This really shouldn’t work…..but oh man does it work! Aston Martin V8 Vantage with Gulf livery. Beautiful….one of my most favourite coupe designs ever…
src: warspite1915
Category Archives: cars
foto of the day. Rivals.
I went to an Audi GTG yesterday featuring a number of new TT-RS picked up by their customers. Good turn out, but I found these 2 parked next to each other to be quite an interesting matchup. the BMW 1M and the Audi TT-RS.
I love Audis and all….but that 1M is just irresistable!
weird of the day. 2002 rat rod!
My mind is having slight difficulty digesting this, however I find it quite imaginative either way! Who would have ever thought “BMW 2002” and “rat rod” together….well somebody did, and dare i say it sort of works!
src: stipistop –> gencoupe.com
foto(s) of the day. A310.
I can’t help but find myself daydreaming about the fantastic Alpine A310 after watching the excellent Wheeler Dealers episode with the car earlier today. Here’s a 1977 car in all its wedge glory!
src: californiaClassix
video of the day. A310 on Wheeler Dealers.
I had read several months ago what the UK show Wheeler Dealers was going to do an episode about the Alpine A310—–and i’ve been looking very forward to it for a while! A couple of reasons why: (A) there really isn’t too much in terms of videos, information, or documentation of the A310, at least not in english anyways, (B) the A310 is on my list of cars I want to own in the next 20 years, so i’m super interested, and (C) because I usually enjoy Wheeler Dealers anyways, and putting an Alpine on there is just icing on the cake!
Here’s the full, nearly 44 minute episode!
VW EA41 and the Porsche 555.
It’s 1952, and Volkswagen is doing all sorts of projects trying to figure out a replacement for the VW Beetle. Mysteriously they had a design study done by Pininfarina, entitled the “EA41”. It sure looks a helluva lot like the Lancia Aurelia B20 Coupe from the rear end, but there is a Beetle hiding under there somewhere. I’m not sure if this car was from scratch or not, but i’m guessing this was merely a design study for which Pininfarina was hired to propose.
Lancia Aurelia B20 Coupe, also designed by Pininfarina around that time:
So as VW was searching for a viable alternative, they also happened to do a bunch of different design studies of a rear-engined new alternative……what did Porsche come up with? the Porsche 555!!
and this! the only photo i’ve been able to find of an actual Porsche 555 that was made….looks fantastic and I must admit I am very intrigued. I am also, however, bothered by the lack of information about the car—-but obviously as this was only a design/concept study it likely disappeared like most ideas did back then!
Porsche 555
eventually influencing the Porsche 356 “notchback” Coupe:
srcs: Rastall (excellent page), curbsideclassic, smcars
video(s) of the day. 928 promo.
This is such a great ‘period’ documentary/commercial issued by Porsche about their new 928. Obviously Porsche had grand hopes regarding the 928 when it was launched, and was touted within the company as the successor to the Porsche 911—–obviously we all know how that turned out!
That’s not to say that the 928 was not successful—-because it was successful as a front-engined sports car. I have to say as a kid, i think i loved the 928 more than i loved the 911 of that era (early 80s). The 928 had the most wicked rear end, and had a lot of presence on the road—-whereas the early 80s 911 had big bumpers and looked sort of like a cartoon. Fast forward to 2012, I think the 911 of that era has aged quite well (maybe because it is timeless?) whereas the 928 looks like it is trapped in the time of that era.
Either way—–enjoy this video presented in 4 parts. It has nice features, including lots of people with moustaches and/or mullet-y hair!
A different view of a car show.
These days i’m really annoyed by media photography; everyone goes to the same car shows and takes the same, typical, unstimulating, booooring photos of cars. I went in the search of more ‘experimental’ auto show photos and happened to find taken by Kai Petermann.
To be honest, I find them interesting….moderately dizzying, moderately useless, however reasonably entertaining! I believe the 2nd photo is of the new Dodge Dart, however I cannot be entirely sure!
src: forLoveAndGlory (via ralfBecker)
art: Leonello Design.
Leonello Design is a design company affiliated with the likes of Centro Stile Alfa Romeo, Zagato, and Touring Superleggera—-working on scale models and designs for them and other projects.
I’m not sure if any of them are available as prints or not, as not much is mentioned on their site.
Art:
src: Leonello
video of the day. Truth in 24 Part 2 official trailer!
If you haven’t seen the original “Truth In 24” you are really missing out. There is no reason you should NOT have seen the original! It is an amazing piece of filmmaking and a must-see for anyone into motor racing.
The exciting news is that part 2 is coming out about the R18 TDI’s dramatic win at the 2011 Le Mans. Very exciting stuff. That race was remarkable and now its been documented and will be released to coincide with the upcoming 2012 Le Mans!
