well at least in my head.
taken at the recent Monte Carlo Historique.
(click to enlarge)
src: renault classic
well at least in my head.
taken at the recent Monte Carlo Historique.
(click to enlarge)
src: renault classic
An adventure and its documentation. An event which is still alive today as more of a nostalgic event!
http://www.eastafricansafarirally.com/
A while ago, my friend Bradley and I took a trip to Gullwing Motors and saw a green Lamborghini Espada parked outside within a chained in parking lot. One of the primary reasons for that trip in the first place was to see that Espada as well as 2 Alfa Romeo Montreals they were selling.
I happen to think that the Espada is truly one of THE coolest ‘supercars’ to ever grace the streets….effortlessly cool even. I’ve always thought of it as Lamborghini’s response to the muscle car—-a muscle car built with the DNA of a supercar. It is low slung, beautifully designed, with a plush mega-italian interior, and a presence that few cars can aspire to have. If you park an Espada next to any of the modern supercars; i know which one you’ll find me staring at non-stop!
Fortunately David Lang found my little blip about that car on IEDEI and reached out to me with more information about the unique and interesting Espada we had seen that day at Gullwing—–and about the Espada that HE bought! So rather than wondering “whatever happened to that green Espada?”…..we have an interesting story and an update!
David:
“When the car arrived from Gullwing Motors it had been in storage approximately 5 years, or more and had no brakes and a badly running engine. The engine was tuned with new spark plugs, several vacuum leaks were repaired and fresh gas was added to make it run very well.
(here’s a photo of David’s Espada i’d taken when I went to Gullwing motors in 08/2010)
“The engine appears to have been a new crate unit (no numbers stamped on the ID pad) and has a Tuned Port Injection (TPI) system installed. It is a 1985-86 350ci engine that would have been used in Corvettes or Camaros of the day. The transmission is a Borg Warner 5 speed with a hydraulic clutch. The shift leaver was adapted and is original to the car. The original exhaust system was also adapted and is in the car as is the balance of the running gear and brakes. Overall the installation of the engine, TPI and tranny appears to have been professionally done to almost perfection. I say almost because of what I discovered when I drove the car the first time. It overheated even with the hugh, original radiator and double fan system. The radiator was checked by a local shop and found to have been rebuilt. It needed no service. After explaining to the specialist what it came out of and the engine conversion he told me to change the thermostat and check the water pump for proper rotation. I found that the pump had been running backwards due to the use of V belts instead of the serpentine belt the engine was designed for. I replaced the pump with one designed for clockwise rotation and problem solved. The car had been operated for 25 years with the wrong pump! That explains the low mileage of 43000 on the car. I”m guessing but I suspect the engine and tranny have less than 5000 miles on them and operate as new.”
(current photos of the car to follow)
“Work yet to be completed include paint stripping and repaint to a dark factory blue color from the original mint green and doing some electrical repair to obtain working headlights and original air horn. The body is very straight with just two very small rust holes in the bottom, front corners of both doors. The glass, bumpers and trim are near perfect. I have removed the awful bumper overriders and remounted the outside mirrors from the front fenders to the doors as most are. The mirrors are original too. The car apparently had good care most of its life but was neglected for the last 5 or so years while stored.”
“With new tires, the car drives very well. It tracks straight, rides smoothly and quietly and feels like it is glued to the road. With the engine and tranny change, I believe about 400 pounds have been lost from the front giving the car a close 50/50 weight distribution and a lighter feel to the unboosted steering.”
I, for one, am really glad this Espada has been rescued by an owner who is enthusiastic about his beautiful classic. Thanks to David for writing!
love these—i think they are timeless classics in every sense of the word!
foto taken from Trollhatten Saab
The owners of early 70s 911s who try to make their cars look ‘modern’ should be imprisoned. This guy, on the other hand has done the glorious thing and ‘backdated’ his 1988 911 into a 1971 Porsche 911 with upgraded parts and spec’d out.
The result is something which is quite simply…..wonderful.
click here to see the Craigslist AD ($38,000 in case you are obsessed)
http://newyork.craigslist.org/lgi/cto/2360939304.html
(thanks to S. Carder for the tip!)
one of the greatest cars ever made— the Bugatti Type 35b. the first time i saw one in person at the Cranbrook Concours, i just took a seat on the grass and stared at it for about 30 minutes. I’ll never forget the way it made me feel…….
