RALPH MULFORD’S INDY 500 VICTORY
RALPH MULFORD’S performance at the 1911 Indy 500 was no less dramatic than his 1912 achievement (see http://wp.me/p2ETap-2PY for the latter). The 1911 event is also rather more controversial. In fact, this … Continue reading
THE AMAZING TALE OF THE SLOWEST INDY FINISHER
THE SLOWEST driver credited with finishing the Indianapolis 500 might also have been credited with being the Indy 500’s first winner. Added to this is the paradox that he is … Continue reading
KLEMANTASKI’S FINE EYE
LOUIS KLEMANTASKI produced fine photography of the greatest eras of motorsport. The period 1935 – 1939 had Tazio Nuvolari contesting (and finally joining) the Third-Reich-sponsored mights of Auto Union and … Continue reading
THE NAME GAME
A RECENT brouhaha in the name game got me thinking about questionable automotive monikers. Infiniti has been on again/off again about its 560-hp Q50 Eau Rouge, this sports sedan named … Continue reading
THE HISPANO-SUIZA ALFONSO XIII
ONE OF the world’s first sports cars was named after an auto enthusiast who was also a king. The Hispano-Suiza Type 45CR, introduced in 1911, possessed everything sporting of the … Continue reading
HOLLYWOOD MEETS MOTOR SPORTS
A CONFLUENCE of technologies occurred at the beginning of the last century. (How quaint this term “last century” sounds to those of us of a certain age.) The automobile and … Continue reading
1926 DELAGE 15-S-8
THIS IS a tale of car enthusiasts and a very special bitsa, what specialists call a car with “a bit of this and a bit of that.” But what fabulous … Continue reading
ROOSEVELT FIELD—AND RACEWAY
YESTERDAY WE admired the Rhonie murals at Roosevelt Field (http://wp.me/p2ETap-2GJ). Today, I’ll fill in some of Roosevelt’s history between its 1909 origin and 1951 demise. In between, there’s Glenn Curtiss, … Continue reading
REVENTLOW’S F1 CAR—A MATTER OF TIMING
AMERICAN LANCE Reventlow’s Formula One car had the same high-skilled fabrication and immaculate presentation as his Scarab sports cars. These dominated sports car racing throughout the 1958 season. However, the … Continue reading
AMILCAR—A ROLLING SPIRIT OF THE ROARING TWENTIES
RACING, IT is said, improves the breed. And, maybe inadvertently, government improves the breed as well. Or at least racing and government combined to the benefit of the French Amilcar. … Continue reading
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