eBrake

2011 in Pictures

2012-01-01T14:07:00.007-05:00

2011 has been a busy year and I've been slacking here so I figured I would give a quick recap of the year in photos thanks to my handy little D90. I've got a long way to progress with photography but I'm looking forward to 2012 and all of the opportunities to continue practicing!

Fiat 500's at 2011 Detroit Auto Show

Porsche 918 RSR Hybrid at 2011 Detroit Auto Show

BMW 1 Series M Coupe

BMW E90 M3 from the Performance Center turning laps prior to the start of the 2011 24 Hours of Daytona

A crew member waits for the pit-in at the 24 Hours of Daytona

Hometown Heroes Brumos Porsche running the night stint at the 24 Hours of Daytona

BMW Team RLL M3 GT at the 2011 12 Hours of Sebring

Diesel Power

BMW M3 GT being escorted into Parc Ferme - after winning the grueling 12 Hours of Sebring

Fishing in North Carolina

Key West Trip

Key West Trip

Downtown Jax

Playing with the GoPro

9/11 Tribute at Everbank Field

Audi R18 TDI - Debut at the Petit Le Mans

Flying Lizard GT3 RSR at Turn 1 at 2011 Petit Le Mans

BMW Team RLL M3 GT losing a tire!

BMW Z4 - powered by the new N20 motor - Hilton Head Island Concours

2012 BMW 528i

Porsche 356 Coupe

Beach in Sea Pines - Hilton Head Island, SC

2011 Petit Le Mans in Photos

2011-10-08T10:13:00.006-04:00

Last weekend (Yeah, this post is late!) I was lucky enough to attend the 14th Petit Le Mans at the beautiful Road Atlanta. It must be said that if you enjoy racing then the longer endurance races like Petit Le Mans(and really any race that is part of the ILMC) in North America are great just because of the turnout from the teams.

I was able to attend it due wholly to my association with BMWBlog.com and, aside from ripping the crotch out of my pants while scaling the pit wall, I had a great time! Audi brought their powerful but near silent R18's - the first closed cockpit answer from Audi to the reigning Peugeot 908's(at least in the US).In the GT class BMW had already locked up the team and driver championships but were still angling for an overall victory for the manufacturer's championship - however, they found themselves wedged behind an AF Corse Ferrari 458GT who eeked out pole position.

Road Atlanta, and ALMS races themselves, are great to attend just for the high level of access it grants to all fans to the paddock and teams - something that lends to heightened interest by fans. Petit Le Mans opens up the grid for about 30 minutes with all cars and drivers in attendance to give fans a closer look at the machinery they're about to watch duke it out for the next 10 hours or 1,000 miles - whichever comes first. The field is so packed and the race so long there are bound to be a few retirements. The Lotus Evora seemed to struggle all day keeping grip before letting go and crashing out late in the day. There were also a few LMPs that has some off's and weren't able to re-enter the race.

Once the race kicks off - everyone settles in to their favorite spot on the track (usually the ones with the most shade) to see gleaming hunks of steel blast around the wavy, tree-laden hills of North Georgia. I found, as many already know, that Turn 10 is a great place to be and is what amounts to basically a mid-sized valley of red Georgia clay with a massive slab of asphalt snaking through, into a gravel pit, and up over a massive hill. I found this to be one of the best spots on the track to grab shots of the cars as they braked for 10 and climbed the hill and under the Audi bridge. Another great spot to shoot photos is the top of 5 to watch the cars pour into and up through the Esses on the back half of the track - unfortunately, I didn't make it over that way this year.

I did manage to get a few decent shots while I was there. Here is a link to the Flickr gallery and I've included a few shots here. Enjoy!

1970 Francorchamps Pits

2011-07-30T22:17:00.001-04:00

1970 Francorchamps Pits, originally uploaded by prorallypix.

Vacationing in a McLaren MP4-12c

2011-05-18T00:16:00.003-04:00

I'm a bit nonplussed by the generic styling of the McLaren MP4-12c but equally excited about what it seems capable of. If the car is truly as good as described then it may be that the Ferrari 458 is going to quickly find itself in the number 2 spot of this segment.

Regardless of all of that, I just got back from nearly a week of fishing, drinking, biking and swimming in the Florida Keys - a few days and over 2,000 miles in the newest baby McLaren still sounds like it might be a better proposition...Autocar seemed to think so!

Mk I Ford Escort Rebuilt - Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger

2011-04-25T18:26:00.004-04:00

Of all places, a British Ford Escort Mk I of rallying lore has turned up in Abu Dhabi for a quick restoration. Though, the quick restoration has turned into a 3 year project - it looks like things are going quite well. So far, the major upgrades are a full cage, a replacement 2,000cc Ford Duratec 4 cylinder and the deletion of leaf springs - all for good cause!

If the upgrades aren't enough for you - then hopefully the period orange will push you over the edge.

Crank & Piston via Blenheim Gang

Just Because It's Great...

2011-04-24T20:40:00.002-04:00

I'm eagerly awaiting the Senna debut on a wider scale in the U.S. - apparently coming this July. However, Top Gear did a great job summing up Ayrton Senna's career in a nearly 20 minute segment from a season or two ago. I happened to watch it again this morning and it gets me excited for the full film on his racing career.

In case you haven't watched this yet - check it out now. Then I won't be alone in waiting in agony to see the full film!

Quick Canon 60D Review

2011-04-03T16:21:00.014-04:00

I've been a Nikon fan since picking up a D40 during the Christmas of 2008. This was further reinforced by the fact that I'd inherited a large number of older, manual focus NIKKOR lenses.

However, after watching a large number of videos of car reviews and just general camera-related videos I quickly caught onto the fact that Canon makes the best videos you can ask for in the DSLR market. I've gone from a D40 to a D5000 (for video) to my current camera - the Nikon D90 coupled with a handful of lenses. I've been impressed with the image quality of Nikon and I love the build quality of the D90. It feels like a tank and conveys a very solid feel to it with high quality plastics. The replacement camera - the D7000 - reportedly takes things a step further with two card slots and a higher megapixel CMOS sensor and better video frame rates, resolutions and in-video autofocus.

The D90 has unfortunately been a disappointment when it comes to video. With a mono mic and no auxillary port to plug in a external mic, you're more or less stuck with either terrible sound from the tiny onboard mic or having to use an external mic and then sync up the audio with the video in post-production. The other big issue with the D90 video function is the jpeg-based codec which seems to create a significant amount of shutter roll if the camera or subject is moving too much. I've had a hard time trying to work around that.

Hence the 60D. I picked it up from Best Buy during the 14 day return period just to confirm if I would like the camera or not. I've not shot with Canons before but of any other camera manufacturer - they are the most direct competitor to Nikon at every price point and feature. The 60D is said to be an evolution of the 50D and carries with it much of the guts of the notoriously good 7D. All good things - plus it has a 3.0 inch 1.04 million dot VGA screen that articulates. Some don't like that feature but I think its fantastic for shooting video - which was my main interest in the 60D. Speaking of the LCD display - it's quite beautiful, it makes every shot look clean and bright - perhaps deceivingly so as sometimes I was a little disappointed in lens shake I saw on my laptop that I didn't necessarily detect when reviewing a shot in-camera.

Nikon D90 @ 165mm @ f/10.0:

Other benefits are the in-camera audio control, 720P HD video at 60 frames per second and 1080P at 24 and 30 fps. First off, this thing is smooth at 60 fps in 720P. I played with that setting while in a moving car and had significantly less shutter roll and very sharp picture quality. Motion seems far less disruptive to the video than my experience with either my D5000 or D90. The stereo mic is also much less sensitive to my hands adjusting the lens or playing with settings while recording. That said, the autofocus on the EF-S 18-135mm kit lens is very, very loud compared to the Nikons and you will hear some "whirring" while recording if you try to autofocus. However, this can thankfully be offset as the 60D comes with an input jack for an external mic to sync up the sound and video at once. I haven't had a chance to play with this feature yet but it's reassuring to know its there compared to my D90 or even the newer D3100. Canon has made a point of adding this feature to most, if not all, of their line-up and its definitely a feature Nikon needs to get onboard with.

Build quality on the Canon feels a little disappointing compared to the Nikon, though. The body feels plasticy and almost a bit hollow despite a nice overall weight. The lens feels like a bigger disappointment with a lot of play in the lens tube from the body of the lens. It also feels like a lesser quality plastic - that said, the lens does take quite sharp pictures. The EF-S 18-55mm lens has a received a bit of criticism for not doing the most for the user in terms of sharpness but I didn't detect any of that with the 18-135mm. It's also nice to have an extra 30mm of zoom over the similar Nikon 18-105mm lens that comes with the D90/D7000.

Canon 60D @ 135mm @ f/9.0:

My only other qualms with the 60D are the controls - I do prefer Nikon's layout and ergonomics over Canon. The D90/D7000 has two wheels - one just below the shutter button on the front and one at the back and to the right of the view finder - easily actuated by the index finger and thumb without moving the camera from your face to tweak the shutter speed and aperture. The 60D executes the same function but instead of a rear-mounted dial for the shutter speed it makes due with a wheel further down the rear of the camera by the LCD - harder to reach and actuate without moving the camera from your face.

Canon also made a poor decision ergonomically by the need to press a button before you're able to move the camera settings dial on the top left of the camera - hard to do in a snap. Additionally, the menus feel less refined/intuitive compared to Nikon's interface.

I'm still on the fence with the Canon 60D at the end of the day. I really love the ergonomics of Nikon. It's hard to make a justification for the 60D given the picture quality is very similar. The 60D as a video camera AND DSLR is where it really shines for someone who's getting into videography/photography for the first time or needs a slightly more affordable camera than the 7D. I haven't tried Nikon's latest offering in the D7000 yet but I get the impression that the Canons still have the upper hand with video.

I've included sample videos that I shot with the D90 and then the 60D - both were run through Final Cut Express to process. The D90 video is from the 2011 12 Hours of Sebring and shot in 720P at 24 frames per second while the 60D was shot in 720P at 60 fps and a simple video in the car and of the pets. The quality should improve with your own results, I'm still working through how to get the best output possible from Final Cut.

Nikon D90 - shot with 18-55mm VR lens and 70-200mm f/2.8 VRII lens

Canon 60D - shot with 18-135mm VR lens

McLaren F1 & 3.0 CSL

2011-04-02T00:33:00.001-04:00

McLaren F1 & 3.0 CSL, originally uploaded by swerney.

Historic Cars of Historic Savannah

2011-02-20T21:08:00.005-05:00

Surprising how many interesting little cars cropped up this weekend while in Savannah, Georgia. We cruised up I-95 for a quick weekend getaway and stayed in downtown historic Savannah right off of the waterfront. Most of the trip seemed to revolve around eating at the local places like Uncle Bubba's Oyster House and the Lady and Sons restaurant (if you know who Paula Deen is then you know these places). I'm definitely not complaining though - best Southern food I've had in a long time!

On the second day of the trip, I had to get up early and walk from the hotel up River Street (great spot on the waterfront - pinnacle of the Historic area) and over the Congress Street to get in line for a reservation at Lady & Sons restaurant. After about an hour of waiting, I made the reservation and began to head back to the hotel at which point I unsurprisingly got lost. The silver lining was that I stumbled across this original, off-white Toyota Land Cruiser in daily driver shape. I love original SUVs because they were actually built for utility - not hauling kids to school. This particular model is an FJ40 and had a few signs of rust but was in otherwise great shape. I'm unsure of the year but my guess is its one of the earlier model years.

I shot these on my Nikon D90 with a NIKKOR 35mm f/1.8 so I couldn't frame these as well as I'd liked but it worked(I also had to get back for breakfast!) After lunch, we stopped by the Murphy House in Chipewa Square and I found this Mercedes-Benz 220 Diesel parked right out front. I wandered around and snapped a few photos of it. This W115 had a great little "200,000KM" badge on the front (almost 125,000 miles) and was accompanied by the earlier "100,000KM" badge. Given the wear and tear of the Benz I'd say it's done far more miles than that. The lamp and bumper over the tail pipe looks like it too quite a bit of soot from heavy diesel exhaust. The paint looked gone and the wheels were showing rust but the car seemed to fit in perfectly amongst the old world buildings in Savannah.

After that, I spotted a standard looking but fit E28 5 Series hiding out in the parking deck of the hotel. The 5er came with period square driving lamps under the front bumper. I happened to see a few other E28's scattered around some of the small squares and diving across back alleys. Old German iron seems to be the perfect car of choice for Historic Savannah!

