Where can I read about the great cars of "old"
Discussion
Reading through Pistonheads today I came across the v12 article and the suggestion of a Jag XJ13 replica. "Everyone knows about the XJ13" the article says.
I dont I thought to myself. I am 38, havent always lived for cars, loved reading in last months Evo about the Ferrari 288 GTO. A car I had never heard of but was so well written about and so pretty I wont forget it for some time.
Now this Jag XJ13 pops up on my radar and I find myself wanting more than a wikipedia page. Any great sites or sources of articles to read about all the "greats"
Also, what other "greats" should I know about, I do not even know much about the 250 gto so any recommendations would be amazing
I dont I thought to myself. I am 38, havent always lived for cars, loved reading in last months Evo about the Ferrari 288 GTO. A car I had never heard of but was so well written about and so pretty I wont forget it for some time.
Now this Jag XJ13 pops up on my radar and I find myself wanting more than a wikipedia page. Any great sites or sources of articles to read about all the "greats"
Also, what other "greats" should I know about, I do not even know much about the 250 gto so any recommendations would be amazing
Something like Petrolicious might be good. Videos of some great classics, hearing about them racing from the drivers and getting a feel for the car with rolling shots.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgyJPixJl95X1ut3E...
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgyJPixJl95X1ut3E...
This might help as far as XJ13 is concerned. I think it was 1991 that I got to start her up and drive her - all of a couple of hundred yards!
https://buildingthelegend.co.uk/category/original-...
https://buildingthelegend.co.uk/category/original-...
hiccy18 said:
I highly recommend a subscription to Classic & Sportscar! 
Yeah , but hindsight often skews the picture of the impression a car made in period . Writers like Martin Buckley tend to lever in cod-sociological guff about the sort of people who bought a car back in the day , and the car's social status . The research seems to begin and end with watching crappy old TV series on Talking Pictures and thus is usually .hopelessly wrong . Not every villain drove the cliche of the Mark 2 Jaguar ...The way to do it best is to read period magazines - they give a proper insight - and /or to be as old as I am . I have a complete set of CAR (and its predecessor title) from the early Sixties and re-reading copies is fascinating . Lots of cars we now venerate had a very different status then , as the nostalgia industry didn't exist. So , by the late 60s the 250GTO was just an obsolete old racing car - a special one but affordable for the comfortably off . Ditto the Cobra - which by 1970 was generally regarded as a crude old anachronism.
In period , what was far more interesting to most of us than a pimped up AC Ace (ie Cobra ) were clever cars like the sublime NSU Ro 80 - which looked and drove like the future, the gorgeous Citroen SM.and who recalls the amazing mid engined Rover BS? Or the Lotus GKN 47 D ? And everyone loved a Miura , no matter how flawed it actually was .
Edited by coppice on Saturday 8th August 05:57
Edited by coppice on Saturday 8th August 05:58
I don't buy the magazine anymore, simply flick through my dads and understandably it doesn't grab me the way it did way back in issue 2, but as a pre-teen learning about such wonders as the D-Type, GT40, Hemi Charger and GT350 C&SC has had a thoroughly positive influence on my car enthusiasm.
Without C&SC I would not have made a chance comment about an Ecurie Ecosse sticker on a laptop a few months ago only to discover I was in the presence of a D-Type driver and Le Mans competitor from the period; remarkable chap!
Without C&SC I would not have gone to Mulhouse a couple of years ago and been weak at the knees at the start of the GP hall faced with the sight of rows of GP Bugatti's (the real ones!).
And without C&SC I would not have gone to the Spa Classic the year before and admired the Gp4 Batmobile and Porsche 906 (amongst many others), seeing, hearing and smelling!
Apologies for getting carried away, reflection is a funny thing.
Without C&SC I would not have made a chance comment about an Ecurie Ecosse sticker on a laptop a few months ago only to discover I was in the presence of a D-Type driver and Le Mans competitor from the period; remarkable chap!
Without C&SC I would not have gone to Mulhouse a couple of years ago and been weak at the knees at the start of the GP hall faced with the sight of rows of GP Bugatti's (the real ones!).
And without C&SC I would not have gone to the Spa Classic the year before and admired the Gp4 Batmobile and Porsche 906 (amongst many others), seeing, hearing and smelling!
Apologies for getting carried away, reflection is a funny thing.
The journal of record for motorsport is, and always has been, MotorSport!
I must be on their mailing list - I'm not a subscriber - as they often send me emails advertising their ludicriously overpriced memorabilia, but also links to past articles, reporting significant events and cars of the day. If you go to their website, you can freely search their Archive: https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/issues
For instance on the X13: https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article...
