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The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts

Italian Car Day at Brooklands

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Fiat 850 Sport captured the hearts of thousands in the sixties.

Story and Photos by Jonathan Sharp

Saturday the 4th May, 2013. Can it really be 27 years since my fiancé and I parked our Fiat 130 Coupe on a very wet lawn in front of Syon House in Chiswick, London for the first Auto Italia Italian Car Day?

When this year’s press release arrived from Brooklands, that is indeed what it stated; 27 years since the first event and 22 years since it moved to Brooklands. My fiancé and I are now long married, and as the weather was better than what it was 27 years ago, the turnout was huge. I was left with the feeling that there were probably more Italian cars packed into Brooklands than on an average Saturday in Turin.
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Lamborghini’s 50th at Bologna

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Miura

Bologna’s Mario Marchesini Describes the 50th Anniversary of Lamborghini

Story and Photos Copyright Mario Marchesini

In Rome all, 350 Lamborghinis were parked in Vatican’s San Pietro Square before they arrived at Bologna. Here the Lamborghinis gather in the Piazza Maggiore in Bologna on Friday afternoon (May 10th).

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More from M. CARpedi

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1958: Imagine arriving in Andora, Riviera dei Fiori with your baby blue Alfa Romeo Giulietta Berlina and she is waiting for you! No time for the lovely Cape Mele panorama I’m afraid...

A few of our articles on the Alfa Berlina from the archives of VeloceToday!

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California Mille by Ardea or Bust

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Photo by Debbie Earle.

Last week, two tiny Lancia Ardeas (one owned by the late Martin Swig and driven by his sons) participated in the 2013 California Mille. (The kickoff a week prior was covered by Michael T. Lynch in VeloceToday.) The other Ardea was entered by Judy Stropus, a legendary figure in the car community, and her co-driver Chuck Schoendorf who has previously written about Le Mitiche Sport in Italy for VeloceToday. Below, a brief introduction of both drivers, a report from the perspective of each one, and a photo story. [Ed.]

Judy Stropus Reports

Probably best known as a professional timer/scorer in the early days of the sport, Judy Stropus has worked with top teams such as Penske Racing in Can-Am, Trans-Am and at the Indy 500; Bud Moore Racing, Porsche, BMW, and American Motors. At the same time she has operated her own PR firm, JVS Enterprises, representing major clients such as Chevrolet and BMW. She was awarded the 2008 Jim Chapman Award for Excellence in Public Relations by the American Auto Racing Writers and Broadcasters Association and is a member of the Road Racing Drivers Club, the Madison Avenue Sports Car Driving and Chowder Society, and the Public Relations Society of America. She has raced a Chevy Monza, Porsche 914, Maserati Bi-Turbo and a VW in SCCA racing, as well as a Frazier-Nash and a 1954 OSCA Maserati in VSCCA competition.

When I purchased this quaint – call it funky – 1952 Lancia Ardea from Donald Osborne in Palm Springs last year, I really had no idea what I would do with it until it returned to my home in Ridgefield, Conn.

Actually, I’m not sure I even knew what I would do with it once it arrived there, but I couldn’t resist. Who wouldn’t want a right-hand- drive car that is kind of a cross between a PT Cruiser and a Citroen 2CV (Deux Chevaux) with a left-hand, non-synchro five-speed gearbox, a 903cc, V4 engine and a whopping 28.8 horsepower?

Initially I had it shipped up to Campbell, Calif., near San Jose, with the intention of using it as transportation at the Sonoma Historics in May, where I would be working with Steve and Debbie Earle at Sonoma Raceway. Instead, I learned the 2013 California Mille would be run in April-May and decided it might be fun to enter the event in my new acquisition. Since numerous Ardeas ran the original Italian Mille Miglia every year from 1947 until 1953, it was clearly eligible. So, I had my friend Jerry Woods of Jerry Woods Enterprises prep the car for what I expected to be a long but fun and challenging 1000-mile trek through the hills, wine country and ocean roads of Northern California. Jerry, a longtime Porsche expert, whose garage is full of dozens of Porsche race cars from all generations, was able to do a masterful job of prepping the Ardea, which of course he’d neither seen nor heard of before.

I enlisted as a co-driver my Connecticut friend Chuck Schoendorf, a Lancia owner himself. This was probably the best decision I ever made, as Chuck took to the car with a soft heart, as he clearly loves all things Lancia, owning both a 1938 and a 1942 Aprilia. In anticipation of the Mille, he and I traveled earlier in the year to Campbell to check out the car and log some miles to develop a to-do list with Jerry. From past experience on short tours in Chuck’s Aprilia, I was confident he knew how to deal with that notchy little gearbox and click it into all the gears, which he did with style, some force, a bit of crunching, and great aplomb as we struggled to scale steep and twisty uphills. One sign actually read “16% grade”! I, on the other hand, still need some time to master the gearbox without leaving minuscule metal shavings in the transmission fluid!

Judy at the wheel. At first, the horn didn't work, and then suddenly it came to life and we were able to salute all the quicker cars as they passed us. Photo by Chuck Schoendorf.