Racing with Clean Diesels

2011-02-14T20:45:00.003-05:00

Found this little gem after poking around for historic racing footage. It's a small documentary of the inaugural season of the Volkswagen TDI Cup from 2008. The TDI Cup pits equally-matched Jetta TDI's against one another with the focus on determining which of the thirty drivers selected should go pro.

Volkswagen's intent is to build a feeder series that whittles 600 drivers down to 100 and on down to 30 as the best of the series. The point being to both highlight the up and coming drivers between 16 and 26 years old and the efficient-yet-still-quite-enjoyable Jetta diesel.

From first glance, one would think that a diesel race series would be a boring but from the footage it appears to be anything but! Cars slamming into each other, flipping, spinning and running into the armco is far more exciting and plays out across some wonderful North American tracks like Mid-Ohio, Road America and the VIR.

This is great little documentary to see what its like in the feeder series in North America. I believe it's two parts - I'm looking for the second part of the documentary. Also attached is the 2009 documentary in full with some of the drivers from the original series reprising their helmets for a few more laps in the Jetta's as veteran drivers. Either way, interesting to see such young drivers compete for a professional drive - some still under 20 years old! The racing seen in this series is in many ways more intense and interesting than many of the U.S.-based racing series' you'll see.

Racing Under Green pt 1 from Alex King & Mito Media on Vimeo.

Racing Under Green 2009 from Volkswagen Motorsports on Vimeo.

Why I'm a Nikon Fan...

2011-02-12T12:03:00.004-05:00

I love my Nikon D90 - and my love is reaffirmed through Sir Jackie Stewart's own appreciation of the brand - as exhibited here.

via Tumblr of Coolamundo

Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona

2011-02-12T10:45:00.006-05:00

At 4:30AM I departed for the 49th 24 Hours of Daytona in sunny Daytona Beach, Florida - mercifully less than 2 hours South of my place. I piled into a tastefully modified E46 330i with heavy Dinan upgrades and was blasted down to Bill France Boulevard and by 8:30AM on race day I was putzing around the paddock.

I ran into a friend, Steve Maguire of United BMW of Roswell, and a handful of instructors from the BMW M School who I'd had the pleasure of learning from previously. After very little coercing on their part, I was seated in the passenger seat of a 2011 E90 M3 Competition Package and off for a hot lap around the freshly paved Daytona circuit. More on that lap is here on BMWBlog - who was nice enough to get me down to Daytona in the first place!

After the lap, we got out and tried to sneak into the Brumos Porsche Panamera S that was pounding around the circuit courtesy of the legend Hurley Haywood. However, after digging for well-fitted helmets in the Brumos bin they shut down the VIP sessions for the historic racers to take some laps.

After the historics the big dogs rolled out and kicked off the 49th 24 Hours of Daytona. I was really happy to see the Brumos Porsche team back in 911's to compete with - theirs was a 997 GT3 Cup Car. I spoke with the team principal(who also owns the team) and their philosophy changed to one that they should only compete in vehicles which they sell on the showroom floor. I especially loved their tribute to former co-owner Bob Snodgrass with the name "Bob" in place of the typical "GT3" badging. I inquired about Hurley Haywood's retirement after last year and apparently as soon as he saw the car for the 2011 season the retirement was off!

As the racing kicked off I found my way into the pits for a while to observe each team's pits - I saw Joey Hand, the soon-to-be-winner in the Chip Ganassi Racing pits and fellow BMW GT driver Bill Auberlen in the Turner Motorsport pits ready to drive the M3 in GT class. Unfortunately, both the the Brumos GT3 and Turner M3 ran into problems throughout the night and spent extended amounts of time in the pits for repairs. Shame to see two great teams sidelined by mechanical issues.

By morning, the BMW-Dinan-powered Daytona Prototypes were on the move and trying to find a gap between the Porsche Action Express Racing DP cars. Joey Hand drove an incredible triple stint and came out complaining of a numb right foot - rightfully so! However, Joey's driving is probably the reason the Chip Ganassi car ultimately won the race.

Even more unbelievable was that after the last caution lap, the final 2 minutes of the race still came down to a sprint race for the BMW's to hold off the Porsche's and taking the 1-2 finish. Ironically, it was the 01 car in first and the 02 car in second! Great to see the youngest Rahal win his first 24 Hours of Daytona and Joey Hand win as well in his first attempt!

I put together a few of my favorite photos below. The full Flickr gallery is here.

I'm Lazy

2011-02-12T10:44:00.001-05:00

Sorry for the long pause between posts - between work and everything else - it's been a busy few months. I hope to be posting more often!

The Best F1 Documentary You've Seen.

2010-12-19T02:23:00.003-05:00

I happened to find this on Vimeo after watching the Lotus Goes Turbo video on Axis of Oversteer.

It's an excellent, well-shot and well-narrated movie about Formula One in the mid-1970's - a time many consider to be the pinnacle of F1. A time when racing was simply man and machine, a tenuous grasp on advanced technologies and sponsorship dollars and the grip of Bernie Eccelstone had yet to ruin the sport.

This particular movie seems to stretch from roughly 1970 to the 1973 season from what I can tell. It centers around Formula One and Jackie Stewart but most of the time is spent with Francois Cevert and the up and coming world championship. Sadly, we all know how the ultimate race of the '73 ended for Cevert.

Beyond just Francois, they have interviews with a handful of other important racers of the time such as Mike Hailwood and Peter Revson and show a very dark side of racing - one that seems to be a race car driver against the world, all alone. What's most shocking is that many of the drivers that were interviewed throughout the documentary are no longer alive - many killed on track.

Aside from the insight into the drivers, it has an amazing amount of period footage at Watkins Glen, Montjuic, Monaco, and Monza and many other tracks. If you're an F1 fan - especially one who likes the heyday of racing - check out this video, you'll not be disappointed and this is an excellent way to burn time on a Sunday morning.

Champions Forever from gt4zone on Vimeo.

Happy Turkey Day and a Tribute to Jim Clark

2010-11-25T17:18:00.003-05:00

Happy Turkey Day, everyone!

I'm about to enter round 2 of turkey day festivities but before I did I wanted to post this up. It's an hour long tribute to Jim Clark and does a wonderful job chronicling his career throughout F1, Formula 2 and sports car racing. It has a lot of period footage of about 3 or 4 seasons from Formula 1 and some great information about his foray into the Indianapolis 500 with Lotus and the challenges that kept the team from taking further victories.

If you're tired of football or ready to pass out from too much turkey - this is a good little clip to watch and catch up on the career of one of the best racing drivers of all time.

Jim Clark from TravisD on Vimeo.

Quickie from Pre-12 Hours of Sebring

2010-11-24T18:01:00.001-05:00

DSC_0857, originally uploaded by Murph32256.

Nikon 35mm f/1.8 + Porsche 962

2010-11-22T23:53:00.001-05:00

Brumos porsche Copenhagen 962, originally uploaded by Murph32256.

'nuff said

Being on Team McLaren in 1975

2010-11-09T21:20:00.003-05:00

I came across this little 25 minute video on Vimeo and thought it would be interesting to pass along. It's a fairly intimate look at the Team McLaren during the '75 season with Emerson Fittipaldi in his last year with McLaren and the secondary driver Jochen Mass - both at the wheel of the M23 powered by the Cosworth DFV. Ironically, this would be Fittipaldi's last season with McLaren before he would leave to endure an unsuccessful stint on his brother Wilson's Fittipaldi Automotive team. The following season, McLaren would pick up rogue driver James Hunt who would battle down to the wire to beat Ferrari 312T driver Niki Lauda by a single point during the typhoon of a grand prix at Mt. Fuji.

What's especially interesting, though sometimes a little slow, is that the video provides tremendous insight into the minds of Fittipaldi and Mass in the moments before a race as they mentally prepare for automotive combat. As I said, there are times where the video is a bit slow and doesn't move but having basically 25 minutes of in-pit time from 1975 is an important view into the manner in which the teams were run 35 years ago. From what I can tell, much of the racing sequences were filmed at Interlagos on a few years after it was added to the calendar - and the team and drivers appear fairly lackadasical by comparison to when the team fell under the iron fist of Ron Dennis bringing it into today's iteration of Team McLaren.

Enjoy!

McLaren 1975 from gt4zone on Vimeo.

Self Promotion: My Nikon D5000 for sale

2010-11-07T21:22:00.007-05:00

I just picked up a factory-refurbished Nikon D90 camera body off of eBay and as a result I'm selling my Nikon D5000 and related gear. The D5000 was just recently discontinued - however, noted photographer and Nikon enthusiast Ken Rockwell thought so much of the D5000 that he called it the "For the best possible camera for just about anything, fun or serious, I'd get the Nikon D5000."

The D5000 is an excellent, highly capable camera - I just happened to want something that gave me a bit more hands-on control of settings. The D5000 is currently listed on eBay for a starting bid of $624.99. With the D5000 body you also get:

- Nikon D5000 12.3MP camera body

- two-battery Opteka battery grip with vertical shutter release button for portrait shots and increased control

- 4 D5000/Opteka grip-compatible rechargeable batteries(these work great! used 2 for almost the entire Petit Le Mans shooting 1,800 photos and 1 hour of video)

- Battery charger

- AV output cables

- All books and documentation

- USB to PC/Mac adapter

- Nikon camera strap

- Nearly unused Nikon camera bag

* An Nikon 18-55mm VR lens is also available for a bit more money if someone is interested

The camera has only 12,661 shutter clicks since I bought the camera around March/April of 2010. I shot the entire Petit Le Mans video and my photos on it. You can find the Flickr set of the Petit Le Mans photos and the video of Petit Le Mans below. Feel free to contact me regarding any questions!

A 10 Minute History of the Porsche 917

2010-11-07T20:35:00.004-05:00

I've hit a bit of a slump with content and seem to continually fuel things with Porsche content. Unfortunately, I don't seem to be letting up as I found this clip about the Porsche 917. I've loved this car since I first saw it and not surprisingly due to the McQueen movie Le Mans. While 10 minutes may seem like not much time to cover the prolific history of the 917 - the hosts manage to quite a lot with little time.

The clip covers the development of the 917K and 917LH a bit but has wonderful insight from 917 drivers Brian Redman and Richard Attwood. What's especially interesting is to listen to Attwood's account of the 1970 24 Hours of Le Mans and how he and the team made the conscious decision to stick with the smaller 4.5 liter flat-12 engine over the larger, more powerful 4.9 liter flat-12. In the end, the tortoise beat the hare as the smaller displacement 917K of Hermann and Attwood was reliable enough to go the distance and take the overall win at the Circuit de la Sarthe.

The clip also goes into detail about Porsche's move into Can Am to steal the show from the dominant McLaren's with a turbocharged 917/10 putting out a frightening almost 1,000HP. Additionally, a bit of insight is given to Porsche's test of the 917/30 at Talladega with Mark Donohue behind the wheel to set the FIA record for average closed circuit speed record of about 221 mph. Sadly, Donohue, a very accomplished racer, would be killed a few days later in what was initially thought to be a minor injury in at Austrian Grand Prix.

Hope you enjoy it! Shame that outrageous cars like this are no longer fit to race - no modern racers seem to come close to the brutal, relentless 917.

Porsche 917 from Mee on Vimeo.

Nearly 50 Years and the Sound Doesn't Change

2010-11-04T23:33:00.004-04:00

I found this up on Chris Harris' blog on evo's site. Harris and two other driver's competed in the 1,000km of Nurburgring this year. I assume in some sort of historics race prior to the actual competition. However, that's irrelevant.

This video is a bit of a testament to the 911 and it's lovely flat-6 engines. They've managed to sound the same and retain its original configuration for 47 years. Basically, the 911 still kicks ass - just check out this nearly 10 minute clip of Harris hooning a 911 ST around the ring. Enjoy the music!

(Source: evo uk)

I have other interests outside cars: Art!

2010-10-26T22:23:00.007-04:00

It counts right? I mean, just because it's artwork of motorsport and cars doesn't make it not artwork.

I found this gem of a site today while looking at the TeamSpeed forums. It's personal blog/site of artist Miha Furlan who, quite obviously, has an incredible talent for capturing late 1960's through mid-1980's race cars. I particularly love the sort of "Pop!" factor his art work has looking almost cartoonish but with incredible detail and oozing with style. He manages to make the canvas look as though it was moving.

The best thing I could compare it to are the colorful, sexy Grand Prix posters of the early years of Formula One but with even better cars and more exotic locales.

