One of the greatest, and nice with it—that was Ralph De Palma. He won well over 2,500 of his 3,000...
From 1950 until his premature retirement from road racing and hillclimbing just three years later, Tommy Hoan set his competitors...
King George V thought it was very funny. “You’re late, my boy,” he guffawed. The world’s fastest human being had tried to get to Buckingham Palace on time for his own investiture, but he turned up half an hour late. He had been delayed by a slow goods train huffing...
The late 1960s brought a host of changes to the famed 24 Hours of Le Mans. The wave of “professionalism”...
Motor Racing at Thruxton – in the 1980s By Bruce Grant-Braham The latest volume in publisher Veloce’s “Those were the...
When the world got back to normal life, after World War II, there was so much pent up demand for fun, that postwar sales of sports cars skyrocketed. And perhaps nowhere was that demand more acutely felt than in the United States where affordable sports cars and convertibles where in...
The late 19th century was not a great time for the Farina family to be bringing up eleven children in...
The loss of John Crosslé at the end of August 2014 completes the passing of a remarkable generation in motorsport....
100 years ago, almost anyone could become a car manufacturer. The automobile—and the advance in technology to create it—was in its infancy, creating a near level playing field for anyone with an idea and the desire to try their hand. As the years went on, and the segment transitioned into...
In 1903, Henry M. Leland began selling a $750, single-cylinder, automobile under the name Cadillac. Later touted as the “Standard...
The Bugatti T57C “tank” had won the 1939 24 Hours of Le Mans driven by Jean-Pierre Wimille/Pierre Veyron and had...
One glance at a late 1937, ‘38 or ‘39 Darl’mat 402 Special Sport tells you it’s classic Art Deco French. Those swoopy airfoil fenders reminiscent of custom coachbuilder Saoutchik’s Delahayes, as well as Ettore Bugatti’s creations of the era are the giveaway. Also, the almost cubist bright work trim and...
This year marks the 50th anniversary of Parnelli Jones’ 1963 Indianapolis 500 victory. That win, from pole position, turned out...
After the First World War and into the ’20s, many car manufacturers throughout Europe became involved in Grand Prix racing....
It would be interesting to ask any historic car enthusiast what picture enters their minds when the Bugatti marque is mentioned. Perhaps some would think of the Bugatti T41 or to use its more widely known name, the Royale, a Bugatti of some notoriety of which just six were built....
Renowned engineer and author Bill Milliken passed away in his sleep July 28 at the age of 101. Born in...
This is the story of two men, born 45 years apart, each completely obsessed with the automobile, and both hopelessly...
As you’ll read elsewhere in this issue, we sadly report that the elder statesman of American motorsport, John Fitch, has passed away at the remarkable age of 95. As outlined in his obituary on page 12, Fitch’s life read like some kind of wild adventure novel melding Indiana Jones, Captain...
In remembering and memorializing John Fitch upon the occasion of his death, Vintage Racecar has produced this brief photographic summary...
After World War II, Enzo Ferrari began the work of retooling his small company from manufacturing parts for Italy’s war...
Like so many great automobiles of our time, the Mercedes-Benz SL series can trace its origins directly to the racetrack. With the rebuilding and recovery of Europe ongoing six years after the end of World War II, Mercedes competition boss Alfred Neubauer was told that the resources for a resumption...
Historic aircraft and competition cars, classic road cars and military machines will converge on Bicester Heritage in Oxfordshire for the...
It was my father, Reg Parnell, who first went to Donington Park in 1934. Living near Derby it wasn’t too...
It’s rather ironic that both the birth of the “Pony Car” movement in the mid-1960s, and its eventual death in the early 1970s, would be brought about by the “economy car.” Perhaps even more interesting, and less well known, is the fact that the first car to officially enter this...
A shooting star is an astronomical phenomenon which appears suddenly in the night sky, burns brightly for a few seconds...
The Morgan Motor Company With no thoughts of cars in mind, I first visited Malvern in the high summer of...
From the very beginning of the automobile, man built cars to compete with a passion for speed and technology. These early innovators belong to an elite club, their place in automotive history guaranteed as the creators of a true classic sports car, a genuine thoroughbred. The development of the racing...
Morgans were regularly used in England before World War II in Rallies, Trials and Speed Tests. This is a Morgan...
After a very successful year in 1935, Prince Chula Chakrabongse, who financed Prince Birabongse’s racing, decided that they should strengthen...
Like most German industrial companies, World War II left much of Mercedes-Benz’s Stuttgart factory in ruins. However, with time Mercedes rebuilt and returned to what it knew best, manufacturing passenger vehicles. But Mercedes-Benz also had a passion for competition on the world stage and so by 1951 factions within the...
