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The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts

Graham Gauld

Mike Sparken, Part 1 by Graham Gauld

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Mike Sparken, winning at Oulton Park in the rain with his trusty 750 Monza.

First published by VeloceToday in 2012.
In the 1950s, if you had talent and the necessary finances, you could become a successful racing driver as a private entrant. This is the story of one of them, a French-born racing driver by the name of Mike Sparken. We were working on this article when on September 21, 2012. Sparken died at his home in the South of France at the age of eighty-two.

By Graham Gauld

Mike Sparken, or Michael Poberejsky, to cite his proper name, was born in Paris in 1930 to a wealthy Russian family that had left Russia for Paris at the time of the 1917 Revolution.

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Major Hartley Whyte by Graham Gauld

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Major Hartley Whyte with his military moustache with his rare DB2 Aston Martin.

Story and Photos by Graham Gauld

One of the advantages of having been around for far too long, or disadvantages if you care to look at it that way, is that many moments from the past keep being dug up and, thanks to the internet, one is constantly reminded of them.

Such was the case a few years ago when an owner came on to me about an interesting E-type Jaguar.

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And How!

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A few years ago we established a mini-feature entitled “And How” as a page to drop in short items, newsbits, addendums, etcetera. It worked fairly well. But after a while, I forgot to make further use of it. Then last week Graham Gauld, Rich Minor and Kendall Merritt had a few things they would like to impart, but shorts, y’know, things that would fit into a mini-feature. How do we do that within the VT format? Oh ya, I remember now. And How. Ed.

Mike Anthony gives Tony Brooks a push at the 1956 British GP. (Photo Gauld)

Graham Gauld and Tony Brooks

I am afraid I was unable to add anything to the comments about Tony Brooks as I had just left France after 27 years and getting adjusted to being back in the UK. [Read more…] about And How!

Gauld’s Glorious Gaylord Gladiator

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Found while in Florida…Graham Gauld photo.

Story by Graham Gauld

I was reminded of the fact that this is my seventieth year as a motoring journalist – yes I started early! – when a photograph I took of a car in a relatively obscure motor museum in Florida fell on to my desk.

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Bob Wallace by Graham Gauld

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Bob Wallace photographed with an Alfa Romeo at the Moroso circuit, Florida.

Story and Photos by Graham Gauld

Race mechanics have something of a maverick streak about them which usually leads to an interesting and exciting life. Such was the case with Bob Wallace, a New Zealander who left his native country in 1960 and arrived in Modena looking for a job.

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Allen R. Kuhn: Of Gauld and Ferrari

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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

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…. [Read more…] about Allen R. Kuhn: Of Gauld and Ferrari

Graham Gauld: The Pininfarina Sigma

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The revolutionary Sigma Grand Prix car by Pininfarina and powered by Ferrari. Note the Ferrari mag wheels. (Graham Gauld Archives.)

By 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. [Read more…] about Graham Gauld: The Pininfarina Sigma

The Teo Zeccoli Story

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Zeccoli flat out at Spa in the Alfa Romeo GTA (Photo credit Centro Documentazione Alfa Romeo, Arese, Zeccoli Archives)

Teo Zeccoli interview with Graham Gauld was first published in VeloceToday.com in January, 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.

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Graham Gauld: The Tourist Trophy at Ards

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Ards, 1932. Freddie DIxon’s big off.

Story by Graham Gauld
Photos from the collection of Robert McCann

The RAC Tourist Trophy Race is one of the few races that has been in existence for over 100 years and in fact it is the longest running series, having started in 1905.

It was first held on the Isle of Man and the first winner was not only a Scot, John Napier, but he was even driving a Scottish car, an Arrol Johnston built in Glasgow.

One of the great periods in TT history came in the 1930s. As everyone appears to enjoy older photos, I thought that I would come up with a picture story covering some of those events held on the Ards circuit outside Belfast in Northern Ireland, where racing on the public roads was allowed, unlike on the U.K. mainland were open road racing was banned.

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Gianni Agnelli’s Century

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Gianni and his son, Edoardo Agnelli. Photo from Fiat: Twenty More Years by David Beare.

Story by Graham Gauld Photos by Gauld unless otherwise noted

As we near the end of the year, it suddenly struck me that I had read very little about Gianni Agnelli, the charismatic former head of Fiat who would have celebrated his 100th birthday this year. He was born on March 12, 1921, in Turin.

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Gauld on the Ecurie Ecosse Tour

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After a thorough rainshower, Alison Beecham was thrilled to see the rainbow’s end.

Story and photos by Graham Gauld

I don’t know about you, but this Covid 19 business has been not only a bit of a bore but also restricting our movements. However, I recently spent two months in the UK – the first visit in two years – and was able to take part in the Ecurie Ecosse Tour which originally started over thirty years ago.

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Juan Fangio and Suixtil

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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

From the VeloceToday Archives May 2017

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.

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