Author: Thor Thorson

Thor Thorson is president of Vintage Racing Motors, a Seattle-area collector-car dealer and vintage-racing support operation. He has been actively involved with racing for over 40 years, dealing with racers from Ferraris to Sprites, but is mostly seen driving Elva sports racers. He has been writing the race-car profiles for SCM since 2003.

1973 Alpine A110

This Group 4 berlinetta, series number 18372, body number 6387, is a type 1600VC. The A110 1800 was registered on April 3, 1973, with the number 3697 HK 76. It has a heavy Morocco-type body, of which eight examples were constructed in Dieppe and registered between March and April 1973. […]

2008 Oreca Dodge Viper GT3

Originally built in 2008, this Viper GT3 was initially raced in the British GT by Aaron Scott and Craig Wilkins. It was subsequently repurposed for the 2011–14 Dutch Supercar series and appeared in the U.K. again in 2018 to contest the GT Cup in the hands of David Krayem and […]

1963 Ol’ Yaller Mark IX Sports Racer

Beginning in 1957, Max Balchowsky and his wife designed, built and raced a limited number of sports racing cars. His first two were named Old Yeller, after the dog in Disney’s 1957 film who was yellow, mangy and unwanted. Disney didn’t like that, so Balchowsky changed the spelling to “Ol’ […]

1967 Lotus 51A Formula Ford

The archetypal Formula Ford, the Lotus 51 is also one of the most aesthetically successful models. Listed in the Historic Lotus Register, chassis 51FF123 was delivered new in 1967 to the famous Jim Russell Racing Driver School in England that played a role in the development of drivers such as […]

1962 Ferrari 268 SP

In 1960, following the lead taken by Cooper and Lotus, Ferrari began to experiment with rear-engine placement in its Formula One and sports-racing cars. The dual overhead-cam V6 engine co-engineered by Vittorio Jano and credited to the late Dino Ferrari was the powerplant of choice, and potential applications ranged from […]

1990 Porsche 962C

After utterly dominating international sports car and prototype racing throughout the latter 1970s with its Group 5 935 and Group 6 936 competition models, Porsche scored its third overall Le Mans victory with the 936 in 1981. Since upcoming FIA rule changes for 1982 rendered the 936 obsolete, Porsche engineers […]

2014 Chevrolet SS NASCAR

Jeff Gordon’s iconic No. 24 DuPont Rainbow livery is the winningest paint scheme in NASCAR history, with 52 wins at 17 tracks, three championship titles, and more than 10,000 laps led. After “Fire and Flames” became the norm for Gordon’s No. 24 in 2001, the Rainbow only made one more […]

1950 Simca Estager

In the years following World War II, the Simca Eight chassis was a popular choice among independent racing-car constructors in France, and this example is the work of Jean Estager, an established driver and friend of Formula One competitor and Le Mans winner Louis Rosier. The 1,089-cc, 4-cylinder overhead-valve engine […]

1965 Sunbeam Tiger

According to the Sunbeam Tiger Production Record, 000653 was finally assembled on October 12, 1965, prior to being finished in Mediterranean Blue, fitted with a hard top and shipped to the United States. After import to the U.K. by Bruce Stevens, the Tiger was purchased by our vendor in 1990 […]

1972 Matra MS 670

The car we are presenting is the MS 670-01 that won the 1972 Le Mans 24 Hours. Assembled in March 1972, it was also the first MS 670 built. Following testing at Le Castellet and Montlhéry, MS 670-01 was entered for the Le Mans 24 Hour race. It was fitted […]