As you’ll read in this month’s news, Bette Hill, wife of World Champion Graham and mother of World Champion Damon,...
“Boy’s Own” Racer Personally speaking, I’m not an advocate of racing specials, especially those cars built that have little, or...
Having a father interested in motorsport, and him taking me to watch Tazio Nuvolari race at the 1938 Donington Grand Prix, directly led to my lifetime of involvement in the sport. Nuvolari really left an indelible impression on me. Initially, as a young boy, I emulated Nuvolari in my mind,...
It’s amazing how some of the names forged into the history of motorsport were first introduced to it. Some have...
As a result of my 1967 win in the Kyalami Nine Hours, in South Africa with Jacky Ickx in the...
Photo: BRDC Archive My greatest racecar is not a car I actually drove, but it represents a missed opportunity I had to get into Grand Prix racing in the 1960s. The Cooper Car Company, so famous in Formula One in the late 1950s and early 1960s for changing the shape...
Mike Lawrence One of the delights of Vintage Racecar is reading the small ads and being reminded of the sheer...
Carlo Chiti Emerson Fittipaldi 1 Scuderia Ferrari is formed as the Alfa Romeo factory racing team (1929). 2 Peter Gethin...
Frankly, I was surprised at how easily it drove after some previous experiences I had with other open-wheelers. Owner Ed Holly and I are about the same size and shape, and once my bum was in the seat of his Brabham BT6 I felt perfectly at home. No names of...
With the recent passings of Carroll Shelby, Roy Salvadori and Ted Cutting, all key players for Aston Martin’s World Sportscar...
The author puts his back into steering the Trimax through a left hander at Mallory Park.Photo: Andy Thorpe Was Alvin “Spike” Rhiando really Archibald Stansfeld Belaney? Well, the answer is no, but if you haven’t got anything else to do for the next twelve hours you could find some good...
Among this year’s anniversaries is that of the Mini Cooper. John Cooper and Alec Issigonis became pals while competing in...
The most famous race on earth may have a checkered past as part of the World Championship, but foreign flavor...
1964 Cooper T70 For a youthful 26 year old, the lure of winning your own country’s premier motor race in a car of your own design must have been overwhelming. For Bruce McLaren, the introduction of the Tasman Series, incorporating not only the New Zealand GP, but also the Australian...
1968 Lolita MkI & the 1969 Lolita MkII My first car was a British Motor Corporation Mini. I had just turned...
1959 OSCA | 1960 Lotus 18 | 1963 Brabham BT6 Regular readers of VR will know that we have a fondness for...
1972 Lola T290-Tecno Here is your first question for 10 points: How many racing car manufacturers have been going nonstop for 50 years? Answer: two. Let me refine the question a bit. How many manufacturers of only racing cars have been going for 50 years and are still in international...
1960 Kieft Formula Junior The history of British motorsport is rife with postwar racecar manufacturers that saw their genesis in...
Since the very beginning of motorsports competition, a common thread has run through the sport: It takes money to go...
Richard Petty Antonio Ascari 3 Mark Donohue wins the USAC Champ Car race at Pocono, Pennsylvania, for Team Penske’s first Champ Car victory (1971). 4 Frank Verbeck wins $50,000 when he drives a Fiat to victory in the 444-mile Pan-Pacific Road Race from Los Angeles to Sacramento. Longest race on...
I was going through a pile of papers when I found the order of service for John Cooper’s funeral. I...
Conception, a friend of mine used to say, “is the biggest word in the English language.” His aphorism came to...
Famed car builder John Cooper passed away on Christmas eve after losing his battle with cancer, he was 77. John Cooper and his father Charles were instrumental in the postwar boom in motor racing and their impact on racing worldwide has been enormous. Coopers built and raced the first significant...
