Mott on Manney. Graham Gauld’s article last week on Henry Manney III elicited a special email from the talented artist Stan Mott, who also worked with Manney. Mott is responsible for the humorous and imaginative Cyclops and Pignatelli (art) that appeared in Road & Track and Sports Cars Illustrated. He drew this impression of Manney back in the days when journalists were journalists. It is too small to be appreciated above, so simply click on the artwork and it will appear much larger so that you can read the cartoon’s wording, which you’ll no doubt find hilarious. Published with permission of Stan Mott.
Driving the Big Ones: Delage Bequet Hispano Suiza
Those who have ridden as co-pilot say that a desire to survive is their dominant emotion.
By Alexander Boswell, owner, driver
It’s an amazing experience to drive any car built for Grand Prix racing. One knows that relentless effort, concentration of resources, and usually a huge budget have contributed to the creation of something technologically remarkable. Despite its 90th anniversary, the 2LCV Delage still encapsulates all these elements. In 1923 this was the only entry from the stable of the Delage company, and therefore it represents the pinnacle of the technology of the time. This car was driven in the French GP by René Thomas, the Sebastian Vettel of his day.
The Delage was raced in 1923 with the world’s first V-12 racing engine. At 2 liters capacity, each piston was no bigger than an eggcup. It was a complex engine, and by our standards today, only moderately powered.
That’s why the addition of a 12 liter Hispano Suiza out of a SPAD fighter in 1925 created such a sensational machine. The brilliance of the finest 1923 racing chassis was mated to the effortless power of a big low-revving engine. This was former test-pilot Maurice Bequet’s inspiration….and it’s still causing a sensation to this day.
The car is delicate in every way apart from the motor. Once those great pistons start moving and the twin-plug ignition fires the mixture, the beast is dominated by the engine. Smoke and flames emerge from the stub exhausts, and the noise is a sharp low bark. In the cockpit the engine feels frighteningly alive. Let out the clutch and the narrow wheels spin uncontrollably. In first gear it’s doing 30mph whilst the engine runs at idle. Second gear is good for nearly 100; third is geared at 65mph per 1000rpm, and over 150 mph is possible. [Read more…] about Driving the Big Ones: Delage Bequet Hispano SuizaLondon to Brighton and the Classics of Regent Street
In our twelve years of publishing weekly, VeloceToday has never covered the London to Brighton Run. Yet it is the oldest vintage car event in the world, usually dominated by French cars. In the last four years the start in London is augmented by what is billed as the ‘largest free motor show in the U.K.,’ the Regent Street Motor Show. This year, Jonathan Sharp reports on the activities from both London and his hometown of Brighton. See also “Brighton in Photos” (link) for Sharp’s excellent Vintage photos. Remember to click on photos to see larger image!
Story and photos by Jonathan Sharp
Be sure to click on the photos to see much larger images!
Regent Street Motor Show
Early Christmas shoppers had a pleasant surprise when they went down to London’s famous Regent Street on the morning of Saturday the 2nd November. Gone were the red buses and black cabs that normally haunt the glamorous shopping street, replaced by a small lineup of Porsche 911s, there to celebrate their 50th Anniversary, a much larger line up of Aston Martins of all ages there to celebrate their 100th Anniversary, and an even larger line up of Veteran Cars there to celebrate the 117th running of the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run.
Billed as the largest free motor show in the UK, the display is called the Regent Street Motor Show and is now in its fourth year. The Aston Martin line up was a good cross section of David Brown models and later V8 models, Saloons, Vantages and Volantes, brought right up to date with many current examples. From a photographer’s standpoint they had been roped off, which made photography a lot easier. Alas, that was not the case with the Veteran cars which proved very popular with the crowds, so patience was called for when taking shots. I am grateful to the sales assistants in the Jaeger store for allowing me to photograph the racing Napiers from the second floor windows of the ladies wear department, and to the Westminster City Council for positioning street lamps along the middle of the street (which gave me something to climb up!)
Three important Napiers [Read more…] about London to Brighton and the Classics of Regent Street
Brighton Run 2013 in Photos by Jonathan Sharp
Jonathan Sharp highlights the Brighton to London Run in photos. Be sure to read his story, London to Brighton, also in this edition of VeloceToday. Also, click on each photo to see much larger images!
[Read more…] about Brighton Run 2013 in Photos by Jonathan Sharp
Best of France and Italy, 2013
Story and photos by Richard Bartholomew
November 3, 2013
Woodley Park is a vast green expanse of grass near a large earthen dam that is part of the water control system that brought water to parched Los Angeles in the 1920s. There are frequent car shows there but for lovers of Italian and French cars this is one of the best.
Why? First because it’s free and second because it brings out lots of cars that aren’t spiffy enough to be in a concours but still damned interesting. Cars on their way to glory, one might say.
In the French category, there were Simcas, Citroens, Renaults (including two Caravelle convertibles which are surprisingly elegant cars considering they sold new for under $3000) Facel Vegas from the magnificent Facel II to the Facellias, a Matra Djet, a half dozen Renault Turbo I and Turbo II pocket rockets.