Go here and watch the trailer for Part 2 and if you haven’t seen part 1, it is available FREE as a download through iTunes at the Audi USA site HERE
src: fourtitude
Fisker Atlantic.
Let me be honest in that quite frankly I was blown away the first time I saw photos of the Fisker Atlantic; Unfortunately IEDEI was not able to cover the NY Auto Show this year due to work schedule (yes, i also have a proper job!).
I had already been ‘warming’ to the idea of the Fisker Karma over the past few months, even though supposedly the cars are unreliable and that the company is having financial issues…..oh well!
I really dislike Tesla, however I find myself fond of Fisker. Why? It’s not JUST because they use extensive Alcantara in their interior….but it’s because Fisker actually DESIGNS their cars rather than puts out a regurgitated Lotus Elise. The Karma, whatever your final thoughts are, is a pretty fascinating car to look at…..swoopy, long, with lots of presence.
The Karma is expensive….the Atlantic though—-well they are targeting the $45k to $55k range! If this car makes it to production for that price, it will surely be THE best looking sedan out there. I’m not crazy about the front end styling, but the proportions, side profile, rear, and roofline are just beautiful.
So……is the Atlantic the car that gets me interested in electric cars? Yes it just may be…..this or the upcoming Audi e-tron range….either way, it just might be possible eventually someone will start building an electric car with some passion, soul, and style——i’m hoping the Fisker Atlantic is the first one to really get the ball rolling…..
So Fisker…..Give me one to drive so I can see for myself.
Here’s the video from the premiere of the car at the NY Auto Show:
src: Fisker
foto of the day. IEDEI business cards.
Now I just have to find people to give them to!
Butzi, 1935-2012
Ferdinand Alexander “Butzi” Porsche, grandson of Ferdinand Porsche and father of the Porsche 911—died today. RIP, sir.
Where is the secret spot?
Well I have to say I am entirely intrigued by these “Secret Spot” pics posted over at Type-01. If this is a single location; what kind of a location will have the combination of cars seen in this pic? More mysteriously—–what are those two Bugatti concepts doing there!?!? I would think those 2 concepts would be under the ownership of Bugatti/VAG. I don’t recall them ever being produced for private ownership. Hmm.
Beautiful greyscale photos as well.
src: Type-01
foto of the day. 50s.
“Four Audi 50 racing cars fighting for the lead at a Touring-Car-Race at Hockenheimring in the early 80´s” – eLKayPics
art of the day. A210.
Automobiliac had posted all sorts of wonderful Elf card scans last year, and this Alpine A210 diagram was from the backside of the scan you can find on the link above! Make sure you check out search his site for all the other Elf card scans…which are great.
foto of the day. TT.
The more time that passes by, the fonder i become of the stubby little badass that is the NSU TT.
src: davydutchy
Pal-V: Sir, your flying car has arrived.
Yes I want one. I wonder what my 3 hours a day of commuting through NYC would look like with this bad boy! Just don’t put any large trees in my way, alright Winston?
This thing is going to go into production—-well at least that’s what they say in the video below:
X-Ray Analysis: BMW Design.
I want to like new BMWs….i really do….I think they drive fair enough, however I just find they aren’t very interesting as an actual product (packaging, aesthetics, imagination, image, etc…).
The last BMW I appreciated was the derided last generation E81/82 1-Series, which plenty of people disliked—–However which I happened to like. It reminded me of old-school coupes like the NSU TT. Compact, stubby, and slightly ugly—-all of which gave it character. Nothing prepared us though for the horror which came when its updated F20 version came along. Let’s be clear—-the F20 is not a ‘brand new’ car….it is basically a reworking of the previous generation 1-series to tide things over until the next proper FWD 1-series comes along. The F20 is properly ugly, has lost any ‘retro’ character, and instead created an awkard design which seems almost NON-BMW. What happened here?!
Publicity photos provide all sorts of photoshopping BS and fluff without the essence of the car. So i’ve started “x-raying’ photos to analyze design. It serves me well.
E82 1-series hatchback
– stubby
F20 1-series hatchback:
– ugly!
So do these changes only affect the 1-series?? NO! The 3-series has been given the same awkward changes.
E90 Sedan:
F30 Sedan:
Now, I was never really a fan of the outgoing 3-series….i thought it was totally boring. Then again, most cars in that class are sort of meant to be boring—–however I think the majority of visually able beings will easily state that based on this x-ray image, there really is no comparison that even the boring outgoing E90 Sedan is a far nicer design than the messy, awkward friendly F30 Sedan. Do you agree? I do….oh wait, i wrote the opinion in the first place!
I can honestly say……bring Chris Bangle back, BMW!
IEDEI 
