Story and photos Graham Gauld
From time to time I get emails from people looking for photographs of special cars taken many years ago. A while back I had an odd request from the coachbuilders Zagato who wanted to know if I had any photos of one of their rare one-offs, the Zagato Porsche built for French driver Claude Storez.
It brought back memories of a warm day at the Reims circuit in September 1958. I was on my way back to Scotland from Modena but timed the trip so that I could meet up with the cars on the Tour de France that year. The Tour de France was organized by the Automobile Club of Nice and was one of the favorite events for racing drivers.
No fancy paddocks in those days even for the Ferraris. In the foreground Philippe Faure's 250GT LWB (0971GT), and the 250GT LWB ( 1035GT) of Alfonso Gomez Mena.
It was technically a rally, but all the special stages were actually races on a variety of racing circuits or hill climbs on some of the most famous climbs in France. English driver David Piper told me he prepared himself for racing in Europe by doing the Tour de France because it gave him the chance to get some practice on circuits like Reims, Le Mans and Rouen. Most enthusiasts know that the Ferrari 250GT TdF was named in honor of the Marquis de Portago’s win on the Tour de France with one of the early 250GT berlinettas. [Read more…] about Storez Porsche Zagato