JOhn
I must be on their mailing list - I'm not a subscriber - as they often send me emails advertising their ludicriously overpriced memorabilia, but also links to past articles, reporting significant events and cars of the day. If you go to their website, you can freely search their Archive: https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/issues
For instance on the X13: https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article...
JOhn
Edited by tapkaJohnD on Saturday 8th August 11:21
Edited by tapkaJohnD on Saturday 8th August 11:22
hiccy18 said:
I don't buy the magazine anymore, simply flick through my dads and understandably it doesn't grab me the way it did way back in issue 2, but as a pre-teen learning about such wonders as the D-Type, GT40, Hemi Charger and GT350 C&SC has had a thoroughly positive influence on my car enthusiasm.
Without C&SC I would not have made a chance comment about an Ecurie Ecosse sticker on a laptop a few months ago only to discover I was in the presence of a D-Type driver and Le Mans competitor from the period; remarkable chap!
Without C&SC I would not have gone to Mulhouse a couple of years ago and been weak at the knees at the start of the GP hall faced with the sight of rows of GP Bugatti's (the real ones!).
And without C&SC I would not have gone to the Spa Classic the year before and admired the Gp4 Batmobile and Porsche 906 (amongst many others), seeing, hearing and smelling!
Apologies for getting carried away, reflection is a funny thing.
I wouldn't have ever thought of going to TechnoClassica Essen but for C&SC. Subscribed for about 20 years from 1984ish...I'd recommend it for a trip. Without C&SC I would not have made a chance comment about an Ecurie Ecosse sticker on a laptop a few months ago only to discover I was in the presence of a D-Type driver and Le Mans competitor from the period; remarkable chap!
Without C&SC I would not have gone to Mulhouse a couple of years ago and been weak at the knees at the start of the GP hall faced with the sight of rows of GP Bugatti's (the real ones!).
And without C&SC I would not have gone to the Spa Classic the year before and admired the Gp4 Batmobile and Porsche 906 (amongst many others), seeing, hearing and smelling!
Apologies for getting carried away, reflection is a funny thing.
m.barnes said:
I dont I thought to myself. I am 38, havent always lived for cars, loved reading in last months Evo about the Ferrari 288 GTO. A car I had never heard of but was so well written about and so pretty I wont forget it for some time.
Now this Jag XJ13 pops up on my radar and I find myself wanting more than a wikipedia page. Any great sites or sources of articles to read about all the "greats"
Reading that makes me feel depressingly old.......... Now this Jag XJ13 pops up on my radar and I find myself wanting more than a wikipedia page. Any great sites or sources of articles to read about all the "greats"
Be careful !
You will end up spending hours browsing charity shops , boot fairs and autojumbles .
Then you will get some idea about the amount of stuff out there , sadly much of it will be just picture book stuff for grown ups , but you will find the stuff that matches your interest and the well researched and written stuff will lead you to other very similar books as the writers usually give their references and recommendations.
For me I tend to go for the art deco styles for looks and 50s and 60s drivers and teams for the written word .
You will end up spending hours browsing charity shops , boot fairs and autojumbles .
Then you will get some idea about the amount of stuff out there , sadly much of it will be just picture book stuff for grown ups , but you will find the stuff that matches your interest and the well researched and written stuff will lead you to other very similar books as the writers usually give their references and recommendations.
For me I tend to go for the art deco styles for looks and 50s and 60s drivers and teams for the written word .
Some of the semi autobiographical books. Halcyon Days. Anything by david scott moncreiff. WO’s books on Bentley. Better, AFCHillstead on the same subject.
There were some 1950s 60s books with titles like The Motorist’s Miscellany. Collections of newspaper type articles. Some absolute rubbish (especially if ‘written by’ a celebrity name of the time). Some good and the books are cheap
There used to be an spot on radio by Courtney Edwards I think. The National motor Museum have, or had, a booth playing one of these items. I have searched online but failed to find it. A sort of Letter From America about cars
There were some 1950s 60s books with titles like The Motorist’s Miscellany. Collections of newspaper type articles. Some absolute rubbish (especially if ‘written by’ a celebrity name of the time). Some good and the books are cheap
There used to be an spot on radio by Courtney Edwards I think. The National motor Museum have, or had, a booth playing one of these items. I have searched online but failed to find it. A sort of Letter From America about cars
Gassing Station | Classic Cars and Yesterday's Heroes | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff