The Greatest Racecars & Their Stories
The Most Iconic Racecars Ever Made
So, buckle up and prepare to be transported to the golden age of motorsports, where legendary machines and fearless drivers pushed the limits of speed and redefined the boundaries of automotive performance. Let these iconic race cars tell their tales, in their own words. These aren't your typical posts; these are a collection of firsthand accounts, as if narrated by the very cars that dominated the track and etched their names into racing legend.
Legends of the Track
Hear the roar of the legendary Ford GT40 as it recounts its epic battles with Ferrari at Le Mans in the 1960s, told through the voices of the drivers and engineers who pushed it to victory. Feel the raw power of the McLaren MP4/4, as Ayrton Senna's spirit guides you through its undefeated 1988 Formula 1 season. Experience the technological marvel of the Audi R18 e-tron quattro, as it describes its hybrid dominance at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the 2010s. From the ground-breaking Lancia Stratos rally car to the awe-inspiring Porsche 917, we delve into the history of these iconic machines, exploring their design innovations, their triumphs and tribulations, and the legendary drivers who tamed their power. Each article is a tribute to a specific car, a celebration of its unique character and its contribution to the rich tapestry of motorsport history.
I have certain fond memories of the first single-seater racing car I drove, which was a Vanwall. Tony Vandervell gave me a wonderful opportunity of driving it at Goodwood. There are a number of single-seater racing cars that I would have liked to have driven, throughout my career. It could...
The Can-Am Porsche 917 The Can-Am Race Series, held from 1966 to 1974, helped propel professional sports car racing to new heights of popularity in the United States. The series was governed by an open and simple set of rules, which created an environment that brought the most powerful and...
1954 The Tourist Trophy Where: Dundrod Circuit, Northern Ireland / Date: September 11, 1954 The Tourist Trophy; Dundrod Circuit, Northern Ireland, September 11, 1954. Masten Gregory slides out of the Hairpin with Bob Said’s Ferrari 500 Mondial. They finished 6th before the effects of handicapping. Details: Photo courtesy of: THE KLEMANTASKI COLLECTION...
Heavy Duty Lightweights 1961 Jaguar XKE “Coombs Lightweight” & 1963 Jaguar XKE “Qvale Lightweight” Photo: Pete Austin The year 2011 marks 50 years of the E-Type Jaguar or, as some of you know it better, the XKE. It’s a bit unsettling to find myself being unphased by remembering things that happened 50...
The 1961 Sebring 4 Hours Where: Sebring / Date: March 24, 1961 The Sebring 4 Hours, March 24, 1961. This is the works Austin-Healey Sebring Sprite, which was driven by Bruce McLaren, being refueled and went on to fourth place in this warm-up for the 12 Hour race for cars one liter...
Two events, one forever unforgettable, the other somewhat less memorable, shared the same Sunday, 40 years ago. Heading up the main straight hill to start Heat 2, Cannon and Eaton occupy the front row, with Gethin alongside Adamowicz on the second. Photo: Pete Lyons / www.petelyons.com The Sixties was a decade...
One of the races I remember well from my career was winning the 24-Hours at Spa in 1968. I drove the Porsche 911 to 1st overall, and it was a beautiful race for me although it had the usual Spa weather with rain for more than 18 hours. I was...
Performance perv that I am, I’m turned on by naked racecars. Even partially undressed ones. Lift an engine cover, unveil a shapely suspension arm, merely de-Dzus an access panel and I’m there, slavering. I simply groove on racing’s luscious secret places. Pete Lyons That’s probably one more reason I so...
Gracing the cover of Griot’s Garage Handbook #276 is a very mean Kremer Brothers-modified Porsche 935. Porsche 935’s in their heyday were some of the most spectacular cars to watch. With twin turbo-charged flat six Porsche engines, they produced 600 hp at 7500 rpm. The cars threw out massive flames...
Nürburgring In 1954 Where: Nürburgring / Date: August 1, 1954 The German Grand Prix; Nürburgring, August 1, 1954. A field of Porsche 356s approaches the South Curve complex following the start of their support race. Details: Photo courtesy of: THE KLEMANTASKI COLLECTION Address: PO Box 8204, Stamford, CT 06905 USA Tel: (203)...
