when one moves to a new home it involves the inconvenience, indeed sometimes extreme discomfort, of packing and un-doing that. Occasionally that burden is repaid by what one finds 'stuff' one knew one had but couldn't unearth for years.

I've just found some the little treasures that I put away years ago, knowing that I'd love to have and see them many years hence. I attended Columbia Law School from 1952-55, living at home with my parents. Already a serious car nut, I subscribed to The Autocar magazine, then weekly and sent to New York City by surface mail in the bottoms of the two Cunard Queens, Elizabeth and Mary. Thus they typically came once a month, four or five at a time. I'd zip off the light brown tissue paper wrappers that covered them, rolled up, lay them flat under a heavy dictionary and ration my reading to one a week so as not to get ahead of myself and run out.

Exhibit 1: Autocar dated 3 June 1955, containing an article by Michael Clayton entitled Mille Grazie, his drive from London to Brescia to cover the 1955 Mille Miglia, spectacularly won by Stirling Moss, navigated by motoring journalist Denis Jenkinson, in the brand-new Mercedes-Benz 300SLR sports race car directly derived from the W196 F1 Grand Prix cars. The issue also runs a complete technical analysis of the 300SLR cars with detailed line drawings of components. Also a similar and even more complete description of MG's return to international racing at le Mans with a team of specially\ prepared MG-A cars.

Exhibit 2: Autocar dated 16 June 1955, the Le Mans Report with, of course, complete coverage of the race, the tragic disaster of Pierre Levegh's 300SLR crash only 2 1/2 hours into the race that killed 86 and at 2:36AM Sunday morning led to Mercedes withdrawing their remaining cars with the Fangio-Moss car in the lead and the second car in third place.

Exhibit 3: Autocar dated 16 June 1961, again the Le Mans Report because it is the only 24 Hours I ever attended. I was doing graduate law studies in Paris, engaged to the most breath-taking woman I've ever known or, indeed, seen, (see below) and she and I drove down in my Peugeot 403 for the entire crazy three days. This was the race at which a privately entered Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa driven by brothers Pedro and Ricardo Rodriguez led the factory Ferraris - Phil Hill-Olivier Gendebien and Michael Parkes-Willie Mairesse with two hours remaining before retiring.

pride of place Exhibit 4: Motor Sport magazine dated June 1955, containing the race report written by Motor Sport correspondent Denis Jenkinson of his ride as Stirling Moss' navigator in the right hand seat of the record-setting Mercedes-Benz 300SLR. Sir Stirling has always said that this race along with his win at Monaco in 1961 in a grossly under-powered Lotus vs the Ferraris of Richie Ginther and Phil Hill and the 1960 1000km von Nurburgring in a similarly under-powered Maserati Tipo 61 'birdcage' were his mobst difficult and best races.

Tomorrow I'll surprise you with the prices of some of the 'pre-owned' cars on offer in summer 1955!

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