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The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts

Retromobile 2016

Graham Gauld “I Knew Them When”…Nardi

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The mystery BMW Special. Note the two hoods, the front holding the engine and the top one holding the spare wheel.

Story and photos by Graham Gauld

Last week I talked about the car that truly stopped the show at Retromobile, the Ferrari 335S, so now I will go from the sublime to the ridiculous.

A tale of two? Nardis

I happened by the stand of Christophe Pund who runs La Galerie Des Damiers and has a habit of digging up remarkable cars that no one has ever heard of. This year he went better and put on show a car he told me he had found as a wreck – and by the time of Retromobile it was little more than that – but did not know exactly what it was. I mention it because some reader in Italy may remember something about it and be able to help out.
Fundamentally it is a two-seater sports car with a lightweight body and powered by a 750cc BMW motorcycle engine mounted in its own compartment at the front of the car. There is a second hood under which is the spare wheel so the driver sits in one of two sketchy seats holding what appears to be a Nardi steering wheel. [Read more…] about Graham Gauld “I Knew Them When”…Nardi

Rétromobile in Blue by Hugues Vanhoolandt

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The booth of the Swiss dealer Lükas Hüni is always one of the attractions of the show as the cars presented are (most of the time) not for sale but coming from private collections never shown anywhere else. This particular Bugatti Type 55 Roadster is considered to be the most original as it is the sole example that remains unrestored.

Editor’s Choice: The booth of the Swiss dealer Lükas Hüni is always one of the attractions of the show. This particular Bugatti Type 55 Roadster is considered to be the most original as it is the sole example that remains unrestored.

Photos and text by Hugues Vanhoolandt [Read more…] about Rétromobile in Blue by Hugues Vanhoolandt

Rétromobile in Red by Jonathan Sharp

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Sinclair-Ferrari-2

Editor’s Choice: Sold new to former Italian hillclimb champion Franco Cornaccia of Scuderia Guastala in Milan, this 1951 212 Export Berlinetta by Vignale was entered in that year’s Carrera Panamericana II where Alberto Ascari and Luigi Villoresi won second place overall. Then 0161EL was sold to Santiago Ontanon, owner of Industrias 1-2-3. Driven by Paco Ibarra and Vincent Solar, this handsome little Ferrari Berlinetta finished the 1952 Carrera 7th in class and 24th overall.

Story and Photos by Jonathan Sharp

[Read more…] about Rétromobile in Red by Jonathan Sharp

Gauld at Retro: I Knew Them When….

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A sunny day at the Modena Autodrome nearly fifty nine years ago. Ferrari appeared with the 335S (0674) to test the Dunlop tires. Test driver Martino Severi at the wheel. This same car sold at Retromobile for nearly $34 million.

A sunny day at the Modena Autodrome nearly fifty nine years ago. Ferrari appeared with the 335S (0674) to test the Dunlop tires. Test driver Martino Severi at the wheel. This same car sold at Retromobile for $35.7 million. Photo by Graham Gauld.

By Graham Gauld

Regular readers will no doubt be aware that the French car show Retromobile always fires me up and sends me scurrying around the vast hall searching out cars that strike a chord with me or trigger a memory.

On this occasion it was a significant bit of memory and it involves a car that was the first Ferrari I was able to watch closely during a private test session at the Modena Autodrome back in 1957. It was now standing in front of me at the Artcurial auction stand this year. [Read more…] about Gauld at Retro: I Knew Them When….

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