>
Driving the Alps – BMW 335is European Delivery Trip from Janitha on Vimeo.
Archive | February, 2011
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
>For Shame
17 Feb>Earlier this week Autoblog reported that the famous De Tomaso company would begin making cars again. Of course, everyone immediately thought of the mid-engined Mangusta and Pantera like this:
 |
| fwallpapers.com |
Then the picture of the new car loaded and it looked like this:
 |
| autoblog.com |
It looks mighty similar to this:
 |
| rx8club.com |
Then, I was all like this:
>Rendezvous
16 Feb>You may or may not have seen this video before, filmed in the 70′s illegally with a Mercedes then dubbed over with Ferrari engine sounds. Well worth the 8.5 minutes of your time…
And a look back at the making/route of video as well…
>Freak of the Week: Green Machine
16 Feb>
Welcome to Freak of the Week #9. A while back, I posted a FoTW on the “Angrier” Dodge Daytona pro touring. The idea behind the car was to modernize a muscle car so that it can accelerate, brake, and turn as well as a present day sports car.
Well, it seems like the idea has already been very popular and have ventured to less likely platforms. I present you Anthony’s pro-touring Datsun 510.
Found on 6speedonline, the heart of this Datsun isn’t a Datsun at all! Anthony found power by way of an engine swap donated from a straight-six 1991 Toyota Supra. The result? After some massaging via a Garrett GT35R turbo, intercooler, custom exhausts and intake, and a number of other exhaustive and tedious hours of attention to detail, The Supra powered 510 dyno’d 398 WHP.
Anthony’s talent goes far beyond completing an engine swap, he really dialed in a very unique appearance. With the hula girl caliper detail, military green matte finish, custom grill and headlamps, 240Z wheel flares and custom dash, Anthony took the Datsun from something that was simply amusing and turned it into a work of art.
Don’t be mistaken though. This is not a trailer queen.
Tuning to match the power came by way of 280zx struts with Tokico Illumina cartridges, Techno Toy adjustable T/C rods, Ground Control camber plates and coilovers, adjustable rear shocks, custom panhard bar, a limited slip diff, Corvette C5 rotors with Dodge Viper calipers, 18×8.5 and 18×10 Racing Hart wheels f/r repectively… shall I go on?
This is what Anthony had to say,
I like this car because it’s unique, people get a kick out of it, and I’ve built and tuned it by myself. It’s fun at track days yet I can drive it on road trips such as Portland to San Jose this summer was over 1200 miles round trip. I vow no trailers are in its future.
Enjoy the pictures!
 |
| The P-Zeros are gone!! |
 |
| Props to whoever can identify where that center console piece is from |
>Never Gonna Give You Up…
14 Feb>In honor of Valentine’s Day, we’d like to share with you the aspects of the automotive world that make our hearts flutter.
Properly Used Carbon Fiber
 |
| McLaren MP4-12C |
 |
| Lamborghini Aventador |
 |
| Audi R18 |
Skylines in all its forms
Engine notes that give you goosebumps
Moments when cars, art, and life intersect
>Le Touquet Enduropale
12 Feb>I found this video last week and thought that it was all very cool but unfortunately, I didn’t know what to make of it due to my lack of French proficiency (Bonjour!).
I couldn’t understand what I was watching. What on Earth is Le Touquet Enduropale? The opening scene was Dakar-esque but motorcycle-centric. Then it was beginning to look like motocross, except with 10 times the amount of riders tackling the same mound.
Well, it’s neither. After some Googling, I found what Hell for Leather had to say about the business:
“Every February, around 1,000 bikes and 500 quads gather to race on a channel beach in Northern France. The 11-mile course is modified with whoops, jumps and chicanes shoveled out of sand, making it unique among endurance events. It’s something of an oddball event, frequently attracting frankenstein machines converted from superbike to enduro in someone’s le garage using le tall suspension and le knobby tires.”
Hope everybody is enjoying a good weekend!
>Why Do We Live?
11 Feb>No words are needed to understand this beautiful video. Great find, Keqing!
Here is the general synopsis of the ad…
The chain smoking Asian voiceover asks, “Why do we live?” while the camera takes a turn on each of the five grandpas who are sitting at home just waiting for it all to be over. (For the sake of storytelling, we’ve got Elmer, Daffy, Porky, Bugs, Taz and Wile E.)
Elmer Fudd is in mourning, Daffy is diagnosed with lung cancer, Porky counts his pills, Bugs is deaf (ironic, huh?) but receives a phone call from Taz that Wile E. Coyote has just passed away. “EH???”
The gang meets for a get-together and even leaves a seat to place Wile E.’s picture. The plate of hot food barely touches the table when suddenly BAM! Taz needs to get out and ride! “EH???”
They’re 81 years old. One of them is deaf, another is diagnosed with cancer, and the other three have heart disease. They all have arthritis. Yet within six months of physical prep, they set out to do the awesome.
A 2,139 mile journey across Taiwan, from north to south, in 13 days.
The chain smoking voiceover ends with this: Why do we live? To realize our dreams. When the ordinary folk do the extraordinary. yada yada yada “TC Bank.”
No words are needed to understand this beautiful video, but the key bit of information you almost missed was that this is, in fact, a true story.
-Choy
>Freak of the Week: Practically Impractical
9 Feb>
Welcome to Freak of the Week #8, where for every weekend, we look for something balls off the wall crazy, polarizing or just weird and worth talking about.
Ever since hot hatches became popular, so too have there been mid-engined hatchbacks. Unfortunately, though I can clearly see why, the idea never caught on…
In MOTORING CON BRIO fashion, I’ve compiled my own grab bag of photos of mid engine hatches.
 |
| This car deserves its own post! |
 |
| A project that James, or Rentonone of Scoobynet.com forums, had undertaken to turn his MK-VI Ford Escort into a mid engine rwd track killer. |
