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.
The 1952 24 Hours of Le Mans was staged June 14-15 at Circuit de la Sarthe in Le Mans, France. The race signaled the return of Mercedes-Benz to international motor racing, as the German team scored a one-two finish with the W194 300 SL racing car that was developed for...
The race that started it all at Laguna Seca was an upset of sorts. With big-name drivers like Carroll Shelby, Richie Ginther, Fred Knoop, Jim Hall and John von Neumann in the field driving more powerful machines from the likes of Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz, Aston Martin, Maserati and Porsche, few gave...
I was involved in racing in a very interesting time, when a lot of good things happened and a lot of bad things. I was co-driving with Herbert Mueller. After Zeltweg in 1971, we were asked by Rico Steineman, the Porsche racing manager, if we had a car for Pedro...
1964 Porsche 904 GTS Resplendent in its red and white Scuderia Filipinetti livery, 904 #079 looks lean and lithe and very much ahead of its time.Photo: Mike Jiggle When I first started going to races in the 1950s, I had the great good fortune to be able to tag along...
The 1980 Porsche 924 Carrera GT Le Mans racer was recently reunited with its British driver line-up at Silverstone prior to beginning restoration by Porsche Classic Centre Partners. Thirty-five years since it last turned a wheel in anger, this significant Porsche race car arrived in the UK in the first...
Triple Porsche at Le Mans Artwork Artist Steven Vartanian conjures an image of Porsche’s 1958 triumph at Le Sarthe. Older racing Porsches from the ’50s-’70s are one of my favorite cars to paint. This painting shows the great Jean Behra in the 718 RSK that he shared with Hermann coming...
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...
Jacky Ickx in the Ferrari 312B Where: France / Date: July 5, 1970 Jacky Ickx in the Ferrari 312B leads the field away from the start of the French Grand Prix at the open-road Charade Circuit on July 5, 1970. Ickx would lead the first 15 laps before his engine failed. Jochen...
1970 24-Hours of Daytona Artwork Artist Thom Montanari paints a picture of Pedro Rodriguez at the height of his powers – the 1970 24-Hours of Daytona. Nothing is quite as dramatic as the sight of an endurance racecar prancing on during the night portion of an endurance race. Pedro Rodriguez...
Of course, my dad gave me the talent to become a racing driver and he helped me a lot. He was not only a successful racer, but also a good and fair sportsman. He taught me a lot of the things that helped me in my career. This year saw...
I have been asked, a number of times, which branch of motor sport I enjoyed the most: driving, management, or loosely speaking designing, as my career has encompassed most of those disciplines. Although cars have raced bearing my name, I cannot really take any responsibility for their design; it was...
The former home of Henry VIII, Hampton Court Palace, will play host to a selection of some of the rarest Ferraris ever built as Concours of Elegance gets underway from August 31 to September 2. Ferraris from 1950 to the present day will appear in the Main Concours event, spearheaded...
The New Ferrari 330P2 Where: Modena Aerautodromo / Date: December 15, 196 Modena Aerautodromo, December 15, 1964. John Surtees is about to head out to test the new Ferrari 330P2 that will be Ferrari’s mainstay sports car for the coming season. Mauro Forghieri (glasses) and Dr. Franco Gozzi stand beside the car...
1972 Porsche 911 S/T Artwork The Toad Hall Racing Porsche 911 S/T as driven by Jürgen Barth and Michael Keyser at the 1972 1000km Nürburgring – it finished fourth in class, and 13th overall. At its next race, the 1972 24 hours of Le Mans, it would win the 2.5-liter GT...
In all my career, the very best cars I ever drove were the 1986 Benetton B186-BMW and the 1987 Ferrari F1/87 V6. Both cars had the really big turbo power, the big rear wheels, and went like rockets. They were so fast they were nearly uncontrollable, but I liked those...
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...
Many will believe my greatest racecar will be the Ferrari 156 “sharknose,” since featuring in my film and DVD of the late 1990s, La Passione. As a romantic young boy it was, but now I would say it wasn’t. It has to be remembered, Stirling Moss wiped the board with...
Celebrating 55 years of the 1969 European Hill Climb Championship crown, where the Ferrari 212E Montagna finally gave Scuderia Ferrari its first title in this motorsport discipline, Sports Car Digest presents its readers with an in-deep story of this mythical vehicle, in a form of a detailed summary of its...
The tattered old file folder is where it started. In the folder I found mysterious handwritten lists… scrawled chassis and engine numbers… a tally of some sort. Intriguing. Too intriguing to let rest. An obsession took root. Photo: Patrick Lauder It was late 2015. I had just bought a beautiful...
It is an extraordinary difficult question to answer, “What is my greatest racecar?” One can consider cars one has won races with, that always leave a nice flavor. What makes the question even more difficult is that most racecars I drove are not entirely comparable with each other, though some...
