VeloceToday.com

The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts

Unheralded Predecessors: Opposition

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1951 Kieft Norton CK51 would be Stirling Moss’s new mount.

By Pete Vack
Photos by Jonathan Sharp from the Goodwood Revival, 2015.

Of the three victories achieved by non-Cooper cars in 1950, Frank Aikens of Wingco fame won at Silverstone with the Dick Ceasar-designed Iota-Triumph. The Jonsson-driven Effyh won another, and the third defeat was, of course, dealt at Rheims by the JBS, the most serious contender so far. Alfred J. Bottoms’ short career was both wild and meteoric. He was an ex-motorcycle racer who embarked upon an F3 effort in 1950, modifying another special with his own revised rear suspension.

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Unheralded Predecessors: Foreign Competitors

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A beauty from Sweden, the Effyh was like a miniature Auto Union. This example was in the Jack Mayes collection in 1989. Photo by Mary Vack.

By Pete Vack

By the end of ’49, the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile decided to adopt the 500cc class and incorporate it as the new Formula 3, recognizing its potential as a training ground for future Grand Prix drivers. The Paris-based body had not only anticipated the success of the formula, but in 1949, the French Association Generale des Amicales et Coureurs Independants was ready to promote a 500cc class to be known as the Mouvement Racer 500.

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Photo Gallery 3: Allen R. Kuhn, 1959-61

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Story and photos by Allen R. Kuhn

In the lead photo above, Bill Dixon in his #711 Maserati 300S tries to perfect his NASCAR bump draft technique on the rear end of Jack Nethercutt’s Ferrari 250 TR 59/60 at Pomona on January 8, 1961. Nethercutt finished 6th OA and 3rd in DM where as Mr. Dixon was able to get around Jack for 5th OA and 2nd in DM. This race was won by Bill Krause in a Maserati Birdcage Tipo 61, a follow-up to his win at Riverside on October 16, 1960, in the same car. Below are a few photos from 1959 to 1960 in chronological order.

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Graham Gauld: The Pininfarina Sigma

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The revolutionary Sigma Grand Prix car by Pininfarina and powered by Ferrari. Note the Ferrari mag wheels. (Graham Gauld Archives.)

By Graham Gauld

“Some might feel inclined to remark, perhaps in a chiding tone, that this work has seduced us away from what has been our traditional path. We would certainly rebut such a charge.” Those words were uttered by Sergio Pininfarina when his company surprised everyone at the 1969 Geneva Motor Show by showing a startling one-off grand prix car, the Sigma. [Read more…] about Graham Gauld: The Pininfarina Sigma

Pegasos in New York, 1953

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May 23, 1953. The new Pegaso, chassis 0121, poses for a photo at Bridgehampton. Can anyone identify the people? Photo by Robert F. Pauley.

By Pete Vack

With some material from the VeloceToday Archives, April 2017

Not too much mystery about the Pegasos that appeared at Bridgehampton in May of 1953. Two photographers, Robert Pauley and Glen Glendenning were there and photographed two of the Pegasos. Perhaps a mystery was the chassis number of the Z102 model that accompanied the famed “Tea Rose.” That’s where our readers come in! [Read more…] about Pegasos in New York, 1953

Photo Gallery 2: Allen R. Kuhn, 1956-58

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I was really enjoying my Photographer Pass, especially at Paramount Ranch. The elevation changes gave you dramatic angles to catch the cars. Such as this one of Dan Gurney in Frank Arciero’s Ferrari 375 Plus on December 8, 1957. Dan won by 30 seconds over Bob Oker in an Aston Martin.

