VeloceToday.com

The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts

F1 Exhibition, London

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Story and photos by Jonathan Sharp

As it says below, F1 comes to London but only as an exhibition, not as a race. Anyway I was lucky enough to be invited to attend the press launch a few days before the exhibition opened so was able to take in the show without the crowds which will no doubt come in droves. During the press event both Damon Hill and Tim Harvey were present to explain more about the ethos of the exhibition and why it came to London as part three of what will probably be a world tour.

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Concorso Italiano, 2024

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1956 Fiat 1100 TV Vignale from the collection of Marco Gastaldi

Story and photos by Brandes Elitch

Concorso Italiano was held on August 17th, 2024, the day before Pebble Beach. It is now a decades-old tradition and a mainstay of the Monterey Car Week. But this is how it began.

In 1984 my friend Joe Duray saw an ad in the San Francisco Chronicle for a 1962 Maserati 3500 GT coupe, located in a lockup in Vallejo. Joe was the only person to respond to the ad, and he got the car, which he has since fully restored. Around that time a gentleman named Francis Mandarano set up a business in Seattle called Maserati Information Exchange.

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The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering 2024

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Story by Brandes Elitch
Photos by Lon Price unless otherwise noted

The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering, was started by Gordon McCall way back in 2003. I have said before in these columns, and it bears repeating, there are two people responsible for creating this wonderful week in August in Monterey: Gordon, for this show and for the Jet Center show, and Steve Earle, for creating the Monterey Historic Automobile Race since 1974, as a way for his friends to exercise their old racecars at Laguna Seca. Every car enthusiast who comes to Monterey in August owes a debt of gratitude to these two men whose genius (and luck) created this ecosystem. Gordon is still in charge of entrant selection for this show. [Read more…] about The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering 2024

Building BAT Better Part 6

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By Paul Wilson

The doors and body sides of my BAT were the last major areas to be built, and not an appealing job–lots of mechanical puzzles and fitting, no real design decisions. So all work and no play.

Well, almost. I did have some fun considering the addition of 300SL-like louvered vents behind the front wheels. They look great on the Mercedes, and would nicely fit that panel behind my car’s front wheels. Both BAT 7 and the 300SL appeared in 1954, so they’re just right for the period.

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Pebble Beach Maserati 2024

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Rear shot of the 3500 GT Bertone

Story and photos by Brandes Elitch 

This year, at the Pebble Beach Concours d ‘Elegance held on August 18, Maserati was a featured class. Just imagine for a moment that you have somehow found yourself on the Selection Committee, and you are tasked with choosing which Maseratis will be accepted and on the field on show day. Historically, the ratio of applicants to cars actually accepted is somewhere around 10:1. You can get better odds at Vegas.

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Itala in the Alps: The Envelope, Please

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Thursday, August 8, 2024
Subject: Veloce Today – Over the Alps Itala mystery (2020 article)
Dear Mr Vack
I came across the piece today that was published on your site back in July 2020, entitled “Itala over the Alps: A 115 Year-old Mystery”and was wondering if you ever solved the mystery? If you have, then I should love to learn more. If not, I think I may have (part, at least, of) the answer.
I look forward to hearing from you.
James Thorne
Company Secretary
Brooklands Museum Trust Ltd
https://www.brooklandsmuseum.com/

[Read more…] about Itala in the Alps: The Envelope, Please

More from Pebble Beach 2024

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1934 Bugatti Type 59 Sports shown by The Pearl Collection/Fritz Burkard, Zug, Switzerland

Story and photos by Brandes Elitch

“This is the only car show where a simple millionaire can beat the billionaires.”-Jay Leno

Car Week, and particularly the show at Pebble Beach, is a spectacle that every car person must experience at least once in their life, if they are lucky. Last year I had the privilege of walking the show with someone who came all the way from Australia for this experience. We met each other for the first time while walking in, and we spent five hours together walking the show – a wonderful time. [Read more…] about More from Pebble Beach 2024

