Vintage Racecar Journal News

Gurney’s Monterey Honors

Goodwood Festival Turns 18

Lotus 38 Makes N.A. Debut

Porsches at Quail 2011

Palm Springs Revival

Aston Mag Joins VR Family

Cobra Replica for IMRRC Raffle

SVRA to Mark 30 Years

Sonoma Historics

T/A Double for Monterey

Monterey Auction Headliners

Elvas at Elkhart

60th Pebble Beach Honors Jaguar

Monaco Historique 2010

Corvette’s Le Mans Anniversary

Mille Miglia: History Repeats

U.S. Bugatti Club Turns 50

Jaguar Selects Vintage Racecar to Produce Special Issue

Fitch Honoree at Elkhart

Glorious Goodwood 2010

Millers at Milwaukee

Vintage Indy Racing

Shelby Stars at Riverside II

Big Apple Auto Show

BMW 328 for RM Monaco

Put-In-Bay Reunion II

Historic Mini Series Set

Crystal Palace Revival

HMP Adds Fourth Event

Amicable Divorce for HSR, SVRA

Dan Gurney to be "Featured Marque" at Monterey

RRDC Honors Earle, Craw

Historics Renamed

HMP To Feature Lotus

Lola Invitational at Thruxton

Hall of Fame Relocates

Alfa’s Centennial Celebrations

Stirling Moss Trophy

Fairmont Butte Update

Historic Group C for Le Mans 2010

Aston Sets Auction Record

Riverside II Honors Shelby

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Current News

Goodwood Festival Turns 18

Viva Veloce! was an apt slogan for the 18th Goodwood Festival of Speed on the first weekend of July as Italian cars were featured in virtually all classes of pre- and post-war machinery. The 100th anniversary of Alfa Romeo was the centerpiece of this year’s spectacle, with an Alfa Romeo P2 and 8C Competizione adorning the Quadrifoglio-shaped sculpture on the front lawn of Lord March’s Goodwood House.

Gurney’s Monterey Honors

For only the second time in the 37-year history of summer’s annual vintage racecar festival at Laguna Seca on California’s Monterey Peninsula, the event celebrated a man rather than a marque. Just as Juan Manuel Fangio had been honored in 1991, so was Dan Gurney the event’s featured guest in 2010.

Lotus 38 Makes N.A. Debut

The Henry Ford Museum’s newly restored Lotus 38, the first rear-engined car to win the Indianapolis 500, made its North American debut at this year’s Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. Wraps were pulled off Jim Clark’s 1965 Indy winner during a pre-concours reception featuring Dan Gurney, who drove a similar car in 1965, and Bobby Unser, with Christian Overland representing the Dearborn museum.

Aston Mag Joins VR Family

The North American Aston Martin Owners Club has selected Parabolica Publishing—publishers of Vintage Racecar magazine—to take over production of their official club magazine The Vantage Point. Starting with the Fall 2010 issue of The Vantage Point, Parabolica Publishing will assume responsibilities for all editorial, design and production of the quarterly magazine, which reaches Aston Martin owners throughout the U.S. and Canada.

Porsches at Quail 2011

The Quail Porsche Racecar Classic has been scheduled for Sunday, October 16, 2011 at the Quail Lodge in Carmel Valley, California, as an exclusive event to benefit the Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation and the University of California at San Francisco’s Thoracic Oncology Program. The invitation-only event, in collaboration with Porsche, is being billed as a once-in-a-lifetime global gathering of vintage Porsche racecars. On display will be a number of historically significant automobiles, both purpose-built racecars and modified production vehicles, as well as a collection of Porsche-powered specials and special-bodied cars.

Palm Springs Revival

Five years after HSR West staged its first Palm Springs Revival at the Indio, California, airport, the second such event will be held at the new Chuckwalla Valley Raceway near Desert Center, California, on November 18-21. The new track is essentially halfway between Los Angeles and Phoenix, just off of I-10, and measures 2.7 miles in length with 17 turns and several elevation changes.

