In the February 2010 edition of Vintage Racecar, editor Casey Annis reported that a concours d’provenance had been held in...
In 1953, the Rootes Group in England, which had acquired the Sunbeam Company in 1935, produced a handsome sports car, the...
When I first talked with Vintage Racecar editor Casey Annis in 2005, the conversation revolved around the subject of me writing about the fifties, the fabulous fifties as it were. After all, this was what I was known for. I had written seven books about the decade. One of my...
By 1963, Cobras were doing very well in Sports Car Club of America races. Cars driven by Shelby American drivers...
My column in the October 2006 edition of Vintage Racecar was titled, “Shelby, the Early Years.” For the most part,...
As everyone knows, after the 1960 racing season, Carroll Shelby retired as a driver and became even better known for creating Cobras and Shelby Mustangs. But perhaps fewer know that he ventured into car creation somewhat before. During the fifties, Shelby, Jim Hall, and Jim’s brother, Richard, had a dealership...
It is well known that some great stock car road racing took place at the Riverside International Raceway. Dan Gurney...
For two consecutive years—1969 and 1970—Porsche won the World Manufacturers Championship. Brian Redman was an important part of the teams,...
Like many other sports during WWII, automobile racing experienced a hiatus. Soon thereafter, however, competition resumed. The Formula One World Championship series was initiated in 1950 and became the ultimate goal for both drivers and constructors. At the same time, Southern California became a hotbed of the car craze. Road...
During the fifties, Aston Martin produced sports cars with the designation, DB, which, of course, stands for David Brown. In...
There is a man who is not only unknown to the general public but also to much of the racing...
This is a little-known story, but the real father of Riverside Raceway was Jim Peterson. I thought this would be a good time to tell it, because the new Riverside International Raceway Museum is having a “Legends of Riverside” celebration on March 27-29. It might be appropriate to include at...
During the early fifties, one of the biggest sports stars in the United States was Sam Hanks. Notice I said...
I remember that the Reader’s Digest used to have a series of articles titled some-thing like “The Most Unforgettable Character...
One of the most successful relationships in motor sports during the sixties was between Carroll Shelby and Ken Miles. It resulted in transforming Cobras into world-class automobiles, not only on tracks, but also on roads. The relationship between the two was not just a business one, it was also very...
There were a number of outstanding road-race weekends during the fifties. Phil Hill’s win at the first Pebble Beach comes...
On August 28, we lost our great and good champion, Phil Hill. The entire world of motor sports is saddened....
I have included a few remembrances about Lance in some previous Vintage Racecar columns, but because he was such a fascinating character, I thought a column explicitly about him would be appropriate in order to wrap up the theme. I wrote what was hopefully an amusing story about a party...
I don’t remember when I first met Lance Reventlow, but it must have been through my buddy, Bruce Kessler, who...
On this, the thirty-fifth anniversary of the Monterey Historics, I thought it would be interesting to look back and see...
Carroll Shelby once remarked, “There are only two people I can think of who could sit down, take a welding torch, build their own chassis, go out to test it, and then win races with it. They are Jack Brabham and Chuck Daigh. I put Chuck in the same category...
During the early fifties, road racing in the United States took place, for the most part, at airports. While airports...
Jack was born on April 2, 1926, and I think it’s appropriate that we all wish him a happy birthday....
Southern California has always been a hotbed of car aficionados. The hot rod craze started there and, after WWII, it became a focal point for sports car enthusiasm. During the late forties, sports car owners began forming clubs so they could organize events. The Sports Car Club of America grew...
Although there were a number of pre-WWII cars that can be described as sports cars, the craze in the U.S....
During the Fifties, a number of women were involved in the sports car craze. This was during a time when...
During the fifties, everyone’s hero was Juan Manuel Fangio. He won the World Driving Championship five times, an achievement that would not be equaled for almost 50 years. The race that put the fifth crown on his head was at the world’s most challenging circuit, the old Nürburgring. At the...
Those looking for vintage photographs frequently contact me. During the fifties, my partner, Dick Sherwin, and I published a short-lived...
On August 4, 2007, an icon of American racing and my dear friend, John Fitch, turned 90 years old! In...
When Porsche introduced the 4-cam racing engine, it was a sensation. Porsche Spyders with this engine soon dominated their class. The problem was that this power plant was complex and difficult to work on. In the U.S., one man emerged who was acknowledged as a genius with the 4-cam. He...
