the original gangstas! Espada, Miura, and Jarama. This photo is from original publicity materials sent out by Lambo back in the day.
Japanese A110 video.
The japanese…….they’re always trying to drift everything! This video is from 1990.
Sign this petition!
A fellow Audi enthusiast Carson has launched a new petition on the Whitehouse.gov website to gather signatures to discuss making the rules to relieve the stringent rules on US automobile importation laws. Currently the US government run NHTSA does not allow importation of automobiles which have not been specifically crash tested by US standards. The catch here is that other countries, including the EU have even MORE stringent crash testing standards than the US very often—-which begs the question, why does the US have such incompatible safety testing standards as compared to the rest of the world? Even Canada has much easier rules for getting cars into the country, allowing manufacturers to be more experimental in their lineups.
Let’s take for example the tempting Audi RS3—-which was, as of a couple of months ago—–being debated by Audi of America as a possible import into the US market. Then they decided they would NOT import the car into the US market. Despite the fact that the 8p A3/RS3 body is already crash tested in the US and despite the fact that the TT-RS engine and drivetrain (same as the RS3) have met safety standards—-it was not financially feasible for Audi to bring in the RS3, as they would likely never recover the costs of having to cross all the hurdles it would take to get it on market. I even sent an email to Audi of America asking if the RS3 was coming to the US, before i ended up buying my 2012 A3 quattro—-they told me “no” so i bought my car the next day.
Will this petition work? The chances are slim—–as I think these rules mainly benefit US carmakers, and allowing more imported cars to make it over here would only cut in further to US carmaker sales. BUT HEY! it is worth a shot! 25,000 signatures needed. At time of this post, 343 achieved. I, of course, being one of the earliest.
It takes 1 minute to sign up—-so please go and sign it! We have nothing to lose—-and spread the word!
LINK: Whiteouse.gov Petition
foto of the day. junked.
a tragic case of a rare Audi 100 Coupe S junked and debadged!
ad of the day. Jarama
This is from a 1974 sales brochure for the Lamborghini Jarama S
To me, there’s nothing cooler than the ‘unsung’ supercars—-the ones that DON’T capture the attention of everyone—-and that’s exactly what the Jarama is—-an unknown Lambo.
source: Rudolph J
first snow.
a couple of weeks ago on a beautiful saturday, we got our first snowfall of this winter! in October (!?). Needless to say it was a beautiful day, and I played around with the TT all day through all sorts of weird streets, empty parking lots, and running errands for my wife who basically thinks i’m crazy for wanting to drive in the snow all day long.
For the first time ever, i will be putting dedicated snow tires on the A3 this year—mainly because I drive over 100 miles a day now for my job. Once I get the snows on that, there will be plenty of photos this winter.
WINTER IS BACK! oh how i’ve missed you…
foto of the day. GT3 RS 3.8
Source: Automobile Magazine
foto of the day. saab owned aero.
Jason Castriota does NOT own aero. the ur Saab.
foto(s) of the day. Fulvia ditched and rescued!
Damn i love these photos taken at the 1973 Targa Florio. From the fantastic Targa Florio archives at Amicidellatargaflorio
video of the day. La Voglia Mattalfa
what a weird film…ha! featuring a 1960 Alfa Spider and a 6C 1900…and a Moto Guzzi!
foto of the day. TR6
why is today…all of a sudden….i felt compelled to lust after a Triumph TR6?
sometimes my petrolhead brain puzzles me…..
Pietro Frua’s 1971 Porsche 914 design proposal.
Pietro Frua is one of my favourite designers ever—-mainly because he created weird, mysterious, and often rejected-by-manufacturer designs which were generally better than the manufacturers ended up producing. I think car companies used him for his brainstorming, and then ditched his designs in the end only to steal them. BMW surely stole many of his ideas when they plagiarized his ideas from the Frua ‘concept’ BMWs on all their production cars of the 70s and 80s. I’m looking at this photo of a 1971 Hispano Aleman Porsche 914 design study and seeing all sorts of stuff going on. I see some De Tomaso Pantera, i see some Lamborghini Urraco, and I see lots of Frua cues. What i don’t see is a 914. Obviously Porsche did not use any of his ideas for their eventual collaboration with VW on the 914.
As far as I can tell, the car was seized by customs in 1971 after being shown at Geneva. The car was in ‘exile’ until 1976 and is currently put away in a private collection, having not been driven since 1977. Production of the real production Porsche 914 ended by the time the design was even recovered. Frua was paid $200k to make the design study. (source, Frua website cited below)
There are TONS of amazing pictures here on the Frua.de website (with copyrights so i cannot post them here)
foto of the day. 1965 Ford Mustang by Bertone.
some back story:
In 1965 Scott Bailey invited Bertone to have his say on the design of the popular Ford Mustang. The publisher of the prestigious “Automobile Quarterly” wanted to show that the Turin school of bodywork designers could achieve great things on cars which were very different from their usual projects. Bertone’s interpretation of the American car was put on show for the first time at the 1965 New York International Automobile Show, and was one of the most admired numbers: the Bertone model featured a radiator grille dominated by the emblem of the original car, while the disappearing headlamps were hidden behind the grille. All in all a very personal interpretation which turned out to be another coup in image terms for the Turin designer.
source: Carstyling.ru
Alfa Romeo 6c 2500 Frecchia D’oro
Yes, the first real production car after WW2 for Alfa Romeo—-and it’s a pretty sweet design. A swoopy coupe with some classic proportions. Not that many were actually made—between 550 to 600 from what i’ve been able to search up. I think it’s one of the ‘lost’ Alfas in time.
foto of the day. 100 Coupe S
more than one! Oh lovely.
Audi 100 Coupe S.
video of the day. GT3 Cup.
Yes it’s an advertisement, but it doesn’t make it any less cool.
F1 to Jersey!
It is super exciting news to hear that F1 is finally coming close to the NYC area in 2013! The race will be held in New Jersey right across the river—–with the race having a backdrop of the Manhattan skyline. This is very exciting news for race fans living in the tri-state area, and marks the latest in the sequel of F1 coming back to the US after unsuccessful stints in Indianopolis and Detroit. Obviously there is the Austin, Texas F1 return as well, however I (a) don’t like Texas and (b) think the east coast makes a better venue for F1 racing.
The announcement is expected next week! Now if we can just get the WRC to come to Brooklyn…
full story here!
art of the day. D-Type.
the legendary Jaguar D-Type…..in blueprint form
RIP Dan Wheldon.
Dan Wheldon died today in a massive 15 car (of 34 cars racing) accident in during an IndyCar race in Las Vegas earlier this afternoon. I salute him as a 2-time winner of the glorious Indianopolis 500 and a great driver. Other drivers were also injured and are being treated at the hospital. Racing has become so much safer in modern times, but this is a reminded that it’s still not immuned to catastrophe.
Following the accident, a red flag was introduced. The race was then stopped for good. However, following the announcement, the drivers and teams decided to do a 5 lap tribute to him:
IEDEI 
