Advertisers! Abandon this concept. It makes exactly zero people want the new one.
Category: Racing Ephemera
Everything I thought I knew about motoring poster design has been called into question. Through my looks at program covers and poster designs in previous posts, I’d thought I was narrowing in on a formula for perfection in racing graphic design. I didn’t have the exact equation worked out, but the highlights were: Illustrated not photographed; no giant sponsorship or sanctioning body logos; make the racing cars (not the text) the center of attention.
Whelp, Looks like it’s back to the drawing board for me. Following my previous sensibilities, this program for the 1959 Kiwanas-sponsored race at Riverside shouldn’t work at all. But it’s just beautiful.
Looking back into the Topps World on Wheels trading cards. This time, Effyh.
From the card’s reverse:
Horsepower 40
Cylinders 1
Speed 130mph
This Swedish midget racer appeared in America the first time in 1951, taking part in races at Bridgehampton, Long Island. At that time, it had defeated some of Europe’s most powerful cars in open competition. These tiny cars can go surprisingly fast… faster than many cars with greater horsepower.
A ringing endorsement if ever I’ve heard one.
Previously on Effyh. Previously on the 1951 Bridgehampton.
More cards from the World on Wheels series in the archives.
A major electronic advance in road racing.
Now you can pass, switch lanes, and block your opponent! This is real switching and blocking that you operate by remote control. You can switch from the outside to the inside lane. Or vice versa. And if you get blocked, in either lane, you can switch to the free land and escape the traps. You’ll find yourself in dozens of real racing situations that call for skill and split-second timing. But, with the Eldon Selectronic Set, you’re in command. You control the speed. You control the switching. No matter which lane your car is in. No matter how many times you change lanes. That’s the secret of Eldon’s Selectronic Road Race Set. Your toy or hobby dealer will be happy to let you in on it.
Get the best deal in road racing—the low cost Eldon way.
Eldon Selectronic Road Racing.
Eldon Industries, Inc.
2701 W. El Segundo Blvd., Hawthorne Calif
Eldon Industries of Canada, LTD.
1315 Lawrence Ave East, Don Mills, Ontario
New starting flagman. Realistic action as this flagman drops his flag and automatically starts the race. Guaranteed fair starts and equal-timed races! Adjusts to fast or slow starts!
Big, realistic layout. 2 Testa Rosa Ferrari cars—switching and blocking with two remote control switch tracks, two rheostat switches with speedometers, lap counter, starting flagman, power pack, 28 pieces of track, bridge supports, fence and decal set included.
New lap counter. Eldon’s all new lap counter counts each car’s laps—no matter which track it’s on—no matter how many times you switch. Counts up to 50 laps!
Everything you need in one package. Pre-assembled track with pre-wired power track snaps together. 10 minutes without tools or glue. Enough track for many different layouts—even a cross-over bridge.
Join the Eldon International Road Racing Club. Fill out the attached coupon and join Eldon’s fast growing International Road Racing Club. Free membership card, racing news, 1963 accessory catalog, and other surprises! Organize your own neighborhood group!
David Piper owned the day. Both as a co-driver in the winning Ferrari 250 LM and as the owner of the GT winning 250 GTO. 250 LM and 250 GTO.
LM and GTO. Say it with me… LM and GTO.
Do you think the people sitting along Sunset Bend or grabbing a pint in the Grand Prix Club knew, and fully appreciated, that they could experience 9 hours of two of the most beautiful Ferraris that would ever roll out of Enzo’s workshop?
1964 Kyalami 9 Hours Program of Events 
Many thanks to Andrew Duncan who has been sharing his program collection gathered as a boy growing up near Kyalami. See more of the Duncan Collection here.
More from the Topps World on Wheels bubblegum card collection. This time, Cooper-Bristol.
From the card’s reverse:
This is the most successful British racing car built since the end of World War II. It is called the “Cooper-Bristol” because a Bristol-made engine is put into the Cooper-made chassis. The six cylinder overhead valve engines give them lap speeds of 100 mph range. These cars took part in almost every major competition in their class, and always have a very good account of themselves.
More Topps World on Wheels here.
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Tippling with Clark
While I was visiting Detroit over the Holidays I spent New Years Day having brunch at the Vinsetta Garage. The Woodward Avenue service station opened in 1919 but has been shuttered for a few years. When I’d heard that it had been sold as restaurant space I was afraid that we’d lose another gearhead landmark to contemporary redevelopment.
Thankfully the co-owners kept more than just the name when the Vinetta Garage re-opened as a restaurant last summer. The interior looks largely untouched. Vintage automotive signage looks right at home next to old Strohs and Schlitz signs near the bar. If I were still living in Detroit, I would absolutely be a regular. As you might expect, the menu is peppered with motoring references of one sort or another—mostly Detroit muscle and hot rods.
This item on the menu, though, stood out as one of only a few GP racing mentions. The cocktail offerings list The Jimmy Clark: Gin, lemon juice, egg white, and sugar with soda. It got me wondering. I can certainly imagine naming a cocktail or two after James Hunt… Maybe Graham Hill… Maybe Ascari… But Jim Clark?
Today, Jimmy is remembered as such a serious—even wholesome—character that it almost seems sacrilege to name a cocktail after him. Maybe the years since his death have made his memory rose-colored and I have it all wrong. Do you think he would have been knocking his signature cocktail back on an evening at the Steering Wheel Club?
More photos from the Vinsetta at the Detroit Free Press.
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 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.
Looking at this ad for a sweepstakes to win a Strombecker Slot Car set makes me wonder if the issue of Boy’s Life that, 40 years later, ended up being scanned for the Google Books archive might have been the winning entry.
It would be like finding Wonka’s Golden Ticket decades after Willy Wonka gave Violet Beauregarde and Augustus Gloop the grand tour.
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Decisions… Decisions…
Imagine yourself poring over this Abarth catalog page deciding on the right exhaust fitment for your barchetta or racing special.
Thanks, Tulipwood Racer.