Last week I looked at some of the classic American vehicles at the Desert Classic Concours d’Elegance, today it is the turn of some of the Classic Europeans thanks to Geoffrey Horton who kindly shared his photographs.
Geoffrey’s Jaguar XK140 FHC SE/MC is seen above parked alongside the unique De Tomaso Sport 5000 which was raced once and retired from the 1966 Grand Prix di Mugello and the Replica Ferrari Testa Rossa I looked at on Friday.
In 1935 Louis Delage had to liquidate the Delage company he founded in 1905 and sold the marque to Delahaye. The first Delage of the Delahaye era 4.7 liter / 286 cui straight eight powered D8-120 twelve chassis of which were sent to LeTourneur et Marchand where stunning 18′ Aerosport Coupe Coachwork was fitted, the 1937 example above is one of eight known to remain.
For some reason my blog on the SIATA 208S proved one of the most popular I have ever written to date, the 1951 SIATA Daina Gran Sport above was a FIAT based Special predecessor of the 208 powered by a modified FIAT motor with a unique to model overhead camshaft and twin carburetors which increased the power from 60hp to 72hp.
Lancia manufactured the Aurelia from 1950 through to 1958, from 1956 Lancia built just 521 B24 Convertibles like the 1957 example seen above.
In 1963 Mercedes Benz was winding down production of it 300 SL Coupé derived 300SL Roadster building just 26 of the latter, above is one of just seven 1963 300 SL Roadsters thought to have been built for the European market.
Tony Adamowicz dominated the up to 2 litre / 122 cui class of the 1968 Trans Am series winning eight out of ten races to seal the championship, above is a Porsche 911 Adamowicz Trans Am Tribute car built by the same team who built the original.
In 1990 I was driving through a small town in Surrey when I spotted A 1983 Citroen 2CV6 Beachcomber for sale in a drive. Having bought and sold several of these cars I had no hesitation in pulling over to check it out. It was not in the same condition as the one seen above but I bought it there and then anyway and over the next couple of years drove it 36,OOO miles extremely happy miles across Europe.
On the 1st of December 1914 the Maserati brothers, Alfieri, Bindo, Carlo, Ettore, and Ernesto established the company, featured on this blog every Monday, bearing their name. FIAT became the current owners of the company in 1993 and in 2004 after an official 4 decade absence from racing Maserati returned to the tracks with the MC12 Corsa. The MC12 Stradale is the road going version heavily based on the running gear of the faster Ferrari Enzo. Like the Enzo all 50 MC12s were pre sold.
Finally a sad tale soon after this photo of a Morgan Aero was taken it was involved in a collision with a truck. Fortunately no one was hurt but the Morgan was left much the worse for wear.
My thanks to Geoffrey Horton for sharing his photographs.
Thanks for joining me on this “Classic Europeans” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a vintage Plymouth. Don’t forget to come back now !