Miha also has an eye for cars with iconic paint schemes like the Gulf Porsche 917's, The JPS Lotus 72D's, Martini tri-color Porsche 935 and Lancia Integrale, and the teapot Ligier JS. Basically, if you love the golden age of motorsport then there is undoubtedly a picture for you. What's most impressive is that it seems he manages to create such beautiful imagery through only colored pencils and markers!

I'm angling with the wife to possibly land some of his works of art as Christmas gifts for me. Guys, I recommend you do the same!

I've included a few of the photos of Miha's work below definitely work a look!

Porsche 908/30 vs. Ferrari 512 @ Targa Florio

Ligier JS5

Ferrari going for it on the Targa Florio

Giles & Jody at Monaco in '79

The Way of the Future

2010-10-21T19:36:00.008-04:00

While I was in the BMW pits at the 2010 Petit Le Mans, I happened to wander down near the Porsche pits and ran into JF Musial of Tangent Vector while he was shooting video for Porsche of North America (or just Porsche). I spoke to him briefly about his camera rig and it turns out he was using a Canon 7D to shoot the video listed below.

This Porsche GT3 R Hybrid is of particular interest to me as it bucks the trend of the normal, battery-based hybrid in favor of a fly wheel-based system. While at the race, I was aware that Porsche had run the GT3 R Hybrid as a bit of a test bed from all they've learned from the Williams KERS system( incredibly much like the one they were co-developing with BMW during their F1 partnership days!) but I wasn't very aware of the technical prowess this car manages to sport. While the hybrid system apparently only weighs an additional 103 lbs. ( a relatively small weight) it can return up to 163HP in additional power when charged up to the 4 motors Porsche fixed to each wheel. From my understanding, Porsche fixed the 4 motors to the wheels as a way of letting them add torque vectoring to the GT3 R Hybrid. Thus, they can now somewhat regulate how much power is focused on specific wheels to help increase cornering speeds and straight-line acceleration.

Overall, the GT3 Hybrid did OK for its first outing on the track in the United States by placing 18th overall in the race. Pretty impressive considering it was leading the 24 hours of Nurburgring when it has major mechanical issues. As a hybrid, the GT3 R is fairly innocuous towards motorsport fans. When it passed me numerous times at my perch on the track all I could perceive was the sonorous sound of of a Porsche flat-6. That's all I wanted too, so if this is the way of the future, I think I could be onboard for that. Check out this great technical write-up of the Porsche GT3 R Hybrid as they go into much better detail of how the GT3 differs from a Prius hybrid.

BMW RLR - Video Straight from the Pits!

2010-10-12T21:50:00.004-04:00

I posted a write-up and video of my experiences at the 2010 Petit Le Mans embedded with BMW RLR. The race was absolutely incredible. For those that enjoy motorsports, the GT2 class of the ALMS has provided non-stop action between BMW, Ferrari, Porsche, Jaguar and Chevy. Many of the nine races this season have been insane sprint races requiring the teams all be on-point all the time as the cars were all setting lap times within seconds of each other.

I compiled this video that highlights the experiences in the pits with BMW RLR as the M3 GT's rocketed 'round Road Atlanta. It also captures some of the low points such as the #90 car being falsely penalized and then a mechanical issue with the starter motor that resulted in a loss of major laps. Thankfully, the 90 car bounced back and got out on track to work with the 92 car to find a fourth place finish. How did the finish come about? Well, the Risi Ferrari managed to run out of fuel on the last lap - two corners from the finish line giving the BMW M3 GT room to jet past and take the Manufacturer's Championship from Porsche by a single point.

The video was shot with a Nikon D5000 and a handful of Nikon/Nikkor lenses. Overall, I'm happy that the video came together but still disappointed with the Nikon video mode over that of rival Canon's. I'm contemplating a Nikon D7000 with autofocusing and full HD video or a Canon T2i or 60D. Any constructive criticisms are appreciated!

Just back from Petit Le Mans

2010-10-04T01:34:00.001-04:00

Porsche GT3 Hybrid, originally uploaded by Murph32256.

Working on a big piece for BMWBlog - but I should have content up here afterward! Hats off to BMW for a great season and interesting to see this Porsche Hybrid running as an "exhibition" of sorts.

Questions for the Drivers at the 2010 Petit Le Mans

2010-09-18T09:48:00.000-04:00

Questions for the Drivers at the 2010 Petit Le Mans

I'm a bit of a fan...

2010-09-13T23:02:00.004-04:00

of this car. It's the BMW M8 Prototype.

We finally finished up our article on it after BMW nonchalantly dropped it on everyone during a press junket about, of all things, their future micro city cars and other "green" initiatives. Horatiu of BMWBlog was working to get this article turned around and I chipped in a little to help compile all of the information into one spot.

The M8 Prototype was rumored to have 550HP - though that's never been officially confirmed. The car was pared down to the basics - manual controls, lightweight seats and materials, alcantara interior and a six speed manual. The car was ultimately sidelined due to the economy and the United States having only a lukewarm reception to the initial E31 850i. Even after the Bavarians introduced the cheaper 840i with a version of the M60/2 V8 sales did not grow tremendously.

This thing was the pinnacle of M GmbH and it was aborted at the absolute last minute. It's legacy? A few old "press" photos of a complete car floating around for 15 or so years and a heavily detuned version in the guise of the 850CSi. What a shame this wasn't available.

The video is below comes from an iPhone 4 as Horatiu didn't have a video camera on him. First foray into editing film since completing one film project in high school. That said, constructive criticism is welcome as I'd love to improve upon it.

A Day at the 1967 Glen

2010-09-12T21:36:00.003-04:00

There isn't much to not like about this. Jim Clark, no guard rails, Watkins Glen and pre-advertising campaign F1 cars. The only think to not like is ridiculous jazz flute in the background but I guess it's period music - reminds me of Grand Prix!

Automotive Addicts 9/11/10

2010-09-12T10:40:00.001-04:00

635CSi, originally uploaded by Murph32256.

This is the rear deck of (obviously) a 635CSi that was in incredible shape - I think the color is Bronzit or something along those lines. It was a greay looking shark, though.

Click the link on the pic above to jump over to the rest of the gallery. I've been playing with black and white pictures and tried to use an old manual Nikon 24mm f/2.8 lens with OK results - using a manual lens in a digital age proves to be harder than expected but when you get it right it's worth it!

Jumped the Shark - the Black Shark

2010-09-12T09:28:00.004-04:00

There are two things going wrong with this picture.

1. It's matte black - a trend quickly getting played out.
2. It's yet another company or "tuner" who's taken the most basic concept of modifying cars: a new exhaust, 20 inch "performance wheels", modified suspension and custom seats. This is a modified Audi S5 as dressed up by SR Auto Group as an Audi S5 Typhon.

I know it sounds whiney but I just don't get it. It seems like every day another company turns up as a supposed tuner just because they've slapped bigger wheels and brakes on a car. I guess I don't understand how these cars are tuned when they're doing upgrades that, with the use of the internet, most anyone could do themselves.

Also, it appears that if you're going to tune a car - it is a prerequisite that you provide it with a matte finish. I thought it looked good for a while, but after seeing everything from a Honda Civic all the way up to a McLaren-Mercedes SLR carry the paint then perhaps it is a bit played out.

What happened to the days of Alpina, Ruf, and AMG(prior to being absorbed by Benz) when to tune a car you had to truly improve performance and set it apart from the pack. These days, splash of carbon fiber on the visible spots, oversized wheels, and some silly custom paint and an exhaust and you have a "tuned car."

This type of tuning reminds me guys at the local gym who only work out glamor muscles so they look impressive but don't have the stones to back it up.

If you're going to take the time to design something for performance and speed - make sure you don't build a car that has only moderate abilities beyond the base model and mated to a suspension/wheels that will crush your bones at every expansion joint. Seems silly but this still isn't anything more than a dressed up boulevard cruiser.

(Source: Autoblog)

Do I need a reason?

2010-09-09T00:35:00.001-04:00

FERRARI P3/4 FERRARI FESTIVAL SILVERSTONE, originally uploaded by FLUIDIMAGES.

It's a P3/4 - probably one of the best looking race cars of all time. period.

The Cheese that is Vintage BMW Commercials

2010-09-07T23:07:00.005-04:00

I always like seeing period car commercials - it's an interesting view into both products and marketing of the period. A few months ago Jalopnik posted a late 1960's Pontiac commercial showing how scary it must be for women to ...drive cars.

These few below are German market BMW commercials which are beyond cheesy. I happened to stumble across them on YouTube and, honestly, they're the first time I've ever seen BMW period commercials from the late 1960's/1970's models. However, the themes conveyed proliferate BMW advertising of today - a big German saloon(2800CS) is the road-going equivalent of the then-new private jets.

Need a sexy lady? Live near train tracks ? Great, slide on over to your local BMW dealer and snag the uber-rare 2002 cabrio( thanks to Baur!) and wait for the next AMTrak to come through - you'll have Bavarian babes in literally no time whatsoever.

Next up on the agenda? Jet down to Monaco for some light shopping - I can't speak German but the gist seems to be that "that big Six engine is eine gem!"

This last one is...well...watch. I don't know a single 2002 owner who would drive the classic on the beach!

While the commericals are a bit ridiculous it's important to remember that these commercials helped to sell the models that brought BMW back from the edge of collapse. "Die Neue Klasse." Without these cars, BMW likely wouldn't exist today, cars like the M3, M5 or 6 Series would be cruising the streets. The days of the M10 4 cylinder and the M30 Big Six - clearly the advertising worked as these cars put the Bavarians on a path that would lead them to eventually over take Mercedes-Benz.

All videos found in Thalmanac's YouTube page

Jacky Ickx you old motorboatin' son of a....

2010-08-31T21:54:00.002-04:00

This is great for the RS4 content - but then hilarious because it looks like the 6-time Le Mans winner is motorboatin' ... or making engine noises so perhaps he's lost his mind. Either way, it's good stuff.

AUDI RS4 from carl bouteiller on Vimeo.

Why Don't More People Mention This?!

2010-08-30T23:41:00.002-04:00

RUF CTR3, originally uploaded by StephenHall.

I'm surprised I don't see more of this car.

It's a specially made mid-engined sports car made by the extremely reputable Porsche tuner Ruf. Ruf is a smaller, family-owned tuner based out of Germany(of course) and has a history of taking standard Porsche models and bumping them into the extremes with cars like the Yellow Bird based off of the 930 and the 993-based CTR2. The Yellow Bird managed to topple competitors such as the F40 and 959 back in it's day - while maintaining the reliability of a standard 911.

The CTR3 should be turning more heads. It spits out a mind-bending 700HP from a twin-turbocharged 3.8L flat-6, keeps the engine amidship and holds a lower weight of just under 3,100 lbs. Power is regulated via six-speed sequential 'box and the interior is comfortably built from a 911 (along with nose).

It's an interesting car - two parts 911, one part Boxster and a dash of Carrera GT plus one of the best Porsche tuners you can find. Why don't more people acknowledge this car? Ruf is (like Alpina) essentially a manufacturer in its own right under German law.

One more to add to the wishlist. Quick video below of some rolling shots and exhaust notes - difficult to find high quality video of this car.

First Test Car Received: BMW 128i 'Vert

2010-08-30T21:55:00.007-04:00

We hit Miami this weekend for video and photos plus a review of a 2010 128i Convertible. The littlest BMW we picked up came with a six-speed manual, the obligatory Sports Package, and (I think) Cold Weather Package. The color scheme was Titanium Silver on red leather - I think it looks great but it seems to be an acquired taste for some. The dark burl wood trim really adds a nice touch. This is my first press car for BMW and BMWBlog and I'm quite thankful for the opportunity to live with a car for a week to get a better impression of it.

Anyway, Saturday was crazy - woke up about 3:45AM and drove to Miami and arrived by about 9:20AM. We started out working off of Brickell Ave and Biscayne Blvd. That transitioned to the Old Grand Prix circuit which is sadly beginning to be taken apart for another park. It was a cool location to see -especially the old curbing of the circuit. We took up shooting at this place thanks to Jeff Ross.

After that we did a few runs over an overpass and headed towards South Beach - afterward landing in Key Biscayne off of the Rickenbacker Causeway. Beautiful area - I was there earlier in the morning before the sun started to beat down on the city and I've literally never seen more bicyclists in my life. There are hundreds traversing the bridge and water front.

