When the prototype Lotus Elite was introduced at the Earls Court Motor Show in October 1957 it created a real stir, for not only was it as pretty a two-seater coupe as anyone could wish for, it broke new ground in many technical ways. There was no chassis by the conventional sports car ideas of the time, the car being built as a body/chassis unit in one piece made of glass-reinforced epoxide and...
The Italian job offer
Tony Vandervell chose to pass on this chance to buy a novel Grand Prix project that made big claims
I could hardly believe my eyes. Flicking idly through an old Vanwall correspondence file, I have just found this long-buried gem. On July 18, 1955, Arialdo Ruggeri of the Scuderia Automobilistiche Milan, Via Mose Bianchi 71, Milan, Italy, wrote personally to Tony Vandervell of...
More vintage, less whine
There was a time when being Formula 1 world champion seemed to mean so much more than today
When I was first hooked on motor racing, what turned out to be a life-changing image was a magazine photo shown to me by my big brother, Rod. It depicted Reg Parnell in the works Alfa Romeo 158 at Silverstone. ‘Uncle Reg’ was crouched behind the steering wheel, muscular arms...
A matter of moment
Carlo Abarth may have had fixed ideas about engine placement – but his cars won plenty of races
Over the past few months I have been closely involved with what was Fabrizio Violati’s Maranello Rosso Collection of Ferraris and Abarths in San Marino. When former mineral water magnate Violati died in January 2010 he was the longest-term owner of any Ferrari 250GTO. Obviously in...
Sydney's opera horse
Problems with a 4wd Ferguson trigger memories of bygone engineering complexity
Late on the Saturday night at Goodwood’s ‘72’ meeting, I was walking through the paddock when I happened upon a perplexed little group huddled over the fabulous four-wheel-drive Ferguson P99. Owner/driver Stuart Rolt explained that its Climax engine had subsided into silence on his first practice...
Pantomime horse...
Ferrari stumbled ahead of the 2014 British Grand Prix, but theatrical mishaps have long been part of the team’s fabric
As Fernando Alonso and Kimi Räikkönen failed to survive first qualifying for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, it became apparent that Ferrari had screwed up. It wasn’t alone: Williams got into the same muddle about which tyres to mount during a rain-...
Letter of the month
Fear of the past?
Watching coverage of the German GP qualifying session, I was struck by how poorly F1 connects with its past. The Sky team made brief mention of the old Hockenheim, Jim Clark’s death and John Surtees winning in Germany, but their focus is on the here and now. I don’t blame broadcasters for that, but F1 should do far more to connect with the history of the...
Phoenix in waiting
A distinctive 1960s racer is coming under the hammer, but will need lashings of TLC
I will declare an interest. I offer consultancy advice (often justifiably ignored) to auctioneer Bonhams, whose Goodwood Festival of Speed sale includes some real rarities. Among these are the (hopefully) still restorable remains of a uniquely significant ex-Jim Clark sports-racing car – the...
Reflections on the only man to win Formula 1 titles as both driver and constructor, by a Motor Sport contributor who knew him well
Writer Doug Nye
On hearing of Sir Jack Brabham’s recent death – at the age of 88 – Australian enthusiast Alec Hawkins sat down at a computer keyboard and submitted the following to one of the internet motor racing forums. I believe his words speak for a generation of...
In Jarrot's slipstream
Retracing the route of the Circuit des Ardennes, where British pioneers made their names
London’s first Chinese restaurant, it appears, was opened in 1907. Now park that thought for a while. During the same year, Belgium’s last Circuit des Ardennes race took place on a 53½-mile-long public road course based upon the market town of Bastogne. The Circuit des Ardennes was the...
