VeloceToday.com

The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts

Interview With Marco Cajani of Scuderia del Portello in Italian and English

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Marco Cajani with the Alfa T33 and a variety of Alfas used by Scuderia Portello.

Story and Photos By Roberto Motta unless otherwise noted.

NEW! Scroll down for the Italian language version.

Most vintage car enthusiasts are aware of the famous Scuderia del Portello, named after the town near Milan where Alfa Romeo was born. Its distinctive shield has been seen all over the world on a great variety of Alfa Romeos. To learn more about the Scuderia del Portello and its president Marco Cajani, we had a meeting with him in the team headquarters in the town of Seregno. We found that Cajani is an inexhaustible source of ideas, a passionate collector and a good driver. During his life with cars, thanks to his organizational skills and an innate charisma, he was able to bring the world famous Scuderia del Portello to new levels of excellence. A graduate in architecture, Cajani is responsible for recovery and building restoration. But the Alfa Romeo is his great passion, a passion that binds him hand in glove with the Scuderia del Portello.

But who is Marco Cajani and what is his background? We’ll let him tell his story without interruption:
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Inside Scuderia del Portello with Roberto Motta

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A group of Alfa 1300 Berlinas waiting for their day in the sun.

Roberto Motta gets an exclusive look at the jewels in the Scuderia del Portello. All photos by Roberto Motta unless othewise noted.

Scuderia Portello has been at the forefront of Italian Vintage Racing since its creation in 1989. At first a small but enthusiastic group of Alfa owners began competing in European vintage car events, but as the sport grew the Scuderia was also entrusted by the company of Alfa Romeo to manage the appearances and transportation of the Arese Museums’ jewels. ( See Interview with Marco Cajani, President, Scuderia del Portello )
Below is the lair of the famous Scuderia, opened to our correspondent Roberto Motta. It is not open to the public and naturally discretion is always optimum.
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Mille Miglia at Brescia with Alessandro Gerelli

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One of our most outstanding long term contributors has been the Milanese Alessandro Gerelli who first came to these pages in 2002 with a story about his experiences at Monza: Monza, a Personal Look.

From then on Gerelli has never stopped filing excellent stories from all over Europe and the U.K, and even the United States. From 2004 on, Alessandro provided the color in blue and red for every single Mille Miglia event, rain or shine.

As we kickoff VeloceToday’s First Ten Years Celebration (yes, it’s been that long), we present the below urls from Gerelli’s coverage of this great event since 2004, and cap it off with the Mille Miglia of 2011.

We thank you again, Mr. Gerelli!
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This Week, of Interest

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Welcome to VeloceToday! Please scroll down to read: Rally Sardinia in Italian and English, The OSCA GT S/N 0094, Broadway Bugattis, and F1 in Turkey.

Morry Barmak sent us a brief description of a sign he just acquired that may be of interest to our readers. It’s pricey, but certainly caught our attention! If you are interested, drop us a line at pete@velocetoday.com.

Has anyone seen this car? This car was built by Andy Schwartz in the early 2000s. At the time he was an engineer with the Ford racing group but is currently not working there. He built this car in his home workshop from his own design using basically stock Cosworth Vega engine. We have not been able to locate Mr. Schwartz or the car. Can you help? Email pete@velocetoday.com.

We received an email from Bill Miller, who happened to purchase some items from the estate of the late John Bentley, who passed away on 10/26/98. Email pete@velocetoday if you are interested in purchasing these rare items. Omega watch engraved on the back as follows: 12 Hours Of Sebring 1st place Index of Performance 3/26/60. Helmet and software, SCCA driver’s license.

The Fabulous OSCA 1600 GT

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Childe Freeman's OSCA 1600GT Zagato of the double bubble variety, S/N 0094.

By Antony Childe-Freeman and Mark R. Brinker

You’ve already read about the exploits of the OSCA 1600GT at Le Mans. Here’s a bit more history of the car itself, with a focus on another ex racer, S/N 0094.

The OSCA 1600 GT Zagato is perhaps one of the most underappreciated and misunderstood GT cars of the post war era. Signaling a close to the Maserati brothers dynasty and remaining in the shadow of the legendary OSCA MT-4 (overall winner at Sebring in 1954), the 1600 GT emerged with a very different goal in mind; to produce an agile and stylish coupe. The results were an international success.

The OSCA 1600 GT Zagato prototype debuted at the 1960 Turin Auto Show. The car was tested by Ludovico Scarfiotti (Auto Italiana Sport, February 1, 1961), receiving rave reviews. The Maserati brothers knew they had a winner. OSCA 1600 GT Zagato production quickly commenced.

An All-New Tubular Chassis
The 1600 GT was built on a specially designed tubular OSCA chassis, not on a Fiat 1500 or 1600 unit as some authors have incorrectly described. The chassis for the 1600 GT was constructed at the OSCA factory with some components sub-contracted out. The wheelbase was 2250mm (88.5 inches), 50mm longer than the MT-4. The majority of cars were equipped with independent suspension front and rear, although a few cars had live axle rear suspension. The rear live axle, also known as the Ponte Rigido (PR), was a less expensive alternative, but also used on the Le Mans Experimental flat topped OSCA Zagato s/n 0036.

Alberto Luti in 0094 before the start of the Ascoli-Colle San Marco event.

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Rally Sardinia 2011 In English and Italian

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Fords few high but couldn't stop the Citroens.