In the process of all of this, I learned one important lesson: modern Toyota's are complete garbage. I've not driven something this bad in probably years. It is a bland, dull brand that has become faceless and without a personality. Bring back the Supra - have a pulse again, Toyota. The gas mileage was good - probably 32 to 36 miles per gallon - though it seemed like the tank emptied very quickly. The only plus I found of the Corolla was the slab-sided designs made it easier to mount cameras.

After we wrapped everything up for the day - I shot back to Jacksonville and kept the top down most of the way back and I think I might want a convertible now. More to follow on living with the 128i after we get our piece together for BMWBlog.

Eau Rouge

2010-08-27T00:00:00.003-04:00

Eau Rouge (Spa-Francorchamps, June 2009), originally uploaded by Camiel de Hoen.

The Nurburgring is known for being a challenging track due to its over 100 turns, narrow width and dramatic elevation changes - even areas where modern race cars can still find all 4 wheels completely off the track before landing and heading straight into a braking zone.

A few kilometers away, in Belgium there is a much smaller track with a single corner that is considered one of the most challenging in all of modern motorsports: Eau Rouge at the classic track of Spa-Francorchamps. Eau Rouge is a massive left-to-right turn starting from just beyond the pit wall at the base of a hill and spiraling upward before coming to Raidillon - a blind left corner requiring you throw the wheel over, keep the throttle on and hope that nobody ahead of you shunted and that you'll have the right line. Many times, driver's do not commit or make a mistake and Eau Rouge/Raidillon bites - hard.

In the video above, Stefan Bellof eerily talks about how to approach Eau Rouge just prior to the 1985 endurance race at Spa in which he and his mentor, Jackie Ickx, tied up their 956 and 962, respectively, and the resulting accident at the top of Eau Rouge ultimately claimed Bellof's life in the prime of his career. Below is a clip of what happens when driving at even something as toned down as a track day when Eau Rouge snaps on someone - though with better than expected results.

Formula One is at Spa this weekend so I recommend tuning in for it. Coverage should be on SPEEDTV( our best option Stateside). The last few years of F1's return to Spa have made for very interesting and highly competitive racing(2008's Kimi vs. Lewis anyone?) and with the points being so close right now - things are bound to be compelling this weekend.

Video a go-go

2010-08-26T21:17:00.004-04:00

Heading to Miami this weekend for a car video shoot. We're going to try out a few new ways to shoot video for the first time using a Nikon D5000 DSLR. As we're trying to add a more professional flair, we picked up some gear from FilmTools.com on loan to us for about 2 weeks to accomplish what we need to shoot.

The photo is a quick shot of my D5000 with the Zeikos battery grip and 35mm f/1.8 lens on one of the many configurable mounts from FilmTools.com. Clearly, the mounts stick to nearly everything and can attach to a variety of surfaces both concave and convex. After receiving a massive black, heavy-duty plastic container with the equivalent of an adult-sized erector-set. I did a quick test run of the gear last night and here are a few quick videos I took at 720p with the rigs. Keep in mind these have had no post work done and were quick set ups so they're less than ideal. However, you get the idea. Watch this space for more next week on the shoot and what we did. So far, I would highly recommend anyone who's interested in automotive photography invest in gear from Film Tools!

Keep in mind, the initial video is done only with a single mount so more vibration was present.

Quick and to the Point with an E30 M3

2010-08-23T23:58:00.004-04:00

Incredible video - very to the point clip of a driver literally attacking the 'Ring with a now vintage E30 M3 racer. Incredible the amount of speed the 25 year old E30 can produce with only 4 cylinders. However, it's S14 engine is a truncated version of the epic and venerable M88 BMW six cylinder.

Keep an eye out towards the middle to last three-fourths of the video as it would appear this M3 is Porsche 997-hunting as well.

(Source: AUSRingers.com)

Stratos: Part Due

2010-08-16T22:13:00.005-04:00

Usually, I strongly dislike retro-styled cars. It shows an approach to the design process which is a bit hacked and could be perceived as a bit of a weak attempt to cash in on a brand icon well passed its years. However, there are a few choice vehicles that have managed to not jump the shark in their styling. Cars like the Z8, Ford GT and the one-off Glickenhaus P4/5 - throw a Fiat 500 or MINI Cooper in for good measure. In my mind - these cars have managed to take design cues from historic models added the right mix of modern style to strike a balance of the old and new.

Lancia, maker of all things boring these days from Italy, has delved into their own history books to pull out a little mid-engined gem that won the World Rally Championship 3 years in a row during the mid-1970's. The little Italian car maker has dug into its bag of few remaining tricks to pull out a throw-back model to the amazing Bertone-designed Stratos. Originally, the Statos was a giant leap forward in car design with a very open front windscreen, mid-mounted V6 from the Dino(read first Ferrari V6) and a particularly stumpy wheelbase.

In looking at the modern one - I love it. It's literally just a reinterpretation of the original Stratos. It's a completely hacked design but I love it - perhaps that speaks to the original design of the 1970's Stratos but its a very moving car. What's even better is that it will be built on the now extinct Ferrari F430 chassis with the rumor circulating that the V8 of the 430 finding it's way into the middle of the body of the new Lancia. So, you have nearly 500HP, a very short wheelbase and achingly beautiful design? Kudos to Lancia for building this kind of car in a down economy at a point in which their remaining product line suffers from the lack of personality the Stratos naturally exudes. That takes some serious balls!

Weekend Car Show

2010-08-15T20:26:00.002-04:00

Lotus Espirit Turbo, originally uploaded by Murph32256.

Good car show this weekend - a lot of variety to boot. A 430, a handful of 911's, a few NSX's, a handful of BMW's ranging over about 20 years, a few Z06's, and my personal favorite, a Basalt Black on Red Porsche 997 Turbo S.

Also saw this Esprit Turbo, not sure on the year but I assume it is late 1970's to early 1980's. Either way, beautiful car. I've posted up a few of the pics I took. Trying to practice prior to shooting some new photos/video in Miami coming up.

Thanks to Automotive Addicts as always for hosting the car show (every second Saturday of the month at Tinseltown) and a link to the few photos I took are here.

The Skittles of Cars

2010-08-13T21:11:00.016-04:00

If you've read two posts of this site then you should probably know I love the BMW E46 M3. The first time I saw one was in early 2001 while scouting out colleges in Atlanta. It was sunset and I was on the way to dinner with family in Buckhead when I saw a Laguna Seca Blue pulling out of the Barnes & Noble across from Lennox mall. The bright blue paint was muted by the fading light but picked up the reflection of the light yellow and red skyline across it's lines. I immediately fell in love.

However, I was ashamed of my love for Laguna Seca Blue as it became a very polarizing color for many with the color earning the nickname "Smurf" Blue. As a result, when picking colors for my own car - I've erred towards conservative colors so as to not offend and maintain resale - hence Orient Blue for my first E46 and Silver Gray for my second.

But, as I refine my taste in cars, I find myself drawn much more to these loud colors - particularly because they typically offer up a color that lends to the history of the car and the brand. Laguna Seca Blue actually comes from the track of the same name in California.

Other companies have similar paint schemes - while it may seem hokey, if I had the money to buy some ridiculous machinery I would spring for the colors that really set itself apart from even from the upper crust of the motoring world. As a result, I put together a showing of cars that carry those few colors that, yes, maybe questionable but still manage to catch the essence of the car.

Signal Green Porsche - A throwback color to the 1973 Porsche Carrera RS 2.7

Who could forget Gulf Blue on a Porsche? If you don't know why this color scheme is important then buy a Prius. (Source: automotive-photo-by-ju)

This color hooked me on first site - Laguna Seca Blue (aka Smurf Blue) (Source: PureAddict.com)

Suzuka Grey via quattro GmbH - named after the famous Japanese circuit. (Source: oskarbakke)

Papaya Orange - if this isn't enough that it is good enough to adorn the McLaren F1 - Bruce McLaren himself picked this car out in the late 60's for his team color when he broke out to form Team McLaren. (Source: Autobellisima)

Techno Violet - who says purple is feminine? Prince would disagree - so would M GmbH(Source: Azuremen)

Mean Green 2011 Ford Focus RS( Source: egoistrs)

Red. Ferrari. (Source: EB.Photography)

Watch the top clip first...

2010-08-11T22:36:00.004-04:00

Seriously, aside from the name of the clip - would you ever expect that sort of noise to come out of that sort of vehicle?

Sadly, this isn't a production car but simply a prototype, probably something the engineers came up with after the 1999 Le Mans win with the BMW V12 LMR. I've driven the current X5 M and I was impressed by the speed of huge truck and the twin-turbo V8 churning out 550HP. However, with a 700HP on tap from the same V12 that happened to win the 1999 Le Mans. Hence the X5 Le Mans.

Hans Stuck - when he was still in the employ of BMW took this beast out and beat on it in the video below. It's a shame this never reached production - certainly a car ahead of its time considering in 1999 the car enthusiasts would have never thought a truck would end up at one point in time as one of the fastest, most agile M cars available.

In addition to the massive V12 this particular X5 benefited from tremendous weight savings through aluminum panels, lighter high-bloster seats, and use of carbon fiber. It is rumored that Herr Stuck managed a 7:49 time on the Nurburgring putting it 1 second faster than the M3 CSL and over 15 seconds faster than the E92 M3. Nuts.

Obligatory Steve McQueen Post

2010-08-05T23:59:00.003-04:00

If you're into cars - especially older racing cars - you're required to idolize Steve McQueen. Period.

Le Mans is probably one of my favorite movies and to anyone who doesn't enjoy racing it would be the most illogical choice imaginable. No dialogue for about the first 30 minutes, no real depth to characters, minimal soundtrack and a very thin plot are usually ingredients for garbage.

However, those things, applied to a historic race along with the vision of a film legend and part-time professional racer lead to nothing but greatness. Le Mans the film consists mainly of 917k's, Lola's, and 512's screaming down the original, non-chicaned Mulsanne Straight. It's glorious - but only for the few who get cars and can appreciate McQueen's own loyalty and accuracy to the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Selvedge Yard has posted up a few pics from behind the scenes during filming of Le Mans. As you can see below, Steve is enjoying a day at the track and his #20 917k while Lee Katzin(director of Le Mans) has the most awkward photo of him taken. Ever.

Definitely worth checking out - I hope to be back to normal posting this weekend!

...What's Black or Grey, Fast All Over...

2010-08-03T00:53:00.003-04:00

I've been slammed at work and/or traveling for work so I've had less time to post this past week or so. However, as a quick post - a commercial I've never seen of my favorite car. My god I would love to own one of these - guess I'll have to pick up an M3 Competition Package and some CSL parts!

More posts coming soon!

Taking a Luxury Car Racing

2010-08-02T22:39:00.005-04:00

This post is straight-up due to Motoring Con Brio and the post about "A Smattering of Racy Mercs." I was particularly fascinated by picture of the C107 500 SLC shown below.

I like the fact that someone took a car like the 500 SLC and managed to take it racing and be quite competitive at that. Little did I know until watching this mini documentary below and doing some research that the SLC has a bit of racing pedigree in it. Keep in mind, the SLC was designed to waft executives and rich housewives around Beverly Hills or the Alpine Pass with grace and ease - not glide sideways across a rain-soaked rally stage.

Ironically, the same man behind the Red Pig that shocked the world at the 1971 24 Hours of Spa was behind the racing C107 - Erich Waxenberger. Waxenberger was a Mercedes-Benz engineer who thought up the original 300SEL 6.3 and then cooked up the recipe for the 500 SLC as a rally entry though having to take it out as a privateer car prior to Benz officially signing off on a program for it.

Waxenberger took the idea that the now obvious(and perhaps somewhat moot looking at their current state) Mercedes reliability could return dividends in long, reliability-driven racing. As a result, power was bumped up over the standard model, though most of the car was kept close to road-going spec, and the SLC began winning races. As early as 1977 the SLC was entered by Waxenberger with a quick win in the London to Sydney Rally in 280E guise, the 500 SLC was introduced by 1979 and competing in rallying across the world. The interesting fact was that the 5.0L V8's were homologation specials built by Mercedes in just enough quantities to satisfy homologation requirements. It is rumored that less than 100 of these SLC's exist for road-going consumption though nobody quite knows how many were made.

While this the SLC represents merely a blimp on the radar that is Mercedes motorsport involvement, it is great to see a big, illogical car competing in and actually winning in major events like the Paris-Dakkar rally. This car literally makes no sense for such application yet here it is - winning races. Perhaps the successes of the SLC were the inspiration behind the original design for the 190E's racing application?

