VeloceToday.com

The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts

Graham Gauld

Gauld: Tec-Mec and other Oddities

By

Barrie Baxter lifts a wheel of the Tec-Mec when trying to hold off young Will Nuthall in the ex-Bob Gerard Cooper-Bristol.

Story and photos by Graham Gauld

From the Archives, November 2011. This was Graham’s second column for VeloceToday; his latest is featured in this week’s edition as well. Furthermore, last week Jeff Allison’ article elicited some remembrances of the Maserati Tec-Mec. Here Gauld provides another perspective.

I have been humbled by the response to the first column and only hope I can keep you entertained for a few more months. I think one of the problems is that each chance meeting or race meeting provides an opportunity to dig out even more stories to flesh out information we have on some of the odder pieces of motor sport history. They might otherwise disappear when boring old farts like me arrive at the eventual pit stop hopefully in the sky.

This content is for Premium Subscriber members only.
LoginSubscribe

Ferrari 212 Export Berlinetta

By

Dr Martin Halusa’s very early Ferrari 212 Export Berlinetta at Monaco in 2018.( Photo (Gauld)

Story and photos by Graham Gauld

On a web site such as VeloceToday our stories tend to paint with a broad brush. It is clear, however, our reports on concours-style events always attract attention because through these events we can observe the changes made over the decades in the actual shape of the car, in other words: styling.

This content is for Premium Subscriber members only.
LoginSubscribe

Ecurie Ecosse Tour, 2025

By

Head of Pro-Drive, famed for their World Rally Championship successes with the factory Subarus and later Ferraris in the 1990s, David Richards with his wife Karen and their Aston Martin DB6 Volante.

Story and photos by Graham Gauld

It’s May, so for me it is time for the Ecurie Ecosse Tour, held on May 18-22. It originally started in the 1990s when this gathering of friends with nice cars were brought together under the umbrella of Ecurie Ecosse. To everyone’s surprise this small private team won the 1956 Le Mans 24 Hour spectacle with one of their D type Jaguars driven by Scots Ron Flockhart and Ninian Sanderson. Not only that, but this success allowed them to enter two cars for the 1957 and they promptly went out and finished first and second in D type Jaguars and a legend was born.

This content is for Premium Subscriber members only.
LoginSubscribe

Graham Gauld: Jean Guichet

By

Photo by Graham Gauld

Story by Graham Gauld

The facts are there in plain sight. The French, who were responsible for developing all automobile racing from the very beginning, have never truly been credited for their successes in the past thirty years.

Perhaps this is because the youthful motor sporting enthusiast these days is totally wedded to Formula 1, and since 1950 only four French drivers have become World Drivers’ Champions – all of them named Alain Prost!

If, however, you turn to sports cars the picture is different with French drivers being in the winning car at Le Mans 27 times since 1950. I admit this comparison may appear ludicrous bearing in mind that at Le Mans you can have up to three drivers to one winning car, but the point is the French have tended to be more successful in sports cars than in Formula 1. This story is about one of them, Jean Guichet, who will be 98 years of age in August this year.

This content is for Premium Subscriber members only.
LoginSubscribe

Graham Gauld Chronicles Henri Julien

By

Henri Julien in the garage behind his house in Gonfaron contemplates a rebuild of one of his first racing cars, the AGS Racer 500 ( Photo Gauld)

Story and photos by Graham Gauld

The village of Gonfaron in the Var section of Provence in the South of France is famous for two things: its Village des Tortues and the late owner of Automobiles Gonfaronnaises, Henri Julien. They are strange bedfellows because the Village des Tortues is a form of hospice and centre concerned with the care and breeding of tortoises.

This content is for Premium Subscriber members only.
LoginSubscribe

When Allen Met Graham

By

Carroll Shelby in John Edgar’s Ferrari 410S leads Dan Gurney in Frank Arciero’s Ferrari 375 Plus at Palm Springs on April 13, 1958. One of the many photos I shared with the Ferrari Archivist.

Story and Photos by Allen R. Kuhn
From the VeloceToday archives, March, 2022

I would like to start this series of short stories – they are not Galleries as before – by telling a true story about Graham Gauld, and how he saved our skin when we were in Italy/France in 2006 for our seven-week tour of the Continent. The story really began in Maranello, so bear with me….

This content is for Premium Subscriber members only.
LoginSubscribe

Eugenio Castellotti by Graham Gauld

By

Story and photos by Graham Gauld

From the VeloceToday archives, 2019. Lead image: A close-up of Castellotti at Dundrod in 1955, concentrating hard while accelerating away from the hairpin in the Ferrari 850 Monza.

