The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts
Photo courtesy MAUTO
Story by Pete Vack
Dale LaFollette, photographer, collector, car genius and fortunately for us, a decent chap, recently came upon a photo that he wanted to share. How many people might be interested in a tulipwood Hispano on the Targa Florio he didn’t know but the picture was great. [Read more…] about Mahogony Alfa Romeo RLSS Mystery Car
This photo was taken when I was in Milan in 1987. I was invited out to the museum at Arese. It was winter, November, and not open to the public. They unlocked the museum for us and had a cleaning lady follow us around, turning lights in the galleys on and off as we walked from gallery to gallery, which is why the lighting is so bright up front and dark in the background. Needless to say this was not a formal photo shoot by any means, and was hard to get a good focus, but it is a rather evocative shot. And yes, we climbed in and out of most of the cars!
By S.Scott Callan
While we at VeloceToday were setting up two articles concerning the Merosi Alfa Romeo RLSS, we thought it might be nice if S.Scott Callan would allow us to use his remarkable researched and animated article on the RLSS from his website, www.velocitygroup.net. To learn more about Scott’s fascinating site, click here to read the accompanying piece.
Merosi’s Masterpiece: the Romeo series L The advancements being incorporated into the car Merosi and his team were engineering when the G1 was released signaled the end of brass era engineering principles and the beginning of a new era of automotive design.
From the VeloceToday archives, June, 2010
By Pete Vack
Photos by Harry Hurst
Thanks to the kind offices of the Simeone Foundation, VeloceToday was recently given the opportunity to drive two rare pre-war Alfa Romeos. While driving the “Legendary” 2.3 Castagna was a dream come true, it was perhaps even more fortunate to have been able to sample an even rarer Alfa–a 1925 RLSS, “Merosi’s Masterpiece” as some have called the breed. Rare, did we say? How about 392 ever produced, of which perhaps a dozen are left, scattered across the globe. To see one is an event; to drive one is to experience motoring’s Shangri-La.
Being able to drive both the 8C 2300 and the RLSS meant that we were given the even rarer opportunity to drive the work of both Giuseppe Merosi and Vittorio Jano. We’ll tell you which was more fun an bit down.
1953 Pegaso Z-102 ‘Thrill’. Hugues Vanhoolandt photo.
Photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt and Jonathan Sharp
As was the case with Sunday’s Windsor Castle Concours, the previous Friday’s event at the Syon House was also attended by both Hugues Vanhoolandt and Jonathan Sharp. In this report we lead off with Vanhoolandts’s work. Saturday, Sharp emailed and sent his initial impression of the event:
[Read more…] about Salon Prive at Syon House in London, September 7, 2012
The fascinating history of the Alfa Romeo RLSS MUG 412. Upper left, letter from Tom Goodman; upper right, the Hull and Slater book; original registration from 1927; MUG 412 plate and the RLSS at the Simeone.
By Pete Vack
Fred Simeone became the owner of this rare Alfa Romeo RLSS, chassis number 69013, because he rarely forgets a mug. “I was at Goodwood in 2002 and noticed the Bonhams’ catalog had an RLSS for sale with a British license plate which read ‘MUG 412‘. It struck me as being very familiar, and I then remembered I had read about this car in the Alfa history by Peter Hull and Roy Slater some forty years earlier.” And sure enough on page 63 of the first edition, was a description of this particular Alfa and how it was built for a relative of actor Michael Rennie. Simeone didn’t need to know too much more to bid successfully on the RLSS. (Read Driving the RLSS) It wasn’t the first time the unusual tag was the object of attention.
[Read more…] about MUG 412 and the story of an Alfa Romeo RLSS
By Pete Vack
Color photos by Harry Hurst
Thanks to the kind offices of the Simeone Foundation, VeloceToday was recently given the opportunity to drive two rare pre-war Alfa Romeos. While driving the “Legendary” 2.3 Castagna was a dream come true, it was perhaps even more fortunate to have been able to sample an even rarer Alfa–a 1925 RLSS, “Merosi’s Masterpiece” as some have called the breed. Rare, did we say? How about 392 ever produced, of which perhaps a dozen are left, scattered across the globe. To see one is an event; to drive one is to experience motoring’s Shangri-La. Here is our report:
Being able to drive both the 8C 2300 and the RLSS meant that we were given the even rarer opportunity to drive the work of both Giuseppe Merosi and Vittorio Jano. We’ll tell you which was more fun an bit down. [Read more…] about VeloceToday Drives the Alfa Romeo RLSS