The magnificent Alpine M63
src: unknown.
Monthly Archives: March 2012
Elan +2S
The Lotus Elan—-a car i love, but largely ignore. I have to say….this 2+2 is beautiful with a much nicer roofline than the original Elan, IMO—-and very nicely appointed interior. It’s on sale…..for only $40k! Come on and buy it….you only live once.
This car is completely restored and is a 1971. Follow the link at the bottom for more info:
the car is on sale at Hyman Ltd.
interior of the day. Boomerang.
Look at that dash cluster and the steering wheel! WOW.
from the 1972 Maserati Boomerang Concept (ItalDesign)
src: carstyling
foto of the day. Bonnet.
the 1962 Rene Bonnet Djet—-mid-engined (one of the first mid-engined production cars, along with the 550 spider), and essentially what would evolve into Matra Djet afterwards. Mid engined and super cool.
Interestingly enough, Matra (plastics/industrial company) was not even involved with this car as it was developed, however supposedly bought Bonnet in 1963/1964 after Rene Bonnet (developer of the Djet and race car driver) hit financial trouble— and then Matra evolved the Djet into a street going sports car.
This beautiful photograph was taken by Dirk De Jager
src: supercars.net
An electric bicycle I could love: Cycleton One
I’m not into bicycles—-i was when i was 10, however they don’t capture my imagination or make me want to really get into them. This might partly be due to the fact that people in NYC ride the worst bicycles in the world—at least the peeps in Brooklyn do. Since when did buying an overpriced rubbish ‘vintage’ fixed speed bicycle actually become something to be proud of? You are replicating 1970s China and India….even those countries have moved on…well, sort of.
This, though, is an electric Bicycle I could love! Cycleton One, which is an actual concept bicycle created by Daniel Yorba, an industrial designer. This is still a work-in-progress, but a very imaginative and beautiful design in my opinion. Honestly….if a bicycle like this was produced for a ‘reasonable’ amount of money, you’d probably find me in line for one. I’m not too overwhelmed by the carbon fibre, however i suppose in this situation it would create lightness and strength; so i forgive the maker!
oh and he’s also designed a concept helmet:
src: danielYorba via stipistop
blurry Murcielago.
I don’t see too many Lamborghini Murcielagos on the freeway….so i got excited when i saw one blasting past me on the I-495W freeway. We see so many photos of these ‘supercars’….but they always look so much more striking in motion….the Murcielago looked fantastic.
And yes, the photo is blurry as hell!
Carnology: a board game for petrolheads.
Well that’s a great idea! I’m sure most people’s families and friends would be miserable if we all whipped out this board game during holiday gatherings; but those of us whose blood runs on motor oil would be quite pleased and excited!
From what I gather, and I have not actually played this game—-the game revolves around identifying various models of automobiles and rummaging across the board to reach a checkered flag. I’m not sure how many times this game can really be played, as i’m guessing one game and most of us would learn whatever we didn’t know—-however the idea should be applauded and i’m sure it would make a great gift for those of us whose brains are floating in brake fluid.
I also applaud the Alfa Romeo Junior Zagato I see printed on the board itself, amongst others…
check out the site and info to buy it ($40) at: Carnology
src: stipistop
Pininfarina NSU Ro 80 Concept
This is the 1971 Pininfarina NSU Ro 80 Concept, shown with a working rotary engine debut’d at the 1971 Torino Motor Show in Italy. This thing looks way ahead of its time for 1971, in fact I see shades of future cars in its design; Aston Martin Lagonda, 1980’s Cadillac Deville, 1980s Oldsmobiles—-but NSU was dissolved into the modern day Audi after 1977, when the last Ro 80 was sold.
This Pininfarina design points towards how a super modern and ahead-of-its-time car like the original Ro 80 may have evolved if NSU had continued. Obviously Audi do have some nostalgia for this idea, as the Pininfarina NSU Ro 80 concept is currently stored within the Audi Museum in Ingolstadt.
srcs: madle, carStyling,
foto(s) of the day. Clio.
In my list of all-time favourite Top 5 hatchbacks, this would have to be in the list. The superb Renault Clio V6
src: collaVerglas
brochure of the day. SM
How beautiful are the funky 70s photos in this brochure of the exquisite 1973 Citroen SM!?
src: lovxlr8
ad of the day. “styling so hairy….”
