Author: Harlo

Categories
Event

Barchetta Party

Veloce Today has a brilliant write-up of Le Mitiche Sport a Bassano event. What a marvelous collection of barchettas braving the difficult weather this year to follow the Calmonte brothers’ original vision for a barchetta tour through the Italian Alps. Veloce Today contributor Dino Brunori and his son entered their Nardi 750, and it looks like a marvelous time was had by all. Brunori is definitely who you want to ride with when you’re travelling in a Nardi, his biography of Enrico Nardi, A Fast Life, is a definitive compendium of the marque.

Don’t scoff at the mere 250 miles the event covers. It may not be the Mille, but it’s some of the most remarkable cars traversing some of the most beautiful countryside the world has to offer. The limit of 100 cars on entries, and the specialization of the event make me think that this decidedly low-key event might be even better than the larger and more well-known classic rallies.

Click on over for the story and gorgeous photos.

Categories
Racing Ephemera

Driver, Mechanic, Girl, and GTO

One of my favorite blogs, The Selvedge Yard, has an excellent look behind the scenes of the Road Tripping and Drag Racing classic, Two-Lane Blacktop. The movie might not feature as much adrenaline and motor oil as LeMans or Grand Prix, but it certainly holds a place in the Pantheon of greatest car flicks. I rewatched the movie recently and I realized how much of an impact the pace and style of the movie must have had on the independent film boom of the 1990s. I could have picked out dozens of specific shots that would be used later in Tarantino, Linklater, Paul Thomas Anderson, or Kevin Smith films a couple of decades later.

Head on over to the Selvedge Yard for more.

Categories
Porsche Video

Ride Along in a Porsche 908/3 Up the Hill at Goodwood

Andrew Frankel drives, let’s all ride shotgun!

Categories
Historic Racing Photos

Reader Photos: So-Cal 1959

Asked and answered. Not only was a generous reader good enough to send in this excellent photo, but had an answer for me on my musings on the sensation of waving the checkers.

Marty wrote with this marvelous photo on himself manning the flag in 1959. He says, “I never noticed the wind as the cars went by, but that is a much younger me. Taken about 1959 in SoCal. Not sure of the track, but it was a CSCC event.”

Thanks Marty, for the marvelous shot! Anyone recognize the track? Those mountains in the background should help. Palm Springs, maybe?

Keep those old photos and film cans coming! tips@thechicane.com

Categories
Video

de Cadenet on the Maserati 450S

Dear Speed Channel,

A humble request: more Victory by Design, less Pinks.
Sincerely,

The Chicane.

Categories
Historic Racing Photos Lost Track

Golden Gate 1953 Photos

After seeing our earlier post on the Golden Gate Road Races, a reader was kind enough to send in these photos that were part of a collection of recently purchased negatives. A marvelous shot of Masten Gregory crossing the finish line in his Jaguar C-Type and another celebrating in the pits with his wife.

Just look at how closely he seems to pass the flag waver. What a thrill it must have been to have a speeding racing car pass within a couple of feet! The flag is being waved enthusistically, but I bet the air being pushed around the Jag would have been enough at that distance to give the checkers a proper dance.

Thanks for sending these in, Skullyspice! If you have a box of old photos in the attic (or on your hard drive), we’d love to share them with our readers. Drop a line to tips@thechicane.com

Categories
Track Maps of the Past

Track Maps of the Past: Lockbourne AFB

Look at this map from the program for the 1953 National Sports Car Races at Lockbourne Air Force Base in Columbus, Ohio and try and tell me that it isn’t perfect. What could have that family returning from the rest rooms so grumpy, I daren’t guess.
Bring back the airport races!

via

Categories
Classic Sportscar

It’s a Plaid Plaid Plaid Plaid World

Much maligned and misunderstood, the plaid interior isn’t always a crime against design. In the right car, at the hands of the right designer, it cannot be matched for charm. Every few years VW releases a Rabbit with plaid seat inserts, but I think it’s even been several years since we last saw them. Like our earlier look at blue cars with red interiors, it can look amazing in classic sportscars.

Sadly, I’m having a hard time imagining this looking good on a contemporary supercar. It looks fabulous in this Gullwing Mercedes, but I’m not sure it would be such a showstopper in a modern Mercedes SLR. I’d love to see someone do this in their modern 911. The car has enough of it’s heritage appearance (barely) that it might be able to pull it off.

Ok, so maybe it doesn\’t always work
Categories
Audio

Listen Along With the 1959 Monaco GP

There is something beautiful about an imageless audio recording such as this. I don’t know that I’d want to sacrifice the immediacy of the live video from the track, but there’s something about simply hearing the audio that is lost in the satellite feed. Maybe, by leaving something to the imagination, we’re a more active participant; taking the information we have, and filling in the gaps with our mind. I’m surprised that in the age of the podcast this type of field recording hasn’t made a resurgence.

As you know, I’m a huge fan of old racing film. Often they’re homemade 8mm film canisters with no accompanying audio. They’re lovely. Audio recordings such as this LP from the Sound Stories series are much the same. For me, these audio recordings are every bit as precious as the film canisters. Often, I think they communicate more than the film does.

But enough media philosophy—let’s get on with the 17th Monaco Grand Prix. In this first recording, it’s the run-up to the race, with recordings from the pits and brief interviews with the drivers. Stirling Moss tests and discusses the BRM. Von Tripps whips the new Porsche F1 effort around the bends. Phil Hill gives us his impressions of the track—amazing that 50+ years ago, there was still this notion of ‘only in Monaco’. It was already considered by some drivers an outdated racing course even then, but the romance of Monaco continues to win out half a century later.

Nevil Lloyd’s narration of the qualifying is excellent, noting the pieces of audio where we hear gear changes or hard braking. Listening along, it’s amazing how much easily you can imagine yourself sitting behind the giant steering wheel of a ’59 BRM.

Ok then, let’s get down to business: it’s race day, and I won’t spoil the drama by telling you too much. Throw on your headphones and give a listen.

Via Valve Bounce, where you can download the files as well.

Categories
Video

1971 4 Hours of Monza

Great footage here from the pits and on track of the 4 Hours of Monza, 1971. What a wonderful grid for 1971’s first event on the European Touring Car Championship, with a pack of Alfa GTAMs, BMW 2002s and 2800s, Fiat 500s, Escorts, and a Camaro for good measure. All the more exciting, this video has real audio with some great engine screaming!

How much would I like one of the Dunlop Racing Division jackets seen in this 1st video at 55 seconds? Very much. Very, very much.