The Time Has Come
The Walrus said to talk of many things,
Of ships and shoes and sealing wax,
And cabbages and kings…

Actually that is not exactly what both the Publisher and Editor of this fine magazine had in mind when they recently asked if I would write about what is my favorite thing after vintage cars, bright women, and loud music.

You know there are people in our life that we see irregularly. Yet no matter the elapsed time, the warmth and conversation always picks up precisely where it left off. 

A select group of books fall into that category. And that got me to thinking about what it is about each of these special friends that mean so very much to me.  For some, it is the specific content for which I had a passion, for others it is simply the manner in which it is written, sometimes it is the images. 
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In my youth I was taught to respect and try to read all manner of books, simply because each requires skill and effort to produce, and unless you try all within the scope of your passions, will you never learn what others have spent time and money to put into your hands. 
Decades later I have become more selective. In no particular order, I look for quality of content, quality of writing and the book’s purpose.  On that last, I can and do constantly read drivel if it satisfies the other criteria. And I guess that is the baseline, isn’t it.    

Oddly enough, Motorsports writing comes in all categories and over the years I have set aside a number of books that, while not constantly called upon, comfort me simply by their presence on a nearby shelf.  Some are more financially valuable than others but all have an equal and non-monetary value to me. And strangely, most have a story attached to them that prompts me to cherish them. 

It was Monterey Week 1987. My first visits to the peninsula and its varied automotive adventures. I was at Laguna Seca Raceway wandering through the tent vendor alley. I was looking for Denise McCluggage, my favorite automotive writer, who had just released a new book with photographer Tom Burnside entitled American Racer. We had been up and down the aisle when I spotted Phil Hill in the Road & Track booth. He was signing and selling 4’x5’ John Lamm photographic images of him driving Pete Lovely’s Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa. I knew that he and Denise were close friends, so I queued up to ask where Denise might be. 

The line moved quickly and after I introduced myself, I asked him my question.  He said that since he was going to the pit area to race a vintage racer, he would take me to her. BTW he said, why don’t you buy a picture? Certainly! I said, somewhat startled by the question and swallowing hard. The cost was $400.  As we walked the four minutes to Denise, he asked me how I was involved etc. I told him I had worked for Champion Spark Plug Co. and covered races with Champion Race Director, Dick Gail. 

​It turned out he was good friends with Dick and he said I looked familiar. I assured him we hadn’t met, but he insisted. As we neared Denise, he put his arm around my shoulder and introduced me to her as an old friend who had worked with their mutual friend Dick Gail, and helped him at the track. Denise beamed, and we hit it off right away. We were swapping stories about Dick, and I now had new friends in Phil and Denise.

Phil Hill – A Driving Life 
Photography by John Lamm. 

My “friend” Phil Hill was the first American to become a Formula One champion, and was a three time Le Mans winner. He also drove for ATS, Maserati and later Chaparral. But, Phil Hill was far more than a very good racing driver. He was also an excellent writer who drove important racing cars, and wrote columns about them and other drivers in Road & Track for years. 

This book is a reminiscence of the time he and R&T photographer John Lamm spent driving important automobiles, not all racing cars, and profiling important contemporaries like Moss, Andretti, Dan Gurney and others.  In this book you will find a story about the 1886 Benz Replica, and the cover car, a billiant Maserati 250F, his first F1 drive and the car in which Fangio famously overcomes a 48-second deficit in the final 22 laps to pass Hawthorne’s Ferrari and win the 1957 German GP on the last lap, and in the process, breaking the lap record 10 times. 

Hill’s generous writing style and sensitive observations compliment Lamm’s incredible images. It is a journey that took several years on numerous race tracks in Europe and America to complete.     

​Phil Hill – My Driving Life  is a treasure and a fascinating journey, and it  also ticks off all three criteria required to exist on my top shelf.  The writing on its own is worth the price, and the addition of John Lamm’s photographs and some vintage images taken at the time and featuring Fangio, Collins and others, puts “content” over the top.  As for its purpose, few books go as far in explaining why we love racing cars, and the people who build and drive them. If you are only going to have 10 books on your shelf, be certain this is one of them.  

Collectible Value: The book was a product of Bull Publishing, who also offered it as a Limited Publisher’s Edition of 300 signed by Mario Andretti and others. One slightly used copy of which is currently available on the internet for $500. 

PS:  Two years ago I met Phil Hill’s son Derek at Monterey and we had a moment or two to chat. I told him the story of his dad’s insistence on our having met. He said to me “I’m surprised and doubtful. My father had a photographic memory, and my belief is that if he said he met you, he probably did.” Derek has much in common with his father. And that is not a bad thing.   

