For most classic car owners - and among them collectors - the car they actually own can usually be traced back to a childhood or youth memory. Look at me for instance; I find it extremely difficult to buy anything but Alfa Romeo cars. Others try to get hold of the top cars in vogue right now - what is hip? They want to be seen in the icons - some of them eternal icons. You know; any Ferrari - the older the better. A Lamborghini - preferably a Miura or a Countach.
Keld is different; when I first met him, he drove his black Lancia Flaminia Pininfarina GT to a meeting at the Custom House. I applauded his choice of such a splendid marque (he agreed). He invited me to drive the car - an offer I couldn’t resist. And I applauded the phenomenal technology of the Lancia Vu Sei and the transaxle with de Dion rear (he agreed). But when I mentioned Pininfarina he suddenly changed gear - so to speak. And I learned that he knew so much about HOW the original italian designers thought. How they were competitors while still also owing genuine respects for each other. He also told me that he had bought an Anderloni GT Lungo.
I have always cherished the italian lines and shapes - it is one of the main reasons why I drive Alfa Romeo. But I focus on the mechanical solutions; nobody did better mechanical solutions than Alfa Romeo. Lancia always did exciting technical design, but their engineering solutions were never as solid choices as Alfa’s were. Take the Fulvia; pioneering a sporty front wheel drive and a well thought-out narrow V4 in a compact and agile chassis. But in my opinion - the ends don’t meet. Not until Ercole Spada, then house designer at Zagato, penned the Fulvia Sport. Like the one Keld has here. A beautiful silver sports car; a real purposeful stretch of the nimble Fulvia Coupé. And Keld can talk for hours - he repeatedly interrupts my filming because he wants to show this or that detail. I borrowed the big WAFT book on SPADA from Keld; it’s the one with the aluminium cover. A wonderful story about a very interesting and different man. Ercole Spada was a very modest self-taught designer - making crazy cars with crazy Elio Zagato and actually ending up at BMW designing their most beautiful 5-series line.
I must admit that Keld’s Lancia fling has awakened a doubt in my mind - my next car will hopefully be a Flaminia Berlina. But again more for my engineering lusting than for the Pininfarina design. Keld’s black GT shares the dashboard and many interior details with the otherwise chunkier Berlina. And that is actually one of the premium qualities of the Coupé, but again his passion for the vehicle is the stories - the heritage of modern car design founded with these revolutionary late-1950s lines from Torino. Even de Gaulle hailed the Pininfarina house for it’s contribution to French and particularly Peugeot design.
It’s impossible to have a passion for italian designers without owning a Fiat. Keld has a few and his longtime favorite is the tiny 850 Spider - by Giugiaro while at Bertone. It has so many delicious details - some original and some copied from even earlier cars. That’s how it works. It is what they call heritage.
I mentioned that the basement is run between friends. And one of them is Dorthe who has evolved this phenomenal Fiat 600 Multipla. She is also well known throughout the Danish classic car community - and her car has a certain - let’s say feminine touch. And she always wins at Concours de Charme events.
But we were talking about Giorgetto Giugiaro. The lighthouse of italian car design; Bertone, Ghia, Italdesign - appointed car designer of the century. Don’t ask Keld who designed the Miura - and then suggest Marcello Gandini. No matter what the consensus is - Giugiaro is the king. And among the collection is this handsome Subaru SVX (or Subaru Vehicle X) with a 3.3 Liter six-cylinder boxer engine and with lines that evidently mimics the original sketches from the hand of the master. Almost like a cartoon and definitely conveying the pencil strokes of Giugiaro.
Which brings us the master stroke: The original Fiat Panda. In a way it is the Citroën Deux Chevaux interpreted into stylish - into italian by Giorgetto Giugiaro. It is so simple but much more robust than the 2CV, better thought out in many details, and so simple it waters your eyes. Details keep coming up - and while Keld points them out for me, I get it! This is what he means: The 2CV is lovely and you can’t help falling for the french simplicity. But it IS focused on functionality! This car is ALSO focused on functionality - but is has that extra touch that only italian design can have - it is complete - it tells a story besides the story about functionality. La bellezza necessaria - the necessary beauty.
Oh that’s and old Alfa Romeo slogan - well, never mind. I get it!
I am so lucky to have a film about the original owner of my car. Frank Erwing Pedersen is sadly not among us anymore, but he was a colorful character back around the time when the Historic Races in Copenhagen started. CCCC was run as a culture-city event in 1996, and by the year 2000 it had established itself as a bi-annual event. I stumbled upon my own photos from the 2000 event at Holmen Naval Station.
And this fall I even travelled to the Padova Auto e Moto d'Epoca with Gorm Bang Olsen, the gentleman who arranged it all back in the days. He is the amiable and determined guy in the Triumph. Enjoy the film.
What I enjoyed the most today on the internet was reading an interview with Joe Colasacco on Petrolicious about how he came to drive his yellow Alfa Romeo Giulia TZ hard - and winning so many races. It is a wonderful story - read it at www.petrolicious.com.
