Tazio Nuvolari and his Alfa Romeo.

Choppers, bobbers, rat-bikes, vintage cafe racers and every kind of wild oddity in between, nobody does American custom hot-rod culture for bikes on the West Coast like the annual Born Free show in Irvine, Ca. Jamie Robinson wades into a sea of black leather, denim, burly beards, Daisy Dukes and thousands of motorcycles to see what it's all about. For more on motorcycles, visit hellforleathermagazine.com

Sometime early 1970s a Mercedes 300SL roadster (with hardtop) and its lucky owner plan for a long trip.

American Peter Revson, seen here during practice for the 1972 United States Grand Prix, seemed to have positioned himself for F1 stardom by the fall of that year. He had surprised everyone with his pole position and 2nd place finish at the Indianapolis 500 in 1971, and went on to also capture that year's Can-Am Championship, both times driving for McLaren.

It was Revson's bad fortune to be linked to a grand fortune...his family was related to the Revlon company, and although he didn't share directly in that wealth, he had to bear the label "playboy racer."

Instead, his rise to racing's highest level was managed with great heartache. He lost his best friend and racing partner, Timmy Mayer, while barnstorming Europe in Formula Junior, and his younger brother Doug, in a Formula 3 race in Denmark.

He had a victory in the 1965 Monaco F3 race in his pocket, but didn't get any offers for race seats until devoting his career to the United States Can-Am series in 1966. He was finally able to demonstrate his abilities and was signed by McLaren in 1971. He promptly won the championship.

He won the 1973 British and Canadian Grands Prix for McLaren, but was replaced in 1974 by former World Champion Emerson Fittipaldi. He found a home with Shadow that season, but was killed in March during testing for the South African Grand Prix when his front suspension failed.

COPYRIGHT:Richard Kelley Photography

Here, 1971 US Grand Prix winner, Francois Cevert listens intently to ELF Team Tyrrell-Ford designer Derek Gardner as they try to find the best compromise for the suspension set-up of the new ELF Team Tyrrell-Ford 005 during the United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen, NY.

Without sensors or telemetry that are the norm with Formula 1 racecraft today, testing to lower lap times of a Formula One car in 1972 was perilous hands-on trial and error.

To avoid catastrophe, there had to be clear communication, pure honesty and intense trust between driver and race engineer. The most successful drivers of that day needed a strong mechanical background, the ability to observe and report the cornering nuances of a car at speed, and the bravery to stand behind their beliefs.

COPYRIGHT:Richard Kelley Photography

Motorsports photographer Jesse Alexander and VIP visitor Patrick Dempsey.

Steve McQueen 1962, photo by William Claxton.