Friday

NEW RULES FOR DETROIT, TORONTO AND HOUSTON

The IndyCar series is stopping by Detroit, my hometown, this weekend. In their new cost saving mode they will be running two races for the series and they will both count. They intend to do this at Toronto and Houston, too. The move saves the teams travel money at the expense of the other tracks that will not see IndyCar this year. Too bad though, because some of those tracks were on my favorite list. We may see this happening more and more often. Below I have printed the edited rule changes from an article by David Lewandowski via indycar.com:

INDYCAR announced that qualifications for the second race of the IZOD IndyCar Series doubleheaders at Belle Isle in Detroit, Toronto and Houston will be split into two groups.

All cars will participate in one of two groups for 12 minutes each, with five minutes of guaranteed green-flag time. INDYCAR amended Rule 8.3.9.1, which had called for a 30-minute, all-car qualifying session.

In accordance with Rule 8.3.2.2 of the IZOD IndyCar Series rulebook, qualifying groups will be determined by the combined times posted by entries during the practice session a day earlier. Group 1 will consist of odd-numbered positions on the practice time sheet, while even-numbered positions will comprise Group 2.

The starting field positions will be determined by the best time ranking of the two groups combined, from fastest to slowest, with the fastest qualifier occupying the pole position.

Qualifications for Race 1 will follow the regular three-round format, including the Firestone Fast Six, for road and street circuits. All six races are for full points.

Qualifying for Race 2 of the inaugural Chevrolet Indy Dual in Detroit presented by Quicken Loans is scheduled for 9:15 a.m. (ET) June 1. The 70-lap races of the Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix on the 2.3-mile street course are scheduled for 3:30 p.m. (ET) June 1 and June 2.

The two races of the Honda Indy Toronto on the 1.75-mile Exhibition Place course are July 12 and July 13. Indy car racing returns to Houston for the Shell and Pennzoil Grand Prix of Houston presented by the Greater Houston Honda Dealers with twin races Oct. 5 and Oct. 6.
 
photo credit: © 2013 google.com
edited text: © 2013 David Lewandowski via © 2013 indycar.com

Thursday

ENGLAND ON THE 1ST OF JUNE

1931 ROLLS ROYCE

SPRING SALE
by Historics
Brooklands Museum
United Kingdom


+44 (0) 1753 639 170

photo credit: © 2013 Historics at Brooklands

Wednesday

CONNECTICUT ON THE 31ST

1979 PENSKE PC-6

SPRING AUCTION
by Dragone
Dragone Classic Motorcars
176 Post Road West
Westport, Connecticut


1-203-335-4643

photo credit: Dragone Auctions

MISSOURI ON THE 31ST

1956 AUSTIN HEALEY

ST. LOUIS CLASSIC & EXOTIC CAR AUCTION
by MotoeXotica
2340 Cassens Drive
St. Louis, Missouri


1-636-600-4600

photo credit: © 2013 motoexotica

SPECIAL OF THE WEEK

1938 CHEVY

Professional groundup restoration 95% complete on low mileage original car. New LeBarron Bonney grey interior Exterior color Venetian Maroon. 6 cyl completely rebuilt, 3 speed, BF Goodrich wide whites, excellent chrome, many extras available


Located in New York........1-518-329-6789

photo credit: © 2013 hemmings.com
text credit: © 2013 hemmings.com

Sunday

INDY 500


Everyone knows that my favorite Indy drivers that last couple of years are Takumo Sato and Tony Kanaan. Takumo Sato had some problems in the first 50 laps and ended up in 13th. But, and a big BUT here, Tony Kanaan became the hard fought winner. Second went to Carlos Munoz, a 21 year old rookie from Columbia. This kid is going to go places. Ryan Hunter-Reay came in third.

Kanaan brought everyone to their feet, he is well loved by everyone. Even the losers were happy for him. They say that nobody has worked harder to finally make it.

Beside Kanaan, Carlos Munoz is also the drive of the day. Started in second place and ended up there. There were 14 different leaders with a total of 68 changes. Only five caution flags which is good for the 500. They also broke the average speed which includes the caution laps was 187.433 miles per hour. During racing laps they were hitting as high as 226 miles per hour.

