The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts
The 1932 Salmson GS (Grande Sport) that arrived in the village. (Jane Wallis-Hosken)
By Graham Gauld
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. [Read more…] about A Salmson in Claviers
June 6th, 1958. Mike Hawthorn being interviewed near the Vanwall van at Reims. Photo by Robert Pauley
Story by Denise McCluggage
Photos and captions by Graham Gauld and Robert Pauley
On top of the Le Mans crash of 1955 that killed four score or more and for which many Germans, mostly in the press, blamed Mike Hawthorn as a key instrument, he was having his darkest season in Grand Prix racing. He collected not a point toward the championship. Nothing. He was driving for Tony Vandervell and the Vanwalls were still suffering from birth pangs. Vanwall, like Mike, still had three full years to go to its world championship.
The first Ferrari Mike Hawthorn raced was this modified 375 4.5 litre car, the Thinwall Special entered by Tony Vandervell seen standing beside the car. The meeting was at the Turnberry circuit in 1953.
Story by Denise McCluggage
Photos and captions by Graham Gauld
There have been many “firsts” in the life of John Michael Hawthorn starting that tenth day in April, 1929, when he first saw light of day. His father, Leslie, was a garage owner and a man active in motorcycling and motor-racing circles, putting Mike close to this world from the time he was a tyke.
Luigi Villoresi photographed at the 1954 TT at Dundrod in Ireland. Graham Gauld photo.
By Graham Gauld
It was whilst in England for the 1949 British Grand Prix on May 14 that Luigi Villoresi received a surprise. “I had a message from Enzo Ferrari to say he had sent a single seater 166C Ferrari to Brussels for me to race in the Brussels Grand Prix, and a new 166MM sports car( 0016M) to Luxembourg to race in a sports car race the following weekend.”
Luigi continued. “I won both races and when I got back to Milan I had a telephone call from a journalist friend called Corrado Fillipini telling me that Enzo Ferrari wanted me to drive for him; so why didn’t I go and see him and sign for Ferrari?”
This provided a dilemma for Villoresi, as he had disliked Enzo Ferrari since the day of the accident that killed his brother Emilio at Monza, back in 1939.
Mike Hawthorn, Concentrating hard on the exit from the hairpin with the Jaguar D-Type in the 1955 Tourist Trophy race at Dundrod.
From the Archives, September, 2013
Story by Denise McCLuggage
Photos and captions by Graham Gauld
The late Marquis de Portago was once passing judgment on various Grand Prix drivers and marking the ones he thought most likely to succeed to Fangio’s throne. One famous name he dismissed with a shrug: “He’s too hard to classify. He’s erratic. He seldom finishes. He never takes care of himself.”
If Portago had lived until 1959, he would have seen the driver he named least-likely-to-succeed become the 1958 driving champion of the world. But he would be no more surprised than the tall, tow-headed wearer of the crown — Mike Hawthorn — himself.
Lunch at the Ristorante Lauro in Modena in 1997 just a few months before Luigi Villoresi died at the age of 88. He is seated with Don Sergio Mantovani the former priest to Maserati who ran the hospice at his church, Santa Catherina in Modena. Graham Gauld photo.
By Graham Gauld
I had first met Villoresi years before and once he became rather frail and had moved into the hospice, I wanted to sit down with him and talk about his life. He surprisingly arrived at a Ferrari event in Italy where I think Schumacher presented him with a trophy, and had been brought by Lauro Malavolti, who owned Lauro’s restaurant in Modena and was another pal of mine. I said to Lauro I would like to talk to him and so he asked me if I could wait a few months and then come down to Modena, and he would arrange a lunch with Villoresi.
This wonderful cartoon drawing of the Bologna circuit was produced by the organizers.
Story by Graham Gauld
For more years than I care to remember, almost daily I have been faced with what I am going to write about, particularly when the publication is concerned with motoring and motorsport history.
This is why some of my stories might appear to be out of the ordinary. The following is one of them.
Twenty years ago, I was appointed a member of the FIA Historic Commission in Paris, which sounds terribly grand. It was an enjoyable five years, and one met very interesting people.
So that’s a Jaguar?
Story by Graham Gauld
I have often mentioned in the past the power of coincidence, and the other day I happened to be going through my Jaguar notes for a possible book, and was amazed to find that I seem to have bumped into all sorts of Jaguars fitted with special bodies in a variety of places.
What makes this slightly different from normal is that Jaguar were not well known as cars attractive to specialist coachbuilders, yet it is surprising just how many well-known companies have built special bodies on Jaguars in period. Amongst them are Pinin Farina, Ghia, Michelotti and Zagato.
Two Jaguars I wanted to talk about were one clothed in the style of Ghia in Turin and the other in the style of Bill Flajole of Detroit.
The Guidobaldi in 2015. Photo by Graham Gauld.
Story by Graham Gauld
Some years ago, in the Mougins Automobile Museum which, until its closure, was close to where I live in the South of France, I saw the chassis and engine of a racing car that I could not believe.
The owner of the museum and the car was Adrien Maeght*, a member of the Maeght family, who were prosperous frame makers catering to the art world in Paris. Adrien is also a keen car collector and he opened his museum right beside the main autoroute leading to Cannes and Nice.
By Pete Vack
Photos by Graham Gauld
The story of Archie Scott Brown is incredible, unbelievable, astonishing, inspiring, heart rendering and finally, tragic; and in today’s world, such accomplishments would be totally impossible.
He was born on Friday the 13th of May, 1927 in Glasgow, Scotland, with no proper right forearm, “merely and elementary thumb and palm, which started below the elbow.” His tiny legs lacked a shinbone, and the legs were “radically twisted and bowed, and the club-feet were tiny, with no discernible toes.” The right foot was twisted outwards about 90 degrees, the left foot almost 180 degrees. Of the limbs, only the left arm and hand were normal. His mother had the German measles (rubella) during her pregnancy.*
Albert Uderzo with his Ferrari 512M at Mas du Clos in the 1990s.
Story by Graham Gauld
Sixty years ago last December, the French became fascinated by a comic strip feature whose hero was Asterix the Gaul.
The comic strip was the work of René Goscinny, who came up with the story line, and Albert Uderzo, who was the artist who sketched out the great characters. This cartoon series was about a group of ancient French from the area of Gaul who were constantly fighting against the Romans. who had occupied France. But it was not just for kids.
Goscinny added contemporary political incidents of the 1960s into the narrative, so that adults were also attracted to the political satire. Two years later the first of their hard cover books hit the market and have been an annual best seller. The stories and books kept coming along, earning both a great deal of money.
So what has this got to do with cars?
A Tom Schultz photo of Allan McNish at Daytona in 1999. Courtesy “Ferrari 333 SP” by Terry O’Neil. (Click to order book)
Story by Graham Gauld
I recently spent some time with Allan McNish, three time Le Mans winner (once for Porsche and twice with Audi) who also raced a Ferrari 333SP on two occasions, almost winning the 1999 Daytona 24 Hour race.
The What?
The Ferrari 333SP of the 1990s is a car that even Ferrari enthusiasts rarely talk about or even remember. Perhaps one reason is because of its exclusivity, namely a race car designed specifically and exclusively for the US market and the IMSA GT Championship of 1994. It was designed at Ferrari but the first cars were built by Dallara before Michelotto constructed a second series in 1997.