Ayrton Senna Artwork This year marks the 30th anniversary of Ayrton Senna’s first of three Formula 1 Drivers’ World Championships. It was also McLaren’s 4th Constructors’ Championship win and their most dominant season ever with the McLaren MP4/4 winning 15 of the 16 races. To honor this anniversary, artist Paul Chenard...
1973 Porsche 911S Artwork Number 58 is a 1973 Porsche 911S campaigned by BRUMOS Racing and was the sister car to the number 59 ’73 RSR prototype with ducktail. No Subscription? You’re missing out Any Text Here Get Started Already a Member? Sign in to your account here....
In June of 2014, Porsche will return to Le Mans with a newly designed LMP1 racing machine. With 16 overall victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the pinnacle of endurance motor racing, Porsche is the most successful manufacturer in the race’s history. Their last win, though, was back...
Ferrari 250 GTO Artwork Dexter Brown presents his impression of the two-time world champ drifting a Ferrari at Goodwood. Fabulous is one word used to describe Dexter Brown’s original painting of Graham Hill drifting the Maranello Concessionaires Ferrari 250 GTO through Madgwick Corner at Goodwood, en route to victory in...
Mercedes W 196 Car: Mercedes W196 / Engine: 8-Cylinder In-line / Maker: Mercedes-Benz / Bore X Stroke: 76 mm X 68.8 mm / Year: 1954 / Capacity: 2,496 cc / Class: Formula 1 / Power: 257 bhp at 8,200 rpm / Wheelbase: 2350, 2210 and 2150 (Monaco) mm / Track:...
“A great hammer struck my spine, slamming my head back. I forced it down, and stared at the long black roadway between the orange wheel bulges. It was rushing like some demonic torrent frantic to enter the gates of hell… Pete Lyons “There was no longer any sensation of speed....
1964 24 heures du Mans Artwork GT 3.0 Class-winning Équipe Nationale Belge Ferrari 250 GTO 64 finished 5th overall, driven by Lucien Bianchi and Jean Blaton (“Beurlys”). No Subscription? You’re missing out Any Text Here Get Started Already a Member? Sign in to your account here....
1935 Maserati 4CS Photo: Peter Collins Ken Painter’s 1935 Maserati 4CS has had a highly active and dramatic existence, and though perhaps not as sinister as Stephen King’s continually resurrecting Christine, it certainly has had narrow escapes from destruction. Ed McDonough was lucky enough not only to get to grips...
1949 Belgium Grand Prix Where: Spa-Francorchamps / Date: July 10–11, 1949 The 14th Grand Prix of 24 Hours of Belgium; Spa-Francorchamps, July 10–11, 1949. Just two weeks after Le Mans, Luigi Chinetti teamed up with Jean Lucas and won his second 24-hour race of the season. Again they used a Ferrari 166MM Barchetta. This photo...
The original idea for this “special” feature had been to do a test on Porsche’s famed Moby Dick…the 935/78 long-tail beast from 1978, the company’s first racecar with water-cooled cylinder heads. However, that particular machine was on tour in China and not due back at the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart...
There have been many racing cars that have given me pleasure as a driver. Race-winning cars always spring to mind, too. Others that I have not driven, I just look at in awe. Some that are always at the forefront of my mind are the Porsche 917, which was a...
Tazio Nuvolari Artwork Artist Thom Montanari paints a picture of Tazio Nuvolari toward the end of his brilliant career. Tazio Nuvolari was truly a pure racer. Although he initially raced motorcycles, he eventually migrated over to four-wheeled machinery. Nuvolari was well known for his uncanny ability to beat his competition...
Juan Manuel Fangio Artwork Artist Chris Phillips paints an image of Juan Manuel Fangio and his Mercedes-Benz 300SLR during the 1955 Mille Miglia. Juan Manuel Fangio, called by the Argentinos “El Chueco” the bandy-legged one, is considered by many to have been the greatest Grand Prix driver in the world....
Porsche’s First Le Mans Win Artwork Uli Ehret’s classic watercolor recreates the first of Porsche’s record 16 overall wins at Le Mans. Porsche assembled a massive armada of 917s for its attack on Le Mans in 1970, its sole intent overall victory. At the end of the 24 hours in...