Story and photos by Allen R. Kuhn

By late 1956 I was really getting into the swing of what and how to shoot, for example Ferrari, particularly the sports racers. But I didn’t know was there would still be a great interest in these cars 40 years later. If I had known that I would have had much different shooting technique. The most important change would have been to use a lot more film. [Read more…] about Photo Gallery 2: Allen R. Kuhn, 1956-58

Unheralded Predecessors: Cooper Ascendent

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Jean Geslin in a Cooper Norton at Pomona. Photo by Allen R. Kuhn

By Pete Vack

Read Part 1

FROM ITALY WITH LOVE

While its first few appearances were plagued by broken motor mounts, John Cooper knew that the Cooper Mk I had potential. His father, Charles Cooper, was a burly Vauxhall dealer and garage owner from Surbiton who had spent a good part of the Thirties as racer Kaye Don’s mechanic, and he allowed his son full access to the shop’s tools and supplies.

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Cobra MK I Chassis History, Vol. 2 Reviewed

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Review by Pete Vack

Read review of Volume 1

Hey Little Cobra…

Oh no, we are not going to bring up that old ditty…
Oh, yes we are, because in Volume 2 of the Shelby Cobra book, author Bob Walker has revealed the full story about the song that made the Cobra famous. Or was it the other way around?
[Read more…] about Cobra MK I Chassis History, Vol. 2 Reviewed

Photo Gallery: Allen R. Kuhn, 1955-56

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Paramount Ranch, November 18, 1956.

Story and photos by Allen R. Kuhn

The Editor has been so kind as to let me post a few images that are the most memorable, to me, from my early years as a photographer and sports car aficionado. Many have never been published before. We both agreed that the lead photo above exemplified what sports car racing in the 1950s was all about. Front row, is #59 Bob Oker, AC Ace Bristol, #2 Dan Gurney, Porsche 356 Speedster, and #131 Jim Parkinson (# not shown), Austin-Healey 100S. Oker won the race with Parkinson third and Gurney being a DNF with clutch problems.

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F3 500cc: Unheralded Predecessors Part 1

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1947 Monaco Norton

By Pete Vack
Color photography by Jonathan Sharp

They were laughable, incredibly noisy, devastatingly fast, often home built, and frequently ridiculed. But after 1950, 500 cc racing, better known as Formula 3, was one of the most significant classes ever to assemble on a grid. Born out of wartime dreams, these 500 pound, 500 cc race cars, with their independent suspensions, tubular chassis and motorcycle engines placed directly behind the driver, led directly to the Formula 1 and sports racing “rear engine revolution” of the 1960s. According to Count Gianni Lurani, “The success of F3 gave enormous impetus to the still immature British racing car industry. In time, the center of road racing and road racing manufacture was to shift across the English Channel, a possibility hardly imagined in the first post war years.”

That so much was achieved from so little was not expected then, nor is it remembered today. The one-make races, the motorcycle engines, and the scarcity of international competition discouraged the mainstream race fans with their various marque and national prejudices. The 500 cc cars were perceived as slow, troublesome and outside the realm of ‘real’ racing. F3 failed to catch the interest of more conventional race car builders, both on the Continent and in the U.S. Following the ultimate demise of the formula in 1959, the trend setting F3 cars were forgotten by all but a few die-hard enthusiasts in the United States and Great Britain.

However maligned, F3 was destined to change the face of the racing world. Cars like the Cooper Mk VIII, JBS, Mackson, and Erskine Staride set the pace for today’s modern F1 machines.

Unheralded Predecessors, indeed.

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Cobra MK I Chassis History, Vol. 1 Reviewed

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Review by Pete Vack

Shelby Cobras: CSX 2001 – CSX 2125
The Definitive Chassis-by-Chassis History of the Mark I Production Cars
by Robert D. Walker

Order Here

In 1963, 23-year-old jazz musician Herbie Hancock, flushed with money from his hit, “Watermelon Man” walked into Kriesler’s auto showroom in Manhattan, eyed the white and red sports car on the floor, and said, “I’d like to buy the Cobra.” It was Hancock’s first car. “I had only driven an old Dodge my father had bought me for college.” The price was $5,825 plus taxes and license. [Read more…] about Cobra MK I Chassis History, Vol. 1 Reviewed

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