Justin Wilson, who came in 5th, will receive the Pilette Family trophy.


photo credit: © Mark Rebilas, USA TODAY Sports
video credit: © 2013 indycar.com via © 2013 youtube.com

FORMULA ONE IN MONACO

Nico Rosberg, home-town boy, winning at Monaco thirty years after his father (Keke) won the same race. A great day for him as it was a perfect race considering the problems for everyone else. It is a tight track, raced on the streets of Monaco, for these wider Formula One cars. Hard for them to pass while in the old days it was hard enough. Sebastian Vettel came in second which still leaves him in the lead for the championship. Mark Webber, last years winner, came in third.

The race was dotted with accidents and one actually stopped the race because the track was blocked. Adrian Sutil for Force India had a great day and ended up in fifth.

photo credit: © 2013 Getty Images via © 2013 bbc.com

Saturday

ANOTHER INTERESTING 'INDY' STORY

In the CART series that came before the INDYCAR series, Alex Zanardi won the championship in 1997 and 1998. In 2001 he lost both of his legs in a racing accident in Germany. Since then he has gone on to win a gold medal in 2012 for hand-cycling. This weekend his former team owner, Chip Ganassi, gave him the restored car that he drove in 1996. With that car he made a pass that was so daring that it was banned for future races. He won the race which was the final race of the season at Laguna Seca. A very nice gesture on the part of Ganassi.


photo credit: © 2013 indycar.com

Friday

ENGLAND ON THE 25TH

1951 BRISTOL 401

MOTORCARS AND MOTORCYCLES
by Richard Edmonds
Castle Combe Race Circuit
United Kingdom


+44 (0) 1249 444 544

photo credit: Richard Edmonds Auctions

Thursday

AN INTERESTING 'INDY' STORY

Peter Vack has an interesting online magazine that has a free section that comes out every Thursday. He also has subscribers to see his special treats. The magazine caters to French and Italian classic cars of all ages. "Veloce Today" is the name and can be viewed at www.velocetoday.com. It looks like he is making some upgrades this week so you may have to be patient.

In the free section there is a two-part story about a 100+ year old racing dynasty in a Belgium family. Gee, we know a few other families like that. Anyway, grandpa, Theodore Pilette, was in the 1913 'Indy' and came in fifth. His race was a story to tell.
His son, grandson and great-grandson were and are all racers. This one has a nice twist for this year. The Pilette family will be attending the 100th anniversary of grandpa's race and give a trophy to the person that ends up in fifth. I hope that whoever that driver is that he/she appreciates it for what it is.

Part one is written by Peter Vack and can be viewed at http://www.velocetoday.com/one-family-100-years-of-racing/ and part two is written by Graham Gauld at http://www.velocetoday.com/the-pilette-racing-dynasty/. According to the comments there are a couple of little mistakes, but if you read the comments you will be up to speed.


photo credit: Pilette Family

Wednesday

ITALY ON THE 25TH


1905 FIAT

VILLA ERBA
by RM
Villa Erba
Largo Luchino Visconti, 4
Cernobbio, Italy


+44 (0) 20 7851 7070

photo credit: © 2013 RM Auctions

BELGIUM ON THE 25TH

1962 FRED DAVIES SPECIAL 

THE SPA CLASSIC SALE
by Bonhams
Spa Motor Circuit
Belgium


+32 (0) 2 736 50 76

photo credit: © 2013 bonhams 1793

VIRGINA ON THE 25TH


ABSOLUTE AUCTION
by Burnt Chimney
634 Jubal Early Highway
Wirtz, Virgina


1-540-420-0933

photo credit: © 2013 Burnt Chimney Auction

MOTOR ART........MARCO KOOIMAN

CONTACT:


+39 (0) 3467159743

Rome, Italy

1 & 2 photo credit: © 2013 google.com
3 photo credit: © 2013 bluecanvas.com

DRIVING AMBITION: THE OFFICIAL INSIDE STORY OF THE McLAREN F1



photo credit: © 2013 Jalopnik

Monday

MICHIGAN ON THE 22ND

1955 FORD

ONE DAY ONLINE AUCTION
by Repocast
601 Gordon Industrial Court
Byron Center, Michigan


1-866-550-7376

photo credit: © 2013 repocast.com

PENNSYLVANIA ON THE 21ST

ABSOLUTE AUCTION
by Barry Slosberg
722 Spring Street
Reading, Pennsylvania


1-215-425-7030



video credit: © 2013 Barry S. Slosberg Inc.

