The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts
Story and photos by Graham Gauld
Last Saturday, April 28t, the Tour Auto came to town. When I say town, I mean the small town of Fayence in the Var region of Provence in the South of France. Fayence is about 20 minutes from my home here and when I realized the cars were not only passing through the town but would have a rest stop before the last two Special Stages before the finish at Nice, then I had to pay a visit.
Story by Graham Gauld
Throughout the history of European motor sport the aristocrats and the titled were the true pioneers, mainly because they were the only people who had the money to indulge in this new and gentlemanly sport. Many embraced racing with great enthusiasm.
A number of them were Scots and since that is a topic dear to my heart, I would like to tell you the stories of three of them who were as different as chalk and cheese, from three distinctly different eras of motorsport.
Story by Graham Gauld
Color photos by Graham Gauld
The Avignon Auto Show took place last weekend (March 23-25) and as usual I went there to see what cars would turn up. This year they decided to honor the 70th anniversary of Porsche so the main show area featured the German make.
I hate to admit this but I am really not a Porsche fan but I must say the organizers had gathered a very representative array of racing Porsches and the whole show and car park looked like the factory car park in Stuttgart.
Zeccoli flat out at Spa in the Alfa Romeo GTA (Photo credit Centro Documentazione Alfa Romeo, Arese, Zeccoli Archives)
Teo Zeccoli passed away last week and it seemed fitting that we should republish Graham Gauld’s wonderful interview with Zeccoli in 2001, first published in VeloceToday.com on January 24 2013.
Story by Graham Gauld
In the alphabet of the world’s racing drivers, Teodoro Zeccoli comes somewhere near the end. He is a driver we have all heard about, due to his particular exploits with Alfa Romeo, but he is more than just a young Italian who grew up wanting to be a racing driver; Zeccoli was one of the favored test drivers of Carlo Chiti. Apart from being one of Chiti’s principals at Autodelta he was also the test driver for Chiti’s Formula 1 bad-egg, the ATS. [Read more…] about Graham Gauld Interview with Teo Zeccoli
By Graham Gauld
Photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt
Graham Gauld has covered Retro for VeloceToday since 2012
Press day in Paris last Wednesday was quite chaotic as the heavens opened and dumped a load of snow turning this dramatic city into a winter wonderland. But the local taxi drivers seem to have forgotten what happens to a car if, you maintain your usual mad dash through the traffic. That evening taxis were bouncing off the tails of buses or hitting other taxis. So Retromobile had a lively start.
Retromobile this year was the usual mélange of cars we know and as always, hidden away, were one or two cars we had either never seen before or else had interesting histories. [Read more…] about Graham Gauld at Retromobile 2018
The car that caught my eye was this monster French Hotchkiss. Photo by Jonathan Sharp.
Story by Graham Gauld
You would think that after spending three and a half days at the Silverstone Classic, I would come up with a host of stories. But this year, I must confess, it was tough. This is not because there were no interesting cars; but I had arranged in advance various meetings with people who had written asking for help with books or articles they are writing, plus the usual problem of getting round the paddock without someone diverting my attention.
The remarkable 8C Bi-Motore engine with its separate Fiat 1100cc engines and special coupling.
Story and photos by Graham Gauld
It does not seem like a year since the last Annual Assembly of the Grand Prix Drivers Club was held in Maranello, but this year’s Assembly, held in the Adriatic seaside town of Riccione, was another occasion to be presented with some remarkable old race cars, some of which were familiar and others certainly not.
The host of this year’s event was Gabriele Fabbri, the owner of the Hotel Promenade, a former racing driver, and friend of the Grand Prix Drivers Club.
So let’s talk about cars. [Read more…] about Discovering Race Cars in Riccione
Gabriele “Shark” Fabbri with his original Fiat 500 Abarth.
Story by Graham Gauld
Photos courtesy of Gabriele Fabbri
In the story about the recent event in Riccione, I made a number of references to our host, Gabriele Fabbri. We sat and talked about his own racing career in Italian events and I later mentioned his name to an Italian historian who had never heard of him. Then the penny dropped. [Read more…] about Gabriele Fabbri and His Cars
The Speedback GT prototype with David Brown at the wheel in the splendor of the Scottish Highlands last month.
Story by Graham Gauld
Kevin Emslie Photographer
I met David Brown for the first time almost exactly one year ago when he came on the Ecurie Ecosse Tour with his friend Philip Noble in Noble’s Ferrari 275GTB C. We got to talking in the bar one night and when I asked him what he did, he smiled and said he was in business creating a new British quality GT car.
The Speedback GT Brown spoke of had been shown at the Geneva Motor Show in 2016 and is now in production. For me it was a rare chance to sit down with someone who has not just produced a one-off car design, but has gone into full scale production.
David Brown is a charming, garrulous, Yorkshireman born in Harrogate who, like most Yorkshiremen, never takes no for an answer and is up front with his views about life, work and cars.
At Modena in 1957, Juan Manuel Fangio, shows Maserati chief engineer Giulio Alfieri, in jacket shirt and tie, and Swiss journalist Hans Tanner, back to camera, his bandaged wrist. Fangio would bring attention to a line of racing suits from an Argentinean-based company named Suixtil.
Story and photos by Graham Gauld unless otherwise noted
European motor racing in the years immediately following World War II tended to be a strictly European affair; that is until the arrival of the great Juan Manuel Fangio in 1948. Unlike Europe, where there was a war to contend with, young Fangio learned his motor racing craft in the wild and dangerous racing in Argentina in the 1930s and 1940s.
He proved to be not only a tough competitor but also a winner. Who better to be an ambassador for the Salomon Rudman’s Argentinean-based Suixtil company’s entry into the area of motor racing? Rudman’s enthusiasm for motor racing saw him produce clothing, which would not only be stylish but also comfortable. He took advice from his motor racing friends like Fangio as to design and functionality. [Read more…] about Fangio, Suixtil and Modena, 1957
John Whitmore, right, with Alan Mann in the Shelby Cobra Team in 1965.
Story and photos by Graham Gauld
There comes a time in life when you begin to see too many of your friends in the obituary columns, and it happened again last week with the death of Sir John Whitmore. I have lost a great friend of sixty years standing.
This then, is not a catalog of all his races but a private look into a fairly private man who eventually found himself after his racing days were over.
John was something special not only due to his ability driving cars but due to his frightening intellect and constant urge to expand his knowledge, particularly in the field of human endeavor.
From the Archives: VeloceToday contributor Graham Gauld takes us back to the Maserati factory in 1957, 1958, and 1960. Says Gauld “Little was I to realize it at the time but in three of my earliest visits to Maserati I was actually witnessing the slow rundown of the business which led to administration and then to reformation. These were hectic days at Maserati but also days of great enthusiasm to build racing cars and develop the road cars that temporarily saved the company.” We present these great photos by year. Enjoy!
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