The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts
©Charles Addams With permission of the Tee and Charles Addams Foundation
By Pete Vack
From the VeloceToday Archives, June, 2010
A deep interest in classic cars was bound to reveal itself in the art of Charles Addams. When the Tee and Charles Foundation began to collect and identify the Addams cartoons, they found over 70 related to the automobile.
Charles Addams in his 8C 2300 at Bridgehampton, courtesy Simeone Foundation.
By Pete Vack
Color photos by Harry Hurst
In April of 2012, as part of the series of Demonstration Days at the Simeone Foundation VeloceToday was provided an opportunity to drive two very special Alfa Romeos, an 8C 2300 and an RLSS. A special thanks to Fred Simeone, Harry Hurst and Curator Kevin Kelly. From the VeloceToday archives.
Serial number 2211072, the Alfa Romeo 8C2300 MM Spyder on display at the Simeone Foundation in Philadelphia, is the only 8C 2300 Spyder to be bodied by Castagna. According to Simon Moore, it likely started life as a factory racecar before being sold to privateers. Raced in the 1935 Mille Miglia by Catullo Lami and Pasquale Ermini, (who would later build his own racecars) it was forced to retire. Exported to the UK it led a happy and active life for many years with a number of enthusiastic owners. It has a few famous owners, but our favorite is Charles Addams, who is also our favorite cartoonist. Furthermore, aside from an engine rebuild in the UK, this 8C 2300 is apparently original and unrestored. All of which make this a very, very special Alfa 8C 2300. [Read more…] about Driving Chas Addams’ 8C2300 Alfa
Addams at Bridgehampton in the mid 1960s with New York socialite and good friend Odette Benjamin in the passenger seat. Photo courtesy of Guasti collection.
By Pete Vack
Charles Addams was about to embark upon the most lucrative years of his career as a cartoonist. By 1964 his income had almost tripled and the “Addams Family” was just making its debut on nation-wide TV. Like never before, Addams, an otherwise “normal boy” from New Jersey, would be able to enjoy both his cars and his freedom. [Read more…] about The Cars of Charles Addams Part 2
Review by Pete Vack
Charles Addams: A Cartoonist’s Life By Linda H. Davis
Turner Publishing Company, Nashville TN First published 2006
ISBN 9781684426898
Pages: 408
Paperback, 10-19-2021
Purchase here
A charmed life, a charming man
Properly executed, a biography covers the entire spectrum of the subject’s work, interests and relationships, allows little to the imagination, leaves no questions in the mind of the reader, and above all, gives the reader feeling that, living or dead, saint or sinner, the subject is as familiar as one’s best friend. [Read more…] about Charles Addams Biography, Reviewed
Legendary mechanic Jim McGee works on the Bugatti while Charles Addams looks on. Watermill, NY., 1978. Photo by H.R.Krause. Used with permission from the Tee and Charles Addams Foundation.
By Pete Vack
Read Part I, Charles Addams and His Cars, 1948-1960
In 1960, Charles Addams was about to embark upon the most lucrative years of his career as a cartoonist, even having enough spare cash to renew car insurance.” By 1964 his income had almost tripled and the “Addams Family” was just making its debut on nation-wide TV. Like never before, Addams, an otherwise “normal boy” from New Jersey, would be able to enjoy both his cars and his freedom.
After two years of racing the Alfa 8C2300 (see Driving the 8C2300) around eastern Long Island, Addams began looking for a Bugatti. Already well known by Vintage Sports Car Club of America (VSCCA) members, Addams was an active member in the nascent club, and even though he rarely sallied forth to events at Lime Rock or Thompson, Connecticut, he seldom missed a vintage meet at
Addams, left with Ken Purdy (glasses and white hair) at the annual meeting of the American Bugatti Club at Le Chanteclair, circa 1960. Photo from the collection of Ralph Gross and first published in My Two Lives.