It’s probable that the only people who know who the Quandt family are, are BMW aficionados! The Quandt family saved BMW from a fate that befell many other manufacturers: either bankruptcy or acquisition and brand suppression. The family are one of the richest in Europe and are the masters of keeping under the radar - they do not air their dirty laundry (if they have any) and … [Read more...]
Eric Broadley
Eric Broadley was one of those important people in the background of motorsports. He was better known through the name of his company who constructed more than 2,000 vehicles and won championships and races the world over: Lola. Broadley was born in southern England on the 22nd September 1928 and trained as an architect after the Second World War - he would have missed … [Read more...]
Wilhelm Maybach
With the renewal of the Maybach name as another sub-brand under Daimler-Benz, we thought it would be good to highlight just how important the Maybach name is to the automotive industry. In fact the names Daimler and Maybach have been connected for over a century in one form or another. Wilhelm Maybach was born in 1846 in a small town in southern Germany, which later became … [Read more...]
Jack Griffith
The name Andrew Jackson “Jack" Griffith may not mean much to many people, however to sports car enthusiasts and classic car nuts, he was another genius although his name was initially made by copying someone else's idea! He was born in 1926 on Long Island in New York State and enlisted in the US Airforce in 1943 at the age of 17, being posted to Wisconsin. He met his wife … [Read more...]
Franco Scaglione
At Motoring Weekly, one of our favourite motor museums is in northern California - the Blackhawk Auto Museum where we first encountered the Alfa Romeo BAT cars: the "Berlinetta Aerodynamica Tecnica" design studies. All three, the BAT 5, BAT 7 and BAT 9 were designed by Franco Scaglione. Alfa Romeo BAT 9 with BAT 7 and BAT 5 behind - at Blackhawk Museum. Scaglione was born … [Read more...]
