Regular readers know that I’m a sucker for great photography, even more so when it captures great moments in automotive history. While catching up on friend of The Garage, Philip Powell over at Classical Drives I was beyond excited to find his review of V like Vintage. This wonderful site is a social network for photography buffs much like Flickr but with a difference. The site is open to photos taken before 1970 and the focus seems to be on things that move us like planes, boats, cars and of course you can’t forget about the vintage Pin Up girls.
Rather than just showing the old pro images that we’ve all seen before, the work of amateurs is strongly encouraged, meaning that we get to see photos through the eyes of regular people. At this point, there is a strong presence of German history, from family portraits to the Nurburgring. There are shots taken from a German Mineboat and incredible sidecar racing images. Watch the new photos page and you’ll see the images from around the world are rapidly appearing.
V like Vintage might be destined to become one of the most historically significant social networks on the web.
The photo above of Graham Hill was taken at Zandvoort in 1970 and was taken by Werner Horn.
A case for strange cars
Michael’s writing can also be found at vLane.com, an extensive automotive community site.
You can keep your Audi R8 V10, and your Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera. Post photos of a wrecked Ferrari F430 and I won’t shed a tear, ditto for videos of a BMW M3 getting its undercarriage smoothed over. The only muscle car I’d buy from Barrett-Jackson is a Hemi Cuda Convertible … and afterward I’d place a brick on the accelerator pedal so it floors right into the closest immovable object.
I don’t hate horsepower, excess, or innovation: it’s just that the bar for innovation is so low that today’s hot cars are judged on numbers and marketing, not merit.
Aside: I bet very few Gallardo Superleggera owners know the term “Superleggera† super light  was coined by Italian coachbuilder Carrozzeria Touring. The first car they penned? The Alfa Romeo 8C. The last? The Jensen Interceptor.
To find truly interesting production cars, you have to do a little digging  but nearly every manufacturer has a few.
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