Pete Lyons You know how someone’s opposing opinion, one that seems inconsequential enough to let slide at the time, can...
The other evening I watched a panel of motorsport reporters on a TV show name their “driver of the year.”...
When I were but a lad, my notion of a perfect Saturday was to walk down to the train station in our suburban village and ride the half hour into New York City, where I would spend hours upon hours wandering the marvel-strewn halls of the American Museum of Natural...
Hello, Posterity. This is the past calling. Writers and readers being separated by the editor’s deadlines, it’s still 1999 for...
Photo: Pete Lyons / www.petelyons.com Pete Lyons If you have a two-car garage, do you keep two cars in it?...
Can it be 50 whole years since the first Sebring 12-hour? I guess I’ve seen this coming, but still, it feels like Big Daddy Time has snuck up and given me a move-over tap on my back bumper! Good old Sebring. It used to be so important to me, and...
Pete Lyons We start the new season with two interesting notes on the subject of pulchritude. Near the end of...
Pete Lyons One day during an autowriters’ junket in Europe, we checked into our small country hotel with a good...
Bet you’re thinking of Fangio’s transcendent victory at the ’Ring. The launch of the Fuelie Corvette. The beautiful Scarabs. Jaguar’s fifth win at Le Mans, the third in a row for the immortal D-type. That year saw the end of the Mille Miglia, but Sputnik went up then, too. For...
Interview most any racecar designer and you’ll likely hear a beautifully turned tale of insight, and enlightenment, and clever science...
Pete Lyons Come with me to Italy, if you’ve got a minute, I want to show you something neat. We’re...
How sharp are your detective skills? Can you ID either of these old racecars? This is not a trick question. We don’t know the answers (yet). It’s just that we find ourselves obsessed with finding out. Aren’t juicy little mysteries like this a big part of what we all love...
In racing, we sometimes get to cheer wins that come first-time-out. At the other end of the scale lies the...
Third-time charm! That’s what we Can-Am fans were hoping for 40 Septembers ago. On the first of this month in...
Ah, spring, when a lad’s fancy turns to thoughts of…well, what do you suppose? Taut curves. Deep breathing. Throbbing… Yes, we’re talking motorcycles, of course. I’m not sure what’s happening to me, but recently my brain has been brimming with bikes. Become a Member & Get Ad-Free Access To This...
Back in the free-and-easy days when you still could cozy up to naked racecars right out in plain sight, some...
After sending in last month’s column, I was prepared for the Editor’s call to discuss corrections, or photo selection, or...
We have a winner! Just as we hoped, a VRJ reader has recognized one of the “Mystery Cars” shown in the February 2002 issue (page 10), and identified its driver. It’s the handsome sports racer bearing no. 47 and a large overhead wing, which I photographed in the pit lane...
Conception, a friend of mine used to say, “is the biggest word in the English language.” His aphorism came to...
This is the sad tale of my first chance to own a sports car and how I blew it—the chance,...
Pete Lyons News that Formula One is so financially distressed… Wait! Let us savor this! Become a Member & Get Ad-Free Access To This Article (& About 6,000+ More) Access to the full article is limited to paid subscribers only. Our membership removes most ads, lets you enjoy unlimited access to all...
For all its color and commotion, which I do enjoy, I also like vintage racing for the moments of quiet...
Anyone who saw the terrifying tape of Mario Andretti’s 200-mph “blowover” at Indianapolis on April 23rd will easily visualize the...
In a Millennium when Ferrari seems all-conquering in F1, it’s hard to remember the bad old days of the late 1960s, when there wasn’t much prance in the cavallino—and not only in formula racing. One of the biggest disappointments to sports car fans was the firm’s off-and-off-again approach to the...
That sound! A wild shriek spearing out of the new Japanese F1 sliced like a samurai sword through the dronings...
Nearly 10 years ago in this space (“Sleuths Wanted,” February 2002) I asked if anyone could ID a Can-Am car...
Jimmy Clark Biography Jimmy Clark was born in Kilmany, in the county of Fife to a Scottish farming family, roots that would stay with him for the rest of his life. He was the only son in a family of four daughters. His early racing exploits were initially met by...
Sometime in the rainy wee hours of the recent Rolex 24 at Daytona, a race I find myself covering again...
Pete Lyons Fifty years ago, when people communicated on paper delivered by hand, her brother’s letters from far-off England would...
Pete Lyons How do you stop a racing runaway? Well, you might try throwing more races in its way. Ending McLaren Can-Am domination—that may have been one goal of series officials when they scheduled their fourth season, 1969, with nearly twice as many rounds as before. Become a Member &...