By Roberto Motta

Photo credits: Citroën Communication, Abu Dhabi World Rally Team, BMW and Volkswagen-Press-Media

After victories in Mexico, Portugal and Jordan, the DS3 WRC Citroen won a fourth consecutive victory on dirt, allowing Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena to achieve a major success that helps them to strengthen their leading position in the drivers’ standings World Rally Championship. Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia finished in fourth place scoring valuable points for Citroën Total World Rally Team, which is also leading the standings in the Constructors’ Championship.
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Rally Sardinia in Photos

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Mini Clubman WRC.

Photo credits: Citroën Communication, Abu Dhabi World Rally Team, BMW and Volkswagen-Press-Media

One of the most interesting aspects (and there are many) of the WRC is the fantastic photography made available via the press services of all the major players. Italian Editor Roberto Motta and I have developed a way to sort through the hundreds of images that Motta gets after each event. He will sort through and send me as many as one hundred images, and from there I’ll pick 20-30 for the article, or as in this case, articles. It is always a difficult joy to make the selections.
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Bugattis On Broadway

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It is hard to attract a crowd on Broadway. It takes something like a Bugatti Veyron, suitably roped off to get bystanders to notice. And that is what you need to wear, automotive wise, in NYC to get gawkers. Photo by Werner Pfister.

Story and photos by Werner Pfister

Not one but two Bugattis debuted on Broadway recently. A White Grand Sport and an all Blue Carbon Fiber Super Sport were displayed in front of the landmark Sardi’s Restaurant on West 44th Street in New York. It is most appropriate that the latest Bugattis had their coming out party at Sardi’s which is a Broadway institution after being located continuously for 90 years in the Theater District. [Read more…] about Bugattis On Broadway

Turkish Grand Prix

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The start of the Turkish Grand Prix.

By Erik Nielsen
Photos courtesy Ferrari Media

Several years ago, Ferrari fans were perfectly happy with routines. Michael Schumacher would have a flawless qualifying session, have an uneventful race and cross the line with a gap to second place that could occasionally be measured with a calendar, rather than a stop watch. But should the same type of performance happen from another driver and team combination, the talk quickly changes to how F1 has lost its magic and it is more about the money than the show. It was about the money back then, too, but one didn’t feel like a complete futz for spending $30 for a coffee cup with the scudetto on the side of it when your team was winning.
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This Week, of Interest

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Some articles you may enjoy….

Driving the RLSS Alfa
Being able to drive both the Alfa 8C 2300 and the much earlier Alfa RLSS meant that we were given the even rarer opportunity to drive the work of both Giuseppe Merosi and Vittorio Jano. We’ll tell you which was more fun and why.
Click here

Solving the Mystery of the Lancia Special
We were just beginning to think that the case of the Lancia Mystery car would go unsolved. It was probably a one off, and it was described as having mechanical components from a Lancia Aprilia, including the engine, transmission, and front end, connect by a ladder chassis.
Click here

Below are Roberto Motta’s sketch of Michele Alboreto in both English and Italian, Alboreto’s life in photos, Matra in both English and Mp3, and a dueling book review and aliens at Le Mans. They are all free. So scroll down and enjoy!

Matra’s V12: Upholding the Honor of the French

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The Matra MS12 V12, 1970. Photo by Brandes Elitch. To listen to the Matra V12, click on the photo.

By Brandes Elitch with photos and music by John Sexton

Matra has a wonderful history of building successful racing cars, but it is a name unknown to most Americans. The French love acronyms: Matra stands for Engins Mechanique Aviation-Traction, SA. It is an old company, founded in 1941 by Marcel Chassagny. It was and is an aerospace company and arms manufacturer for the French government.

In 1964, with absolutely no automotive racing experience, Chassagny tapped one of his engineers, Jean-Luc Lagardere, also without any automotive background, to create a new enterprise to build race cars: Matra Sports. He assembled a team, one of which, Andre Legan, summoned his friend Bernard Boyer by saying, “Bernard, on est chez les fous; il faut venir!” This could be translated as, “Everyone here is crazy; you must get over here!” Lagardere announced at the outset that within a few years, they would win both LeMans and a Formula One Championship – no wonder they thought him mad! But when it was all over, Matra had won at F-1 (1969, including the Constructors and Driver’s F1 World Championship) and captured the Manufacturer’s World Championship (1973 and 1974), and won LeMans in 1972, 1973, and 1974.

Rene Bonnet began producing the Djet with a 1108cc Renault engine in the rear, fiberglas body and four wheel disc brakes, but Matra took ownership in 1964 and continued to produce the Djet.

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Remembering Michele Alboreto: In English and Italian

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Michele Alboreto, 1956-2001. Credit Audi Motorsport.

This article appears in Italian below the English text.

For more images of Michele Alboreto’s life, see “Michele Alboreto, A Life in Photos”.

Ten years ago last month on April 25th, Michele Alboreto died in Germany during a private test with the Audi R8 with which he was to have participated in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The causes have not been completely clarified, and it seems that the accident was caused by progressive failure of the rear tire.

By Roberto Motta

Michele Alboreto was one of the best Italian drivers and the last Italian driver anointed by Enzo Ferrari, who saw in him the heir to the throne of Alberto Ascari.

Alboreto had a great talent and an uncommon determination but unfortunately he was never a truly successful driver, mainly due to a lack of luck.

His career began in 1976 in Formula Monza events at Monza. His first car was an old Vargiu, built in 1967. Michele had purchased this in partnership with his friend Alberto Hertel. (Formula Monza was an entry class for young driver. The cars were powered by a 500cc engine of the same type as used on the Fiat 500 Giardinetta.)

In the beginning at Monza, circa 1976. Can you help identify the car?

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