The Alfa Romeo Giulia Tubolare Zagato
The angry and deadly Maserati Tipo 151.
He mentions how he got to own the Maserati Tipo 151; and we all very well know that car, right. It was Giulio Alfieri's attempt at creating a Le Mans winner from the powerful 450S; it has a closed cockpit and (what was then seen as) clever aerodynamics. And of course it never won anything; this one car, the only surviving of three built, has tried to kill everybody who has ever driven it - Joe's own words in the article.
This is the Alfa Romeo 6c3000 he mentions in the Petrolicious interview.
... and a car he doesn't mention the Ferrari 1512 formula 1 - 1.5-liter 12 cylinder.
This beautiful video shows why we love classic cars and historic motor racing. It shows the passion and how it materializes when we drive our cars like they are supposed to be driven.
This video, on the other hand shows us how it is done. This is REAL-REAL driving an OSCA MT4 as it really happens.
And here we se what goes on as we live our dream and fulfill our passion. I know it is from a high-revving motorcycle engine, but it makes you think twice - in awe of the guys who originally designed our engines.
Friday afternoon Søren Malmstrøm called me and suggested that I followed a group of "Nørrebro Racing" cars on the Four Ferries Trip around the Ise firth; it's a round-trip (virtually) ticket for a 200 km tour with four water passages. And you buy one ticket per car and one ticket per passenger. I had already been contemplating that tour with Per Holmen in the Sunbeam Alpine and Klaus Rejkjær in the Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GT Veloce. And lo and behold; they lept at the chance. A quick coffee and off we were the following morning. A splendid Saturday.
Such a nice day - even the tickets look nice.
Nørrebro Racing only brought a Porsche Speedster and a TVR 3000M.
I had my video-kit with me - and everybody else joined in with snippets of iPhone film.
Per Holmen itched for a test drive of his new Sunbeam.
In the evening all back at our starting point.
The boys - Klaus is impatient and noisy in the Bertone GT in the background.
When I picked up my Giulietta SV the other day from Skallebølle Auto, my mechanic Steffen Madsen demonstrated how he had tuned the V6 engine of Keld Jørgensen's Flaminia GTL. I don't quite remember ... but the sign on the boot-lid says it is a late series 2.8 engine - and it has the 3C (tre carburatori) manifold with six vertical Weber chokes. Let me explain how I see the lineage and how the design evolved over Lancia's 1950-1970 vee-six period.
De Virgilio and Jano mad Gianni Lancia's war-time dreams come through.
Sliding-pillar front and many types of rear suspension - world's first V6.
Original Aurelia rear suspension (left) and Jano's improved race-derived De Dion design (right) - De Dion went on all Flaminias.
De Virgilio did the road cars, while Vittorio Jano did the racers - here the D24 with 3.2 liters and 270 hp
Commendatore Gianni (in suit) sends Taruffi on his way at the 1953 Migle Miglia - a victorious year for Lancia.
Pininfarina approached Lancia in 1954 with a Aurelia design update - called Florida.
Very american in its design elements, but retaining the Pininfarina style - developed into the Flaminia.
The prototype also had suicide doors but quickly settled at a more conservative design.
The italian luxury limousine - now with wishbone front and a square engine - built until 1970.
The shorter GT floorpan, also in Pininfarina's design - 2.5-liter until 1962 then 2.8 liter.
Carrozzeria Touring made Coupé and Cabriolet version on GT platform - and the GTL (lungo) on the Berlina wheel-base.
Most beautiful of them all, and most powerful: The Zagato GT.
When I followed the 2012 Mille Miglia I brought my old car-nut friend Gert Sterner, with whom I have been filming our automotive exploits since 2002. Almost 15 years - early beginnings with Hi-8 video tapes and clumsy cameras. Four years ago on the Brescia-Roma-Brescia drive I planned to do interviews with all the 36 participants; I thought that would be easy, and a splendid opportunity to emulate Petrolicious. I found out that it only looks easy - it is bloody difficult to alone find the time and venue for the talks. And getting the good shots and the proper comments is virtually impossible.
I ended up doing Sterner's and mine personal story.
So you guys better come up with some prose.
Much the same this time. Only, during the last evening dinner I asked everybody (we were only 9 after all) if they would consider something they could tell the camera on the following day's drive. Then I would be happy to record it. I warned everybody that it would probably not happen - and they shouldn't expect much.
This is the film I got - and I must say: No matter what ignorants say about Petrolicious films - I think they are bloody marvelous. I always have, by the way.
Wow, what an experience. First driving the TOUR DOLOMITI 2016, Then recording footage, collecting snips of video from the other participants. And finally editing the whole thing - toughest since my 2012 Mille Miglia trip.
But now it's here. It could be much better - but frankly: I am already on my way to the next experience. Stelvio Automobili will use the video for a private showing with stories and tales from the trip, but of course it is also available for anybody out there on Youtube, who has he ability to become inspired.
Enjoy, and remember to subscribe to my Youtube channel - or promote it to other classic car fans you know.