Porsche 356 Racer Artwork Michael Jekot takes a colorful look at a Porsche 356 racer. Serial number 117307, a 1962 Porsche 356B, started its road life as a daily driver in Malibu, California. When John Mayer of Minnesota purchased this T-5 bodied coupe, as the third owner in October of...
Mercedes W 25 Car: Mercedes W25 / Engine: 8-Cylinder In-line / Maker: Daimler-Benz / Bore X Stroke: 78 mm X 80 mm / Year: 1934 / Capacity: 3,360 cc / Class: Grand Prix / Power: 354 bhp at 5,800 rpm / Wheelbase: 107.2 inches / Track: 58.0 inches front, 56.0...
I am synonymous with the Jaguar marque. It would, therefore, be strange for me to consider a car other than a Jaguar as my greatest racecar. What many people do not understand is that in order to test and prove a particular Jaguar, cars from other marques had to be...
Pedro Rodriguez in the N.A.R.T. Ferrari 250 GTO Where: Daytona / Date: February 17, 1963 The Daytona Continental (3 Hours) Race; Daytona, February 17, 1963. Pedro Rodriguez in the N.A.R.T.-entered Ferrari 250 GTO leads Skip Hudson’s Shelby American Cobra out of the infield loop. Rodriguez won by a wide margin while Hudson retired....
Jaguar’s regal record in the world’s most prestigious sports car race was assembled over many years We may not automatically think “Jaguar” upon hearing the words “Le Mans,” but the reverse linkage is more likely to be true. Although it had enjoyed prior racing success, Jaguar truly rose to international...
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...
A 1969 Gulf Porsche 917, chassis 017/004, will be shown at several events during the 2014 Monterey Classic Car Week. This special Porsche 917 will be shown at the Carmel Concours on the Avenue on Tuesday, August 12, McCall Motorworks Revival on Wednesday, August 13th and in the Porsche Pavilion...
Mercedes W 154 Car: Mercedes W154 / Engine: 600 V12 / Maker: Daimler-Benz / Bore X Stroke: 67 mm X 70 mm / Year: 1938 / Capacity: 2,962 cc / Class: Grand Prix / Power: 425 bhp at 8,000 rpm / Wheelbase: 107.5 inches / Track: 58.1 inches front, 55.6 inches...
Two Ross Brawn designed cars were to play a big part in my racing career, both were formidable contenders and race winners, but in a totally different formulae. My experiences in one led to a drive in the other. The two cars are the TWR Silk Cut Jaguar XJR-14 and...
The Targa Florio was the decisive contest in the 1955 World Sports Car Championship. Under tremendous pressure to succeed at the final race of the season, Mercedes-Benz finished first and second with the 300 SLR, just enough to win the World Championship. 1955 was a year of top-drawer motorsport: Juan...
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...
In honor of the 12 Hours of Sebring-winning Porsche RS Spyder, Sports Car Digest highlights the Porsche 917 PA Spyder. While there are several visual similarities between the two racers, most notably the yellow and red paint scheme, the similarities end there, as the Interseries and ALMS race cars are...
1938 French Grand Prix Where: Reims-Gueux / Date:July 3, 1938 Hermann Lang, in the Mercedes-Benz W154, at full speed across the fields of Eastern France. Details: Photo courtesy of: THE KLEMANTASKI COLLECTION Address: PO Box 8204, Stamford, CT 06905 USA Tel: (203) 461-9804 Fax: (203) 968-2970 E-mail: [email protected] Web site: www.klemcoll.com Blog:...
I’ve driven many types of cars, Indycars, NASCAR, Sprint Cars, the whole bit; I started at the old Devil’s Bowl Speedway, Dallas, Texas, on a third of a mile dirt track driving a 1932 Chevrolet Coupe. The car was pretty basic, no fenders, and a Chevrolet V-8 engine; I raced...
In 1981, I set up my own team to do the Indy 500. I bought a McLaren M24 Cosworth and was reasonably successful that year finishing 3rd behind Unser and Andretti. During the race, Rick Mears had a pit-stop accident, suffering burns to his face. After the race, my wife...
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...
Chassis #86638 – 1959 Porsche 356A Convertible D Just how good a racecar was Porsche’s 356? Since the model’s introduction, Porsche 356s of all types (77,895 cars built) recorded victories throughout the world. While an SL Gmund Coupe scored the earliest, important 356 victory (class win at Le Mans in...
1964 Canadian Grand Prix Where: Mosport, Canada / Date: September 26, 1964 Victory in the Canadian Grand Prix at Mosport on September 26, 1964, fell to Luigi Chinetti’s North American Racing Team, with Pedro Rodriguez and Lodovico Scarfiotti taking the top two places in Ferrari 330Ps, while Walt Hansgen, seen here in...
As highlighted in this month’s Racecar Profile (pg. 20), the Porsche 914-6 competed at both the professional and amateur levels during its short life from 1970-1972. Porsche built just over 50 special GTs to compete on the world stage. This month’s Web site is devoted to the history and authenticity...
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...
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