The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts
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By Pete Vack
Was it even remotely possible, that one of the rarest and most treasured Italian race cars ever built had been hidden from sight for over 40 years, and was only one hour from VeloceToday Headquarters? Since moving to Williamsburg, we’d helped rediscover an Iso Marlboro Lele built for Howden Ganley, found a rare TVR whose owner had no idea what kind of a car it was, the only true Intermeccanica Formula Junior in the world, and a few odds and ends.
But this mystery car would top everything we had ever dreamed of finding.
In January 2007, the phone rang and I heard a familiar voice. “A friend of mine says she has a Cisitalia D46 in need of restoration. I was wondering if you could come with me to check it out.”
Sam knew his cars. Here he is racing his Abarth Allemano in the 60s. Courtesy Sam Coronia.
Art by Wallace Wyss
By Wallace Wyss
This is a story of unrequited love all the way around. It occurred in the early ‘50s. Think film noir, mood lighting, moonlight on the Riviera, that sort of thing.
First, (and good casting for this story I might add) as the female lead was Rita Hayworth, born Margarita Carmen Cansino, to a Spanish Flamenco dancer father and Ziegfield girl mother. She was reportedly an under-age dancer at a Tijuana club when she was discovered by Fox Studios.
She became one of the hottest actresses in Hollywood. Her one-glove strip tease in the movie Gilda put her on the map. Rita was a top movie star and a popular pinup girl during the forties. Her second husband was famed director Orson Wells, who she married in 1943. Her career bloomed during that time, but she lived on the edge, by having a fling around 1948. Not with some ordinary Joe, mind you, but with an Ismaili prince, Aly Kahn.
I had heard about Aly Khan since I was a teenager but back then (you might say “before Wikipedia”) I never actually had been able to figure out what country he was a prince of, primarily because the Ismaili sect of Muslims have no country or territory of their own. Prince Ali Salman Aga Khan, known as Aly Khan, was a son of Sultan Mohammed Shah, Aga Khan III, the head of the Ismaili Muslims. Aly Khan’s son, born in 1957, is the current Sultan Aga Khan IV and worth about $800 million.
Rita was also associated with the Savonuzzi Gilda project. Click here to read story.
Panhard, the Flat Twin cars 1945-1967 and their origins
11.5 by 8.25
336 pages Softbound, approximately 1000 illustrations, B&W
$38.75 USD, £25 plus shipping
Order from https://stinkwheel.co.uk/shop/
Review by Pete Vack
This is one of the most important and well-researched books this year, in fact, in the past several years. For not only does it address a rare topic, but does so with immense authority based on superb research, a confidence that comes with deep understanding of the technical issues that are so much a part of the subject, a love of the marque that is both overwhelming and yet balanced and the ability to take relevant side roads that delightfully amplify the main subject. We are pleased that it is entirely in English.
The author, noted Panhard historian David Beare, gives us a brief historical look at the Panhard-Levassor firm from its beginning in 1891, enough to set the stage for the tiny and amazing post-war Panhards.
If ever there was a misunderstood and underrated car (at least outside of France), it was the Dyna Panhard. Even the name is confusing, often Panhard Dyna, and also seen as Dyna-Panhard with a hyphen. Born under the reign of Nazi Germany during WWII, the project was encouraged by Jean Panhard, the son of the founder, Paul Panhard, and two remarkable engineers, Loius Delagarde and Louis Bionier. (Remarkably, Jean Panhard reviewed the text of Beare’s book and last month appeared at a Panhard club celebration of his 100th birthday!) [Read more…] about Panhard, the flat twin cars 1945-1967: Book Review
Paris-Madrid, 1903.
By Graham Gauld
Here in the South of France there are a lot of “Brocantes” which, to you and me, means a space in a town or village where people set up a table and sell all the rubbish they have in the house for a few cents a time.
I am always on the lookout for real rarities such as commercially printed postcards of photos from auto racing 100 years ago.
Let me tell you the story behind two of those cards. The first shows a photo taken at the 3rd Coupe des Voiturettes held at Compiegne in northern France on September 27 1908. It was a great day for the French manufacturer Sizaire-Naudin as they finished first, second and fourth. What is even more interesting is that both Louis Naudin and Georges Sizaire, the founders of the company along with Georges’ brother Maurice, were racing in the event and finished first and second. The second is linked closely with the world’s oldest race driver.
VeloceToday Select Number One:
Cuban Grand Prix, 1957
by David Seielstad
Price: $20.00
Dimensions: 8.5″ x 5.5″ horizontal format, 36 full color pages on glossy 80 lb paper
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Robert Pauley, a Chrysler engineer and car enthusiast who worked with Giovanni Savonuzzi in Detroit, sent us a collection of Kodachrome slides he had taken while at the Cuban Grand Prix in 1957. We found that another VeloceToday contributor, noted Ferrari historian David Seielstad, had written about the race. We combined Pauley’s never-before-published photos, Seielstad’s text, and the Editor’s epilogue, ‘Twilight of the Gods’ to create a unique view of this important but little known epic race.
