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Gentleman Racer
Gentleman Gentleboy Racer. I’m starting to think that saddle shoes should make a return to motorsport.
via Magnetic Brain
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A Tiger on the Road
He wanted a Fiat Spider.
She wanted a Fiat “600”.
They got them both (and saved a garageful of money!)
The FIAT 1200 SPIDER is all the car a man could want. A tiger on the road. Stunning Italian style by Pinin Farina. Careful Italian craftsmanship in every detail. A humming 1221 cc. engine that delivers plenty of zip and about 27 miles a gallon. Roll-up windows, plenty of legroom, tuck-away soft top and optional hard top too, if you want it. Best of all, a price tag that lets you drive it instead of dream about it—only $2595. (And it’s the only car also available with the winging new version of a famous 1.5 liter racing engine! WHOOSH!)
The FIAT 600 is everyone’s ideal car, perfect for scooting to the supermaket, dropping the kids off at school, or taking the whole family to grandma’s for the weekend. It parks in spaces that don’t look big enough for a bike. Delivers about 40 miles a gallon. Includes almost $300 worth of accessories at no extra charge. And costs only $1398—about $200 less than the leading French and German imports.
Spider or 600, a FIAT will keep your family happy. Your budget, too. Try either one tomorrow. Better yet, try both.
The Bubble Visor blog has done a marvelous dive into the Dutch National Archives for a series of posts on The Netherland’s relationship with the motorcycle. Naturally, I was most interested in the racing photography, but they dig much deeper into imagery of motorcycle police, recreational riders—the complete gamut. I’ve picked a few favorites here but click on through to each and every post for the complete curation.
How is it possible to look at this stunning 1949 De Luca Fiat-Lancia Sport Special and not fall in love? It’s an Italian representation of a hot-rodding zeitgeist that was taking hold worldwide in at the end of the 1940s.
This bare utility is one of the things I so love about early barchettas. The interior could not be more sparse. The exposed backsides of the door skins attest to the lightness that was built into this special for (by?) Senore De Luca, “the wolf of Calabrese” (note the amazing wolf head mascot). I’ve had no luck in finding De Luca’s racing history, but sellers Cristiano Luzzago say the car has period appearances at the Circuito di Posillipo (probably the ’49 running of the GP Napoli though I find no matching car in their entry list) and Grio delle Calabrie.
I adore everything about it—the Stance, the utilitarian design, the minimal embellishment. I have no real reason for this, but the leaf-spring front end is something I’m kind of obsessed with lately. I think it’s something to do with the backyard shed and garage engineered use of the leaf-spring front suspension in everything from the T-Bucket to the Cooper 500s. I just see those leaves poking out where we’re used to seeing A-arms, and my head spins. That’s what this Fiat frame meets Lancia Ardea drivetrain really is when we get down to it: The early Italian version of the later hated Garagistas.
Let’s face it, if this didn’t have the words “Fiat-Lancia” attached to it, you might think it was a garage-built Southern California custom with a Ford V8 under the hood. In many ways, it is. And I love this little street rod for it.
More photos and details on Cristaino Luzzago’s inventory page.
Harvington Motor Co. must have been equally excited and nervous to handle the mechanical restoration of the 1956 Mike Hawthorn D-Type. It always impresses the hell out of me when restoration and race shops routinely tear into a priceless machine (or in this case, valued at about ￡7 Million). That sort of confidence is what separates top-shelf vintage racing technicians from garage tinkerers like me.
More info and progress photos on Harvington’s project page.
Now Exclusive Cobra and Mustang 350 G.T. Dealer—S&C Motors
2001 Market Street (corner of Delores)
Phone UN 1-6000 • Al Rivera, Manager
Phil Hill in Cobra at Candlestick. Phil Hill, America’s first world champion grand prix driver, will drive the S&C Special, a Cobra 427 this weekend at Candlestick. Keep your eye on the S&C Special. You’ll be seeing a champion driving a world championship car. Shelby American won the 1965 FIA International Manufacturer’s Championship.
It’s easy to buy or lease a Cobra or Mustang G.T. 350 at S&C. Com in to S&C Motors at 2001 Market Street, San Francisco, and see Al Rivera, manager of Hi-Performance sales, service and parts, or phone UN 1-6000 for all the information on the hottest cars in the world. Shelby American Cobra and Mustang G.T. 350 street models are available on very reasonable purchase or lease terms. We want to deal so that you can wheel. Ask about competition options, too, if you want to race or beat the other guy from the stop light.
Categories
356 Rally
We don’t often think of the rallying successes of the Porsche 356. Maybe we should reconsider the little beauty’s abilities off the tarmac. After all, if scores (hundreds?) of Beetles can run the Baja, then certainly its cousin can, and did, hold her own.
The brothers Maserati at the original workshop in Bologna. I don’t know the exact date here but it was before Alfieri died from liver complications in ’32.
The building has since been demolished. Which makes me a bit sad. It brings to mind the dilapidated Model-T factory in Detroit that I used to pass on my daily commute. We go to endless effort to restore the cars but forget almost entirely about where they came from; the situations that led to their development; the craftsman that breathed life into them.
Now here’s a puzzle worth putting together.