1958 Lancia Other on 2040-cars

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Drive like a prince: Join us for a walk through Monaco's car collection

Small, crowded, and a royal pain in the trunk lid to drive into during rush hour, Monaco sounds like an improbable location for a huge car museum. And yet, this tiny city-state has been closely linked to car culture for over a century. It hosts two major racing events every year, many of its residents would qualify for a frequent shopper card if Rolls-Royce issued one, and Prince Rainier III began assembling a collection of cars in the late 1950s. He opened his collection to the public in 1993 and the museum quickly turned into a popular tourist attraction. The collection continued to grow after his death in April 2005; it moved to a new facility located right on Hercules Port in July 2022. Monaco being Monaco, you'd expect to walk into a room full of the latest, shiniest, and most powerful supercars ever to shred a tire. That's not the case: while there is no shortage of high-horsepower machines, the first cars you see after paying ˆ10 (approximately $11) to get in are pre-war models. In that era, the template for the car as we know it in 2023 hadn't been created, so an eclectic assortment of expensive and dauntingly experimental machines roamed whatever roads were available to them. One is the Leyat Helica, which was built in France in 1921 with a 1.2-liter air-cooled flat-twin sourced from the world of aviation. Fittingly, the two-cylinder spun a massive, plane-like propeller. Government vehicles get a special spot in the museum. They range from a Cadillac Series 6700 with an amusing blend of period-correct French-market yellow headlights and massive fins to a 2011 Lexus LS 600h with a custom-made transparent roof panel that was built by Belgian coachbuilder Carat Duchatelet for Prince Albert II's wedding. Here's where it all gets a little weird: you've got a 1952 Austin FX3, a Ghia-bodied 1959 Fiat 500 Jolly, a 1960 BMW Isetta, and a 1971 Lotus Seven. That has to be someone's idea of a perfect four-car garage.  One of the most significant cars in the collection lurks in the far corner of the main hall, which is located a level below the entrance. At first glance, it's a kitted-out Renault 4CV with auxiliary lights, a racing number on the front end, and a period-correct registration number issued in the Bouches-du-Rhone department of France. It doesn't look all that different than the later, unmodified 4CV parked right next to it. Here's what's special about it: this is one of the small handful of Type 1063 models built by Renault for competition.

249 reasons you want to go to Goodwood Revival

At its most basic, Goodwood Revival is a long weekend worth of car races featuring cars made before 1970. There are lots of those, though, including some pretty great ones all over the world. But nothing is like Goodwood Revival because it's so much more than "just" vintage car racing.  First, you have to look the part. Attendees are strongly encouraged to dress in period clothing from the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, with a strict dress code enforced should you want to enter the paddock. The goal is to create a more authentic atmosphere to match the cars and the meticulously restored and recreated paddocks, grandstands and other facilities of the reborn Goodwood circuit. Now, the dress code was relaxed this year since the Saturday was literally the hottest Sept. 9 on record in that part of England, and the organizers didn't want people dropping dead because they needed to wear an ascot. Some people definitely took the "relaxed" bit too far, but there was still plenty of atmosphere maintained. It really does make a big difference, as those "relaxed" individuals were often akin to seeing a Starbucks cup in a scene from "Game of Thrones."  You can see what I came up with below along with former Autoblog editor Reese Counts and various other Goodwood attendees. Second, there's the parking lot. But I'll let this entire separate post detail that. Third, there's the enormous carnival-like area featuring vintage-looking rides and various boutiques. Both of those are on the outside portion of the track, and honestly, you could easily just spend your entire day in the parking lot and carnival/shopping area without even crossing over into the circuit area. There you'll find more shops, food and drink opportunities, plus obviously, race car paddocks and the track itself.  Fourth, there are airplanes! I heard there are fewer than in the past, but they're there and they're cool. The Goodwood circuit started out life as the perimeter road around the World War II airfield RAF Westhampnett.  Fifth, with all of the above, Goodwood Revival really is fun for the whole family. It isn't just a bunch of old guys sitting around in lawn chairs. There are plenty of women and adorably dressed children, including babies in vintage prams. It's also not an event that's exclusively for the uber rich, even if they are certainly in full force given who has the sort of money needed to go vintage racing.

Maturo Stradale another sweet Lancia Delta restomod

On the one hand, what we have here is (yet) another vintage World Rally Championship Lancia restomod. On the other hand, we just haven't (yet) got tired of vintage WRC Lancia restomods. This one hails from The Netherlands, quite a bit further north than the Swiss and Italian takes we've seen so far. A company called Maturo Competition Cars in Veghel, which specializes in prepping old Delta Integrales for rallying, decided to work up a Delta HF Integrale 16v in the manner of the Group A cars that won WRC Manufacturer's Championships in 1990 and 1991. The trio of men behind it decided they wanted to stay close to the feel of the original in order to provide a similar driving experience — with more horsepower, naturally — built with far more reliable and luxurious components.  The hatchback now known as the Maturo Stradale starts with a Delta HF Integrale in serviceable condition. The chassis is stripped, then sandblasted. Welders install a full custom roll cage and add spot welds in 250 places, increasing rigidity. These much stronger bones are then primered and repainted for corrosion resistance.   While all that's being done, the 2.0-liter four-cylinder goes in for an even greater overhaul. The Group A Lancias made about 200 horsepower. Upgrades bolt on a larger carbon airbox, rebuilt Garrett turbo, larger intercooler, upgraded injectors and fuel system, new wiring harness and reprogrammed motorsports ECU. New internals include forged rods and pistons, and lighter valves. There's a thicker timing belt, and the balance shafts are gone. Peak boost climbs from 1.2 bar to 1.8 bar, upping peak power to about 355 hp. The company says the engine "Will deliver a completely reliable 380 hp or more and more than 550 Nm [405 lb-ft] of torque.” The original five-speed gearbox is rebuilt with stronger gears, and can be further revised with straight-cut gears in a dogleg pattern for power shifting. The original Deltas went without a locking front diff, making do with a Ferguson viscous center diff and a Torsen rear differential. Maturo puts in a new viscous center differential and mechanical locking diffs on both axles, meshed with driveshafts formed from an alloy created for Formula 1 cars that can endure angles of up to 40 degrees without deformation.  The four-way adjustable suspension derives from the firm's rally-spec cars, and can be enhanced with a hydraulic ride height control system.