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Drawing will be held on August 31st.
Shipping is FREE!
Book is provided by Dalton Watson Fine Books.
Ferrari s/n 0456, no doubt the star of the show; but what are the crowds looking at?
Story by Pete Vack
Photos by Gerald Vack
As we have seen in Part 1, the Editor’s uncle Gerry had an opportunity to try out his new Leica camera while at the Paris Auto Show in 1954. For an amateur, he did a pretty good job and the Kodachrome film looks as fresh now as it did in 59 years ago. The stock issue 50 mm lens, however, did not always make it easy to capture the entire car. Better, though, than a 35 mm which would have distorted the lines of the cars. We’ll take as is.
For the Editor, there were some stumpers, and if readers find us incorrect, please let us know. The Siata Fiat derivative is a case in point; we know that Siata made a number of 1100/1400 specials in 1954 and 1955, but were the bodies built in house, or by Vignale, and was the designer actually Michelotti?
Another was the Pegaso, clearly one of the Saoutchik bodied GT cars, but which one? It was not among the three cars on the Pegaso stand that year. It took some research but we turned to the classic book on Pegasos, “Ricart-Pegaso, La Pasion del Automovil” by Carlos Coma-Cros, and there we found the car and the history.
We begin with the all-time Pinin Farina classic, so often said to have been built for Ingrid Bergman and ordered by Roberto Rossellini. Sorry folks, Rossellini did not see it until the show and purchased it afterward. By that time Ingrid was not interested in his cars, or Rossellini for that matter, and the marriage soon fell apart. But the Pinin Farina body, the Ferrari 375 chassis, the famous director and the beautiful actress are legendary; whatever the circumstances of the purchase, Ferrari s/n 0456 embodies all four legends simultaneously.
The star of the show was the Pinin Farina 375 Ferrari built as a Pinin Farina styling exercise. However, immediately after the show ended on October 17th, Italian movie director Roberto Rossellini bought the car for about $6000 USD. When he registered the car, he left for Lyon to meet French director Francois Truffaut and the pair visited southern Spain. The steering broke along the way but the two directors got it repaired and made it home.
Denise McCluggage tells an amusing tale to the delight of the panel on Saturday. From left; Michael T. Lynch, Riddelle Gregory, Denise and Sir Stirling Moss. Note the model of a Maserati 250 F, one of Moss’s favorite rides, on the table.
Story by Michael T. Lynch
June 23rd, 2013
After continuous progress since the first edition, the Art of the Car Concours (Kansas City, Missouri) took a significant step forward in 2013. Added to the previous programs was a new event on Saturday called Meet the Legends/A Conversation with Sir Stirling Moss and Denise McCluggage/Remembering Masten Gregory. Moss is always a big draw and since Gregory was born and raised in Kansas City and McCluggage graduated high school in nearby Topeka, the program generated high interest in the region. [Read more…] about Lynch: Art of the Car Concours, Kansas City
Story and photos by Jonathan Sharp
The Silverstone Classic, July 27-28. It just keeps getting bigger and bigger. Over 1100 entries in 24 races; most of the infield of the circuit was full of various car club displays, everything from Alfa Romeo’s to two Volgas all the way from Russia; a fun fair, the BMW Ferris Wheel, loads of retail opportunities, art, food etc. You could have spent all day there and not seen a race at all. [Read more…] about Silverstone by Sharp
License plate gets to the heart of the matter; Alfa owners enjoy their cars.
Story by Brandes Elitch
Photos by Petya Elitch unless otherwise noted
Over 700 people registered for “Alfa California 2013: Sonoma Valley Wine Country,” a joint venture of the National Alfa Romeo Owner’s Club (AROC) and the San Francisco-based Alfa Romeo Association (ARA).
Keep in mind that the last new Alfa was sold here almost twenty years ago. Alfas were never common in the US, and expensive when new. Unlike the owners of some even more expensive Italian marques, Alfa owners are different. For one thing, they drive their cars. For the most part, the cars are not restored to a “better than new” standard for concours judging or evaluation. Many of the cars at the show here were restored to a very high standard, but they are usually driven, not restored and put away to await the next swell in market pricing. They are not so complicated, and the parts are not so expensive, so that a person with normal mechanical skills is able to do lot of the work themselves. But what makes them so compelling? And why do over 700 people attend the conventions for these cars? [Read more…] about The Alfa Mystique