Many know Bill Caswell as the man who took a $500 Craigslist BMW rally racing and managed to do extremely well. Drive’s Mike Spinelli sits down with Bill to discuss his awesome automotive adventures over the last few years. If you are a car fanatic, this will be quite inspirational.
-Nick
During the Monterey Motorsports Reunion, the paddock of Laguna Seca is always full of interesting and legendary things. 2013 was no exception, with drool worthy race cars everywhere you looked. In particular there were numerous Porsche 962s, monster Group Group C racing cars for those unfamiliar with them. It is always difficult to focus your attention while down in the paddock because everywhere you look there is something awesome to see. I will let the photos take it from here. Enjoy.
Continue reading 2013 Monterey Motorsports Reunion: Paddock Highlights
The Quail is probably the most exclusive show during Monterey Car Week. The best cars are always in attendance, many of which don’t even show up at Pebble Beach — despite Pebble Beach being the far more prestigious event. There is some political BS surrounding the event that I could address, but frankly, I only care about the cars.
Put simply, the Quail is absolutely the show to go to on the Friday of Monterey Car Week, provided you can get in. Every event on the Monterey Peninsula is worth checking out, but the comparative quality of the automotive crop at this event is staggering, even with the high standards of the other events. We got there a bit late because of prior engagements that day, but I we still managed to see most of the event. I’m going to just let the pictures do the talking from here. Enjoy.
It goes without saying that Audi owns Le Mans; both figuratively and sort of literally. The eleven overall victories certainly cement the figurative bit and the constant ‘Quattro’ this and ‘Quattro’ that plastered everywhere seem pretty literal if you were to ask me.
So it came to little surprise to me when Porsche unveiled their new 2014 LMP1 racer a mere week before the 2013 Le Mans race. The motorsport world had been fast approaching what was seeming to be (and was) yet another overall victory for Audi on the La Sarthe circuit, and Porsche wanted everyone watching to remember that in one year they would be returning to the track to defend their honor (and their sixteen overall victories).
However, while watching a portion of the 1998 Le Mans race on YouTube, I had a revelation of just how ironic this impending on-track battle between the two marques actually is. Yes, you read that correctly, ironic is the perfect word to use to describe the 2014 24 Heures du Mans.
So, we start the beginning of this ironic, frighteningly Star Wars-like (more on that later) story with the Audi RS2 Avant. In the early 1990s, Audi engineers decided that they wanted to mix their expertise in building sensible cars with a bit of eye-popping performance.
This 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C-2900B Spider won “Best In Show” at The Elegance at Hershey 2013. The awards were handed out very hastily as there was a rain storm moving in, but this Alfa deserved to win. This is an unrestored car, just maintained over the years, and it was a magnificent sight in person. It is one of just 22 8C-2900Bs ever produced, and of those it is one of only five short wheelbase versions. Under the hood it shares the same supercharged 2.9L inline-eight cylinder engine with other 8C variants of the time, producing 180hp in 2900B specification. It featured a super lightweight body from Touring in Milan, Italy that gave it a solid power-to-weight ratio. Alfa 8Cs dominated racing during their day, and it isn’t hard to see why.
Today this car resides in the Bahre Collection, and has won awards at other events, including Pebble Beach in 2002. Pre-war Alfas are always a treat to see, and this 8C-2900B was no exception. Enjoy the photos.
Continue reading The Elegance At Hershey: 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C-2900B Spider
This 1947 Ferrari 159S Spyder Corsa, chassis number 002C, is believed to be the single oldest Ferrari automobile existence. It also happens to be owned by James Glickenhaus, who is well known for his one-off Ferrari P4/5 and his P4/5 Competizione privateer racing program. I had a chance to talk to Mr. Glickenhaus briefly and he’s a very nice guy, happy to talk cars with any curious enthusiast who passes by.
With a car like this, he was definitely getting a lot of attention at the Concours this year. It certainly isn’t hard to see how this thing took “Best In Show”, being the oldest Ferrari left. This 159S is also in truly immaculate condition, and that’s a good thing because from what I’ve found, it was the only 159 ever produced. You need to remember that Ferrari only built racing cars in their early years, and the 159 turned out to be a stopgap model between the Ferrari 125 and the Ferrari 166. The racing life of this car was short-lived, but that may well be the reason for its survival.
