Wifredo Ricart thought that if Ferrari’s horses could prance, his should be able to fly. Then the brilliant engineer surprised the world with this creation, the earliest-surviving example of Spain’s only super sports car. Recently restored, we drive it...
The Maserati A6G/54 is a thinly disguised racer with just enough civility for the road – beautifully wrapped in ultra-lightweight Zagato bodywork. Peter Tomalin is treated to a rare thrill.
‘This is a very important car for DrivesToday readers/chirruped the chap from JLR when issuing the invitation to the first launch drives of the new, fifth-generation Range Rover. Only the fifth? Yup, pretty incredible when you consider that it has now been in production for well over 50 years. Even more amazing when you think that many people might consider at least a couple of those previous generations superfluous. Is this one, too? We will soon find out...
Count Alexis Wladimirovich de Sakhnoffsky made his reputation in Europe and his fortune in America. There he became the foremost advocate of, as he put it, ‘the illusion of speed’ in design — or, put another way, streamlining. With the likes of Raymond Loewy, Norman Bel Geddes and Walter Dorwin Teague, Alexis was part of a new breed of industrial designers that emerged in the USA in the 1930s and whose name, whether given to a refrigerator or a wristwatch, would give it added sales appeal.
He was called ‘The King of Stop and Go’, although, to be chronologically precise, he should have been the ‘King of Go and Stop’ – his ‘go’ invention preceding the ‘stop’. Vincent Bendix’s whole life seemed to evolve on a stop-and-go basis. He was a big man, bighearted and a big spender. He made a fortune, spent a fortune and was no stranger to bankruptcy, divorce and ill-judged investments.
