VeloceToday.com

The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts

Ballot at Chantilly

By

Photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt

From the VeloceToday Archives, July 2019

Last week Hugues presented his coverage of the classics at Chantilly. But the editor decided to delete a number of photos from the selection in order to create a special, if short, article about Ballots. How often does one see a Ballot at an event? Rarely. So this is a special occasion, timed for not only the 100th anniversary of the Ballot marque, but the publication of Ballot by Daniel Cabart and Gautam Sen, published by Dalton Watson. The information below is taken from this fantastic new book.

This content is for Premium Subscriber members only.
LoginSubscribe

Building BAT Better Part 7

By

Story and photos by Paul Wilson

I have put off writing this chapter of my BAT project because I keep thinking of that classic of all-time worst opening lines: “This is the meticulous record of a life in which absolutely nothing of interest happened.” Repairing and cleaning aren’t as exciting as designing and fabricating. But I had a few adventures and challenges, not just tedious work, and some experiences were new to me, and maybe to you who are reading this.

The body was made in bolt-on sections, which were easily removed. Next came disassembly of everything attached to the chassis. Off came the front suspension, steering, rear axle, and gas tank. Every little piece had to be removed. The chemicals used in the dip-strip process dissolve paint and rust, but also aluminum. Alfa used aluminum spacers inside some steel box sections. Unless these were found and taken off, they would disappear. [Read more…] about Building BAT Better Part 7

Villa Erba 2025: Italians

By

Story and photos by Jonathan Sharp

It’s easier to understand Villa Erba, Villa d’Este and the Fuori Concorso if we list the schedule:

Saturday, Sunday, May 24-25 Fuori Concorso
Saturday May 24 Exhibition and Inspection of the cars by the Jury, Villa d’Este
Sunday May 25 Transfer of all Historic Cars and Concept Cars to Villa Erba
Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este Public Day – Il Festival, Villa Erba

After the Fuori show (see last week) is the Villa d’Este concours, which then shifts over to the nearby Villa Erba, still on the lake shore, for the public day, which is what we cover here.

This content is for Premium Subscriber members only.
LoginSubscribe

Villa Erba 2025, Non-Italian

By

Christian Troelsfeldt’s 1950 Bugatti Type 101 C by Antem. Of the one prototype and six series Bugatti 101s constructed only one, chassis,101504, carried two-seater coachwork by Antem. Commissioned by Rene Bollore, the second husband of Ettore Bugatti’s widow, chassis 101504 was originally painted dark green with chrome spoke wheels and white wall tires.

Story and photos by Jonathan Sharp

This we covered in two parts last week. This week we continue the event coverage with the non-Italian cars featured at this year’s show at Villa Erba. Villa d’Este Class winners are listed below the gallery.

This content is for Premium Subscriber members only.
LoginSubscribe

Fuori the Bountiful

By

Alfa 159

Story and photos by Jonathan Sharp

This was the fourth edition of the Fuori Concorso, held on the glittering shores of Lake Como on May 24. The theme chosen by the event creator Guglielmo Miani and his chief curator Andrea Luzardi was ‘Velocissimo’ a celebration of Italian motor racing. Spread across the gardens of Villa Grumello and Villa Sucato the event was certainly a sight for sore eyes. Beautiful cars, a gorgeous backdrop and beautiful weather… what more could an Italian car fan wish for. Part 1 below informs the readers via captions, Part 2, Fuori the Beautiful, is a non captioned gallery of our favorites.

This content is for Premium Subscriber members only.
LoginSubscribe

Spa Classic 2025 Part 1

By

A faithful member of the Peter Auto series, the 1953 Aston Martin DB2/4 Bertone Spider driven by the Swiss Heinz Stamm.

Story and photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt

Since its creation in 2011, Spa Classic has established itself as a pillar of historic racing organized by Peter Auto, organizer of the Tour Auto and Le Mans Classic, among others. Ten grids made up this 2025 edition, which was very wet from Saturday noon until Sunday afternoon, typical weather for the Francorchamps circuit. This didn’t stop the competitors from putting on a show on the track, with a reduced number of accidents despite the conditions, and the brave spectators from enjoying the experience. For photographers, the rain is certainly a challenge, but the difficult conditions add an extra dimension to the task, and that’s what makes it so rewarding. Here’s a look at some of the grids on track this weekend.

This content is for Premium Subscriber members only.
LoginSubscribe

Ecurie Ecosse Tour, 2025

By

Head of Pro-Drive, famed for their World Rally Championship successes with the factory Subarus and later Ferraris in the 1990s, David Richards with his wife Karen and their Aston Martin DB6 Volante.

Story and photos by Graham Gauld

It’s May, so for me it is time for the Ecurie Ecosse Tour, held on May 18-22. It originally started in the 1990s when this gathering of friends with nice cars were brought together under the umbrella of Ecurie Ecosse. To everyone’s surprise this small private team won the 1956 Le Mans 24 Hour spectacle with one of their D type Jaguars driven by Scots Ron Flockhart and Ninian Sanderson. Not only that, but this success allowed them to enter two cars for the 1957 and they promptly went out and finished first and second in D type Jaguars and a legend was born.

This content is for Premium Subscriber members only.
LoginSubscribe

Terre di Canossa Rally 2025

By

Porto San Stefano, gelato break.

Story and photos courtesy Joe Hurwich and Friends

On May 6, 2025, Bob Goldberg and I met at the Rome airport for the beginning of the Terre di Canossa regularity rally of 600km on May 9. The rally started in Punta Ala, but we stayed overnight Tuesday about halfway in Porto Santo Stefano. By luck, this was a real find. Porto Santo Stefano is on a small island on the Mediterranean in a beautiful bay, and our hotel was right on the sea. Our rooms were less than 10’ from the ocean. I don’t know what they do when it is high tide. [Read more…] about Terre di Canossa Rally 2025

1946 Fiat 1100C Spider by Frua

By

The car that launched the creative career of Carrozzeria Frua


Storyteller and Photographer | Richard Lentinello
This article originally appeared in Crankshaft #1

Courtesy Crankshaft Magazine

Italy during the 1950s and ‘60s was a hotbed of custom car building. Called carrozzerias, the work that emerged from these body shops was highly creative, immensely distinctive and uniquely Italian. Their creations ran the gamut from rebodied production sedans into one-off sports cars, full-race competition cars as well as custom bodies for all sorts of Italian and European automobiles including Alfa Romeo, Aston Martin, Ferrari and Triumph.

This content is for Premium Subscriber members only.
LoginSubscribe
MENU