The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts
The plaque outside the workshop.
Story and photos by Graham Gauld
The village of Carpentras lies in northern Provence ten miles from Avignon and close to the river Gard that flows below that city’s famous bridge. It is like many French Provencal villages, with a history going back centuries. As a market town it was even visited by the Greeks and the Phoenicians and is famous for its sheep and honey. But there is one citizen there who is well known to Bugatti enthusiasts: Laurent Rondoni.
Peter Collins on his winning way in the British Grand Prix at Silverstone in July 1958. Photo: Grand Prix Library/Graham Gauld
Peter Collins Celebration begins June 10 in Worcester, UK
This year marks the 65th anniversary of the death of British racing driver Peter Collins in an accident during the 1958 German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring.
Collins was at the peak of his racing career and was a member of the Scuderia Ferrari team alongside his great friend Mike Hawthorn who was to go on to become Britain’s first Formula 1 Grand Prix World Champion. He was killed just two weeks after his famous victory in the British Grand Prix at Silverstone that year. [Read more…] about And How!
The little winglet on the rear of the coachwork and the superb finish to the car.
By Graham Gauld
To me the Fiat Balilla 508 has always been one of the most stylish small sports cars of the 1930s and it was certainly a very successful model for Fiat.
The model I want to talk about, however, is a particular “Coppa D’Oro” model owned by the Hong Kong-based businessman Sir Michael Kadoorie, owner of the Peninsula Hotel Group and, incidentally, the Quail Lodge Golf Club at Laguna Seca, California.
The revolutionary Sigma Grand Prix car by Pininfarina and powered by Ferrari. Note the Ferrari mag wheels
Graham Gauld wrote this article a year ago, but in the meantime Roberto Motto came up with image of the Sigma from Pininfarina, while new information about Sigma came from Paolo Martin’s new book, Visions in Design, also reviewed this week. We put it all in a blender an came up with the story below. Ed.
Photos courtesy Pininfarina, Paolo Martin and Graham Gauld
“Some might feel inclined to remark, perhaps in a chiding tone, that this work has seduced us away from what has been our traditional path. We would certainly rebut such a charge.” Those words were uttered by Sergio Pininfarina when his company surprised everyone at the 1969 Geneva Motor Show by showing a startling one-off Grand Prix car, the Sigma.
Claviers was to be Gauld’s next home.
Story and photos by Graham Gauld
In 1994, Having made my decision to return to Europe, and the further decision to move to the South of France, I chose the tiny village of Claviers to be close enough to Italy and within easy driving distance to Milan, Turin and, of course, Modena.
The 1932 Salmson GS (Grande Sport) that arrived in the village. (Jane Wallis-Hosken)
By Graham Gauld
From the Archives October 2020
I live in a small village in the south of France in the hills behind the beaches of Cannes and Frejus where very little happens. However, I am constantly reminded of the major role France played in the birth and development of automobile racing.
Graham explaining the driving test to Jackie Chan at Kowloon.
Story and photos by Graham Gauld
Read Part 1
In the first episode of this yarn I left you with my reply to the company in Hong Kong regarding their wish to have someone edit a car magazine they planned for mainland China and going off to Silverstone for a historic race meet. On my return on a Sunday evening in 1993, there was a reply informing me that tickets from Edinburgh to Hong Kong via London would arrive the following day and could I fly on Wednesday. [Read more…] about Graham Gauld Mini Autobiography Part 2
Graham Gauld with his partner Jane Wallis-Hosken at the Portimao historics in Portugal.
Story and photos by Graham Gauld
It is hard to believe, but by the time you read this it will have been seven months since Jane and I turned in the key to the house, got a lift to the Nice airport and flew to London, leaving behind 27 years’ worth of memories of living in the South of France, in easy driving distance from Nice, Cannes, Monaco and Ventimiglia on the Italian border. Four weeks earlier I had celebrated the 70th anniversary of my first work as a motoring journalist at the age of 17.
Why am I telling you all this? Well Editor Pete Vack thought it would be a good idea to explain how it has been settling down in the country of one’s roots, after being away for close on thirty years. My life, so far, can be split into three parts so let’s start with the first part.
Not another pesky journalist!
Story and photos by Graham Gauld
I must admit I was saddened to hear the news that Mauro Forghieri, the man who designed some of the finest Ferrari cars during the modern era, died in Modena at the age of 87.
Mauro was quite an engaging character who had a great sense of humor. On occasion, he could turn prickly, as though he was tired of hearing the same questions again and again. Wherever he went, he was always surrounded by people asking him questions.
Eddie McGuire and the ex-Archie Butterworth Bentley.
Story and photos by Graham Gauld
Normally the BRDC Silverstone Classic is my special three-day event, but this year I could only spend one day there and so did not see half of the cars that turned up. However, I did meet up with two old pals who each had a story to tell.
What does the “R” stand for? Gauld investigates.
Story and Brands Hatch photos by Graham Gauld
You know what it’s like, eight weeks living out of a suitcase trying to find a house in the UK, you get mentally frazzled. I needed a jab of car reality. Luckily, nearby at the legendary Brands Hatch circuit there was the
The Goggomobil Dart photographed in 2007 at Classic Adelaide in Australia. It was running on the event but is a promotional car for the Australian insurance company Shannons.
Story and photos by Graham Gauld
From our Archives, October 2016
We all know about racing drivers who started out running the oddest cars in motor sport events, but I think the guy who really takes the biscuit is the legendary Jim Clark, two-time World Grand Prix Champion and the first British winner of the Indianapolis 500.
It was 1956, and the world had never heard of Jim Clark. He was still the farmer’s son running his Sunbeam Talbot Mark III in the odd rally and gymkhana. That year Europe faced the Suez Crisis when Egypt threatened to close the Suez Canal. This would have put Britain in dire straits when it came to delivering oil from the Middle East, so the British went to war. It was short and a political disaster in many ways but it brought in severe fuel rationing in Britain. As a result, many people turned to Germany where they were producing a new breed of Microcars. The BMW Isetta was the most popular with the Heinkel coming next. But who remembers the Goggomobil?