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The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts

Fiat Freak Out 2019

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By Philippe H. Defechereux © 2020
All photos property of Fiat Club America except otherwise indicated

From July 10th to 14th of 2019, on the vast and resplendent grounds of the Grandover Resort in Greensboro, North Carolina, the 36th consecutive “Fiat FreakOut” (“FFO” for initiates) successfully took place. Why such a long-lasting and popular tradition?

For some peculiar reason, Fiat cars (and some of their close relatives) inspire a beguiling and enduring fervor in their American owners and even their families. The FFO, organized by the Fiat Club America, is the annual national celebration of that passion, mixed with a large dose of well-planned fun.

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The Vintage Sports Car Magazine

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Two recent issues of the VSCCA magazine.

By Pete Vack

Last week, the Vintage Sports Car Club of America (VSCCA) and VeloceToday sent a 2020 Italian Car Calendar to VeloceToday’s premium subscribers who responded to our free offer, and also included a complimentary copy of the rare VSCCA quarterly magazine called the Vintage Sports Car. We thought it an opportune time to tell our readers a bit about this rare publication and its editor.

The current editor is Jim Donick, who put out his first issue of the Vintage Sports Car in April of 1985. Though generally available only to VSCCA members, Donick told us that you’ll find the magazine in several of the neatest automobile museums in Europe, but he adds, “Usually on the desk of the director or other members of the staff. They don’t distibute it.” [Read more…] about The Vintage Sports Car Magazine

The Long Life of Birdcage S/N 2452 Part 2

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Riverside, October 1961. After a year’s reprieve, having just been bought by Harry Finer, chassis 2452 featured Bill Krause at the wheel in the Times Grand Prix. Its de Dion axle broke due to metal fatigue. Two Cunningham Birdcages pass in the background. (photo: Bob Tronolone)

Story by Willem Oosthoek

Read Part 1

During chassis 2452’s year of inactivity, tremendous changes had taken place in sportscar racing. The rear-engined revolution was in full swing and even Maserati had come out with a rear-engined model, the Tipo 63. The front-engined Tipo 61 Birdcage had been out of production for a year, so how would Bill Krause perform in this three-year old car. Well, not bad at all! At Riverside’s 1961 Times Grand Prix he qualified the Tipo 61 on the fourth row with a time of 2’06”6, despite dropping a valve during his run. He did feel bad about Connor losing his ride and offered him his own D-type/Chevy. It did not work out, since the tall Arizona driver would not fit the Jaguar cockpit.

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Allan McNish and the Ferrari 333 SP

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A Tom Schultz photo of Allan McNish at Daytona in 1999. Courtesy “Ferrari 333 SP” by Terry O’Neil. (Click to order book)

Story by Graham Gauld

I recently spent some time with Allan McNish, three time Le Mans winner (once for Porsche and twice with Audi) who also raced a Ferrari 333SP on two occasions, almost winning the 1999 Daytona 24 Hour race.

The What?

The Ferrari 333SP of the 1990s is a car that even Ferrari enthusiasts rarely talk about or even remember. Perhaps one reason is because of its exclusivity, namely a race car designed specifically and exclusively for the US market and the IMSA GT Championship of 1994. It was designed at Ferrari but the first cars were built by Dallara before Michelotto constructed a second series in 1997.

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The Complete Alfa 1300 Berlina Owner’s Manual

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From the Archives June 2011

All fifteen pages of a rare owner’s manual that included both the 1300 Giulietta Berlina and the Spider. All photos below © Alfa Romeo Automobilismo Storico, Centro Documentazione (Arese, Milano)

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Jonathan Sharp’s Visit to the FCA Heritage Hub

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Lancias are featured in the new FCA Heritage Hub.

This week we are happy to present to our readers a sneak preview of Fiat’s fantastic new museum, thanks to the assistance of Fiat Public Relations agent Umberto Hardouin. For this special feature, VeloceToday has installed a slide show feature, so you can enjoy the 36 images at your own speed. If you wish to speed up the slide show viewing, simply click on the right arrow.

