When you’re done tuning your car, you’re not really done. How will you know whether your car is dialed in until you give her a proper road test? Sure, you could book a track day, but who has the patience for that? Do you? Me neither.
Porsche Classic has more photos. Wow.
Previously: Porsche 917s on the Street and More 917s on the Street.
I’m a little disappointed that even in ’61 the ad copy led with luggage space and seat adjustability. Get to the performance info, people!
’61 Corvette
New form and fineness for America’s only sports car.
There’s a winging new shape for the ’61 Corvette, and beneath these crisp contours, you’ll discover new refinements that reach right down to Corvette’s powerful heart.
Settle yourself in the cockpit and feel the no-nonsense comfort of those new bucket seats. They’re individually adjustable and the seat tracks themselves can be moved farther back for more driving space. Notice the increased foot and leg room made possible by a driveshaft tunnel that’s 19% narrower. There’s more trunk space, too; the luggage compartment is 20% larger for even greater touring convenience.
For muscle, the ’61 Corvette retains five versions of America’s most famous high-performance engine, the Corvette V8. Quick and sharp as a whiplash, this engine is available with up to 315 horsepower in a Fuel Injection version. There are three transmissions to choose from: a brand-new three-speed Syncro-Mesh with new quick accelerating ratios, the close-ratio four-speed Syncro-Mesh for the keen type, and Powerglide for the boulevardier.
There’s a feeling of pure confidence about the ’61 Corvette, a feeling born of the knowledge that this is the genuine article! See this new one at your Chevy dealer’s and you’ll know…
If you wanted a Corvette before, there’ll be no holding you now!
Chevrolet division of General Motors, Detroit 2, Mich.
Corvette by Chevrolet.
via Chromjuwelen.
Look at this behind-the-scenes production photo of James Garner on the set of Grand Prix and tell me that the Go-Pro isn’t a little electronic miracle.
via Time Wasting Machine
I’m continuing to wade through the box of slides and prints that Gary Mason sent in chronicling his lifelong love of photographing sportscar and formula racing (particularly Maseratis). In addition to these gorgeous images of the paddocks of the 1957 Italian Grand Prix at Monza, there is a large pile of shots that a then teenaged Gary was able to capture from the race itself (they’re coming, I promise). These particular shots of the Ferrari and Maserati paddocks really jump out at me though and are worth sharing on their own.
It’s been well covered here and elsewhere what a shame it is that spectators are all but barred from the paddocks of contemporary Formula 1. But it’s not just the level of access that strikes me about these photos. It isn’t just that Jean Behra’s Maserati 250F or Peter Collins Lancia Ferrari 801 is just sitting right there, a hair’s breadth away; begging you to casually extend a pinkie and touch it and prove to yourself that it’s real. What catches my eye is what surrounds these magnificent machines or, rather, what doesn’t. This isn’t just access to the paddock; it’s access to a nearly empty paddock. Empty of security to be sure, but also eerily empty of other spectators. Plenty of room to stand back and frame up a photo. Nearly impossible today even at club races.
Bonus Denis Jenkinson on the left there gathering notes and photos on the Ferraris for Motor Sport, no doubt. A nearly embarrassing charge of excitement leapt through me when this image slowly revealed itself line by line as the scanner worked its way through the slide: “Hey, that’s Jenks!”
As Gary pointed out in a comment on this similar photo taken a few years later, note the jump from garage 12 to garage 14. Can’t be too careful when you’re looking for luck on the track that day! No unlucky #13 garage for me, thank you.
This is just the tip of the iceberg. Track photos of the main event and support races for the ’57 Italian GP to come as soon as I can get the images properly indexed and identified.
See more of the Gary Mason Archive.
It’s not just because it’s beautiful. Which it is. It’s not just because of it’s relationship with Ascari. Which it has. For me, part of its allure is because of what it represents as a nod to a time when racing teams wouldn’t let themselves be pushed around.
When the Formula 1 rulebook got too restrictive, constructors embraced Formula 2 as a means to really showcase their engineering prowess. Every few years, this notion pops up again: that Formula 1 is holding constructors back and so begins the threatening and posturing that the series will be abandoned and that constructors will start their own series. Every single time, part of me hopes that they will. This Ferrari 500 proves that racing teams can do just that… and do it brilliantly.
Who am I to choose from among these names? How can I ask any of you to choose from the best of 1950s racing? Why argue the point when we can celebrate not any specific favorite, but the glory of this entire golden era of competition?
Available today in The Chicane Shop.
When the winter comes and the European tracks ice over, were drivers content of just let their racing machines languish in the cold workshop? No. Ship them to Nassau, to Tasmania, to Angola, and indeed to Morocco. The exotic locations captured in images like these always make me wonder why we don’t see more of this kind of thing in contemporary racing?
Sure, the street courses themselves may not allow for racing today, but why aren’t we keeping the motors running all winter long. Then it hit me, these exotic races were usually non-championship races. Why wouldn’t Moss or Graham Hill head to the Bahamas and gather up a win or two (and the often large purses that went along with them)? In the modern era, drivers are often dissuaded—or explicitly forbidden—from competing outside their series and the off-season is spent on a bike or in the gym in constant off-track preparation for the “real” racing to come in 5 or 6 months. What a pity.
A shame that we can’t enjoy a race weekend in a location like this gorgeous seaside resort town of Agadir? It proved a fantastic backdrop for this running in 1955.
More than the national racing colors; more than the accessibility of the paddock; perhaps even more than the skyrocketing expense of racing; it may by the hyper-specialization of drivers and the lack of crossover from single-seater to sports car to stock car that is the tragedy of contemporary motorsport.
More Agadir photos at Jewish Community Agadir
Also, is this Enzo Ferrari in a T-Bird? If so, there’s just something wrong (or very very right) about Enzo Ferrari being in a Ford.
Update: Although there is quite a resemblance to Ferrari in that particular photo, a Agadir1960.com identifies that Ford’s passenger as Hubert Terrier, President of the Sports Car Club of Agadir. Many thanks to Autodiva members for digging up the facts.
Ladies and Gentlemen, the ex-Fangio Mercedes-Benz W196 is the most valuable motor vehicle ever sold at auction with a final price of $29.6 million.
I have been guilty of complaining about the skyrocketing prices of classic racing cars (after all, I’m still a buyer in this equation). I have complained about speculators buying these cars simply as investments rather than as an expression of their passion for motorsport… but if ever a car deserved the title of “the most”, it might be this one.
More at Bonhams.
I love that this is becoming a thing.
Maybe it’s not quite the same as watching Enzo race his own Ferrari, or Henry race his own Ford, or Ferdinand race his own Porsche, but there’s something romantic about this footage of Berardo Taraschi piloting a car of his own make through the streets of Brindisi. Berardo took the win for the event, running the 69km race through the seaside town on Italy’s heel in just over 40 minutes: a 102 km/hr average isn’t bad at all for a 750cc powered Giaur.
With so little information out on the web about the Brindisi race, it makes me all the sadder that I can’t understand more than a few words of the commentary the goes along with this video. But I think I hear mention of the legendary Anna Maria Peduzzi as a participant in the race as well. I can’t remember ever seeing any footage of her in the car before. Is she driving the ’52 Stanguellini we wrote about in 2010? What a treat!
As always, if it’s little, Italian, and beautiful, Cliff has you covered.