There are times when we can all be rather pretentious. I fell into that trap thirty years ago when I had the idea of writing a subjective book on the psychology of the racing driver. I have always had an interest in the variety of people who come into motor sport and what makes them tick. I had read a lot about psychology in general, then dropped the idea when I realized what a fool I might have made of myself. However, if Central Casting in Hollywood were ever asked for a “racing driver type” back in the 1950s, they would have to have chosen Eugenio Castellotti.

This content is for Premium Subscriber members only.
LoginSubscribe

Gauld Meets the Nardi-Monaco Chichibio

By

Enrico Nardi at the wheel of the Nardi-Monaco at the Parma hill climb in 1937. Note the tires! ( Photo Veloce Today archives)

By Graham Gauld

Not many racing cars are named after dogs, but in 1932 Augusto Monaco designed what was a remarkably forward-thinking racing car with Enrico Nardi.

It was called the Chichibio which just happened to be the name of Monaco’s dachshund!

I say forward-thinking because the racing car not only had an air-cooled engine, but also front wheel drive and was a true featherweight.

This content is for Premium Subscriber members only.
LoginSubscribe

And How! VeloceToday’s Most Valuable Assets

By

In addition to our comments section below each article, VeloceToday often gets very nice compliments, sent via email or included in a note with a subscription check. These comments rarely get published, but are meant as recognition of the work done by our contributors, who create the content that makes VeloceToday what it is. Magazines are nothing without good content, and therefore contributors are our greatest and most valuable assets.

They are historians, authors, editors, photographers, columnists, journalists, judges, drivers, restorers, artisans, collectors and constructors. They hail from the United States, Great Britain, Australia, Germany, France, Belgium and Italy. Here are the names of thirty-three whose contributions made the year 2024 one to remember.

Jeff Allison, Gary Axon, Giles Chapman, Bob Cullinan, Rodney Diggens, Joseph Duray, Brandes Elitch, Graham Gauld, Greg Glassner, Bob Harrington, Joe Hurwich, Stefan Ivanov, Vince Johnson, Jackie Jouret, Allen R. Kuhn, Dale LaFollette, James Lanoway, Frederic Levaux, Bernard Linck, Roberto Motta, Herb Miska, Chris Nugent, Willem Oosthoek, Paul Sable, Charley Seavey, Jonathan Sharp, Jim Sitz, Roy Smith, Sean Smith, Pete Vack, Hugues Vanhoolandt, Paul Wilson, Robert Young

Graham Gauld: Grand Prix Itala

By

George Daniels at the wheel of his monstrous 12 liter Itala Grand Prix car at Douglas in the Isle of Man.(Photo Grand Prix Library/Gauld)

Story by Graham Gauld

As many regular readers know, I have a particular passion for Italian racing cars, even the very old ones, and when I recently was given a copy of a superb history of the Itala marque I immediately delved into it.

The fact that the book, published by AISA (Associazione Italiana Per La Storia Dell’Automobile) was in Italian called for a lot of hard work but I had a specific car in mind: the 1908 grand prix car.

This content is for Premium Subscriber members only.
LoginSubscribe

Gauld Visits the Malaga Museum

By

The Museo del Automovil y La Moda in Malaga, southern Spain.

Story by Graham Gauld
Photos by Graham Gauld unless otherwise noted

For me a visit to any motor museum not only exposes to you cars and models you have heard about but never seen in the metal, so to speak, but demonstrates the sheer variety of marques the world has produced in the 130 year history of the automobile.

Recently I took a short trip to Malaga in the south of Spain.

This content is for Premium Subscriber members only.
LoginSubscribe

Classic Memories: Gauld at Silverstone

By

Peter Fenichel with his interesting Stanguellini.

Story and photos by Graham Gauld

As regular readers know, I always look forward to the Silverstone Classic in late August, but for me this year was a rush as I had to get back fast before going on a brief visit to Malaga in Spain (coming up), so only now can I sit back and reflect on an event which always churns up interesting cars and people.

Take Peter Fenichel, for example, who was racing a Stanguellini Formula Junior that interested me, as anything to do with Stanguellini does since I have known the family for over sixty years. Peter is an American retired financial man with a passion for racing and a cheerful demeanor.

This content is for Premium Subscriber members only.
LoginSubscribe
MENU