It is well known that some great stock car road racing took place at the Riverside International Raceway. Dan Gurney...
He was elusive. Confined to a wheelchair, but more difficult to pin down than most people with the full use...
Enzo Ferrari was always a sucker for fighters who would never give up, like Tazio Nuvolari, Guy Moll and Gilles Villeneuve. In fact, he thought Moll could become the anti-Nuvolari, so talented was the little Algerian. But Guy’s brief yet spectacular career came to a sudden end on August 15,...
Fluent in six languages, tall, with regular features set off by an immaculately clipped goatee beard and moustache, Jo Bonnier...
(Chassis #Z1058301) Vintage Racecar’s Siamese Twin, Vintage Roadcar, features a monthly column, “By Design,” inked by automotive and industrial designer Raffi Minasian. Minasian inherited his obsession from his father and by early childhood was thoroughly consumed by all objects with engines and wheels. The duo owned a long string of...
Louis Alexandre Chiron was, and still is, Monte Carlo’s very own hero. He was born in the little principality’s capital...
I recently had one of those “milestone events” that if a man is really lucky, might happen just once or twice in his lifetime. A week or so ago, I awoke on a Sunday morning realizing that one of the first Grands Prix of the season was on television. Now,...
Recently, well known collector and conservation stalwart Fred Simeone commented, “Certain cars nowadays have become so historically important that their...
They say that, from 1933, not a single racing engine left the Ferrari factory without Luigi Bazzi designing it or contributing to its development—and that goes for about 160 of them. His CV as a motorista reads like a substantial slice of Italian motor sport history, for he also had...
The last time we spoke, we talked about the importance of having the correct fastner for a given application. This...
I read with some interest the other day an account of this year’s gathering of the faithful at Hershey. For...
Early in 1996, I met up with some fellow hacks and someone mentioned that so-and-so was working on Jacques Villeneuve’s biography. At the time, Jacques had enjoyed one terrific year in CART and had driven in three or four Grands Prix. I could not help but remark that it was...
Immediately after the Second World War, Jean-Pierre Wimille, Louis Chiron, Philippe Etancelin, and Raymond Sommer carried France’s colors back into...
In my last column, I cited the Connew as one of my favorite stories in motor racing. The Connew PC1...
When Jack Brabham was demobbed from the Royal Australian Air Force in 1947, even he did not realize he was about to establish an Australian motor racing dynasty, but that is exactly what he did. Jack would win no fewer than three Formula One World Championships, the last in 1966...
During the ’50s, I raced XK120s. The first one was a ’52, the second a ’54. Albeit, I’m not mechanically...
At the beginning of February, Nissan made a pretty bold announcement when it revealed it would return to competition at...
You’d swear Christmas came in October, as I rushed home with my newest acquisition. I was almost giddy as I pulled into the driveway, grabbed my new toy, and headed for the garage. Pulling the cover off of my slowly reemerging racecar, I clambered into the bucket seat (Whoa! Still...
This month’s awesome Hidden Treasure was discovered in 1995, sitting behind a house in Glendale, Arizona. How awesome? You tell...
At the end of last year, I moved from Chichester to Oxford or, to put it in terms even the most geographically challenged reader will understand, from Goodwood to Silverstone and the heart of the British motor racing industry. Three Formula One engineers live within 50 yards of me and...
A number of those among us stood head and shoulder above all others during the Golden Age of Motorsports. Juan...
Over the last few weeks, preparations for the 2016 Grand Prix season have been hectic as the teams have to...
What do the following all have in common: Mario Andretti, Jim Clark, Emerson Fittipaldi, Alberto Rodriguez Larreta, Nigel Mansell and John Surtees? The answer is that they all made their Grand Prix debuts in a third car run by Team Lotus. It’s a thought to ponder when you hear people...
Whoosh-bang. That sort of gives an impression of Ross Brawn’s 2009 Formula One season. The year of the spectacularly successful,...
A recent visit to the famous Donington circuit in England, for the launch of a wonderful book about the history...
Jack was born on April 2, 1926, and I think it’s appropriate that we all wish him a happy birthday. (I realize you are reading the May edition of Vintage Racecar, but subscribers usually get it in April.) On this occasion, I thought you might be interested in some of...
