Pat Harrington-Johnson was a South African newspaperman who covered motoring and shipping for the Natal Mercury before and after World War...
Sydney pharmacist John Hallihan is the man who brought a rare D-Type to Australia, in very interesting circumstances. During the...
Since the very beginning of motorsports competition, a common thread has run through the sport: It takes money to go fast. An old joke goes something like, “You know how to make a million dollars at racing? Start with five million!” In this day of Formula One teams spending half...
Michael Andretti slides the all-conquering Ralt RT-5 Super Vee to victory at Riverside Raceway in 1981. Andretti was just one...
The most famous race on earth may have a checkered past as part of the World Championship, but foreign flavor...
The holy grail of land speed records resides in the vast solitude of a formerly thriving prehistoric lake. 14,000 years ago, this epic lake flooded out, evacuating the equivalent of Lake Michigan into Idaho’s Red Rock Pass. This devastating flood would last for over a year, continuously moving trillions of...
In Part 1, we took a look at the beginnings of the Huffaker legend, with the ferocious Formula Juniors and...
[Click here to read the second installment] Sure enough, the more liberal formula of the 1949 Mille Miglia attracted a...
In late December 1959, Bill Jennings packed his tools, spares and suitcase into the passenger seat of his self-assembled GSM Dart sports car and drove from his home in Cape Town to East London – a trip of over 600 miles in the days before highways. Jennings then took part...
Mercedes-Benz’ incredibly successful first half of the 20th century was going to be a really tough act to follow. Ritter...
His signature sky blue helmet firmly strapped to his head, Alberto Ascari poses for a Pirelli publicity picture before the...
Georges Lemaître actually finished 2nd in the 1894 Paris-Rouen Horseless Carriage Competition in this Peugeot 3hp, but was awarded victory and the posted 5000-franc prize because his ride looked more like a car than the three-wheeler that crossed the line first! Photo: Peugeot It all started as a promo for Monte...
The North American Racing Team: An evocative name that is steeped in history and encompasses one man’s ambitions, his passion,...
I cannot allow the twenty-fifth anniversary of the death of Gilles Villeneuve to pass unnoticed but it is, at the...
March 2020 will mark the 50th anniversary of what many feel is the greatest endurance road race in history – the 1970 Sebring 12-hour. Yes, there have been many great 12- and 24-hour races over the years, some with more historical significance. But none can match the 1970 Sebring for...
Today we think of Fiat’s role in Grand Prix racing as the owner of Ferrari, but the Turin company was...
In the first of a two-part series, Robert Newman explores the amazing life and career of “The Flying Mantuan” –...
If the name Jean Pierre Kunstle came up in a conversation about sports car racing, it wouldn’t be surprising if it didn’t sound familiar. He was sort of a “mystery man” since not much was written about him personally, virtually all reports were about his racing success on the track. ...
Do you believe in the afterlife? Maybe you do, maybe you don’t – but this is a story of a...
In April 1964, a new Gran Turismo racer 40-inches high rolled out of the Ford Advanced Vehicles factory in Slough,...
Imagine driving your homebuilt special, powered by a modified production car engine, in two World Championship Grands Prix and finishing 10th in the second one. These days that would earn you a World Championship point. Here de Klerk fends off a challenge with his Alfa Romeo Special during the 1962...
The first few years of the 1950s saw sports car events evolve from chummy club gatherings for “gentlemen racers” into...
What else could it have been called? Born out of an established American idea, it probably didn’t take a long...
[Click here to read the first installment] Poland, Denmark and Norway had fallen to Nazi Germany and the blitzkrieg up through France, Holland and Belgium was just months away by the time the 1940 so-called Mille Miglia took place. Hardly a time to be thinking of pleasant pastimes like motor...
While the illustrious history of IMSA is littered with great cars and great drivers, it’s easy to forget that the...
Sunoco was approached by Roger Penske, in the fall of 1965, to sponsor his newly formed racing team. After the...
Some 38 years ago, there was a vintage event like no other. It was the 1985 Palm Springs Vintage Grand Prix. Why was it so different? Would you believe 19 Formula One and Indy veterans on the same grid, all in competitive open-wheel cars? How about Dan Gurney in his...
Many car enthusiasts appreciate and collect fine watches. This should not be surprising as it mirrors their passion for both...
The Resurrection of an Indy Icon John Cooper sits at the wheel of the Kimberly Cooper prior to Tech inspection...
In 1967, sports prototype racing was going through one of its golden eras, with plenty of entries and a wonderful driver lineup for the world championship series, which consisted of races in North America and throughout Europe. Seven different manufacturers contested the title with five of them winning races that...