It’s easy to forget when you’re humming along the highway that right under that hood there are thousands of explosions happening every minute. Not so easy to forget at Montlhéry.
Fantastic film by Joris Bergsma.
Last month Southsiders MC‘s Vincent Prat made the short trip up the road to Europe’s second best known banked track for the Vintage Revival Montlhéry. Ok, maybe third best known. Fourth? Whatever. Lucky for us, The Southsiders crew has a fantastic photographic eye for capturing the atmosphere of the event. I’m so glad to see that the vintage spirit that surrounds the Goodwood Revival is spreading to other vintage events with period dress and accessories sharing the stage with the vintage machinery. The shots of the 1932 Graham 8 Lucenti Indy car wouldn’t have half the appeal were the pilot clad in just another contemporary race suit.
It looks like a remarkable assemblage of machines were on-hand for the weekend, including machines that traveled from the Brooklands and Hockenheim museums—some returning to Montlhéry for the first time since they were actively racing pre-1940. Wonderful! You aren’t likely to see a better collection of Bugattis on any grid in the world. Looks like another to add to the ever-expanding list of events to attend in the future.
Click on through for Vincent’s recap and the rest of his fantastic photos from the event.
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BMW Makes new 328 Transmissions Available
I love it. Another manufacturer is working to keep their vintage sports and racing cars on the road and ready to race. Like our earlier look at Porsche licensing the Type 547 engine to Capricorn, BMW has licensed the gearbox from the 328 to transmission manufacturer ZF. Keeping these cars on the road is clearly a priority for manufacturers, and taking these kinds of steps is a great boon for vintage motorsport.
For racing, there’s a great effect here as well. BMW 328 drivers know that they can really race their cars without fear of a blown gearbox sidelining their car indefinitely. Well done, BMW. Keep ’em coming and keep ’em on the road.
The overwhelming majority of race winners the world over choose Champion spark plugs because Champions have no equal for performance. Why settle for less in your car?
With the future of the Nürburgring in some doubt these days, let’s hope that this map is still good for another 86 years.
What a sight it must have been, particularly for Stateside attendees of the 1939 World’s Fair in New York. Grand Prix cars were never a common site on American shores and the images of these racers bounding through the grounds must have been thrilling to see. Imagine the sounds that would have been echoing off of those arches as they blast through them, inches from the support columns. Makes my annual trip to the Minnesota State Fair seem positively sedate.
Brian Goldman sent in these photos that his father shot at the 1960 Ole Smokey Hill Climb in Lowellville, OH. I’ve been sitting on these for a while, trying my darnedest to color correct the aged photos back to their original vibrant glory. My Photoshop skills were no match for them though and I realized that I really should just let these artifacts live as they are—without introducing the artifice of retouching. I love when I decide these things because it lets me be lazy—it’s a key decision-making factor for me.
What I so love about these community events of the mid-century is the variety of machines that are encouraged to participate: VW Beetle, Corvette, MG, racing specials, and others are separated by only a few runs up the hill. Great stuff. Thanks, Brian!
Previously from the Goldman Archives: Put-In-Bay and the Davis Field Trials.
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Mystery Moretti Card
Yesterday’s Siata card from the Topps World on Wheels series reminded me of this trading card that our pal Cliff picked up on eBay a while back. The card was shipped to him from Canada, but he has no other information about the card or whether it’s part of a larger set. The dual French-English text on the card’s back might suggest that it is indeed Canadian in origin… but then the imperial measurements in the card’s text throw me (I just realized that this card would obviously pre-date Canada’s conversion to metric in the 70’s). Does anyone know anything more about this card or the set it’s part of?
Pretty badass little car too. The Moretti is definitely one of those barchettas that it’s difficult to visually scale without something in the image for reference. In this illustration the Moretti looks like a decidedly Italian sport tourer, sharing much in common with Ferraris of the era. Take a look at one with a driver, though, and you realize what a tiny little machine it truly is. I love it.
From the card’s reverse
This little sports car is made in Italy, and it is a lightweight model sports car weighing only 1120 lbs. It is made by Fabrica Automobili in Turin, Italy. The new model delivers 75 bhp and has a top speed of 111 mph. It gives an amazing 39 miles to the gallon.
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Reader Photos: Peter's Mitty Paddock
Peter Hoag took some time out from his duties with Regogo Racing to walk the paddock at the Mitty a few weeks ago and sent in these wonderful images of some of the competitors in various stages of preparation for their run. We tend to focus on the action on the track, but often the most fun at a vintage event can be had just wandering around the paddock spotting the cars, chatting with drivers, or listening in as two competitors hop out of their machines and rush to congratulate one another and recount their on-track battles.
The cars are what lured me in to vintage racing but the community is what keeps me going back every summer. Thanks for sending these in Peter!
Pull the card box from under the bed, it’s time to flip back through the Topps World on Wheels trading card series. This time a personal favorite: Siata.
From the card’s reverse:
Cylinders 8
Price $4,660
The Siata Company began life by manufacturing equipment for increasing the speed and power of cars already on the road… “hop-up” equipment. Now, however, the company has turned to making its own sports cars. They use many standard parts, get as much horsepower as possible from a stock engine, and have attractive bodies.
$4,660. Sigh.
More cards from the World on Wheels series in the archives.