Cobra Replica for IMRRC Raffle

The International Motor Racing Research Center (IMRRC) at Watkins Glen International has announced it will again offer a Cobra replica as its annual raffle car. “The selection of a Cobra for 2010 was an easy one based on the popularity of similar vehicles that were offered in 2005 and 2008,” said the Center’s Director of Marketing & Development, Jon McKnight. “Cobras seem to be the ultimate aspiration vehicle for the broad spectrum of publics that we serve and with 400 HP at the rear wheels and a weight of 2800 lbs this car is bound to excite our winner.”

SVRA to Mark 30 Years

This October the Sportscar Vintage Racing Association (SVRA) will observe the 30th anniversary of its first race at its Road Atlanta Season Finale, October 14-17. SVRA first appeared on the motorsports landscape as a support race for the Can-Am at Road Atlanta in September of 1980, with a slim field of 17 cars attending that inaugural event. Within a year, however, the car count had swelled to 110 and the event had become a standalone vintage weekend.

Sonoma Historics

With 375 entries taking part in the Sonoma Historic Motorsports Festival at Infineon Raceway in early June, the field represented nearly a third more cars than had ever contested the event before. “We have hosted a historic event in the wine country for 24 years,” said Steve Earle of General Racing, organizer of the event, “but this is a new event. It’s bigger and better.”

T/A Double for Monterey

Beyond the event’s tribute to Dan Gurney, attendees at August’s Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion can enjoy a double dose of Trans-Am glory as well, since the weekend will feature both the muscular 5-liter sedans and the nimble machines from the Under 2 Liter class that enlivened the early years of the fabled series.

Monterey Auction Headliners

With Monterey Auto Week fast approaching, with its extravaganza of historic racing, concours d’elegance and collector car auctions, four of the major auction houses are featuring exceptional offerings among the many machines that will cross the block during their respective sales.

Elvas at Elkhart

Aficionados of the Elva marque will celebrate its 55th Anniversary with a reunion at Elkhart Lake’s Road America on the Vintage Sports Car Drivers Association race weekend scheduled for September 10-12. Apart from enjoying the gathering of Elvas of all shapes and sizes, attendees will also be able to partake of a new Elva Ale called “Robbie’s Red” in memory of Robbie Mackenzie-Low, who was an early works driver for the Elva Engineering team.

60th Pebble Beach Honors Jaguar

The famed Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance will celebrate its 60th anniversary this August by recognizing the 75th anniversary of Jaguar. The Concours, of course, sprang up in association with the original Pebble Beach Sports Car Road Races in 1950, and the feature contest of that first meeting was won by Phil Hill in a Jaguar XK120.

Monaco Historique 2010

Every two years, the Automobile Club of Monaco supplements its annual World Championship race around the largely unchanging circuit with a weekend of historic racing open to cars of the type that would have raced there before 1978, and 2010 was one of those years.

Corvette’s Le Mans Anniversary

With June’s running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Corvette will mark the 50th anniversary of its first participation in the fabled French endurance classic. To celebrate the occasion, Corvette Racing hosted a gathering in conjunction with the appearance by the current Corvette squad at May’s American Le Mans Series round at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, the team’s last outing before heading to France.

Mille Miglia: History Repeats

History has a habit of repeating itself, and it did so at the 2010 Mille Miglia this May, when BMW duplicated its success of 70 years ago. That 1940 event was a little different from its predecessors, however, as the rest of the world was at war when it took place. The race was also no longer a hell-bent-for-leather dash from Brescia to Rome and back, but nine laps of a 103-mile Brescia-Cremona-Mantua-Brescia road circuit, won by Baron Huschke von Hanstein and Walter Baumer in a BMW 328. The 2010 Mille Miglia was different again, because it was not even a watered-down road race, but was a regularity event. It was, however, won by a BMW 328, this time driven by Italian businessman Giuliano Cané and his wife, Lucia Galliani. Sure enough, another BMW 328 came third—just like in 1940—driven by Enzo Ciravolo and Maria Leitner. For Cané and Galliani, it was their 10th victory in this more sedate Brescia-Rome-Brescia commemoration run, an incredible achievement.

