MICHEL DOVAZ RECEIVES SLEEPING BEAUTIES

Pictured here, Ard op de Weegh and Arnoud op de Weegh as they present Michel Dovaz with a copy of The fate of the Sleeping Beauties.

New! The fate of the Sleeping Beauties
By Ard op de Weegh, Kay Hottendorff & Arnoud op de Weegh
Foreword by former Sleeping Beauties owner Michel Dovaz

The ‘Sleeping Beauties’ – an array of neglected Bugattis, Lancias, Ferraris, Alfa Romeos, Cords and Aston Martins on a rural French estate – have fascinated car lovers worldwide since 1983, when they were immortalised in a sequence of photographs taken by Herbert W Hesselmann. For 25 years, the full story behind the collection and its fate has remained untold ... until now. More info.

LANCIA DELTA 4WD/INTEGRALE BOOK REVIEW

Thanks to Dejan Jovanovic for this review which featured in Wheels (Gulf News Motoring Section).



Click here for more info about the book.

‘GRAND TOURING GREATS’ TO STAR IN THE EARLS COURT MOTOR SHOW AT THE GOODWOOD REVIVAL

Following the growing popularity of the annual Earls Court Motor Show at the Goodwood Revival, this key attraction will once again add an exciting element to the annual Revival meeting, the world’s most authentic historic motor race meeting, being held in just four week’s time, from 17-19 September.

The Earls Court Motor Show takes its inspiration from the celebrated London Motor Shows of the 1950s and 60s, with an Art Deco frontage reminiscent of the glory days of exhibitions of the past. This spacious area will give the expected 130,000 Goodwood Revival visitors an insight into how the motoring of tomorrow might look from a pre-1966 perspective, with a display of ‘futuristic’ late 20th and early 21st century cars.

Externally, Earls Court looks like the entrance to a 1950s Motor Show, promising to display ‘cars of the future’ inside. As no post-1966 vehicles are ordinarily allowed on site during the Goodwood Revival, the Earls Court Motor Show enables the event to break out of its ‘period’ timeframe and display post-1966 vehicles. The effect is like walking into a Tardis, offering other-worldly futuristic new cars to see, right up to and including manufacturers’ latest products.

Each vehicle manufacturer’s stand is presented in the style of a traditional Motor Show of the 1950s or 1960s. As with the rest of the Revival, the overall display is not set in a specific timeframe, but rather at some unidentified point prior to 1966. Manufacturer displays are therefore expected to include contemporary cars of the 1950s or 1960s, as well as some ‘concept’ cars showing each company’s vision of what production cars might look like in the early 21st Century. Car manufacturers confirmed to be exhibiting at this ‘motor show of the future’ include Maserati, Jaguar, BMW, Nissan and Rolls-Royce.

In addition to the manufacturers’ stands, there will be a central ‘concours d’elegance’ exhibition. This display will commemorate ‘Grand Touring Greats’, featuring around 25 elegant GT cars, from the 1950s right through to the present day. Expect to see important GT cars such as the influential Lancia Aurelia B20 Coupe, Bentley Continental R, Facel Vega HK500, Gordon Keeble and Ferrari 365 GTB/4 ‘Daytona.’

Goodwood’s historic links with Earls Court are very strong. The famous London Earls Court exhibition site was built on land once owned by the Duke of Richmond; the Earl in the name referring to the Earl of March, from whom the present 10th Duke of Richmond, and his son Lord March, are directly descended.

Source: Goodwood

PETER COLLINS INTERVIEW

I caught up with Peter Collins - Author of classic Veloce books - Lancia 037 - The development and rally history of a world champion & Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 - The development and racing history.

I also asked him about his two exciting new books - British Touring Car Racing – The crowd’s favourite – late 1960s to 1990 (Those were the days series) & Ferrari 312P & 312PB (WSC Giants series).

LANCIA 037 - BOOK OF THE MONTH

Lancia 037 - The development and rally history of a world champion by Peter Collins awarded Book Of The Month in New Zealand Classic Car.


click here for more info about the book.

