A MONACO VISIT
THE MONACO Grand Prix exemplifies everything that’s glamorous about Formula 1 racing. It’s the last of the grand venues, a genuine street circuit. And through what streets! One of my … Continue reading
JAPAN’S OTHER RACE CIRCUIT
PAUL WILLIAMSEN, Lexus International Training guru and Facebook Friend, recently mentioned the Okayama International Circuit, née TI Circuit Aida. The TI stood for Tanaka International, after its founder Hajime Tanaka; … Continue reading
BARBARA HUTTON’S GTC
GOODING & COMPANY’S Amelia Island Auction, March 8, 2013, has cars ranging from a 1954 Fiat 500C Belvedere (a mini station wagon con brio, $25,000-$35,000) to several cars beyond a … Continue reading
GEORGES PAULIN: STYLIST, SPY
GEORGES PAULIN was a talented inventor, car designer and dentist—and during World War II, an operative for the French Resistance. One of his automotive inventions earned him a French patent. … Continue reading
FREEWHEELING 3-WHEELERS
WITH THE obvious exceptions of H.F.S Morgan’s trikes and the Messerschmitt KR200 Kabinenroller, many 3-wheel cars have been promoted by whackadoodles, not to say outright con artists. I offer two … Continue reading
POLITICS AND MOTORSPORTS
VLADIMIR PUTIN has been courting Bernie Ecclestone. The reason: The Russian president hopes to “encourage” the boss of Formula 1 to bring a Grand Prix to Sochi, Krasnodar Krai, next year. … Continue reading
AMÉDÉE GORDINI
THEY CALLED him le Sorcier—the Wizard—because Amédée Gordini performed sorcery in engine tuning. He worked magic as well in contesting Grands Prix and endurance racing in the 1950s against the … Continue reading
CARS OF THE SCHLUMPFS
COLLECTIONS OF cars often have interesting stories, but there’s no more intriguing one than the tale of the Schlumpf Collection. Originating as an obsession of brothers Fritz and Hans Schlumpf, … Continue reading
CLESSIE CUMMINS—A CLASSY GUY
THE SAME guy who invented the heavy-duty truckers’ Jake Brake toured Europe at the wheel of an Indy race car. He was also briefly credited with—incorrectly, I hasten to add—fueling … Continue reading
LES AUTOS VOISIN
IT WAS 14 years after founding Avions Voisin in 1905 that the highly talented—and even more highly eccentric—Gabriel Voisin turned from aeroplanes (www.wp.me/p2ETap-B3) to automobiles. And what automobiles! Gabriel Voisin’s cars … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 