VeloceToday.com

The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts

bugatti

Mullin Automotive Museum Celebrates its Grand Opening

By

An opening in grand style for the Mullin Automotive Museum.

Oxnard, Calif. (April 16, 2010) – In an ambiance of stylish luxury, priceless treasures that glowed in soft light and live jazz music, the Mullin Automotive Museum celebrated its grand opening in great style. The evening, like the museum, was a commemoration of the art deco design era when exquisite art and magnificent automobiles were elements of an artful, futurist culture. The museum displayed both in a luminous Grand Salon worthy of that extravagant time
[Read more…] about Mullin Automotive Museum Celebrates its Grand Opening

Friends and Family Pay Homage to Hellé Nice

By


Hellé Nice died in 1984, impoverished and alone. When she was interred, not even a headstone marked the site. Twenty six years after her death, Sheryl Greene is intent upon making sure the world does not forget this daring French woman who raced Alfas and Bugattis before WWII. Inspired by Miranda Seymour’s book “Bugatti Queen,” Greene, a car enthusiast from Atlanta, established the Hellé Nice Foundation to provide financial aid for young women with a passion to race. The Foundation’s inaugural project is raising money for the purchase of that missing gravestone or marker for Nice, whose real name was Hélène Delangle. After Greene visited the gravesite in France earlier this year, we asked her to update us on her efforts to secure a headstone for Nice.

Story by Sheryl Greene
Art by Larry Crane

From time to time I get messages from the author of “Bugatti Queen” Miranda Seymour; she passes along some bit of information or a contact I may find helpful for the Hellé Nice Foundation. In January, she sent an email that was a treasure. It began, “The last living relative of Hellé Nice, just surfaced …” [Read more…] about Friends and Family Pay Homage to Hellé Nice

From the Archives: Bugatti Queen Book Review

By

Alfa Monza

January 2002, New Jersey. Miranda Seymour, a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and visiting professor at the Nottingham Trent University, climbed into the cockpit of a Bugatti Type 35C, then owned by noted car collector Oscar Davis. It was the first time the celebrated biographer of Mary Shelley, Robert Graves, and Henry James ever sat in a race car.
[Read more…] about From the Archives: Bugatti Queen Book Review

Classic French Car Museum to Open in Oxnard California

By

1939 Delahaye 165 is part of the permanent display a the Mullin Museum.

Photos by Michael Furman Photography

Oxnard, Calif. (February 22, 2010) The Mullin Automotive Museum, a facility that will pay homage to the art deco and machine age design eras (1918-1941) that produced exquisite art and magnificent automobiles, will officially open its doors for the first time in the beach community of Oxnard, Calif., Spring 2010. [Read more…] about Classic French Car Museum to Open in Oxnard California

Mille Miglia 2009 in French

By

In the 1954 Mille Miglia, a 4CV Renault was driven by the team of Redele/Pons to victory in the Special Touring class, followed by two other Renaults.

All Photos by Alessandro Gerelli

A small selection of the French at the Mille Miglia this year. No matter how many times we cover the Mille Miglia, we are always amazed at the delightful variations on the theme of the automobile.
[Read more…] about Mille Miglia 2009 in French

City of Turin

By

Captions Not Applicable

Photography by Simon Grand

Simon Grand has contributed to these pages in the past, and recently he sent us some of his artful images of the “automotive jewellery” that was on display at the Concorso D’eleganza in Turin. While VeloceToday, unlike many websites, does not simply publish scattered images without thought or identification, captions here seem superfluous.
[Read more…] about City of Turin

A Car Life, by Larry Crane

By

DRIVING BUGS


The Veyron, above is a modern interpretation of a pur sang Bugatti. The EB 110 below, while a brilliant engineering exercise, is not; all that went into Artioli’s factory.

EB 110

An Italian Interpretation

It’s clean and comfortable in here. The engine idles so smoothly it’s hard to know if you need the clutch to get into first. The seats are more Bentley than Bugatti, in fact, the dash is burl walnut not razor-edged, retro racer. In an effort to make the world’s fastest and most expensive commuter the “exotic” element has simply been eliminated.
[Read more…] about A Car Life, by Larry Crane

A Death Forgotten

By

Sheryl Greene is the driving force behind the Helle Nice Foundation.

Perhaps not, if the Helle Nice Foundation succeeds

By Pete Vack

As Renee Friderich’s lifeless body lay crumpled in the remains of the big Delage Sporte, (read Death by Delage) her friend and perhaps mentor, Helle Nice, went on to capture the fastest time of the Paris-to-Saint-Raphael rally that fateful day, February 22nd, 1932, in a car she knew well and drove better, a Bugatti T35C. But unlike Helle Nice, Friderich’s tragic death was never forgotten by her friends and family who mourned her.
[Read more…] about A Death Forgotten

Delage D8 Sportes

By

Delving further into the big Delage

Photos by Vince Johnson

As we have seen, Miranda Seymour was able to obtain a ride in a very nice Delage D8S while in Australia. She sent us a photo of herself in the car, but none of the great Delage itself.
We solved the problem by asking VeloceToday contributor and reporter Vince Johnson to run over to Antony Simpson’s place and take a few photos of the Delage. Despite the size of Australia, it seems that Vince lived only about 20 minutes away. Vince returned not only with the photos for this article, but a brief history of the Delage as related by Mr. Simpson. As noted by Seymour, Simpson’s Delage is similar to Renee Friderich’s, and has its own fine and perhaps happier history. The following is the owner’s description of his Delage and its history.
[Read more…] about Delage D8 Sportes

Amazing Amelia

By

amelia 2009
The Motor Trend Award For The Editor’s Choice–1953 Fiat 8V Supersonic David and Ginny Sydorick, Beverly Hills, CA. Note wheelcovers by Lmarr Disk LTD.

It just keeps on getting better and better..

By Robert Landman
Photos by Robert Landman

March 14-15th 2009 Amelia Island, Florida

Saturday

The weather is like the economy, grey and depressing, but the gloom soon lifts as we see that everyone present is happy to see friends whom they haven’t since last years’ Amelia Concours or Pebble Beach. Events like Amelia are as much about friends as they are about cars.
[Read more…] about Amazing Amelia

A Car Life, by Larry Crane

By

crane bugatti
Legend has it that Mrs. Bugatti would pass through the race shop periodically and hold her pack of Gaulois cigarettes next to the latest group of team cars to verify they had not drifted too far from the official racing color.

Bugatti Type 51 in Gaulois Bleue

Bugatti’s famous snarl grows quickly. The tiny clutch pedal snaps up and we are underway. Every metal component that is in motion makes noise and it is all in the cockpit with you. There is no firewall and the gearbox is pressed against my left leg. It doesn’t take long before there is heat everywhere. The rev counter has inexplicably failed and we are running on sound. [Read more…] about A Car Life, by Larry Crane

MENU