by Graham Robson March 15, 1961—a special date for Jaguar enthusiasts—it was the moment when the new E-Type met its public for the first time. It was the day almost every other sports car in the world suddenly looked dowdy, when Jaguar realized to their joy that they would have real problems in meeting all…
by Dennis Wheeler In 1969, I was 15. I had run the typical teenage gamut of go-carts, small Honda motorcycles and doin’ wheelies with our MTD lawn tractor. A few of us hung out on Detroit’s Woodward Avenue observing the street machines often racing on cool Friday nights. My uncle Glenn would stop by our…
by Scott Macdonald If one turns the clock back to the city and school of Berkeley in 1969, it was a very tumultuous and crazy year with the Vietnam War and People’s Park. My brother Clyde and I were both glad to be wrapping up our terms at the University of California, and were itching…
by John F. Quilter I saw my first British car when I was just a small boy living in Charleston, South Carolina. It was an Empire green 1953 Morris Minor that lived across the street from my house. Something clicked and the British car became a lifelong interest, or maybe even an obsession. Fast forward…
Heaven Called…by Robert Goldman As I sit down to write, the news reaches me, Robert “Kas” Kastner has passed. While it may be that no single individual wrote the book on Triumph performance, it was Kas who finished it. As a racer with no funds, he had no choice. It was either make stock parts…
By Michael Kotowski Mind if I take a few measurements on this twelve footer?” I ask the guy at the trailer rental lot as I pull out my tape measure. “Go ahead,” he says, eyeing my classic Mini with a hint of suspicion. I measure the rear door and call out to my buddy Jeff,…
By Graham Robson Long ago, in the early 20th century, every British road car was built in the same way. First there was a chassis frame, then all the running gear was bolted to it, and finally a body shell was added. In almost every case the body was based on a hand-crafted wooden skeleton,…
By Peter Brock In the late 1960s, RW “Kas” Kastner was British Leyland’s visionary Director of Motorsports for the entire United States in the final days of the SCCA’s rather blurred concept of “amateur” road racing in America. From their small office in Westport, Connecticut, the elitist officers of the SCCA were trying to maintain…
The 1950s were halcyon days for Jaguar. With postwar demand for sports cars reaching record levels, Jaguar’s iconic XK120 two-seater quickly became a must-have amongst the American and European “sporty” car set. Alongside success in the showrooms, the decade also marked a period of near total domination by Jaguar in endurance racing, including 24 Hours…
By David Clark The Glory Days of the 1930s were long in the past. It had been 20 years since MG was a dominant force, owning records for absolute speed in the classes between 500 and 2,000cc. The engine in their 750cc overhead cam record breaker, EX127, ultimately made 145bhp, supercharged with 39 lbs of…
