Category: Culture
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How Italians move dirt
Known for being the most successful rally car ever, the Lancia Delta Integrale still remains one of the most exciting hatchbacks ever created. Its compact and boxy look was designed by Guigiaro, the creator of the Golf Mk.I, Lotus Esprit, and BMW M1 among many more. It offers a contained weight of around 1,200kg,…
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The Lancer King!
Tommi Mäkinen marked the history of the WRC with his raw talent and 4 consecutive titles at the wheel of 4 different Evo generations. There are definitely some affinities between the Finn and the Japanese Manufacturer for which he won 22 of its 24 total victories between 1994 and 2002. Mäkinen’s started to get noticed…
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Italian Ecstasy at Le Mans
No need to introduce the stunning and brilliantly engineered 1965 Le Mans winner, but we will give you a bit of history anyway. 3.3L V12 with 320hp, 5-speed transmission, independent suspensions, coil springs and 4 disc brakes… This could be the description of a modern fast car if it wasn’t for the small displacement relative…
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Endurance legends never die…
The Ford GT40 was born from the ambition of Henry Ford II who wanted to have a Ford at Le Mans, but there is another side to the story… In 1963, Enzo Ferrari was interested in selling to the Ford Company, at the condition that he remained in control of Ferrari’s Motorsport division. Ford did not agree…
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The Duck Fairy Tail
The Porsche ducktail spoiler, or ducktail wing, first appeared in the historic Porsche 911 Carrera RS 2.7 in 1973. Obviously, it was born out of function rather than form, its a German car after all. Efficiency rather than beauty. The term “ducktail” can probably be traced back to the Porsche sales department, which initially made the 911 #Carrera RS 2.7…
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Low Drag
Following Jaguar’s five wins in the Le Mans 24 Hours with the C-type and D-type, the hugely well received E-type in 1961 had a lot to carry and as usual, road car production took priority over a return to motorsport. Knowing that competition improves the breed, and with no racing programme to focus on, Jaguar’s…
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Don’t Call Me Baby!
Another tribute to Zagato Art Work. The Alfa Romeo Tubolare Zagato (TZ) coupé or referred as ‘baby GTO’ was conceived in 1959 to replace the SZ using most of the Giulia series assemblies, but with a radical tubular space frame chassis and lightweight Zagato body. These advanced traits made the TZ much more purpose-built for racing than the…
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Some British Muscle!
The stunningly styled Triumph GT6 was born in 1966 and was the result of a desire from Standard-Triumph to design a GT version of the Spitfire 4. The Spitfire 4 was designed by Giovanni Michelotti, and it made sense for Triumph to commission him to work on their new GT project in 1963. Triumph approved the…
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Le Mans winning Car 1951
Clearly, the XK120 was never going to be competitive against pure sports-racing cars and something had to be done to maintain the head of steam and the precious publicity it was accumulating. The 24 Hours race of Le Mans had the right ingredients as it was technically demanding, famous in America, conveniently close and with…
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Pete Brock “The Boy behind the Daytona Coupe”
He was the first paid employee at the Carroll Shelby School of High-Performance Driving at the age of 21. Involved in a couple of race cars designs such as the De Tomaso P70, but the Daytona Coupe was the Ferrari ass-kicker race car. Brock said that Shelby seemed immune. Either he didn’t understand what I…
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Oui Monsieur, La Déesse!
Some initiative, avant-garde, communication, these are the main features of a French company founded in 1919 by a real entrepreneur, visionary for his time: André Citroën. Each of its cars was a formidable technological leap for the entire automotive industry. With the DS (followed by ID), the firm gave carte blanche to its study office…
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Purpose Made
The Man knew how to play with curves Malcolm Sayer – 1916/1970 Aircraft and car designers, Sayer is the man behind the curves of the C, D and E-type Jaguar – only! What a GENIUS! Back in the days, they were simply doing their job at the best they can could – not especially well…