Historic motorsport, classic car features Retro-Speed classic car magazine

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THE NORDSCHLEIFE - Editorial Rambling : Peter Baker

Respect required – Words and picture by Peter Baker I’ve just driven two laps of the historic 13.6-mile Nordschleife circuit in the rain and, let me tell you, my respect for those Grand Prix drivers who took on the challenge during the Sixties overfloweth. In 1968, Jackie Stewart won the German Grand Prix by a margin of four minutes. And he was nursing a broken wrist at the time In ...

SPA SIX HOURS 2024 - Editorial Rambling : Peter Baker

Alfie takes me to Spa-Francorchamps Words and pictures by Peter Baker Spa. There and back. Then there and back again… It was all going so swimmingly well. Alfie, my 2008 Alfa Romeo Brera S, fresh from a major overhaul, had covered some 400 trouble-free miles when, for no apparent reason, the poor thing just stopped. Luckily, though very dark, and very wet, it was after the eve...

SIT-IN-TEST - LOLA-VW T620 : Roman Klemm

The great Jo Gartner's Lola-VW T620 Words and pictrures by Roman Klem Eric Broadley (Lola Cars Ltd.) was a manufacturer who tried to supply every possible class of racing. And so it happened that, in 1978, his products not only won the famous Indianapolis 500 (Chaparral-Lola T500, Al Unser Senior), but at the same time also started in lower formulas, such as Formula Super-V. Broadley was p...

PAUL RICARD - Editorial Rambling - Peter Baker

Paul Ricard v. vineyards Words and images by Peter Baker Paul Ricard is another circuit now ticked off my must visit list. Situated in the Provence area of Southern France this interestingly different 3.63-mile circuit, opened in 1970 and named in honour of its constructor, is unique in that conventional run-off areas utilise high-grip, bright blue and red-painted abrasive strips, effective...

ITALIANO - Editorial Rambling : Peter Baker

Maser joins the stable Words by Peter Baker It’s been an Italian two or three weeks, car-wise. Firstly, my Alfa Romeo Brera S has been given a good seeing to, and I can report ‘Alfie’ has not only been fully serviced, but granted another 12 months stay of execution by way of a fresh MOT. Big news, though, is the purchase into our household of yet another Italian gem, by na...

GOODWOOD - SPA FRANCORCHAMPS - Editorial Rambling : Peter Baker

Peripatetic Peter Words and images by Peter Baker. Click to view Gallery. My life is in an uncontrollable spiral, but whether that is up or down, I’m not quite sure. Take last weekend for example. Following a hectic day entertaining folk at Goodwood on behalf of Barton Racing it was hot foot to Spa Francorchamps, where the team ‘s TVR Griffith was suffering last minute ...

BRUNO GIACOMELLI INTERVIEW : ROMAN KLEMM

Roman interviews Bruno Giacomelli Words and pictures by Roman Klemm Desenzano del Garda, 9 March 2024 - Festina lente! In the late 1970s, he was the future champion, experts considered him the ‘new Clark’, in the junior classes he went from title to title. At the end of the 1980 season, he and his Alfa Romeo were one of the fastest combinations in Grand Prix. Formula 1 dismis...

JOACHIM ALTHAMMER INTERVIEW : Roman Klemm

Roman interviews Joachim Althammer Words and pictures by Roman Klemm Monaco + Goodwood = Salzburgring! The existence and organisation of historical events usually depends on the enthusiasm of clubs or individuals. The prototype of such an enthusiast is 64-year-old Joachim ‘Achim’ Althammer from Freilassing, Bavaria. In order to organise his Rallye Edelweiss Classic and the Ros...

GINA CAMPBELL AT PRESCOTT - Editorial Rambing : Peter Baker

Friends of Prescott hosts Gina Campbell Words and pictures by Peter Baker What, with one thing and another; a trip to Sebring in Florida, a successful run on Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique in Doris the Daimler and a long weekend with Barton Racing in Spain, already under my belt, it’s fair to say, 2024 is going to be another cracking year. Downside, less competition outings for y...

SIT-IN TEST OF A HARTMANN FORMULA JUNIOR : Roman Klemm

Joachim Althammer’s Hartmann Type 2/0007 Formula Junior Words and pictures by Roman Klemm The idea of motorsport enthusiast Count Lurani regarding the introduction of a simple and thus affordable monoposto class (Formula Junior) was primarily intended to discover new Italian talents. But, at the turn of the 1950s and 1960s, this class became widespread throughout Europe. In Germany, i...

