|
Million Franc Race
The Million Franc Race, or ‘Prix du Million’, was an effort in 1937 by the French Popular Front to induce French automobile manufacturers to develop race cars capable of competing with the incredibly advanced German Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union racers of the time, which were backed by the Nazi government in a (largely successful) attempt to dominate the sport, to 'prove the superiority of the Aryan race'. The prize money was a million francs, and to ensure that the competition tested each car's ultimate limits, rather than just the driver's skill in passing other drivers, the race was a time trial against the clock at the treacherous Autodrome de Montlhéry track, which had taken the life of the great Antonio Ascari. Each car had to drive sixteen laps () at an average speed of at least from a standing start. René Dreyfus was hired by Lucy O'Reilly Schell's Écurie Bleue team to drive a Delahaye 145 in testing and in the competition itself in which he risked death by setting a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Popular Front (France)
The Popular Front (french: Front populaire) was an alliance of French left-wing movements, including the communist French Communist Party (PCF), the socialist French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO) and the progressive Radical-Socialist Republican Party, during the interwar period. Three months after the victory of the Spanish Popular Front, the Popular Front won the May 1936 legislative election, leading to the formation of a government first headed by SFIO leader Léon Blum and exclusively composed of republican and SFIO ministers. Blum's government implemented various social reforms. The workers' movement welcomed this electoral victory by launching a general strike in May–June 1936, resulting in the negotiation of the Matignon Agreements, one of the cornerstones of social rights in France. All employees were assured a two-week paid vacation, and the rights of unions were strengthened. The socialist movement's euphoria was apparent in SFIO member Marceau Pi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lucy O'Reilly Schell
Lucy O'Reilly Schell (26 October 1896 – 8 June 1952) was an American racing driver, team owner, and businesswoman. Her racing endeavours focused mainly on Grand Prix motor racing, Grand Prix and rallying. She was the first American woman to compete in an international Grand Prix race and the first woman to establish her own Grand Prix team. Biography O'Reilly Schell's grandparents had emigrated to the US from Ireland during the Great Famine (Ireland), Great Famine. Her father was Francis Patrick O’Reilly, whose construction business and later investments in factories near Reading, Pennsylvania had made him wealthy. In January 1896 Francis married Henriette Celestine Roudet in Brunoy, France. Nine months later Lucy was born in Paris. She would be the couple's only child. Before the outbreak of World War I (WWI), Lucy met Selim Laurence "Laury" Schell. Schell, who had been born in Geneva and lived mainly in France, was the son of an American diplomat. In the early days of WWI ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Auto Races In France
{{Disambiguation ...
Auto may refer to: * An automaton * An automobile * An autonomous car * An automatic transmission * An auto rickshaw * Short for automatic * Auto (art), a form of Portuguese dramatic play * ''Auto'' (film), 2007 Tamil comedy film * Auto (play), a subgenre of dramatic literature * Auto (magazine), an Italian magazine and one of the organizers of the European Car of the Year award * A keyword in the C programming language used to declare automatic variables * A keyword in C++11 used for type inference * Auto (Mega Man), a character from ''Mega Man'' series of games * Auto, West Virginia * Auto, American Samoa * AUTO, a fictional robot in the 2008 film ''WALL-E'' See also * Otto Otto is a masculine German given name and a surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants ''Audo'', '' Odo'', ''Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity". The name is recorded f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mullin Automotive Museum
The Mullin Automotive Museum is a privately owned automobile museum in Oxnard, California, US. Established in 2010, it displays the personal car collection of businessman and philanthropist Peter W. Mullin. The museum has a large collection of vintage Bugattis, and many of the cars are fully restored and able to be driven. The museum is housed in the building formerly occupied by the Chandler Vintage Museum of Transportation and Wildlife. The building was remodeled to be more energy efficient by American architect David Randall Hertz, making use of solar panels and reflective roofing to reduce heat, yet incorporating elements that retain the Art Deco style and motifs in order to match the era of the cars, many of which were made by French manufacturers in the 1920s and 1930s. Although it is primarily known for its selection of classic French automobiles and grand prix race cars, the Mullin also houses a collection of Art-Deco furniture and contemporary paintings and sculptu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Silver Arrows
Silver Arrows (german: link=no, Silberpfeil) was the nickname given by the press to Germany's dominant Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union Grand Prix motor racing cars between 1934 and 1939. The name was later applied to the Mercedes-Benz Formula One and sports cars in 1954 and 1955, then to the Group C prototype racing sports cars that were successful at the Le Mans in the late 1980's, and currently applied to the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team cars from 2010 to present. For decades until the introduction of sponsorship liveries, each country had its traditional colour in automobile racing. German race cars for their ''Silver Arrows'' silver, Italian for their ''Rosso Corsa'' red, British ones are ''British racing green'' green, French '' Bleu de France'' blue, etc. German cars like the Blitzen Benz were white, as were the three Mercedes that won the 1914 French Grand Prix 1–2–3. On the other hand, Mercedes won the Italian Targa Florio with cars painted red in 19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rudolf Caracciola
