This is the actual Mopar detailed Fiat 500! Very cool. Needs lowering though!
Category Archives: automotive
beautiful 1985 ur quattro coupe for sale.
my love for the ur quattro is growing by the week (especially since i’ve been racing a modded one on GT5 these days!)…it has now become one of my automotive holy grails (if it wasn’t already), and much MUCH more affordable than my ultimate holy grail which is the Alpine A110 ($50k+ now easily).
here’s a beautiful one for sale in Connecticut. Just posted today—so if you really want a place in the IEDEI envy books plop down the cash, kids! Gorgeous in every way
he’s asking $16,500 for the car. 102k miles. a very fine example. Finished in “amazon blue”, one of 73 cars in this colour from that year. If you are interested, email me iedeiblog@gmail.com for more information.
foto of the day. delta integrale rally.
i love old, dusty, authentic photos like this.
Lancia Delta Integrale
one-off Ferrari Enzo prototype
A) i don’t really care for Ferraris (you will almost never see any Ferraris on this blog….)
B) i don’t like ‘investor’ automobiles.
but this one-off Ferrari Enzo prototype is pretty damn interesting. It’s a 348/355 stuffed to the extreme with all sorts of stuff. It sort of looks like it is going to explode. Apparently this car is for sale, on a cryptic listing shown on the Modena Motorsports website. Sure it is as ugly as an dead alligator’s wrinkled testicle…..however i find prototypes like this one a bit interesting, somehow.
(thanks to Arman for the link!)
original link on GTS Spirit:
Artist of the day: Xander Walker
Xander Walker (http://strassenversion.blogspot.com) is someone I have known for a while through The Auto Union community. A few weeks ago, a bunch of us met up for a dinner in Manhattan, and Xander introduced us to his fantastic artwork. I was blown away by the uniqueness and individualistic style of these paintings; and I can firmly say that they are WELL worth the humble $15 to $30 asking price he has put up for the pieces. Each one is hand signed, and perfect for framing. Speaking of which, I need to find time to get to a framing shop to buy a suitable frame for the 2 paintings I own by him. Each painting is hand finished and limited edition. Each piece is 24 x 17″ and packaged well!
In addition to the Alpine A110 pictured above (which obviously i DO have!!), here are some others available from Xander’s Etsy store:
ENTER “IEDEI” to get 20% off at the checkout! —Thanks Xander
http://www.etsy.com/shop/strassenversion
Motorvision.de on the Alpine A110 & Carrera RSR
2 great reviews with lots of nice driving footage. I may be a Bavarian Druglord, but i can’t understand german!
the most beautiful car america never produced…
the AMC AMX 3 concept was in a series of AMC concept cars for their next generation sports car. Bodied and shelled in Italy by Bizzarrini, however only 5 cars made it through production (with #6 produced afterwards from spare parts) due to high costs and lack of demand for a premium sports car built by AMC. I can’t help but think that this could have been MUCH cooler than the Corvette had it been produced. This could have been THE definitive american supercar——-well, assuming AMC wouldn’t have folded several years later under the buckling pressure of a poor company.
Comments from Richard Teague, designer of the AMX during his time at AMC: read the rest of this interview here
“That’s what killed the program. The bumper standards were just happening… and soft bumpers were being tested on taxicabs in New York by GM at about this time. The technology really wasn’t there to put soft bumpers on the AMX/3 though Pantera made an effort to meet the standards and it did. But it kind of spoiled the front of that car. We just decided the effort involved in all these forthcoming standards… was just too much [on top of] the hassle of trying to get a bodybuilder that could make it at a price that we could sell it for that would be realistic. So all of those things… added up to the program being shelved. But it was a very serious program for a very long time. We tried very hard to make it happen. And we built six prototypes, really. We had a lot of money in the program, not a lot by today’s standards, but for a little company that was trying to make a mark it was, I think, a pretty good effort. At least all six of the cars survive.”
foto of the day. RS2.
Yes, currently banned for importation into the US—–however I am holding my breath for the 25 year classics rule. One of my all-time favourites, the legendary Audi RS2.
enchanting.
i like ‘rawer’ footage like this, because it outlines the bumps and uneven surfaces of race tracks better. this video features the absolutely lovely B5 RS4 Avant. Normally i’d prefer the sound of exhausts, but i dig music like this—-adds a cinematic quality to the evaluation of the surfaces of the Nurburgring.
SNOW!
(thanks to Elyse Sewell for sharing this glorious photo with me, not sure where it was taken…)
Well it snowed like we were at war with the sky over the weekend here in NYC. I learned several things during this snowstorm.
