Tag Archives: Louis Klemantaski
A BMW Foray
On September 4, 1937 the famous RAC Tourist Trophy race for cars (there was also a Tourist Trophy for motorcycles) was held at Donington Park in Leicestershire, England. The “TT,” as it has always been informally called, was first run in 1905 back in the dawn of automobile racing and continues to this day which […]
Tom Cole
This driver is the British-born American Tom Cole, who was active in racing in both America and Europe in the early 1950s. He is here seen at Silverstone during the non-Championship International Daily Express Trophy for F2 cars on May 9, 1953. The car he is driving is a two-liter Ferrari 500F2, owned by Belgian […]
Braking Hard!
After the war years there was a non-championship Grand Prix held in Geneva on a short urban course known as the Circuit de Sécheron in 1946, 1948 and 1950. These were the years of the Alfettas, the all-conquering 158, developed from its prewar version, now with two-stage supercharged motors producing at or above 400 hp. […]
Circuit de Charade
This lovely photograph of Lorenzo Bandini in his Ferrari 158 gives a superb impression of the challenging complexity of the Circuit de Charade public road circuit where the June 27, 1965 French Grand Prix was held. Four times between 1965 and 1972 the French Grand Prix was held at the Charade open road course which […]
Argentina’s Blue and Yellow
The Grand Prix des Nations was a famous non-Championship F1 Grand Prix race held on a shortish street circuit in Geneva Switzerland in the years after the War. For the 1950 edition on July 30 there was also a support race for two liter voiturette cars which was called the Prix de Genève. This small Ferrari […]
Approach to the Südkurve
This was the original Nürburgring at the height of its fame. Here is the start of the German Grand Prix which took place on August 1, 1954. This dramatic image was captured from the grass at the edge of the track a few hundred yards from the grid which was located next to the timing […]
The Master
Klemantaski told us that he considered this to be his best ever photograph. It shows Juan Manuel Fangio winning the French Grand Prix at the Rouen-les Essarts public road circuit on July 7, 1957. The original square image, on 120 film, was shot using a Rolleiflex, not Klemantaski’s usual Leica. He was trying to pan […]
The Siamese Prince
Here is Prince B. Bira of Siam with his Maserati 4CL in its Siamese colors at the Jersey International Road Race which took place on the Channel island of Jersey on May 8,1947. After the War, racing on public roads was forbidden in England. However, that law did not apply to places such as Northern […]
Ascari’s Victory Smile
This is another wonderful Klemantaski photograph, catching the smiling expression of Alberto Ascari in his Ferrari 375/F1 as he overtakes the Alfa Romeo 159 of Juan Manuel Fangio on the entry to Porfido at the end of Monza’s back straight during the Italian Grand Prix on September 16, 1951. The Italian Grand Prix was always […]
Piloti che gente…
This is perhaps Louis Klemantaski’s most famous image: Peter Collins on his way to victory during the Giro di Sicilia on April 8, 1956 in a 3.5 liter Ferrari 857S with Klemantaski as his navigator. The Giro, known as the Tour of Sicily in English, was a 671 mile open road circumnavigation of the island, often used […]
Klemantaski Collection 