Oh my, yes!
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“Let’s update a classic model from our past”, is a sentence that, since 1998’s successful redesign and relaunch of the VW beetle, must have been heard in every manufacturer’s boardroom since. In an era of blasé jellybeans on wheels dominating the auto market, I can’t say I blame them. These re-issues come and go with varying levels of success. Sometimes even multiple reissues from the same manufacturer are on opposite ends of this spectrum. New Dodge Challenger? Yes, please. New Dodge Charger? Nuh-uh.
In general, though, I tend to judge the success of digging into the archives for new product based on how much they evoke the original; how true they are to their roots. By that criteria, this design exercise by Arturo Alonso hits the nail on the head. It’s almost TOO close to the original. This is not, however, simply a replica of the classic Gullwing. The plan for this small production run series is to use modern materials and technologies, including a new Benz V8, mated to a very original-looking body—sadly made from fiberglass and not aluminum. The subtle softening of the edges and taming of the corners give the body a more modern look as well, and further suggest that this isn’t just another kit or reproduction.
Like the earlier Viper design project, it is currently only (publicly) a digital rendering. As a design study, it’s fun. More than that, I hope it does come to fruition and inspires more updates of this quality.
keep your eyes on Gullwing-America.com for the official site. It’ not up yet, though.
In the meantime, Carscoop has the, well, scoop.
This Abarth 205 A coupe that won the Trofeo Girard-Perregaux at this year’s Concorso d’Eleganza is absolutely stunning. I’ve not seen one before. Congratulations to car owner Mark Gessler for the win, and for one fine automobile.
Sports Car Digest has a sizable photo gallery of this year’s event.
The late 60s were, by any measure, a high-water point for sports car racing. The cars were absolutely beautiful. The science of aerodynamics was coming into its own. The cars were fast. Very fast. Faster than Formula 1 cars of the era.
Here’s a lovely example of the era that is coming available as part of RM Auctions’ Leggende e Passione auction: A meticulously preserved Ferrari 330 P4. Chassis 0858 is a majestic example, with a fairly impressive history. This is, after all, a car that was driven by Jackie Stewart and Chris Amon. Beyond a win at Monza, they shared the car for a wonderful meeting at Brands Hatch for the the British BOAC International 500. This was the last championship points winning race of the season and the World’s Sportscar Manufacturer Championship was on the line. Ferrari held a small lead, but Porsche was nipping at the horse’s heels. Jo Siffert was racing hard in his 910 to show that Porsche wasn’t just going to let Ferrari walk away with it. Through a handful of lead changes and hard battles, Jackie Stewart took the car back from Amon in the final hour to hold on to second place and secure Ferrari’s championship (Mike Spence and Phil Hill won the meeting in their Chaparral).
A Ferrari 330 P4 is indeed a very special car. In many ways, however, this era is bittersweet for me because it represents the real turning point in sportscar sophistication. The era of the garagista as a force in racing then started its slow decline. Wind tunnels, aerodynamicists, space-aged materials, and technological leaps permanently placed sportscar racing—any racing for that matter—in the hands of professional engineers, not amateur gearheads. I know, I know, I’m always singing the praises of the 917, a car perhaps even more the culprit for this shift. But it’s sad all the same.
On another tangent, I really have to commend RM Auctions on not only securing a marvelous roster of cars for their auction, but on investing in high quality photography for the catalog. These shots are simply stunning and it’s worth hopping over to the catalog just to take them all in.
Martin Chisholm is offering a marvelous 1952 Ferrari 225 Sport Barchetta. She is a beautiful, Rossa Corso wonder. A squat, dense muscle powered by an early iteration of Colombo’s famous V12 that would later prove so successful for the various Ferrari 250 variants that are in such high demand. This version of the V12 was based on the earlier 212, but bored out an extra 10mm and stroked to 58.8 mm for a total displacement of 2715 cc. The extra oomph under the bonnet made 224S #0218ET good for a perfectly reasonable 210 horses at 7200 RPM.
The 225 was developed with the twisty mountain sections of the Mille Miglia in mind, but since she was developed alongside early prototype versions of the 250, she was quickly overshadowed by her big brother in Italy. Fortunately, 0218ET was headed for American shores. This Barchetta, was an Alf Momo car, quickly prepped and ready for club racing in the States.
Bill Spear gave 0218ET her debut at the 1952 Sowega Air Force Base races and brought her in at 5th overall. Not a bad start.
Of course, what makes this car really desirable was her entry in the ’53 Sebring 12 Hours Race. Bill Spears shared the car with Phil Hill. Unfortunately, in a rare mistake, Phil had an off-course excursion that cost them the race. In the early days of Sebring, the grass surrounding the course was a very treacherous place and Phil managed to find the foundation of a disused and demolished barracks. The hit to the rear wheel took out the differential, forcing the team to call it quits for the race.
The car bounced around from racer to racer for several years, before becoming a toy of a Hollywood businessman. Finally the car was rescued by noted collector Gary Schonwald who located the long missing original engine and restored 0218ET to the remarkable shape you see her in today. She looks Concours and Historic Mille Miglia perfect.
