Maserati 3500 GT: The Car That Saved Maserati From Bankruptcy On April 14, 1958, TIME ran a short business item under the headline “Maserati Off the Track.” Its American readers had spent the previous season watching the trident dominate: Juan Manuel Fangio had just taken the Formula 1 World Championship in a 250F, and the … Read more
Achille Varzi: The Anti-Nuvolari, the Morphine, and the Helmet He Wasn’t Wearing Drop Tazio Nuvolari and Achille Varzi into the same room and the only thing they share is the language they speak. Everything else divides them. Nuvolari came from a Lombard farm, the son of a cyclist. Varzi came from a Piedmontese textile factory, … Read more
Mercedes W196: The Machine That Thought Like Fangio This site told you about the man. Now it’s time for the machine. When this site covered Fangio, the line was that he made the car good, that he didn’t depend on the machine, that the talent lived in him. And it’s true. But it would be … Read more
Fangio: The Man Who Won With His Head When the BBC or Sky pundits reach for a yardstick of greatness, they tend to say a modern champion is “the best since Fangio.” Not since Senna, not since Clark. Since Fangio. The name has become the floor of the conversation, the bedrock figure every other great … Read more
Stirling Moss: The Champion Who Chose Not to Be One Ask any British kid of a certain age what their dad said when a copper pulled him over for speeding, and you’ll get the same answer: “Who do you think you are, Stirling Moss?” Not Hawthorn. Not Fangio. Not Hamilton, decades later. Moss. The name … Read more
Vittorio Jano: the engineer who designed the engines that won for Alfa Romeo, Lancia and Ferrari, and whom almost nobody remembers Here’s a question. If you walked into Goodwood next summer, stopped any ten people in the paddock, and asked them to name the most influential engine designer in the history of Italian motorsport, what … Read more
