Audi entered 3 cars into the 12 hours of Bathurst this year, and the #1 car came out on top after pouring rain and a kangaroo crossing the track! These R8 LMS specially put forth for Bathurst looks sweeeeet!
Photos and videos:
Official 2 part video:
src: Audi Sport
Most people don’t realise just how SMALL the Alpines are, until they either see one in person or see pics of it next to other ‘small’ cars….as most of you know, the BMW 2002 is not exactly a large car….but the Alpine makes it look pretty tall!
The A110 makes any car look huge….but even the A310 is tiny in real life. The first time I saw these cars in real life, i was amazed at how efficiently small they are in person.
src: JB Hilversum
sort it out, mate!
i don’t know much about this photo or where it’s from, except that It made me laugh. Shared to me by Arman
I think the Maserati Tipo 61 “Birdcage” is easily one of the most beautiful, fascinating, and artistic race cars ever made—–and these photos really are stunning. These photos were used by RM Auctions during the 2010 auction of the car, where it sold for $3.343.648 to be exact. Obviously that’s a lot of money—-but honesty a FAR more beautiful and desirable car than many of the ‘expensive’ and overpriced Ferraris i’ve seen sell for much more in auction reports.
src: brandjunkies
I know I post a lot of Group B stuff…..but honestly it NEVER gets old…..i think as time goes by, that era of Group B rally will be looked back upon even more fondly than it already is—–as an era of classic rally cars which were overpowered and supercool. This video, in addition to Group B cars, also shows other rally cars which post-dated Group B rally.
This video by Tadej P is filmed beautifully in San Marino. Yes there is some music in there, however it isn’t too intrusive and serves more as background. It’s nice to see some Group B cars in action—-in a video which doesn’t look like it was ripped using a 25 year-old VHS cassette!
also check out Tadej’s super photography on Racemedia
Why, yes of course.
I love the Matra Djet, not just because it was a slightly odder looking, lesser successful, weirdo cousin of the Alpine A110; but because on its own right it is pretty damn wickedly cool!
src: the wonderful oldcarmanualproject
S4PNSCEFF3VN
(photo taken from VeloceNews)
I’m puzzled as to why there is minimal information present online about Mr. Vintage Race Car and his brand new show debuting this Monday on Velocity. The show isn’t listed in the list of shows on the network website, and when I do a search I find a few scanty details and no official information. I just happened to see a short little advertisement on Velocity when i was flipping the channels earlier this weekend.
What I have been able to find out from listing information on the channel’s schedule is the follows:
Episode 1: Alain de Cadenet navigates the history of the iconic Lancia Ferrari D50 through restoration of the original cars to racing it on the track at the Goodwood Revival Meeting.
Episode 2: Alain de Cadenet explores 3 of the most important 20th Century British motorcycles, historic and contemporary classics Brough, Norton, and Triumph.
Sounds pretty great to me! Alain’s Victory By Design series is one of the great classics in automotive videos of recent years—-and his gentlemanly take on vintage cars and race cars is pretty much always great to listen to. I can’t wait to see what he has in store for this new series which debuts tomorrow (February 20th) on Velocity channel at 10pm (EST).
I consider the Audi RS5 to be the ultimate manifestation of the germans trying to build a “muscle car”…..along with some of the Mercedes AMG line…….this is some great footage of an RS5 rolling through the desolate smooth roads in the desert—-almost reminds me of scenes from the film “Vanishing Point”!
No music or commentary to get in the way either! just the sweet sound of a V8!
Such a desirable car in that shape and in that form—i think the original A5/S5 already looked beautiful, but with a widened stance, fender flares, and those extra RS touches; it really gets its point across! Fantastic.
Oh man. So much want. I have to make it to Retromobile some day…..seems like an amazing collection of desirable motor cars.
This collage and a few photos were taken by the great type-01
These videos are wonderful, sort of makes me feel like I am there.
Is this the best looking hot hatch ever made? I am starting to think so…
the Peugeot 205 GTI, photographed by Autostyle
National Geographic recently ranked the greatest sporting events in the world. What do you think they ranked #1? LE MANS!!
