Tag: Factories at Work

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Classic Sportscar Racing Ephemera

Factories at Work: Stanguellini

The Stanguellini Workshop

Expectations and reality have this way of clashing spectacularly. I always have a dream, a fantastic notion of what something might be like. Then I’ll discover that the actuality of it is far more simple; far more ordinary.

This, though, is one of the thankful exceptions. This space is exactly what I imagine when I think of the etceterini workshops. Seeing a few gorgeous Stanguellinis in various stages of completion only makes the point that much more clear: This was no production line factory. This was hot-rodding.

The Stanguellini Workshop

The rough-hewn post and beam construction of the Stanguellini workshop is in many ways a perfect metaphor for this era of Italian sportscar manufacture. Its cleanliness and bare walls suggest practical engineering and luxurious, uncluttered design. The mottled walls and old stumps to panelbeat against remind us that it was no more sophisticated than a repurposed barn. I think one of the things that draws me to the barchettas of this period was that they so exemplify this perfect marriage of the engineer and the artisan in ways that larger manufacturers struggled to hang on to. They’ve got soul.

Thanks, Wheels of Italy.

Categories
Classic Sportscar Historic Racing Photos

Factories at Work: Shelby-American Skins a Cobra

This set seems appropriate as we all catch our breath from Cobra’s celebration at the Monterey Historics. I often wonder if precious racing artifacts like this body buck for the Daytona Coupe are sitting under a tarp in a forgotten corner of a forgotten warehouse.

Whenever I see the wooden grid of one of these body bucks, or even a clay blank for a fiberglass mold, I am overcome with the desire to learn how to do this.
via The Henry Ford Museum’s Dave Friedman collection.

Update: In the comments, Fab says that some of these photos are of the body buck for the AC Coupe and not the Daytona Coupe. Looking at the rear end of the buck, I think he may be right. I hate when I do that.

Categories
Historic Racing Photos

Factories at Work: Assembling the Shelby Daytona

Seeing the mighty Daytona Coupe in her bare aluminum bodywork in these Shelby American publicity photos from 1964 makes me sympathize with these engineers and mechanics. They must have been filled with trepidation for the coming season. This being Shelby American, I’m sure they didn’t show it. But although their heads must have been dancing with the possibility, they couldn’t have known that this intoxicating machine they were assembling were about to become a legend.

Presumably this is CSX2287—the prototype—being gingerly pieced together at Shelby’s Venice workshop. If I’m right, it wouldn’t be long before this machine would the piloted by Phil Hill, by Dave MacDonald, by Bob Holbert, by Innes Ireland…. and the list goes on.

If this is indeed the prototype, Wikipedia says that this gorgeous piece of American muscle exited her career with a little vacation that earned her 25 USAC/FIA world records on the Bonneville Salt Flats. That, my friends, is a proper retirement party for a racing car; particularly an American racing car.

Regardless, it’s marvelous to see things humming inside the Shelby Workshops.

via Nigel Smuckatelli’s brilliant Flickr Stream.

Categories
Historic Racing Photos

Factories at Work: Triumph Preps the LeMans Spitfires

I have a Triumph GT6 sitting in my garage that I keep coming this close to selling, but when I see these technicians from the Triumph Experimental Division in their neckties and shopcoats lovingly laboring over these crisp white frames it makes me want to abandon my plans to sell and instead suit up and get her properly prepped.

Categories
Ferrari Historic Racing Photos

Late Night Prep at ’65 Sebring

BARCboys‘ photo archives never fail to turn up a unique angle on the races they travelled to. Dave Nicholas’ shots from the 1965 Sebring Endurance Race are no exception. The race was a wet one and the sparse accommodations for spectators at the race makes me wonder if a greater percentage of competitors or spectators made it to the end of the race. Thankfully, Dave stuck it out to document the race.

What interests me just as much, though, are these images that Dave managed to capture of the Mecom team making some final preparations on Friday night—and look like they could well have been included in our factories at work series. I always enjoy seeing the pit facilities from years past and while Sebring may be an extreme example owing to its reputation as a “primitive racetrack”, the team garages at LeMans or Monaco were little better.

Seeing the Hansgen/Donohue Ferrari 250LM and Cannon/Saunders Lola T70 wedged in here between the tractor and the steel tubing, though, really illustrates the shocking range of difference in amenities between contemporary racing facilities and those of 40 or 50 years ago. This is exactly the kind of thing I’m talking about when I talk about the kinship that vintage racing teams had with Hot Rod garages. They were damn near the same thing.

Walt Hansgen and Mark Donohue’s Ferrari 250 LM finished 11th overall (4th in class). John Cannon and Jack Saunders qualified in 6th, and were fast runners in the opening laps of the race, but dropped out with a failed oil cooler after 55 laps.
More of Dave Nicholas’ photos on BARC Boys’ 1965 Sebring Gallery. Sports Car Digest did a lovely profile of the race that’s well worth a read.

Categories
Ferrari Racing Ephemera

Factories at Work: Ferrari Design Studio

Categories
Porsche

How Many German Women Does it Take to Carry A Porsche Frame?

Two. It takes two. And that’s in heels.

Here, enjoy a couple more shots from very early 356 production at the Porsche factory… Really it was still more of the Porsche workshop at the time.

Categories
Ferrari

Factories at Work: The Ferrari Foundry

I’ve sat on this photo for a while now. Partially because I couldn’t identify when this was at Ferrari. If I was a better sportscar trainspotter, I could probably identify the era of this photograph based on the parts in the background. Hell, I’m sure some Ferrari Chat members can identify the technicians in this image. So it’s just been sitting on my hard drive. Were these guys casting 166MM engine cases? or 375 F1 transmission housings?
I don’t know. But this image kept being something I wanted to share, because despite how little I do know about this photo, there’s one thing I’m sure of: It wasn’t that long ago that there wasn’t much difference between a World Championship team and a bunch of SoCal hot rodders.

Categories
Ferrari Historic Racing Photos Racing Ephemera

Factories at Work: Ferrari in the 70s

This is an interesting moment for Ferrari in this shot. It captures the transition from the era of craftsmen hand-building the early F-cars to the technological sophistication that we think of when we see images of the current factory floor.

More than that though, I’m just glad that the ‘Dino’ moniker no longer seems to have the disregard that it once had. Which is a good thing, because It has to be one of Pininfarina’s most beautiful silhouettes. I know I’ll catch flak for this, but I think I’d rather have the 246 Dino in my garage than the Daytona Coupe it shared the factory floor with.

Stumbling across this photo in the Auto Clasico Flickr stream was particularly good timing because I saw an example of each of these cars this past weekend at Wheels of Italy; which was fun as always, but had an uncharacteristic lack of classic Italian scooters this year.

Categories
Classic Sportscar Historic Racing Photos Racing Ephemera

Factories at Work: Gullwings on the Line

Mercedes 300SL Production Line
Mercedes 300SL Production Diagram
Mercedes 300SL Production Line
Sindelfingen, Mercedes Autowerk, Hauptgebäude

Great find by Auto Classica of these Mercedes-Benz factory shots. Hard to imagine the 3-Pointed Star facility being this low-tech looking. Great stuff.