Saturday

THE SECRET LIFE OF FORMULA ONE

PART 1:

PART TWO:


video credit: © 2013 youtube.com

Friday

SPECIAL OF THE WEEK

1954 DODGE POWER WAGON M37

Clutch,brakes,exhaust, tires, paint all good shape, front winch works, fiberglass top, engine 6 cyl. flat head, 12v. electrical system, spare tire, misc spare parts, nice truck.

Production of the M37 began in earnest in January 1951, with approximately 11,000 vehicles produced by the end of the year. By mid-1954 63,000 of the vehicles had been produced. In 1958 a number of modifications to the design resulted in the new vehicles being designated as M37B1. From mid-1958 until the end of production 47,600 M37B1 vehicles were produced. Approximately 4,500 Canadian M37CDNs were also produced between 1951 and 1955. These vehicles continued in service worldwide in the Israeli and Greek militaries.

In total, between 1951 and 1968, 115,000 M37s were produced. Spare parts for these vehicles are widely available and inexpensive to procure. Many deficiencies with aging design became apparent in the 1960s, including a tendency of the connecting rods to fail at high rpms due to the long cylinder stroke of the engine. As the average speed of the vehicles in the military increased, these engine failures became commonplace due to the low gear ratio of the vehicle, which was originally designed as a multipurpose vehicle capable of transporting heavy loads of ammunition.

Thirty years ago I owned two of these. They were great, easy to work on and much fun.

Located in New York.......1-585-703-6663

photo credit: © 2013 hemmings.com
text credit: © 2013 hemmings.com, 2013 Wikipedia and myself

Wednesday

THE CORVETTE WE DIDN'T GET ALMOST 40 YEARS AGO



video credit: © 2013 youtube.com

Tuesday

MICHIGAN ON THE 18TH

EASTERN MICHIGAN AUTO FEST & CLASSIC CAR
by Rowley's
Eastern Michigan Fairgrounds
Imlay City, Michigan


1-810-724-4035

ENGLAND ON THE 18TH


THE ASTON MARTIN WORKS SALE
by Bonhams
The Aston Martin Works Service
Tickford Street
Newport, Pagnel
United Kingdom


+44 (0) 207 447 7447

video credit: © 2013 bonhams 1793

NEW YORK ON THE 18TH

MOTORCYCLEPEDIA MUSEUM MOTORCYCLE AUCTION
by MidAmerica
Motorcyclepedia Museum
Newburgh, New York


1-651-633-9655

ENGLAND ON THE 17TH

1948 LAND ROVER

INTERNATIONAL TROPHY SALE
by Silverstone
Silverstone Raceway
United Kingdom


+44 (0) 1926 691 141

photo credit: Silverstone Auctions

MARYLAND ON THE 16TH

OCEAN CITY COLLECTOR CAR AUCTION
by Express
Ocean City Convention Center
Ocean City, Maryland


1-443-807-8883

ENGLAND ON THE 15TH

1948 PANHARD
 
CLASSIC CAR & MOTORCYCLE AUCTION
by Brightwells
Easters Court
Leominster, Herefordshire
United Kingdom
 
 
+44 (0) 1568 611 122
 
photo credit: © Brightwells

Sunday

INDIANA ON THE 14TH

1978 MGB

INDY
featuring
The Richard Ellis Collection
The Denny Danen Estate Collection
The Bill Sefton Collection
by Mecum
Indiana State Fairgrounds
1202 E 38th Street
Indianapolis, Indiana


1-262-275-5050

photo credit: © 2013 mecum.com

FORMULA ONE IN SPAIN

KIMI RAIKKONEN, 2ND - FERNANDO ALONSO, 1ST - FERRARI MANAGEMENT - FELIPE MASSA, 3RD


Unusally boring for Spain. Drivers were plagued with a continuing tire problem. Pirelli Tire should straighten this out or hand it off to someone else. In all fairness Pirelli didn't want the job....but someone probably got paid.

Alonso handily and happily came in first place to his 32nd win which puts him up in the top four. To get to the top he would have to win every race for the next five years. He can put that aside and be happy to win in his home country for the first time at this track in Barcelona. Second went to 'Mr. I Am Now On The Podium In Almost Every Race.' Yes, Kimi Raikkonen came in 2nd again. Massa did a fine job and was able to pull in third. Maybe Ferrari has its problems sorted and they will be a better contender this year.

