You kids today and your paved racecourses. Mulsanne Straight… Hrmph.. Straights at all.. Hrmph. Bah. Just drive your Bugatti or Bentley through the woods. These guys are serious about using their cars as they were meant to used. After all, there weren’t a lot of paved roads when these cars were new.
Among the celebrations at this weekend’s Sebrings events is a particular anniversary for the race’s winningest factory. 2010 marks 50 years since Porsche’s first victory at Sebring, a feat they’ve matched 17 more times. To commemorate the milestone, Hans Herrmann jumped back in the old RS60 he co-piloted to victory at the Sebring airport circuit in 1960. Wanna ride shotgun? Me too.
via Automobiliart
I hope this photo doesn’t get anyone in trouble but I can’t help but share this shot from the 2008 Elkhart Lake Vintage Festival. Where else in the world can you stumble out of the bar at 1am and see a pre-war biplane engine-powered Frazer-Nash monoposto double parked in a handicapped spot?
I just love it.
Marc wrote in with another gorgeous model posing with a gorgeous model – this time a Lotus 47/Europa. Thanks Marc!
Have some more sports and racing cars at auto show displays to share? Send them along to tips@thechicane.com
It’s car show season, friends.. If only the attractions of this years’ car shows were as sexy as they used to be.
What? I’m talking about the cars.
Mostly.
Mouth watering. I can’t believe I didn’t somehow get it together to make it down there. A dizzying array of Bandinis and Stanguellinis and Siatas and OSCAs, and that doesn’t even mention the gaggle of Porsche 917s. Good gravy!
Head over to Etceterini for the complete set.
This Jeff Decker sculpture of a hillclimber in the throes of attempting control (and losing) graces the plaza of the Harley-Davidson Museum in Milwaukee. It is a mammoth bronze piece. At 150% scale, it is gigantic, weighing over 5,000 pounds and standing at 16 feet.
It is heroic; showing a rider that is dextrous, brave, and almost impossibly flexible. He struggles to control the machine that it uncontrollable; on a racing surface that is rough and unstable and constantly shifting. It’s a brilliant capture of an amazing, if inelegant, moment.
It’s the inelegance of it that I love about it. This is no proud victory posing with his laurels and receiving a kiss from the girl awarding a trophy; it isn’t a stoic lone biker rocketing across a desert highway; it is a competitor struggling to take his machine up the hill—and he is falling. Struggling to regain control, but almost certainly beyond the tipping point, the sculpture captures the instant before failure.
It is an unconventional moment to showcase, but one that I think exemplifies the spirit of competition and the determination of the competitor.
Shortly after the unveiling, there was criticism that this was a fanciful interpretation of the hillclimb. Many suggested that the events didn’t achieve this level of acrobatics or drama, and this was simply another artist’s flight of fancy in turning the mundane into the heroic. Several years have passed, and Jeff Decker recently showed some images on his blog that showcase that, if anything, his sculpture didn’t go far enough to capture the bravery of the early hillclimbers. Looking at these images, I’m inclined to believe him.
Head over to his blog to see the complete gallery.
As a non-traditional sports fan, I’ve always thought Sports Illustrated had a difficult relationship with sports that aren’t Football, Baseball, Basketball. But these covers from the 50s and 60s show that auto racing was once a cherished pillar in the temple of sportsmen. In recent years, there has been occasional NASCAR covers, and a Danica Patrick cover, but I think it’s fair to say that the “auto racing isn’t a sport” crowd are winning out on the editorial staff of SI.
Part of that isn’t the magazine’s fault, it’s the path that auto racing has taken. In early American sportscar racing, the driver was the key component. This was particularly true in the early days, when most drivers were competing in cars that were essentially off-the-shelf product. Pick it up at the dealership on Friday, race it on Saturday.
Today, the real muscle behind a successful racing enterprise isn’t so singular. It’s true that drivers get the bulk of the attention, but if the changing teams of Formula 1 have taught us anything, it’s that the best driver isn’t always the winning driver. What has happened is that, in broad strokes, racing has shifted from being an individual sport to a team sport. Sports Illustrated, as much as anyone else, knows that you aren’t going to sell a lot of magazines to the mass market with photos of aerodynamicists on the cover. And so it has struggled to figure out how to showcase racing on her cover pages.
This wasn’t always the case of course, so let’s check out some great covers from the magazine’s past coverage of our sport. Enough has been said about the decaying state of magazine design, so I won’t comment other than to to say, isn’t it nice to see powerful illustration and photography not have to compete with 25 article callouts. We’ve turned magazine covers from covers to photographic table of contents pages.
This lovely little etceterini is very much more than she seems. This ex-Anna Maria Peduzzi Stanguellini has as good a pedigree as anyone could ask for. This car, chassis CS04075, was delivered to Ms. Peduzzi, perhaps Italy’s best-known female racing driver, who piloted the barchetta through just about every Italian race of any significance: the ’52 12 Hours Pescara, the ’53 Mille Miglia, the ’53 Targa Florio, plus a victory in the 1952 Eifelrennen Nürburgring just to break her in on delivery. The car’s subsequent owner, Paulo Martoglio, took the car on the quick trip from Brescia to Rome and back again for the ’56 Mille. This car’s history would virtually guarantee entry into even the most selective vintage events.
Today, Marcel Roks Consultants offers the car in Belgium. The car has received a ground up restoration and boasts its original 750cc Twin Cam. Sadly, I’ve never had the experience of hearing the little Stanguellini’s take on a hotted-up Fiat engine, but if it’s anything like my imaginings, it’s certainly an experience worth having. The car looks marvelous, and doesn’t look over-restored or like too much of a garage queen.
