the 1966 Fitch Phoenix, a prototype created from a Corvair, body built by Intermechanica of Italy

A Chevrolet Corvair-based two-seat sports car created by the late John Fitch, a famous racing driver and inventor.

The Corvair's rear-mounted, air-cooled 2.7L flat-six was tuned to produce 170 horsepower, while the weight is 2,150 lbs. The big bumps between windshield and front tires? Are for spare tires, since the car has two sizes of wheels, it was equipped with a spare for each

Fitch planned to build and sell 500 examples of the Phoenix, but before that could happen, President Johnson signed the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act into law, making it pretty much impossible for a small independent manufacturer to offer a car to the public.

It's debut was at the Abercrombie and Fitch (no relation)  Manhattan, N.Y., store.

 As a result, the prototype was the only one built, he returned the 100 deposits, and Fitch kept it for the rest of his life.

https://autoweek.com/article/car-life/escape-roads-1966-fitch-phoenix-corvair-based-phoenix-still-turns-heads-and-snaps
https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/threads/fitch-phoenix-1966.301616/

in 1949 the Reimann brothers built their own sports car, the Porscheli, from the remains of a Kübelwagen Type 82, since in East Germany there was no way to buy such luxury.

a Kübelwagen Type 82, or what was left of it

they did not have the tools, the workshop or the money to build a sports car body, so they went to ask for help from a body shop, the Arno Lindner Karrosserie and Fahrzeugbau

But there were no sheet metal supplies, so, innovating as they must, they recycled 15 Ford truck hoods, also abandoned after the war, to build the body. They welded several of the pieces together to create panels, which were subsequently molded on the frame.

https://www.clarin.com/autos/asombrosa-historia-porsche-alemania-comunista_0_BkxZpX_eX.html

I just got a great note from Jordan!

"Very cool to read about the story of my grandfathers car. http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2016/06/1955-victress-it-sounded-familiar-so-i.html

I wanted to share some further insight to ol' Number 7. This was My great grandfather George Muench's car. Max Day was actually an insurance provider in small town Pueblo Colorado who the car was originally built for and owned by.

My grandfather was his mechanic and the driver was actually a fearless man named Dan (danny) Morgan. Noting the qualifying times set on friday, Morgan was an unbelieveable 42 seconds ahead of AK Miller who's powerful and light corvette was a handful on the loose dirt of the test climb section. Had the gear selector managed to stay intact on the day of the race, Morgan would have easily made the triumphant victory a sealed deal.

After the 1959 race season, my grandfather purchased the car from Day and repainted it and removed most of the race specific tuning features. Wrapped pipes were traded for chrome and the slightly pinkish red was swapped for a rich and vibrant candy apple. Many trips to and from pueblo colorado were made up to my grandparents cabin by twin lakes.

None the less, it was amazing car that was refurbished and now maintained by a true collector. I sure do miss the sound of the triple carbed, straight piped MONSTER grumbling through the mountains of colorado though! "

Man, that's cool to hear from him about this car!

1959 Elkart Lake, SCCA National Road America, paddock, William Mitchell with the Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray SS

https://www.facebook.com/InsideTheMotorsportPaddock/

Racing, sliding, spinning and wrecking at Riverside 1960

Increase the video speed to 1.5... they seem to have slowed down the entire video

the Velam Isetta that set 7 international class records

BMW wasn't the only company to license the Isetta from Iso of Italy – there were two others; Romi in Brazil and VELAM in France.

VELAM stood for “Véhiculer léger à Moteur”, translated light vehicle with motor. It was a dedicated company with genuine production lines set up by Michel Cromback in Anthony Lago’s old Talbot factory in Suresnes.

VELAM built a variety of models based both around the original, and it built one very sporty looking record car that was also registered and used on the road. In addition, there was an open Sports model that appears to have remained a one-off.

The record/ race car has at times been called the Isetta Spéciale, at others the Corse (Course), and even the Aero. In contrast, when it appeared in the 1957 French Automobile Annual, it was given no special name.

The aluminium body VELAM prepared for the record car was cigar shaped, described by some as a ‘mini Zeppelin’, and was painted French racing blue.

The record car used the standard base, meaning same wheelbase and tracks. Width is only a few millimetres less, but significantly the height is only 590mm to the top of the body – less than half.

This record class allowed both supercharging and standard atmospheric engines to compete under the one heading, but VELAM chose to keep things pretty standard; the only notable deviation was the use of a special doped fuel mix that increased power to 12bhp. For this a special carburettor was fitted and Solex provided an uprated fuel pump.

A designer by the name of Bianchi created the body shape which with headrest fitted lifted the height to 730mm. Longer or taller gear ratios were installed too to make full use of the more streamlined body shape and additional power. With 12bhp the standard VELAM bodied car would expect to be capable of 85kph max, but the best lap at Montlhéry resulted in 118.55kph, with many consistent laps at 117kph.

Wheels were fitted with Englebert tyres run at 2.6 to 2.8 bars instead of the standard 1.2 to 1.4 bar.

On 30th July 1957 Bianchi and Claude drove to 7 international class K records, with a further 11 taken between the 30th September and the 10th January 1957.

https://rarefrenchsportscars.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/velam-final.pdf
https://rarefrenchsportscars.wordpress.com/2016/01/04/velam/

1955 Victress... it sounded familiar, so I looked it up. and this was 2nd at the 1958 Pikes Peak behind Ak Miller in the Hot Rod Magazine Special in the sports car class

Built from a hodge podge of good parts, the Victress was a fiberglass body mounted on a Mercury chassis, powered by a Ford 312, with a four speed Jaguar trans and a early Ford truck rear end

Runner-up only because the shift knob popped off and Max Day, the driver, had to endure incredible pain when shifting through the gears, the metal lever cutting deep into his bleeding hand.

