The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts
Ever envied Indiana Jones? Ciick on the Ethiopian Adventure and visit the Ark of the Covenant; attend Goodwood with Jonathan Sharp, Palos Verdes with Wally Wyss and wrap up the Tours epic with a surprise. As usual, click on the icons to go directly to each article. Note that the Rally Wales report below does not have an icon. Loeb didn’t win but who did?
By Roberto Motta
Photos courtesy of Citroën Communication, Ford World Rally Team
Jari Matti Latvala was able to stop the continuous series of victories by Citroën and Championship leader Sebastien Loeb. This time Latvala did not err and, after having gained command of the Wales Rally GB in Power Stage (PS) 3, he maintained first to the finish ahead of Loeb and his DS3 WRC.
[Read more…] about Rally Wales, Great Britain, In English and Italian
Fifteen years in the making, this year's Goodwood is best yet.
Story and photos by Jonathan Sharp
Brian Redman looking chipper.
September 13, 2012
Just got in from the Goodwood cricket match which is always held on the Thursday afternoon of Revival week. The cricket pitch is in front of Goodwood house. At 6 pm, once the cricket match had finished, we were treated to a flying display by a Supermarine Spitfire MK9, MH434. This year the display was flown by Steve Jones who was one of the Red Bull air race pilots. The Spitfire belongs to the Old Flying Machine Company. You may have heard of the late great Ray Hanna…MH434 was his regular mount. In fact it was he who flew down the start line below the roof of the grandstand to open the very first Revival meeting. Whilst watching the cricket I spotted the Fighter Collection’s newly restored Republic P47 Thunderbolt coming in to land at the aerodrome in the middle of the circuit.
I cannot wait for tomorrow.
Outside the cricket pavilion, John Surtees in white hat.
Did the daring new designs by Voisin and Bugatti advance the art of race car engineering? Read Gijsbert-Paul Berk’s surprising analysis. (Above, Alfas at Lyon, 1924.)
By Gijsbert-Paul Berk
When the dust had finally settled down and the excitement of the race was ebbing away, many of the French spectators went home somewhat disillusioned. The expected duel between the Bugatti and Voisin cars never happened. It was obvious from the beginning that the six-cylinder sleeve valves of the Voisin “Laboratoires” were no match for the more powerful eight cylinders of the Bugatti Tanks. The new V12 Delage had retired within a few laps from the start, and after a valiant struggle the two Tours-based Rolland-Pilains were also forced to retire with mechanical problems.
No, it had not been a glorious day for the French manufacturers. In spite of the fact that a Bugatti and a Voisin had finished in third and fifth place, the foreigners in their Fiats and Sunbeams had dominated this Grand Prix de France from the first lap onward.
And even more importantly, did the outcome of this battle between conventional Grand Prix cars and the revolutionary and daring new designs from Bugatti and Voisin have much of an influence on the future of Grand Prix racing?
The sad truth is that from an engineering point of view, it set the clock back.
The 1924 contenders: Improved engines, horsecart chassis, minimal streamlining.
If you have ever thought about doing an “Indiana Jones” and have a pre-war Lancia, (or any other classic) now’s the time to get in touch with Bart Kleyn for next year’s Via Flaminia Coloniale Ethiopian Rally. Bart has recced out the route and below are some of the places he’s got scheduled.
And as everyone by now knows, Ethiopia was once a hotbed of neat Italian cars…some still surface here and there. According to Kleyn, “In the five years that the Italians did colonize Ethiopia they left a deep impression. Most of the road system we know in this vast country was constructed during that period, just before the war. With the Italians came not only the roads but also the cars. In that period regular races where held with Alfa’s, OM , Fiat, Maserati and Lancia.”
[Read more…] about Pre-War Lancias Wanted to Pursue Ark of the Covenant
Find all the Palos Verdes Concours winners at end of article.