Famous Quotes Across Automotive History

2010-07-31T22:41:00.009-04:00

While I was looking for the Paul Newman photos I came across a quote I heard by Mr. Newman about 5 years ago during an interview on Leno. It's a great quote and something somewhat relatable for myself:
"the first thing that I ever found I had any grace in"

I thought it would be interesting to compile some quotes that I found about racing and cars in general. Some funny, some insightful, all interesting and indicative of the personalties of those who said it.

"Aerodynamics is for those who cannot manufacture good engines"
- Enzo Ferrari

"When I raced a car last it was at a time when sex was safe and racing was dangerous. Now, it's the other way round."
- Hans Stuck

"I will drive flat out all the time. I love racing."

"If someone said to me that you can have three wishes, my first would have been to get into racing, my second to be in Formula 1, my third to drive for Ferrari."
- Giles Villeneuve

"Racing, competing, it's in my blood. It's part of me, it's part of my life; I have been doing it all my life and it stands out above everything else."
-Ayrton Senna

"The racing driver's mind has to have the ability to have amazing anticipation, coordination, and reflex. Because of the speed the car goes."
-Emerson Fittipaldi

"The track is my canvas. My car is my pencil"
- Graham Hil

"Racing drivers have balls, unfortunantly, none of them are crystal"
- David Coulthard

MINI back to Rallying

2010-07-26T21:21:00.004-04:00

Mini Cooper S Rally Car, originally uploaded by BenGPhotos.

Good news, MINI Cooper is rumored to be taking the plunge and re-entering the World Rallying Championship.

For a point of reference, a Mini Cooper S with a barely 1L 4-cylinder engine won the 1964, 1965 and 1967 Monte Carlo Rally beating out the likes of Porsche 911S's which were rear-wheel-drive and much more powerful. So, the British, tiny, front-drive car managed to beat the rear-engined beasts of Stuttgart.

That's the first important part of the story.

The second part is that BMW Group, who've revitalized the little Brit brand, have commissioned Prodrive to manage the MINI Cooper WRC team. That's even better news.

BMW and Prodrive previously worked together on an E30 M3 rally car in the late 1980's which was a dangerous little package of the homologated S14-powered E30 M3 on the Monte Carlo Rally - a rear-wheel-drive car in the golden days of all-wheel-drive. While the M3 excursion wasn't incredibly successful Prodrive moved onto bigger and better things with Subaru starting in 1990.

With a Subaru Legacy and then the more successful Impreza and driver talent like Colin McRae, Prodrive had a lot resources at their disposal for potential wins. Three world championships later, Prodrive's ability to bring in wins anchored their place in rallying history. Lackluster performance in later years resulted in Subaru pulling out of the WRC and leaving Prodrive without a partner for professional competition.

However, re-partnering of Prodrive and BMW via MINI could result in some interesting additions to the WRC, which has suffered as of late after Mitsubishi and Subaru pulled out due to economic pressures. Insiders believe that the MINI Countryman would serve as the basis for the rally car along with the potent 1.6L turbocharged 4 banger. If the partnership moves forward, expect an announcement sometime next Spring.

Personally, I am looking forward to it as this should provide an interesting racing series and a renewed venue for BMW to demonstrate its strong product lines - assuming MINI and Prodrive move forward with a partnership!.

Evidence of things that could be when BMW and Prodrive combine? I point you to exhibit A:

Source: BMWBlog via Autosport

2 Parts British with a Splash of Italian

2010-07-26T19:28:00.004-04:00

Thanks to the boys at Motoring Con Brio I'm starting to learn to appreciate Alfa's more than I had previously.

Being a male under 30 years old I'm by default a fan of Aston Martins, Land Rover Defenders and, of course, a monumental fan of 007.

This clip of the prologue to the latest Bond film, Quantum of Solace, thankfully has all four and I can forgive the rest of the movie for being mediocre at times simply for the three minute, thirty second piece of film that kicks off with the roar of an the Aston Martin DBS and ends with the destruction of two Alfa Romeo 159's, a Land Rover Defender 90 and a good portion of a DBS. Ironically, the end of the scene has shots reminiscent of On Her Majesty's Secret Service from 1969 which also was the only time an original Aston Martin DBS model was featured in a Bond film and the last time a DBS was driven by 007 for 37 years.

(Photo: themalvernhills)

Legends.

2010-07-24T11:10:00.006-04:00

I just stumbled onto this from Wippermann's great collection of YouTube videos. Brunswick Films, the producer of this new series, looks to have quite a few interesting clips and unseen footage so I'm greatly looking forward to what this film will hold.

It looks to be a retrospective of a handful of incredible Grand Prix drivers, many of whom were World Champions. A number of comments on YouTube bring up the great point that there are drivers left off of the list - some of which still living that could have been included. So far a quick but incomplete list looks to be Sheckter, Stewart, Peterson, Hunt, Fittipaldi, Andretti, Lauda and Hakkinen.

Watch the clip below up until the end - the retort from James Hunt is worth waiting the entire 2:41 to see it. Check out the clip below - as I see more on this series I will definitely be posting it!

History Lesson: The German Grand Prix(s)

2010-07-24T09:04:00.004-04:00

Tomorrow kicks off the 2010 German Grand Prix at the Hockenheimring located near, you guessed it, Hockenheim, Germany. The Grand Prix of Deutschland has, for better or worse, been held at the Hockenheimring since 1977 after the shocking 1976 German Grand Prix held at the Nurburgring where Niki Lauda had a suspension failure that pitched his Ferrari 312T into the Armco at Berkwerk resulting in a horrible fire that nearly killed him. The accident reaffirmed what many had thought (ironically the drivers nearly striked that weekend because of safety concerns - led by Lauda - but ultimately didn't) that the Nurburgring wasn't safe and as a result it was never used again for the German Grand Prix - with one small, exception in 1985 at the then-new GP circuit that excluded much of the original track. Many of the problems were to blame on the poor response of the track marshals and crews as fellow drivers had to pull Niki from his burning Ferrari and only a safety marshal with in Porsche 911 and single fire extinguisher was on the scene a first few minutes after the accident.

The Nurburgring has reappeared on the roster of venues for Grand Prix racing but only in the constantly changing European Grand Prix and only on the GP portion of the fabled circuit.

That's a shame too - some pretty important races were held on the old Nurburgring. In 1968, Jackie Stewart had what he would call his "best" Grand Prix of his career when he stormed - literally - to victory when rain struck the race and the Nurburgring was described as "having rivers across the track" in some places. Scary stuff but the scary part was the attrition rate and how much slower everyone was behind Stewart. A handful of cars spun off in the rain while everyone else slowed down so much so that Sir Jackie crossed the finish line a full 4 minutes before second placed Graham Hill caught up. Much of the field being minutes behind that or a full lap down. Stewart pulled off this feat with a broken wrist - which is unheard of in modern racing. You can read his account of it here.

The Nurburgring would go on to scare the hell out of Grand Prix drivers for a few more years until the fateful 1976 race in which Lauda's Ferrari wrecked, caught fire and nearly took Niki to the grave. He managed to fight back from the edge and get into a car at Monza 6 weeks later to come 4th in the Italian Grand Prix - with a head covered in bandages, blood seeping through where the top of his ear used to be. Everyone's probably seen the video of Lauda's crash and the ensuing mayhem so instead of focusing on that, I've listed the video below of the incredible 1975 German Grand Prix where Herr Lauda launched a great start and led much of race until a tire puncture set the Ferrari 312T back in pace and sent him into the pits, allowing the other front-runners to slip past with Reutemann taking the win in his Brabham. Incredible footage of nearly the entire race! It's in 5 pieces so you can catch all of the clips as they're linked into each on YouTube. It's worth watching the entire first clip just to see the outright speed of the cars on track with the green, rolling hills of Germany as a very picturesque backdrop. Out of 26 cars to attempt to run the 1975 German GP - only 10 managed to finish!

I've also included this video of the 1969 German Grand Prix where you can see the advent of aerodynamics beginning to sneak onto the front and rear of grand prix cars. This is nothing but 10 minutes of footage and engine notes!

The 2010 German Grand Prix has Vettel at the front of the pack with Mark Webber just below and the Ferraris of Alonso and Massa and the McLaren twins bearing down on him. Should be interesting to see if Vettel can hold it together and keep the lead or will Webber step out of Sebastian's shadow again for the win.

I only hope that somehow the full Green Hell returns to the list of venues for Formula One.

Never in a million years...

2010-07-23T21:27:00.003-04:00

2011 Cadillac CTS-V Sport Wagon, originally uploaded by KurtRodgers.

Would I ever think I would say this: I want this Cadillac.

I grew up on imports - BMW's, Porsches, Benzes, Hondas - my great grandmother had a late 1980's Caddy Fleetwood Brougham. It was big, heavy, grey or blue and a depressing car.

That's more or less what my impression of Cadillac's have been for the past 20 or so years. For what its worth, the slow dissolution of General Motors from a world powerhouse to a troubled, scatter-brained manufacturer has spurred change within their organization. A result of that was a reinvigorated Cadillac Division - sharp creases up and down the body of typically stuffy cars, a youthful CTS and the V line of performance Caddy's.

Thankfully, the trend has continued and my impression of what was once one of the most luxurious cars in the world has improved. With the second generation of CTS, they've built a gorgeous sedan but more importantly, built this awesome wagon.

The picture above is actually of the CTS-V Wagon though the plain-jane one looks just as good. I saw one in traffic last night and was blown away by it - it looks fantastic - it really stands out from most other cars on the road right now. I will go full-on batshit crazy and say that the CTS Wagon, in terms of styling, manages to give the 3 Series Touring and A4 Avant a legitimate run for their money.

I never thought I would like an American car over a Bimmer but I think I actually might.

How did I miss this? Porsche - A Company of Race Cars

2010-07-22T21:45:00.002-04:00

Not sure how I missed this last year when it appears to have been released but it's a great video nonetheless. It's a promotional video first and foremost but interesting to see the behind the scenes support that Porsche lends to customer cars such as the GT3 RSRs, etc.

Cool video of Weissach and a glimpse of some of their most important cars like the 917k, 904 and 550 Spyder. In watching this I get the feeling that its a sort of precursor to this commercial - which is probably one of the best, most poignant of any automobile manufacturer I've seen lately.

Remembering the Titan

2010-07-20T23:10:00.005-04:00

Being a fan of both cars and cameras there is, of course, a lot of overlap. I found these photos from LIFE.com that, in a broad stroke, cover Paul Newman's racing career.

I have a lot of respect for Newman as a actor, driver and most important a humanitarian. He was one of the few actors who managed to strike a balance between being a celebrity and being a normal person - achieving a great deal in his life beyond just making good movies. Newman's career reached heights around the time that racing seemed to hit its stride and a handful of fellow actors like Steve McQueen and James Garner were finding their way into professional racing as well.

Newman took a separate route and practically made a second career out of it. He competed in racing across 4 decades from the early 1970's until the early 2000's in a variety of motor sports venues and series winning notable achievements:

- 2nd place in the 1979 24 Hours of Le Mans in a Porsche 935
- Competing in the 2004 Baja 1000 at age 79
- Achieving the status of oldest driver to be on a winning team at age 70 during a 24 Hours of Daytona
- Owned various teams in the SCCA and IndyCar

Some of this list would difficult for a professional driver to achieve in their own right. Newman was a class act and it's great to see some of these photos documenting such a fulfilling career - if I can find more I'll post them.

Rally, Rinse, Repeat

2010-07-20T00:26:00.006-04:00

I'm starting to get the rally bug and I think I like it.

I found this gem on YouTube while researching Mk II Escorts from the 1970's. It's the Rallye Legend Boucles de Spa held annually in Belgium.

A reinvisioned event from the Rally Spa - it combines crazy off-road courses with classic rally cars spanning from the 1950's to the 1980's. The Rallye Legend Boucles de Spa is gaining momentum each year and as you can see from this video there are some unexpected cars throughout the 1080p glory that is this video. I spotted a Mercedes 450 SEC, Benz 190E 2.3, Porsche 911 sans rear hood, and an Audi Quattro among the unending line of Ford Escorts - oh and some Lancia action near the end around the 7:30 to 7:45 mark.

2011 WRX STi Prototype attacks Zee 'Ring

2010-07-19T22:25:00.005-04:00

I guess it's rally day today on eBrake and I'm on a roll. I saw Autoblog's review of the 2011 Subaru WRX STI and ended up searching YouTube for some video of what this thing must sound like. Thankfully, with the slight revision for the 2011 model and the transition back to a sedan -the overall package seems more appealing than than the 2010. Personally, I like the hatchback but it wasn't rated highly against previous STI's.

