Immediately after the Second World War, Jean-Pierre Wimille, Louis Chiron, Philippe Etancelin, and Raymond Sommer carried France’s colors back into...
My first car after leaving active duty in the Army in 1953 was a 1948 Buick convertible that I sort...
I’m approaching my tenth anniversary of being hooked up to the Internet. One thing about the Net is that it is recording motor racing history. In my neck of the woods, a “food park” has opened. You may be wondering what a food park is, lettuce roaming free as nature...
As you’ll see on page 38, this issue marks the launch of yet another new column. One of my goals,...
Rallying was a total mystery to me until 1972, when a young man named Sandro Munari achieved the first of...
In the Western U.S. during the ’50s, there were a number of road-racing drivers who went on to international success in the following decade. Phil Hill, Carroll Shelby, and Dan Gurney come immediately to mind. However, if a single ’50s-era dominating figure had to be chosen, it would be Ken...
Last summer, I was getting ready for a race here in California. It was a typically hot, Southern California day...
Gilles Villeneuve Biography “He’s different from the rest of us, on a separate level …” Jacques Laffite describing Gilles Gilles Villeneuve was born in Quebec on 18 January, 1950. He rose up through snowmobile racing and Formula Atlantic. In fact he credits some of his success to his snowmobiling days:...
Quite a few younger folk seek me out and want to hear about how wonderful sports car racing was during...
Some say Graham Hill was not a natural, but one who had to work hard at his motor racing. I say so what? Not many of us work so well at something that we equal Hill’s outstanding record of winning the 1962 and 1968 Formula One World Championships, 14 championship...
For decades now, one of the most sought-after and desirable accessories for any historic racecar has been the possession of...
During the Fifties and Sixties, one of the most popular sports car racing venues in the West was Palm Springs....
Historic Photographs As a supplier of rare period photography to VRJ, Ferret Fotographics offers prints from its 1.5 million negative...
Not only did I enjoy reading Art Evans’ column this month on his first race as a competitor (click here...
The word had gone out, I was told for the thousandth time, but I felt no better. What if the Mafia suddenly took back its word and the 1926 Bugatti Grand Prix car vanished? It was too late for second thoughts, though. The car was hidden in a lock-up security...
I had just been discharged from the Army and was pursuing my education with the help of the GI Bill....
As I sit down to write this month’s column, Halloween quickly approaches. The stores are jammed to the gunnels with such traditional Halloween fare as inflatable, motorized lawn ghouls, 300 metric tons of extra-hyperactivity-inducing candy, and of course costumes. Yes, the streets are starting to look a bit scary with...
He was elusive. Confined to a wheelchair, but more difficult to pin down than most people with the full use...
Sports car racing in the U.S. during the ’50s was unique. It was very different from the American circle-track or...
It has become a given that a driver’s main rival is his teammate and I have been pondering when this idea emerged. There have been instances of teammates being very close friends and the late Chris Nixon celebrated the bond between Mike Hawthorn and Peter Collins in his superb book,...
I always dread Mondays. How is it that in the two short days that you and everyone else is out...
One of my favorite motor racing personalities was Piers Courage, a talented young gentleman racer, as well as a member...
Whether or not most of us realize it, a most unusual man is among us. Until the late ’50s, he was one of the very few Americans of international road racing caliber. As you read this, John Fitch is 88 years old. His life is the stuff of legend. Fitch...
Seems hard to believe, but this issue marks the 7th anniversary of Vintage Racecar Journal. What started as a seemingly...
You know how it is when a friend dies; you wish you had done more, visited him more, telephoned him more, at least thought of him more? That is how it was with me when Luigi Villoresi, distinguished gentleman and heroic racing driver, died eight years ago. I had known...