PPS. That framed image of Phil Hill in the Testa Rossa has never left my office, since it came home from the framer. 

Peter Bourassa

“Collectible” and “valuable“ needn’t be prerequisites for adding an item to your collection. In the case of books, the aspect of “value” can be as important as the quality of the material or its rarity. In this issue, I would like to bring two books to your attention whose monetary value is wildly different based primarily on their availability. Yet in my opinion, both have a common value, based solely on their content. Here is the story of these two stories, but first a little of my backstory….

David Halberstam was one of America’s greatest contemporary writers. It was said that “David Halberstam wrote books that fused narrative storytelling with investigative reporting.” The result: stories that hummed with energy and authority and reads as well as -- if not better than -- some novels.  High praise indeed!

I had the honor and pleasure of meeting David Halberstam after he had written a book entitled The Reckoning. The book was about the crisis in the American car industry caused by Japanese manufacturers, introducing better quality automobiles to the American public who were eagerly welcoming change. He traced the actions of the Ford Motor Company, who were studying Japanese manufacturing concepts, in order to determine what they could adopt and introduce to a proud American workforce, and its customer base. It was well researched, and he was making a presentation to the American “aftermarket” industry about his observations.   

After listening to his presentation, I realized that he had unquestionably been briefed on who his audience was, but he had absolutely no idea what we did, or how we did it.  
The automobile in America is a romantic story full of exciting products, life and death motorsports events and larger than life characters in boardrooms, shop floors, and at race tracks from coast to coast. And the story has always been better told by people who lived it. 
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Stand On It was written by two automotive racing journalists, Bill Neely & Bob Ottum.  It is loosely based on the life and adventures of one of American motorsports most outrageous and talented personalities, Curtis Turner. Their protagonist, Stroker Ace, emerges from the dangerous life of the hillbilly “moonshine” runners, risking life and jail to outrun the dreaded Federal “revenooers”. NASCAR decried that image for fifty years. Today they embrace it as “romantic.”

Note from the Publisher:  
Having just finished The Last Open Road by Burt Levy myself... I was skeptical at first, but loved it!  A great example of Historical fiction from the 1950s featuring numerous and great classic cars, race drivers, and racing milestones:  General LeMay saved Racing! How the Jaguar C-Type came about!  The beginnings of S.C.M.A!  All woven together expertly around a young mechanic’s life. A great read and highly recommended.

I found a 1st edition of David Halberstam’s The Reckoning on eBay for $6.95. Happy to sell along, once I’m done reading, if anyone is interested?  [email protected]

I found the image by Michael Furman on the cover of this month’s issue intriguing. While I am recognized here as an “incidental” collector, when it comes to books about whose subjects I have an interest, I become a “determined” collector. What caught my eye, was a book about the Schlumpf brothers of France’s Mulhouse Museum fame, authored by a favorite British motorsports journalist of the period, Dennis Jenkinson. He was Stirling Moss’s navigator in the winning 1955 Mille Miglia, rated one of the greatest drives of all time. Thus, an opportunity to learn more about how the reclusive Schlumpfs lost their amazing collection, written by a man with impeccable motorsports credentials, was irresistible. 
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Before dawn on the morning of March 7th, 1977, a small group of 17 Schlumpf factory workers, forced their way past a single guard, and occupied the main building of the Schlumpf factory in Mulhouse, Alsace, France. What they discovered was unquestionably the best and largest collection of important automobiles ever assembled. And they had no idea this collection existed. It took two days to find and count all 577 automobiles, 122 of which were Bugattis.

Sometime before the end of that same year, this book, The Schlumpf Obsession, was published. One senses, reading it, that this book, was published to share, as quickly as possible, images of this rarely seen collection. With that in mind when reading, one can only imagine what those early readers were feeling when first examining this revelatory book, a virtual “King Tut’s Tomb”, of classic automobiles in their hands. It must have been stunning! 

The facts familiar to most vintage automobile enthusiasts are not in dispute. The Schlumpf Brothers built the largest collection of Bugattis in 
the world, and housed them in a number of mill buildings, in the several towns, in the Alsace region of France. At some point, they had a conflict with their workforce, declared bankruptcy, moved across the nearby Swiss border, and lost their property and collection to the Government, who subsequently opened a museum featuring their most notable possessions.

As with most of what we now refer to as “urban legend”, the Schlumpf brothers, Hans and Fritz’s story is far more complex than is generally known, and yet considerably less bizarre than we are led to believe. Measured by today’s standards, they were unquestionably eccentric. Likely, their eccentricity in the common man’s eyes was influenced by their enormous wealth, and the time and location in which they lived and worked. 