A) People in NYC have no idea how to drive through snow. Having grown up in Michigan and then lived 3 years in Chicago taught me very well how to drive during a snowstorm. People here have extreme difficulty in judging whether their car can clear certain ‘mounds’ of snow. On the corner of our street in Brooklyn…..There were 10s of cars stuck over a period of just a few hours. Some cars in Brooklyn REMAIN stuck even now…..
B) I drive a very low to the ground modified with a stiff suspension, 18 inch lightweight wheels, and on all-seasons. my TT quattro had absolutely no trouble handling the snow in any way. There wasn’t a single time i felt unstable or unable to clear any snowbanks. Most of you know I am a major Audihead….and this is why. These cars are unstoppable by weather. While other people stay parked during inclement storms, Audis come ALIVE! It was great to see people with looks of disbelief as i passed their stuck SUVs and trucks in my low black coupe…..i even heard “what the hell is that thing!?”.
C) NYC was not prepared at all for this storm…..and their lack of proper cleanup is basically simple negligence and/or a mixture of holiday relaxation combined with unexpected ‘large’ storm status. There are still major streets in our area which are unplowed, and have now turned into ice. Unacceptable!
D) NYC people are tough. Much tougher than others. i saw plenty of people walking around, trudging through large stacks of knee high or even thigh high snow. In other cities, you’d see people sitting on their couch eating chips and watching TV. There were people stuck 6 hours on the A train going through Queens without heat or food on Monday morning….i’m guessing these people took the subway again today to work.
E) I need boots. No i’ve never worn boots….even in Detroit or Chicago i never did…but i also never had to walk so much as i do here…and my lack of boots means that the dude you see slipping and sliding all over the sidewalk is probably me trying to regain my balance.
foto of the day. cool or too much?
Yes i am in the midst of loving 911s. Especially 997s and 60s/70s models. This attempts to join those two worlds…..unclear whether i support this or not, however i am enjoying the photo of a 997 with Martini livery!
It is a modified 997 Turbo called “EVT700” and here’s where you can read the article in GTPorsche about the car…
http://www.evomsit.com/MAG_GT_March_09.htm
a question…
which weirdo french photographer forgot to remove the can of something (cleaner? paint?) from the lower aspect of this promo photo for the glorious (err…no) Renault Fuego Turbo? Le incompetence!
I still remember how much AMC/Renault hyped this car when it was introduced into the US market. I was a little kid, and remember thinking it was great—–however as i grew older, things changed….
foto of the day. 117.
One of the lesser known and more cool 60s and 70s japanese cars; the Giugaro penned Isuzu 117 Coupe. It had a long production run, however not really sold outside of Japan; hence why it’s super rare to see one here.
I have to admit, I only became aware of this car after playing Gran Turismo!
a nice bit of writing about the history of the 117 here, although I cannot get the pictures to load.
http://japanesenostalgiccar.com/blog/2007/12/04/isuzu-117-coupe-jdm-italian-supermodel/
weird of the day. NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
I got this monstrosity of a photoshop from a blog known as Fiat Returns To America
To my friends over at that blog (nice blog, by the way), I think you have the right intent, and i applaud your appeal to resurrect the Alfa Romeo Montreal nameplate; HOWEVER good god not on a Challenger body! Have you guys seen the size of a Challenger? It is monstrous large….have you seen a Montreal in real life? it’s pretty damn small.
i do thank you for the entertainment! It would be great to see an Alfa Montreal resurrected….just not this!
weird of the day.
A one-off or a urquattro wagon (i would rather call it a “shooting brake”) made by Guenther Artz in the 80s. A bit more info here:
http://www.audistory.24max.de/old1/ecaurq.htm
art of the day. fulvia.
done by Klem on deviantart
GT5 tips: “cannot connect to server error” FIXED!
Normally you would never see any video game advice or tips on this blog, however GT5 is such a brilliant game, and i feel all IEDEI readers should own it. Since buying my console and copy about a month ago, I had never been able to connect for ‘online game play’ via the Playstation network. I kept getting messages which said “cannot connect to server” even though I had always had an easy time watching films on Netflix or logging into the playstation network (PSN) for other things.
