The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts
Porporato finishes 4th in the 1908 Targa Florio with the Berliet.
By Graham Gauld
About fifteen years ago I was appointed a member of the FIA Historic Commission in Paris. As such, I met up with some interesting people and one fellow member, probably the oldest at the time, was Paul Berliet whose family had created the Berliet company. [Read more…] about Gauld at Retro Take Two
The Baird-Griffin Maserati at the Craigantlet hill climb driven by Sydney Durbridge, about 1953-4. It re-appeared at this year's Retro. 
Story and most photos by Graham Gauld
Small stand, big transporter
Retromobile time again! For me it was fun to ferret around and under the stands looking for things that others might have missed, and some things you simply couldn’t miss, such as the 1956 Bartoletti Ferrari transporter.
As soon as I saw it, it brought back fond memories of the 1956 British Grand Prix, when I photographed it arriving at Silverstone with the factory Lancia-Ferraris on the back for Fangio, Castellotti, Collins, Gendebien and Fon Portago; five cars, none of this two cars per team business. [Read more…] about Graham Gauld at Retromobile
Eugen Bohringer in the Porsche 904. One of Gauld's favorites, taken at the top of the Col de Turini, during the Monte Carlo Rally when there was snow, as it should be!
In which Gauld recalls his favorite Winter Rallies
Story and photos by Graham Gauld or courtesy thereof
The legendary Monte Carlo Rally finished last Saturday, but lost a lot of its fascination because there was precious little snow. Winter rallies should have snow, which differentiates them from other rally championship events.
All this got me thinking of my favorite snow rally, the International Swedish event that takes place in February and, being located over 2000 kms north of Monte Carlo, can usually provide plenty of the white stuff. I covered the Swedish Rally four times, the first time in 1966 by persuading Henry Manney III that we had had enough covering the Monte three years running. Why don’t we do something different I asked, and from the moment we landed in Gothenburg and set out on our 120 mile north into Varmland and the town of Orebro it truly was different!
[Read more…] about Ice, Snow, Renault R8s, Alpines, Lancia Fulvias and Gauld
Henry Manney III by Graham Gauld
It’s funny how news reports remind you of old departed friends. A recent news report on the $52 million sale of Ferrari GTO 5111GT brought back a score of happy memories of times spent with American motoring journalist and raconteur Henry Manney III.
Henry Manney III may not be a familiar name to a modern generation, but back in the 1960s he not only sprung to prominence with his witty and amusing articles in Road & Track magazine but he actually created what we would call the modern “loose” form of writing about cars. He dispensed with the turgid prose of the regular motoring writers of the day and replaced it with colorful turns of phrase; even inventing his own words to express his feelings and mood. [Read more…] about Henry Manney and the 52 Million Dollar GTO
Francois Chevalier's latest, a 1949 Stanguellini sports racer. Prices range from 3000-3500 Euros.
Story and photos by Graham Gauld
If you should ever be in Monte Carlo, keep a look-out for an almost life-sized bronze statue to “Williams”, or William Grover-Williams to give him his correct name, the winner of the first Monaco Grand Prix in 1929. It is an expressive, rough-hewn work that usually stands right in the middle of St. Devote, the first corner of the Grand Prix circuit. Naturally, the statue is craned out of the way for the race but it is then craned back again after the grand prix as a permanent reminder of the first winner. The man who crafted this superb piece of work never had a single art lesson in his life but admits that he enjoyed drawing cars when he was young. He is Francois Chevalier, a 60 year-old ex-racing driver and former manager of the Paul Ricard circuit in the South of France. [Read more…] about Francois Chevalier by Graham Gauld
Graham Gauld’s Goodwood
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Andy Middlehurst at the wheel of the Lotus 43 BRM, now beautifully restored.
By Graham Gauld
As you can see in this Special Edition of VeloceToday, there are plenty of photos and details about the racing at the event. But for me, Goodwood is another chance to meet up with old friends, make new ones, and keep an eye open for things that might have escaped notice or otherwise have been so obscure as to be missed by the many journalists around.
Clark and the E.R.A.
As this year was celebrating the 50th anniversary of Jim Clark’s first World Championship win in 1963, Lord March dedicated the meeting to him. There was a remarkable collection of cars that Jim Clark had raced, and then sent off in a parade round the circuit.
Among the more obscure was the 1936 E.R.A. voiturette R5B originally raced by the Siamese Prince Bira, but also raced for many years by Tony Rolt and journalist John Bolster. Eventually, in 1959, the Honorable Patrick Lindsay, who has been credited as the creator of what we now call historic car racing when he was a director of the well-established auction house of Christies, bought the E.R.A.
Ludovic Lindsay at the wheel of the 1935 1.5 liter supercharged E.R.A. that his father loaned to Jim Clark at the 1963 French Grand Prix.
Paris-Madrid, 1903.
By Graham Gauld
Here in the South of France there are a lot of “Brocantes” which, to you and me, means a space in a town or village where people set up a table and sell all the rubbish they have in the house for a few cents a time.
I am always on the lookout for real rarities such as commercially printed postcards of photos from auto racing 100 years ago.
