VeloceToday.com

The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts

The Art of Tours: Visions of the 1923 French Grand Prix

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The 1923 Tours Grand Prix has inspired many artists. Below are just a few of the paintings, cover art and advertisements that were generated by the epic event. Much of the art is still available via prints and we have linked appropriate sites to the paintings wherever possible. Please click on the images for ordering information and similar automotive art.


Art by Geo Ham (Georges Hamel) Art-deco impression of the Bugatti and Voisin.

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Rally Germany 2012 In English and Italian

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By Roberto Motta
Photos courtesy of Citroën Communication, Ford World Rally Team and ADAC Rallye Deutshland-Media

Sebastian Loeb achieved his seventh win of the season in nine rallies. His victory in the ADAC Rally Deutschland gave Loeb a margin of more than 54 points ahead of Hirvonen and his Ford WRC.

As usual, Loeb set the pace in the early moments of the event, winning the best time in the Shakedown run on the morning of August 23. On the special stage, Loeb was 0.8 ” ahead of Latvala and his Ford Fiesta RS WRC. Following in formation were the other two Fords of Ostberg and Solberg, then the two Citroëns of Neuville and Hirvonen.
[Read more…] about Rally Germany 2012 In English and Italian

Our Features This Week, August 29th 2012

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The Dino Ferrari of von Trips photographed at Sebring, December 12th 1959 by Robert F. Pauley. The damaged nose was the result of von Trips rear-ending the Ferrari of Tony Brooks, who then spent two minutes inthe pits assessing his own damage. Brooks placed third and lost the Championship to the rear-engined Cooper of Jack Brabham.

VeloceToday features the work of Gijsbert-Paul Berk, Marshall Buck, Eric Davison and Brandes Elitch; Graham Gauld, Alessandro Gerelli and Carl Goodwin; Michael T. Lynch, Karl Ludvigsen, Denise McCluggage, Ed McDonough and Roberto Motta; Jonathan Sharp, Roy Smith and Hugues Vanhoolandt; we even do Wally Wyss. And that’s not the half of it!
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Marquis of Mystery: Barn Find

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A rare barn find in the States leads Roy Smith to Alpine’s Jean Rédélé, French Champion Louis Rosier, the post-war US sports car craze, Porsche champion Bob Hobert, and back to France for Retromobile, all in search of a car that never existed. An incredible story in three parts.

By Roy Smith

Barn Find

“The car belonged to my father, Raymond Buckwalter; he drove it for a while, and then parked it. I soon found out why he parked it when I wanted to drive the car for a few months in 1958. Every time I turned the motor off and left it for a while, the car wouldn’t start again without a push. This kind of thing you remember, believe me! I always parked in the same parking lot and the attendant always saved a spot for me. Five days a week they would push me to get it started. I guess my father figured I couldn’t go shopping unless I could find some kind person to push it a few feet, but as I was a young lady at the time, I always found some kind gentleman to give me a push. It was the battery; something was draining it. Rather than fix it my father liked to challenge me and he would often laugh at how I managed these small challenges. Now the memory of it makes me laugh – I can just imagine me in a parking lot at my age trying to get someone to give my car a push! When I went to get it painted in the late 90s we found traces of blue, so I assumed that was the original color.” —Mary Ann Wood

Redele Found-in-a-barn

Photo of the strange French special taken by the Wood family in 2009.

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Monterery Magic by Hugues Vanhoolandt

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The magic is not Monterey; the magic is in the way that our photographer Hugues Vanhoolandt gets the cars without the bodies. We thought it was because of the huge VELOCETODAYPRESS badge he wears, but it is due more to just plain hard work, persistance and his dedication to being at the right spot at the right time, waiting for that Henri Cartier-Bresson decisive moment. Here is Part 1 of Monterey Week by Vanhoolandt.

Quail Rally

The Quail Rally marked the start of the Monterey Classic Car week on Tuesday 14th August with at least 30 classic cars of high quality.

...among them, a rare Ferrari 275 GTB Competizione s/n 07641.

Carmel-by-the-Sea Concours on the Avenue

on the same day, Carmel hosts its annual Concours on the Avenue where people can see vehicles ranging from a small cars like this 1959 Autobianchi Bianchina Trasformabile (or convertible).

cobra-transporter

Fiat Grand Prix Transporter bodied by Bartoletti, used by Maserati, Scarab and Shelby racing teams. It also appears in the film Le Mans.

Alfa Duetto, a very well done restoration.

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The Grand Prix of Tours Part 6: The Race

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The 1923 Grand Prix of Tours

Friderich-refuels

Friderich refuels his Bugatti T32 during the 1923 Tours Grand Prix. He would finish third; ironically neither the Bugatti “Tanks” nor the Voisin “Laboratoire” would ever race again.

