VeloceToday.com

The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts

Our Features This Week, July 5th, 2012

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For this holiday week we present four very short but exciting features. We’d like to hear your opinions on the current round of “Concept Cars” that are aimed directly at our line of interests. Did Renault get it right and Alfa/Fiat Zagato fail, or was it the other way around? Or, is it necessary to create new cars with old themes at all?

Also, we note with sadness the death of Sergio Pininfarina on July 3, 2012 at age 85. W’ell have more on Pininfarina in a future issue of VT.

We have a very French Summer coming up with outstanding features from some of our best writers including Eric Davison, Roy Smith, and Ed McDonough. In addition, we are proud to welcome the esteemed author of the biography “André Lefebvre”, Gijsbert-Paul Berk to our electronic pages.

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The TZ3 Stradale: The First American Alfa Romeo?

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Story and photos by Mary Ann Dickinson unless otherwise noted

At the annual convention of the Alfa Romeo Owners Club held in Toronto, the TZ3 Stradale was lovingly presented by Andrea Zagato, third generation CEO of the renowned Italian car design company, Zagato. [Read more…] about The TZ3 Stradale: The First American Alfa Romeo?

Gauld at the Blancpain GT Endurance

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McLaren-MP4-12C

Jack Clark's McLaren MP4 12C holds off the Ferrari 458 Italia of Patrice Groueslard.

Story and Photos by Graham Gauld

I took myself off to the Paul Ricard circuit in the South of France last weekend for the round of the Blancpain Endurance Series which brought together an enormous 56 car entry of top quality GT cars. The rise in GT racing has been steady over the past two or three years and it is now not only attracting some top drivers but also some of the leading manufacturers like BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Ferrari, McLaren, Audi etc. [Read more…] about Gauld at the Blancpain GT Endurance

Presenting Jonathan Sharp

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The reason I have chosen this shot is because I like the symbolism. You could not pick a more British make than Lotus but Lotus has always relied on the co-operation of others for success whether that be Ford of Britain, Coventry Climax, Renault or as it is now, Toyota.

Photos and captions by Jonathan Sharp

Jonathan caught our attention..not an easy task these days…when he sent along a few B&W images of the Bugattis at Prescott. [Read more…] about Presenting Jonathan Sharp

Our Features This Week, June 27th 2012

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The winner of the Fuller Brush Phil Hill Catalog was Donald Sawhill. Denise McCluggage will sign this rare find for Mr. Sawhill. Congratulations!

This week in VeloceToday, Brandes Elitch continues his Constant Search, Hugues Vanhoolandt does Het Loo, Roberto Motta on WRC New Zealand and the Editor recaps the European Grand Prix in Valencia.

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Talbot Lago Awarded Top Honors at Het Loo 2012

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Talbot Lago T150-C-SS “Teardrop” s/n 90109

Best of Show went to the Talbot Lago T150-C-SS “Teardrop” s/n 90109.

By Hugues Vanhoolandt

Every two years, the lawns of Paleis Het Loo in the Netherlands host a Concours d’élégance.
Despite the awful weather on Sunday, with heavy rain throughout the day, the event saw a strong showing of classics from the native country but also from the neighbouring countries such as Belgium, Germany and even from Italy.

Best of Show was awarded to the Talbot Lago T150-C-SS “Teardrop” owned by Evert Louwman, who runs the Louwman Museum, in Den Haag, near Amsterdam, which is the world’s oldest private collection of motor cars.

Bugatti Type 13.

100 years old and still running, a Bugatti Type 13.

288 GTO Evoluzione and the 575 GTC.

GT competition by Ferrari : In the truck one of the three 308GT/Ms by Michelotto and the 575 GTC.

The master on which the panels of aluminum were modelled for the 250GT.

Every respectable concours now has its Preservation class, which welcomes this Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 by Touring.

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The Constant Search Part II

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By Brandes Elitch

In the first half of this article, I discussed the early days of automotive literature. Back in the fifties and sixties, there was a dearth of books on automotive subjects. There were some iconic books that most people had on their bookshelves: Ken Purdy’s “Kings of the Road” would have to top that list. But the best automotive writers typically wrote magazine articles, not books. This changed, fortunately, and now it is easy to be overwhelmed by the sheer volume of newly published books. In this column, I will try to give you something to think about on this subject.

