Concept drive originally published in Open Road, Summer 1996 As a matter of history, the first Subaru with four-wheel drive was based on the company’s 1300G commercial station wagon, requested in 1971 by the Tohuku Electric Power Company for winter maintenance work. Only 20 were made, but they worked so well civilian models came the […]
1982 Lancia Zagato: A car we should have loved more
History originally published in AutoWeek June 26, 2000 You should have regrets, America. But Italy, it’s partly your fault as well. A car with pretty, if somewhat quirky styling, a lusty dohc engine and supple ride and handling should have found greater favor. But by 1982 the Italian automobile industry in America was limping with […]
1973 Fiat 124 Sport Coupe: What’s not to like
Feature originally published in European Car July 1994 Double overhead cams, tidy handling, Italian style: what’s not to like? Well, how about emissions controls as clumsy and power sapping any on earth? Federal bumpers aesthetic as a double-knit leisure suit on Michelangelo’s David? U.S. smog and safety laws did horrible things to Fiat 124 Sport […]
Innocents Abroad: Phil Stiles and George Schrafft and the Crosley Le Mans
History originally published in Automobile Magazine, June 1993 No one had expected this much of the first timers at Le Mans, not even the entrants themselves. Yet here they were, a couple of American sports car crazies and a highly modified Crosley Hotshot, holding their own against experienced Index of Performance players and slipping past […]
Arnolt-MG: Wacky’s Small Wonder
History originally published in Sport Compact Car. February 1998 Stanley H. Arnolt Jr wasn’t a big man, but to casual acquaintances, he seemed taller than his actual five-foot-ten-inch frame, partly by his high-heeled riding boots and partly by his manner. He liked his nickname, “Wacky,” and seemed to try to live up to it in […]
Renault 8 Gordini: Semi-rhapsody in blue
History originally published in AutoWeek April 16, 1984 Saying “Gordini” in France is like saying “Shelby” in America. Not only do both names mean automotive performance, but if you don’t stretch the analogy too far, there are similarities between the careers of the men behind the names, Amedee Gordini and Carroll Shelby. Each had begun […]
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