But most of the French cars seemed postwar, in contrast to this event in the past, when there were half a dozen prewar cars. (Could it be the prewar cars are now too nicely restored to show?) Oddly, right in the middle of the French offerings was a Packard which they said was bodied by Kellner, but except for a sharp crease in the rear fenders and a very rakish second windscreen, we couldn’t see much Euro influence.
Our Features This Week, November 7, 2013
Henry Manney and the 52 Million Dollar GTO
It’s funny how news reports remind you of old departed friends. A recent news report on the $52 million sale of Ferrari GTO 5111GT brought back a score of happy memories of times spent with American motoring journalist and raconteur Henry Manney III.
Henry Manney III may not be a familiar name to a modern generation, but back in the 1960s he not only sprung to prominence with his witty and amusing articles in Road & Track magazine but he actually created what we would call the modern “loose” form of writing about cars. He dispensed with the turgid prose of the regular motoring writers of the day and replaced it with colorful turns of phrase; even inventing his own words to express his feelings and mood. [Read more…] about Henry Manney and the 52 Million Dollar GTO
The Art of Automobile Jewelry
Automobile Jewelry Volume One: Mascots and Badges
By Michael Furman with Robert Strand
Order from Coachbuilt Press, Philadelphia
$100 USD
Review by Pete Vack
Michael Furman has always been a favorite of ours. His work, even when taken well out of context (for example placed within a hundred similar photos on Google Images), is easy to recognize despite frequent attempts by others, who find out it is not as easy to replicate the mood and the depth of Furman’s art as they perhaps thought. We don’t claim to be art experts ourselves, but Furman’s work is easy to grasp, understand and appreciate even for a philistine, just as anyone might easily be able to discern the differences in style, quality, and beauty between a Duesenburg when parked next to a Dodge.
We often receive art books for review, and when another large volume (10 x 12 inches, 288 pages) arrived at our offices, I thought, well, another art book. However, I noticed that this one was by Furman; and the minute the book was opened, (nay, as soon as the cover was revealed) it was strikingly clear that Furman has again upped the bar for automotive art photography. [Read more…] about The Art of Automobile Jewelry
Birdcage to Supercage
From Birdcage to Supercage
By Willem Oosthoek
Dalton Watson Fine Books, 2004
Hardbound, 338 pages
ISBN 185443-205-2
Want a chance to win this book, valued at $140 with FREE worldwide shipping? Be a Premium Subscriber and email me at vack@cox.net.
Review by Pete Vack
All images courtesy the Author and Publisher
“From Birdcage To Supercage” covers the rear engined Tipo 63-64-65 Maseratis while “Magnificent Front-Engine Birdcages” covers the front engined Tipo 60 and 61s. The two volumes are available in a special slipcase and if ordered together cost only $225 – a savings of $65.
“From Birdcage to Supercage” literally bursts from the pages, casting its considerable content upon the widened eyes of the beholder. The 10 x 13 inch portrait format is huge, and the 350 superb photos are not only enlarged to the maximum extent possible, but most have not been seen in print.
[Read more…] about Birdcage to Supercage
Art Center Classic 2013: A Show for Connoisseurs
By Rick Bartholomew and Wallace Wyss
Italian cars were a definite draw at the Art Center Classic for 2013, the annual show held at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. The college is the premier art school in the world for training car designers. [Read more…] about Art Center Classic 2013: A Show for Connoisseurs
Our Features This Week, October 31, 2013
Three Barn Find Nardis Come to Light
By Dino Brunori
A couple of years ago VeloceToday did the book review of my book Enrico Nardi, A fast life and wrote, “Once the book is more widely distributed, more information will no doubt surface.” I’m sure that regular aficionados of VeloceToday are curious to know if something happened in the meantime. The answer is yes, and here are three different stories of recent Nardi barn finds.
In spring 2010, eBay listed an ad showing a BMW 750 twin motorcycle engine with a ND (Nardi Danese) stamping on it with a serial number of 110. A quick across-the-ocean call to John de Boer to cross-check our databases, and we ended up with the same conclusion: this particular engine was originally installed in Nardi chassis number 952/2. This car was purchased by Ferdinando Gatta, the brother-in-law of Gianni Lancia, and had a long racing career in seasons ’52 and ’53 in Italy before being sold in the USA by Tony Pompeo, continuing its career in SCCA races up to the early sixties. 952/2 was still in the States, in the hands of a collector who lives in Florida, and at the time had a Ford engine installed.
Once the owner of 952/2 knew of the BMW engine, it took him only 10 minutes to decide to purchase it to bring back the car to its original condition. This alone was a breakthrough, but the best of the story had still to come.
Barn Find Nardi Danese 750
Recently we had reason to get in touch with the seller of the Nardi Danese BMW engine as listed on eBay. During the conversation, he mentioned that he knew of a person with who had kept a Nardi BMW parked in the garage for the last 50 years with a blown engine. This led us on another chase but several attempts to contact the Nardi owner had no result at all; he did not reply to messages on the phone, to emails, nor would he even open his door when de Boer went to visit him. A dead end, it seemed. [Read more…] about Three Barn Find Nardis Come to Light