VeloceToday.com

The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts

Allen R. Kuhn

Back by Popular Demand

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My first and almost forgotten Maserati shot is of Jimmy Bryan in the Henry Maag entered 300S at Willow Springs on March 4, 1956. Bryan also was a pilot in the Indy 500. To keep everyone happy, it’ s/n 3058.

Story and photos by Allen R. Kuhn

As I start my one-digit waltz once more upon my keyboard, the letters begin to flow. Sometimes they make sense, sometimes not. We’ll do the best we can.
“Back by popular demand” might be a bit of a stretch. There were three guys from Sheboygan who said they wanted to see more Maserati pictures. I started thinking that this would be a most salient time to cull the archives once again, with purpose. The archives didn’t let me down.

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Kuhn’s Maserati P2, 1960-1963

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I feel a need to start this dissertation with a true icon of the sport. He is, of course, Carroll Hall Shelby. We were both at the Examiner GP Riverside on April 3, 1960 where Shelby won driving this Maserati Birdcage Tipo 61 RHD s/n 2458, entered by Camoradi U.S.A.

Photography and Story by Allen R. Kuhn

My Humble Contribution to the Legacy of Maserati from 1957 thru 1963

Almost everything I read about Shelby states that he was a great car designer. I find it hard to accept the fact that he was a car designer. My feelings are he was great at getting the right people on his team to get things done, and knowing what was available to make it happen. Nothing wrong with that.

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Allen R. Kuhn: Maserati 150S, 200S, 450S

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Story and photos by Allen R. Kuhn

It’s time to dust off the old negs, with a camel hair brush, I might add. The ones that seem to want attention are from my Maserati archives. That’s good because they were some of my favorites. What drew me to them was their beautiful lines and stunning sounds. Another thing that drew them to me happened in 2007 at the Automobilia Monterey event during the August Car Week.

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Making Tracks: My Love Affair with the California Circuits of the ’50s

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Once again, I bring pixels to the screen with the hope that these images or text will tweak some memories from your bygone youth and bring a smile to your face. “I was there” is a favorite one I like to hear. Any idea of which track this is? I’ll give you a hint, it’s at Turn 5. The parties behind the wheels are: #69 Dan Gurney Ferrari 375 Plus, #59 Bob Oker Aston Martin, and #21 Hal Dolden Sparks-Bonney Special. Dan won and Bob was second. But, where?

Story and photographs by Allen R. Kuhn

In the next few months I will chronicle some of the 13 race tracks where I photographed the world of sports car racing in Southern California from 1955 to 1965. In this issue, I am featuring the wonderful world of the Paramount Ranch Race Track itself, my favorite shooting gallery. I will try and capture some of the topography of the landscape there in the following images.

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Richie Ginther Tribute Part 1

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Sometimes size does matter, as at Santa Barbara on June 1, 1958, when Richie Ginther got behind the wheel of John von Neumann’s ungodly beautiful #211 Ferrari 250 TR capturing 3rd OA, but 1st in DM. Ginther was bested that day by Lance Reventlow in his Scarab Chevy in 1st, and Max Balchowsky in the Buick Ol’ Yeller in 2nd. Both were class BM, where size does matter.

This is the first of two articles about Richie Ginther, a great driver who never quite got the press he deserved. Below is Allen Kuhn’s portrait of the driver, and we’ll follow that up with personal recollections from Jim Sitz, who knew Ginther very well. These are fleeting bios; for a really good look at Richie, we urge you to get a copy of Richard Jenkins’ “Richie Ginther, Motor Racing’s Free Thinker”. Both Kuhn and Sitz also contributed to Jenkins’ book. Ed.

A Pictorial Essay By Allen R. Kuhn

My pictorial essay for this week actually began as I searched my negatives for a particular car. I found out that the auction house RM Sotheby’s is offering the John Edgar Ferrari 410S s/n 0598 at the Monterey Car Week this month. Was there a story for VeloceToday.com here? [Read more…] about Richie Ginther Tribute Part 1

Interview with a Race Queen

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The Editor and the photographer apologize for this photo, which was the result of the sun being at the wrong end of the lens. However, it is well balanced and says a lot. Read on.


