THE STUFF THAT DREAMS ARE MADE OF
YOU’RE A KID in Cleveland reading this: “Imagine an MG-powered machine which weighs exactly one-half that of a stock TD and you have a thumbnail sketch of the Lotus.” Heady … Continue reading
AN ENTHUSIAST’S FATHER BROWN
BEING ENTHUSED about classic cars, vintage aircraft and English mystery stories, I recommend the BBC TV adventures of Father Brown. In a recent PBS presentation, this parish priest/amateur sleuth found … Continue reading
MID-ENGINE INDY RACE CARS—THE EARLY YEARS
THE DEMISE OF classic front-engine Indy roadsters began in 1961 when Jack Brabham’s mid-engine Cooper-Climax broke their ubiquity with a 9th-place finish. Jim Clark’s 1965 win in his Lotus-Ford hastened … Continue reading
HAPPY 75TH, JEEP!
THE JEEP is 75 years old; its conception, traceable to freelance designer Karl Probst, is a year older. The editors of Automotive News assembled a celebration of these events in … Continue reading
CENTRAL-SEAT SPORTS CARS
IN HIS MOTORSPORTS satire The Grand Prix of Gibraltar, Peter Ustinov described the hyper-technical Schnorcedes as having perfect weight distribution: Its driver sat neither left nor right; what’s more, his … Continue reading
SARTHE DRAMA—1952 LE MANS
THIS ITEM goes live at 6:05 a.m., Saturday, June 18, 2016, Pacific Time Zone. And, at that time, the 84th running of the 24 Heures du Mans has been under … Continue reading
PORSCHE AERODYNAMICS
WHAT WITH the Le Mans 24-hour race coming up this weekend, June 18 – 19, it’s not inappropriate to celebrate automotive aerodynamics as practiced by the good folks of Zuffenhausen. … Continue reading
SWEDISH ADVENTURING WITH SAAB’S BJÖRN ENVALL
IT’S O-DARK-THIRTY, pitch-black along a bridle path in wintery 1991 Karlstad, Sweden. People are savoring sips of akvavit from flasks and waiting patiently behind tape loosely strung between the trees. … Continue reading
ALFA ROMEO 8C 2900B SPECIALE TIPO LE MANS
RAYMOND SOMMER’S straw-hatted participation in the 1938 Le Mans race was cited two days ago. Today I am delighted to follow up with an essay on the car he drove, … Continue reading
LA FAMILLE SOMMER—L’ESSENCE PROPRE
LIKE ENGLISH, French is amenable to multiple meanings, puns, if you will. To describe the Sommer men, father Roger and sons François, Raymond and Pierre, I sought the French equivalent … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 