about this man? Well, back in the 1970s when he was still Lord Doune, Douglas John Moray Stuart decided to collect motor cars that fascinated him. The first was a little Citroen but then he went on a buying spree which culminated not only in him building the Doune Motor Museum but creating the Doune Hill Climb in his grounds which even today hosts a round of the British Hill Climb Championship.

Many years ago Douglas asked me to help him trace the history of his cars and I may well come back to the stories behind some of them in a future column. When I heard of his death I was reminded of the fact that he was the first person to let me drive a Bugatti.

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National Automobile Museum in Mulhouse (aka Schlumpf)

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This 1929 Bugatti T35B was Fritz Schlumpf’s personal car in which he regularly used to compete in various hill climbs.

Bugattis at the Schlumpf by Jonathan Sharp

I must have first become aware of the Schlumpf collection back in the late 1970s, when stories started to appear in the British daily newspapers following the discovery of a load of old cars that had been hidden in an old woolen mill in Eastern France. From that moment on I had vowed to visit it one day. A family motoring trip to Lido di Jesolo in Northern Italy had brought me to within 30 kms of Mulhouse back in 1984, but the call of the sun, sand and pasta proved to be more popular for the rest of the family than a visit to a dusty old car museum. It was not until October of last year that I was at last able to tick the “Visit the Schlumpf Collection” box on my bucket list.

[Read more…] about National Automobile Museum in Mulhouse (aka Schlumpf)

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