Marilyn Fox Halder, as interviewed by Allen R. Kuhn
Photos by Allen R. Kuhn unless otherwise noted.

Marilyn Fox loved dancing growing up, and was very attractive. She would follow a career making commercials and become a professional dancer finding work at the Sahara in Las Vegas. This led her to appear at the Millionaire’s Club in Los Angeles, CA. While there, she was introduced to Peter and Harry Rothschild, who owned Powerine Oil Company. They wanted to get the contract to supply fuel for the race tracks in Southern California and asked Marilyn if she would be interested in becoming a promoter of their products at races and other activities. With her natural beauty and love of automobiles, she thought it might be a fun thing to do and get paid.

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Allen R. Kuhn: FIII in California

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Torrey Pines January 15, 1956, Harry Morrow JBS close up view. Photo by Allen R. Kuhn

Photos by Allen R. Kuhn
Story by Pete Vack with Jim Sitz

Following up on our Formula III series, we had not written anything on the class in America. But were there 500 cc events in the States?

Yes, they were raced throughout America but no one paid much attention. Says Jim Sitz, “Formula III never took off in California or the U.S.A. since the fans wanted to see the big, powerful and noisy cars. The most popular events for a normal weekend of racing were the Corvette and modified classes. The FIII cars were noisy but did not appear to be very fast.”

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Allen R. Kuhn: Of Gauld and Ferrari

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Carroll Shelby in John Edgar’s Ferrari 410S leads Dan Gurney in Frank Arciero’s Ferrari 375 Plus at Palm Springs on April 13, 1958. One of the many photos I shared with the Ferrari Archivist.

Story and Photos by Allen R. Kuhn

I would like to start this series of short stories – they are not Galleries as before – by telling a true story about Graham Gauld, and how he saved our skin when we were in Italy/France in 2006 for our seven-week tour of the Continent. The story really began in Maranello, so bear with me….

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Photo Gallery 6: Allen R. Kuhn, 1965

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A vision of two warriors, each with his own method of preparation for battle.

Story and Photos by Allen R. Kuhn

Since I only covered the single race at Riverside in 1965, all references for the pictures will be for the Los Angeles Times Grand Prix on October 31, 1965, at Riverside.

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Photo Gallery 5: Allen R. Kuhn, 1964

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Let’s start 1964 off with one of my favorite drivers, Ken Miles, at Riverside on April 26, 1964, driving a Shelby Cobra 289. This was a the USRRC Manufacturers Championship Race. Ken sits waiting for the cute Trophy Girl, Marilyn Fox, to do her duty presenting him with a checked flag for his victory lap after winning the USRRC GT race. More important was a victory kiss. Just ask Lothar Motschenbacher about that. This picture and others of mine were used by Mike Martin in his tome “USRRC” to illustrate this race.

Story and photos by Allen R. Kuhn

This is gallery number five, covering my shooting during 1964. I was not interested in going to races as a spectator while, at the same time, it became more difficult to get photographer passes through the small magazine for which I worked. Plus, I was more interested in cars of the ‘50s and early ‘60s. I liked the cars that were designed by artists, rather than engineers. Sure, the new ones went faster, but their looks lacked something for me. And the Can-Am series which started in 1966 already had two great photographers covering these events, Pete Lyons and Dave Friedman.

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Photo Gallery 4: Allen R. Kuhn, 1963

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Up close and personal view of Roger Penske.

Story and photos by Allen R. Kuhn

We continue with the photography of Allen R. Kuhn; he just keeps digging and coming up with more great images. But it is getting close to the end now, and we’ll present the last chapter in his journey next week. But we’ll also show more of his photography in our series on Formula III cars, so watch out for that.
Ed.

We are almost done with my saga, and I can see the end is in sight. What a wonderful and exciting adventure this has been. All the memories I have conjured up have brought an uplifting feeling for me. With all the sadness these last two years have brought, VeloceToday has helped immensely for me to find that long back-straight to keep me going.

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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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