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.

1966 McLaren M1B Group 7 Can-Am Racer

Bruce McLaren’s first sports prototype was the M1A. The team’s first self-designed car, the M1A was another simple space-frame design featuring the Oldsmobile V8 engine via a Hewland transaxle. Frank Nichols’ Elva Cars was already building its own highly successful sports racers, and he expressed an interest in the new […]

1968–69 Repco Brabham-Cosworth BT26/BT26A

This is the Formula One Brabham in which — on September 20, 1969 — star Belgian racing driver Jacky Ickx won the Canadian Grand Prix at Mosport Park, Ontario. It is also the actual car in which Ickx finished 2nd in that same year’s Mexican Grand Prix, 3rd in the […]

1987 Ferrari F40 LM

In 1987, Ferrari celebrated their 40th anniversary, and to mark the occasion launched their most uncompromising road car ever — the twin-turbocharged, 471-bhp, 201-mph F40. Developed by Michelotto, the F40 LM benefited from enlarged twin IHI turbocharger/intercooler units and advanced Weber-Marelli fuel injection, which increased power to over 700 bhp. […]

1948 Lesovsky-Offenhauser Indianapolis “Blue Crown Special”

Making its Indianapolis debut in 1948, this car failed to qualify. George Connor was able to qualify the car in 6th position for the Indy 500 in 1949, finishing the race with an impressive 3rd overall. Bill Holland drove it at two subsequent AAA races that year at Trenton and […]

1964 Ford Falcon Sprint racer

This 1964 Ford Falcon Sprint is an SCCA Trans-American FIA/GT race car. The 999 VIN and the fiberglass doors, front fenders, hood and trunk lid identify this Falcon as a “63 Prototype” car. It was driven and built by Shelby team driver Bob Johnson and was sold in 1967 to […]

1956 Ferrari 290 MM by Scaglietti

Within the hierarchy of Enzo-era Ferraris, the sports racing barchettas of the mid-1950s are amongst the most significant cars to wear the Cavallino Rampante. The Works-campaigned examples are especially significant, as they often finished at the front of the pack at the most grueling races, piloted by the most talented […]

1985 Porsche 959 Paris-Dakar

Despite the enormous success of its production-based race cars throughout its history, Porsche rarely developed such models as official factory entries, preferring instead to support them in the hands of privateer customers. One of the notable exceptions occurred in the mid-1980s with the advent of one of Stuttgart’s most celebrated […]

1956 Elva Mk 1/B Sports Racer

Elva sports racers — designed by Frank Nichols — enjoyed considerable success during the 1950s and 1960s on both sides of the Atlantic. A Kentish garage owner, Nichols had commissioned a Ford-engined special with which to go racing, and the result, the CSM, was first seen in 1954. Nichols put […]

1968–69-Type Ford P68 “F3L” Group 6 Racer

Three of the Alan Mann Racing Ford P68 or “F3L” coupes were constructed, of which we are delighted to offer this well-presented example. In the late Alan Mann’s wonderful book Alan Mann: A Life of Change, the British Ford-specialist private entrant recalled how, “at the end of 1966, Len Bailey […]