Automobile racing started soon after the appearance of autos themselves. Those first events, on public highways and byways, went from...
I have included a few remembrances about Lance in some previous Vintage Racecar columns, but because he was such a...
Some of our California sports car races during the fabulous ‘50s were not just for current vehicles. At some SCCA events, there were races for pre-WWI racecars! We called them the “old crocks.” Just one man owned all of the cars: Lindley Bothwell. Lindley was one of the most interesting,...
Sports car racing in the U.S. during the ’50s was unique. It was very different from the American circle-track or...
My column in the October 2006 edition of Vintage Racecar was titled, “Shelby, the Early Years.” For the most part,...
Until Sir Jack Brabham won the Times Grand Prix in 1961, the Ken Miles-driven, John Von Neumann-owned Porsche-Cooper was the most successful Cooper on the U.S. West Coast. Even though its career was short, Miles achieved the ultimate grand slam. He won both an under-1,500-cc and over-1,500-cc main event in...
Sexual debauchery, a regime’s imminent downfall and a kidnapping fit for a gentleman were some of the highlights of the...
When Porsche introduced the 4-cam racing engine, it was a sensation. Porsche Spyders with this engine soon dominated their class....
The immutable rule of life is that every living thing is born, lives and dies. Publications are living things, and as such, they don’t live forever. Remember Look magazine? During the ’50s, there were four metropolitan daily newspapers in Los Angeles; now there is one. When the sports car craze...
I’ve always been fascinated with the Goodwood Revival concept of “a magical step back in time.” For some time, I’ve...
Whether or not most of us realize it, a most unusual man is among us. Until the late ’50s, he...
In the Western U.S. during the ’50s, there were a number of road-racing drivers who went on to international success in the following decade. Phil Hill, Carroll Shelby, and Dan Gurney come immediately to mind. However, if a single ’50s-era dominating figure had to be chosen, it would be Ken...
When I first talked with Vintage Racecar editor Casey Annis in 2005, the conversation revolved around the subject of me...
Quite a few younger folk seek me out and want to hear about how wonderful sports car racing was during...
This is a little-known story, but the real father of Riverside Raceway was Jim Peterson. I thought this would be a good time to tell it, because the new Riverside International Raceway Museum is having a “Legends of Riverside” celebration on March 27-29. It might be appropriate to include at...
I’m writing this column during the waning days of 2006. Fifty years is traditionally a significant anniversary. What I remember...
It is well known that some great stock car road racing took place at the Riverside International Raceway. Dan Gurney...
During the fifties, Aston Martin produced sports cars with the designation, DB, which, of course, stands for David Brown. In addition to the 2-door hardtops—called saloons by the factory—a series of open sports cars, actually sports racers (later called sports racing cars), were constructed, raced by the factory and sold...
On this, the thirty-fifth anniversary of the Monterey Historics, I thought it would be interesting to look back and see...
As old age creeps up, I think of things that are a must for me and perhaps also for readers...
There were a number of outstanding road-race weekends during the fifties. Phil Hill’s win at the first Pebble Beach comes to mind as well as Carroll Shelby’s at the last. In Southern California, one of the best-loved venues was Palm Springs. It had everything: a famous resort, wonderful winter weather,...
In the February 2010 edition of Vintage Racecar, editor Casey Annis reported that a concours d’provenance had been held in...
During the Fifties, a number of women were involved in the sports car craze. This was during a time when...
John Von Neumann is an important name in the history of the second half of the twentieth century. A Princeton professor, he was an eminent mathematician and physicist, instrumental in the development of computer science, a participant in the Manhattan Project to develop the atom bomb and a Nobel laureate....
Southern California has always been a hotbed of car aficionados. The hot rod craze started there and, after WWII, it...
One of the most enjoyable—at least for me—of fifties events was the Pebble Beach Sports Car Road Races. The last...
Jack was born on April 2, 1926, and I think it’s appropriate that we all wish him a happy birthday. (I realize you are reading the May edition of Vintage Racecar, but subscribers usually get it in April.) On this occasion, I thought you might be interested in some of...
For two consecutive years—1969 and 1970—Porsche won the World Manufacturers Championship. Brian Redman was an important part of the teams,...
Art Evans Fifty years ago, the world-famous Laguna Seca race course was created by a tree. It’s interesting as well...
During the Fifties and Sixties, one of the most popular sports car racing venues in the West was Palm Springs. The very first race organized by the California Sports Car Club was held there on April 16, 1950. The location had a lot going for it. It is a resort...
