B. BIRA
BIRABONGSE BHANUDEJ Bhanubandh does not fall trippingly on the tongue. Hence, auto racing commentators of the mid-1930s through mid-1950s were likely relieved with his sobriquet of B. Bira on the … Continue reading
SEDUCING SPEED
“PORSCHE BY Design: Seducing Speed” is taking place right now, until January 20, 2014, at the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh, North Carolina. See http://goo.gl/1oYXkw for a glimpse … Continue reading
GANGSTER CITROËN
THE CITROËN Traction Avant’s place in automotive history is at least four times deserved. It was the world’s first front-wheel-drive steel unibody car. Its production life, from 1934 through 1955, … Continue reading
LANCIA LAMBDA
INDEPENDENT FRONT suspension, a stressed steel unitary chassis, a single overhead camshaft, light-alloy narrow-angle V-4 layout—all in 1922. The car was the Italian Lancia Lambda, built between 1922 and 1931. … Continue reading
TOM McCAHILL
THERE HAVE been lots of automotive journalists over the years, but Tom McCahill was one of a kind. He more or less invented the U.S. road test and certainly enriched … Continue reading
MY FAVORITE FERRARI
I’VE DRIVEN a goodly number of Ferraris in my life. Several of the memorable ones were classics by the time I got behind the wheel. The 212 Export Touring Barchetta … Continue reading
MERCEDES-BENZ W196 EX-FANGIO
A FABULOUS car, the 1954 Ex-Juan Manuel Fangio Mercedes-Benz W196 Grand Prix machine, recently changed hands for a fabulous price—$29.7 million. This Bonhams sale, at Goodwood Festival of Speed on … Continue reading
TOUR DE FRANCE AUTO
BRUCE MALE, car collector extraordinaire, vintage race driver and fellow Arizona Copperstate participant (www.wp.me/p2ETap-VS), offered me the codriver role in his Maserati A6G Zagato for the Tour de France Auto, … Continue reading
CARS OF THE RAJ
OVERLOOKING FOR the moment the plight of a lesser populace, being a maharajah must have been grand—especially if one were a car enthusiast. Over the years, I’ve collected lore on … Continue reading
FORD MODEL T LORE
JOHN STEINBECK said it best in his book, Cannery Row. “Someone should write an erudite essay on the moral, physical, and esthetic effect of the Model T Ford on the … Continue reading
