Sports Car Digest - The Sports, Racing and Vintage Car Journal
Sports Car Digest focuses on Classic Car Auctions, Concours d’Elegance, Vintage Car Racing, Road Rallies and other historic automotive events.
Edward J. Lenahan has a thing for cars. A voracious reader of all things automotive as a child, Lenahan spent his teenage years attending countless vintage auto races, helping construct several BMW and Lotus racecars, and working for Paul Newman and Carl Haas’ IndyCar team.
The years his following his 18th birthday saw him incorporate his one-man race team, become a nationally-ranked 125cc shifterkart driver, attend Bridgestone Racing School’s Racer Mechanic program, earn his professional racing license, and conclude over eight years at Newman Haas Racing with a championship ring.
A native of Northbrook, Illinois, Lenahan earned Bachelor’s degrees in Creative Writing and English Literature from Lake Forest College in 2000. In 2003, he relocated to Charleston, South Carolina where he earned his Master’s degree in English Literature from the College of Charleston. Edward J. Lenahan lives with his wife in a 1921 Arts and Crafts home.
By Ed Lenahan | Photos by Dirk de Jager With the staggering quality of cars scheduled for both auction block and concours field, I assumed my first Amelia Island Concours weekend would be quite serious. This has long been a problem for me. When I first taught high school English five years ago, I told students that looking serious was the next best thing to being talented or capable. This was a … [Read more...]
By Ed Lenahan When Gooding and Company opens their 2012 auction season at the Scottsdale Fashion Square in Scottsdale, Arizona January 20th and 21st, they’ll do so with a bang as the more than 100 cars on offer will be headlined by an alloy-bodied 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing and a 1959 Ferrari 250 GT LWB California Spider. “The Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Alloy Gullwing and Ferrari LWB … [Read more...]
By Ed Lenahan The RM Auctions Arizona sale promises to kick off the 2012 auction season in style with the sale of nearly 150 classic and significant automobiles. Held on the grounds of the Arizona Biltmore Resort and Spa January 19th and 20th, the 13th annual RM Arizona auction features an important selection of Ferraris in addition to a wide array of significant automobiles. “Following … [Read more...]
By Edward Lenahan This 1961 Chevrolet Corvette factory race car, soon to be auctioned at Mecum’s January 24-29, 2012 Kissimmee Florida event, possesses a host of rare options and a provenance worthy of the velvet rope treatment at any of the world’s finest auto museums or vintage races. Gulf Oil sponsored and driven to an SCCA B-Production national championship by the likes of Dr. Dick … [Read more...]
By Edward Lenahan Among the many reasons to read Michael Cannell’s newest novel “The Limit,” which accurately reanimates the 1961 Formula One world championship with sharp writing and fastidious research, none is so important or rare as the book’s honest portrayal of frailty in those too often romanticized as superhuman. It’s no secret that books and movies about auto racing have … [Read more...]
Math Problems By Edward Lenahan “The most exciting thing about piloting an old vehicle,” I said to my wife Marguerite, “is the nagging sense it’s going to kill you.” We had just experienced our own brand of excitement, barely stopping our old tandem bike before a busy intersection, and this comment wasn’t so much a casual observation on my part as it was a way of making our … [Read more...]