That said, according to Autoblog the sedan is a big step up for 2011.

Moving on, I found this video by Car and Driver of the new STI sedan prototype crushing the Nurburgring. Subaru even called in Finnish WRC superstar Tommi Makinen to pilot the car. Ironically, Makinen cut his teeth and set his records primarily with the STI's biggest rival, the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution blasting across different surfaces of countryside. However, that doesn't matter as he finished his last two years year in WRC with an Impreza, now does it?

Either way, enjoy the new STI in full attack mode at the hands of a master.

Apparently, I need Ford Escort Mk II Content

2010-07-19T20:06:00.002-04:00

Manus Kelly Ford Escort Mk II Jump Birr Stage Rally 2010, originally uploaded by Eamonn McGee.

I think someone is trying to tell me something as I've encountered Ford Escort WRC content like 5 times today so I figured I would post this up for today while I work on a few other things.

I've been particularly interested in the Monster Ford Fiesta lately as I think it is a great looking car and will hopefully be competitive at the hands of Mr. Block. That led me to find this video of Ken Block's own Ford Escort Mk II.

For the record - I usually only drink Red Bull products and like their F1 teams - but in this case, I'll make an exception!

1970 Targa Florio - Twofer Feature

2010-07-16T00:08:00.003-04:00

Seppi, Rodriguez, 908/3, Italian Countryside. No Questions? Good, sit down and watch!

"Turbos are for people who can't build engines"

2010-07-15T00:20:00.006-04:00

"Turbos are people who can't build engines."

- Keith Duckworth, co-developer of the Ford-Cosworth DFV

Makes me laugh when considering this car. Jalopnik was complaining yesterday that the F50 doesn't get enough love despite an ultra-light, stripped body and a massive F1-derived V12(you know, when manufacturers actually had technical developments in F1 outside of insane aerodynamics).

They stated the turbocharged V8-powered F40 got more of the attention and I think it should. It was the last time Enzo Ferrari would sign off on a car before his death. However, there is a car more rare than the F40 or F50 from the days of 1980's Group B madness: The 288 GTO Evoluzione.

Basically, the 288 is the precursor and basis for the F40 and even more rare considering a handful of 288's were built compared to over 1,000 F40's. Most interesting was that Ferrari himself signed off on a turbocharged car - nearly unheard of considering it was a big deal just for the Dino to carry a mid-mounted V6 - and the Dino wasn't even formally labeled a Ferrari.

However, the Evoluzione was an incredible car and with turbocharging in many levels of motor sports at the time - I feel that I'm going to have to respectfully disagree with Mr. Duckworth - though he definitely knows his stuff.

Juxtaposition

2010-07-14T00:27:00.005-04:00

My buddy Malcolm posted a clip from the newest Top Gear - Episode 3 in which a Camaro SS is pitted against the brute-in-a-suit Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG.

His argument is that the Camaro SS isn't quite a comparable model to the E63 - perhaps with an M5 or RS6 normally serving in that position. I respectfully disagree.

Mercedes-Benz and the AMG branch have never been about setting fast laps or crushing the competition at the Nurburgring - it's just not their cup of tea. But what they can make are very comfortable cars that can go very fast with a bit of flair and style. So, price ignored, that puts the Camaro SS and E63 AMG right back up against each other. The Hamster seems to agree and he's quite the hoon himself despite Clarkson.

Besides, with cars like the C63 AMG on sale - you know AMG is only interested in cars that are hyperspace-capable and good at making 11's - remind you of any other big orange cars from the States?

See for yourself and decide.

Link to Top Gear - Damn non-embedded videos!

Function First: The G-Wagen

2010-07-11T11:16:00.014-04:00

There's something very attractive about a purpose-built vehicle that manages to make its way into consumerdom for the rest of us to enjoy. Across history there have been some outstanding examples such as the Mercedes 190E 2.3 Cosworth and BMW M3 as homologation specials, The BMW 320Si, The McLaren M6 GT, The Lancia Stratos - good things come from tried and true race car platforms that trickle down to real-world application.

However, purpose-built vehicles aren't restricted to solely race cars. You can also have big, lumbering creatures like SUV's that come from a blue collar background. After all, SUV's were originally designed to carry gear and people for working in the field. My guess would be that larger, off-road vehicles tasked with work duty were simply "Utility Vehicles" and the "Sport" nomenclature was an afterthought. Want an example? The Hummer H1 serving quite successfully for the United States military prior to civilian-ready trucks.

One such vehicle is the Mercedes-Benz Geländewagen or G-Wagen for short - meaning cross-country or Jeep. The G-Wagen started life as a product development for military contracts secured by Benz in the 1970's .

What most people in the United States probably don't realize is Mercedes-Benz manufacturers a multitude of vehicles outside of luxury cars. Namely, work trucks, vans and true utility vehicles are also MB products in Europe and other parts of the world. It would seem that Europeans are less caught up on brand prestige than we are here in the U.S. of A.

I digress, the G-Wagen came into life as Mercedes-Benz's(well, Daimler-Benz) answer to the German military's need for a light infantry vehicle. With the design process initiated in 1972, the model was given official approval for production by Steyr-Daimler-Puch(now Magna Steyr) in Austria by 1975. It would not be until 1979 that a civilian-ready G-Wagen would go on sale in a variety of shapes such as short and long wheel-base and a cabrio variant. However, with hindsight being twenty-twenty it almost seems laughable that an SUV of the G's size would initially have engines generating only 72 and 150HP. What nobody could predict at the time was that the G-Wagen would go on to live past a normal life cycle and survive for 25 years - with only one major restyle transitioning from the W460 chassis to 463 chassis in 1990.

What made the G-Wagen so special was the part-time four-wheel-drive but after 1990 equipped with permanent four-wheel-drive, a fully locking center differential and differential locks on both axles. This sort of technical prowess gave the G the ability to navigate extreme angles of terrain. During the design process, the G-Wagen was designed specifically to be highly competent as an off-roader but also functional and with cross-functionality of implementing parts-sharing from the Mercedes-Benz industrial truck lines. The commercial/military spec G showed considerable success after its 1975 debut with countries in the Middle East, Europe and South America placing orders for Teutonic light military vehicle.

Why wouldn't they want a handful of G-Wagens to use? Benz put the original W460 through rigorous trials of 14,000km of sand testing in Tunisia - encountering and overcoming up to 100% inclines. Hence the hardcore, loyal following of off-roading G-Wagen enthusiasts world-wide who still like to push the envelope of what the truck is capable of.

Once the civilian W460 was released in early 1979, many in Europe picked up the trucks which were already serving double-duty as work trucks across the continent. Initially, Mercedes hesitated at pushing the W460 in the U.S. marketplace as the reception of the G was still somewhat uncertain and only handful were imported and federalized through the 80's grey market at exceptional cost. However, with the 1990 restyling of the W460 to the W463, U.S. consumers were privy to the more luxurious but technically competent G when permanent four-wheel-drive was adopted along with a decadentl- revised interior, suiting the prestige of the existing Benz sedan/convertible line. Unfortunately, outside of engaged enthusiasts, the G-Wagen has been recognized less in the U.S. for its ability and more for the brand conscious, look-at-my-expensive-SUV type of buyer.

If the upscale reputation the G enjoyed wasn't enough, Pope John Paul II and the Swiss Guard deemed to W460 a capable enough vehicle to serve as the Pope's personal transport vehicle when greeting the public across the globe, eventually being succeeded by the ML-Class Mercedes-Benz. It's name? The Popemobile, of course.

Whatsmore, the G-Wagen, at the hands of Jacky Ickx and a co-driver took a converted, V6 280 GE and won the historic Paris-Dakkar Rally in 1983. Not hard to understand why the Magna Steyr facility in Graz, Austria has agreed to continue production of the current W463 through 2015 - where the truck is still partially constructed by hand. The current iterations of the G-Wagen comes equipped with an AMG-derived, supercharged 5.0L V8 and 7-Speed automatic transmission to help accelerate the G55 AMG to 60MPH in under 6 seconds.

So, the G-Wagen has won races across some of the most brutal terrain on Earth, served under a man capable of inspiring over a billion people and has served strict duty from the sands of Tunisia to the jungles of Argentina to the valet lines of Beverly Hills - all of which it has successfully conquered. Not hard to imagine how a truck with such a diverse, winning history is still in production after 25 years. The G-Wagen stands as a testament that the thought, design and testing that goes into purpose-built, function-first vehicles can last the test of time and continue to be successful despite the ever-changing needs of the automotive frontier.

We're only hoping to see it run another 25 because vehicles like this only come around once in a lifetime.

Things I want: BMW 320Si

2010-07-07T00:49:00.007-04:00

With a crazy busy work schedule I've not had the opportunity to finish up the GWagen thing yet plus a few other items on my plate. However, I did want to post this Japan-based BMW 320Si. Based on the current E90 chassis, the 320Si was a limited edition of about 2,600 cars built so that BMW could meet the production requirements for homologation of the 320Si race car with the FIA.

The 320Si has since gone on to do quite well in the S2000 spec of the WTCC and BTCC. What made the production version special was the 2.0L inline-4 under the hood churning out 170HP. Though not much, it was a detuned, non-Valvetronic version of the same engine powering the race car. Oh, and it was also a hand-built engine manufactured in BMW's Landshut plant alongside the Formula One engines when BMW still maintained a presence in the sport with Sauber.

Something about the limited edition, homologation-special 320Si has always appealed to me. Though not a powerhouse by any means it is still very rare for car enthusiasts to see cars built primarily for homologation purposes - especially one priced in-line with most any other 3 Series.

In my search for knowledge on this elusive Bavarian I eventually came across a gentleman in Japan named Yoshina who owned a noteworthy 320Si. I ended up interviewing him for BMWBlog as one of my first articles two years ago but I still absolutely love his car even today. He's managed to take an Alpine White E90 320Si and, through hard work, a lot of money and an eye for detail turn it into an incredible driving replica of the race spec 3 Series. He's caged the sedan, added a wing, custom-built diffusers front and rear, a revamped steering wheel and full BMW Works Team Great Britain 320Si - and that maybe covers a fifth of what's been done.

Honestly, if I had the money, I would probably do the same to a E90 chassis. I love that he's managed to somewhat keep the daily driveablility intact while maintaining a close mirror to the race-spec car. The only real difference I can see is the lack of a wide body front and rear - but STUDIE can make that happen too.

If you're a fan of a unique, cool car or just good automotive photography, check out his Flickr page.

Happy 4th of July!

2010-07-04T12:42:00.002-04:00

Hope everyone is having a happy and safe 4th this year! We'll be out for fireworks and family later but thought we should post something entirely American to celebrate the 234th birthday of our great country.

What could be more 'merican than Steve McQueen, an original Mustang Fastback and an original Charger tear-assing around San Francisco? Nothing. So watch this and enjoy the day!

Top Gear Is Back - but Better...

2010-07-04T10:29:00.002-04:00

Finally, Top Gear is back to what I think so many people loved about it. This clip sort of encapsulates much of what makes the show great: Interesting cars, Monty Python-style silliness, and dry, British humor. Makes me think that maybe the last 2 seasons of sort of ho-hum shows are probably a fluke.

Porsche 908 Uphill

2010-07-04T09:54:00.002-04:00

Quick video from the Goodwood Festival of Speed (going on this weekend) of a Porsche 908 in its awesome Gulf colors and distinctive arrow design. This was the same 908/3 that Porsche ran at one of the last Targa Florio events when it was before it was outcast to being only a local event because of its inherent dangers.

(The Chicane Blog)

Coming Up Soon

2010-07-01T00:19:00.002-04:00

G-wagon, originally uploaded by scarlet lancer.

I'm going to be talking about these soon. 30 years old, only slightly revised since inception, has avoided cancellation numerous times and was never designed as a luxury vehicle.

What's not to like?

History Lesson

2010-06-30T22:41:00.002-04:00

Cool video, I'm not quite sure what I think of Hamilton and Button sitting in Senna's car. Seems sort of sacrilege in a way, as if they've not earned it with multiple World Championships. However, Hamilton has the intensity to rectify that.

Either way, great little promotional film by McLaren showing off the insanely capable MP4's of the late 1980's with the Honda RA168E turbocharged V6 that kept Prost and Senna dominating throughout 1988 before picking up the Honda NA V10 for '89. Either way, it's still cool to hear current drivers reflect on how different Formula One cars were only 20 years ago.

