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The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts

Rally Spain 2012 in English and Italian

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Dani Sordo had a good Rally, but too little, too late for the Mini.

By Roberto Motta

Photos courtesy of Citroën Communication, Ford World Rally Team and Rally de Espania-Media

After a great season and having already won the WRC World Driving Championship, Sebastian Loeb won the Rally Spain for the eighth time in a row.

Loeb took the lead on Saturday and significantly increased his lead over rival Jari-Matti Latvala, and then controlled the event from that point on. [Read more…] about Rally Spain 2012 in English and Italian

Our Features This Week, November 7th, 2012

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Helpful Hint: While our articles seem to vanish, they are simply archived after two weeks. There are now over 1000 articles in the VeloceToday archives. Please use the three boxes at the top of the right column to find them. Use the “Find” box by typing in a car or model, subject or author. Entries will appear in the left column. Be sure to scroll to “previous entries’ at the bottom to see more. Or search by topic or date to find even more great articles.

Below, features for the this week. For our report of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, scroll down.

Driving a Rally Legend… In 1/10th scale

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By Pete Vack

Above: This is the Radio Controlled Rally Legends Fiat Abarth 131 on our driveway. It is big; over 17 inches long, almost 6 inches high and 7.5 inches wide. Not full size but you could have almost fooled us. It is fast; right out of the box these electric-powered cars will do at least 32 mph. Merry Christmas?
[Read more…] about Driving a Rally Legend… In 1/10th scale

Goodbye, John

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John Fitch

Elizabeth and John Fitch celebrate a win with the Cunningham C4R. Photo John Fitch collection.

John Fitch, one of America’s greatest drivers, died on October 31st at the age of 95. Shortly after, I received two short remembrances, one from Carl Goodwin and the other from Eric Davison. I was struck by how similar both sketches were in scope and nature; both Carl and Eric captured his kindness and sincere, warm personality. John’s racing life is well known by our readers and also covered in Carl Goodwin’s book “They Started in MGs”.
Below, a side of John Fitch rarely seen from two of our finest contributors.

By Carl Goodwin

It was a great pleasure to know and work with John Fitch for the last 28 years of his life. Some of it was for magazine articles but most of it was as the volunteer publicist for his company Impact Attenuation LLC, which held and developed John’s designs for energy-absorbing safety barriers to be used in racing (www.racesafety.com).

It was not always glamorous. But all of it was interesting. In fact Fitch was the most interesting person you could ever know. If only you could have been with us.

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Pininfarina in the 1960s by Mark Stehrenberger

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Wallace Wyss and the Editor continue to assess Pininfarina’s work through the 1960s via the posters of Mark Stehrenberger. The separation of the works of PF by year and highlighting various models gives us a unique opportunity to look back on the history of the firm and of Italian post-war design through 1970. This week, the sixties, next, the 1970s.

pf-lusso

Wyss: In the ’60s Pininfarina did designs that stand well the test of time. In fact, some think the Ferrari 250 GT Lusso is the most beautiful road Ferrari of all time (if you consider race cars, though, you would have it up against the incomparable P3/4).

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Motorclassica, Melbourne Australia, 26-28 October 2012

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Ferrari 195 Ghia Aigle

David Rodd’s 1951 Ferrari 195 Ghia Aigle Coupe.

Story and Photos by Vince Johnson

For Auction results and more information go to Motorclassica 2012

A hundred years ago the first Victorian Motor Show was held in the Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne, Australia. To mark the centenary this year’s Motorclassica, sponsored by the Royal Automobile Club of Victoria, featured a central display of antique, veteran and Edwardian vehicles that mirrored those present at the 1912 event.

