Categories
Racing Ephemera

The Race Bar

Jaguar XKSS at Clyde’s of Chevy Chase
Mural at Clyde’s of Chevy Chase

The gods of speed smiled on me this past weekend.

I was traveling to Washington DC and was invited to meet up with family for dinner at Clyde’s in Chevy Chase, MD.
As I approached the door I spotted a Bugatti 52 in the window acting as a simple table decoration, which is impressive enough on it’s own, and turned to my wife with a quick, “If that’s real they spent quite a bit on the interior of this place.”
That wasn’t half of it. I walked in the front door to be immediately greeted with a 2-story mural of a 1920’s era road race with a battling Bentley and Bugatti leading the way. Peering down the spiral stairway revealed a Jaguar XKSS on display. Again, I said, “now if THAT is real, they spent QUITE a bit on the interior of this place”.

Midget racer at Clyde’s of Chevy Chase

The entire lower floor of the place is bedecked with vintage posters from both international grand prix and local dirt track races. In addition to the XKSS, there’s a Morgan 3-wheeler and a midget racer perched above the bar. Wrapping around the entire lower floor bar is an enormous second mural featuring pre-war racers and various sportscar marques. Upstairs sharing space with the Bugatti 52 are more period kiddie carts: an MG and a Rolls. Amazing.

In short, it’s the Mid-Atlantic’s answer to the Siebken’s bar. It’s always depressing to find a great new hangout only to realize that you live hundreds of miles away from it.

My web searches since I’ve returned home seem to indicate that the Jaguar is indeed authentic. Can anyone confirm?

Categories
Historic Racing Photos Porsche

Film Noir in the ’67 Sebring Porsche Pits

There’s an atmosphere captured in these shots of the Porsche pit crew servicing Siffert and Herrmann’s Porsche 910 at the 1967 Sebring that is hard to put into words. I don’t know if it’s something to do with the film grain or the sun setting behind the car, or something less discernable. But there’s just something about the shots that make the event seem important: an importance that transcends the perceived importance of a motor race. There’s something in these photos that gives them historic weight. Just amazing.

More at Gearheads and Monkeywrenches.

Categories
Historic Racing Photos

Corvettes in Nassau. 1956.

Dick Thompson’s Corvette at the 1965 Nassau Speed Week
Nassau grid 1956

They didn’t set the world on fire with their showing but even though none of them finished higher than 19th for the main event, the Corvettes that made the trip across the Caribbean to attend the 1956 Bahamas Speed Week sure looked damned good on the streets of Nassau.

Categories
Vintage Racing Advertising

Formula 1 or Family Saloon

The new world champion Mario Andretti chose Ferodo disc brake pads for his Lotus Ford.
Ferodo have now provided the disc brake pads for 18 consecutive World Championship winners.
Whatever your car, Formula 1 or family saloon, Ferodo have disc brake pads and brake linings for it which will give you first class braking. For the last 18 years the world champions have selected Ferodo.
Countless other motorists throughout the world have as well. Ferodo stop at nothing to ensure you stop safely every time.
Ferodo disk linings and disc brake pads.
Ferodo Limited, Chapel-en-le-Frith, Stockport, Cheshire, SK12 6JP.

Categories
Historic Racing Photos

Factories at Work: In The Ford Wind Tunnel

You’d think that Ford would have rested a bit after achieving their drubbing of Ferrari and bringing LeMans victory home. But whether it was just momentum or to silence critics that suggested that the GT40 was more Lola than Ford, FoMoCo decided to bring the design of the next iteration of the GT car more in-house. Keeping the mighty 7 liter of the previous generation, they sculpted a new shape around it in partnership with Kar Kraft. Getting those strings placed right to measure the wind movement over the shape helped refine the aerodynamics of the project that would eventually become the GT40 Mk IV.

More at The Magnetic Brain. Thanks for sending this in, Skeeters.

Categories
Automotive Art Racing Ephemera

Topps World on Wheels: Kurtis

Ready to trade? Forget the baseball cards and grab your deck of Topps World on Wheels series. This time: Kurtis.

From the card’s reverse:

This new American sports car is sold either as in the picture, or in separate parts! Then the buyer can have the pleasure of putting it together, if he wishes. The Kurtis is powered by a Hudson motor, with a top speed from 120 to 165 mph, depending on the type of motor installed. Cadillac, Chrysler, DeSoto, Lincoln, and Mercury motors can be installed, at around $3,000.

More cards from the World on Wheels series in the archives.

Categories
Historic Racing Photos

Not Every Vintage Motorsport Can Make a Comeback

Nor should they all. Then again, I’d sure like to see a rekindling of the New York/DC rivalry of Auto Polo’s heyday; when nightly Auto Polo matches could be attended in the Northeast United States. From the Auto Polo Wikipedia page: “A tally of the damages encountered by Hankinson’s British and American auto polo teams in 1924 revealed 1564 broken wheels, 538 burst tires, 66 broken axles, 10 cracked engines and six cars completely destroyed during the course of the year.”

Sounds like fun, right?

Best use of running boards ever.

More photos at Klyker.

Categories
Classic Cycle Video

Onboard for the 2013 Vintage Revival Montlhéry

If you liked this week’s photos from 2013 Vintage Revival Montlhéry, then I have a feeling you’ll like the view from a 1918 Indian racer.

Categories
Lost Track Video

More Onboard at the Südschleife

Yesterday’s post had me craving more of the forgotten Sudschleife and now I’m sure of it: If the Nordschleife weren’t right next door this would have been considered a fantastic track.

Categories
Lost Track Video

Formula Vees on the Nürbugring Südschleife

It was only the big events that were raced on the combined glory of the North and South loops of the Nürburgring into it’s complete 17 mile configuration. Of course, the Nordschleife got all the fame and left it’s little brother Südschleife to languish away alone: oft-forgotten and little loved (even in its prime) compared to the more challenging technical turns of the Nordschleife.

Today, while much of the public roads remain, the connecting pathways to the Nordschleife were destroyed during the construction of the GP circuit. This Formula Vee race from 1968 though, shows the Südschleife in all its glory. It must be hard to be considered great when the basis for comparison is the Nordschleife but on it’s own this looks like a hell of a track. Also, helicopter footage of the F-V race? Who would have thought….

Let’s hope at the Nordschleife lives on in more than just videos of this kind 50 years from now.