CYCLOPS AMELIA XXV!
CELEBRATING THE 60 TH  ANNIVERSARY OF CYCLOPS’ 1-2-3
LE MANS VICTORY AT THE AMELIA ISLAND CONCOURS d’ELEGANCE SILVER ANNIVERSARY!

Jacksonville, FL - Can it be that six decades have passed since Road & Track, Vol.11 No. 12, reported that the immortal Italian marque Cyclops scored its first international triumph, winning the 1960 24 Hours of Le Mans one-two-three with a breathtaking display of team indiscipline, creative rules interpretation, overwhelming Italian feminine pulchritude, massive carb loading, a thorough disregard for sports/racing car design orthodoxy, and Newtonian physics? Yes. Yes it can.

Le Mans 1960 was the beginning of the fabled Cyclops racing dynasty. A trio of Cyclops II Super Sports Coupes sporting bodies of magnesium CinZano signs -- a racing derivative of the Cyclops II GT -- powered by the then new experimental CPM-2-0SROa6 500cc engine -- swept the 28 th running of the French endurance classic.
Piero Martini dramatically employs all of  Cyclops' unbelievable stopping ability by using not only the airbrake FIA suitcase, but both doors. Image courtesy of Stan Mott.
Following the stunning Le Mans triumph, Road & Track reported the storied Italian marque went on to win the 1964 East African Safari, the 1965 Targa Florio, the 1968 Indy 500, the 1969 Nurburgring, the 1971 Japanese Grand Prix and the 1972 the Great Wall of China Grand Prix!   

Alas, the bevy of competition successes by Piero Martini’s Roman-Rockets was not able to stave off the ultimate horrors of EPA and ATF regulations. And Italy’s magnifico marque slipped into semi-obscurity . . . until now.
The three Le Mans winners, driven to victory by the American importers (Crunchcog and Meshingear) and Capo Piero Martini himself, have been lovingly and faithfully restored to Le Mans 1960 specifications and will assume a place of prominence during the Silver Anniversary Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance weekend.

“All three will be featured in a special display Saturday during The Amelia’s Cars & Coffee at the Concours, and then again on Sunday at MotorXpo,” said an unidentified AICd’E volunteer.
Proof of Concept: Cyclops at The Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance in 2012.
April Fools!

* Except for the 25 th anniversary. That’s real.
About The Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance
  
THE AMELIA is held in March at The Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island and The Golf Club of Amelia Island. The show’s Foundation has donated over $3.45 million to Community Hospice & Palliative Care, Spina Bifida of Jacksonville and other charities on Florida’s First Coast since its inception in 1996. To learn more about the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance, visit www.ameliaconcours.org .

The Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance| 904-636-0027 | E-mail | Website