The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts
Taking centre stage, and a crowd favourite, George Harrison’s McLaren F1 chassis 025.
Story and Photos by Jonathan Sharp
Some may say that Retromobile 2022 was not a vintage year. Yes, it was a bit smaller, many of the big dealers were absent, there was less participation from the manufacturers, but it was still Retromobile ! You just had to dig a little bit deeper to find the gems.
Story and photos by Sean Smith unless otherwise noted
Sometime form doesn’t follow function.
Sometimes it follows revenge.
In 1962, the diminutive Lotus 23 gave the racing world a kick in the seat of its pants. Making its entrance at the Nürburgring, the 1.5 liter, 100 hp racer with Jim Clark at the wheel left cars with 4 times the horsepower in its rearview mirror. The first lap was run in the rain; by the end of lap one Clark was 27 seconds ahead of Dan Gurney in a Porsche, adding more and more seconds each lap until the track dried.
Story and photos by Sean Smith
When Mitch McCullough was in junior high school, he was reading Autoweek instead of doing his homework. The magazine was covering the international rally scene. Mitch fell in love with the images of A110s sliding around on foreign roads. It was exciting; exotic. He had dreams of one day driving a rally car. That happened in the early 90s when Mitch raced in the California Rally Series as well as the SCCA Pro Rally series.
English speaking Alpinists, worldwide, especially those of the A310, GTA, R5 Turbo persuasion:
As most of you will know over the last ten years I have written a number of Alpine books in English, for our English speaking Alpine enthusiasts around the world. Each was a labor of love and funded solely by myself. Each one has been successful. [Read more…] about And How! Alpine Photos Needed
One photo captures the excitement of the Alpine Display. Photo by Jonathan Sharp.
Roy Smith on Retro’s fabulous Alpine Renault exhibition
Photos by Roy P. Smith and Jonathan Sharp
One of the best qualified persons to write about this year’s Alpine Renault Exhibition at Retro is Roy P. Smith, author of four books on the complete history of the Alpine saga, from the 4CV to the F1 Turbo cars. We asked Roy to do a bit about this remarkable display while he was at the show and from Retro, Smith turned in this equally remarkable story.
How great to see part of the private collection of rare Alpine Renaults of Jean-Charles Rédélé, son of Alpine’s founder Jean Rédélé, on display at this year’s Retro! Rarely seen in public all together, this was a show coup, ably organized by Hervé Charbonneaux under his Rally Story banner.
[Read more…] about Retro Alpine Exhibition by Roy P. Smith
For passion and fun…Entent Cordiale
By Roy Smith
Photos © Roy Smith /John Wheeler/SAMCMOORE
At first glance you might think, “That’s a nicely restored A110 berlinette – Group 5 perhaps– certainly looks interesting.” Then you hear the figures from its owner; max power DIN HP 359.8, max torque DIN 325(441 Nms), weight 698Kg, and you’re forgiven for thinking, “WOW!” Then “Impossible! No berlinette A110 ever saw those figures!”
You would be right. It’s not an A110 berlinette, but unless you are a died-in-the-wool purist, unsettled by those who dare to look into the future of what might have been had Renault extended the life of the A110 model, you will find this fabulous recreation not only a true work of art and engineering perfection but, like its ancestors, one of the most beautiful shapes ever created for a motor car, and a worthy contender to extend the name of Alpine in the current world of the super-car aficionados.