I was going to try to start with a “top ten” list of automotive books that everyone should have in their collection. Then, I read this wonderful quote from Ken Shubert, published in the Wild About Cars website (www.wildaboutcars.com). “We are not in this for the same reason. Sure, we all have “old cars” in common, but what we’re in it for starts to take different direction right from the start. We come from different walks of life. We have varying amounts of time, money, and energy. We have different ideas of what we want to do. We have different priorities. We have different skill levels. We like different eras, different makes, colors, options. Diversity is a good thing. What if we all wanted the same car, year, model, etc.?”

Diverse subjects but excellent topics and top notch authors...

So, there is no magic Top Ten list. You could focus on individual marques (hopefully, ones that are in your garage), racing, engineering, repair and restoration, racecar driver biographies and circuit/race histories, industry analysis, domestic v. foreign, not to mention the triumvirate that seem to dominate bookstores these days: of NASCAR, Harleys, and hot rods (no comment). If you asked a Brit, he would come up with names like Anthony Blight, William Boddy, Doug Nye, William Court Chris Nixon, and Jeremy Walton. A Frenchman or Italian would have different names. It’s a big world, car collecting.

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European Grand Prix 2012: Proper Attire

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Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso

By Pete Vack
Photos courtesy and copyright Ferrari Media

Alonso and team manages tires to win Grand Prix of Europe

Valencia, Spain, June 24 2012
What Pirelli taketh away, Pirelli giveth. Last Sunday in Spain, on lap 35 Fernando Alonso took the lead from a confident Sebastian Vettel, whose Red Bull mysteriously stopped on the course. [Read more…] about European Grand Prix 2012: Proper Attire

Rally New Zealand in English and Italian

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By Roberto Motta

Photos courtesy of Citroën and Ford World Rally Team Communication.

Sebastien Loeb won the Brother Rally New Zealand and concluded the first half of the season with a distinct advantage over team-mate Hirvonen. With the win in New Zealand, Loeb took his third consecutive victory and was thus awarded even more valuable points in the standings. He can now begin to think more seriously about winning the Championship.
[Read more…] about Rally New Zealand in English and Italian

Our Features This Week, June 20th 2012

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Alfasud Extravaganza!

Six articles on the Alfasud; TI Trofeo in English and Italian by Roberto Motta, two original brochures, a full history of the models and eight things the Editor forgot about the Sud. Plus Brandes Elitch on car magazines and Philippe Defechereux on Red Bull and Vettel in New Jersey. Enjoy and Subscribe!

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The Constant Search, Part 1

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By Brandes Elitch

Collecting Automotive Books and Literature

In 1982, a British book dealer named Charles Mortimer published a book called The Constant Search, Collecting Motoring and Motorcycling Books. Mortimer started his business during WWII, and spent half a century doing research for this book. At the time, he believed he had chronicled, in 40 different categories, everything published to that date on this subject. In addition to this bibliography, he included chapters on how to start a collection, whether to specialize or not, and how to store and display printed material. Mortimer started at the dawn of the automotive age, so this was an ambitious project. Today, I wonder if it would even be possible to chronicle all the published material on this subject in just the last 30 years. There weren’t a lot of new books about what we call “automobilia” in the sixties and seventies, but starting perhaps 20 years ago there has been a veritable explosion in published material. In this brief article, I would like to touch on some interesting aspects of automotive journalism and book collecting for the car enthusiast. My sense is that almost every car collector has also built up a book, periodical, manual, and literature collection, at least that has been my experience. [Read more…] about The Constant Search, Part 1

Manhattan Skyline unites all in favor of New Jersey “Grand Prix of America” Formula 1 Race in 2013

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Strategic placement: You feel you’re in New Jersey and New York all at once!

By Philippe Defechereux
Photos courtesy Maria Jannace of Maxim Sports Management, Inc. unless othewise noted

It was a glorious June Monday ceilinged by a cloudless blue sky; perfect for a first ride from Manhattan’s West 39th Street US Waterway Ferry Terminal to its counterpart across the river at Port Imperial. The pleasant eight-minute trip took us to the official press presentation of the developing Grand Prix of America site, starring the promoters, local elected official and, most important, Sebastian Vettel – due to drive several preview laps on the actual street course, then share his impressions.
[Read more…] about Manhattan Skyline unites all in favor of New Jersey “Grand Prix of America” Formula 1 Race in 2013

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