HANS CLAUSECKER INTERVIEW : Roman Klemm

Roman interviews Hans Clausecker Words and pictures by Roman Klemm Hans Clausecker, the guy in the Rescue Porsche Eighty-three-year-old Hans Clausecker won't be found in any Formula 1 Grand Prix statistics, yet he has started in several of them - as a R (Rescue)-Porsche driver, running at full throttle behind the enraged field, being equipped with rescue tools, fire extinguishers and a do...

RAMBLING INTO 2024 - Editorial Rambling : Peter Baker

Twenty twenty-four, here we come Words and pictures by Peter Baker Almost before I could catch my breath after Christmas, yours truly was booked on a plane to Sebring in Florida, where Barton Racing (with whom I work) had entered their newly-built Toyota Supra GT4 EVO for the up-and-coming Harry Barton in six, close together races. Good news. We gained five podium places. Click to view the...

REVIEWING MY RACING YEAR : Roman Klemm

Roman’s most lasting 2023 experiences Words and pictures by Roman Klemm. Click top right to view Gallery. Perhaps the most important phenomenon of the 2023 season was the fact that even the FIA adapted to ‘normalisation’ and, after three years of humane and moral darkness, gave up on the ‘Corona reprisals’. Those who wanted to make money had already raked in e...

PERIPATETIC PETER - Editorial Rambling : Peter Baker

Racing ahead Words and pictures by Peter Baker Racing at Silverstone, Portimao and Sebring. A quick recap. For reasons I’ve yet to fathom, yours truly has attached himself to a young, up-and-coming race team, known by one-and-all as Barton Racing, specifically their ambitious stars, Harry and George. Anyway. We did well at Spa-Francorchamps, finishing 10th in the Spa Six Hours Endura...

EGON HOFER INTERVIEW : Roman Klemm

Roman interviews Kommerzialrat Egon Hofer Words and pictures by Roman Klemm. Click top right to view the gallery. “The Ferrari 250GT SWB is like a prima ballerina who leads you around the dance floor.” Herr Kommerzielrat Egon Hofer from Salzburg may not be familiar to every motor sport fan. But he is a welcome and respected guest among fans of historical sports and among the o...

JO VONLANTHEN INTERVIEW : Roman Klemm

Roman interviews Jo Vonlanthen Words and pictures by Roman Klemm25th of October 2023 ‘We were treated to the sights of Jo Vonlanthen´s GRD doing odd things on occasions’. That is how Ian Phillips described the Swiss newcomer’s achievements in his Formula 2 seasonal-survey in the December 1973 issue of Autosport. Not very flattering. But Vonlanthen even made it to For...

PAULINE GULLICK INTERVIEW : Ken Davies

Ken interviews Pauline Gullick Words by Ken Davies. Pictures courtesy of Pauline Gullick Pauline recalls 12-Car rallies, East Africa, James Hunt and.… knitting! Stuart Turner’s oft quoted analogy between rally co-driving and high-speed office management is very apt and perhaps one of the reasons why, when women take to the co-drivers seat, they become extremely success...

SIT-IN TEST AT JO VOLANTHEN MUSEUM : Roman Klemm

Not even James Hunt did this to the McLaren M23 Words by Roman Klemm. Pictures by Jo Vonlanthen Thanks to the generosity of former F1 driver Jo Vonlanthen, I was allowed to execute another of my ‘sit-in-tests’ of race cars. This time in the sensational car of the 1976 World Champion James Hunt - the McLaren-Ford M23. It ended in a bad accident - the heaviest one of my career as ...

JO VONLANTHEN MUSEUM AT MEILENSTEIN : Roman Klemm

70 Years of Formula 1 - Words and photos by Roman Klemm. Click top right to view photos. "Couldn't you get more cars like this for a bigger exhibition?" asked the manager of a large Zurich shopping mall. ‘Glat’, a racer was signing autographs next to his racing car. The small event took place in the mid-seventies and caused great interest. The little guy had to sign everything p...

ALFREDO FILIPPONE INTERVIEW : Roman Klemm

Roman interviews Alfredo Filippone Words by Roman Klemm. Images by Roman Klemm and Alfredo Filippone's archive This is how the biography of Emilio de Villota was born In addition to the popular drivers, who are being chased by dozens of autograph collectors, many unknown key personalities of motorsport also move around the pits of world circuits. One of them is the inconspicuous Alfredo ...



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