Let me tell you the story behind two of those cards. The first shows a photo taken at the 3rd Coupe des Voiturettes held at Compiegne in northern France on September 27 1908. It was a great day for the French manufacturer Sizaire-Naudin as they finished first, second and fourth. What is even more interesting is that both Louis Naudin and Georges Sizaire, the founders of the company along with Georges’ brother Maurice, were racing in the event and finished first and second. The second is linked closely with the world’s oldest race driver. [Read more…] about World’s Oldest Race Driver
Change indeed. Bernard Asset's art. McLaren at Eau Rouge on the Spa circuit. F1 photography would never be the same again. Copyright Bernard Asset. All rights reserved.
By Graham Gauld
At a recent race meeting I met up with an old friend of over 25 years, the famed French Formula 1 photographer Bernard Asset. You may not have heard of him, but he completely changed the style of motor racing photography back in the 1970s.
Bernard Asset today. Photo by Graham Gauld.
Born in 1955 Bernard Asset was brought up in Paris; his father was a keen and talented amateur photographer. From the age of 14 young Asset wanted to be a photographer, and as a young teenager at the photography school the teacher asked him what he wanted to do. He said he wanted to be a sports photographer and cover the Olympics. The teacher told him to forget it as they were training commercial photographers. the Olympics, including the 1992 Summer and Winter Olympics at Barcelona and Albertville. “You know, ski photography is very similar to photographing Formula 1,” he remarks. [Read more…] about Bernard Asset: The Man Who Changed the Pictures
Theodore Pilette at the wheel of his Gregoire at the Gaillon event in 1906
By Graham Gauld
Photos courtesy Pilette Family
This year’s Indianapolis 500 will be something special for Belgian ex-racing driver Teddy Pilette, for it will mark the 100th anniversary of his grandfather Theodore Pilette’s remarkable 5th place in the 1913 Indy 500. Remarkably, Teddy himself had three attempts at Indy back in 1979,’81 and’82 but did not manage to qualify. In between, Teddy’s father, Theodore’s son Andre, was a successful Belgain race driver in the 1950s, driving for Gordini and Ferrari. Finally, Teddy’s son John is now racing SEAT sedans!
But it all began with Grandfather Pilette, whose performance at Indy back then was of particular significance because his Mercedes-Knight was the smallest car in the race at just over 4 liters and he even averaged 20 mpg on fuel. So who was Theodore Pilette?
Born in 1883, he was a teenager when the automobile hit town and clearly he was impressed and went into the auto trade as soon as he could and became a dealer for Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (Mercedes).
The Pilette Garage in Brussels: note the dealerships.
Gordini on the way to winning the Index at Le Mans in 1939. Graham Gauld Archives.
By Graham Gauld
Does anyone remember the Fodor guides to hotels, restaurants and the like? Back in 1957, Fodor sent me a review copy of their then-new guide to Italy. It arrived just as I was planning my first trip to Modena, so I looked up the area. I came upon a small hotel, the Albergo della Rocca, in the tiny village of Bazzano to the north of Modena. It was a great choice because it was run by the Rochi family as a typical Italian family hotel. Occasionally Enzo Ferrari came there to dine, but many years later I discovered that Bazzano had another role to play in the history of motor racing. It was the birthplace of Amedeo Gordini.
Amedeo’s father was a horse dealer but died in 1902 when Amedeo was only three years of age. However, it was not long before cars entered his life as Modena was a hot bed of motor sport and was one of the towns used on the Giro d’Emilia car event. (I say car because in 1909 the first Giro d’Emilia cycle race took place and also visited Modena.) Gordini was enthralled and that was it; he was going to become a mechanic, and at the very young age of 10 he took up an apprenticeship in an engineering shop in Bologna.
A man named Weber was an early influence on Gordini. Photo by Mary Decker Vack
Gauld recalls his Heinkel days, Wyss finds a Isetta Convertible
By Graham Gauld
I was recently reminded of a very special trip I made to Modena back in 1958. The reminder was the RM Auction held recently which featured the multitude of microcars that Bruce Weiner had collected and showed in his Microcar Museum in Madison, Georgia.
There have been many microcars built in the history of the automobile but in mid-1950s in Europe they became very popular during the Suez Canal Crisis in 1956. [Read more…] about Microcosms from Gauld and Wyss
Europe is finally beginning to see an influx of the Abarth Allemanos.
Story and photos by Graham Gauld
It’s the first week of February, and to many that means Retromobile in Paris. This large motoring extravaganza is the meeting place of those who are in the know and looking for customers for their cars, as well as those who are there to drink in a truly diverse collection of cars, memorabilia and artifacts that never fail to produce some surprising items.
I tend to overlook the big historic car dealer stands with the major items that are generally covered in depth by most of the historic rags. I tend to look in the corners and on some of the smaller stands where you can find some really interesting stuff.
The Bertone-bodied Stanguellini berlinetta.
I have known the Stanguellini family for over fifty years, but this was the first occasion I have seen one of the 1100cc Fiat-engined berlinettas produced in the early 1950s. They were built as a short run of cars aimed at racing, with beautifully styled coachwork by Nuccio Bertone. As you can see from the photo it was very stylish for 1951 and at the Coppa Inter Europa that year, four of them took part, Manzini’s car finishing 8th in the 1100cc class. The one on show was on the Belgian Marreyt Classics stand with a price tag a shade over $180,000.
You had a choice of Cisitalia 202SC cabriolets on offer at Retromobile. This one was the Marryet car finished in blue/grey...