Cars that were once wild girlfriends have become trophy wives, with all the cattiness that accompanies competitive collecting {vsig}2009-2_2283{/vsig} By 1962, it was becoming clear that the 250 GTO was no longer competitive, and something completely new was required. So starting in 1961, Ferrari began experimenting with a rear-engine design. […]

Going, turning, sticking, and stopping were evident and well in hand, but keeping the Jaguar in one piece proved to be more difficult than anticipated   R alph Broad’s racing team had excelled in touring car competition since the early 1960s, running Ford Anglias, Mini Coopers, and Triumph Dolomites. Leyland […]

If you want to do any serious competition, you’ll need a 2-liter, 4-cam four, and that’s a $100,000 project {vsig}2008-12_2265{/vsig} Having axed its expensive Formula One program at the end of 1962, Porsche turned once more to sports car racing as a means of improving and marketing its road cars. […]

It was left in a corner to be junked, but Guy Griffiths, the father of vintage racing everywhere, talked the factory into selling it to him   {vsig}2008-11_2254{/vsig} By 1960, Jaguar had won the world’s most prestigious race, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, five times-twice with its original competition-tailored […]

The Elva-built McLarens, called M1A to distinguish them from the original McLaren prototype, were campaigned by some of the most famous and successful drivers and teams with a variety of powerplants. Their characteristics reflect the McLaren team’s emphasis on simple, straightforward design and rugged construction, traits which had been inculcated […]

Estate sales can recirculate heretofore unobtainable cars, which-absent their owners’ passing-would have remained tucked away indefinitely {vsig}2008-9_2227{/vsig} Harry Miller’s name may not ring a bell as loudly as Ettore Bugatti’s, but Bugatti acquired Miller race cars to study before producing his first dual overhead camshaft engine in the Type 50 […]

These difficult cars have finally gotten the development they didn’t get when racing in anger and have become superb vintage racers {vsig}2008-8_2214{/vsig} In 1968, the rules for sports car racing were changed, limiting Group 6 prototypes to a maximum 3-liter engine capacity. For the 1970 season, Ferrari decided to do […]

A Kenyan safari guide tells of this car landing so nose down that everyone thought it was going to go end over end This 1972 Ford Escort RS1600 Mk I comes to auction directly from the finish line of the Kenya Airways East African Safari Classic rally, where it was […]

To be welcome, even invited, to drive flat out over an alpine pass in a raging blizzard at night-that’s priceless This ex-Works car, fitted with a Mignotet-built and -tuned engine, started its racing career in the 1968 Tour de Corse driven by Jean-Francois Piot. The rally was won by Jean-Claude […]

I will argue that the Glöckler-Porsches were early flickers, puffs of smoke in the weeds, and the tinder didn’t really catch fire until the 550 came along {vsig}2008-4_2163{/vsig} Walter Glöckler occupies an honored place among Porsche owners. Not only was he one of the first to race a Porsche, he […]