The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts
The Classic is back!
Story and Photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt
The last edition of Le Mans Classic, first held twenty years ago, dates from 2018. Canceled in 2020, the tenth edition was finally able to take place this year under a hot summer sun from June 30 to July 3. [Read more…] about Le Mans Classic Part 1
Welcome back to Spa-Francorchamps and Spa Classic!
Story and Photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt
Spa Classic is finally back on the Francorchamps circuit! After a hiatus of two years (we all know why), the tenth edition was able to take place in this month of May and moreover, without rain, which is not uncommon here. More than 380 cars came together to challenge the “Roller-coaster of the Ardennes”, seven kilometers long with its twenty turns marked out by descents and climbs. Nine grids represented the different eras of endurance racing from the post-war period until the early 2000s, which I invite you to discover here.
Many Bugattis were present. Very interesting was this Bugatti Type 30 bodied as a ‘Torpedo ponté’ by Parisian coachbuilder Lavocat & Marsaud.
Story and Photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt
Cassel, a small town in the North of France, is not only a typical village in Flanders but also home of the Galerie des Damiers (the checkerboard gallery) founded and run for decades by well-known dealer Christophe Pund, who has no equal in unearthing automotive rarities.
Every two years, on the first of May, Mr Pund receives his car enthusiast friends for a good-natured picnic with, of course, the theme of old cars.
When entered by the Automobilclub of Argentina between 1949 and 1954, this Maserati 4 CLT, chassis number 1600, was piloted by the best Argentinian drivers of the time: Fangio, Gonzalez, Campos, Marimon or Menditeguy.
Story and Photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt
Three years have passed since the last edition of the Techno Classica motor show in Essen, one of the main cities of the Ruhr area. Of course, the effects of the pandemic were felt during this year’s fair.
Not attending were the imposing stands of the German manufacturers, for the most part only represented by their owners’ clubs.
Some German car dealers were also missing as this pandemic period has shown that it was possible to sell cars without having to display them on an expensive stand.
When Pebble Beach announces a special display, the enthusiast community immediately comes to life. No one who saw the six Bugatti Royales at Pebble Beach in 1985 will ever forget the spectacle. A class for Bugatti Type 57s with coachbuilt bodies in 2003 was extremely impressive, with a large entry and car histories on placards mounted on standards. (This article originally was published in September 2011.) [Read more…] about Michael Lynch and the First GTO
Story and Photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt
What started in 2010 as a classic car rally with friends, the Zoute Grand Prixin Belgium has grown steadily since then to become a must-see event on the calendar which also involves the neighboring towns of Bruges and Ostend this year.
Weekend activities at Zoute include an exhibition of the latest production numbers from dream car makers like Ferrari, Maserati and McLaren, the GT Tour for exclusive GT cars under 20 years of age, and an auction organized by Bonhams.
But the most important event of the weekend is the Concours d’Elegance which takes place at the Zoute Golf Club. That is what we are going to focus on today.
It seems that the track is not wide enough …
Story and photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt
Spa Six Hours is an annual race meeting held at the famous Spa-Francorchamps circuit. This year, on September 24-26, the race meeting was held again after a one-year hiatus due to the Covid 19 pandemic. Although it was not yet back to normality as some of the grids were not as full as before, the spectacle was there with contested races and the typical Ardennes rain on Sunday that put the drivers to their limits.
Abarth 1000 Record Pinin Farina “La Principessa”
Photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt
What can you say about Hugues Vanhoolandt, who almost every year travels the world, attending and reporting on almost every major classic car event in the UK, the U.S., and Europe? [Read more…] about Hugues Vanhoolandt, World Class Photographer
Fiat 508 C Ala d’Oro, Mille Miglia 2017. More on this in our mini feature below.
Photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt unless otherwise noted
For our second edition of Etceterini Corner, we present another series of images by Hugues Vanhoolandt taken over a period of years. Although seven of the eight images are of different Erminis, we focus on the Ala d’Oro, a fascinating car meant more for the street than the track. How many were made is a good question.
Pope John Paul II visited the Ferrari factory in June 1988. After the visit, he was driven around the factory ground aboard this Ferrari Mondial 3.2 cabriolet, chassis number 77848. The present owner bought the car in auction in 2012.
Story and photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt
Now in its tenth edition, the Zoute Grand Prix, held in the prestigious resort town of Knokke-le-Zoute on the Belgian coast, has become a regular event on the European classic car calendar. Besides the Zoute Rally, the Zoute Sale by Bonhams and the Zoute GT Tour, the Zoute Concours d’Elegance is the last of its kind before the season of European events comes to a close.
A part of the Goodwood Trophy field with the 1938 Maserati 6CM of Ewen Sergison in the lead.
We have seen the 1959 TT parade, now to the real racing. Hugues Vanhoolandt gives us a visual feast of the races at the Goodwood Revival (September 13-15).
Story and photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt
A year has passed since our last visit to the West Sussex circuit of Goodwood, and every year we wonder what the Duke of Richmond & Gordon and his team have found for new ideas to entertain a crowd of 150,000 people; there is so much more going on than the races at the Goodwood Motor Circuit. [Read more…] about Vanhoolandt at the 2019 Goodwood Revival