1912 Victorian Motor Show centenary display.

Entries in the 2012 Australian International Concours d’ Elegance numbered 125 cars and 16 motorcycles in 14 categories, from the 1898 Thompson Steam Car to a 1986 Lotus Esprit S3. Things got under way on Thursday with the Tour Classica. Many of those entered took the opportunity to be flagged off from Pit Lane at the Albert Park Formula 1 circuit in the city’s south, for a drive through regular lunchtime traffic to take their place in the display. Built for the 1880 Melbourne International Exhibition, the 19th century Great Hall survives intact. Still in its original Carlton Gardens landscape, it continues to be used as a palace for industry. It was awarded World Heritage status in 2004.

Sir Jack Brabham (left) and Ron Tauranac reminisce on stage.

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Pinin Farina in the 1950s by Mark Stehrenberger

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Want a print of this poster? Click on the photo.

Artist Mark Stehrenberger is now offering prints of his famous series of Pininfarina posters. Pininfarina in 1950s, the 1960s and the 1970s are all represented by different posters. Below, Wallace Wyss and the Editor dissect the 1950s poster car by car, and comment accordingly.

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Re-Creating the Voisin Laboratoire

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Notice: Moch’s striking aluminum ‘Laboratoire’ will be one of the highlights of a special exhibition dedicated to Gabriel Voisin, that will run from November 10, 2012, for six months at the Mullin Museum in Oxnard, California.For more information see: http://www.mullinautomotivemuseum.com/

The rebirth of a 1923 Voisin ‘Laboratoire’ was inspired by a book.

What moves man to recreate a masterpiece that someone else has already created a long time ago? In the world of music this is quite common. We all love to listen to concerts in which conductors and orchestras recreate the music from scores that were penned down by famous composers such as Bach, Beethoven, Haydn, Mozart, Sibelius or Leonard Bernstein, to name a few.

In films and theaters we applaud when directors and actors recreate the scenes and words originally fashioned by writers such as Jane Austen, Samuel Beckett, Arthur Miller, Oscar Wilde, Tennessee Williams or William Shakespeare.

Art students visit museums to find out how the old masters did it. Some of them then painstakingly recreate composition, lights and shadows, and sometimes colors and even brushstrokes. There’s nothing wrong with any of this…it is taken for granted.

However, in the world of visual arts, recreating is generally frowned upon by professionals. Not only because criminals have offered forgeries to unsuspecting buyers as being the original work of the well-known painters. Copying, or even painting in the style of an old master, is regarded as a lack of creativity and artistic imagination. [Read more…] about Re-Creating the Voisin Laboratoire

The Ultimate Alpine Recreation

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ultimate alpine

For passion and fun…Entent Cordiale

By Roy Smith
Photos © Roy Smith /John Wheeler/SAMCMOORE

At first glance you might think, “That’s a nicely restored A110 berlinette – Group 5 perhaps– certainly looks interesting.” Then you hear the figures from its owner; max power DIN HP 359.8, max torque DIN 325(441 Nms), weight 698Kg, and you’re forgiven for thinking, “WOW!” Then “Impossible! No berlinette A110 ever saw those figures!”

You would be right. It’s not an A110 berlinette, but unless you are a died-in-the-wool purist, unsettled by those who dare to look into the future of what might have been had Renault extended the life of the A110 model, you will find this fabulous recreation not only a true work of art and engineering perfection but, like its ancestors, one of the most beautiful shapes ever created for a motor car, and a worthy contender to extend the name of Alpine in the current world of the super-car aficionados.

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Richard Pietruska: Form Follows Fantasy

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Ferrari GTO and another familiar form. Photo courtesy Pietruska.

Interview by Wallace Wyss

RICHARD PIETRUSKA is a professor and an artist living in Venice, CA who has the distinction of having escaped the clutches of the auto industry to become an Internationally known sculptor. Contributor Wallace Wyss saw him at the FCA convention and asked for an update.

WYSS: I notice the patina on that one sculpture. Is that fiberglass, or have you gone to metal?

PIETRUSKA: That’s metal, bronze. The finish is a very unique silver nitrate patina that lends itself to that particular sculpture of the Ferrari 250/599 GTO.
[Read more…] about Richard Pietruska: Form Follows Fantasy

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