Jenks used to write pieces titled, “Pity the Poor Historian”, where he would list, say, the conflicting reasons for a...
Ferruccio Lamborghini, whose businesses included tractors and air conditioning units, once treated himself to a Ferrari. He found it wanting and took it back to the factory, where Enzo Ferrari was dismissive. Lamborghini was so infuriated that he decided to build a better car. It’s not quite David and Goliath—...
Champ Car racing is in the middle of an ongoing drama, which can be best described as character building. Starting...
Spring is in the air and historic sports cars are being fettled for the Mille Miglia, except they’re not. They...
Porsche is one of those marques about which I feel ambivalence. Unless the six numbers click into place on the National Lottery, I am never likely to go out shopping for one. The lottery, like a second marriage, is a triumph of hope over experience, but we all have our...
With flashing precision, my memory recaptures exactly the milli-second that motor racing entered my life. It was reading a three-month-old...
There I was driving a 1931 V16 Cadillac built to the command of a maharajah – a car which has been featured on a postage stamp no less. In the back was a member of England’s soccer squad, so I was in Sixth Heaven. It would have been Seventh Heaven,...
Under most circumstances, I run a mile from making predictions. At an early age, I noticed that all bookmakers lived...
Mike Lawrence Vintage Racecar recently published a letter from John Wright who is a nine of racing anecdotes. John told how one of Jim Hall’s Chaparrals was suffering an aerodynamic problem that was resolved by drilling holes in the bodywork. Naturally Jim was not going to give away any secrets,...
Motorsport magazine, which I had the privilege to edit in the mid-1980s, recently ran a piece which claimed that 1976...
I was at a race meeting when a hunter/gatherer homed in on me, he had a race program in one hand and a pen in the other. He was scavenging for autographs. Hunter (offering the weapons of his calling): Would you sign this, please? Become a Member & Get Ad-Free...
Remember when Hollywood used to produce the odd “fun” movie—in somewhat the same theme as “the Grand Old Opry?” A...
Mike Lawrence Up to ten of the “continuation” “Knobbly” Lister-Jaguars are being made, and these are available in either full...
Once upon a time in a bar…well, near a bar…I was talking to a couple who had just bought a new Bentley, a name so famous in motor racing circles that even I, not normally given to huge enthusiasm for motorway cruisers, started asking questions about the technical specs. “Actually,”...
Mike Lawrence Recently, the world’s oldest motor sport event came under threat of closure, a threat since lifted, although not...
It hardly seems credible, but the 13th Goodwood Revival Meeting has just taken place and it was as good as...
Mike Lawrence At the end of last year, I moved from Chichester to Oxford or, to put it in terms even the most geographically challenged reader will understand, from Goodwood to Silverstone and the heart of the British motor racing industry. Three Formula One engineers live within 50 yards of...
Bristol, once a significant marque, has relocated to the “Great Paddock In The Sky.” For some time it had been...
The BBC recently screened a documentary on the 1955 Le Mans disaster. Pierre Bouillon’s car was launched into the air...
Superstitious? Not even a little bit? Are you one of those ritualistic types that won’t (or can’t) climb into your racecar without first donning your lucky socks, bellaclava or underwear? Do you panic if your lucky penny isn’t in your pocket? Do you make a point of always circling your...
Howden Ganley Do you like your racing cars to be aesthetically pleasing? Most people do, me included. So how do...
Have you noticed how old cars are getting faster and faster? I wish I got faster as I grow older....
For some time now, a consortium of major manufacturers has been threatening its own series, the Grand Prix World Championship. It will be interesting to see how that pans out because the trouble with motor manufacturers is that they are only in the sport for as long as it suits...