Carrozzeria Vignale did an absolutely incredible piece of work crafting the body of this little barchetta back in 1952, and despite the more impressive statistics of the scores of Ferrari models that have followed in the wake of the early barchettas, there is no model that I find more romantic than these early V12 series.
This photo from the January 1980 issue of MotorSport Magazine shows Maserati 250F Lighweight #2527 as she was being prepared for a season of vintage racing. There’s no denying that this 250F is a very special car, having taken Juan Fangio to a pair of 1957 wins in Argentina, with further successes for Harry Schell. Today, driver Jeff O’Neill keeps 2527 in good practice and fighting trim on racetracks around the country, appearing recently at the 2008 Monterrey Historics.
It’s good to see that, despite the radical increase in the value of this machine between these two photos, a car like this Maserati 250F has avoided becoming a showpiece in a speculator’s warehouse and has instead maintained a presence on the racetrack. The stratospheric rise in the values of vintage racers, particularly the incredible price jump of the mid 1980s, has been both a blessing and a curse. These cars have been rescued from the junk heaps of history, but have all too often fallen into the hands of investors and kept off the track and out of view of the fans of vintage motorsport.
Thank you, Jeff, for keeping this example of one of history’s finest racing cars well within public view.
The Photo above is from a series of Monterrey pit area shots at TrackThoughts.
Photographer Michael Plitkins has several images of 2527 on AtSpeedImages.
Sorry for all the Porsche 917 posts late—you know what? Scratch that. There’s no sense in apologizing for it. I’d probably make damn-near every post about this majestic ride if I could.
Now the videos we saw earlier this week of a 917 (reproduction) in traffic do a bit to give you the true stature of the machine. It’s giant reputation and it’s long low proportions have, like the 910, always made it seem to me like a larger machine. Low- yes; but big. The long swept tail in some iterations make it seem even more so. Even though I’ve seen a 917 in person on the track, and through the window at Symbolic Motors, I’ve never been close enough to actually take in the true scale of the beast.
But this photo from Sports Car Digest of a Gulf liveried 917 parked next to a Porsche 914 on the track at Spa-Francorchamp, 1970, really hits me with the true scale of the thing. I’ve seen hundreds of photos of the Porsche 917: On the track, in the pits, on the big screen. None of them have, for whatever reason, given me a true sense of how small this incredible machine is. I’ve driven a 914, a car so small that I could barely shift into 2nd gear without uncomfortably pushing against my leg. The 917 is TINY.
Maybe it’s like how people are surprised when a famous actor is short when they see them in person, but the 917 seems like too much of a giant to be this small.
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Looking the Part: OMP’s New Vintage Line
It looks like there are more and more options for the vintage racer that doesn’t want to look like a NASCAR driver in the pits. OMP has renewed their vintage offerings with a line of excellent FIA compliant, fire-resistant garments worthy of your vintage racing car. They look absolutely brilliant and offer another good alternative to Dunlop Blues (always a good choice).
Their Vintage Superleggera one piece suit is three layers of, as the name suggests, very lightweight knitted material weighing only 280 grams per square meter. Race suits that look tasteful are always hard to find. And always expensive. I’m glad to see more companies entering the vintage market. It was only a few years ago that the only option for vintage-styled race suits were small boutique tailors that made suits of excellent quality, but at extremely high prices. While I’m a bit mixed on yielding the entire market to the mass producers of the world, I am glad to see some price competition from the likes of larger producers like OMP and Sparco.
The boots in the new line are, arguably, the real highlight of the group. Although we’ve looked at vintage-styled offerings from Puma in the past, and Piloti offers race boots that don’t interfere too much with a vintage aesthetic, these Carrera boots look almost as if Jim Clark just kicked them off.
I find it amazing (and disappointing) that ‘super obnoxious colors’ has become such a shorthand for “racing” that we have to commend racewear makers for their restraint in choosing the simple, streamlined, unadorned lines that have been the hallmark or motosport since its inception. That’s always been the point, strip away the unnecessary; yank off the bumpers, remove the chrome strips — this is the defining characteristic of racing aesthetic. The Carrera boots are an excellent example of extending this philosophy.
My dear friend Eric Dean spent his winter restoring his Merlyn Formula Ford and it looks absolutely marvelous. The car wasn’t in desperate need of the full restoration job either, and I swear I left it in as good a shape as I got it when he graciously let me squeeze behind the wheel for a few laps of Road America last fall. Compare the photo from my post on that weekend with the series of photos below. They tell the tale better than I ever could of the quality of his craftsmanship in a restoration project that saw every hole in the frame patched and ground down, powdercoated, supplied with new hardware from nose to tail, and meticulously prepared. I must admit I was nervous about his livery choice until I saw these photos of the tremendous quality of the paint, which looks much more like a perfectly preserved 30-year-old paint job than it does a new respray.
Enough of my rambling, I’ll let the photos tell the story. I think it’s absolutely perfect. Something tells me Eric won’t be so quick to hand over the wheel this year, nor should he. Congratulations, Eric, on a job very well done.
“Honey, will you run up to the gas station and pick me up some soda?“
“Sure thing, dear, let me just get my nomex on.“