T57, Jollys, Gandini at Cartier Style, Goodwood

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Ferrari’s Jolly

Photos and intro by Jonathan Sharp, captions by Gary Axon

You never know what to expect when you enter the show field for the Cartier Style et Luxe Concours, held annually as part of the Goodwood Festival of Speed. This year on the library lawn near to the stable block visitors were greeted by, amongst many a fine automobile, the sight of a 1977 Volkswagen Polo, probably the best condition 1977 Polo you are ever likely to see but a Polo never the less. Why? Well if you have a class to celebrate the work of Marcello Gandini, and you want to show Gandini designs other than those for Lamborghini (which were of course also on display) then why not a Polo! with a Citroen BX and a Fiat X1/9 to boot. Another sight that I am sure you are unlikely to see on the lawn at Pebble Beach is a Renault Tractor displayed across the way from a Bugatti Type 57!, or a Meyers Manx Beach Buggy near the Felber Ferrari Beach car displayed close to a 40/50 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost. Only Goodwood would do that.

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And How! Giles Chapman

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Giles Chapman and his latest book. Click to go to his website.

When we received Giles Chapman’s latest book we thoroughly enjoyed the short bios and interesting stories that comprised Three Million Miles in a Volvo and other Curious Car Stories These are just perfect for the VeloceToday format, we thought, jealousy. I wonder if Giles might let us use a few of his stories in VT? [Read more…] about And How! Giles Chapman

Walter Lines and the British Toy Industry

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“Three Million Miles in a Volvo and Other Curious Car Stories” arrived here recently and I immediately found Giles Chapman to be a wonderful writer, expertly crafting little known automotive intrigues into literary gems. I couldn’t wait to ask him if we could republish a few chapters in VeloceToday, in exchange for the hopes that our audience would enjoy his work as much as I did. (And therefore buy his books!) Our first selection is typical of his style; take a little known figure and with brevity, knowledge and great skill, tell the reader why the subject is important to us, even if we may not have heard of them. For example, who is Walter Lines and what has he to do with slot cars?-Ed.

By Giles Chapman, from his book, “Three Million Miles in a Volvo and Other Curious Car Stories“

Walter Lines’ first job was cleaning up cows’ tails before they could be cured and nailed to the painted wooden rumps of rocking horses. Born in north London in 1882, he wasn’t quite the unlucky urchin of Victorian, up-the-chimney folklore. But he was obliged to start work in the Tottenham family toy firm G&J Lines, started by his father Joseph and his uncle George, just like his brothers William and Arthur. Each was 14 when he tossed aside his schoolbooks and got stuck in. [Read more…] about Walter Lines and the British Toy Industry

Itala over the Alps: A Mystery Solved?

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Chivasso-Turin 9-9-05 September 9, 1905

The mystery is now 119 years old, as this story was first published in 2020. But we do have a solution, very thoughtfully provided by the Brooklands Museum. Which should give you a clue as to the ownership of the Itala, but we will wait until later to publish the findings. So, this week, let’s look again at what the fuss is all about.-Ed.

By Pete Vack with Dale LaFollette, Aldo Zana and Graham Gauld
Sidebar by Greg Vack

We really enjoy trying to solve automotive mysteries, but this is a real cold case… 115 years old, making it a daunting task.

The twelve photos below, all from 1905, came from the collection of Dale LaFollette, who tells the story of how they were discovered. “Dean Newton was one my partners in Vintage Motorbooks, the collectable book business that we formed in the late 1970s. (Logan Gray owns it today.) Newton found them in a desk drawer and surmised that they had been in a book…we would find all sorts of odds and ends in books we bought.” [Read more…] about Itala over the Alps: A Mystery Solved?

The Restoration of the Caswell BNC

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Isn’t that the ex-Caswell/George Lymber BNC? But it looks, well, restored!

Well, yes, it is, and yes, it was. The history of the little BNC with the flathead Ford was well-told in 2012 by the late Eric Davison. Since then, long time owner George Lymber II died in 2013, and the still unrestored BNC passed to vintage racer Peter McLaughlin*. He embarked upon a four year restoration, something that previous caretakers did not want to do, but if the BNC was to continue be driven, it was soon found that a complete restoration was inevitable. Recently, the restoration project manager, Bob Harrington, contacted us with the details of the rebuild. -Ed

By Bob Harrington

Some time ago, VeloceToday did an article on the BNC. A friend of mine bought the car and at first was just going to get it running, but decided it was too far gone to be able to drive it safely so it was decided to do a complete restoration, which I oversaw. [Read more…] about The Restoration of the Caswell BNC

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