Thursday, April 18, 2013

things I learned from reading Vintage Racecar magazine, May 2013 issue

John Surtees, only person to win both the 2 wheel world championship and the 4 wheel world championship.
He won 7 motorcycle World Championships, and one Formula One World Championship in 1964,

it might have made headlines, however, John Campbell in the same year (the magazine says) set both land and water land speed records that year, and John Surtees accomplishments did not get the recognition due him.

Aston Martin was incorporated a 100 years ago, and this year the largest gathering of racing Astons will happen at Brands Hatch on July 6-7th

The Mac's IT Special was powered by a 2 cycle Rotax engine at all 4 wheels independantly

Aynton Senna won the 1988, 90, and 91 F1 World Championships, won 41 Gran Prix events, and made pole position 65 times, a record that stood for a decade until Michael Shumacher broke it.... and it all started with a 1 hp go kart his dad made him. With a lawn mower engine

Ettore Bugatti was so driven to win the 1925 Gran Prix, near Paris, at Montlhery, that he upgraded the type 35 to type 39's, made them full road spec, even having ballast to compensate for the lack of a passengers weight. Mid race refueling was not allowed, so they were fitted with oversize fuel tanks. Bugatti was so proud of them, he had a preview of the cars for the public the day before the race, at Strasbourg's Place Kleber

England now has more lions per square mile than Kenya

Lord Montagu inherited Beaulieu, a stately home according to Vintage Racecar magazine, but not a lot of money, so he made the estate the home to the National Motor Museum

An auction ring is when collectible companies attend auctions, and bid up the items to set the auction sales prices as high as they'd like to have the perceived value of their stock become. So if auctions seem to be setting prices, it's because the major media doesn't get numbers from private sales, they only get the prices that cars sell for at auctions, and thus, report the value of a make and model as having risen from the economic lows of 2008, 2009, to high numbers more in keeping with the trend toward investment grade rare items. Auction Ring. New idea to me, so beware.

Auction prices on the topic, here are some trends: American Muscle cars down 32 percent from the 2007 highs (no more million dollar superbirds, hemis, etc) Ferrari's are up 59 percent over the last 3 years, British cars are up 12%, postwar German cars are up 43 percent since 2006

3 comments:

  1. Hey Jesse! I just wrote a piece about the end of Bugatti 9the first time around) Check it out http://deadlycurves.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-last-gasp-of-bugatti-1952-type-101.html

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  2. well done! I posted a sample and linked to your post! Thanks! I'd never learned that about the Bugatti company before

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