Mark Webber was 5th.

photo credit: © 2013 f1fanatic.co.uk

Wednesday

ENGLAND ON THE 11TH

1946 HUMBER

MAY CLASSIC CAR SALE
by Mathewsons
Thornton-Dale Garage
nr. Pickering
United Kingdom


+44 (0) 175 147 445

photo credit: © 2013 Mathersons

SOUTH DAKOTA ON THE 11TH

1955 CHEVY

PIONEER AUTO MUSEUM
by van der Brink
Pioneer Auto Museum
Murdo, South Dakota


1-507-673-2517

photo credit: © 2013 van der Brink

LOUISIANA ON THE 11TH

2005 FORD GT

LAST DAY - ONLINE AUCTION
by Bonnette Auctions


1-318-443-6614

photo credit: © 2013 Bonnette Auctions

CANADA ON THE 10TH

1927 FORD ROADSTER

CALGARY COLLECTOR CAR AUCTION
by The Electric Garage
Grey Eagle Casino
Calgary, Alberta
Canada


1-888-296-0528 ext. 102

photo credit: © 2013 The Electric Garage

COLORADO ON THE 10TH

1930 FORD COUPE

SUPERIOR COLLECTOR CAR AUCTION
by Dickensheet
National Western Stock Show Complex
Denver, Colorado


1-303-934-8322

photo credit: Superior Collector Car Auctions

Monday

INDIANA ON THE 9TH

1934 FORD

AUBURN SPRING
by Auctions America
Auburn Auction Park
5536 County Road 11A
Auburn, Indiana


1-877-906-2437

photo credit: © 2013 Auctions America

WASHINGTON ON THE 8TH

1956 THUNDERBIRD

BIG SKY COLLECTOR CAR AUCTION
by Silver
DAA Northwest
2215 South Hayford Road
Spokane, Washington


1-800-255-4485

photo credit: © 2013 Silver Auctions

THINGS TO DO IN RETIREMENT

In the State of Washington, Walter Austin, a retired sheet-metal worker built this fine example of a Willys coupe. A little something to do in your spare time.
Quite an empressive engine.
Interesting interior.

photo credit: from Ed Thomas by e-mail

Sunday

INDYCAR IN BRAZIL

MARCO ANDRETTI , 3RD - JAMES HINCHCLIFFE, 1ST - TAKUMA SATO, 2ND

One thing I can say about Indycar is that they have a lot of races that keep you on the edge of your seat. This was one. James Hinchcliffe made a daring last turn, last lap, challenge against Takuma Sato to take the win by .3463 of a second. Sato, my favorite, had been leading for the last 17 laps when the jump was made. It would be hard to get any closer than that. Marco Andretti, a teammate to Hinchcliffe, came in third.

Tony Kanaan, from Brazil, was playing to his home country crowd. They love him and cheered every move he made. Which was great at the time he was bouncing between 1st and 2nd, but that wasn't to be. Halfway through the race he had a refueling problem that cost him any kind of a finish, its called 'no finish.'

photo credit: © 2013 futebolinterior.com.br
video credit: © 2013 IZOD via © 2013 youtube.com 

Wednesday

AUSTRALIA ON THE 6TH

1958 AJS

SYDNEY AUTUMN CLASSICS
by Shannons
65 Reserve Road
St. Leonards, Sydney
Australia


+61 (0) 2 8019 4116

photo credit: © 2013 Shannons

TENNESSEE ON THE 4TH

MID-SOUTH CLASSIC CAR AUCTION
by Lonnie Cobb
50 Fiberglas Road
Jackson, Tennessee


1-731-423-5551


COLORADO ON THE 4TH

1972 CHEVY BLAZER

ADAMS COUNTY
by SAAAS
Adams County Regional Park
Brighton, Colorado


1-800-901-0022

photo credit: SAAAS Inc.

TEXAS ON THE 4TH

THE HOUSTON CLASSIC AUCTION
by Worldwide
La Torretta Lake Resort and Spa
Montomery, Texas

www.wwgauctions.com

1-800-990-6789

 

GEORGIA ON THE 3RD

1962 CHEVY

CLASSIC CAR AUCTION
by Ronnie Bartlett
660 Peavy Road
Byron, Georgia


1-478-956-0910

photo credit: Peach Auctions