Originally published in AutoWeek September 17, 1984 Spectators at the 1962 Nurburgring 1000 could scarcely believe their eyes. A little Lotus from the under-two-liter class was leading the race, literally running away from the field on a rain-dampened track. Bruce McLaren, in an old Aston Martin DBR1/300, had been the only other leader in the […]
Ferrari Testa Rossa TR250: What but lust and desire can a redhead inspire?
History originally published in AutoWeek January 30, 1984 Let’s talk desire. Let’s talk lust. Let’s talk Testa Rossa. Ferrari Testa Rossa, of course, for no other maker has been so brazen as to borrow the name, as did Pontiac with the GTO. But more specifically, let’s talk 250TR, the V-12, not the four-cylinder which preceded […]
Porsche 904/6: Don’t call it a conversion
History originally published in AutoWeek December 31, 1984 Henry Payne’s Lincolnesque frame slouches in the fiberglass driver’s seat, the steering wheel down between his knees, his big hands on either side of the wood-rimmed circle. It’s odd that he should look-– or even be – so comfortable in the 904’s small and Spartan cockpit. Outside […]
1959 Deutsch-Bonnet HBR5: Frenchmen team for Panhard-powered bulbous bullet
History originally published in AutoWeek October 15, 1990 Charles Deutsch was the designer and Rene Bonnet made the engines go faster, together these two Frenchmen built cars. The cars they built were built to win races. And win races they did. A never more than semi-formal alliance that began when Bonnet started a Citroen agency […]
1938 Alfa Romeo 8C2900 B: Champ of the Mille Miglia
History originally published in AutoWeek July 18, 1983 Wedged in the passenger seat as Bill Serri works the Alfa, cutting crisp vintage holes through the workaday traffic of the New Jersey that lies across the river from Philadelphia, it’s not hard to imagine a riding mechanic named Mambelli occupying the same seat 45 years ago. […]
1966 427 Cobra: More powerful than a locomotive, yet well-mannered at rest
History originally published in Autoweek February 8, 1988 I had watched the morning mist rise and seen the sun come up, casting first light and shadows over the bulging, primitive shape of a 427 Cobra. I had heard the idle throb of Ford’s 7.0 liter monster motor, the notorious NASCAR side-oiler. I had felt it […]
What They’re Saying