“Skill, speed, and stamina are the three s’s that mark the world’s best automobile race, the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The race, organized by Automobile Club de L’Ouest, bridges past and present on the automotive circuit.
The competition is set on a non-permanent track at Circuit de la Sarthe near the city of Le Mans on the Sarthe River. Roughly 46 cars start the race, in a series of classes that include prototype high-performance vehicles, dedicated race cars, and street cars. The diversity of autos gives the race a mix of old-fashioned and modern competitors. The winner is the car, driven by a team of three drivers, that covers the greatest distance in 24 hours.
The first Le Mans contest took place in May 1923; today it is held every June. The race begins at 4 p.m., and for 24 hours the sound of roaring engines fills 8 miles (13 kilometers) of French countryside.”
mad respect, NG….mad respect.
src: National Geographic via Le Mans
Francoise Hardy, to me, was the queen of 1960s french style…and of course one of the stars of the film Grand Prix. Here she is relaxing in an Eagle Westlake. So cool.
here she is relaxing in a (fake) Ferrari 158:
src: goodoldvalves via savetheenzos
Nigel Smuckatelli has catalogued many of his photos from the 60s and 70s on his flickr page, and in his own words: “Most of my photos were taken as a college student who volunteered as a safety official at the 24 Hours of Daytona and 12 Hours of Sebring in the late 60’s and early 70’s.”
He has literally thousands of photos on his page….a good percentage of them are photos he took, although mixed in there are also stock and obtained photos…..but well worth sifting through them…so make sure you follow the link above! Here are some of his original photographs i loved:
This is just epic. Here’s the list of Silver Arrows race cars that will be at Goodwood this year——driving on the track! This is the first time in over 70 years that these cars will be racing on the same track. I can’t wait to see/hear the footage when this happens.
The list of cars planning to be there:
Mercedes-Benz W25, W125, W154 and W165
&
Auto Union Type C and Type D
full story here: Fourtitude
Another week—-another car to discover and appreciate! I’ve always had a huge soft spot for Triumphs, ever since growing up next to a neighbour who kept a very nice racing green TR6. The Michelotti-designed Triumph GT6 had a design which was inspired by Le Mans class winning Triumph Spitfires of 1965. The production Spitfire had been a successful road car, and this was its’ coupe variant. In the glory days of British Leyland, of course (ahem)—-the GT6 was produced in three different generations, culminating finally in the MK3.
I’d never actually paid attention enough to distinguish the GT6 in the past from its Spitfire roadster counterpart—-but now that I take a good look at it; it really does have some classic design to it. Somewhere in there, i see a poor man’s Aston or E-type….and a rich man’s MGB GT. Nonetheless, i’ve added it to my short list of lustworthy british motors to roll after.
MK3
MK1
psychedelic 1970 US promo:
a much more intellectual UK promo:
Last but not least….this glorious photo of the original racing Spitfires (which inspired the design of the GT6) at the 1965 Le Mans next to an Alpine M63! Just superb.
srcs: littletriumphs, carblueprints, motorretro, necronomviia, vtr
I haven’t for sure figured out why I think this is the best looking F1 car around, but on Monday, Sauber introduced their new C31 for this year’s F1 competition. I think it’s something about the ‘steps’ right before the nose that really do it for me; remind me of the more straight-curve mixtures we used to see on F1 cars in the 70s. The colours, the nose treatment, and those combinations of curves and straight edges really do it for me.
I know that the “look” of the F1 car is of less importance than all of the performance characteristics; but to someone who appreciates the design of race cars——this one hits the right buttons!
src: F1SA
EDIT! I’ve just realised after careful examination that Ferrari also has a very similar design to their nose—–just executed with much poorer aesthetics (but likely better aerodynamics). But you would expect that—-as it’s a Ferrari.
Audi 80 Competition, driven by Emanuele Pirro in the German Super Touring Car series of 1995……
src: lensdesign
the devilish sounds and sights of the Lancia Delta S4 running a time attack on concrete.
Lately i’ve become an admirer of a cheap, available in the US classic; the Lancia Beta. Here’s a variant which ran in Group 4 rally, the Lancia Beta S2! Hot stuff.
src: coches
IEDEI 
