FIAT ABARTH BRAVA ALITALIA GROUP 4
COMPETITION CARS are a hoot to drive, mainly because they make few concessions to anything resembling practicality. I’ve driven more than few in special settings, a Lancia Beta Montecarlo Group … Continue reading
REPLICA NEED NOT BE A DIRTY WORD
AMONG CLASSIC car enthusiasts, the term “replica” could be a pejorative: something less than authentic, a fake. On the other hand, for Frazer Nash, the name Replica is high praise … Continue reading
JOINING THE CHAIN GANG
“CAPTAIN” ARCHIE Frazer-Nash had a short involvement with cars bearing his name, chronologically the G.N. and Frazer Nash, sans hyphen. However, under other guidance, the chain-drive Frazer Nash sports car … Continue reading
HURRAH FOR THE HURG!
WHEN LAST we encountered Henry Ronald Godfrey (in fact, only a couple days ago), his partnership with Archie Frazer-Nash of manufacturing G.N. automobiles came to an end in 1922. By … Continue reading
G.N. ADVENTURING
HENRY RONALD Godfrey and Archie Frazer-Nash were car nuts in the Edwardian era. Like many enthusiasts circa 1910, they hankered for personal transportation offering more sociability and better weather protection … Continue reading
BRISTOL 450—FROM WIND TUNNEL TO STICKY-TAPE
THE BRISTOL 450 legacy sends something of a mixed message of art versus science. Twice victorious in their class at Le Mans in the mid-1950s, the Bristol 450s evolved through … Continue reading
ERCOLE BORATTO: RACE DRIVER, MUSSOLINI’S CHAUFFEUR—AND HIS LEPORELLO
IN MOZART’S Don Giovanni, Leporello does many things for his boss, one of them maintaining a catalog of the lecherous Giovanni’s conquests. (One line of the aria: Ma in Espana, … Continue reading
MICHAEL MAY’S MARVELOUS IDEA
YOU MIGHT think that somewhere in Zuffenhausen, Porsche’s legendary home outside Stuttgart, Germany, there’d be a statue honoring Michael May. Alas, to the best of my research, there is not. … Continue reading
BENZ MOTORWAGEN ADVENTURES
KARL BENZ built perhaps 25 automobiles between the granting of his 1886 patent and 1893, and Patent-Motorwagen No. 3 had a particularly adventurous life: In 1888, Karl’s wife Bertha and … Continue reading
OIL CRISES I HAVE KNOWN—AND LIVED THROUGH
FOR MORE than two years, we’ve had declining gasoline prices nationwide. (Congress: Investigate this skullduggery!) However, now it seems to be over in California. Not shortages, mind; just increases in price. … Continue reading
