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Brandes Elitch on Lancias at Concorso Italiano 2011

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The first of three featured cars selected from Concorso Italiano is this Lancia Flaminia Berlina. It was one of Batista Pininfarina's favorite designs; simple, elegant, refined and very attractive. Photo by Petya Elitch.

By Brandes Elitch
Photos by Petya Elitch

Last year I wrote a historical retrospective of the Concorso, which you can find at (click here). This is a large show – about 850 cars were displayed this year. Even in Italy, you wouldn’t get close to a thousand collector cars in one venue. If you are an Italian car collector (and if not, why are you reading this?) the Concorso should be on your list of things to do before you are permanently flagged off the course, so to speak. I would like to feature three cars which I found compelling, a purely arbitrary selection, and give you an overview of the event.
[Read more…] about Brandes Elitch on Lancias at Concorso Italiano 2011

Matra’s V12: Upholding the Honor of the French

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The Matra MS12 V12, 1970. Photo by Brandes Elitch. To listen to the Matra V12, click on the photo.

By Brandes Elitch with photos and music by John Sexton

Matra has a wonderful history of building successful racing cars, but it is a name unknown to most Americans. The French love acronyms: Matra stands for Engins Mechanique Aviation-Traction, SA. It is an old company, founded in 1941 by Marcel Chassagny. It was and is an aerospace company and arms manufacturer for the French government.

In 1964, with absolutely no automotive racing experience, Chassagny tapped one of his engineers, Jean-Luc Lagardere, also without any automotive background, to create a new enterprise to build race cars: Matra Sports. He assembled a team, one of which, Andre Legan, summoned his friend Bernard Boyer by saying, “Bernard, on est chez les fous; il faut venir!” This could be translated as, “Everyone here is crazy; you must get over here!” Lagardere announced at the outset that within a few years, they would win both LeMans and a Formula One Championship – no wonder they thought him mad! But when it was all over, Matra had won at F-1 (1969, including the Constructors and Driver’s F1 World Championship) and captured the Manufacturer’s World Championship (1973 and 1974), and won LeMans in 1972, 1973, and 1974.

Rene Bonnet began producing the Djet with a 1108cc Renault engine in the rear, fiberglas body and four wheel disc brakes, but Matra took ownership in 1964 and continued to produce the Djet.

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Car Night in L.A. Goes Dark

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Searching in vain for Car Night. Photo by Ean McDowell

By Brandes Elitch

One rotten apple…

Many large metropolitan areas have some kind of weekly or monthly version of “Car Night,” where car guys get together, show off their cars, and (typically) eat and drink for a few hours. [Read more…] about Car Night in L.A. Goes Dark

Concorso Italiano–Opening Shots

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Rare stars often appear at Concorso Italiano. This Bizzarrini Manta, for example--

By Brandes Elitch
Photos by Petya Elitch

Twenty five years ago, Francis “Frank” Mandarano began what has become known as the “Concorso Italiano.” Mandarano had previously started a club for Maserati owners, and a company to sell Maserati parts, and even a restoration shop, located outside of Seattle. [Read more…] about Concorso Italiano–Opening Shots

The Evolution of a Tradition

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tracta.jpg
1930 Tracta E Henri Lemoine coupe, Alain Cerf, Tampa Bay
Automobile Museum. Traditionally, Pebble Beach brings out the best these rare and fantastic cars. Wheel discs are from Lmarr Disk LTD.

by Brandes Elitch
Photos of the 2008 events by Hugues Vanhoolandt

The week of cars at Monterey, a huge and still growing conglomeration of automobile events, has been around now for fifty eight years. [Read more…] about The Evolution of a Tradition

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