My wife is a bit of a computer nerd sometimes, and helped me fix this very easily! She’s so cool. So in the Playstation 3 main network settings, I chose ‘custom’ and ran everything as standard——-except the DNS settings. I have changed the DNS settings to 4.2.2.2 (primary) and 4.2.2.1 (secondary). Apparently these are open DNS numbers that can be used with any connected device. My wife uses them on her laptop and has fixed a bunch of connection issues, and after entering this in my PS3 network settings; and then restarting the device——-IT WORKED! Make sure you clear the ‘cache’ found in the GT5 network settings options as well. You should then be able to enter the lobby and join online! Last night i played on the PSN for GT5 online gameplay, and it was a ton of fun. Plus there are new challenges and a host of different used cars on the online part of the game.
Try using this trick, and i hope it works for you. Tell them IEDEI told you. cheers!
Fast Lane Daily: Nurburgring $1000 challenge!
Interesting challenge. Can one get to and drive the nurburgring for under $1k?
meet the original. 1959 Porsche T7 754/1961 695 (ur 911 concept)
I was interested to find out what the original concept car of the Porsche 911 looked like; and i have found it! It is called the T7 754 (have also seen the number 695 used). This was the original design proposed by FA Porsche but was rejected until until the rear end was changed, as explained the video below. The front end is unmistakedly 911, however it is very interesting to see the original rear end proposed way back in 1959. I was not familiar with this car before today;
some more info:
“The Porsche 695, also known as the T7 prototype, is an automobile from Porsche It was a prototype made in 1961 and later became the Porsche 911. The front end is very similar to the 911, but the rear is somewhat different. The 695 was developed from the Porsche 356 by Ferdinand Alexander Porsche and has a wheel base that is 100mm longer (up to 300 mm longer in early designs). It has a top speed of 200km/h.
Designed in the late-Fifties, the 695 was intended to be a true four-seater sports car. It was with the 695 that Porsche decided upon the use of the flat-six powerplant which has been the mainstay of the 911 range ever since. However, despite the 695 having entered the test-driving and development stage, Porsche management decided against the four-seater arrangement, and demanded that the car be redesigned in traditional two-plus-two arrangement, with smaller rear seats.
The successer was badged the 901, and was unveiled in 1963 at the Frankfurt Motor Show. A year later, it was released onto the roads as the 911.”
a short video showing the car, with similar info:
BTW, the car is currently located inside the beautiful Porsche Museum in Stuttgart
BMW has ruined Mini.
Yes what you see above, is a 2-door Mini crossover which will debut next month as the Mini Paceman. Sort of like a 2 door version of their extremely hideous Mini Countryman. The Countryman, is like a raised SUV-like version of their Mini Clubman—-which in turn is an elongated version of their spectacularly annoying Mini Cooper. I always loved the ‘original’ Mini since my many trips to the UK and I loved the ‘new” Mini Cooper after it was initially introduced, for about 6 months. I convinced a friend of mine to buy one immediately; then she hit a curb in her Cooper S and totaled it! Really? totaled it by hitting a curb—-bent the frame and axle….quality.
I hate Mini interiors—-they are horribly overdone, ghastly, and awkward. I don’t think i’ve ever felt comfortable inside of a modern Mini. I look at the original Mini and often think how brilliant it was; and how far it has fallen under the arthritic grip of BMW. So now we are left with Mini Cooper S cars which have 210hp and weigh 2600 pounds. How can a mini weigh 2600 pounds? How is that NOT a fail? the original Mini weighed between 1400 and 1600 pounds. The whole point of this car was to keep it LIGHT and nimble…..like Colin Chapman’s wet dream.
WHY is BMW making 3300 pound versions of Minis that are crossovers? This is a complete WHORING of the Mini name—-an insult to the original idea and ethos of the brand. Nice one BMW—-you f*cked up Mini!
obsessions. gt3.
These days, i am utterly obsessed with the 997 GT3. To me, it is the perfect Porsche. Of course i love ‘older’ 911s….as the simple mechanics of vintage cars appeals to me greatly; but i also live a modern lifestyle, i drive to work in NYC all the time, i drive in the winter, i drive around aimlessly for a laugh, i like technology but not too much. I absolutely love the GT3.
i also love the line that Chris says in this video that says “I love it when people say these don’t sound as good as the air-cooled cars, cos that is utter shit! this sounds wonderful”……BRAVO Chris…..down with the air-cooled snobs!
they’re coming down in price quickly…i see 2nd hand ones in the $80k-90k range…..996s are down in the $40-60k range. Audi R8s are floating down to the $80k range as well……i tell you, a couple years from now….and a 997 GT3 in the $60k range, assuming all continues in my life according to plans——-WILL definitely be a frontrunner for my garage spot.
IEDEI 
