Will those supermodels get out of the way! I’m trying to see the Alfa!
Category: Video
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Fangio at Laguna Seca 1985
Hans Sipma had his Super-8mm camera in hand to capture a long-dormant Tipo 159 Alfetta getting the cobwebs cleared out by a 74-year-old Juan Manuel Fangio. Wow.
Thanks for sending this in, Paul.
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An Outlaw Aurelia
I was all set to make fun of this thing when I saw a link to it, but this outlaw-style modified Lancia Aurelia B20GT looks mighty badass. The stripped chrome makes it look more modern—almost to the point that you could squint your eyes and convince yourself that the Bentley Boys are headed back to LeMans in a stripped contemporary Continental GT. Almost.
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Holiday Corvettes: LeMans 1960
When you need a half hour break from the family over the next few days, you could do worse than putting on the headphones and watching this short documentary about Corvette’s efforts at the 1960 24 Hours of LeMans. Corvette has become a prominent (sometimes dominant) team at the 24 in recent years, but that wasn’t necessarily the case in 1960 when the ‘Vette was still wrestling with the sentiment that the car was underpowered at its debut 7 years earlier.
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Cisitalias in Egypt
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Grand Prix Bordino
I should spend more time in little Italian towns.
This Class 11 Beetle is gorgeous and I’d love to see more people racing their Bugs. I still wholeheartedly believe that the VW Type 1 engine is the best engine ever made. There are very few engines that you could tear down and rebuild on the side of the road with hand tools. It’ll run on anything—You could probably pour a bottle of Whiskey in the tank if you were desperate. Just a perfect embodiment of my appreciation for simplicity.
I guess it just never occurred to me that a good deal of the Nürburgring’s Sudschleife survived after it fell into disuse in the early 70s and was (largely) demolished to make way for the GP circuit. How about a pleasantly leisurely drive around what remains?
I’m betting that understanding Italian wouldn’t make this any more amazing than it already is in my ignorance.
The battles from the perspective of this MGB in the 2012 Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix are fun and worth a watch on their own (man, this driver works through the traffic!). More importantly though, take a moment to look at the setting: Look at those low brick walls, bridges, and the brief glimpses of the glass structure of the conservatory. Now appreciate that this event is not happening in Sicily in 1962, or Brescia in 1951, or Pebble Beach in 1955. This is a race you can go and watch next year. I still can’t believe that they pulled it off. I still hope that more municipalities will find the will and the passion to do the same. I look forward to attending the Central Park Vintage Grand Prix, the Detroit Belle Isle Vintage Road Races, the Hyde Park Historics, and the Lincoln Park GP Classic.