(Source: Axis of Oversteer)

NSX in HD

2010-06-25T00:30:00.004-04:00

The NSX is one of my favorite modern sportscars. It had an insanely long production cycle yet still remained competitive until the day it was pulled from the factory floor. Ayrton Senna helped develop it too so that's worth a few points of street cred, I suppose.

The guys over at Format67 seem to have a bit of an itch that the NSX can scratch too. Based out of zee Deutschland, Format67 has a history of making incredible, gorgeous HD video of both ultra popular and ultra rare cars. It looks like, from the newest trailer posted to the site, they're taking their craft and applying it to a pre-2002 NSX.

Lucky us - look for the full video to drop later this year. If the trailer doesn't hold you over then check out the quick making of preview they've posted.

TRAILER: HONDA NSX from FORMAT67.NET on Vimeo.

Mercedes on the Brain

2010-06-22T20:27:00.001-04:00

I'm not a Mercedes guy. In fact, for the longest time I swore they were one of the worst car manufacturers around. This mindset came primarily from first-hand family experience as we had a particularly delicate W220 S500 that was literally in the shop more than it was on the road - and it had less than 20,000 miles on the odometer when it was sold - for less than half its original MSRP - after only 3 years since new. Having a BMW E38 740iL sitting alongside it in the driveway really didn't help the Benz much either.

However, as a car enthusiast I've recently become quite fascinated with a handful of Benz performance-oriented products. Currently, beyond DTM and ownership of the now defunct Brawn GP F1 team, Mercedes-Benz doesn't race much - though they can and have produced very fast, well-rounded cars some of which have roots in motorsports, some of which are just bad ass.

However, when they do - good things happen. A Mercedes-Benz engine is currently winning in Formula One World Constructors Championship points. They've got a strong pedigree for racing with sportscars as well with the Sauber Mercedes C9 which was driven to victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans by the talented Jochen Mass in 1989. Herr Michael Schumacher went on to drive one at Le Mans a few years prior to his otherworldly career at Ferrari.

Over a century or so Mercedes has had intermitent involvement in motorsports - choosing odd times to re-engage. This is primarily due to the deadly 1955 accident at the 24 Hours of Le Mans involving Levegh's 300 SLR which resulted in one of the highest death tolls in the 78 year history of the race when was flung into the crowd. Mercedes pulled all of its cars from the race and has had a tenuous relationship with motorsports ever since. One, bright shining example of their resurgence is the 1971 24 Hours of Spa.

A tuned out 300SEL 6.3 was bored to 6.8L and decked out in racing attire - namely bright red - and run as a privateer by some young engineers from AMG. This was well before AMG was the AMG of today, still being a small, but smart, start-up developed by two former Benz engineers. The Red Pig made no sense whatsoever in racing application and was prone to eating up tires with little regard. However, its a gorgeous car and provided to be surprisingly capable when it landed second place overall in the '71 24 Hours of Spa.

The 300SEL was, by many accounts, the first Q-ship car almost two decades before the M5. It was heavy on horsepower, heavy on price and heavy on luxury. Based off of the top-of-the-line 300SEL sedan, the 6.3 was equipped with the Mercedes-Benz 600's 6.3L M100 V8 engine - a first for a car of this size in Merc's line-up. It was also quite handsome which is a given as the exterior was designed by Paul Bracq. Looking at the guts - the 6.3 was equipped with an air suspension, power steering and disc brakes; all allowing it to claim the title of one of the most advanced cars of its time while delivering Italian exotica level performance.

When the W108 chassis and 6.3L went out of production in 1972 it was succeeded by 1974 with the mighty W116 450SEL 6.9. Like the 6.3, the newest, fastest S Class quickly became a thing of legend and was referred to simply as "Six Point Nine" and people knew exactly what lie behind the imposing name. Forget horsepower figures or 0 to 60 sprints. It was known for performance and uber-luxury, obviously, but it was the tasks carried out in the 6.9 that made it famous.

On an early morning in 1976 French director Claude Lelouch strapped a movie camera to the front of a 6.9 and blasted across Paris at the break of dawn, not stopping for anything or one - including red lights. The film was so controversial that Lelouch was arrested and, due to sound dubbing, many believed the Ferrari soundtrack was authentic and that only a car of that caliber could perform this task. Nope - it was a 4,200lbs 6.9 and a crazed Frenchman behind the wheel.

C'était un Rendez-vous de Claude Lelouch from Grandes cortos on Vimeo.

Did I mention Brock Yates' encounter with the 6.9? No? Well, check that out too.

A few years later, MB found themselves working on a petite yet luxurious sedan to compete in rallying while serving up a competitive executive sedan. They found their form in the 190E and tapped Cosworth to help further develop the engine. With the time needed to develop the car - Mercedes missed the boat and regulations changed thus making the 190E 2.3 "Cossie" as the UK affectionately termed it - useless. Benz then took it to the craziest touring car series on the European continent, DTM, and had quite the success. After a few years, BMW came along with their 190E 2.3-inspired E30 M3 and changed the game. That being said, the highly competitive 190E was given credit for the justification BMW needed to develop the revolutionary M3. Keep in mind the 190E 2.3 is no slouch itself and had an equally revvy 4 cylinder engine and is currently a leading undervalued classic compared to the now overpriced E30 M3's floating around.

Only a few short years after the 190E Cosworth went out of production, Benz quelled power-hungry enthusiasts appetites with the 500E. Like the 190E Cossie, Benz sought outside consulting to fine tune the car for public consumption and called upon Porsche to help with the finer parts of the 500E. With a massive 5.0L V8 under the hood to guarantee forward velocity - Porsche was handed the car to sort out part of production and help the Big Benz keep its velocity through the corner via a revised steering system and suspension. 18 days in production and you had the most powerful Benz on the market that was fettled by a company that managed to produce a sports car so good it's still going 47 years later.

After that, it's difficult to determine which Benzes were able to live up to the prior successes of the 6.3, 6.9, 190E 2.3, and 500E. Check out the comparison of three of them, sans 190E, here from Motor Trend's newest feature, Motor Trend Classic, in a comparo that came out a few years back. But what cars has Benz made since the 500E that live up to their previous powerhouses? The SL55 AMG was a big performance success and the CLK 63 AMG Black Series is a strong contender for something that can deliver the performance, looks, luxury and understatement required to be a true Big Benz. The current lack of tangible road cars competing in motorsports seems to make it harder to pin down a car that I can single out as a strong contender.

After reading the review above, what newer cars live up to cars like the 6.3 and 6.9?

6Point9

2010-06-22T00:39:00.001-04:00

Mercedes-Benz 450SEL 6.9 (W116), originally uploaded by Auto Clásico Mallorca.

I've been hammering on about BMW and Porsche way too much lately. Consider this a preview of the next post and a new found appreciation of Big Benzes.

Things I Want: Nikon D3S

2010-06-19T22:45:00.003-04:00

I really want a Nikon D3S.

However, fluctuating prices for both new and used D3S's range between $4,200 to $7,000 so that's what keeps a D5000 in my hands and not a full-on professional Nikon. However, this was a cool promotional video released by Nikon of Germany to celebrate the release of the D3S.

According to the director - the video was shot in one day and then processed in one night with no post work done other than cutting and compiling. Pretty impressive considering its is done with natural light and looks great. The video was shot in what looks to be primarily Barcelona - if you look you'll see La Rambla and Gaudi's House throughout the video. Makes me want to go back to Barcelona - perhaps for this.

Good Job Ford

2010-06-18T00:22:00.002-04:00

In a post-tax-owned General Motors world, Ford has more than held their own. I never thought I would say this but this commercial actually makes me want a V6 Mustang. Gorgeous lines, impressive power, good fuel economy - I'm sold on it.

Art M3 CSL

2010-06-18T00:19:00.001-04:00

Art M3 CSL, originally uploaded by gthmm.

Epic!

330i Performance Package

2010-06-15T23:38:00.001-04:00

DSC_0479, originally uploaded by Murph32256.

I met the owner of this car this weekend - very few mods - mostly cosmetic - but Imola Red makes this car ooze personality. I still want one - 7 years after it was first released!

Automotive Addicts Meet

2010-06-15T23:32:00.002-04:00

DSC_0663, originally uploaded by Murph32256.

I've not had much time to really work with it but one of my goals this year is to get better at turning around videos with my new Nikon D5000. I'm hoping it will bridge the gap until:

1. Nikon releases a 1080p HD DSLR
2. I put together enough cash and pick up a Canon 5D Mk II and a few handy lenses

However, over the weekend Automotive Addicts held their monthly meeting here in Jacksonville. Thankfully, it's right near my place so I rolled out of bed, into some shorts and flip flops and up to the meeting. There was a great turn out and had a huge variety of cars - Triumph TR-3's, S2000's, M3's, a GT-R, ZR1, Z06, a handful of Porsches spanning 40+ years, and a few NSX's and a 2011 Mustang 5.0. Feel free to check out the gallery I threw together on Flickr.

Also, check out the video below - I compiled it in the very basic iMovie - suggestions are welcome on composition and tips for shooting video. Next on the shopping list are also car mounts and possibly a remote. The video is worth a look just for a drifting 325iS, Nissan GT-R vs a '99 323i and some Pontiac G8 action.

Gulf Porsche

2010-06-03T00:34:00.001-04:00

Gulf Porsche, originally uploaded by fxfive.

Love it.

Behind the Scenes at the 24 Hours of Nurburgring

2010-06-02T23:58:00.004-04:00

The 2010 24 Hours of Nurburgring is already a part of history with BMW's incredible, unexpected victory by BMW's M3 GT. However, that's just one story in the legacy of the race and with hundreds of entrants competing on what's a deceptively tight, narrow and undulating course for an ungodly 24 hour period.

Thankfully, another entrant decided to document their story, chronicling a Porsche GT3's hard living through 24 hours of the Green Hell. The GT3, of Lammertink Racing's own labors, was put to the ultimate test and filmed doing so by Clash Productions. To enthusiasts, Clash need no introduction if you've seen their incredible Titan Movie preview - these guys know how to catch cars on camera. Check out the video below for some gorgeous footage of the Lammertink Racing GT3 Cup below.

Source: ColdTrackDays

BMW M School Photos - Finally Uploaded!

2010-05-30T23:47:00.001-04:00

DSC_0092_2, originally uploaded by Murph32256.

Late last June I was lucky enough to attend the One Day BMW M Driving School at the BMW Performance Driving Center in Spartanburg, South Carolina. I went as one of a two-man team for BMW Blog and got the opportunity to play around with the full range of M cars available at the time. After some morning instruction on car control our class was broken into three teams with a team for each type of M car - M3, M5 and M6.

Most of the day we worked on seating position and eyes up exercises and one of the most difficult-to-comprehend-but-it-truly-works concepts of sufficient braking to give you speed through and out of the corner. I was pleased that by the end of the day I managed to win the fastest lap time in my team for the M3 circuit and still managed a fourth overall ( 1/10th of a second off of third place!). It was an awesome experience - I know we're hoping to do the 2 day course in Virginia later in the year - apparently you're given a helmet and are taking M5's up to about 150MPH on the VIR. I think I could be down for that.

However, after nearly a year, I've finally put my full roster of photos online from the driving event plus a few photos I took the evening before of the display cars in front of the facility. The photos were primarily shot by a Nikon D40( a point and shoot was used for the video and a few other pics) with an 18-55mm VR lens. These are my best shots ever but they came out well as this was only my second outing with the D40.

You can read the full story of my experience over Flickr and worth giving a looksie at. Definitely something any car fan needs to attend.

You can read my full account of what we did while at M School over here on BMW Blog.

Rally of Morocco and a flying 911

2010-05-29T09:17:00.002-04:00

According to John Glynn Classic Porsche Blog, it looks like the Rally Morocco is going to be up and running later on this year. if I had the funds and a vintage car - I would be all over this thing. Here's some footage to get people in the mood for it - a fast-moving, fully-prepped orange 911 juxtaposed to the dry East African landscape.

Source: John Glynn Classic Porsche Blog

Sneaky Sneaky

2010-05-28T19:33:00.001-04:00

2008 Aston Martin DBS, originally uploaded by Brajeshwar.

I'm not a bike guy but...

2010-05-17T21:01:00.001-04:00

Brave Souls // Steve Plater @ the 2009 Isle of Man TT [VIDEO], originally uploaded by ColdTrackDays.com.

