The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts
A Franco-American Love Story
By Philippe Defechereux © 2008
This is the tale of a long love affair spanning two generations and reaching across the Atlantic Ocean. The object of love is a little French racer (photo below) made by Deutsch-Bonnet, a manufacturer of highly successful small-bore racing cars that reigned supreme in their class between 1952 and 1962 from Le Mans to Sebring, FL.
Franco-American Love Story
By Philippe Defechereux © 2008
To read Part I, click here.
To read Part III, click here.
Our tale of the extraordinary love affair between a small French car maker, Deutsch-Bonnet, and an American father-son pair, tied to the birth and future success of the Sebring Twelve-Hours, continues in this issue.
Franco-American Love Story
By Philippe Defechereux © 2008
To read Part I, click here.
To read Part II, click here.
Our tale of the extraordinary love affair between a small French car maker, Deutsch-Bonnet, and an American father-son pair, tied to the birth and future success of the Sebring Twelve-Hours, concludes in this issue.
This year marked the 17th annual Ferrari event in Palm Beach hosted by John and Alicia Barnes. Entitled “A Convention of Ferrari Owners and Enthusiasts…†it delivered as promised with even more things to do this year than during any of the previous sixteen.
[Read more…] about Werner Pfister at Cavallino
Story and Photos by Alessandro Gerelli
Scroll down for more photos.
Alessandro Gerelli attended the Automotoretro of Torino and returned with these images of the 2008 event.
Needs light restoration but the chickens are free.
By Pete Vack
On one hand, there is nothing quite so French as the Alpine.
The Alpine A110
On the other, there is something about the Alpine that lures the Italian car enthusiast to the make, yet not quite sure of what to think of it. Perhaps a sort of a French Abarth; tiny, with a light, tight attractive body, a superb overall design hiding or at least diminishing the prominent proprietary power plant hanging well south of the rear axle, an affectation most notably best-conceived for the Simca Abarths or perhaps the 1000 Monomille.
[Read more…] about The Alpine A110
FERRARI IS BACK
By Erik Nielsen
Photos courtesy and copyright Ferrari Media
Robert Kubica, Stefano Domenicali, Kimi Räikkönen and
Heikki Kovalainen.
March 23, 2008
I made the comment last weekend that McLaren doesn’t need to get their hopes up until they see how fast the competition is. This week Ferrari showed them that the silver arrows are not the fastest cars on the grid this year and it probably will be a long season for everyone. The Scuderia shook off their Australian season opener mess and was on track to have their front row starting grid turn into yet another 1-2 finish, but Massa still has not figured out how to get the most of the car without traction control. One has to imagine that there will be a lot of yelling in Italian and Portuguese this week in Maranello.
Following up on the acclaimed history of D.B. at Sebring,
Philippe Defechereux tells us what became of the French Legends.
By Philippe Defechereux Copyright 2008
What Happened to Deutsch-Bonnet ?
Early in 1962, a partnership that had lasted over twenty years and won so many laurels came apart. Charles Deutsch found out that in December of 1961, René Bonnet had signed a secret agreement to drive for Renault; he would lead a Renault-backed team at the 1962 Le Mans 24-Hours; the cars would be called “René Bonnets.†When Charles Deutsch made Panhard aware of that, they were incensed. Quickly, they hired the betrayed engineer to put together a team of five cars, to be called “C.D. Panhards.†The clear goal was to beat Equipe René Bonnet at Le Mans that very year. The Deutsch-Bonnet company, which from the earliest days had been founded on the basis of verbal agreements and handshakes, was effectively no more. As footnote, the C.D. Panhards beat the René Bonnets fair and square at the 1962 Le Mans race, winning both the Index of Performance and the 850cc class.
A Bit Early For The Silly Season
By Erik Nielsen
Photos courtesy and copyright Ferrari Media
The Start
March 16, 2008
Most of the cold weather projects should be done by now. But, the fact that my Mondial is still up on jack stands in the garage is actually a good metaphor for how the F1 season has started this year.
[Read more…] about Australian Grand Prix