By Gijsbert-Paul Berk

July 2, 1923, 8 a.m. For the start of the Grand Prix, seventeen race cars were placed in two rows. In 1923 the positions on the starting grid did not depend on lap times during practice but were, like the numbers on the cars, allotted by the organizers. Hence, pole position was taken by the V12 Delage (No. 1) with driver René Thomas and his mechanic Lhermit. Alongside was Guiness in the Sunbeam, car number 2. Guyot’s Rolland-Pilain was in the second row next to number 4, the Fiat of Bordino.

The noise and smell of the seventeen racing cars on the grid, with a total of 126 screaming cylinders, must have been similar to the noise and excitement of today’s Grand Prix starts. The pace car, driven by local motorcycle champion Paul Meunier, led the field before René Thomas in his blue Delage sprinted away with the Sunbeam of Lee Guinness. Above, Thomas and Bordino are already out of this photograph of the start. Number 2 is the Sunbeam of Lee Guiness, number 3 is Guyot in the Rolland-Pilain, the Voisin of Arthur Duray and the Friderich Bugatti, number 6.

At the end of lap one, Fiat of Pietro Bordino was in front; the Sunbeam of Lee Guiness second followed by the Delage of René Thomas; then Enrico Giaccone and Carlo Salamano both in the Fiats, Henry Segrave and Albert Divo in Sunbeams, Albert Guyot driving a Rolland-Pilain and Ernest Friderich the Bugatti. The race of the decade was on.

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Barbarian at the Gate

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Betcha didn't think we'd run this photo....

Dear Boss,

I took a little trip up the Coast to Monterey, so as promised, I thought I’d drop a note with a few images. I selected a big ol’Chrysler 300 for the trip, and arrived in my secret low cost no-tell motel in five hours.

On Wednesday I set off for the Embassy Suites and set up my booth at Automobilia, a sort of emporium for the flora and fauna of the automotive world– posters, model cars, clothes, old books (and new books). I was pleased to be in a booth next to Mike Rabin who is famous for making wheel discs He had a great sense of humor, especially considering he had to endure hearing my sales pitch at least 100 times. Finally he got to where he would interrupt my pitch to a new client, saying “It’s getting deeper.”
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Our Features This Week, August 22 2012

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Eight feature articles this week include a look at events in both Europe and California. Lynch, Elitch and Dickinson sound off on the triumphs and tribulations of Monterey; Graham Gauld covers a unique concours on the Riviera, Alessandro Gerelli brings us the Oldtimer in Germany, Gijsbert-Paul Berk uncovers the Sunbeam and Voisins at Tours. Sadly, we lost Franco Zagari; Mark Spitzley and Graham Gauld remember the great photographer.

Franco Zagari 1930-2012

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Franco Zagari 2007

Franco Zagari in 2007.


This week we sadly note the death of famed Italian photographer Franco Zagari, who passed away on August 15th at the Maggiore hospital after a fight with cancer.

Photographs by Zagari and from his collections graced many outstanding books, some of the best produced with his longtime friend Luigi Orsini.

Below, Matt Spitzley and Graham Gauld fondly recall Franco Zagari. Our thanks to Matt and Di Spitzley for permission to use some of Zagari’s favorite photographs.
[Read more…] about Franco Zagari 1930-2012

Friday at Monterey with Michael T. Lynch

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Alfa S-11

David Smith’s Alfa S 11 Corto Spyder Speciale, described in VeloceToday’s 25 August issue, shows its final form at The Quail.

Story and photos by Michael T. Lynch

In our previews of the Alfa S 11 and the Bugatti Type 64, we promised you pictures of the cars when they appeared during Holy Week. In addition here are a few more Italian gems that caught this historian’s eye.
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Gauld on the Valescure Concours, French Riviera

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Alpine-A110

Christine Dacremont with the pink Alpine 110 she used to race and rally.

By Graham Gauld

Every August I am asked to judge a Concours held at the Valescure Golf Club just behind St. Raphael in the South of France. There is no entry fee and the cars are lined up on the 18th fairway for all to see.

Being a French event, there was a class for Renault Alpines and there was a raft of the factory racing cars including one of the long-tail 1967 Le Mans cars that had been raced at Le Mans. [Read more…] about Gauld on the Valescure Concours, French Riviera

A Practical Guide to Monterey: Plan Ahead

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moretti

An original 1955 Moretti 1200 Gran Sport, owned by Mark Brinker. It is seeing rare cars like these that make going to Monterey worthwhile.

Photos by Brandes Elitch and Petya Elitch
Story by Brandes Elitch

“I am completely over the whole self-congratulatory Pebble Beach-Monterey Historics business.”
-Jack Baruth, 8/20/2012, writing in The Truth About Cars.com

Jack is one of my favorite writers, and after another Monterey weekend, you can understand what he means. However, you can avoid a lot of the hassle that accompanies these events with a little prior planning. Here are some suggestions, and no, it is not too soon to begin planning for next year.
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