Autumn Italian Car Day

With the forthcoming release of Veloce's The Lamborghini Miura Bible in mind, the annual Autumn Italian Car Day at the Heritage Motor Centre, Gaydon serves as a timely way to whet your appetite for the book. The event takes place on Sunday 14th September 2008, and promises a strong Lamborghini element. The Lamborghini Club UK (LCUK) is holding its Car of the Year Awards at the event, and expects a large number of classic and modern Lambos to be in attendance.

A number of trophies will be awarded by the LCUK for the best pre-1991 and post-1991 Lamborghinis, the best V8-engined model (including Urraco, Silhouette and Jalpa), the best Gallardo, the furthest-travelled and the most well-used cars.

Lancia ClubSport will also be arriving in convoy as part of its own two-day event, driving as a collective that has been 150 cars strong in the past, when the club took part in the London to Brighton Run.

As well as Lamborghinis and Lancias, the gathering is expected to be made up of other Italian cars such as Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Maserati, and many more exotic Italian marques.

Check out Veloce Publishing's exciting forthcoming title The Lamborghini Miura Bible by Joe Sackey, or visit www.velocebooks.com for a wide variety of books currently available on Italian motors.



Description

The ONLY book on the Lamborghini Miura to be published in the past twenty six years – and enthusiasts agree it is long overdue. Written by a world-renowned authority on the subject, featuring, among other things, a never-before-published factory chassis production register, technical illustrations, studio-supplied images and exclusive interviews with the designers of the car. This is essential reading for any Lamborghini fan.

click here for more info

NEW review -Lancia Delta HF Integrale

Review by Adrian Walmsley for the Classic Rally Club, October 2007
Australia

This superb hardback is a welcome addition to the series of books published by Veloce Publishing in the UK about classic rally cars. Its large format (260 x 260mm) makes it very easy reading for all, including the old and frail. It comprises 208 pages with well-written and informative text and 400 superb colour illustrations of the highest quality. More importantly, this writer does not recall seeing any of the illustrations before. They include great candid shots of some of the characters who contributed so much to the success of this legendary car.

The progenitor of the Integrale, the humble Delta sedan, is covered only briefly to good effect. The formidable S4, in both rally and stradale forms is given due coverage, but the bulk of the book deals with the evolution of the car itself. There is fairly brief commentary on the various rally successes, but details of modifications from model to model are fully set out. For a change, the influence of the Abarth factory is given its due, which many writers seem to overlook entirely. As is well-known, Abarth was also absorbed into the Fiat empire, but it continued as before for several years and was critical to the success of the Integrale. There are several detailed cutaway drawings of various models, the only illustrations in black and white.

The book includes coverage of all the prototypes and limited editions, but this is limited to 2 pages on each, so there can be no suggestion the book gets bogged down in the differences in trim details. Happily, there are 6 pages on the glorious Hyena. All the rally results are listed from 1972 with the Fulvia to 1999. The actual cars, and what they each achieved, are also listed by registration and, where available, chassis number. The full technical details of each model are set out clearly and the seasons, with the different cars, are covered, not in absolute detail, but more in the nature of a readable overview.
The photographs include many great action shots, but also detailed pictures of relevant parts of the cars, including the interiors. In all this is a very readable book of high quality. It should not, however, be confused in any way with the excellent one by that Lancia authority, Nigel Trow, where absolute detail is given to each event and where the bulk of the photos are in black and white, there being a small colour section in the middle. The books virtually comprise the same number of pages, but are very different in approach. The latter is a book to which you would go in order to settle disputes about fine detail in any of the events. Blaettel and Wagner’s is a book you would go to constantly for sheer pleasure.

An unexpected pleasure is to find recollections by Ninni Russo and Juha Kankkunen. This includes humourous and telling candid pictures of the people.
That the book is a must for Lancisti goes without saying, but it is also a great read for anyone with interest in Abarth or Fiat, or indeed for any Italian car fan or rally enthusiast. It is highly recommended. This book is excellent value having regard to its content and quality.