With the Auto Union D Type going up for sale this weekend lets not forget about the last two Vanderbilt Cups.
Robert Benoist was probably France's finest pre-war driver winning many races. He was also an agent during WWII, serving behind enemy lines in France. His family estate was used as a base of operations and an ammunition supply site for the resistance. He was arrested by the Gestapo but made an escape by jumping from a moving vehicle and was later spirited away to England with the help of the 'underground' but returned to France to resume operations. While visiting his dying mother in Paris he was once again arrested and imprisoned in Buchenwald. Sadly, he was later executed.
I hope you've been saving those pennies your gonna need em ! Lucky enough to have seen,heard and watched an Auto Union some years back at our Centenary Hillclimb I ended up with not only the Auto Union but the V16 BRM on post at the same time.
Geez, I'm surprised that ex Stuck car is only listed as $8M-$10M. I got a feeling it will sell for much more. Great article here www.velocetoday.com/archives/823 about the Alfa Romeo Tipo C 8C35 Rex Mays drove in the 1937 Vanderbilt Cup. Some info here http://home.att.net/~Berliner-Ultrasonics/limpvcup.html about the '37 Vanderbilt Cup and the Long Island Motor Parkway.
it's handling was also rather "twitchy" due to its very short WB. note the early use of airdams and side skirts to keep the airflow from under the car? I think that this is probably the first use of them.
not the only time side skirts were suspect - Rosemeyer story http://www.kolumbus.fi/leif.snellman/rose.htm
I like Rene DeKnyff, he had a great style and always knew where to find the best wine. The epitome of the gentleman racer/sportsman. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ren%C3%A9_de_Knyff De Knyff on the right:
Yes. The amount of 'holes' throughout must have served a purpose. It was so short there wasn't any room for a conventional gearbox to go with the straight 8. It's also interesting that the family of Tank cars were quite successful.
Not all Bugatti racers were stunning looking. Some were 'unique' {my way of saying ugly} while one in particular and of typical Bugatti philosophy had a very striking resemblance to a certain German car.
Is this the 4WD Hillclimb special car that Jean Bugatti built ? if it's the same car, it was brought to Shelsley Walsh here in the Uk and never made it up the Hill crashed in practice ! car was brought back some 70 years later and made it to the top.
since we are on hill climbers at Shelsey Walsh, below is probably one of the most famous men ever to dedicate thier life to conquering that hill and his favorite car: Raymond Mays and the "Villiers Vauxhall" http://vboa.org.uk/toplevel.php?p=h6 Mays again in his Brescia:
Regarding Rene de Knijff (as his name really was), he was originally Belgian but changed his nationality later in life. It's remarkable that a small country as Belgium produced quite a lot of outstanding drivers during the pioneer days of motor racing: DeKnyff, Duray, DeCrawhez, Houtvast and the greatest of them all; Camille Jenatzy. DeKnyff in his role as a director of Panhard-Lavessor was responsible for the elegant "Skiff" bodywork by French carrossier Labourdette. Furthermore I thought he introduced the national racing colours when he was president of the FIA. And wasn't he into speedboat racing too ??? Anyway: this photo is surely one of the best in motor racing...
Great articles here http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Jean-Pierre_Wimille on the lives of Jean Pierre Wimille, William Grover 'Williams' and Robert Benoist. All three were members of the Resistance during WWII and all three were at the time France's greatest drivers. Only Wimille would survive to see the end of the war but would ultimately lose his life doing what he did best. First three pics are Robert Benoist. The next two are J.P. Wimille and the last photo is in honour of the first winner of the Monaco GP, W.G.'Williams'.
bitchin link to some transporter stuff, well worth the time: http://www.forix.com/8w/transporter-nye.html a little late for the times noted, but this would hard to top (there is a 250F in the back):
one of my favorite cars ever and a good write up on her designer Andre Lefebvre: http://www.switchimage.org/Lefebvre_1_E.html
Things move so fast on this thread, phew.... Anyway: someone asked about the four wheel drive Bugatti type 53. Here it is:
Never knew Lefebvre was behind the Voisin "Laboratoire" ! Indeed that explains a lot about his later designs. Artwork by Carlo Demand: the Bugatti Tank chased by the Voisin in the 1923 French G.P.
You guys have sure wasted a lot of my time reading all this. I THANK YOU all. The only tidbit I can add is the Premier never actually made the Vanderbuilt Race, it was still too heavy even with all the lightening holes. I think I remember 4 inch bore 9 inch stroke 100 hp. Would LOVE to hear it run!!
It was a good read, never knew it was his first complete car design either. it is neat seeing it parked next to a DS 19 (being his last car design) the relationship is staring you in the face. Should stay away from art work...whole different kettle of fish the voisin looks positively evil in that drawing.
The August 2009 issue of Classic & Sports Cars is on the news stand now with a great feature on the Type 59 Bugatti GP car. I never knew the full history of the feature car # 54213 until I read the article. The current restoration is perfect IMO. If you look at the 1953 photo of the car on page 8 you'll see it with the fenders that made it one of the most photographed Bugs in the world. It was an honor to get to work on it back in the 1970's.
That car is just weird, but in a good way. Lefebvre sure was ahead of the times. I love the water pump design.
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