The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts
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 in 2007.
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.
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.
[Read more…] about Friday at Monterey with Michael T. Lynch
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
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.
[Read more…] about A Practical Guide to Monterey: Plan Ahead
Maserati 250F sculpture got our attention.
Photos and Captions by Alessandro Gerelli
Since we are celebrating our tenth anniversary this year, we thought it might be nice to list all the articles about the Nurburgring Oldtimer event filed by Alessandro Gerelli in the past decade. It’s an interesting walk through the famous paddock and one can get a sense of how much or how little vintage racing, European style, has changed over the years. Above and below, Gerelli’s photos from this year’s Oldtimer Grand Prix. [Read more…] about Oldtimer Grand Prix, 2012
Mary Ann Dickinson (MAD) eyes Monterey
Check out this 1938 Lancia Aprilia Sport Aerodinamica, a modern reconstruction of a pre-war car. Andrea Zagato built this one in recognition of his father’s original design, following the images from old photographs as there is no other record of the car. It is a sleek beauty, with lines way ahead of its time.
Every August we all trek to the Monterey peninsula in California for the Holy Grail of vintage car events, which have grown beyond control over the years like an abandoned garden zucchini. It is now a plethora of car shows, auctions, races, exhibitions and collector markets, all occurring in the same frantic week. And this car fun is pricey; attending Monterey has become a compulsory – and expensive – pilgrimage.
[Read more…] about MAD about Monterey
By Gijbsert-Paul Berk
Louis Coatalen, Sunbeam's chief engineer.
One of our favorite charity events combines a show of vintage cars and aircraft. Held in Englewood CO, we'll send the ex-Matra team USA principal (see below story) Al Axelrod over to cover the action. Click the pic for RVSP and more info.
Passings
William F. Milliken died July 28 at home in Buffalo, NY. He was 101 years of age. VeloceToday was honored to have fully reviewed his extraordinary life with the kind help of his son Douglas. Our deepest sympathies go out to all of his family. More about Bill Milliken and his cars and aircraft can be read here:
Bill Milliken and Equations of Motion
The Milliken Bugatti T35A
Lucie Bedford Warren, age 104, died July 17 at her home in Westport, CT. She was a large part of her husband Briggs Cunningham’s successful racing team that set the standard in American road racing in the 1940s and ’50s and into the 1960s. She was the mother of their children, Briggs Cunningham III, Lucie Cunningham McKinney and Cythlen Cunningham Maddock. Lucie was the granddaughter of Edward Thomas Bedford, who was a director of Standard Oil Co. with the Rockefeller family. (Credit IMRRC)
By Gijsbert-Paul Berk
From the moment Giovanni Agnelli (1866 –1945) and his business associates founded the company in 1899, it grew within a few decades to be one of the leading industries in Italy. It even had its own branches in the USA and Russia. In 1916 Fiat began building a completely new car factory at the outskirts of Turin. When it was completed in 1922, the Lingotto plant was the largest and most modern in Europe. Its assembly lines were spread over five floors and the finished cars were driven on a test track constructed on the roof of the entire building.
Louis Wagner with the Fiat at Savanah, Georgia in 1911. Courtesy Ludvigsen.
During WWI Fiat produced weapons, aircraft and vehicles for the allied armies and in the postwar period, Italy was confronted with serious social unrest. Fiat also suffered, as workers of the Italian Socialist Party briefly occupied its factories. However, by 1923 Fiat was again showing signs of healthy growth on both the national and international markets.
How it almost charmed a curmudgeon
In the road-testing world there’s a little bit of Stephen Stills “If you can’t be with the one you love, love the one you’re with”. You have to forget about the car you drove last week and like the one you’re driving now.
When it first arrived here, I was at first very skeptical of the new Fiat and didn’t ask for one to test drive. I remember when Fiats were big back in the Sixties and how there was precious little parts and service and the dealerships seemed like back alley operations. So I wondered, “When Fiat comes back, will they do a better job in parts and service this time around?”
[Read more…] about Testing the Fiat 500 Cabriolet
