Archives for November 2011
Michael T. Lynch on “The Limit”
Last week we published an interview with New York Times writer Michael Cannell, whose new book has been greeted with great reviews. This week, Michael T. Lynch reviews Cannell’s book “The Limit, Life and Death on the 1961 Grand Prix Circuit”. It’s a review you will NOT want to miss.
Review by Michael T. Lynch
Author and journalist, Michael Cannell, whose sports writing has been seen in the New Yorker, the New York Times, Sports Illustrated and Outside, has written a book about one of the most dramatic seasons in World Championship Grand Prix history. [Read more…] about Michael T. Lynch on “The Limit”
A Response From the Author of “The Limit…”
By Michael Cannell
I defer to your and Michael’s grasp of automotive history in most of these points. However, I think you’ve erred in some places and overreached in others. I’ve attached a handful of rebuttals. In some cases, you seem to treat my decision to not include a bit of information as a form of inaccuracy. Bear in mind that “The Limit” is meant to be narrative non-fiction, not exhaustive history. [Read more…] about A Response From the Author of “The Limit…”
Graham Gauld: By The Way
Four from Portugal, by Graham Gauld
I have been humbled by the response to the first column and only hope I can keep you entertained for a few more months. I think one of the problems is that each chance meeting or race meeting provides an opportunity to dig out even more stories to flesh out information we have on some of the odder pieces of motor sport history. They might otherwise disappear when boring old farts like me arrive at the eventual pit stop hopefully in the sky.
This opportunity to flesh out more information was underlined for me a couple of weeks ago at the final big International European historic meeting, the Algarve Historic Festival in Portugal.
[Read more…] about Graham Gauld: By The Way
1957 Ferrari Transporter in 1/18 Scale
Story and photos by Marshall Buck
I’m not sure exactly what it is, but there is something hypnotically attractive about vintage racing car transporters. I’m talking about the kind from the 1930s through the 1960s. Just like the rare competition cars they carry, old race transporters draw crowds anywhere they park. Especially the vintage European kind, of which there have been so very many types, configurations, and manufacturers of. Numerous magazine articles have been written, and even a couple of books have been published on them.
Old race transporters appear to be one of the next phases of collector vehicles within the Vintage race car community. They are the “in” thing, and they are very cool. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if someday in the future, you find a special showing of these at one of the premier concours. Stranger things have happened.
The World’s Most Successful Driver: In English and Italian
By Roberto Motta
Photos courtesy of Citroën Communication
With the conquest of the 2011 FIA World Rally Championship, Sébastien Loeb won his eighth straight title, and became the most successful driver in the history of motorsport.
[Read more…] about The World’s Most Successful Driver: In English and Italian
The Most Successful Series in the 10 years of VeloceToday
Eric Davison’s stirring memoirs of his family and the early years at Watkins Glen evoked many great comments from young and old alike. The series is over, but PDFs of each chapter and the CD of the Davison/Lance photos are still available for Premium Subscribers.
If you are NOT a member, subscribe to our Premium Service now at receive a Free Watkins Glen CD while supplies last! Click below for details.
Our Features This Week, November 23rd
Boniface Picnic Benefits St. Elizabeth Health Center
By Carl Goodwin
Photos by Chuck Hazle
The Annual Ray Boniface Picnic is more than a car show. It’s a way to make free breast cancer exams available to women in eastern Ohio who could not otherwise afford one. The Picnic raises money for and schedules two yearly programs providing free mammograms for women in the Warren and Youngstown area of Ohio.
[Read more…] about Boniface Picnic Benefits St. Elizabeth Health Center
Lewis Tests with Ferrari: In English and Italian
Golden season continues for Michael Lewis:
He tests in the Ferrari F60; joins the FIA Institutes young driver excellence academy
By Roberto Motta
Photos: ACI Sport Italia and Ferrari-Media
On November 15, Michael Lewis and Sergio Campana achieved one of their wildest dreams: to drive a Ferrari Formula One.
The test is reserved for winners of the Italian Formula 3 Championship, and was organized by the Ferrari Driver Academy in collaboration with the ACI-CSAI and the Federal School of Vallelunga.
Both drivers had access to the Ferrari F60, Ferrari cars which took part in the World Championship in the 2009 season.
[Read more…] about Lewis Tests with Ferrari: In English and Italian
Sergio Scaglietti: 1920-2011
By Michael T. Lynch
The world has lost one of the great artisans of immediate post-World War II coachbuilding. Sergio Scaglietti died last Saturday night at his home. A son of Modena born in 1920, he joined his brother at Carrozzeria Emiliana when he was just 13, a year short of what Italian labor laws of the time allowed. This was due to the death of his father and the need for family income.
McDonough Drives a Delahaye 135M Skiff
By Ed McDonough
Photos by Mike Jiggle
It isn’t really fair to call this car a Guillore Delahaye. It might be more accurate to say that a Guillore ferry has been transformed into a racy Delahaye ‘skiff’, for indeed that is the interesting history of this 1938 135M.
As mentioned in our introductory piece, pre-war Delahayes had bodies designed and built by a very wide range of European coachbuilders, and that range covered the spectrum from fairly simple to wildly extravagant. The Guillore cars were generally at the former end of that spectrum characteristic of the Delahaye output in the immediate pre-war and post-war periods.
Who was Guillore?