(original Heuer ad above, for the original vesrions in the 70s)
One of THE coolest chronograph Heuer watches known as the Silverstone has been launched as a limited edition reissue! So exciting! What’s not so exciting is the price tag. $6500. Time to sell a kidney?
http://www.luxist.com/tag/tag+heuer+silverstone+chronograph/
This past sunday night, the latest episode of TOP GEAR featured Lancia as the company who has made the most number of ‘great’ cars. It was a fantastic episode, and a MUST watch for any italian car fan and especially for anyone into Lancias.
Here are the videos from that show, in 2 parts:
PART 1
PART 2
Well, i’m a self-confessed Audi person; however these days i’ve had an overwhelming fascination with the Audi RS2. Developed with Porsche in the mid-90s, the Audi RS2 is the beginning of the entire RS brigade that Audi would further launch afterwards.
Yes, it’s a wagon—yes it was engineered by Porsche—-and yes it’s faster from 0-30 than a McLaren F1. They never brought these to the USA, and that blows—-however word is there are a couple in the US, and a couple more that are being converted into RS2s from regular Audi 80/90. Avants…..interesting.
A friend of mine from Norway, Espen—-recently had his RS2 stolen in Norway. Those daft bastards—–you’re gonna get busted.
I WANT!
What a fantastic video this is, going through the Formula One Grand Prix cars between 1945 and 1965 only—-where they go through a summary of the GP cars of the time…..incredible drivers and legendary cars.
what a great way to ‘waste’ an hour…
part 1.
part 2.
part 3.
click here to go to the next page for the last 3 parts!
My friend Matteo from Switzerland has a great site called Swiss Car Sightings where he takes some great pictures of cars he sees at gatherings, around Switzerland, around the rest of europe—along with photos of some of his great cars. Among his great cars is the 964 featured in these photos along with an older 911 and the newest 997 C4S. I could analyze and look at these pics all day marking the evolution patterns….
click on photos 2 times to get hi-res versions.
click here to see more pics and get the link to ALL the photos — Continue reading
Well, it’s undoubtedly one of the great icons in automotive history, the famous Gullwing Mercedes coupes of the 50s. We all know that Mercedes has been testing prototypes of the car very openly…and although very concealed, have provided insight into the direction MB are headed in…
Below are some ‘new’ sketches found on the Top Gear site, along with a couple original spy photos and what Top Gear claim, are the ‘actual’ interior shots of the production car. Either way, the car looks fantastic. Can’t wait to see the final product.
more pictures after the push—– Continue reading
My friend Dani from Spain has a terrific blog called Colla Verglas, where you can check out regularly updated pictures and posts about all sorts of automotive stuff. He has posted some great pics of classics running around the Rally Costa Brava, here are some pics. Click at the link below the pics to check out ALL the photos!
more pics HERE:
Only 1 of these 2 coupes currently survive. These were developed strictly for racing in the early 1950s by Porsche and they competed in the Panamericana races of South America and were also purchased by 2 independent South American race car drivers.
Both coupes were missing for many years, until recently the 1st one built has turned up and is starting to make the rounds of car shows.
Arguably, this is likely the car that has inspired the current Cayman in the Porsche stable, and it definitely makes for great desktop wallpaper!
CLICK THE PICTURE A COUPLE TIMES FOR HI-RES VERSIONS!
here’s another GREAT vintage video made by George Lucas (yes, the “Star Wars” guy!) when he was younger and (probably) cooler. I never really cared for “Star Wars”….but this video was done when Lucas was a student, and it stars the legendary Peter Brock. Fantastic!
Forward the video to about 1:30 for the start of the video.
Several weeks ago, I found myself in San Diego for a conference. That saturday, I, by chance, found out about a ‘festival of speed’ going on at a military base in Coronado. So i took a cab over there, got lost on the naval base, however proceeded to end up at an AMAZING day of Can-Am, Trans-Am, and vintage race cars and street cars going at it on a runway. It was a superb day, with some of the greatest cars in history going at it!
Here are a couple videos i’ve found on YouTube documenting that fly day.
From a 1960 Porsche RS Spyder