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The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts

The Lancaster Insurance Classic Motor Show

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Story and photos by Jonathan Sharp

Yes, we’ll get to covering all the Italians etc, at the Birmingham show below, but I really have to relate this tale first. I think I first saw a photograph of ‘The Beast” as it is called back in the 1970s in my weekly comic/magazine Speed and Power but I had not seen it in the flesh until I visited this year’s Classic Car show at Birmingham’s NEC, (10-12 November)now called the Lancaster Insurance Classic Motor Show. If you are reading this in the UK then you may remember the court case concerning the car back in the 1980s but first a bit of history. The info below was mostly taken from an article from

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Year in Review: Jouret recalls Dick Merritt

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Merritt with Ferrari 250 LM Stradale, sn 5995.

Story by Jackie Jouret
Photos courtesy Kendall Merritt and Chris Cooper

From the Archives, January 2023

For a newcomer to the world of Ferrari, spending a day with Dick Merritt was like sitting at the feet of the master. I’d been named editor of Forza magazine not long before, and I was thrilled to learn about Ferrari history from the man who’d not only started the Ferrari Club of America in 1962 but had imported some of the marque’s most significant cars to the US.

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Gauld and the 1965 Monte Carlo Rally

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Story and photos by Graham Gauld

During the 1960s there was an increased interest in International rallying to boost production car sales. Consequently, we saw a number of interesting race cars appearing from time to time in the bigger events. I was reminded of this recently when someone raised the question of Ferraris taking part in International Rallies but for me one of the most spectacular and successful performances came in the 1965 Monte Carlo Rally when Porsche entered one of their successful Porsche 904 Carrera GTS cars that had been raced for the first time a year earlier at the Sebring 12 Hour race.

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Frank Lance, Lonestar Master Mechanic, Part 6

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Sebring, March 1965. Clad in his Carroll Shelby jacket, Frank Lance signals second place Bruce McLaren during a wet night. Donn Allen seems to be better prepared for the elements. [Photo: Frank Lance Collection]

Story by Willem Oosthoek
All photos from the Willem Oosthoek Collection, unless stated otherwise.

Enticed away from the Mecom Racing Team by Donn Allen, with the promise of a higher pay, and especially overtime pay, Frank Lance joined Shelby American in California. He left Houston in July 1964.

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St. James Concours and the RM Auction

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B20s for sale.

Story and photos by Jonathan Sharp

I only popped into the RM/Sotheby’s London auction just to have a quick look around and perhaps grab a coffee. It was never in my remit to take any photographs of the auction; my visit to London was just to cover the St James’s concours adjacent to the auction but you know what us photographers are like!

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Musk, Madison Avenue and the Moon

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Chowder Society Breaks Bread with Tesla: Tradition and Revolution Had a Great First Date

© Philippe H. Defechereux 2018

All photos by P. H. Defechereux except where otherwise noted

From the Archives, February 2018

On the eve of Valentine’s Day, Tuesday, February 13, 2018, there took place a ‘”first date” in Manhattan, NY. between two seemingly improbable parties: the venerable but still vigorous and lively Madison Avenue Sports Car Driving and Chowder Society (M.A.S.C.D.C.S.), turning 61 in March; and Tesla Motors Inc., still wet-behind-the-ears at only 15. Intriguingly, nothing was inappropriate about that pre-Valentine first meet luncheon. [Read more…] about Musk, Madison Avenue and the Moon

Vanhoolandt at the Abarth Works Museum

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Guy Moerenhout with the 1958 Abarth 750 Record Monza which was part of Franklin Delano Roosevelt Jr.’s team and which took part in the Florida International Grand Prix of Endurance at Sebring in 1962.

Story and photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt

It’s been a long time since I promised myself a visit to

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Abarth Works Museum Hosts Simca and Gordini

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Guy Moerenhout’s Abarth Works Museum is a must for any Italian car enthusiast. Get there before January 7 while the Italian French Affair is still on display.

