The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts
Story by Graham Gauld
If you were a journeyman racing driver or a tyro and lived near Modena, Guglielmo Dei’s Scuderia Centro Sud had many attractions.
First of all, it was a driver’s school, but it was also a club with its own clubhouse in a small villa at 646 via Emilia Ovest. There, you could sit at tables under the trees and talk motor racing or perhaps share stories of how you had driven a racing car on the nearby Modena Autodromo.
Behold the art of Jim Sitz, an 18-year-old Californian who was already steeped in racing knowledge and an expert photographer when arrived in Europe in the summer of that magical, epochal, dangerous year of 1957. Sitz was not wealthy, but worked and saved for two years in order to afford the trip that would change his life forever. And after 67 years his photographs and memories are still enriching our lives.
We have assembled a portrait gallery of fourteen of the greatest race drivers of the era, adding Jim’s personal recollections including his first-hand report of Fangio’s German Grand Prix. Also herein are Jean Behra, Mike Hawthorn, Luigi Musso, Stirling Moss, Peter Collins, Oliver Gendebien, Ron Flockhart, Archie Scott Brown, Masten Gregory, Wolfgang von Trips, Phil Hill, Harry Schell and Ken Miles.
Story and photos by Jim Sitz
Lead Photo: Masten Gregory (29 February 1932 – 8 November 1985) sitting in the Testa Rossa prototype before the 1957 Swedish 6 Hour on August 11 where the car was retired with gearbox failure. A week earlier at the Nurburgring I joked with him, saying he’d should be very careful and that I’d seen him spin his C type Jag at March Field in 1953. “Oh God, you mean you were there?” he replied. [Read more…] about Jim Sitz: Faces ’57
Shelby, Maserati 300S, Palm Springs, April 7, 1957.
Story and photos by Allen Kuhn
Segment One How I met Jon Shirley
It was still early in my career, and I had no photo pass yet when I attended the races at Palm Springs on April 7, 1957. Once I found a good spot, next to the dreaded snow fence, I had a tendency to just settle in there. This sedentary occupation, however, resulted in these four Shelby images.
1961 Belgian GP (Spa) – Phil Hill (Ferrari-Dino 156) Artist: Sergio Tidel
THE GREATEST AMERICAN F1 GRAND PRIX DRIVER?
It may not be who you think….
By Clyde Berryman
In motor racing, the great ‘schism’ between the ‘Old World’ (Europe) and the ‘New World’ (America) was pretty much settled by the end of the 1950’s. Racing in Europe began on open public roads as epitomized by the turn of the 19th-20th century city-to-city races before danger led to closed-circuit road racing where designated public roads were temporarily closed off for a race.
Recalling the early days: British Grand Prix support race 1964, Jackie Stewart at the wheel of the Ecurie Ecosse Tojeiro-Ford gets some last minute advice from Jim Clark with eventual race winner Hugh Dibley at left. At Holyrood House, 2015, Jackie Stewart was the guest of honor.
Story and Photos by Graham Gauld
A visit back to my hometown of Edinburgh always brings back a series of memories from the days when David Murray first started the successful Ecurie Ecosse team, to the early racing days of Jim Clark, Jackie Stewart and Dario Franchitti. [Read more…] about Graham Gauld, Edinburgh and Nostalgia