VILLA D'ESTE 2013: THE SOVIETS ARE COMING!

The IMZ M-35K supercharged sports racer took Best In Show, its Soviet inelegance mocking the delicate trophy girls in their picnic wear.  This is perhaps the first time a major Concours d'Elegance has awarded their top prize to a Soviet-built machine. (photo courtesy Motociclismo magazine)In a brave and unprecedented move, the jury of the third Concorso di Moto on the shores of Lake Como, Italy, have awarded Best of Show to a Soviet racing motorcycle.  I can recall no moto or auto Concours awarding a top prize to a Soviet-built machine, as industrial products from the Communist era have suffered nearly a century of scorn and derision for being inferior 'copycats' of better-developed Western originals. The celebration of the IMZ...

Read more »

STOLEN CYCLONE, RACING HONDA

A 1914 Cyclone, similar to this one, was stolen from the Bel Air home of a collector.  A Cyclone currently holds the #1 spot on the global 'Top 20' of auction sales, and is a highly visible emblem of antique motorcycle value.  Feb 5, 2012: "BEL AIR, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Police are searching for a pair of thieves who broke into a Bel Air home in the middle of the night, tied up the home owner and made off with two valuable motorcycles. That home invasion robbery took place about 4:30 a.m. in the 900 block of Linda Flora Drive. Police said the suspects kicked in the front door and tied up the man, a longtime collector of vintage cars and motorcycles. The man's wife was able to get away and went to a neighbor's house to call police....

Read more »

INSPIRATION: RIN TANAKA'S AMERICAN HERITAGE

Many have attempted to label the growing movement celebrating historic fashion, vehicles, design, and imagery - 'revival', 'retro', 're-enactment' - but I prefer the term 'Heritage', which implies continuity between what our parents or ancestors found to be of quality, and our enjoyment of the same.  Nostalgia is a dead end...we can't 'do' the past again, and wearing a detail-perfect 40s/50s/60s ensemble looks great in magazine shoots with the help of an art director, but usually appears costume-y in 'real life'.  What's interesting in the present is the trend for discovering and embracing what's valuable from the past, intended for use today.  Heller's Cafe was the subject of Tanaka's 'King of Vintage' Ralph Lauren has...

Read more »