750 and 101 series cars 1954 – 1965
Maurizo sends me a note: “I put this interesting video on YouTube.” That’s an understatement -this is like the first time I saw the Shell Coup Des Alps video -except a little more lingering on the cars here. Wow. How many stills from this film or photographs have I seen from this day 54-ish years ago!
Post a comment with your favorite moment below.[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7HqVhtbUKk&feature=email]
If you ever wondered what it would have been like if ‘Streets of San Francisco’ had a sister show in Italy then wonder no more. This Maurizio Merli clip from the early 70’s is pretty tough, with all the obligatory car chase moves including avoiding baby-stroller pushing pedestrians, crashing through a flower stand and kicking out a broken windshield. Awesome! Maybe the Berlina needs to be Italian Police spec.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYcbgBpMYXE&feature=related]
If you are a fan of Alfa Romeo Giulietta’s there is a pretty good chance you also have an appreciation for Italian motorcycles from the same era. The clip below fulfills both interests and gives a glimpse of road-race competition protocol in Italy in the 50’s. If you look closely there are several Romeo vans kitted as team transporters, a Giulietta Berlina at about 1:25 and best of all lots of footage of the trailing press car, a Lancia Aurelia Spider America, close cousin of the Pininfarina Giulietta Spider. Enjoy.
When you take an old car out on a tour or rally far from civilization, you have to be prepared to either figure out a way to limp home, leave your car and go borrow a truck and trailer, or pay a big towing bill. I’m not saying old cars are inherently unreliable, it’s just that, if like me, you do a lot of the work on your cars yourself, this preparedness is a simple admission that your skills have their limits.
The guys in this video hopefully got the McGuyver trophy if they didn’t win.
[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=STB9E4pTyBE]
Broken throttle linkage? No problem. Enzo, get out there and use your hand, you’ll know when I’m going to shift.