Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Watching Paul Newman start and drive a 1914 Puegot at Indy? Awesome!





If you have Netflix you can do it instantly, or you can catch various clips on You Tube. Stick with the ones loaded by wintershollywood, they have the original audio ...

Once upon a Wheel, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0413072/ a cool movie that Paul narrated, and got greasy wrenching on a 71 Super Bee, and takes a look at a lot of racing stars, the Unsers, Andrettis, Pettys, and so on. A lot of 1970 NASCAR footage, but also dragsters, snowmobiles and more.

Clips from early 1910 races, land speed racing on the sand and slat, Pikes Peak, Indy, and so on are amazing to watch while Paul talks you through the scenes.

Getting a moment on screen are such obscure and cool vehicles as Buckminster's Dymaxion, http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2008/07/favorite-sculptor-of-mine-was-first-to.html and the Marmon Herrington Rhino: http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2009/12/marmon-harrington-4-wheel-drive.html

http://www.netflix.com/WiMovie/Once-Upon-a-Wheel/70002931?trkid=1211018
Celebrity friends such as Kirk Douglas, Dick Smothers and James Garner join Newman at the classic Indy 500, Formula One and NASCAR events. Featured are some of the most legendary race-car drivers of all time, including Mario Andretti, Parnelli Jones, Bobby Isaac, Richard Petty, Al and Bobby Unser and many more.

Some reeally famous people not named in the review, but getting moments on screen are John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, Wilt Chamberlain, astronaut Pete Conrad, Glen Ford, and others as the cameras were takne through the pits at the first Ontario Motor Speedway celebrity pro- amateur charity race, which was won by Dick Smothers and Bobby Unser. Motion Picture and televison relief fund was the charity.

Hooniverse love

read about it: http://hooniverse.com/2010/08/27/so-much-awesomosity-from-a-dodge-caravan-2/#more-26589

Amazing, only 2 Dadge Daytona's are still in the possession of their original owners, here's one from Car Lust (cool website)


Once a long time ago, anyone could drive a car about anywhere without restriction.. think they ruined it for us?

What do you think it is? The hood ornament is pretty big, maybe a Stutz?

You've probably read that Mercury has been phased out

But why is it that Pontiac being phased out caused such an uproar, and editorials, cover stories, etc etc etc... but no one is lamenting the Mercury becoming a has been. Why is that? What was the Pontiac name plate to GM, that the Mercury nameplate wasn't to Ford? Both were a bit more luxurious than the parent company name... both had a lot of terrible looking cars (Ventura for one) and both had a couple muscle cars of notable looks and reputation ( GTO, swiss cheese Catalina, Comet Cyclone, Cougar Eliminator)

read about the closing down of Mercury: http://www.carlustblog.com/2010/06/rip-mercury.html

the shark nose '38 Graham, quite a departure from contemporary design of it's time




Source of the images, and a good read about the Graham, and why it's nose was so funny looking: http://www.carlustblog.com/2010/07/graham-sharknose.html#more and http://reference.findtarget.com/search/Graham-Paige/

Awesome artist, a lot of talent! Andrey Gusev








from http://carcreator.blogspot.com/ go look at the rest of this cool portfolio!

ford escape hybrid pictures

ford escape hybrid
ford escape hybrid front
ford escape hybrid
ford escape hybrid image
ford escape hybrid
ford escape hybrid interior
ford escape hybrid cars
ford escape hybrid
ford escape hybrid

For 2010, Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner add a host of new features that improve safety and make driving more convenient. Escape and Mariner also become two of the first Ford Motor
Company vehicles to feature SYNC® with Traffic, Directions and Information – helping reduce distractions while accessing important route and traffic information.

Monday, August 30, 2010

Max Balchowsky, creator of the "Old Yaller" series of handbuilt spare parts racecars that won in races against all the exotic European race cars

Max built the Old Yeller cars that defined this era (1958-1964) of California racing.

The Old Yeller legend began when Max and partner Eric Hauser acquired a Special built by Dick Morgensen of Phoenix, Arizona. Max applied his skills, modifying and upgrading almost every part of the car, and created a potent threat for overall wins.

Old Yeller, an assortment of junkyard debris powered by one of Max's killer Buick nailheads, embarrassed many an expensive European sports car and inspired a generation of hot rodders to go road racing... http://www.britannica.com/bps/additionalcontent/18/27709714/95-MAX-BALCHOWSKYS-OLD-YELLER-I

Max pulled the engine, and put it into Old Yeller II, which he'd just built.

Dan Gurney and Carroll Shelby also drove Old Yeller II. Gurney declared it "The best handling car I've ever driven". ... http://www.tamsoldracecarsite.net/MaxBalchowsky1.html
Old Yaller 1 was made from the Morgensen Special and all the work Max did to make it better, but Old Yellar II was all Max.

