Racer Hurdles Crowd and Lives.” This was the Sunday, August 31, 1952 headline story in the Buffalo Courier Express. The...
Societa Italiana Auto Trasformazioni Accessori was an aftermarket company that produced parts to “hot rod” Fiats. The company was started...
For as long as he can remember, James Peacock of Long Beach, California, has been afflicted with a palate for automotive curiosities…a proclivity for the unusual as it were. Worse yet, he’s had a grand master plan…a plan to retire at 40 and spend the second half of his life...
Then. Etceterini.com is the place to be if you’re obsessed with small displacement Italian wizardry of the 1950s. If it’s...
Then. By his own admission, Geoff Hacker specializes in finding cars that no one is looking for. It’s actually an...
Much like the animal it was named for, the precise origin of the Unicorn H-Modified sports racer remains a mystery. Legend has it that the car was built in or around San Francisco in 1952 by a police officer. However, years and years of research by subsequent owners have failed...
The 24 Hours of Le Mans; Le Mans, June 13–14, 1953. The experimental Porsche 550 coupe, which was driven by...
Legends are often born in obscurity. Alfa Romeo’s humble beginnings gave no hint as to the extraordinary heights the company...
What was Jud Phillips thinking? This has been the question that’s tormented Bill Fester for nearly a decade. Fester, from Houston, Texas, is not your ordinary car collector. Although he and his wife are very much city dwellers, their domicile is not only home to a wonderful collection of four-,...
Before WWII, the term “sports car” was an alien phrase in the USA. There was no such thing. Returning G.I.s...
“Their hopes, their dreams, their love; tied to a ribbon of road…and a boy’s unflinching faith…in a girl!” “A story...
Not every Alfa Romeo 1900C chassis that went to a Carrozzeria for custom coachwork (see this month’s Roadcar Feature) emerged a beauty! Such was the case for the 1953 Boneschi Astral. The first Astral was displayed at the 1953 Turin Motor Show. The second Astral was sold to Rafael Trujillo, then...
At the 1953 General Motors Motorama in New York City, Cadillac unveiled a concept car designed by Harley Earl. Named...
In 1953, Chrysler’s famed design chief, Virgil Exner entered into a partnership with the Italian styling house Ghia to produce...
Enzo Ferrari’s focus was on racing, not road cars, but he needed money to finance his racing addiction, so he sold road cars to feed the habit. In November 1948, the first show cars ever exhibited by Ferrari were on a stand at the Turin show—a 166MM racer and a...
Although Ferrari is among the most globally-recognized Italian brands today, the company was largely unheard of in 1953… Ferrari began...
The German Grand Prix; Nürburgring, August 2, 1953. World Champion Alberto Ascari sits in his Ferrari 500/F2 in front of...
The 1953 Turin Auto Show must have been quite a sight. It presented cars of what would become a landmark year. But most enthusiasts in attendance would not know how fortunate they were. To them, this was just another car show. To Carlo Abarth, however, this show was something special....
Then. I’ve been hiding something from you. I’m not proud of it, and it’s been going on for way too...
Then. Who wants to be Tony Curtis in the 1950s? That man had cars and women, fast and smokin’, in...
I spotted Phil Jelinek’s beautiful ’53 Kaiser Traveler Deluxe from across the Huntington Beach Concours show field. That is because this elegant, sporty looking automobile is even more distinctive today than it was when it was first introduced nearly 70 years ago. Its elegant design stands out when positioned next...
In the March 2009 VRJ I wrote about Don Blenderman’s Kurtis obsession and his wonderful Sutton-bodied 500KK. What I failed...
1953 Leson Simca Special Progress is not always a good thing. In the early 1950s, if you wanted to go...
This month’s awesome Hidden Treasure was discovered in 1995, sitting behind a house in Glendale, Arizona. How awesome? You tell me. It raced at Pebble Beach, was 1st in class at Santa Barbara with Bill Pollack at the wheel, was road raced with an Ardun-Mercury built by the legendary C.T....
The Maserati A6GCS driven by Emilio Giletti and navigator Guerino Bertocchi at the 1953 Mille Miglia. They finished in 6th...
The 1953 Mille Miglia Race Results: 1953 Mille Miglia Results / Dates: April 25-26, 1953 / Winner: Marzotto G. –...
There is no hidden racecar in this story, but there are four treasures, one mechanical and three human. I love this one. The mechanical treasure of this month’s installment is the 1953 Siata 208S (#BS520). Painted in a lovely shade of white, BS520 was the E-Production Class Winner at the...
The photo caption on page 31 of the November 1953 issue of Road & Track read: “A strange assortment of...
The main thing about the 1953 race at Watkins Glen was the question of whether there would be a race...
In the early 1950s, Americans looked forward to attending auto shows for the unveiling of the manufacture’s latest offerings. Adding to the excitement was the increasing number of concept cars that debuted at these events, presenting a possible glimpse into the future of the automobile that they may someday be...
