Articles

Abel Lourenço dos Santos at the Circuito da Gávea in 1935

This amazing phograph taken by Abel Lourenço dos Santos at the Circuito da Gávea in 1935 shows the fatal accident of ...

1936 Swiss Grand Prix

Rudolf Caracciola leading the pack through Quarry, just after the start of the 1936 Swiss Grand Prix

It end...

Combinations at Brooklands

It took me a second or two to realise that the side cars had passengers who seem to have had the sole purpose of prov...

Look out, here comes Woosh-Bonk!

Properly it’s a McLaren-Oldsmobile M3A, the very first McLaren single-seater. And the driver isn’t a Chap...

A load of Bollees!

Here we find Amedee Bollee (père) right and Amedee Bollee (fils) left, aboard one of the streamlined A...

Fred Luther and one of the world's first (if not the first) automobile powered motorcycles

Fred Luther was a pioneering motorcycle rider who had been competing since 1915. By 1934 his life must have become somew...

The Donington Grand Prix in 1937

The Donington Grand Prix in 1937. The first chance the British public had to see the Mercedes and Auto Union cars racing...

Valdir Fauirin twin engined special

Now then! The history of motoring has seen any number of twin-engined adventures, usually to nobody’s worthwhile benefit...

Pablo Escobar!!! No kidding either. Apparently old 'Narcos' was quite an accomplished driver.

Escobar started racing in 1979 driving a Renault 4 and was first mentioned in the papers in a footnote to a report on a ...

Behold the GAZ-TP

Built in 1954, under official approval from the Supreme Presidium of the Soviet Socialist Republic, it’s claimed to have...

GRAND PRIX ICONS LINE-UP FOR SPECIAL ANNIVERSARY RACE TO CELEBRATE SILVERSTONE'S 75th BIRTHDAY

• Milestone grid of front-engined GP racers featuring legendary ERAs, Ferraris and Maseratis
• Entries include cars...

Bertie Bradnack

Bertie clearly knew his way around a chip and almost certainly enjoyed sustained council with the occasional pie but sti...

Behold EJ Potter: The Half-Baked Prince!

Known affectionately as the Michigan Madman, farmer’s son Elon Jack Potter was possibly the first person ever to look at...

We like a bit of analogue testing!

Here we find part time inventor, Mr W.T. Warren in 1912, demonstrating his 'Warren Safety Helmet' at William Ewen's flyi...

Looking like an amphibious mudskipper, this is the Rover-BRM Gas Turbine at the Le Mans test weekend in 1963

The car was based on the 2.5 litre Grand Prix BRM chassis, cut in half down the middle and widened to make a two seater....

Jo Bonnier’s Cooper-Maserati at Spa in 1966.

The race took place in appalling conditions which today would have seen the assembled participants sitting comfortably ...

Not really a racing post however the 1911 Reeves Octauto was introduced at the Indy 500 that year.

Having looked at six wheel cars in the past, I thought that we would bring you a very early vision into the benefits of ...

Looking alarmingly like paramilitaries, here we have Alfred Neubauer (also known as Friedl) in the 1922 Austro-Daimler Sascha.

It really is Neubauer, though you'll have to take our word for that!The Austro-Daimler Sascha was the brain child of Cou...

Indiana Fairgrounds in 1968. Chuck Booth and Wally Meskowski's declaration of love!

It is September 7th, 1968, Chuck Booth (Driver) and Wally Meskowski (Mechanic) at the Hoosier Hundred, USAC Champ Car ra...

The strange tale of the Bédélia

This strange vehicle is a Bédélia and as strange as this vehicle looks, the design and engineering process is perhaps ev...

ERA driver Geoffrey Ansell, of Ansell Brewery fame, confirming that the worlds of alcohol and fast-cars don’t mix.

Here he takes the wide line in 1948 at the first British Grand Prix to be held at Silverstone. Due credit should be give...

Innes Ireland taking a unique approach to F1 passenger carrying at Spa in 1961

At the wheel is Maurice 'Le Petoulet' Trintignant, the last pre-war driver to be involved in Formula One. Innes Ireland ...

San Diego model Raquel Tejada, later better known as Raquel Welch

Don Cameron receives his just desserts from local beauty Jo Raquel Tajada after winning a West Coast Midget race at Pamo...

Major Theodor Weissenbergerr

Major Theodor Weissenbergerr wasn’t really all that popular amongst the allied aeronauts of WW2.

Reg Parnell at the International Trophy in 1951 navigating the Ferrari Thinwall Special

Here we see Derbyshire pig-farmer Reg Parnell at Lake Silverstone in Tony Vandervell’s privately entered Ferrari. Parnel...

Turn 1 at Indianapolis in 1933.

The track has been flooded by un-seasonal rain. Practice is cancelled, leaving you under-employed. You have a flying-hel...

Jimmy Daywalt with the Sumar Special at Indianapolis in 1955.

As originally conceived, The Sumar Special was designed to carry an elegant, all-enveloping bodywork. Which led many mot...

Jochen Rindt delivering a master class of wet weather power sliding in 1969

Jochen Rindt delivering a master class of wet weather power sliding in 1969 on his way to winning the last ‘F1’ Tasman C...

