The legendary Porsche engineer Hans Mezger passed away June 10, 2020 at the age of 90. Porsche owes him not only the Porsche 911's air-cooled, six-cylinder boxer engine but also the overall construction of the 917 and its twelve-cylinder engine as well as his creation of the TAG Turbo Formula One engine. For more than three decades, Hans Mezger was responsible for Porsche's most successful racing cars and engines. … [Read more...]
The Resplendent Royale – Bugatti Type 41
In the 1920s, Bugatti created the most luxurious car in the world. With the Type 41 Royale, in 1926, Bugatti presented the strongest, largest and most luxurious automobile in the world, characterized by unimaginable power and opulent equipment. For Ettore Bugatti, the Royale was the culmination of his creation. A vehicle that knew no competitors in terms of performance, quality and image. A vehicle for emperors, … [Read more...]
Happy 80th Birthday to Kurt Ahrens
The former Porsche works driver Kurt Ahrens celebrated his 80th birthday on Sunday, 19 April 2020. Kurt Karl Heinrich “Kurti” Ahrens was born in Brunswick, Germany in 1940 as the son of the racing driver Kurt Ahrens senior. “Kurti” became interested in his father’s sport early on and they soon even both competed in the same races together. Ahrens Jr. started his racing career in 1958, proved himself first in … [Read more...]
How Thirty Vintage Bugattis Ended Up on a Train
Around 60 years ago, Fritz Schlumpf purchased a collection of thirty Bugatti models after tough negotiations. He simply adored Bugatti: Schlumpf had to own as many of the vehicles as possible because he wanted to use them as a basis for establishing the biggest Bugatti collection in existence. In fact, it became something of an obsession, as reflected in the negotiations with an American Bugatti owner that went on … [Read more...]
35 Years Since Senna’s First Formula 1 Win
It was 35 years ago, in monsoon conditions, that a determined young Brazilian raced to his first Formula 1 victory and cemented his name in motorsport folklore. It was Sunday 21 April and the 1985 Portuguese Grand Prix. Behind the wheel of a Lotus 97T was Ayrton Senna, just turned 25 years old. With the car at the absolute limit of its grip, he delivered a masterclass in wet-weather driving for the hardy Estoril … [Read more...]
Remembering Stirling Moss (1929 – 2020)
British motor racing legend Sir Stirling Moss passed away following a long illness on Easter Sunday at his Mayfair, London home at the age of 90, with his wife Susie, the Lady Moss, by his side. Stirling Craufurd Moss was born into a motorsport family. His father Alfred, a wealthy dentist, was a talented amateur racer who could even lay claim to finishing 16th in the 1924 Indianapolis 500, while his mother Eileen … [Read more...]
Ferrari at Le Mans 24 Heures Exhibit
The Ferrari Museum in Maranello opened its new exhibition -- "Ferrari at 24 Heures du Mans" -- to celebrate seventy years of Ferrari victories in the world's most famous endurance race. Visitors can look back over the 36 wins recorded on the French track, with the help of some of the cars that competed in the famous races plus multimedia and interactive contents. … [Read more...]
Five Notable Porsche 917 Liveries
Vivid paintwork and stickers are as much a part of Porsche Motorsport as the boxer engine. While the Porsche 917 race cars featured notable liveries from Martini and Gulf, there are several others that are iconic on their own. The company recently looked back on five historical color combinations from the various 917 models. Porsche 917-001 with green and white color scheme - The first is a true number 1: the car … [Read more...]
Remembering Maserati’s ‘Car of Kings’
The Maserati 5000 GT made its debut to great fanfare at the Turin Motor Show in 1959. With its fuel-injected, four-cam V-8 engine derived from the 450S sports racing car, the “Car of Kings" was the fastest road-going automobile of its day. Only 34 cars of this model were built at Maserati's Viale Ciro Menotti plant in Modena, with bodywork added by Italy's top coachbuilders of the period. Reza Pahlavi, the then … [Read more...]
Winning Numbers Exhibition – Picture Gallery
The Petersen Automotive Museum opened its newest exhibit on Saturday, February 23, 2019 that features ten race cars from the collection of Petersen Founding Chairman Bruce Meyer. Titled “Winning Numbers: The First, The Fastest, The Famous,” the exhibit contains Le Mans winners, land speed record setters, dragsters and road racers from Meyer's personal garage. “Affectionately called ‘the car guy’s car guy,’ Bruce … [Read more...]
Aston Martin Cloverleaf Returns to Aston Hill
It was 95 years ago that the Aston Martin which came to be known as ‘Cloverleaf’, XR 1981, lined up at the bottom of Aston Hill. One of eight customer cars built in late 1923, this early Aston Martin was competing against two Bugattis and two other Aston Martins -- one of which had been entered by the company’s founder, Lionel Martin, who won the trophy on the day. This four-cylinder 1,486 cc side-valve engined … [Read more...]
Celebrating Maserati’s Land Speed Record
Mario Umberto “Baconìn” Borzacchini, at the wheel of a Maserati Tipo V4, set the world land speed record for the flying 10 kilometres on 28 September 1929. The car had made its race debut on 15 September, driven by Alfieri Maserati in the Monza Grand Prix, finishing the race in sixth place. Two weeks later, before the race at the Circuito di Cremona, the “Giornata dei record”, a time trial on the flying 10 … [Read more...]
Continuation ‘Blower’ Bentley Revealed
One of the most iconic cars from Bentley’s history -- Sir Tim Birkin’s 1929 supercharged 4 1/2-litre 'Blower' -- will be reborn with a new build of 12 matching cars that will form a pre-war race car continuation series. Only four original ‘Team Blowers’ were built for racing by Birkin, in the late 1920s. All were campaigned on the racetracks of Europe, with the most famous car -- Birkin’s own Team Car No. 2, … [Read more...]
BMW M1 Art Car by Andy Warhol
“I love this car. It’s more successful than the artwork,” was the opinion of Andy Warhol after his sweeping brush strokes had transformed the BMW M1. It took him less than half an hour to create the fourth exhibit in the BMW Art Car Collection. 40 years later, enthusiasm for the mid-engined sports car remains unabated. Already world-famous at that time, the Pop Art icon shared the same passion with many … [Read more...]
Porsche Reveals Retro Coca-Cola Livery
As the 50th Anniversary of the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) comes to a close at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, Porsche Cars North America (PCNA) will turn to an Atlanta neighbor to help celebrate and commemorate the sports car racing series’ Golden Anniversary. The twin Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR race cars will carry a familiar red and white livery in the 22nd running of the Motul Petit Le Mans … [Read more...]
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