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.
By Art Evans | Photos as creditedAll of us have lost one of the dominant figures of the post-WWII automotive era, and I have lost a dear friend. After a long illness, Carroll Hall Shelby died on May 10, 2012, at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, Texas. He is survived by two sons, Michael and Patrick, his daughter Sharon, a number of grandchildren, a sister Anne, his wife Cleo plus a … [Read more...]
By William Edgar | Photographs Edgar Motorsport ArchiveCarroll Shelby, as he himself would say, has gone horizontal. He died at age 89 on Thursday, May 10, 2012, at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, Texas, after pneumonia earlier this year left him weak and vulnerable to what eventually comes to us all. He knew I was writing this story and I was looking forward to telling him it … [Read more...]
By Art EvansWhat is the foremost racing series in the world? If you said Formula One, you are in the company of most other enthusiasts. The series consists of a yearly Grand Prix in each participating country (although in a few instances, there was more than one). Even though the Formula One series was started in 1950, the concept of having a country’s premier event began long before that. … [Read more...]
By Art Evans | Photos as creditedOn the morning of April 18, 2012, I received a call that Andy Porterfield had died the night before. I knew he had been ill and in the hospital; I had been expecting a call telling me it would be ok for me to visit. His is survived by his wife Judy, daughters Pamela and Melanie, plus a son, Tracy. Andy and I were best friends and Judy recently told me that … [Read more...]
Renngruppe RendezvousBy Louis Scalzo | Photos by Tom MorganRenngruppe Motorsports is located in Lexington, North Carolina in a industrial park area looking like a very ordinary brick fronted metal building, blending in with all the others in the area. When you enter the spacious facility, formerly home of a NASCAR team, you quickly realize that this place is anything but ordinary! It can … [Read more...]
Interview by Dennis Gray | Photos by Gray unless notedJon Shirley makes good decisions whether finding and buying one-off Ferrari 375MMs or guiding Microsoft through its initial public offering.The son of Navy man, Shirley was born in 1938 and moved with his family in 1941 to a little known place named Pearl Harbor. After the bombing, with his family thankfully well, they moved across the … [Read more...]
“At this time there is nothing in the world any quicker, any better handling, any more advanced technically, or any more fun to drive. It is, to me, the perfect race car.” ~ Mark Donohue, 1973By 1969, with the 917 program still in its early stages, Porsche had already built a special variant of its 12-cylinder race car for the popular North American Can-Am series. Although the original 917 … [Read more...]
Boy Meets Car, Loses Car, Finds CarBy Steve Smith | Photographs as creditedEvery car guy has the automotive equivalent of the fisherman’s “the one that got away” story ("It was this big! Really!"). The car of a lifetime...loved and lost. Some car guys even have two such tales. Like my friend Brock Yates. He once had the opportunity to buy one of the world-famous D-Type Jaguars … [Read more...]
Ferdinand Alexander Porsche, designer of the iconic Porsche 911, died on 5 April 2012 in Salzburg, aged 76.Ferdinand Alexander Porsche was born in Stuttgart on 11 December 1935, the oldest son of Dorothea and Ferry Porsche. Even his childhood was shaped by cars, and he spent much of his time in the engineering offices and development workshops of his grandfather Ferdinand Porsche. … [Read more...]
Sebring in 1973 was the beginning of a new era for the legendary track. The Alec Ulmann era had ended in 1972 because he was not able to do the track upgrades demanded by the FIA and as a result they withdrew their sanctioning of the ’73 race as part of the FIA World Championship.Saving the Sebring race from the trash heap of history was John Bishop and the newly formed International Motor … [Read more...]
By Art Evans What do you think was the toughest and most difficult race ever? After reading my September 2011 history column, you might say the New York to Paris. Then there was the 1950-54 La Carrera Panamericana. But these were short-lived point-to-point contests. How about a closed circuit race? In the opinion of many who competed there, it was the Targa Florio. The first was in 1906; the … [Read more...]
Alan Mann, who died on March 21, 2012 at the age of 75, was a highly successful motor racing team owner who played a key role in the Ford Motor Company’s worldwide Total Performance programme of the 1960s.Alan Mann Racing, based in Byfleet, UK won numerous major championships including the British Saloon Car Championship, the European Touring Car Challenge and the FIA World GT Championship … [Read more...]
The 12 Hours of Sebring was held March 17, 2012 at Sebring International Raceway in Sebring, Florida.The 60th anniversary Sebring endurance race, the opening round of the 2012 FIA World Endurance Championship, was an event full of tension all the way to the finish. After covering 325 laps at Sebring International Raceway, it was the Audi team of Tom Kristensen (DEN), Allan McNish (GBR) and … [Read more...]
1966 Sebring 12-Hour Grand Prix of Endurance - Ford Triumphs Amid TragedyBy Louis Galanos | Photos as creditedDuring the third week of March 1966 the annual pilgrimage of sports car aficionados was taking place in South Central Florida as fans of the Sebring 12-hour race descended on the aging 5.2 mile road course that was laid out over the runways and access roads of an old World War ll … [Read more...]
By Art EvansThe Tourist Trophy is the oldest motor race in the world still being run. The first was in 1905 on the Isle of Man, organized by the Automobile Club of Great Britain and Ireland. The trophy itself is given by the Royal Automobile Club to the winner. Over the years, Tourist Trophy races have been part of the World Manufacturers Championship, the World Touring Car Championship, … [Read more...]
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