Backfire from a famous Brooklands racer By Michael Kliebenstein Above: Chris Staniland behind the wheel of the magnificent Multi-Union. The car is airborne at the notorious bump at Brooklands Outer Circuit.The air was cold and musty as we made our...
By Michael Kliebenstein How I came to own what was likely the first safety car in Formula 1 Above: The gargantuan Rolls-Royce Phantom I, chassis 84FH, was converted in 1940 for the RAF into a shooting brake to carry spares...
By Michael Kliebenstein Read part one of France in the '70s A year later, I returned to Dijon, again buying myself a very cheap Citroën Traction Avant 11 Légère to travel around in. I think it was 150 francs. Cruising...
By Micheal Kliebenstein Of all the amazing places I’ve experienced over the years, my most fond memories are of France in the seventies. Yes, I belong to a generation that grew up with the images of France’s La Nouvelle Vague...
By Michael KliebensteinWhenever I see a very significant race car still sporting its original steering wheel, racing seat and instruments, it always affects me. I feel it especially when I know that a great name once sat on that seat in...
I cannot help but notice that things have changed very quickly over the last few years. Historically, classic car values rose almost every 6 months, while dealers were willing to purchase inventory and hold it for a year or more...
Michael Kliebenstein recalls his favourite drive in a 1931 4½-litre ‘Blower’ Bentley.
The cockpits of 1920s and 1930s race cars have a very simple authenticity generally not found in cars of later eras. Designed in a strictly pragmatic way, with function and efficiency of use the only considerations, they were never intended to be objects of visual appeal. Yet today they’re often rightly considered examples of automotive art. None more so than the cockpit of the 1930 Bentley 4½-litre ‘Blower’, the most famous race car of the Bentley Boys-era.
Michael Kliebenstein, author of SuperFinds, asks: ‘Can a classic watch be a real SuperFind, like a car? Yes, if it is an iconic piece with an amazing history.’While studying cinematography in the early 1980s, I came across a fascinating old...
By Michael Kliebenstein From the earliest stages of my SuperFinds book project I had it in mind to create a model display that related specifically to the book. There was no doubt about which car to feature; it could only...
