There’s something very satisfying about seeing a barn fresh car become road ready. I love the restraint it takes to clean a car up and freshen the paint without stripping it down and completely restoring it. Patina has value.
Some nice tips here on how to handle a car when you’re just feeling it out and assessing it’s condition.
I know it doesn’t help anything on a macro-level, but I’m intentionally not posting about the Pebble Beach auctions. Why? There were amazing cars there, right? Cars that are on my personal list of favorites. And hell, if Yahoo Business or the Huffington Post can get traffic today reporting on the auctions, why wouldn’t an actual vintage sports and racing car site do it?
It’s simple. I would rather talk about what these cars do on the track than what they do on the auction block.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy for this weekend’s buyers and their new 904 or Spyder California or Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 Competizione or (my goodness!) Gurney-Weslake Eagle Mk 1 Formula 1 car. I’m just not that interested in the sales numbers. When these cars show up at the Mille Miglia or the California Mille or Goodwood or any local road course, then you’ll be reading about them here. I just don’t want to play into the hype machine of who’s buying what and how many millions did they pay for it and oh-my-gawd-did-you-see-how-rich-that-guy-is of it all.
Whenever I’ve talked about the economics of vintage sports and racing cars here, it’s set off a bit of a firestorm of negativity. This is not intended to restart that whole argument of “racing cars should be for enthusiasts” versus “rare=expensive, deal with it”. The only side I’ll take on that argument is that I hope these new buyers use their cars; that they get out on the track or out to the concours or out on the street. Anything. So long as it’s not just sitting in a vault waiting for the next auction.
The cars deserve it.
Congratulations to this weekend’s buyers and sellers. Congratulations to this weekend’s blue ribbon winners. Now let’s strap on a helmet and see what she can do.
I particularly enjoy the atmosphere and anticipation in the first half of this video piece. You know that my blood gets pumping seeing these classic endurance racers on their home turf, so that really says something.
I love seeing the drivers rehearsing their leap into the car. You can almost taste their excitement that they’re actually going to do a LeMans start. They’re actually going to run across the road and fly into the pilot’s seat; reaching for the shifter and the ignition and the clutch, while somehow maneuvering into their safety belts with a HANS attached. I hope that the LeMans Classic always preserves the running start—even if only symbolically.
Spread out those trading cards on the bedroom floor and let’s make some trades!
From the card’s reverse:
The Twin Tanker is probably the first of its type to be built in the United States, and is patterned after an Italian design. The tanks, about three and one-half feet apart, are connected by a cross-piece through which all the controls run. The engine is in the right tank, and the controls in the left. Steel tubing and plates reinforce the interior of the tanks to make them strong and safe.
Strong and safe… riiiiiight.
More from the Topps World on Wheels trading card series in the archives.
It’s almost hard to believe that you can achieve these contours and this level of precision with humble Lego bricks. Bob Alexander’s classic racing car sculptures transcend the medium and become marvelous feats of tabletop engineering that reflect those of the subject matter.
They’re simply stunning.
Now Bob, where are the build instructions? I want need that Lotus 25 on my desk.
More on Bob’s Flickr via Looks Like Good Design. Thanks for the tip, Paul!
There’s just one thing wrong with Alfa’s 1750 GT Veloce.
We can’t get enough of them.
Maybe it’s the name.
1750 Gran Turismo Veloce. You just know it means a fast, luxurious car in the great tradition of European road machines, always ready to race or roam.
Or maybe it’s the body. That brilliant styling has made this Bertone masterpiece a modern classic. Inside, the GTV is handsomely fitted with solid mahogany trim. New-design bucket seats the enfold you in arm-chair comfort even at nearly 120 mph. And a full complement of instruments, including a tachometer.
Most likely, though, it’s the famous Alfa performance, even livelier this year. A new stronger engine with race-proven fuel injection. Five forward speeds to cope with any traffic or terrain. Four-wheel disc brakes that stop you right now, in a safe, straight line. Wide-tread radial-ply tires that seem part of the road, take corners with race-car sureness. Racing suspension and precise steering that makes the car do what you want to do, the instant you want to.
Alfa Romeo’s new 1750 GT Veloce. Better hurry to your dealer now.
Alfa Romeo 1750 GT Veloce®. $4446 Ease POE.
Alfa Romeo Inc. 231 Johnson Ave., Newark, N.J. 07108 / 215 Douglas St. So., El Segundo, Calif. 90245 / Alfa Romeo (Canada) Ltd., 26 Greensboro Dr., Rexdale, Toronto, Canada.
As someone who works in advertising, I don’t think any contemporary creative director would let a copywriter get away with calling the product by three different names: 1750 GTV, 1750 GT Veloce, 1750 Gran Turismo Veloce… Make a decision!
As seen in Road & Track, July 1969 on Sensei Alan’s Flickr via Chromjuwelen
All it takes is a creative mind and the will to make your classic your daily driver. Groceries? Surf Boards? No problem.
Say what you will about the validity/heresy of a replica, I’m going to go ahead and give props to New Zealander Ivan Sentch for embarking on the not-unsubstantial quest of 3D printing an Aston Martin DB4.
Heck, I like it simply as an art object. If he does get her up and running, I’ll be truly impressed.
Complete story and photo gallery at GizMag.
Now where is my copy of 3D Studio Max?
I can’t speak German. I suffer from the same clichéd American point-of-view that zee Germanic languages sound threatening and guttural. I know that’s not fair and I’m working on it.
This video helps. Somehow the hushed reverence with which this narrator describes the Ring makes German sound like a soft, romantic, seductive language.
Then again, it’s hard to go wrong with Von Trips, the Ring, and a Bolex camera.
Not that it needs to be said, but Save the Ring.
