Derek Bell initially made a name for himself, racing in open-wheeled cars including Formula 2 and Formula 1. However, it...
Vintage Racecar Features
1957 Climax-powered Jomar 1957 Climax-powered Jomar. Photo: Harold Pace You know the story. Start with a svelte English chassis, add...
He was known as “the Silver Fox,” “the Racing Grandfather,” and “Merle the Magician.” These nicknames might indicate a gentlemanly racer, older than most of his peers, who raced for fun. His silver hair, glasses and relaxed demeanor fit the nicknames, but underneath that calm exterior beat the heart of...
Alistair Caldwell joined the McLaren team in their early days as a cleaner and ended up as team manager, winning...
1957 Kurtis Kraft 500G2 The author gets up to speed on the banking of England’s Rockingham Speedway. Photo: Mike Jiggle...
Talking with famed Indianapolis chassis builder A. J. Watson, the question arises about the front, twin air inlets—the signature of the Watson Roadster. The first four Watson Roadsters, of 1956–1958, had a single air inlet and chrome grille, so why the change? Surely it had some advantage. Was it the...
Jim Rathmann’s career in motor racing is marked not only by a hard-fought win in the 1960 Indy 500 but...
1940 BMW 328 MM “Berlin-Rome” Touring Roadster The author puts the 328 MM Roadster through its paces at BMW’s Spartanburg,...
In April 1964, a new Gran Turismo racer 40-inches high rolled out of the Ford Advanced Vehicles factory in Slough, England, and in an inspired moment, Ford decided to call it the GT40. This whole project had been brought about by Ford’s failure to buy Ferrari in 1963, so it...
Jacques Laffite has enjoyed a reputation for many years as an open and straightforward person, willing to talk seriously about...
1976 Holden Torana L34 A month or so back, Vintage Racecar interviewed Leo Geoghegan, a true icon of Australian motorsport....
American sports car racing in the 1950s is perhaps best known for the titanic battles between Italian-built Ferraris and Maseratis and the home-grown specials like the Scarabs and the Ol Yellers. However, down at the opposite end of the spectrum—the H-Mod category for sports racers with less than 750-cc of...
From 500-cc racing to a works ride with Cooper and later a British Hillclimb Championship, Mike MacDowel has had a...
1963 Scirocco By the time you read this, a superb collection of famous, bizarre, futile and fantastic Grand Prix cars...
The H-Modified class in American road racing was derived from the FIA small-displacement sports racing machines popularized in Italy and France. In the fifties, it was dominated by cars derived from the Italian National Racing classes, which were in force from 1937 to 1965. Development of the 750-cc class in...
There isn’t much Karl Kainhofer hasn’t done in over 50 years of involvement in motorsports, from motorcycle racing in Austria...
1991 Toyota Eagle MKIII GTP It’s amazing how one hair-brained idea can change the course of history. Such was the...
Dark clouds begin to gather in my mind every spring as I park my car in Brescia and walk to scrutineering for the Mille Miglia Storica, to enjoy some of the most magnificent road racing cars in the world. All 375 of them are ready to set out on yet...
Patriotic Races “It is my melancholy duty to inform you officially that, in consequence of a persistence by Germany of...
Richard Attwood started his racing career in 1960 driving a Triumph TR3, but by 1963 had won the Monaco Formula...
1969 Chevron B8-BMW In my book, 2006 was a good year. Got my pensioner’s bus pass, had two cataract operations, made my Le Mans debut…not necessarily in that order! I can only now reveal that it is possible to race at Le Mans with one eye! This may come as...
The noise! It took my breath away. A BMW M12 4-cylinder or Honda V-6 at around 10,000 rpm. Totally ear-splitting...
In our January 2007 issue, Pete Lyons shared some remarks about the grand old Canadian-American Challenge Cup series made by...
1955 Zephyr Special Today, you would describe Eldred De Bracton Norman as a lateral thinker, but during the 1950s, “eccentric” in the kindest possible way would more easily come to mind. Now, over a half a century later, just to mention his name brings knowing looks and the slight nodding...
Safe Vintage Racing Needn’t Be Vintage No, your 1950 Allard K2 did not come with a roll bar or head...
Prior to the early ’70s, safety issues were given little attention in Formula One and, by association motorsport in general....
1934 Team Talbot 105s When the conversation turns to the great prewar race and rally teams, the big names—Bentley, Maserati, Alfa Romeo—tend to dominate the list that is produced. Certain marques managed to get a great deal of attention at the time and have hogged the memory of most prewar...
Ron Grable did not fit the normal profile of a race driver. Not only did he begin his racing after...
Big Bangers; that’s what the Brits called Can-Am cars, and they were right. Everything about the Canadian-American Challenge Cup series...
1982 Lancia Rally 037 It’s midnight in late January and there’s a clear sky overhead with thousands of twinkling stars and a full moon. The white light is intensified by the deep snow lying all around. Despite the biting cold there is a buzz in the air as hundreds of...