U.S. Bugatti Club Turns 50

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the American Bugatti Club, one of the feature races at this year’s renewal of the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion, August 12-15 at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, will be The Bugatti Grand Prix. The last time Monterey hosted The Bugatti Grand Prix was in 2003.

Jaguar Selects Vintage Racecar to Produce Special Issue

As part of their 75th anniversary celebration, legendary manufacturer Jaguar has entered into a special partnership with Vintage Racecar magazine to commemorate the milestone. Vintage Racecar has been contracted by Jaguar to produce a special, dedicated issue devoted to the 75-year history of the British marque in motorsport. This special issue, which will make its debut at this August's classic car week in Monterey, California will feature everything from a head-to-head test drive of two of the mighty Jaguar Group C Le Mans cars to an exclusive interview with Tom Walkinshaw and a feature recounting Jaguar's illustrious record in the 24 Hour French classic.

Shelby Stars at Riverside II

The second annual Legends of Riverside Film Festival and Gala took place at the Riverside International Automotive Museum in that California city the last weekend in March, and proved an excellent follow-up to last year’s highly praised inaugural. Carroll Shelby was featured as this year’s Legend of Riverside, and those who gathered to honor the Cobra creator at Saturday night’s gala dinner were treated to nearly an hour of his fond reminiscences about his days at Riverside and elsewhere.

Glorious Goodwood 2010

Lord March opened his estate to members of the media for the annual taster for Goodwood’s Festival of Speed and Revival meetings. Under the banner “Viva Veloce!—The Passion for Speed,” the July 2–4 Festival of Speed will celebrate the Italian influence on motor racing with a number of significant motor sport and automotive anniversaries. Some of those being recognized are: 100 years of Alfa Romeo; 60 years of Formula One; 60 years of the opening of the Mexican leg of the Carrera Panamericana; 50 years of Bathurst’s Great Race; the 50th anniversary of the first forest-based RAC Rally; and a special tribute to the late Frank Gardner. New this year will be a “Moving Motor Show” on the Thursday prior, where automakers will demonstrate their wares in the paddock and on Goodwood’s famed hillclimb course.

Millers at Milwaukee

The 16th Annual Millers at Milwaukee Vintage Indy Car event will be organized by the Harry A. Miller Club on July 9-10, 2010, at the Milwaukee Mile at Wisconsin State Fair Park in suburban West Allis. A draw for collectors and enthusiasts of antique racing cars, especially those from car and engine designer Harry A. Miller, the event features front-engine pre- and post-WWII Indycars, Champ Cars, and Roadsters. Gates open Friday at 11 a.m. and Saturday at 8 a.m., with cars on the track from noon to 4 p.m. Friday and between 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.

Fitch Honoree at Elkhart

John Fitch will be the honored guest for the Vintage Sports Car Drivers Association’s 2010 Elkhart Lake Vintage Festival, scheduled for Road America this September 10-12. John is the perfect guest with whom to celebrate 60 years of racing at Elkhart Lake, for he won the 1951 and 1952 events in a Cunningham.

Vintage Indy Racing

Rick Parsons and Don Devine have formed the Vintage Indy Racing Group to facilitate the further inclusion of Indycar racing within the historic racing community. Parsons is a former new era Can-Am competitor and currently races in Historic Formula 5000, while Devine once drove the fabled Scarabs for the Meister Brauser team as well as racing in the original Can-Am.

Big Apple Auto Show

The 2010 New York International Auto Show wrapped up last weekend at the Jacob Javits Center in Manhattan after giving New Yorkers a chance to peruse more brand-new models and concept cars than ever before. Although the new VW Polo was named as the event’s World Car of the Year, perhaps the star of the show was the slick, new SLS AMG GT3 from Mercedes-Benz.

BMW 328 for RM Monaco

A one-of-a-kind BMW 328 will headline RM’s inaugural Sporting Classics of Monaco auction at the Grimaldi Forum in the Principality on May 1—the same weekend as the Grand Prix Historique de Monaco. Originally manufactured as a standard model in May of 1937, the 328 Mille Miglia, chassis 85032, was then designated for use by the Experimental Department where it became a competition car that raced in that year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Tourist Trophy at Donington.