Giaur

This post is in honor of Bob Wilson who is currently driving across the country to retrieve his toy cars, an Alfa Spider and a Beck Spyder. Although from the perspective of music, Bob is stuck in the Sixties, from an automotive point of view most things Italian and many things from the Fifties are preferred. So here is the Giaur. I took this picture at the Laguna Seca Historics.

It must have been fun to be an Italian male with some money in the post war years. Bernardo Taraschi was a racer who also built several names and styles of car of his own conception. Some of his early Urania car were powered by BMW R75 motorcycle engines. The Giaur pictured here was typically powered by Giannini 750 cc engines. These cars frequently used Topolino based suspension components, although sometime bespoke suspensions were created.

I just love the small size of these cars. Nothing like a few modern men standing around to give it scale. Of course, the main attraction for me is the very unique styling, but they were also quite successful in racing and are still prized for vintage racing. I can also imagine this being the inspiration for a variation of a Locost or other special car project.

So here is a holiday toast to the Giaur and "Diddi" Taraschi who built his dream.