THE FIRST LOTUS
COLIN CHAPMAN’S first Lotus is being offered by Gooding & Company at its Amelia Island Auction, March 13, 2015. And, for such a sweet little car, the Mark IIIB represents … Continue reading
SMUGGLING AND MOTORSPORTS
FULL DISCLOSURE: Here I do not mean mere smugglers, of drugs or whatever, who happened as well to participate in motorsports of one kind or another. Instead, I celebrate two … Continue reading
BUGATTI RAILCARS
IT’S THE Great Depression, fabulous Royale luxury cars are glued to the Molsheim showroom floor, and there’s a surfeit of the Royale’s 12.76-liter six-cylinder powerplants. What is one to do? … Continue reading
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
Simanaitis Says 