The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts
Story by Simon Moore
I got married in 1976 and spent the next two years living and working in Holland. I even wrote a story about the ex-Prince Bernard 8C2900B in a Dutch magazine for editor Wim Oude Weernink. Soon after returning to London, I managed to acquire the rolling chassis of an 8C2900A Alfa Romeo that was lying in a field in Washington state.
Driving Gidding’s Alfa chassis 2311243 in 1966.
In the past, we have had brief interviews with the prolific Simon Moore, so we hesitated to ask him more about himself. He came forth, telling us a great many things we were not aware of, and included personal photos. What Moore could we ask…?
Story by Simon Moore
Growing up in London in the late 1940s and early 1950s, there were very few foreign-made cars on the roads, although one occasionally saw a British-built sports car like the MG TC. I have photographs of my father and grandfather’s car before the war (MG and Lagonda saloons) but after the war we had small Austin or Standard saloons. Three of my mother’s sisters married people in the motor trade so cars were always being discussed in the family. But it was only when my mother bought me a book to read (Ken Purdy’s Kings of the Road) that I learned about the great pre-war cars like Bugatti, Hispano-Suiza, Duesenberg, Mercer and, of course, Alfa Romeo.
Story by Peter Darnall
“Please don’t call this car a replica. It’s a Lagonda!”
‘Lagonda Joe’ Harding was describing his 1939 red Lagonda Le Mans sports racing machine recently. Joe earned the nickname ‘Lagonda Joe’ years ago for his involvement with both the creation and the racing of these unique Lagonda machines in England. He makes an interesting point: The word “replica” conjures up mental images of shoddy fiberglass contraptions or of clandestine attempts to convert an automotive sow’s ear into a silk purse. These Le Mans Specials are, as Joe stressed, Lagondas to the core. They were built on a production chassis and used period-correct Lagonda components—which is exactly what the Lagonda factory did when they made the original Le Mans specials in 1939.