The fact that he still managed to reach Pikes Peak in second place, just 1.6 seconds behind Ak Miller in his Hot Rod Magazine Special gives ample testimony to the potency of this superior Victress.

http://canadianautonetwork.com/detail.php?TypeID=42&ListingID=106

http://www.californiaclassix.com/archive/55_Victress.html

Update, Feb 2017, I got a note from Jordan

"Very cool to read about the story of my grandfathers car.

I wanted to share some further insight to ol' Number 7. This was My great grandfather George Muench's car. Max Day was actually an insurance provider in small town Pueblo Colorado who the car was originally built for and owned by.

My grandfather was his mechanic and the driver was actually a fearless man named Dan (danny) Morgan. Noting the qualifying times set on friday, Morgan was an unbelieveable 42 seconds ahead of AK Miller who's powerful and light corvette was a handful on the loose dirt of the test climb section. Had the gear selector managed to stay intact on the day of the race, Morgan would have easily made the triumphant victory a sealed deal.

After the 1959 race season, my grandfather purchased the car from Day and repainted it and removed most of the race specific tuning features. Wrapped pipes were traded for chrome and the slightly pinkish red was swapped for a rich and vibrant candy apple. Many trips to and from pueblo colorado were made up to my grandparents cabin by twin lakes.

None the less, it was amazing car that was refurbished and now maintained by a true collector. I sure do miss the sound of the triple carbed, straight piped MONSTER grumbling through the mountains of colorado though! "

Man, that's cool to hear from him about this car!

A rare Fairlady Z 432 is coming to auction

Bought from Bingo Sports by a collector who now wants to reap the profit, this is a genuine performance 432 variant of the Nissan Fairlady Z.

What makes the 432 special that it shared the same DOHC 24-valve S20 engine found in the legendary Skyline GT-R. Reportedly producing 160 horsepower, the number 432 refers to 4 valves, 3 carburetors and 2 camshafts on the in-line 6-cylinder engine.

 Magnesium wheels were fitted as standard, and this car comes with the rare factory optional roll bar.

https://kenobrothers.proxibid.com/asp/LotDetail.asp?ahid=10447&aid=101086&lid=27219110&title=1972-Nissan-Fairlady-Z432

Just one of many interesting sports cars going to auction at the Keno Brothers ‘Rolling Sculpture’ Fine Automobile Auction event, taking place November 18-19, 2015 at Skylight Clarkson sq., in Soho, New York City

Haven't seen this Alfa before.

found on https://www.facebook.com/groups/1631935880418477/

Some fantastic sports cars at the Arizona Concours

1939 hot rod racer of Briggs Cunningham, the Bu Merc

irritated that so many cars in the ARCA (Auto Racing Club of Amercia) were not American, Briggs Cunningham assembled a 1939 Buick chassis under a SSK Mercedes body, with the help of a Indy 500 Buick racer.

IT was ready in time for the last race at the New York World's Fair, in October of 1940, but due to brake fade, ran into a lamp post. Then racing was cancelled until after WW2, and when in 1948 racing resumed at Watkins Glen, with the SCCA, the car was improved to mods suggested by Buick's VP of engineering. It placed 2nd behind an Alfa... and seems to have triggered Cunningham to make his own sports cars.

Photos and info found on http://revsinstitute.org/the-collection/1939-bu-merc/ the Rev's Institute which seems to be the car collection of the Collier brothers ( Miles and Sam) who were drivers for and friends of Briggs in his Le Mans and SCCA racing. They are also the sons of the founder of Collier County Florida.

1939 ZiS 101A Sport Coupe

found on http://pharbers.blogspot.com.au/2013/03/1939-zis-101a-sport-coupe.html

First time I've ever seen a woman in uniform, with a cool sports car. I could fall for THAT!

decades of the old saying "A man in uniform" did nothing to get me dates when I was in the Navy.

But this woman? Wow.

Found on http://prova275.tumblr.com

the Babich Leningrad, with a limo engine, a lot of custom work, it had to be the best looking sports car in the late 1950's USSR

Thanks to Steve who sent this to me with the info about the car:

Seen here on Herzen street, this home-built two-seater sports car was designed and built by Neva A. Babich, a resident of Leningrad. The 3.5L engine was from a GAZ-12 ZIM, a Soviet limousine produced by the Gorky Automotive Plant from 1950 until 1960 that was inspired by the 1948 Cadillac Fleetwood 61 and 1947 Buick Super.

Not long after it was built, the Soviets placed severe restrictions on engine size in custom-built cars, not wanting ordinary citizens to have faster cars than the police/bureaucracy. This one could hit an honest 80 mph.

here is is recently

first time I've ever seen a Sabra, one of 153 made in 1962

I often mention that you can never tell what you'll see in the pits at the racetrack

an Israeli company (Autocars) commisioned Reliant to build them a sports car http://www.conceptcarz.com/vehicle/z12831/Sabra-Sport.aspx

Sabra sports cars are named for a prickly but sweet cactus fruit. A Sabra factory in Haifa, Israel, March 1965. http://natgeofound.tumblr.com

great display of dedication to racing