Is this the best looking hot hatch ever made? I am starting to think so…
the Peugeot 205 GTI, photographed by Autostyle
the ultimate family automobile? B8 RS4.
Well…..actually i think the RS3 might be the ultimate family automobile—-but this new Audi RS4 Avant looks pretty damn wicked, to be honest. Hey Audi, i know you’re upset i’m participating in this broken embargo; BRING IT TO THE USA!
src. Autoblog.nl
foto of the day. 700 RS.
Tagged 1959, 1961, 1965, bmw 700 rs, hans stuck
National Geographic: Ranks Le Mans #1 sporting event in the world!
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
foto(s) of the day. Francoise Hardy + Eagle Westlake
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
fotos of the day. vintage sebring/daytona
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:
Chris Harris on the Toyota GT-86
My friends at DRIVE are putting together some great videos these days—-and the Chris Harris reviews are definitely going down well in the enthusiast communities everywhere.
The Toyota/Subaru 86 project has been a car I have yet to formulate a proper opinion about. One one hand, I love the simplicity and the idea—-on the other hand, i hate the hype and its sad future of ‘ricey holy grail’ status. It’s really a shame, because I think it’s a decent looking car—–but it is nice to see Toyota come out of the dungeon and back into building cars with some sense of passion….as confirmed in this film.
Great video though…very entertaining.
Silver Arrows reunion at Goodwood this year.
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
Triumph GT6 (1966-1973).
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
Sauber C31: best looking new F1 car?
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.
forgotten concept: Audi (Zagato) Zuma
In 1998, Zagato showed a design study of a rebodied 8L Audi A3 3-door named the Zuma. It used a 1.9L TDI engine, and like many other Zagato rebodies/concepts—–it is forever relegated to the realm of the unknown!
It’s almost as if Zagato decided they could try to design their own TT—-which of course in concept form had already been shown by this point. This Zuma actually possesses more than just a little resemblance the the fantastic Lancia Hyena, which surprisingly DID make it to limited production as a rebodied and lightweight Lancia Delta Integrale.
I actually quite like this design…and luckily the car is functional and still exists today (as far as i know)….so it’s not as “lost” as others it seems!
srcs: VeloceToday, Istenbizony, Motorbase,
foto of the day. 80 competition STC
Audi 80 Competition, driven by Emanuele Pirro in the German Super Touring Car series of 1995……
src: lensdesign
video of the day. Delta S4.
the devilish sounds and sights of the Lancia Delta S4 running a time attack on concrete.
A sofa, a table, a TV, and a 512BB.
I actually find this family room to also be a bit vulgar, however in its vulgarity lies a distinct appreciation for the art and design of the automobile; in which case I can override the over-the-top blingtastic behaviour which is so often associated to Ferraris.
These are page scans via Locale Magazine, please click them to enlarge them and read about the owner of the car and his house.
ad of the day: Bagheera
As my obsession with older french cars rises by the day; i am finding new cars to be fascinated by. One of them is the bizarre 3-seat Matra-Simca Bagheera!
src: automobile sportive
as a bonus photo, this cool cutaway drawing!
src: matrasport.dk
Lancia Beta S2.
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
Video: Chris Harris drives the Audi Sport quattro and Ford RS200
GROUP B GLORY with one of my favourite automotive journalists, Chris Harris. Excellent!
src: quattroholic
Alpine 1:43 models.
Ebay can be dangerous….especially ebay.fr!
I’ve had trouble finding 1:43 die cast models of Alpines that actually satisfies me in terms of proportions and accuracy….but these french made models are really great; and very affordable as well! I bought 4 of them which came today. On the lookout for more!
three A110s!
And this rare and super cool A210!
IEDEI 
