Over the past 25 years or so, I have been fortunate enough to interview umpteen car designers, racing drivers, motor moguls, and more besides. Of these, almost all have been men and women I have liked and admired. There are...
Mark Cole looks back at the career of PLN Butch Cassidy came late to motor racing. He was, along with Steve McQueen, Hollywood’s top-grossing movie actor during the 1960s and 1970s. But unlike McQueen, Paul Newman had given little thought...
By Ian Wagstaff Even though BRP itself was no more, the Indy cars continued to appear on the USAC trail. George Bryant’s crew chief Howard Gilbert modified them for the 1966 season with Quinn Epperly adding new bodywork. Boyd again...
For nearly 70 years, Pebble Beach has been the ‘Everest’ of Concours D’Elegance events worldwide. Getting to base camp is an achievement but getting to the peak first is very, very difficult. To win Pebble is very special to the...
I am equal parts proud, but also ashamed, to admit that I have always been a bit of a hoarder. I was brought up to save every scrap of wood, metal, old fixing, etc., safe in the knowledge that one...
Biofuel and Ground Effects The mid-’70s were not only marked by technical innovations, but also by the first global oil crisis. The Western world suddenly realised it was too dependent on oil and soon the search for alternative fuels was...
Monday, May 31, 1965 was a beautiful day. The temperature was in the high 70s, the sky was almost clear and there was just a faint breeze. Indianapolis owner, Tony Hulman issued his familiar command, ‘Gentlemen, start your engines’. Thirty-one...
By Richard Heseltine What’s in a name? Rather a lot as it happens. Automobile manufacturers blow millions on think tanks brimmed with chin-stroking thesaurus-wielders but to what end? All they do is raid the cliché cupboard or invent some spellcheck-bothering,...
Read Maverick The Car Thief - Part 1 Mark Cole continues his fascinating story of actor James Garner and the making of the iconic motor racing movie - Grand Prix Frankenheimer’s filming at Monaco concluded with a spectacular set-piece crash between...
The two cars had already arrived in the US less the engines. On arrival at Indianapolis airport, they were towed by rope to the team’s garage at the track. Masten Gregory’s team found digs for George Woodward and Jim Chapman...
Monocoques and wings Defeated in 1952 by a lack of reliability, rather than Mercedes speed, Jaguar returned with a vengeance in 1953 and with the next big thing in auto racing: the three British Green C-types were now equipped with...
By Chas Parker April 12 this year marks the 50th anniversary of one of the most outstanding displays of wet-weather driving ever seen. Chas Parker recalls the 1970 BOAC 1000 kms. A blue car pierces its way out of the...
