Author: Thor Thorson

Thor Thorson is president of Vintage Racing Motors, a Seattle-area collector-car dealer and vintage-racing support operation. He has been actively involved with racing for over 40 years, dealing with racers from Ferraris to Sprites, but is mostly seen driving Elva sports racers. He has been writing the race-car profiles for SCM since 2003.

1990 Porsche 962C

After utterly dominating international sports car and prototype racing throughout the latter 1970s with its Group 5 935 and Group 6 936 competition models, Porsche scored its third overall Le Mans victory with the 936 in 1981. Since upcoming FIA rule changes for 1982 rendered the 936 obsolete, Porsche engineers […]

2014 Chevrolet SS NASCAR

Jeff Gordon’s iconic No. 24 DuPont Rainbow livery is the winningest paint scheme in NASCAR history, with 52 wins at 17 tracks, three championship titles, and more than 10,000 laps led. After “Fire and Flames” became the norm for Gordon’s No. 24 in 2001, the Rainbow only made one more […]

1950 Simca Estager

In the years following World War II, the Simca Eight chassis was a popular choice among independent racing-car constructors in France, and this example is the work of Jean Estager, an established driver and friend of Formula One competitor and Le Mans winner Louis Rosier. The 1,089-cc, 4-cylinder overhead-valve engine […]

1965 Sunbeam Tiger

According to the Sunbeam Tiger Production Record, 000653 was finally assembled on October 12, 1965, prior to being finished in Mediterranean Blue, fitted with a hard top and shipped to the United States. After import to the U.K. by Bruce Stevens, the Tiger was purchased by our vendor in 1990 […]

1972 Matra MS 670

The car we are presenting is the MS 670-01 that won the 1972 Le Mans 24 Hours. Assembled in March 1972, it was also the first MS 670 built. Following testing at Le Castellet and Montlhéry, MS 670-01 was entered for the Le Mans 24 Hour race. It was fitted […]

1959 Elva Mk IV

This sporting little Elva Mk IV sports racer is a well-known competitor in both period and contemporary vintage racing. Chassis no. 4L10061, offered here, had its first outing at the 1959 Sebring 12 Hours race, where it was entered by Elva Engineering as a factory racer. It fared remarkable well, […]

1982 Renault 5 Turbo Group 4

For 1982, Renault introduced its Renault Turbo 5 Group 4 rally car, and it turned out to be an absolute firecracker. It wasn’t a “homologation special” based on a warmed-through production car, but a totally focused little racer featuring a 270-bhp, 1,397-cc, turbocharged inline 4-cylinder engine with Bosch K-Jetronic fuel […]

1964 Ginetta G4R

Among the most famous and documented racing Ginettas The Chris Meek/Gil Baird “Works” development and competition car Numerous wins at Silverstone, Snetterton, Mallory Park and other venues One of only two Lotus Twin Cam-powered G4Rs to race internationally Featured in all the books written on the Ginetta marque Restored for […]

1959 Cooper-Climax Monaco T49 Mk I

Successor to Cooper’s center-seat “Bobtail,” the Cooper Monaco T49 was named for the win at the 1958 Monaco Grand Prix by famed British privateer Rob Walker’s Cooper-Climax Formula 1 car. The Monaco was Cooper’s first production rear-mid-engined sports-racing model, designed expressly to meet FIA requirements of two seats, two doors […]

1959 Tojeiro California Spyder

A unique post-war racing car conceived by famed race engineer John Tojeiro Completed to a very high standard in accordance with Tojeiro’s original vision Hand-formed body to original designs by Coachsmithing of Blair, WI 300-plus-hp, 302-cubic-inch GMC inline 6-cylinder engine; Muncie “Rock Crusher” 4-speed manual transmission Accompanied by history files, […]