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The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts

A Car Life, by Larry Crane

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fiat
Riding with Paul Frere in Ferrari’s F50 at Pista di Fiorano. Notice the side load on the front tire and the lean in the body.

A CONTINUING EDUCATION

A lap of Pista di Fiorano, Ferrari’s on-site testing facility for all production and F1 cars, lived in my head. My first laps there were in a 328GTB. I returned to experience the first Testarossa and again for the 512TR. Then, on the fiftieth anniversary of the marque we were given the opportunity to try the F50. [Read more…] about A Car Life, by Larry Crane

The Racing Fiats: Tiremarks on America PIII

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fiat Fiat 1100 powered Formula Juniors were popular at Watkins Glen in 1959 with three entered in the Seneca Cup–an unrestricted Formula Libre race contested by many large engine sports cars and specials as well as pre-war Grand Prix Maseratis.Walt Hansgen, driving the Cunningham Stanguellini Formula Jr., is greeted by race organizer and director Cameron Argetsinger after winning the race. Photo courtesy of Argetsinger family collection.

By Karl Ludvigsen

Read Part I, Part II

Getting by with a little help from its friends

The Fiat-based Cisitalias that made their racing debut in September of 1946 hit the post-war motoring world like an earthquake. They were developed from the 500 cc Fiat chassis and 1100 cc engine and refined with such niceties as a tubular frame. Designer-builders such as Alfredo Vignale and Pinin Farina helped give Cisitalia its reputation of being the car of tomorrow.
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A Car Life, by Larry Crane

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This is a face that might be hard to like, but easy to love. Lamborghini’s Gallardo Superleggera is, as CEO Winkelmann will enthusiastically, and repeatedly explain, “We do not make exotic cars, it is a super sports car.”

LAMBO LITE

A Lamborghini with attitude–no news there! No. I mean BAD attitude–like at the edge of rage. The Superleggera shares the Gallardo’s odd V-10 warble in its everyday traffic mode, but as it is allowed past 5000 revs, it gets angry (very angry!) inside and out. As the valve timing reaches near-contact overlap and the exhaust pressure finds the now well-established route around the baffles, it makes you want to pay attention. It also tempts you to pay something painfully close to a quarter of a million U.S. dollars for the pleasure of that entertainment. Worth it? Got it?
[Read more…] about A Car Life, by Larry Crane

The Racing Fiats: Tiremarks on America PII

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fiat
Part II brings us to mid-century, when Fiat was offering very sporting small displacement cars such as this rare 1100 S driven here by Tony Pompeo at Waktins Glen. Photo by Frank Shaffer.

By Karl Ludvigsen

Read Part I

The Saga of David Bruce-Brown

David Bruce-Brown, an 18-year-old prep-school lad whose mother was listed in New York’s social register, came on the scene in time for the American Grand Prize races. Driving Fiats for most of his brief but meteoric career, Bruce-Brown broke Willie Vanderbilt’s mile record at Daytona Beach in 1908. [Read more…] about The Racing Fiats: Tiremarks on America PII

French Classics, 2009 Techno Classica Essen

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1958 Radovitch. Based on the Peugeot 403 4-door saloon, it was built by a French coachbuilder from Reims (France). Only one known to exist.

Photos and Captions by Hugues Vanhoolandt

Bugatti celebrates 100 years, Talbots and oddities abound


1912 Bugatti Type 15. Built between 1909 and 1914, this is the first automobile launched under Ettore Bugatti’s name. It was an immediate success and the archetype for many later high performance sports cars.

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Lambos, Ferraris Duke it out Down Under

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Quarterback Shirts Lamborghini Gallardo Mark Eddy mixes it up with the domineering Porsches.

Australian GT Series, Round 1, Adelaide, 19 – 22 March 2009

Storya and Photos by Vince Johnson

South Australia’s Adelaide street circuit hosted the first three races in Round 1 of the 2009 Australian GT Series during the Clipsal 500 weekend in March.
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A Car Life, by Larry Crane

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Enzo Ferrari.

An audience with the pope of motorsport

The technical briefing was winding down. A dozen American journalists were asking questions, the depth of which suggest the knowledge/experience of the source. We had been in a half-lit room watching and listening and interrogating the bright young engineering talent of Ferrari’s future for over an hour. The room was softly lit by sunlight making its way through the translucent drapes across the wall in front of us. Dr. Emelio Anchisi, then the Director of Ferrari North America, was looking anxious and mentioned the time to the presenters. Suddenly the door to our right opened and was held open by Piero Lardi Ferrari and in walked his dad. [Read more…] about A Car Life, by Larry Crane

The Racing Fiats: Tiremarks on America

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fiat
Louis Wagner with the Fiat at the Savannah races in 1911. Almost as tall as an average man, the huge Fiats won two of the three American Grand Prize events at Savannah.

Part I

From the Vanderbilt Cup to Indianapolis, from the Grand Prize at Savannah to Sebring, cars by Fiat of Turin, Italy, have competed with distinction in the greatest American racing events since 1904. With the news of Fiat’s deal with Chrysler, Karl Ludvigsen’s three part article about Fiat in America may be more relevant than ever.

by Karl Ludvigsen

Louis Chevrolet, Louis Wagner and Walt Hansgen are among the best-known racing drivers the world has seen. What do they have in common with Don Parkinson, Pietro Bordino and Paul Richards? Just this: all of them were race winners in America driving Fiat-or Fiat-based racing cars. For over a century Americans and racing Fiats have been linked together in the world of auto competition.
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