I would, however, like to take this opportunity to wonder aloud about the photographer for these shots. At what point do you decide this marvelous little car doesn’t deserve to have the plastic furniture moved out of shot? “Nah, just leave that towel draped over that $5 lawn chair. That’ll be fine”. Bah.
I’m sure by now you’ve all read about Stirling Moss’ accident in his home elevator. The one-off carbon fiber elevator made by Williams opened it’s doors improperly, allowing Stirling Moss to enter the empty elevator shaft, tumbling 30 feet and breaking both ankles.
I’d been wondering when we might hear from the man himself, and he’s dispatched an email to various motoring news outlets. I’ve pasted the entirety of the message below:
Greetings!
DEAR ALL OF YOU,
THE LAST FEW DAYS HAVE BEEN QUITE FANTASTIC AND I’D LIKE TO THANK EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU FOR YOUR KIND THOUGHTS, MESSAGES AND OTHER PARAPHERNALIA.
ON SATURDAY EVENING, I WAS AT HOME WITH SUSIE, ELLIOT AND HELEN AND ABOUT TO LEAVE FOR A CURRY, FOR WHICH WE WERE RUNNING LATE. I ASKED HELEN TO JOIN ME IN THE LIFT TO GO DOWNSTAIRS, BECAUSE SUSIE AND ELLIOT WERE SMART ENOUGH NOT TO RIDE IN MY LIFT. I OPENED THE DOOR AND STEPPED INTO THE LIFT, WITH HELEN READY TO FOLLOW ME, WHICH SHE NEVER DID. THAT IS BECAUSE THE LIFT HAD STOPPED ON THE FLOOR ABOVE AND INCORRECTLY ALLOWED THE DOOR BENEATH IT TO OPEN.
STILL CHATTING TO HELEN, I STEPPED INTO THE OPEN DOORWAY–AND FELL TO THE BOTTOM OF THE LIFT SHAFT.
THE AMBULANCE WAS CALLED AND ARRIVED AT RACING SPEED, WHEREUPON THEY PUT ME ONTO A SERIES OF ABOUT 10 STRETCHERS! HAVING FINALLY SETTLED ON WHAT MUST HAVE SEEMED A GOOD ONE, I WAS TAKEN, ALONG WITH MY FAMILY TO THE ROYAL LONDON HOSPITAL IN WHITECHAPEL, WHERE THEY USED ANOTHER BATCH OF SIMILAR STRETCHERS!
THEY DID A GOOD JOB OF HELPING ME, BUT WERE UNABLE TO DO THE REQUISITE SURGERY. SO, ON THE SUNDAY, I WAS MOVED TO THE PRINCESS GRACE, WHERE A FANTASTICALLY EFFICIENT, KIND AND AMUSING STAFF DID ALL THE JOBS.
I AM NOW IN A LOVELY ROOM, NUMBER 222, AND WITH THE HELP OF ELLIOT AND THE PORTER, AM FINALLY ON THE EMAIL. THAT DOES NOT MEAN THAT I WILL BE ABLE TO ACTUALLY SEND THIS TO YOU, BUT I WILL TRY!
NOW FOR THE FUTURE… WHICH I CAN SEE WITH SUSIE, HELEN AND ELLIOT AROUND ME, IS GOING TO BE A BLOODY STRUGGLE!
AS SOME OF YOU MAY KNOW, SUSIE AND I ARE BOOKED ON A SEABOURN CRUISE FOR OUR 30TH ANNIVERSARY, NEXT MONTH. I HAVE TO CROSS THE HURDLE OF GETTING THE DOCORS, AND FAMLY HANGERS-ON, TO ALLOW ME TO THIN MY BLOOD, IN ORDER TO AVOID ANY ISSUES INVOLVING DEEP VEIN THROMBOSIS.
IT WILL BE SIX TO EIGHT WEEKS FROM SUNDAY BEFORE I WILL ABLE TO PUT ANY LOAD ON MY FEET. THEREFORE I’M FACING MY SIXTH OR SEVENTH REDUCTION TO A WHEELCHAIR (SUSIE SAYS SHE’S STOPPED COUNTING) WHICH I MUST ADMIT, IS RATHER BORING. THE GOOD NEWS IS; THAT I DIDN’T SELL THE WHEELCHAIR AFTER THE LAST SHUNT!
THE WHOLE THING IS A REAL PAIN IN THE ARSE, IF I HAD LOOKED WHERE I WAS GOING, I WOULDN’T BE HERE AT ALL, SO IT’S MY OWN DAMN FAULT.
I HAVE BEEN ABSOLUTELY OVERWHELMED BY YOUR COLLECTIVE CONCERN AND KINDNESS.
I CAN TELL YOU THAT CURRENTLY I’M LYING IN HOSPITAL, TAKING DEEP BREATHS, LIFTING ONE ARM WITH THE OTHER, RAISING MY LEGS (WITH PLASTERS ON THE END) AND DOING ALL I CAN DO TO KEEP MYSELF AS MOBILE AS POSSIBLE, BUT, HAVING SAID THAT, I’M NOT YET WINNING THE BATTLE.
I’M NOT SURE WHEN I’LL BE ABLE TO GO HOME BUT THE LIFT HAS TO WORK, OTHERWISE I’LL NEVER BE ABLE TO GET UPSTAIRS IN MY WHEELCHAIR, MAYBE I’LL GO AND STAY WITH HELEN AND ELLIOT FOR A WHILE…
THIS REALLY HAS OPENED MY EYES TO HOW KIND ALL MY FRIENDS ARE, OVER AN OLD EX-RACING DRIVER, FLOGGING A FADING IMAGE!
I LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU SOON,
MANY THANKS FOR ALL OF YOUR THOUGHTS,
CIAO