Before Britain’s holy trinity of car enthusiasts rewrote the rules of automotive TV with Top Gear, there was Alain de Cadenet. The charming ‘travel photographer turned race car driver turned TV show host’ was best known to Americans as the face and talent of the Speed TV show Victory By Design. Each episode found the 14-time Le Mans competitor behind the wheel of some of the most iconic racing vehicles in history, casually talking his way through the experience as if his subject was an old friend.
De Cadenet passed away in 2022 at what appeared to be a very youthful 76 years old. His death shocked the motorsport community and left a gap where his huge personality once loomed. Perhaps no one felt the loss as much as his younger son Aidan, with whom he was very close. In a new short documentary film produced by Aidan and filmmaker Lukas Dong, the younger de Cadenet pays tribute to his father’s final project, an Alfa Romeo TZ coupe he raced at the Monterey Historic Races in 2003.
In this 17-minute mini-doc, Aidan recalls his father’s legendary career while introducing the one car he truly loved the most, the TZ. The admiring son tells of the unfortunate event that took the car out of competition on its inaugural vintage racer and how it came to sit idle for more than 15 years.
It’s a beautiful piece of automotive filmmaking and a wonderful remembrance all rolled into one piece of work. Pour a drink and raise a glass to the memory of Alain de Cadenet. And turn up the volume to make it count.