Otto Wilhelm Rudolf CaracciolaBolsinger and Becker (2002), p. 63 (30 January 1901 – 28 September 1959) was a racing driver from Remagen, Germany. He won the European Drivers' Championship, the pre-1950 equivalent of the modern Formula One World Championship, an unsurpassed three times. He also won the European Hillclimbing Championship three times – twice in sports cars, and once in Grand Prix cars. Caracciola raced for Mercedes-Benz during their original dominating Silver Arrows period, named after the silver colour of the cars, and set speed records for the firm. He was affectionately dubbed ''Caratsch'' by the German public,Reuss (2006), p. 20 and was known by the title of ''Regenmeister'', or "Rainmaster", for his prowess in wet conditions. Caracciola began racing while he was working as apprentice at the Fafnir automobile factory in Aachen during the early 1920s, first on motorcycles and then in cars. Racing for Mercedes-Benz, he won his first two Hillclimbing Champio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pau Grand Prix
The Pau Grand Prix (french: Grand Prix de Pau) is a motor race held in Pau, in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department of southwestern France. The French Grand Prix was held at Pau in 1930, leading to the annual Pau Grand Prix being inaugurated in 1933. It was not run during World War II and in 2020–2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The race takes place around the centre of the city, where public roads are closed to form a street circuit, and over the years the event has variously conformed to the rules of Grand Prix racing, Formula One, Formula Two, Formula 3000, Formula Three, Formula Libre, sports car racing, and touring car racing. In 2021, '' Autocar'' included the Pau Grand Prix in its list of "The 10 best street circuits in the world". Circuit The race is run around a long street circuit, the "Circuit de Pau-Ville" laid out round the French town, and is in many ways similar to the more famous Formula One Monaco Grand Prix. About 20 km to the west of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jean-Pierre Wimille
Jean-Pierre Wimille (26 February 1908 – 28 January 1949) was a Grand Prix motor racing driver and a member of the French Resistance during World War II. Biography Born in Paris, France to a father who loved motor sports and was employed as the motoring correspondent for the Petit Parisien newspaper, Jean-Pierre Wimille developed a fascination with racing cars at a young age. He was 22 years old when he made his Grand Prix debut, driving a Bugatti 37A at the 1930 French Grand Prix in Pau. Career Driving a Bugatti T51, in 1932 he won the La Turbie hill climb, the Grand Prix de Lorraine and the Grand Prix d'Oran. In 1934 he was the victor at the Algerian Grand Prix in Algiers driving a Bugatti T59 and in January 1936 he finished second in the South African Grand Prix held at the Prince George Circuit in East London, South Africa then won the French Grand Prix in his home country. Still in France, that same year he won the Deauville Grand Prix, a race held on the city's stree ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bugatti
Automobiles Ettore Bugatti was a German then French manufacturer of high-performance automobiles. The company was founded in 1909 in the then-German city of Molsheim, Alsace, by the Italian-born industrial designer Ettore Bugatti. The cars were known for their design beauty and for their many race victories. Famous Bugatti automobiles include the Type 35 Grand Prix cars, the Type 41 "Royale", the Type 57 "Atlantic" and the Type 55 sports car. The death of Ettore Bugatti in 1947 proved to be a severe blow for the marque, and the death of his son Jean Bugatti in 1939 meant that there was no successor to lead the factory. No more than about 8,000 cars were made. The company struggled financially, and it released one last model in the 1950s before eventually being purchased for its airplane parts business in 1963. In 1987, an Italian entrepreneur bought the brand name and revived it as Bugatti Automobili SpA. Under Ettore Bugatti Founder Ettore Bugatti was born in Milan, I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dunlop Rubber
Dunlop Ltd. (formerly Dunlop Rubber) was a British multinational company involved in the manufacture of various natural rubber goods. Its business was founded in 1889 by Harvey du Cros and he involved John Boyd Dunlop who had re-invented and developed the first pneumatic tyre. It was one of the first multinationals, and under du Cros and, after him, under Eric Geddes, grew to be one of the largest British industrial companies. J B Dunlop had dropped any ties to it well before his name was used for any part of the business. The business and manufactory was founded in Upper Stephens Street in Dublin. A plaque marks the site, which is now part of the head office of the Irish multinational departments store brand, Dunnes Stores. Dunlop Rubber failed to adapt to evolving market conditions in the 1970s, despite having recognised by the mid-1960s the potential drop in demand as the more durable Radial tire, radial tyres swept through the market. After taking on excessive debt Dunlop w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Delahaye
Delahaye was a family-owned automobile manufacturing company, founded by Émile Delahaye in 1894 in Tours, France. Manufacturing was moved to Paris following incorporation with two unrelated brothers-in-law as equal partners in 1898. The company built a low volume line of limited production luxury cars with coachbuilt bodies; trucks; utility and commercial vehicles; busses; and fire-trucks. Delahaye made a number of technical innovations in its early years; and, after establishing a racing department in 1932, the company came to particular prominence in France in the mid-to-late 1930s, with its Type 138, Type 135SC, and type 145 cars winning numerous races, and setting International records. The company faced setbacks due to the Second World War, and was taken over by amalgamation with arch competitor Hotchkiss in 1954. Both were taken over by the Brandt organization, within mere months, with automotive product manufacturing ended. History Formative years Engineer Émile Delah ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
René Dreyfus
René Dreyfus (6 May 1905 – 16 August 1993) was a French driver who raced automobiles for 14 years in the 1920s and 1930s, the Golden Era of Grand Prix motor racing. Early life Dreyfus was born and raised in Nice to a Jewish family. He showed an early interest in automobiles, learning to drive before the age of nine. The middle of three children, his brother Maurice served as his business partner in his youth, and his manager in his racing career. Career Driving career Driving Maseratis, Ferraris, Delahayes, and Bugattis against some of the greatest drivers of all time, Dreyfus won 36 races across Europe, including Monaco, Florence, Rheims, Belgium, Cork, Dieppe, Pau, and at Tripoli in North Africa, becoming a French national hero. He acquired a Bugatti and joined the Moto Club de Nice for younger competitive automotive enthusiasts. In 1924 he won his class in the first amateur race he entered, being the only entrant in the class, and went on to win three consecutive ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
