If you’ve been reading the editorials written by Casey Annis for a long time, you might already know of me....
It is with a profound sense of sadness and loss that I must share that long-time contributor and friend Mike...
One of my favorite automotive books is Doug Nye’s “Motor Racing Mavericks”. Published in 1975, it explores failures—high-end failures—in Grand Prix and IndyCar racing. “Failures” is a harsh word to apply to some; no turbine car won at Indy, but in 1967 Parnelli Jones came within three laps of victory...
Now available on Netflix is “A Life of Speed: The Juan Manuel Fangio Story.” The 92-minute movie originates in Argentina...
Before WWII, the company which became Jaguar was called Swallow Sidecars and it had diversified into making special bodies for...
For the majority of VR’s readers, 2019 has been the 50th anniversary of Formula Ford, although it actually started in England in 1967. The nativity stories vary, but most come down to racing schools putting a perky standard engine into a racecar to create something that students could use and...
Bentley is to make 12 “continuation” examples of the supercharged 4.5-liter Birkin “Blower,” one of those cars whose legend far...
This year is the 60th anniversary of the Morris Mini-Minor and Austin Se7en, and the Goodwood Revival will feature some...
Anyone who has studied literature will know about footnotes and the glossary of terms because the language is constantly changing. When Charles Dickens referred to a “chairman” he did not mean a nabob on a board of directors, he meant a guy at one end of a sedan chair. As...
We are frequently told that Formula One is at the cutting edge of technology, but that has been true only...
Most people when launching a new product normally try to come up with a new name to reflect innovation. Then...
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,”...
I have just watched “The Italian Job,” the 1969 original. At the time of writing, the remake has not hit...
Is Renault French? Is the Pope a Catholic? I ask because Renault has bought the Benetton team and has renamed...
Have you noticed how old cars are getting faster and faster? I wish I got faster as I grow older. Interestingly, the Goodwood Motor Circuit tells the story because Goodwood has remained unchanged since 1952. That year a chicane was added to the original circuit (did you have a “Goodwood...
It depends which Nelson you mean – and which Victory. In Portsmouth, there once was a station called Radio Victory,...
I wrote a book on the history of March, which came out in 1989 under the title, “Four Guys And...
I am not politically correct. I have never met anyone in motor racing who is. Motor racing and political correctness do not go together. Motor racing is dangerous, expensive, it uses fossil fuels for fun and it is funded by the tobacco industry. Not much political correctness there. I have...
Every so often you encounter an image which stops you in your tracks. For me it was a photograph of...
I am considering registering my stomach as a trademark. Why not? Damon Hill has registered his eyes as a trademark...
Wales is not a country one readily associates with Formula One, but in September, a small group gathered to celebrate the completion of the Kieft Grand Prix car. It must hold the record for the longest gestation period of any racing car. It was begun in 1953 and will first...
I see that Sylvester Stallone has given up the idea of making a movie about Formula One and is looking...
My father was in the Royal Air Force, so we tended to live on flat bits of England, a long way from the nearest town. That is a long way in English terms, seeing that the entire country is smaller than one third of California. Since I grew up among...
Hi there. I am your new back-page columnist. I would like you to think of me as a friend, a...
I have an old friend that works in law enforcement. I’m not talking about the local PD. Serious law enforcement,...
Throughout the history of man and machine there have been inextricable links between automobiles and airplanes. Henry Ford’s corrugated Trimotor being one of the most obvious examples, and the temporary airport racetrack another. Funny thing about temporary circuits, however, is that they often leave lasting impressions (on both car and...