The Targa Florio

First run in 1906, the Targa Florio was one of the longest running motorsport events in the world.

The 1967 Daf Formula 3 car.

The clue here is in the rubber straps that cling snugly and taughtly around his exposed back-end. This is the 1967 Daf F...

GRAHAM HILL DUTCH GRAND PRIX 1964

Here we see Graham Hill assuming the correct position for proper chaps at Zandvoort in 1964 with the BRM P261.

Andre Moynet

This stern looking lad is Andre Moynet. A proper chap, if ever there was one.

Mallocks!

Back in 1958, Arthur Mallock first came up with the idea of building a low-cost, but properly engineered racing car that...

Alma Cacciandra at the 1965 Monza 1000 kms

This is Alma Cacciandra, properly equipped for some serious track action, and getting ready to climb aboard her Scuderia...

Mr. Boissy racing a Lion-Peugeot Voiturette at Brooklands in 1910. How about that then!

Robert Peugeot decided that he wanted to do his own thing, rather than join the family firm, and created Lion-Peugeot, w...

Things not to say before a race - Number 1

José Estrada was one of Mexico's top drivers. Nicknamed 'Ché' he had started racing in the 1930s. Married with two child...

Felice Nazzaro at the wheel of the Fiat S76

Nicknamed “The Beast of Turin”, this was definitely a vehicle of LARGE proportions. The radiator cap was five foot from ...

Bob Osiecki was a NASCAR team owner who, in 1960, took up the challenge to set a new closed course record of 180 mph in Mad Dog IV.

Bob Osiecki was a NASCAR team owner during the mid to late Fifties, entering two 1957 Plymouths in the 1957 Daytona 500 ...

Here we have Karl Kling (right) and Hans Klenk in their Mercedes-Benz 300SL on the 1952 Carrera Panamericana

Of all the mad races that ever were, the Carrera Panamericana ranked amongst the maddest. A nine-stage, five day road ...

Archie Frazer-Nash

Chap of the week: Archie Frazer-Nash; Properly (and according to our previous research, it would appear conventionally) ...

The 1954 Mille Miglia: Mario Cipolla in his factory entered Isetta, spreading joy wherever he goes.

The winner that year, Alberto Ascari, completed the thousand mile journey from Brescia through Pescara, Rome, Pisa, Flor...

Rodger Ward Wins the 1959 Indy 500, and displays the 'instantly printed' newspaper headline to prove it.

Ward had been running the 500 every year since 1951 with only a solitary 8th place to show for it. But his luck would ch...

Now here's a proper bunch of chaps: These worthy gentlemen are about to embark on the The New York-Paris race of 1908.

Now here's a proper bunch of chaps: These worthy gentlemen are about to embark on the The New York-Paris race of 1908. ...

Tommy Milton, winner on the Boards, Bricks, Dirt and Sand, gave no quarter and expected none.

Tommy became one of the most successful drivers of his era despite the complete lack of sight in his right eye and only ...

At Rio’s Jacarepagua circuit back in 1968, what was described as Brazil’s only ever, all-Volkswagen Kombi race took place.

Which sort of implies that it was probably the World’s only ever, all-Volkswagen Kombi race! The winner was local sports...

This fabulous beast is the 1902 Baker Torpedo.

34 year old Walter C.Baker was a successful and prodigious producer of electrically driven vehicles between 1899 and 1...

Few car builders have ever arrived with the impact that Cisitalia made in the fun-starved, post-war 1940s.

And few have ever shown so much promise and spent so much money, only to ultimately achieve so little.

Ukyo Katayama rescued from Mt Fuji on Friday 18th December 2009

On Friday December 18, Katayama was reported missing whilst climbing Mount Fuji with two friends. Temperatures on the 3...

Bruce McLaren at Riverside back in 1966.

The Robin Herd designed Mallite monocoque McLaren M2B was used extensively as a test car for Firestone.

Denny Hulme was the son of a Victoria Cross winner and in 1967 became New Zealand's only ever World Champion.

Best of all, he was known for being grumpy. An image enhanced by the fact that he looked about 20 years older than he ac...

While perusing the miasma of misery that passes for Motorsport in the 21st century, you may have wondered where it all began.

Well the answer is, as if you care; July 22nd 1894 and the Paris-Rouen Trial. The World's first organised, competitive, ...

The origins of Ferrari's prancing horse.

As far as is known, Major Baracca never even sat in a racing car. “So what’s he doing here then?” You rightly moan. Well...

Chaps Number 6

This episode of Chaps features some interesting design ideas that, how can we put it politely, were never going to work,...

So it’s sharp left, then floor-it. No, Hang on….WAIT!!!

Swiss roller Edgar Berney was generally seen as an accomplished and steady hand, with at least eight “I Drove The Le Man...

Red Label

Australo-Kiwi based Tasman racing was begun back in 1964. And, since it allowed Formula 1 machinery with only light modi...

Archie Scott-Brown

Born in Paisley, England, May 13, 1927 William Archibald "Archie" Scott Brown was born without shinbones, his feet were ...