Both boys were born near Milan, Italy, to a Swiss father and a German mother, who was born in Alsace, which was at that time a part of Germany. They claimed Swiss-German nationality.  

The Alsace Region of France, which is famous for white wines and textiles, borders on Germany and Switzerland, and had for decades been possessed alternately by France and Germany.  It was once part of the Holy Roman Empire, then Germany, and later returned to France after WWI. The Schlumpfs took over the major mills in 1939. The area was taken over again by the Germans during WWII, and returned to France once WWII was over. Despite German control of the area during that period, an obstinate Fritz Schlumpf refused to be cowed by German officialdom, and after the war, his obvious intransigence was well regarded by the French.  
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Their personal lives and relationships with their mother, and their lovers were tabloid messy, but they were wealthy and they survived. In the late 1940s, they began collecting automobiles, alongside statuary, mantelpieces, kayaks, and mounted antlers. In the following thirty years they built what was to become the best, and most important collection of vintage and classic automobiles, private or public... in history!

As their collection grew, they dedicated portions of their mills to house them, and hired craftspeople to maintain and repair them. Sadly for their business, the advent of low cost man-made textiles such as rayon, doomed their “wool empire” and with it their relationships with their workers, and then their unions, and eventually their government. The failure of their industry, their feudal mentality and refusal to interact with the unions with whom they had signed agreements, led to their eventual loss of most of what they had accumulated over 35 years. 

By 1977, after numerous strikes and confrontations, the brothers fled to nearby Switzerland.  The government of France declared the collection a national treasure and on the site of a Schlumpf mill in Mulhouse, opened a museum for the public. 

The book is not so much a story book as a 189-page revelation of what was discovered in 1977! It contains 200 images of little and some never seen before cars. Some are old black and white images, and others are full-page color. Even today, just as in 1977, when this book was first published, it is quite amazing. One can only imagine the impact it had on a public who hardly knew these cars ever existed. Today, despite the fact that the novelty aspect of the book is lost, what remains is a snapshot in time of incredible automobiles, and extreme collecting.  

The inescapable fact and a source of great comfort to true motorsports enthusiasts is the simple truth that the Schlumpfs accumulated these treasures, not as “investments” but because they loved them and enjoyed owning and maintaining them. A far cry from the current market thinking. 
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Used copies of the book are available and very reasonably priced with many of the specialty book shops who advertise in this magazine and online.

Peter Bourassa

If you are an enthusiast who delights in the history of our sport and finding out how, why and where things happened, you might appreciate Rachael Clegg’s artistic take on historic events, that took place on two of the most important and dangerous tracks in the world.

In my school days, my classmates and I were ferried on rare occasions to a large museum to view the works of famed artists. Many considered this akin to “casting pearls before swine”. We were kids! We yawned at Rubens portraits, pointed, tittered, and blushed at the site of plump semi-nude angels and yawned again at each landscape. And then there were the enigmas; the works of Van Gogh and Picasso, for which our guides had no plausible explanation that a pre-pubescent mind  could ever comprehend.

Now I am drawn (forgive the pun) to art that has a story. It is a dimension now essential to adding pieces to the cherished detritus of my life. Some of the time the story is obvious in the image. At other times, a discussion with the artist is needed to give the piece meaning for me.

The 12.2 mile Nurburgring in Germany is unquestionably the most dangerous race circuit in the history of the sport. Dubbed “the Green Hell” by Jackie Stewart, it has been neutered and mercifully bears no resemblance to its earlier deadly iterations. Today’s 12.2 mile track is the site of an excellent driving school, and a “rent-a-road” format that by paying a toll, people without imagination or knowledge of history run their quick street cars.
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When I first saw Rachael’s work, a calendar of pieces shot at the Nurburgring, I was interested but confused. I recognized the track and recognized her, but what was it all about? And then I read the stories accompanying each image. Rachel’s calendar retells tales which are now part of the history of each track, and by shooting at the precise spot where history took place, with relevant artifacts, she brings history to life.
 
Each image features her, a story about what happened at that precise spot on the track, and the pieces of cars or equipment involved in the incident. Each calendar tells twelve collectible stories. All, truly worthy of occupying space on the Incidental Collector’s wall. 

Peter Bourassa

There are some very special props in these images. For the ‘Bergwerk’ image, Mercedes-Benz sent up their marketing man with various Silver Arrows parts, including a Silver Arrows steering wheel - which I am holding in the air - and a Silver Arrows wheel - on which I am standing. When we took the shot, I had an enormous audience, including Mercedes staff! Luckily, a lovely couple walking nearby kindly offered to help. The girl became my dressing gown monitor - covering me between takes! 

