When the world got back to normal life, after World War II, there was so much pent up demand for...
After World War II, Enzo Ferrari began the work of retooling his small company from manufacturing parts for Italy’s war...
Like so many great automobiles of our time, the Mercedes-Benz SL series can trace its origins directly to the racetrack. With the rebuilding and recovery of Europe ongoing six years after the end of World War II, Mercedes competition boss Alfred Neubauer was told that the resources for a resumption...
Audi has recently reacquired an extremely rare Auto Union Silver Arrow racing car consisting largely of original parts. It is...
Renowned engineer and author Bill Milliken passed away in his sleep July 28 at the age of 101. Born in...
Two Citroën Traction Avants at the Tampa Bay Automobile Museum, examples of fairly mild French styling of the Deco era. The French initiated the Art Deco movement in 1924 with the Paris exposition of the industrial and decorative arts, so it is no surprise that some of the automobiles subsequently...
Sir William Lyons, founder of the Jaguar car company, knew, as domestic car production returned to the UK, after World...
To anyone interested in automotive history, the late 1940s and early ‘50s was a fascinating period of time, especially in...
The U.S. motorsports community as a whole, and the profession of motorsports journalism in particular, suffered a great loss on September 28, when Chris Economaki passed away just two weeks shy of his 92nd birthday. Economaki may be best known as editor and publisher of the weekly racing newspaper National...
In 1903, Henry M. Leland began selling a $750, single-cylinder, automobile under the name Cadillac. Later touted as the “Standard...
From 1950 until his premature retirement from road racing and hillclimbing just three years later, Tommy Hoan set his competitors...
Photo: David Gooley One glance at a late 1937, ‘38 or ‘39 Darl’mat 402 Special Sport tells you it’s classic Art Deco French. Those swoopy airfoil fenders reminiscent of custom coachbuilder Saoutchik’s Delahayes, as well as Ettore Bugatti’s creations of the era are the giveaway. Also, the almost cubist bright...
1952 Lancia Aurelia B50Photo: Peter Collins On a rare sunny day in late spring, on empty roads in Wiltshire, this...
King George V thought it was very funny. “You’re late, my boy,” he guffawed. The world’s fastest human being had...
As you’ll read elsewhere in this issue, we sadly report that the elder statesman of American motorsport, John Fitch, has passed away at the remarkable age of 95. As outlined in his obituary on page 12, Fitch’s life read like some kind of wild adventure novel melding Indiana Jones, Captain...
In remembering and memorializing John Fitch upon the occasion of his death, Vintage Racecar has produced this brief photographic summary...
Motor Racing at Thruxton – in the 1980s By Bruce Grant-Braham The latest volume in publisher Veloce’s “Those were the...
Cisitalia 202 was a ground-breaking post-war design that placed Pininfarina at the forefront of automotive design. The late 19th century was not a great time for the Farina family to be bringing up eleven children in rural Italy. The tenth was christened Battista, and with all these mouths to feed...
High-powered Italian automotive exotica has always had an attraction for a select number of prominent people of means. Today it’s...
Tim ParnellPhoto: Pete Austin It was my father, Reg Parnell, who first went to Donington Park in 1934. Living near...
Parnelli JonesPhoto: John Zimmermann This year marks the 50th anniversary of Parnelli Jones’ 1963 Indianapolis 500 victory. That win, from pole position, turned out to be his only one although at least three others slipped from his grasp through various misfortunes. In his rookie year of 1961, he was leading...
Six (possibly seven) DB2 chassis were sent to Graber, in Switzerland, for custom convertible bodies that featured fixed front fenders...
Aficionados of the Riley marque, particularly devotees of the Riley Specials raced prior to World War II, will find a...
De Palma, his riding mechanic alongside, guides his factory Vauxhall over the 37.631-km Circuit de Lyon during the 1914 French Grand Prix, a race run barely a month before the onset of WWI. One of the greatest, and nice with it—that was Ralph De Palma. He won well over 2,500...
100 years ago, almost anyone could become a car manufacturer. The automobile—and the advance in technology to create it—was in...
A shooting star is an astronomical phenomenon which appears suddenly in the night sky, burns brightly for a few seconds...
Photo: Steve Oom Photo: Steve Oom It would be interesting to ask any historic car enthusiast what picture enters their minds when the Bugatti marque is mentioned. Perhaps some would think of the Bugatti T41 or to use its more widely known name, the Royale, a Bugatti of some notoriety...
From the very beginning of the automobile, man built cars to compete with a passion for speed and technology. These...
Then I live in Texas. That means I’m supposed to be a barbeque snob. It also means that when invited...
Paul McMorran The loss of John Crosslé at the end of August 2014 completes the passing of a remarkable generation in motorsport. John had much in common with the contemporaries and friends who founded Lola, Mallock, Chevron and other icons of what many consider a golden age. Eric Broadley, Arthur...