Graham Gauld, By The Way
Graham Gauld talks to Maserati 300S author Walter Bäumer
Two years ago Walter Bäumer Jr. launched his tome on Maserati and in particular to the Tipo 300S and since then he has been working on an equally complicated book on the Maserati A6G 2000 Zagato models. However,If you are of a certain age the name Walter Bäumer might mean something to you for there was a Walter Bäumer who raced for Mercedes-Benz in 1938. He was the author’s uncle.
Young Walter is a very amusing and affable enthusiast who specializes in Maserati history (www.internationalMASERATIresearch.com) but about a year ago we talked a bit about his family and particularly his uncle.
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Maserati 300S: Greatest Sports Racer, Ever?
Review by Pete Vack
Maserati 300S by Walter Bäumer
295 mm x 290mm, 360 pages, 390 historical black and white and color, case bound with dust jacket and slip case. Price, $155 USD ON SALE NOW FOR $116 and Free US Shipping!
To Order email vack@cox.net
Walter Bäumer’s new book on Maserati A6G Zagatos will be available soon from Dalton Watson.
The most dog eared books (the ones most referred to and therefore cherished) we have in our office library are those with the little numbers and big pictures (both literally and figuratively).
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Racing a Maserati 300S
In this archived article, Peter LeSaffre discusses driving the ex-Musy Maserati 300S back in the good days of the Ferrari Shell Historics.
By Pete Vack
Color photos by Richard Prince Photography
In his epic book, Maserati 300S, Walter Bäumer tells us a fascinating story about a little-known race driver by the name of Benoit Musy.
He was the son of a President of Switzerland and “a brave man, who saved the lives of many German Jews in the last months of WWII.” Musy purchased a Maserati 300S, chassis 3057 new from the factory in June of 1955. He bought a truck to haul the car, his beautiful wife Consuela and young son Edouard. In 1955 and 1956, he entered seventeen events throughout Europe, winning six outright. But at Montlhléry in late 1956, Musy entered a Maserati 200S Maserati as the 300S was being overhauled. Tragically, Musy was killed driving the 200S, and his grief stricken wife sold the 300S immediately.
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Bitsa Number One
FORZA ITALIAN STYLE
File this under “It had to happen eventually.” In Japan on Dec. 4th there was a convoy of Japanese Ferrari enthusiasts proceeding at an average of 90 mph toward a car event. The track, er, highway, was the Chugoku highway in western Japan. Some ace driver changed lanes and there was a dispute over whose lane it was. The driver spun out and the result was a 14-vehicle pile-up. When the smoke cleared, there were eight Ferraris, two Mercedes and a Lamborghini and a couple lowly Toyotas severely wrinkled. The miracle was that 10 people were taken to hospitals but none were seriously injured.
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Book Review: Fiat en Grand Prix, 1920-1930
“Fiat en Grand Prix, 1920-1930”
by Sébastien Faurès Fustel de Coulanges
published by ETAI, Boulogne-Billancourt 2009
ISBN : 978-2-7268-8885-8
Hardbound with dustcover, 250 photos, 192 pages
Dimensions : 297x247x20 mm
Weight : 1340 g
Language : French
Price: 44 Euros
http://www.librairie-passionautomobile.com/Item/13_0748_this.aspx
Review by Dick Ploeg
When an introduction to a new automotive title emphasizes that the author was captivated and inspired by the late Griffith Borgeson’s The Classic Twin Cam Engine, this tribute alone is enough to arouse the interest of those who sadly miss the contributions of the great automotive historian.
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Our Features This Week, December 7
Amilcar: The Poor Man’s Bugatti
All photos in this reveiw are from the book “Amilcar”
Book Review:
Amilcar by Gilles Fournier, Translated by David Burgess-Wise
Dalton Watson, 2006
300 pages 84 page French supplement
500 black and white photos, diagrams, and advertisements
Two volumes, hardbound with dust jackets and slip case
Review by Pete Vack
“Once an Amilcar, always an Amilcar!” declared Gilles Fournier, the author of the only serious book on the subject. Amilcar—its name reputedly an anagram of founders Emile Akar and Joseph Lamay–was a small displacement “cyclecar” built in France between the wars that according to Stan Grayson in Automobile Quarterly “…possessed undeniable charm and a healthy dose of that intangible quality that makes some cars stand out.”
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Bertone Museum Becomes a National Historic Site: In English and Italian
By Roberto Motta
Photo courtesy of the Archives Bertone
On November 2 the Italian Ministry of Heritage and Culture announced that the “Bertone Collection” kept at the company headquarters in Caprie, is now part of the national artistic heritage of Italy. Unfortunately, the Collection is missing some jewelry, but the majority of the collection now is safe.
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Shelby’s TdF
By Wallace Wyss
In 1959 Carroll Shelby won the biggest race there was in sports car racing, and that was the 24 Hours of Le Mans. He quit driving shortly after that, and just in time, because a heart condition he had managed to hide from the SCCA medical techs was threatening to take him out if he didn’t quit. He wasn’t worried about what he would do next; he was already was working on a plan to build his own sports car.
Although he was known for winning most of his victories in Ferraris and Maseratis, if you search deep down in the racing records you find that, among the fifty different marques of cars he drove was a Buick-powered special called “Ol’ Yaller”.
Shelby knew that the biggest expense in developing a new car was designing and engineering the chassis, the engine and transmission. If he could find a ready-made chassis that already had an existing engine and transmission, well then the problem was considerably smaller– only clothing it in an appropriately Italian sexy style and promoting it. He had spent too much time in Italy not to know that there were great designers and coachbuilders there. He also knew there was a snob appeal to having a car bodied in Italy. He probably had it in for Enzo Ferrari [according to historian Willem Oosthoek, when Shelby boasted of all his victories in the U.S., an unimpressed Enzo asked him: “But what was your competition?” Ed.]
so he thought why not stick it to the old man by having Ferrari’s own body builder build it?
His first idea was to use the All American Corvette. Hence the Corvette Italia.
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Post Season Rally News: In English and Italian
(Photos courtesy of Autodromo Nazionale Monza)
By Roberto Motta
Photos courtesy of Roberto Motta, Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Citroën Communication, Abu Dhabi World Rally Team and VW-media
Sebastien Loeb: Another win at Monza
On 25 and 27 November, Sebastien Loeb, assisted by his wife Severin as co-pilot, dominated the Monza Rally Show. The Alsatian and his Citroen DS3 WRC won seven of the nine special stages, finishing the event with 24 minute, 2-second lead over motorcycleman Valentino Rossi driving a Ford Focus WRC.
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