Under the hood lies an enlarged version of Gioacchino Colombo’s V12, at 1.9L. It makes around 125hp, but keep in mind how featherlight the car is. Back in its day, this thing was quite rapid. I just love looking at old racing cars because they show how the design of the automobile has evolved over the years. Racing cars of this era are so simple and functional, and that often makes them beautiful in a very pure way. Just look at the details of this 159 and you will see that it as much a work of art as it is a mechanical tool for speed.
It was such a treat to see this car in person and be able to take these photos of it. Congratulations to Mr. Glickenhaus on the “Best In Show” win. Enjoy the gallery.
Continue reading Greenwich Concours d’ Elegance: 1947 Ferrari 159S Spyder Corsa
We were in attendance for the 2013 Greenwich Concours d’ Elegance this past weekend in Connecticut. It was a fantastic event, and we saw, and drove, many awesome cars. Like most Concours events we go to, we have come back with months of material that we will be sharing with you over time, but this is a highlight reel to wet your appetite. Enjoy.
I was fortunate enough to see this mighty Ferrari F50 GT at the Concorso Italiano back in 2011, during the Monterey car week. The F50 GT is a Ferrari racing car that never came to be. It was developed to take on the likes of the Porsche 911 GT1, Mercedes CLK GTR and McLaren F1 LM, but it never made it past the prototype stage. Along with the prototype, two F50 GTs were built for customers. This is one of those customer cars, and it was the first one I’ve seen in person. There was a normal F50 right beside it, and the GT makes the standard car look puny by comparison. The performance of the F50 GT is also extremely massive. The car itself weighs in at just 2,005lbs and its 4.7L V12 has 750hp and 383ft/lbs of torque on tap. 60mph comes in under 3 seconds, the 1/4 mile is dispatched in 10.2 sec, and it tops out at 235mph, presumably when the aerodynamics are set up for top end speed. This is a racing car, make no mistake. These photos are a few years old, and I have learned much about photography since, but I think they came out pretty well. Enjoy.
The Tipo C 8C35 was one of the great Alfa Romeo racing cars that saw action under Scuderia Ferrari. This was before Enzo Ferrari had gone and started his own company, at the point in his life where he was making the transition from aspiring racing driver to successful team manager. Ferrari was always a fairly mediocre driver, but as a manager he became the legend we know him as today. It was awesome to see this Tipo C in action at the 2012 Lime Rock Historic Festival. It absolutely decimated its field of competition, doing its heritage proud. Enjoy the gallery.
Continue reading Lime Rock Historic Festival: 1935 Alfa Romeo Tipo C 8C35
If you watched the 2013 Sebring 12 Hour race, you already know that Corvette won. If you didn’t watch the 2013 Sebring 12 Hour race, the vibrant, yellow Corvettes with the brutal and grunty V8 engines won the 61st edition of the 12 hour endurance race held in Florida every year. However, if you watched the race, you also know that in order to win, Corvette Racing had to endure some nerve-wrecking technical difficulties rather early on in the event that forced the #3 Corvette Racing car to retire. Luckily, the #4 team was able to look past the problems of their sister car and provide an exhilarating final few hours on their march to victory while ‘Vette Racing lovers slowly but surely recovered from their mini heart attacks.
It also, however, caused me to think a bit about the growing change in the complexity of racing cars. And unfortunately, not all teams have been able to overcome non-driver-error technical difficulties like Corvette Racing did, resulting in disappointment among the team’s fans and racing lovers alike (let alone the team itself). With that being said, I asked myself: ‘Is there too much technology in today’s racing cars?’
Underneath its unique Zagato body, this is an Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 Gran Sport racing car. The 6C 1750 Zagato Aprile is a one-off, and was built to its current form by its second owner, Guiseppe Aprile, after it was damaged. It was hidden during Word War II by its third owner, and kept locked away in for 50 years in the private collection of its fourth owner. It sits today in the hands of its fifth owner, who had it restored to its current glory, the way Guiseppe Aprile made it.
I was privileged to see this car in person at the 2013 Amelia Island Concours d’ Elegance. It was a showstopper for sure, as many Alfa Romeos from this era are. Enjoy the gallery.
Continue reading Amelia Island Concours d’ Elegance: 1931 Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 Zagato Aprile
These are a few random shots I took outside of actual events during the recent Concours Weekend on Amelia Island. As usual at events like these, there are all sorts of interesting things to be seen zooming around on the roads, or even in the skies. Enjoy.
Mind Over Motor 