Race
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2005 Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR Coupe, 2006 Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR Roadster
By the mid 1990s, there was growing interest at Mercedes-Benz and Porsche in returning to an ultra-exclusive form of racing featuring homologated race cars in the tradition of the great Gran Turismo cars of yesteryear. The result was the FIA GT Championship, which commenced in 1997 to great fanfare. Mercedes-Benz and AMG entered the top-level…
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1968 Lola-Colt T150 Indy Car
The advantages of four-wheel drive had been shown at Indianapolis in 1967, and George Bignotti sought to profit by combining it with the Ford V8 in 1968. He bought a single four-wheel-drive Lola with Ford V8 power for Al Retzlaff, to be driven by Al Unser. It was this car. In the 500, Unser qualified…
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1969 Ford Escort 1850 GT World Cup Rally Car
The toughest post-war test for motor car and crew ever is reckoned to have been the 1970 London to Mexico World Cup Rally, upon which 96 intrepid starters-seven of them Ford factory team Escorts-embarked from Wembley Stadium on April 19. The 16,000-mile route across mainland Europe, South, and Central America required competitors to ascend hazardous…
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1949 Talbot-Lago T26 Grand Prix
What this is about is the pre-war Grand Prix experience in an attainable, moderately bomb-proof and reliable package The Talbot-Lago T26 Grand Prix took its double barreled name from an ex-military major who in France was known as Antoine, in England as Tony, but in his native Venice, Italy, had been christened Antonio Lago. Major…
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1922 Sunbeam 2-Liter Grand Prix
An 87-year-old car is like an older person; you certainly don’t expect them to run and jump with the young folks, but they can be fascinating to be around {vsig}2009-10_2376{/vsig} For 1922 and the following three seasons, the Automobile Club of France elected to limit engine capacity to two liters for cars competing in Grand…
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1990 Ferrari F40 LM Competition Berlinetta
If you want to have the meanest, baddest, highest-horsepower stallion allowed in the Ferrari Historic paddock, here it is The F40 was a simple machine that, like the greatest Ferraris of the past, relied upon its engine for its performance. Suspension and layout were conventional, and there were no serious attempts to employ cutting-edge technology.…
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1990 Ferrari 641/2 F1
The buzz at the auction was that this car was unusual and desirable in being completely ready to run with the F1 Clienti. The buyer bought it for that purpose Ferrari entered 1990 with a dream driver lineup. Nigel Mansell was in his second season with the Scuderia and Alain Prost was making his debut…
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1968 Lotus 51R
Even if another road racer comes along claiming to be the Flower Power car, this one wears the right chassis and registration numbers {vsig}2009-7_2346{/vsig} Formula Ford was introduced in Great Britain in 1967 as a new form of poor man’s motor racing. Written into its regulations was the requirement for commercially built FFs to be…
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1968 Porsche 911 Race Car
If you’re racing a 911 and it’s feeling twitchy in a high-speed turn, just hang in there, it will be okay. Above all, do NOT lift {vsig}2009-6_2335{/vsig} While the Porsche 911 has amassed an unmatched record of racing successes, its entry into road racing was not initially championed by Zuffenhausen. With the exception of the…
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1969 Matra MS650 Barquette
It was a glorious combination of beauty, speed, sound, and comfort, a proper object of Gallic pride, and almost (but not quite) the equal of Porsche’s 908 {vsig}2009-5_2325{/vsig} Only three Matra 650s were built. After a successful racing career, one is kept in the Matra museum at Romorantin, while the second belongs to a racing…