By Wallace Wyss
Pictures by Richard Bartholomew and Wallace Wyss
Palos Verdes is a peninsula that sticks out into the ocean between LA harbor and Redondo Beach in Southern California. It can be a spectacular place, especially when the weather is acting up on the way there, as it was September 16th when the Palos Verdes show kicked off. It was dewy, cloudy, sunny, and variations of all of these every five minutes, but was very photogenic. Fortunately once we got there it all turned out to be the best weather imaginable–82 deg. or so with clouds hanging on the top of the hills. I bet those who didn’t go because they saw bad weather outside their window regretted it later. [Read more…] about Palos Verdes Concours September 16th, 2012
This week, more Denise; Holbert and the Marquis; events from Australia to Colorado to the U.K. and Italy. Be sure to check out the exclusive photos from the Italian Grand Prix by Roberto Motta. Alos, let us know how VeloceToday reads on your iPad, Nook, or other device.
As usual, click on the eight icons to go directly to each article.
[Denise McCluggage passed away on May 6th of this year. A great fan of VeloceToday, she contributed several articles; below is one of her best. We miss you, Denise.]
By Denise McCluggage
At the time whereof I write, the late 1950s, Modena was the real home of Ferrari. Maranello, a sleepy hill town, boasted the low, gated factory but little else. No test track, no museum, no shop. No tourists. No Il Cavallino, the posh ristorante opened in 1962 across from the factory on a slight rise set back from the road. Cavallino Bianco Bar, a working man’s bar of the type found in every Italian village, occupied the site.
Memory has me coming out of the factory gate and looking up at the bar. A few tables are topped with the ubiquitous Martini & Rossi umbrellas and scattered on the beaten earth before the dark entry. At the tables, singly and in pairs, sit somber working men in earth-brown coveralls. Some wear the odd pill-box-shaped hats common in a pre-baseball cap world. They wrap their hands around glasses of that clear stinging stuff called grappa. Or maybe a nearly purple Lambrusco, the local wine. There is nothing for tourists in this Maranello of the working man’s bar because there are no tourists. And that’s because there are very few of the tourist-spawning Ferraris; in 1958, if every Ferrari owner in the world chose to make the pilgrimage to the Emilia countryside where his car was built, the few hotels in Modena – down this winding road out of Maranello, down the long and lovely hillside – will likely have room for every one of them.
By Roy Smith
In Part 1, Barn Find, and Part 2 Glass Dreams Smith described the Rédélé barn find, the relationship to Jean Rédélé, Zark W. Reed, Renault Rosier and the search for the elusive Fiberglas car called “Marquis”. Part 3 explains how everything went badly for Reed and how Porsche-Meister Bob Holbert played a part in this incredible story.
[Read more…] about The Marquis of Mystery Part 3: Shattered Dreams
Fiat Abarth 750, Jack Waldron & Vin Gregory, Mt Lofty.
Story and photos by Vince Johnson
Wintry weather made conditions difficult for competitors in this year’s Targa Adelaide, held over four days in the hills around the South Australian capital. In the opening round of the Australian Targa Championship, modern cars were included for the first time and entries ranged from a 1951 Holden 48-215 to the latest Nissan GT-R.
Ferrari 290MM Scaglietti Spyder. chassis 0626. Ex-Fangio 1956 Millie Miglia. Jonathan Sharp photo.
Photos by Jonathan Sharp and Hugues Vanhoolandt
Last week, we found out that both Hugues Vanhoolandt and Jonathan Sharp would be attending the two major shows in the U.K. this past weekend. Solution? The more the better. We selected seven shots from the Windsor Concours from each photographer; Jonathan leads off on Windsor, Hugues will lead on the Prive coverage.
[Read more…] about Windsor Castle Concours, September 9th, 2012
Marybel Gonzalez, the current Miss Colorado, checks out a WWII pinup.
Story and photos by Al Axelrod
The 10th annual Morgan Adams Concours held on August 25th displayed an eclectic and diverse collection of automobiles, motorcycles, 2 scooters and a great variety of aircraft. It is this combination of cars, bikes and planes that make this event so enjoyable and different!
This concours is held in two hangers and on the runways and taxi ways of Centennial Airport next to Dove Valley, where Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos practice “until they get it right.”