Graham Gauld: By The Way
This Dino 206S was seen again at the Algarve Historic Festival in Portugal. Here it is in 1965 at the Cesana-Torinese hill climb, its first outing as a hill climb car. Driver Ludovico Scarfiotti has his back to the camera and team manager Eugenio Dragoni.
Four from Portugal, by Graham Gauld
I have been humbled by the response to the first column and only hope I can keep you entertained for a few more months. I think one of the problems is that each chance meeting or race meeting provides an opportunity to dig out even more stories to flesh out information we have on some of the odder pieces of motor sport history. They might otherwise disappear when boring old farts like me arrive at the eventual pit stop hopefully in the sky.
This opportunity to flesh out more information was underlined for me a couple of weeks ago at the final big International European historic meeting, the Algarve Historic Festival in Portugal.
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1957 Ferrari Transporter in 1/18 Scale
Ferrari's means of getting to the track in the 1960s.
Story and photos by Marshall Buck
I’m not sure exactly what it is, but there is something hypnotically attractive about vintage racing car transporters. I’m talking about the kind from the 1930s through the 1960s. Just like the rare competition cars they carry, old race transporters draw crowds anywhere they park. Especially the vintage European kind, of which there have been so very many types, configurations, and manufacturers of. Numerous magazine articles have been written, and even a couple of books have been published on them.
Big pencil, even bigger model!
Old race transporters appear to be one of the next phases of collector vehicles within the Vintage race car community. They are the “in” thing, and they are very cool. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if someday in the future, you find a special showing of these at one of the premier concours. Stranger things have happened.
Imposing rear view, and gives just a hint of extensive and complete underside detail.
The World’s Most Successful Driver: In English and Italian
By Roberto Motta
Photos courtesy of Citroën Communication
With the conquest of the 2011 FIA World Rally Championship, Sébastien Loeb won his eighth straight title, and became the most successful driver in the history of motorsport.
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The Most Successful Series in the 10 years of VeloceToday
Eric Davison’s stirring memoirs of his family and the early years at Watkins Glen evoked many great comments from young and old alike. The series is over, but PDFs of each chapter and the CD of the Davison/Lance photos are still available for Premium Subscribers.
If you are NOT a member, subscribe to our Premium Service now at receive a Free Watkins Glen CD while supplies last! Click below for details.
Our Features This Week, November 23rd
More features and reports below!
Boniface Picnic Benefits St. Elizabeth Health Center
By Carl Goodwin
Photos by Chuck Hazle
The Annual Ray Boniface Picnic is more than a car show. It’s a way to make free breast cancer exams available to women in eastern Ohio who could not otherwise afford one. The Picnic raises money for and schedules two yearly programs providing free mammograms for women in the Warren and Youngstown area of Ohio.
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Lewis Tests with Ferrari: In English and Italian
Michael Lewis and Sergio Campana ready to test the F60 at Vallelunga.
Golden season continues for Michael Lewis:
He tests in the Ferrari F60; joins the FIA Institutes young driver excellence academy
By Roberto Motta
Photos: ACI Sport Italia and Ferrari-Media
On November 15, Michael Lewis and Sergio Campana achieved one of their wildest dreams: to drive a Ferrari Formula One.
The test is reserved for winners of the Italian Formula 3 Championship, and was organized by the Ferrari Driver Academy in collaboration with the ACI-CSAI and the Federal School of Vallelunga.
Both drivers had access to the Ferrari F60, Ferrari cars which took part in the World Championship in the 2009 season.
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Sergio Scaglietti: 1920-2011
Sergio Scaglietti (l) is seen here with Piero Ferrari. Piero issued the following statement; 'He was one of my father’s best friends. He was next to me with Marco Piccinini also the day my father died and stayed with me the whole night until the funeral. I loved him and he was a very important part of my life. The world is emptier without Sergio.'
By Michael T. Lynch
The world has lost one of the great artisans of immediate post-World War II coachbuilding. Sergio Scaglietti died last Saturday night at his home. A son of Modena born in 1920, he joined his brother at Carrozzeria Emiliana when he was just 13, a year short of what Italian labor laws of the time allowed. This was due to the death of his father and the need for family income.
McDonough Drives a Delahaye 135M Skiff
By Ed McDonough
Photos by Mike Jiggle
It isn’t really fair to call this car a Guillore Delahaye. It might be more accurate to say that a Guillore ferry has been transformed into a racy Delahaye ‘skiff’, for indeed that is the interesting history of this 1938 135M.
As mentioned in our introductory piece, pre-war Delahayes had bodies designed and built by a very wide range of European coachbuilders, and that range covered the spectrum from fairly simple to wildly extravagant. The Guillore cars were generally at the former end of that spectrum characteristic of the Delahaye output in the immediate pre-war and post-war periods.
At 1300 kilograms, the Guillore skiff flies...if you can say that about a boat-shaped device. My only criticism is that as I was lucky enough to be driving, I couldn’t see it go by!
Who was Guillore?
Interview with Michael Cannell, Author of “The Limit”
The book is out, the reviews are rave. The Boston Globe says “The Limit, Life and Death on the 1961 Grand Prix Circuit” reads “like a thriller”; the Wall Street Journal calls it a “well researched chronicle” and “an enthralling history of road racing’s golden era”; USA Today said it “deserves a spot in the library—if not, soon enough, on the DVD rack” Indeed, author Michael Cannell, a lifelong New Yorker who is not a car nut and who doesn’t even own one, sold the rights to the movie before the book was even written.
For us hardcore euro-car-nuts, much ado about an old subject. But Cannell thought that the story of Phil Hill and von Trips would resonate with today’s audience, and apparently he was right. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Spiderman Tobey Maguire snapped up the rights to develop the project at Columbia Pictures long before the book was published, perhaps in an attempt to keep ahead of filmmaker Ron Howard, who will begin shooting the Lauda/Hunt epic, “Rush”, in February. Then there is A.J. Baime’s “Go Like Hell”, also presumably in the process of getting to the big screen, not to forget that Wallace Wyss’s book SHELBY: The Man The Cars The Legend has also optioned its movie rights to a film producer.
VeloceToday will review “The Limit” in depth next week. But even before the book was published, Wally Wyss caught up with author Michael Cannell, and asked all the right questions. His interview follows.
Interview by Wallace Wyss
Wyss: Mike, what is your background? Are you a car guy per se?
Cannell: Strangely enough, I’m not a car guy. Quite the contrary, in fact. As a lifelong New Yorker, I don’t own a car. And I’m a pretty poor driver. It is a source of some embarrassment to me that I have shown up to interview great automotive figures in a compact rental car that I can hardly park. [Read more…] about Interview with Michael Cannell, Author of “The Limit”
Best of France and Italy 2011
One of our favorite shows is the “Best of France and Italy”, held every year on the grounds of Woodley Park in the L.A. area. It is low key, a true enthusiasts gathering, and brings out a great variety of unusual French, Italian, Spanish, Brazilian and Czechoslovakian cars. Don Hodgdon was there for us.[Ed.]
Story and photos by Don Hodgdon
Rain was falling when I woke up Sunday morning, but it passed through quickly and I left Santa Barbara under sunny skies. I had thought twice about heading down to Woodley Park, having my doubts that anyone would show up. While the numbers were down from past years, considering the rain there was a good group of cars. Alfas and Fiats, along with a healthy group of Citroens made up the bulk of the show, and I think there were almost as many Tatras (3) as there were Ferraris.
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