Michael Turner Atmosphere and emotion are two ingredients I have tried to incorporate into my painting. It was Tony Kydd, the features editor of Motor Magazine in the late 1940s who said to me, “Without attention to background, scenery, and people you lose so much in a picture, it’s not...
The Start of the 1962 Crystal Palace Trophy Where: Crystal Palace / Date: June 11, 1962 The Crystal Palace Trophy, Crystal Palace, June 11, 1962. At the start, it’s Roy Salvadori on pole in the Reg Parnell Racing’s Lola 4, with Bruce McLaren’s Cooper 55 alongside and Trevor Taylor, in the works...
What a question! It’s all so difficult because I’ve driven many varied cars across several eras of racing. Technology and development have played a part during my years of racing too; racecars have become better as time goes on. I started racing with a Lotus Seven at Goodwood, which was...
USAC Road Racing Fades as the SCCA Overcomes Its Aversion to Racing for Money When we left the USAC road racing championship last month it was coming off its most successful season yet, with 11 races producing nine different winners, but the schedule for 1960 would feature only five races,...
1909 Benz Type RE 200 PS “Blitzen Benz” It may seem somewhat incongruous that the story of one of Mercedes-Benz’s most significant and iconic racecars, the “Blitzen Benz” should revolve around an incendiary Belgian and two grandstanding American showmen. However, racing truth is oftentimes, stranger than fiction. The author comes...
Photo: John Zimmermann My first intro-duction to the Birdcage Maserati was at Riverside, California, in 1959. The car had been purchased by Joe Lubin and was driven by Bob Drake. I was very impressed by its light weight and balanced design, with engine in the front and transaxle in the...
A special era in the history of the Porsche 917 stems from a private conversation held between Porsche team manager Rico Steinemann and the legendary John Wyer the night before the running of the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1969. Steinemann had been authorized by Porsche management to offer J.W....
William Lyons was a great stylist, and is possibly the only CEO of a major manufacturer to have personally penned the majority of his company’s products. The exceptions were the C, D. and E-Types, which were the work of Malcolm Sayer, an aerodynamist from aviation. Sayer was the godfather of...
Fangio & Mercedes-Benz – Alliance of the best By Hartmut Lehbrink Although Juan Manuel Fangio won only one and two-thirds of his five Formula One World Championships and scored only eight of his 24 Grand Prix victories driving for Mercedes-Benz, the German marque remains the one most associated with his...
This is a little-known story, but the real father of Riverside Raceway was Jim Peterson. I thought this would be a good time to tell it, because the new Riverside International Raceway Museum is having a “Legends of Riverside” celebration on March 27-29. It might be appropriate to include at...
Ferrari 166MM barchetta Where: Modena Aerautodromo / Date: July 10-11, 1949 On July 10-11, 1949. Just two weeks after Le Mans, Luigi Chinetti teamed up with Jean Lucas to win his second 24-hour race of the season, the 14th Grand Prix of 24 Hours of Belgium, at Spa-Francorchamps. Again, they used a Ferrari...
Fed up with seeing their major races won by the Germans in the 1930s, the Italians allowed only 1½-liter entries in their 1939 races to eliminate their opposition. They reckoned without the astonishing skills of the Daimler-Benz Racing Department. The most glamorous Grand Prix race of the 1930s was not...
Gullwing Artwork Nicolas Hunziker honors the Gullwing Mercedes-Benz 300SL in which John Fitch won the ’55 Mille Miglia. Two months before the end of WWII, an American P-51 Mustang was shot down over Germany. The pilot was Captain John Fitch and he spent the rest of the war as a...
1964 Cooper T70 For a youthful 26 year old, the lure of winning your own country’s premier motor race in a car of your own design must have been overwhelming. For Bruce McLaren, the introduction of the Tasman Series, incorporating not only the New Zealand GP, but also the Australian...
Racer Hurdles Crowd and Lives.” This was the Sunday, August 31, 1952 headline story in the Buffalo Courier Express. The racer was 29-year-old Richard Thierry, the car was a Porsche 356, and the word “hurdles” hardly began to describe what really happened. Grand Island is nested away in the northwest...
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