The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts
All photos by Alessandro Gerelli
Retro, Paris, February, 2010
Alfas at the Bonham’s Auction
Alfa Romeo Ondine saloon of 1962 (sold for 4945 Euro).
Not all race cars at the Desert Classic will be Indy cars. This is Bill Pope’s Maserati 8CM that won a 2nd place ribbon at Pebble Beach last summer.
Michael T. Lynch
The fourth edition of the Palm Springs Desert Classic Concours d’Elegance will be held over the weekend of February 26-27 at the famed La Quinta Resort and Club in the desert spa area of Southern California.
A modern concours is more than just a car show, and the weekend of February 19-20 will see the inaugural Desert Classic Vintage Race, sanctioned by the Vintage Auto Racing Association, at the new 16-turn Chuckwalla Valley Raceway just down the road from La Quinta. This will kick off a Desert Classic Speedweek celebration.
[Read more…] about Desert Classic Celebrates Indianapolis 500 Centenary
Alonso out in the Spanish sun for a weekend of testing.
By Roberto Motta
Photos: Ferrari-Media
Thursday and Friday 10-11 February, 2011 Massa Up
Andalusian circuit of Jerez de la Frontera; F1 testing take two. Felipe Massa started testing in the early morning at the wheel of of his Ferrari F150 Italia. The Brazilian driver’s program has the same objectives as last week at Valencia; finding the best set-up for the car, increasing understanding of the Pirelli tyres behaviour, aerodynamic testing and starts.
[Read more…] about Ferrari 150 Italia Tests at Jerez
Commentary By Brandes Elitch
Last week (February 7th), two different cars were listed for sale on eBay Motors. While they appear to have nothing in common, these two listings raise some important questions. The first, item 220734001769, was a 1952 Ferrari 212 Pinin Farina coupe. To quote from the listing, “212 body in great condition, mounted on a metal dolly with wheels to roll around…it is unbelievable…you could fit an American engine and chassis and have a half million dollar look at the country club. The chassis and engine was used to build a beautiful 212 Touring- bodied barchetta.”
[Read more…] about Delage and Ferrari in the Barn: Reality as a Concept
Peter Whitehead hustles his four-seat racer through a turn. Photo by Racecarshot.com.
By Brian Winer
You would think, in a country like Italy, that once seeing Ferrari V12s or Maserati V8s in action, any Italians thinking of building high performance cars to compete with them would throw up their hands and say “It is useless to compete—you cannot improve upon perfection.”
And then there were guys like Renzo Rivolta who, after venturing from the refrigerator making business into cars with the tiny BMW Isetta in the fifties, decided to make a grand touring coupe.
Not using an Italian engine, of great complexity and cost, but an off the shelf Chevy V8 with an iron block, iron heads, overhead valves, low tech but high horsepower.
The result? A four seater coupe that can be out there on the same race course as a Ferrari or Maserati four-seater and blow their doors off. And if you live in the U.S. and blow a part, hey, you stop at Auto Zone or the nearest junkyard. Try that with your Ferrari or Maser.
The first Rivolta was shown in the Turin show in 1962. If you dig into its history you find that it actually was a phoenix arising out of the ashes of a British project called the Gordon Keeble.
Alonso tries out the new car at Valenica.
By Roberto Motta
Photos: Ferrari-Media
After three days of testing on Valencia’s Circuit Ricardo Tormo, the team returned to Maranello to analyzing the data collected.
Fernando Alonso gave the F150 its official track debut; on February 1st the Spanish driver worked mainly on general car development and on gaining further understanding of the Pirelli tires. Alonso and the F150 completed 98 laps without any significant technical problems.
[Read more…] about Ferrari Completes First Week of Testing in Valencia
1965. These Renault Service vans became part of the French landscape of the course of thirty years.
All photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt
Hugues Vanhoolandt captures the color of the R4 at Retro between the calendar of events for the R4 Celebrations for 2011.
[Read more…] about Renault R4 Calendar of Events for 2011
This week, we present our second Premium article, Gilda, the Movie, the Star, the Inspiration. It is another in a growing series of articles now available for our Premium members. For the many who have subscribed, thanks and there is far more to come!
Gilda is followed by four freebies so be sure to scroll down:
TV Series contract for Wyss Shelby Book
Ferrari F150 F1 in detail
Cavallino XX , The Breakers
Palm Beach International, Mar-a-Lago
By Pete Vack
What does an engineer in Italy, a Brooklyn-born American movie star and a car shown at the 1955 Turin Auto Show have in common? Gilda, of course, a movie produced by Columbia Studios in 1946 and directed by Charles Vidor.
For Engineer Giovanni Savonuzzi, Rita Hayworth’s unforgettable performance as Gilda prompted him to christen his latest most
Local Boy Makes Good; didn’tcha always want to write that headline? Me too, and we at VeloceToday are very happy to finally use it this week. Mr. Wyss, our own “local boy” who has been writing for VelcoeToday since 2008 may be on the brink of something big.
Of the four in the cover photo, only Shel is still around.
On January 26th, FremantleMedia Enterprises (FME), the commercial and brand extension arm of FremantleMedia, announced that Scott Free Inc. has joined Headline Pictures, Sennet Entertainment and FME on The Drivers, a series based on the high-octane 24 hour motor race in Le Mans during the 1950s/1960s. The series is based upon a book Shelby: The Man The Cars The Legend, written by Wallace A. Wyss and optioned to the famous production team from his publisher, Iconografix. Topny and Ridley Scott(director of the movies Alien and Blade Runner) will be co-producing the drama with Headline Pictures and Sennet Entertainment; FME is funding the project as part of their global drama strategy to develop and package drama series for the international market. [Read more…] about The Drivers TV Series Announced: Local Boy Makes Good
Big change: KERS and Pirellis for the new F150.
By Roberto Motta
Photos: Ferrari-Media
On Friday, January 28, the presentation of the new Ferrari F150 signaled the start of the new F1 season at Maranello.
[Read more…] about Ferrari Unveils the F150 With One Objective: To Win