Max Balchowsky who took on the best in the business with his motoring equivalent of a mutt. From their outward appearance, cars like Old Yeller II appeared crude, but all of the Yellers were well engineered and usually competed for overall victory with much more expensive competition... http://www.supercars.net/cars/608.html

"Built from derelict freeway signs, a Coca Cola sign, Chevy truck parts, whitewall tires, and junkyard parts" .. " winning 8 of 13 outings in 1963-64" .. the engine was built with "special pistons, six Stromberg 97 carburetors on two Crower log manifolds, and an exotic camshaft from Ed Winfield" .... Vintage American Road Racing Cars 1950-1969 By Harold Pace

"Max became good friends with Buddy Hackett and did the setups for the VW known as Herbie for the movie 'Love Bug.' Max is most legendary for the movie stunt work he did for the movie Bullit with Steve McQueen, and he knew Steve well. Max worked with Elvis Presley in several movies, and for Viva Las Vegas, Max used two Old Yeller race cars in the movie (one crashed)."
http://www.ada.org/news/3511.aspx

Sunday, August 29, 2010

The winner of the 1907 Paris to Peking endurance race


The 1907 ITALA mod. 35/45 HP won the prize of a magnum of Mumm champagne. The race went without any assistance through country where there were no roads or road-maps. For the race, camels carrying fuel left Peking and set up at stations along the route to give fuel to the racers. The race followed a telegraph route so that the race was well covered in newspapers at the time. Each car had one journalist as a passenger, with the journalists sending stories from the telegraph stations regularly through the race.

The 9,300 mile race was kicked off by a challenge by a newspaper "What needs to be proved today is that as long as a man has a car, he can do anything and go anywhere. Is there anyone who will undertake to travel this summer from Peking to Paris by automobile?"

It was held during a time when cars were fairly new, and went through remote areas of Asia where people were not familiar with motor travel. The route between Peking and Lake Baikal had only previously been attempted on horseback. The race was won by Italian Prince Scipione Borghese of the Borghese family, accompanied by the journalist Luigi Barzini, Sr. He was confident and had even taken a detour from Moscow to St Petersburg for a dinner which was held for the team, and afterwards headed back to Moscow and rejoined the race. The event was not intended to be a race or competition, but quickly became one due to its pioneering nature and the technical superiority of the Italians' car driven by Count Scipione Borghese, winning by three weeks. These sporting successes helped sales dramatically, the company continued to grow. The company experimented with a range of novel engines such as variable stroke, sleeve valve, and "Avalve" rotary types

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peking_to_Paris and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itala

Italy's National Automobile Museum in Turin (or Torino I'm not sure, I can't read Italian)

the wood buck for an Alfa Romeo Guiletta Sprint









Fiat Turbina

the winner of the Paris to Peking race
If you are ever near Torino, it looks like a must see to me! http://www.museoauto.it/home/

2011 Porsche Cayenne

2011 Porsche Cayenne
2011 Porsche Cayenne


Porsche has quietly announced U.S. pricing information for the 2011 Cayenne, on their American consumer website.

Starting at $46,700 (the version with the 8-speed automatic goes for $49,700), the Cayenne features a 3.6-liter V6 with 300 hp (224 kW / 304 PS) and 295 lb-ft (400 Nm) of torque. The sport-ute accelerates from 0-60 mph in 7.1 seconds (7.4 with the automatic) and has a top speed of 142 mph (229 km/h).

The Cayenne S starts at $63,700 and boasts a 4.8-liter V8 with 395 hp (294 kW / 400 PS) and 369 lb-ft (500 Nm) of torque. It accelerates from 0-60 mph in 5.6 seconds, before hitting a top speed of 160 mph (258 km/h).

If you want performance and fuel efficiency, Porsche offers the $67,700 Cayenne S Hybrid. It features a 328 hp (245 kW / 333 PS) supercharged 3.0-liter V6 and a 46 hp (35 kW / 47 PS) electric motor. Expected to return 28.7 mpg (official EPA numbers haven't been released), the S Hybrid runs from 0-60 mph in 6.1 seconds and tops out at 150 mph (241 km/h).

The $104,800 Cayenne Turbo is powered by a twin-turbo 4.8-liter V8 with 493 hp (368 kW /500 PS) and 516 lb-ft (699 Nm) of torque. It rockets from 0-60 mph in 4.4 seconds, before maxing out at 172 mph (277 km/h).

[Source: Porsche]

2011 Porsche Cayenne
2011 Porsche Cayenne

2011 Porsche Cayenne
2011 Porsche Cayenne

2011 Porsche Cayenne
2011 Porsche Cayenne

Peugeot 308 GTi

Peugeot 308 GTi
Peugeot 308 GTi


The Peugeot 308 GTi come with the same 1.6 litre THP 147 kW (200 PS) engine that will be featured in the RCZ coupe model. That engine makes the 308 GTI competitive with the 155 kW (211 PS) of the Golf GTI - the benchmark GTI for this segment.

The THP engine, fitted with a twin-Scroll turbocharger and a high pressure direct-injection system with VTi technology (variable valve and timing injection), produces 275 Nm (203 lb-ft) of torque and will come mated to a 6-speed manual gearbox. The 0 to 100 km/h sprint takes 7.7 seconds while fuel consumption will be 6.9 liters/100 km and CO2 emissions 159 g/km.

A sound system technology has also been employed to make sure the engine rumble provides for just the right sporty sound that customers will be looking for.

For the proper GTi ride the 308's front MacPherson suspension gets larger bearings with specific damper settings for the 22 mm rods (20 mm in the standard car). The rear torsion beam suspension also gets the same damper treatment.

On the outside are 18-inch wheels with 225/40 R18 tires, a rear spoiler, a lowered rear bumper fitted to a black (Perla Nera) diffuser and dual chrome exhaust pipes. The front fascia also gets a lowering panel borrowed from the 308 CC and a carbon-style insert beneath the front bumper.

GTi-badges are featured on the side and rear of the car.

On the interior are an aluminum foot rest and gear knob and a leather sport steering wheel.

[Source: Peugeot]

Peugeot 308 GTi
Peugeot 308 GTi

Peugeot 308 GTi
Peugeot 308 GTi

Peugeot 308 GTi
Peugeot 308 GTi