I'm starting to rethink that - reference this video of the 2009 Isle of Man TT race - more ballsy than F1. Only two, wheels, sometimes one, and you're hitting crests at 175MPH. Nuts.

2010 24 Hours of Nurburgring

2010-05-15T10:29:00.003-04:00

Audi R8 LMS, originally uploaded by itwasntandy.

Don't forget - One of the biggest, most beloved races in Europe is running this weekend - the 24 Hours of Nurburgring - the ultimate traffic jam at the Green Hell.

You can watch a live streaming of the race from the ADAC 24 Hours website or Axis of Oversteer mentioned they might try to get something on it up - if they aren't too busy watching the Monaco Grand Prix!

Should be a good race this weekend - definitely one of attrition. If I can find more streaming sources I'll post them up.

Monaco + Rolling Stones

2010-05-13T15:00:00.006-04:00

Le Combat Royale de Monaco: Duncan v Joaquín from Alex King & Mito Media on Vimeo.

Fantastic video of the 2008 Historic Monaco Grand Prix - an event I need to put on the bucket list. Also, great to see a lot of time with Duncan Dayton who's won the event numerous times now. Mix in some Rolling Stones with Pre-1975 Formula One cars like the Tyrrells, McLarens and Lotuses(Loti?) and you've got a killer combo.

Axis posted this video of the running of the 2010 Historic GP which is worth checking out.

Imagine the smell of burning castor oil... from AC MCoupe on Vimeo.

Awkward F1: Cervert Edition

2010-05-12T07:15:00.005-04:00

Francois Cervert was an accomplished pianist, up and coming racing prodigy of Jackie Stewart. He was known for his sense of humor in the pits - however, Cervert is the least comical person in this photo.

(Source: Formula1.net)

Guilty Pleasure: Ford Focus RS

2010-05-12T00:01:00.004-04:00

Most people don't get being into cars. A good example is the MINI Cooper S - when I tell a non-car person I want one, most don't get it and think that someone who is about 6'4 shouldn't drive it. My response? Squeeze into it and you'll change your mind.

The Ford Focus RS is that car that I want to own - in the awful, bright, snotty green color - but I wouldn't want anyone to know about it. Most people would laugh at me and just say "it's a Ford Focus, what the hell is wrong with you?" Of course, most Ford Focuses don't come with 305HP so I guess that'll help me get over the negative remarks.

(Source: 0-60 Magazine)

Porsche Balls

2010-05-11T19:43:00.002-04:00

This video cropped up a few months ago but I ran into it at 0-60 Magazine today and wanted to post it. Check out:

1. The amount of opposite lock being dialed in

2. how close he comes towards the end of the video in passing people.

Sir Jackie

2010-05-09T22:07:00.004-04:00

I've hit upon BMW M3's (probably way too much) lately so its time for something a little different.

After watching the Spanish Grand Prix today, I decided to pick up reading my copy of Winning Isn't Enough - Jackie Stewart's autobiography. It is fairly interesting read if not a bit long for all that he goes into about his career. He spends quite a lot of time focused on the early 1970's when Tyrrell was at its peak with the 005/006 chassis and Francois Cervert as his protege. I found this video I'd never come across before about those times(plus his win at the Nurburgring in '68 with a 4 minute lead and speedy tour of Monaco). There are also some cool voice overlays by Sean Connery and Murray Walker.

This clip is very short but, interestingly, Jackie mentioned this interview in his autobiography. According to the book, Senna was so mad after the interview that he told Jackie to not bother asking for another interview again because Ayrton wasn't going to speak him again. Ironically, a few years later Senna reached out to Jackie as he felt that safety needed to be improved in Grand Prix racing. Shortly after that - 16 years ago this month - Senna would become the last casualty of Formula One. It's great to see two men who changed the face of the sport in their respective times in an interview together.

Coupe. Sport. Light.

2010-05-09T11:53:00.001-04:00

CSL., originally uploaded by Denniske.

Happy Sunday!

Credit to www.dennisnoten.com

E46 CSL + E92 M3

2010-05-03T19:41:00.003-04:00

BMW CSL vs. E92 Edition - Free in the City - Road Magazine from Trackday Films on Vimeo.

Great video with two fantastic cars - one of which is my ideal BMW, I'll let you guess which one.

Pure DTM Glory

2010-05-03T18:34:00.005-04:00

BMW pretty much dominated DTM throughout the late 80's onto the early 90's with the E30 M3 up against the Mercedes 190E Cosworth and Alfas and Ford Sierras. However, after the early 1990's and the switch to the E36 platform for the 3 Series BMW withdrew from DTM eventually only leaving Mercedes and Audi to duke it out. However, many would argue that the period of BMW's involvement was the heyday of DTM - a time when, from what videos reveal, drivers had absolutely no regard for anyone else on the track much less the mechanics who worked to set up the car!

To celebrate news that BMW is coming back to DTM in 2012 Jalopnik posted this now somewhat old and well-exposed video but its a great video to see true paint-swapping, sparkshooting, Teutonic craziness. Also - this music is off the chain.

Brumos Porsche Swap Meet

2010-04-24T18:51:00.002-04:00

DSC_0354, originally uploaded by Murph32256.

Brumos Porsche - a name long associated with Porsche racing cars and winning at long endurance races across the United States. Today at their Jacksonville, FL dealership they held a swap meet for local Porsche enthusiasts - over 400 strong according to one PCA member across the 5 nearby counties. Being a BMW guy - I dropped in just to snap pictures before they took off on a cruise out toward the beaches and on to Ponte Vedra.

I arrived late but managed to snap off a few pictures of some rare cars - namely:

- 1986 Porsche 959 modified by Canepa Design to produce about 600HP
- 1964 Porsche 356C
- Heavily modified Porsche 930 Turbo
- 550 Spyder
- Nearly new 1978 Porsche 924(for only $12.8k!)
- 944
- A handful of 911's and Boxsters from different years and of different specification
- Brumos-Copenhagen Porsche 962 - I think late 1980's
- Brumos Porsche Grand AM Prototype

I've included the set here on Flickr and a few shots here but feel free to check them out. Seems I need to buy a 911 - strangely I didn't see many if any Caymans today.

Steve McQueen does the 1970 12 Hours of Sebring...with a Broken Foot

2010-04-24T10:28:00.006-04:00

Everyone knows Steve McQueen loves cars and can make great films about racing. However, this quick clip is great - a quick interview with McQueen after a stint talking about driving with a cast on his left foot. Apparently, strapping sandpaper to your cast gives traction enough to make the drive doable. Incredibly, with a co-driver and fellow 'Merican Pete Revson - who also ran in Formula One - the pair came in first in their class and 2nd overall in a Porsche 908/02 just a few seconds behind Andretti's Ferrari 512 for a controversial finish.

Photos credited to The Selvedge Yard and an awesome article they've got posted up from last year. Click here to see the article and accompanying pictures.

Take that Frankie Muniz.

1968 Monaco Grand Prix

2010-04-24T09:24:00.005-04:00

I saw this a year or two ago on Axis but ran into it on YouTube this morning. Cool video shot by an 8mm camera during the practice sessions prior to the 1968 Monaco Grand Prix. What's interesting is that its the crown jewel Monaco race and it shows a lot of the quirks of the 1968 season. You get to see Bruce McLaren - alive and walking with the slight limp he had due to one leg being longer than the other, the Gold Leaf Team Lotus - the first time a car had been fully adorned with a main sponsor - and Lotus was exclusively powered by the venerable Ford Cosworth DFV for the last time as the 1969 season opened it up as a customer engine.

This was also a post-Jim Clark era for Team Lotus as Clark was killed just a month earlier with Jo Siffert stepping in and the introduction of the a very small front wing on the Lotus - something that would be common place on the grid and similar to the wings that would land on the nose of the incredible Lotus 72 - only a few short years away. You can see a clear juxtaposition of the older, pre-aerodynamics cars versus the futuristic Lotus 49B. It's also great to see the McLarens in their original Papaya Orange livery and the pre-Tyrrell Racing group of the Matra-Fords.

Heir Lauda

2010-04-20T23:23:00.002-04:00

The boys of Axis of Oversteer posted up their recap to the 2010 Chinese Grand Prix which was won by comeback story of the decade Jenson Button. Axis compared Button to one of my favorite Formula One drivers of all time, Niki Lauda. However, I disagree with them - Lauda was way more bad ass than Britian's newest favorite - though I agree to some parallels in their style of driving.

Lauda was the guy who told THE Enzo Ferrari that his race car was a "piece of shit" but he would help him sort it out because he's a nice guy like that. Lauda's also the guy that nearly died in a horrible accident at the Nurburgring in '76 then came back from death's door to get back in a car 6 weeks later and still remain competitive for the World Championship right up until the last laps of the last race at Fuji. Oh yeah, he also quit for 3 years, came back and ended up winning a championship in his 3rd year back in 1984. Check out the tribute below to the "Super Rat"- once you skip passed the Sade music. Before that is a tribute by Murray Walker for Lauda during his first retirement.

RUF Yellowbird Storms the Nurburgring

2010-04-14T20:57:00.004-04:00

Running a modified 3.2L flat-6 tuned to 469HP, lightened body and revised gear box - the 1987 Ruf CTR was all balls. It was affectionately nicknamed the Yellowbird - and it set all sorts of top speed records and managed to show up the ultimate production Porsche of the time: 959 with its lowly 444HP.

Here we see what happens when Ruf decides to take its ultimate car of the 1980's and put it around the ultimate track of all time: der Nurburgring. Enjoy the full tail-out joy of a light weight, near 500HP, rear wheel drive Porsche.

(Sorry for the poor quality - this has been on the net for a while and is a recording of the original VHS of the lap that was released by Ruf)

Back Online - Back on Duty

2010-04-14T20:31:00.002-04:00

I'm back...again. Primarily due to a problem I continue to run into. I have a host of websites that I read regularly which, at the end of the day, means I've probably run out of content to look at by the time the evening gets around I've run out of new, interesting car content. Not that it's a bad thing, but I've come to a point where the most interesting car stuff I can find is usually offbeat, old cars, motorsports, car photography etc...

So, I've decided that instead of bitching about running out of content for a given day I thought I should put my money where my mouth is and start supplying content that I come across and enjoy and provide it to anyone who happens to come across this little site.

Hopefully, any readers will find the content as enjoy as I do - covering things from motorsports, to cars to motorcycles to German cars to Italian cars...everything I enjoy, I only hope that you all will enjoy the ride as well!

2009-11-09T11:16:00.005-05:00

ected heavy understeer. Nice surprise. We're currently driving ours with the sports package and 20 inch wheels which suit the design well and ride comfor

2009-11-09T11:16:00.003-05:00

ble suspension is spot on in sport and sport+ modes. The 5 GT handles well given its size. In corners the nose stays where you want it instead of the exp

2009-11-09T11:16:00.001-05:00

So far so good! Engine in the 550i variant is a bruiser when you ask it to be and a sedate, comfortable cruiser when you want to settle down. The adjusta

2009-11-08T16:47:00.001-05:00

I like the 550i GT much more than I expected in person. Has a lot of DNA from the CS Concept

Top Gear Sunday Brunch #3

2009-10-10T17:48:00.004-04:00

The other day I was researching the concept of anti-lag after watching a bunch of Group B rally and turbocharged engine videos and found this old gem. It's a great little concept produced by Prodrive - the same Prodrive that ran an E30 M3 rally car as well as ran Subaru's highly successful WRC team with the WRX STi's at the hands of legendary Collin McRae. If that's not enough, David Richards and his company Prodrive are now the co-owners of Aston Martin and their racing team along with a few Middle Eastern equity firms.

But I digress, this is the Prodrive P2 and its a car predicated on the idea of anti-lag, which is essentially the concept of maintaining the rotational speed of the turbocharger so that when the driver lifts his foot off the throttle to apply the brakes the turbo doesn't lose rotation speed. With traditional turbocharged engines, the turbos spool up at a preset engine speed (revolutions) and the power provided by the turbocharger becomes available to the driver. However, lifting off the throttle causing the engine revs to fall, there can be a "lag time" before the engine gets back up to the revolutions it needs to feed the engine power once the driver is back on the throttle. With an anti-lag system, it helps keep the turbo spooled up even when the engine revs fall when the driver lifts off of the throttle. Thus, with the turbo staying spooled up at its optimal speed and power is readily available as soon as the driver is able to reapply the throttle.

OK, lesson over - watch what this car does to Clarkson!