Story and photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt

In addition to the remarkable collection of Abarths at

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Frank Lance, Lonestar Master Mechanic, Part 5

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Nassau, December 1963. Frank Lance [right] and Roger Penske next to the Traco Chevy-powered Cooper Monaco that Penske would race. Lining up next, the 2-liter MRT Special [the original Zerex-Duralite], the Scarab/Chevy and one of the Grand Sport Corvettes. [photo: Frank Lance Collection]

Story by Willem Oosthoek
All photos by Flip Schulke [Willem Oosthoek Collection], unless stated otherwise.

When Frank Lance joined the Mecom Racing Team in November 1963, John Mecom had already been involved in road racing for almost two years. Not as a driver, but as a team owner. John’s dad, who ran an oil exploration business out of Houston and, at one time, was among the six richest independent oilmen in the world, would not allow his son to race himself. In 1962 John was 21 years old and his first competition car was a Corvette, raced by Frank’s former colleague at CSSCI, Bob Schroeder. He and Mecom made a trip to Modena and visited the workshop of Alejandro de Tomaso [essentially a two-car garage according to Schroeder] to become the Argentinian’s best customer.

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Shannons Adelaide Rally, 17-19 November 2023

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Lachlan Cox & Sam Martin, 1970 Ford Escort Mk 1, Dean Cook & Sean Bennett, 1971 Ford Escort twin cam, Challenge, Gouger Street

Story and photos by Vince Johnson

Perfect South Australian spring weather greeted teams, officials and spectators for the 2023 Shannons Adelaide Rally. As last year, the capital was already in motorsport mode with preparations for the following weekend’s V8 Supercars races on the city’s street circuit. The rally cars had more room to move, heading out each day to closed road stages in the surrounding hills. [Read more…] about Shannons Adelaide Rally, 17-19 November 2023

Frank Lance, Lonestar Master Mechanic Part 4

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Daytona, February 1962. Two Chaparrals lining up for the start. Jim Hall would race the white #66, while Dick Rathmann of Indianapolis fame was assigned to run Harry Heuer’s blue #0. [photo by Art Huttinger]

Story by Willem Oosthoek
All photos by Bob Jackson [Willem Oosthoek Collection], unless stated otherwise.

With both his successful Maseratis sold during 1961, Jim Hall would race the new season with three other cars: the Troutman-Barnes Chaparral and a pair of 2.5-liter Climax-engined Lotuses, formerly Formula One cars, now racing as InterContinental Formula entries [ICF] in several USAC events.

At Daytona in February, for the inaugural 3-hour Continental race, the first two Chapparals built lined up next to each other for the Le Mans start. Hall did well by finishing 3rd overall behind winner Dan Gurney [Arciero Lotus 19/Climax] and Phil Hill/Ricardo Rodriguez [NART Ferrari Dino 246S], but Rathmann’s ride was outstanding. In spite of a delayed start, losing almost two laps due to engine flooding, and a time penalty for a bungled fuel stop, Dick broke the track record a number of times to finish 6th overall. According to the Daytona program, their Chevy V8s measured 5,227 cc [around 329 cu in] but that would change.

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Epoqu’Auto at Lyon Part 1

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A 1950 Talbot T15 Baby coach by Pourtout powered by the 4 cylinder 2.7-litre of 127 bhp.

Story and photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt

Read Part 2

Organized for the 44th time, the Epoqu’Auto show in Lyon has experienced uninterrupted growth in recent years to reach a surface area of 80,000 m2 and 850 exhibitors. As every year, different themes are offered to the 95,000 visitors: Peugeot, Talbot, Cadillac but also the rally exhibition and the auction. What also gives this provincial show its charm are the numerous brand clubs presenting vehicles rarely seen elsewhere, in contrast to Retromobile in Paris where there are many more car dealers, which makes Paris a more commercial show.

Now let’s see what was shown in terms of Talbot and Peugeot.

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