I think my Detroit roots are catching up with me these days—-as i’ve been thinking more and more about cars like the AMC Javelin. I’ve always found the design of the Javelin to be….well…..challenging. While there’s no denying that the Mark Donahue Trans-Am Javelins looked incredible….the street version has always been challenging! All in all though, i think it’s a tremendously unique design. Very appropriate for its era. Look at those wheel arch bulges!
You have to love a car whose ad calls its styling “hairy”!
src: hugo90
foto of the day. brown car.
I’ve always wanted to drive a brown car….and today when I dropped my A3 off to get its 15k service, they gave me a 2012 Audi A4 ‘service loaner car’ in a colour known as “teak brown”. It’s actually quite a nice colour. I do find the light tan leather interior very irritating though….i don’t think I could ever live with a car that has such a light coloured interior ackage….even the headliner is light tan.
Anyways…it’s always nice to drive somebody else’s car around!
video of the day. 918.
Supercar nut Harry Metcalfe from Evo Magazine is taking a tour around the working prototype of the Porsche 918.
I am loving the idea of this….2 electric motors and a V8…look at where the exhaust pipes exit! PDK double clutch gearbox…..and just a bang up to date technological masterpiece under development. I was never a fan of the Carrera GT, but this i’m properly excited about.
src: evo
foto of the day. Studio GT
What is it? it is the 1968 Neri & Bonacini Studio GT Duo Litri
The excellent Automobiliac site introduced me to this unknown gorgeous wonder yesterday! I was taken aback by how such a beautiful car could be made and be completely unknown to the world!!! Bradley alludes to this being like a “Mini Miura” and yes I very much agree….there’s a lot of wonderful going on here, especially with a Lancia Fulvia V4 stuck inside as the source of power….if you haven’t heard a Fulvia V4 before, you must do so!
This one seems to be roaming around the Greenwich Concours—-why didn’t I see this last time I was there!?
More pics and info at Automobilac
photo src: supercars
video of the day. 2012 Sebring 12 hours.
DRIVE has done a fantastic job editing this……these days, my absolute favourite form of motorsport is endurance racing……watch this 15 minutes and you’ll see why!
the first quattro rally car.
Octane has taken some cool photos of the first rally spec 1980 Ur quattro prototype rally car….although the car needs more dirt on it!
src: more pics and read the great write-up about the car at Octane
EA 276: 1969 VW Golf (MK1) prototype.
I remember seeing a photo of this ages ago…but just saw it again after a long time. I find it interesting how the rear side view seems to have inspired the Peugeot 205 in many ways. I also find it interesting that the front end design presented here in 1969 seems way ahead of its time! As a whole though, I think it’s safe to say that the proper MK1 Golf which presented itself a few years later is a much more cohesive, proportional design than this one is. This 1969 prototype is also FWD, front-engined as the production MK1 would be…
This car is currently stored at the VW Museum in Wolfsburg, Germany
src: historyOfCars
Montreal in the Jungle.
I think i’ve mentioned this many times before….but the Alfa Romeo Montreal is just so cool. Epic cool. The Montreal pictured here just looks mint…want, bad.
These are some great shots taken by Stoelen7 who also runs a very nice blog entitled Steininge
foto(s) of the day. Huayra in pieces.
I love the Pagani Huayra, because it is (a) insane looking, (b) over the top, and (c) and super italian.
I also think these 2 photos are wonderful documentation of its anatomy.
src: collaVerglas
Homevideo: 1967 European delivery of a Porsche 912.
This is such a fantastic home video, of a man named George taking a trip to Stuttgart to pick up his (then new) Porsche 912 from the factory! The authenticity of this video is just great. George is seemingly still an active member of the 912 community and still has his 912—-45 years later. He states it has 175k miles on it and that it was a daily driver for 15 years.
Thanks to Dan for the tip on this video:
Head here to read George’s words about taking this delivery 45 years ago HERE
the video:
foto of the day. R18
1-2 finish at Sebring this weekend with the Audi R18 dominating……fantastic!
src: photo taken by Nick Busato from L’endurance
IEDEI 
