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Category Archives: Classic Bits

JENKS ON “TIGERING” AND OTHER RACE-DRIVING MATTERS

LEAFING THROUGH R&T APRIL 1959 (some time-gobbling in addition to this website and GMax), I came upon “The Racing Driver,” excerpts from Denis Jenkinson’s book subtitled “The Theory and Practice … Continue reading

March 7, 2023 · 1 Comment

COMPACT COMPARO PART 2

R&T INTRODUCED ITS READERS to compact cars in November 1959. Yesterday in Part 1, its chart identified 21 of these with wheelbases between 100 and 110 in., and the magazine’s … Continue reading

February 28, 2023 · 4 Comments

COMPACT COMPARO 1959 PART 1

WHAT WITH OPULENCE GONE WILD in the late 1950s domestic auto scene (and increasing popularity of foreign cars notably the Volkswagen Beetle), compacts were a rational response. R&T was there … Continue reading

February 27, 2023 · 5 Comments

ON GRAUPEL AND A STRANDED CAN-AM CAR

I WAS RAISED IN CLEVELAND and spent undergrad years in Worcester, Massachusetts. So snow is nothing new to me. Indeed, it’s where I learned about not just drifting snow, but … Continue reading

February 26, 2023 · 3 Comments

007, YOUR CAR IS READY (IF PREMATURELY)

THE 1959 ASTON MARTIN DB-4 could well have been 007’s first car, though it wasn’t. His Bentley 4 1/2 Litre (first appearing in the Casino Royale novel, 1953) was “almost … Continue reading

February 20, 2023 · 1 Comment

IN ANY INDIRECT GEAR… THE TAPLEY METER WAS “OFF-SCALE”

IMAGINE THE EXCITEMENT experienced by R&T’s John R. Bond when he sat next to Lance Reventlow piloting the Scarab Mark II around Riverside Raceway. Indeed, my most memorable testing as … Continue reading

February 14, 2023 · 5 Comments

THE BUGATTI TYPE 49

ROAD TESTS FROM R&T appearing here at SimanaitisSays these days are all, in a sense, magazine classics. But for awhile there, the magazine also published what it termed Classic Tests: … Continue reading

February 11, 2023 · 1 Comment

’59 VETTE—ONLY “PRETTY GOOD”??

I CAN UNDERSTAND MIXED VIEWS of the original Chevrolet Corvette (R&T, June 1954: “When first driving the car there is a tendency to keep reaching for the gear shift lever … Continue reading

February 9, 2023 · 5 Comments

LINCOLN CONTINENTALS—APPARENTLY SIZE MATTERED

DOMESTIC AUTOMOBILES OF THE 1950s grew and grew… and grew. The Lincoln Continental is an interesting example, especially because it had appeared in R&T, indeed even once as a cover … Continue reading

February 3, 2023 · 1 Comment

VINTAGE CAR ART

INTRODUCING VINTAGE CAR ART in R&T August 1958, the magazine observed, “To the dyed-in-the-wool enthusiast for the marque Aston Martin, no other make is even worthy of a second glance. … Continue reading

January 28, 2023 · Leave a comment