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Concept Cars and Aerodymanics: Learning from the U.S.

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Cross Atlantic pollination: This Adler 2.5 liter model was introduced at the 1937 Berlin Motor Show. Its aerodynamic shape was a design of Karl Jenschke. The bodies were built by Ambi-Budd in Berlin, and lines were influenced by the Chrysler Airflow.

By Gijsbert-Paul Berk

What the Europeans learned from the Americans
In the previous articles we have presented a number of eye-catching projects and aerodynamic studies created by European coachwork builders or car and aircraft designers during the first three decennia of the 20th century.

See Concept Cars and Aerodynamics, Part 2, Part 1

Though it often seems that the Europeans had the edge in design, during the first thirty years of the century a number of American designers and manufacturers became important sources of inspiration for the European car makers. In this chapter we will determine how the Americans inspired and influenced European manufacturers and what they learned or copied from each other.

This historic machine has nothing to do with aerodynamics, but the 1917 Dodge command car, used by the American Expeditionary Forces in Europe during WWI, was one of the first with an ‘all steel’ body.

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Bugattis Tour Australia

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Pur Sang Bugatti Type 35B en route to Angaston.

Story and photos by Vince Johnson

South Australia, 10-13 April 2013. Forty-two members of the Bugatti Club Australia made their way to the Barossa Valley wine country, north-east of Adelaide, for the ‘Five Valleys Run’ in April. Understandably, wineries featured heavily in the itinerary. Interstate members from New South Wales met those who had travelled from Victoria at Stirling on Tuesday evening, not far from Piccadilly Valley in the hills above the state capital.
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Maserati at Montlhéry

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By Pete Vack and Kurt Hasler

All photos copyright Stephan Traber

September 9th, 1934: Benoit Falchetto, perhaps a better driver than many realized, came home first in the Grand Prix de L’UMF held on the famous banked circuit of Montlhéry, fifteen miles outside of Paris. He was driving Maserati 8CM 3015, the subject of our recent book review. On Apri 20-22, Maserati 3015 in the hands of owner Kurt Hasler, returned again to the famous French banked circuit to participate in the Montlhéry Vintage Revival.
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At Long Last, GORDINI, by Roy Smith

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J.P. Wimille in 4GC T11 at Monaco in 1948. Credit LAT Photographic.


Amédée Gordini – a true racing legend
288 pages, 470 photos black and white and color, 8.25 x 10 inches
$89.95 plus shipping Order from Veloce Publishing, UK

Review by Pete Vack

Here at Last
The term ‘long-awaited’ is surely an understatement when applied to Roy Smith’s latest book. Not that it’s Roy’s fault, mind you, for without his effort there would probably be no book about Gordini at all, save Christian Huet’s remarkable and still handy Gordini Un Sorcier Une Equipe, published a generation ago in 1984. Fortunately the long wait was worth it; if you are the least bit interested in Grand Prix racing, Italian cars, French cars or just beautiful cars, Smith’s fantastic book should be part of your library. [Read more…] about At Long Last, GORDINI, by Roy Smith

California Mille Kickoff

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This car is the make and model that started it all. In 1982 Martin Swig and Road & Track photographer John Lamm took a similar Alfa 1900 SSZ, without a Zagato signature double bubble roof, to the first Mille Miglia retrospettiva. They were the only Americans entered. That experience led to the creation of the California Mille. This example was brought by Bruce and Cathy Milner.

A Bittersweet Gathering

Story and photos by Michael T. Lynch

The sky was clear on Nob Hill in San Francisco and the temperature was in the mid sixties. An exceptional group of collector cars from all over the world were backing into their spaces on the street between the Pacific Union Club and the Fairmont Hotel. It was the traditional kick-off luncheon for the California Mille. For many of us it was an emotional time because it was the first edition of the event run without its founder Martin Swig, who left us in 2012. Many joked about the weather, saying that where Martin was now gave him a more direct line to control that.
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Concept Cars and Aerodynamics, 1917-1940

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Kelsch Coupé Aerodynamique on the chassis of a 2 liter Bugatti Type 30.

After the Armistice of 1918 that ended WWI, a number of men who had made a name designing or building aircraft switched their attention to creating automobiles. Some, such as Gabriel Voisin and the brothers Henri and Maurice Farman in France, did so because they needed other products for their factories and/or new challenges for their talents. After he was discharged from the Royal Navy, British inventor and designer Charles Dennistoun Burney sought new activities, following a brilliant wartime career. For the Germans it was pure necessity, as the Treaty of Versailles implied the closure of the German aviation industry and prohibited the Germans to develop airplanes or airships, even for civilian purposes.

Rumpler’s Teardrops
Edmund Rumpler, was an Austrian automotive engineer who was well-known in post-war Germany as the manufacturer of the successful ‘Taube’ (Pigeon), a German warplane based on an original design by Igo Etrich. Rumpler also had experience in automobile design and manufacturing, having worked for Nesselsdorf (later to become Tatra), Daimler and Adler.

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