Amilcar: The Poor Man’s Bugatti
Vintage Motorphoto’s Dale LaFollette recently found this remarkable, captivating photo of the Indy Delage. Click to enlarge.
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
Art by Wallace Wyss
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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Our Features This Week, November 30
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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