Parts in the Füchsrohre image (about Graham Hill) are all thanks to the Donington Park Grand Prix museum, which was founded by F1 sponsor Tom Wheatcroft. The wishbone and classic F1 bodywork are thanks to that museum. 

The idea for the calendar project hit me in 2011. I was on a train home from the 2011 Isle of Man TT, listening to the recording of a press conference with Guy Martin and John McGuinness. Both John and Guy are extremely funny and made me laugh out loud - like a mad woman. I starting thinking: how could I distill the history of the TT along with its grit and quirkiness?

The answer hit me: I would create an art nude calendar telling stories from the TT’s 1110-year history. I borrowed a tiny Ford Connect van, begged and borrowed props from every rider, junk shop, motorcycle dealer, museum, skips on the road, and set off the next summer to start shooting. My friend, BBC foreign correspondent and photographer Peter Greste, volunteered to take the shots. Another friend became “assistant”. We had our team!
 
By the following summer I was back with a small Ford Connect van borrowed from my dad, and a sketchbook full of ideas. As the TT course is on a public road, we had to shoot at 4am before the traffic hit the road. This involved me legging it across the road between cars to capture the shot. It was quite a challenge, but extremely good fun!

The first calendar went down a storm and I was then asked to create a Nürburgring calendar. I jumped at the chance and after two years of meetings, I was legging it around the Nürburgring in a dressing gown with photographer, Ian Parry. 

Researching for the Nürburgring was absolutely fascinating. The circuit’s history is interweaved with German political history - especially during the interwar years. Later, it became the ultimate car racing circuit and favourite of many drivers, including Stirling Moss, whom I interviewed as part of my research at his London home. 

www.rachaelclegg.com

According to the dictionary,  “AutoMobilia” is not actually a word. It is an amalgam of the  words “automobile” and “memorabilia “ and the latter also is a euphonious contraction of the words “memory” and the Latin for “stuff”.

Though the word “memory” is not a part of the title of this new publication, “memories” justifies its existence. Our goal here is to periodically present a selection of stories, images and products to kindle old memories and remind us all that we are neither unique nor are we alone. If our lives are truly a journey, memorabilia are certainly its sign posts.

As I look about me, I see two large framed posters by Nicolas Watts, one of Moss driving the #722 Mercedes in the ‘55 Mille Miglia. Arguably the greatest “drive” in history. The other is of the Phil Hill-Mike Spence Chaparral winning at Brands Hatch in ‘67. Brutally beautiful car! I also see a smaller black and white image sitting on an easel. My friend Michael Keyser sent it to me.

​In 1972, at the USGP in Watkins Glen, he took a picture through the window of the room where the drivers meeting was being held. It’s a wonderful picture of my heroes of the day slouching on couches, sitting on tables and leaning against walls. I was there that weekend. Out of the corner of my eye I also see a 1/18 model of a Porsche 904 which another friend gave me. I love that car.

A poster the Guggenheim created for the “Art of the Motorcycle“ exhibit in NYC in 1998 is by the door. Nice poster. Somewhere on the way to the kitchen is a small picture of me leaning my long gone Ducati 851 into a tight turn at NHIS. I keep it in sight because it reminds me of the bike and the day and how good I looked on that bike. But mostly I treasure it because it also shows me looking good and at the same time missing the apex by fifteen feet. It’s really humbling, and I need humbling from time to time. 

But the dominant feature of the room, and my life, is a huge bookcase and its contents. It houses a sound system and my beloved books. Motorsports is excitement and drama. We enthusiasts have been blessed since its beginning with passionate and talented writers and photographers who have chronicled it for us to enjoy.

The essence of what draws us to motorsports makes the talent and courage of the larger than life personalities who have inhabited it live forever.    
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The Rockefeller Family Foundation recently sold a Picasso and several other important pieces of art for countless millions. Even free, I would have no room for them. What surrounds me is far more precious. Everything around the rooms I inhabit brings back a memory. Most are very good. Some are not. Each piece is precious because it comes with a meaningful memory. I suppose these artifacts are what AutoMobilia Resource is about. I hope so.

I further suppose that makes me an “Incidental Collector”. And while I am uncomfortable with titles of any sort, since I have visited many of your homes and garages, I am comfortable considering you fellow “Incidental Collectors”.  Welcome aboard.      

There must be a reason we surround ourselves with memory triggers. It is possible, that remembering what these pieces represent, how, where, and with whom they were acquired also gives us a feeling of peace and well being? Pardon my smile, fellow collector.

Peter Bourassa