Story and photos by Jonathan Sharp

As we related last week, we visited the Fiat Centro Storico and then had lunch at the New Holland staff canteen. Our journey to the afternoon destination was a walk of just a few meters, as it was located in Workshop 81, situated next door. It is called the FCA Heritage Hub and it is not yet open to the public. [Read more…] about Jonathan Sharp’s Visit to the FCA Heritage Hub

Fiats, Panhards, and the Stinkwheel Story

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By Pete Vack and David Beare

First the name; we have to explain the name for those of us unfamiliar with British jargon. “The name Stinkwheel derives from 1930’s slang amongst motorcyclists for small-capacity, feeble two-stoke powered cyclemotors and autocycles which buzzed noisily but slowly around in a cloud of blue oily smoke- a stinkwheel,” writes Beare. His first two books were histories of such cyclemotors- “The Stinkwheel Sagas.” Thus came the name of the publishing company, which is at the very least, unforgettable. How Stinkwheel went from cyclemotors to Hispano Suiza is another good question. [Read more…] about Fiats, Panhards, and the Stinkwheel Story

VeloceToday Rides the Mighty Bull

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By Pete Vack

From the VeloceToday Archives, November 2016

The way to gain entrance into the realm of the Dallara/Gandini masterpiece that is the Miura is to gently push the door latch button from the Fiat 850 and pull a bit on the chrome fin at the bottom of the row of black fins to the rear of the door window.

“Be careful getting in. Here’s how you have to do it. Get your butt over the seat and gently lower it straight down. Don’t wiggle. Don’t squirm. The reason is because the seats are original cloth inserts and any heavy lateral movement stresses out the material,” said Paul Wilson.

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The Long Life of Birdcage S/N 2452 Part 1

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Vaca Valley, May 1960. Bob Drake in the Lubin Birdcage battling Sammy Weiss in the former Jack Brabham Cooper Monaco. They finished 1-2 in this Cal Club event. (photo: Willem Oosthoek Collection)

Story by Willem Oosthoek

In a previous three-part article, we focused on

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Jonathan Sharp at Centro Storico Part 2 Postwar

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Story and photos by Jonathan Sharp

We spent the morning at the Centro Storico Museum, as we related in last week’s Part 1 and below in Part 2. But it now was time to eat in Italy.

So where does an Italian working for Fiat go to take lunch? A nice little trattoria hidden down a small side street in Turin? No. Signor Hardouin has graciously arranged for us to eat at the Mirafiori factory where most of the workers eat. [Read more…] about Jonathan Sharp at Centro Storico Part 2 Postwar

The Art of Dale LaFollette

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Photo Gallery by Dale LaFollette

From the VeloceToday Archives, August, 2017

So often Dale LaFollette has been our unsung hero, providing classic old photos for a variety of uses on VeloceToday. One the most popular such articles was the recent series on Bob Temple’s photos from Watkins Glen. But in addition to being the brains behind Vintage Motorphoto, LaFollette is also an excellent photographer in his own right, as we found out when he sent us his own stunning photos of racing from the 1970s.

In 2017 Dale decided to go to Monterey and just relax, shoot what he liked, and did not go the big buck route at The Quail or Pebble Beach. He returned with hundreds of interesting images, from which we culled the following shots; let your imagination guide you. [Read more…] about The Art of Dale LaFollette

Jonathan Sharp at Fiat’s Centro Storico

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We bet you don’t know what this is. To find out, read on.

Story and photos by Jonathan Sharp

After our first day or so in Turin (see Scaglietti in Turin) and the visit to the Scaglietti exhibition, the next day went well, in fact I would say very well. As previously planned, Signor Hardouin from the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Press office arrived bang on time to pick us up from the Hotel Lingotto, paying our respects to the fascinating Siata Amica as we went out the door. [Read more…] about Jonathan Sharp at Fiat’s Centro Storico

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