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Palos Verdes Concours September 16th, 2012

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Find all the Palos Verdes Concours winners at end of article.

By Wallace Wyss
Pictures by Richard Bartholomew and Wallace Wyss

Palos Verdes is a peninsula that sticks out into the ocean between LA harbor and Redondo Beach in Southern California. It can be a spectacular place, especially when the weather is acting up on the way there, as it was September 16th when the Palos Verdes show kicked off. It was dewy, cloudy, sunny, and variations of all of these every five minutes, but was very photogenic. Fortunately once we got there it all turned out to be the best weather imaginable–82 deg. or so with clouds hanging on the top of the hills. I bet those who didn’t go because they saw bad weather outside their window regretted it later. [Read more…] about Palos Verdes Concours September 16th, 2012

Watkins Glen Memoirs Part 6: 1952

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Following the 1951 event Dad began once again to look at the classified section of the Motor. He always went first to the ‘S’ section in the hope that he might spot another SS100.

It was during one of those wistful searches that he came cross the magic name: Squire.
[Read more…] about Watkins Glen Memoirs Part 6: 1952

Musings at the Mullin

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Photo by Hugues Vanhoolandt.

As we have all learned, Eric Davison has been around cars for a very long time, from his Watkins Glen days with his father to haunting car and art museums with his wife. So when we found he was going to the Mullin, we asked him to bring back a report on something off the beaten path. Said Davison of the assignment after he returned, “It sounds so very easy but when you are in the Mullin Museum and basically overwhelmed by the magnificence of the cars and of the building’s French decor and the general ambience, the task becomes more complicated.” So did he succeed and bring back a few surprises? We think so—
[Read more…] about Musings at the Mullin

Book Review: Delahaye Styling and Design

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Check Amazon.com for this book.

DELAHAYE STYLING AND DESIGN

By Richard S. Adatto and Diana E. Meredith
Dalton Watson Fine Books

With historic photography from multiple archival sources

Color portraits by Michael Furman

Review by Larry Crane

Émile Delahaye was a graduate mechanical engineer from Arts et Métier College of Angers, class of 1869. He soon owned his own foundry in his hometown of Tours at the age of 36 and was developing a line of internal combustion engines in 1879. He raced one of his own automobiles in the 1896 Paris-Marseilles-Paris contest, took in two partners, Georges Morane and Léon Desmarais, to capitalize the growing business in 1897, and retired from Société E. Delehaye et Cie in 1901, just as the automotive century began. Management of the works fell into the hands of Charles Weiffenbach (for ever known as Monsieur Charles) who must be given credit for the great Delahayes of the new century.
[Read more…] about Book Review: Delahaye Styling and Design

Driving the Type 135 M Delahaye

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By Ed McDonough

Want a video clip of this drive? Send an email to pete@velocetoday.com.

A Chapron Delahaye

It seemed extraordinary to me doing the research for this series, reading a large number of period articles and reviews in notable journals, that many of these totally failed to mention who provided the body for some of the cars reviewed. Was it just a matter of routine that performance cars would have special bodies or could it have been that the reviewer didn’t know? After all, specialised car production was just that, and the history is complex.

Henri Chapron gets a few mentions in 1938, and when the Paris Salon V-12 car was sent to England in 1939, Figoni and Falaschi started to get some attention. But bodies for Delahayes had also been built, often to specific customer orders, by some intriguing people…a 1949 135M with a body built by Pennoch of the Netherlands to a design by Selborne of Mayfair, London. While Figoni and Falaschi may have executed some of the most ‘daring’ designs, bodies were also built by Saoutchik, Franay, Carrozzeria Motta, Carlton Carriage Company, Henri Labourdette, Letourneur et Marchand, and others.

Delahaye Chapron

Delahaye used Chapron for its more conservative designs but they were always effective.

[Read more…] about Driving the Type 135 M Delahaye

Delahaye: The Grand Touring Tradition

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By Ed McDonough

Introduction
Like many Veloce Today enthusiasts, the UK-based American automotive writer Ed McDonough (and author of “The Ferrari 156 Sharknose”) has had a long-standing and more-than-passing interest in French automobiles as well Italian machinery which he has written about in numerous articles and books. He has owned an Alpine A110 and the occasional Renault, Peugeot and Citroen, and raced in several 24-hour events with a Citroen 2CV. He has been competing this year in a 1951 DB-Monomille…more of that later!

He has now discovered a rather unique collection of cars, many of which are housed in England, with others stored in France and New Zealand. The owner has kindly agreed to a series of articles and Ed will be testing most of this extensive and relatively unknown collection of cars. It includes over a dozen Delahayes, all of which have been painstakingly restored and are in superb condition. These are not so-called ‘barn-finds’ but cars on which the very meticulous owner has lavished much attention. We start this series with a 1948 135M with a charming coupe body by Parisian designer/coach-builder Henri Chapron, and some background information on the Delahaye firm.

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An Exclusive Look at the Mullin Automotive Museum

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1925 Bugatti Type 22 Brescia Roadster Chassis No. 2461. On July 12, 2009, in front of an assembled crowd of more than 2000 people, this Bugatti was lifted from Lake Maggiore where it lay submerged for nearly 75 years. The full story is on display with the vehicle in the Mullin Automotive Museum. Photo by Hugues Vanhoolandt, insert from the Internet

Story and photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt

A clear picture of the passion of Peter Mullin
[Read more…] about An Exclusive Look at the Mullin Automotive Museum

French at Le Mans by Vanhoolandt

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Still looking for the Pink Panther.

Last week Hugues Vanhoolandt displayed the Italian effort at this year’s Le Mans Classic, which everyone is saying gets better and better every year. For the 5th time, Le Mans Classic celebrated the greatest long distance race in the world. With more than 420 cars on the track, ranging from 1923 to 1979, it was close action from Saturday at 4 pm to Sunday same hour.With 96,000 spectators, Le Mans Classic proved to be one of the world’s greatest historic racing car event.

Photos and captions by Hugues Vanhoolandt.
[Read more…] about French at Le Mans by Vanhoolandt

Classic French Car Museum to Open in Oxnard California

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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

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