Sunday, September 11, 2011

First Porsche Race Car - 1953 / 550 Prototype

Porsche's purpose built 1953 aerodynamic racing rocket, the 550-01 was powered by a 1498 cc mid-engine. This iconic road racing car is currently on loan to the High Museum in Atlanta and is featured in their exhibit, The Allure of the Automobile.
read more here



The Porsche 550 Prototype is the first of two 550 prototypes built and is the first race car built by Porsche. The company’s wild success in the racing arena, and resulting sports car market, began with this car. The first 550 completed for competition in 1953, after just a year of development which started in 1952, won in it’s initial outing.
That same year, the two Porsche 550 Prototypes, 550-01 and 550-02, ran neck and neck for the entire 24 hours of Le Mans, crossing the finish line at the same interval at which they had started. Le Mans scoring officials awarded the win to 550-02.
The end of the racing season brought a relocation for the cars to Mexico where they raced in the 1954 La Carrera Panamericana. After that, the cars vanished with only 550-01 resurfacing years later in a Mexican warehouse.
read more here










Northern Light - 1958 Porsche Abarth

The Carrera Abarth GTL of Carl-Gunnar Hammarlund, a Porsche rich in Scanidnavian racing history.





Ferrari P4/5 - Pininfarina

The Beast of Turin: For about four million bucks, a famed Italian design studio turns out a one-of-a-kind super-Enzo.


When people first see it, they have a moment of confusion, because it's challenging to look at. But we wanted to create a piece of art, something timeless, so that you appreciate it more the longer you look at it." Jason also styled the new Ferrari 599. He's working exactly where he wants to be. Next, Ken Okuyama, the design director of Pininfarina. Ken is an engaging, magnetic character, who speaks with great intelligence and intense humour. "The thing about Pininfarina," says Ken, "is that the company lets you, as a designer, take credit for what you've done. You sign the sketches. It's why I joined - you don't get that so much in big corporations. "There is something in the air here. You can feel it, like you can at Oxford or any other great university. Though the people change, the same atmosphere remains." Ken has given his understudy Jason the space to express himself clearly with this car, helping with some guidance on occasion, but not interfering.
read more @ topgear.com
and @ caranddriver.com
 

Saturday, September 3, 2011

The Spectacular 1992 Mazda RX-792P

On the heels of the 1991 GTO championship, Mazda decided to move to the very pinnacle of North American sportscar racing, the IMSA GTP.
This car, the RX-792P, was powered by a 650hp four-rotor engine, as used in the Mazda 787B, the 1991 24 Hours of Le Mans winning car
RX-792Ps showed well in the series that year, never reaching the top step of the podium, tough. Even tough it never won a race, the RX-792P was by far the most spectacular looking of the wild factory-supported GTP cars.



Wednesday, August 31, 2011

1973 Porsche 917/30 Can Am






Chassis: 917/30-006 

With the 917/30 program coming to an abrupt end at the end of 1973, three of the six designed frames were never completed in period. Chassis 917/30-006 was already at Penske's workshop ready to be built up as one of the 1974 team cars when the Can-Am entry was axed. In 1982 the existing parts were acquired by legendary Porsche dealer Vasek Polak and he set about assembling sufficient parts to complete the car. He finally succeeded in 1995 and shortly after sold the car. Since then it has been regularly raced and is seen here at the 2009 Monterey Historic Races where Porsche was the featured marque.
read more @ ultimatecarpage 
photos MoVilla/Saysomething.us and Wouter Melissen 

Engine
Configuration 912.52 180º V12
Location Mid, longitudinally mounted
Construction magnesium alloy block, aluminium alloy head
Displacement 5.374 liter / 327.9 cu in
Bore / Stroke 90.0 mm (3.5 in) / 70.4 mm (2.8 in)
Compression 6.5:1
Valvetrain 2 valves / cylinder, DOHC
Fuel feed Bosch Fuel Injection
Aspiration Twin Eberspacher Turbos
Power 1100 bhp / 821 KW @ 7800 rpm
Torque 1112 Nm / 820 ft lbs @ 6400 rpm
BHP/Liter 205 bhp / liter

Drivetrain
Body glass-fibre reinforced plastic body
Chassis aluminium tubular space frame
Suspension (fr/r) double wishbones, coil springs, shock absorbers, anti roll bar
Steering rack-and-pinion
Brakes ventilated discs, all-round
Gearbox Type 920 4 speed Manual
Drive Rear wheel drive


Shakira - Rabiosa - featuring Pitbull

Electric Car Speed Record at Nordschleife by Toyota

Toyota’s TMG EV P001 just became the first electric car to shatter the 8-minute barrier at the Nurbirgring racetrack in Germany, with a blazing new time of 7 minutes and 47.794 seconds. Toyota Motorsport GmbH knocked an entire minute off the speed record for an EV at the ‘Ring’. The car handily beat the Peugeot EX1′s already amazing April record of 9 minutes and 1.338 seconds, which shows that the technology behind electric vehicle motors is really taking off.


 

Billabong Pro Teahupoo Tow In Session

The famed Tahiti surf break, Teahupoo, has produced some of the most epic waves the ASP has ever seen for any event with the Billabong Pro Teahupoo tow in session to go down in the surfing records books as one of the most insane sessions ever surfed. Watch this video created by the team at Billabong which shows the Billabong Pro Teahupoo tow in session. You won’t believe it is humanly possible to surf on these slabs of water. Absolutely insane!!!
read more here

excerpted from softboards.net/billabong-pro

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

1968 Penske-Sunoco Camaro

  • First car built for the 1968 Penske team, by fabricator Ron Fournier.
  • 2nd place at 24 Hours of Daytona driven by Mark Donahue, Craig Fisher and Bob Johnson.
  • 2nd place (4th overall) at 12 Hours of Sebring driven by Joe Welch, Bob Johnson and Craig Fisher.
  • Podium finishes for Sam Posey for the balance of the season.
  • Raced successfully in Europe in Group II sponsered by Sunoco Belgium. Won 18 of 20 races, 1969-71.
  • Continued racing in Europe until 1987 when it was returned to the US for restoration.
  • Belgium vintage racing in 1999. 




Sunday, August 28, 2011

1969 Porsche 908 LH (long tail)



1972 Brian Redman and ArturoMerzario Ferrari 312 P/B

Brian Redman, one of the greatest all-round racing drivers in the history of our sport, was re-united with the legendary Ferrari 312P/B at Pebble Beach past weekend (August 19, 20, 21).  Here, in his own words, he recalls that brilliant car and his life and times at Ferrari.
Read more here and here.



Friday, August 26, 2011

1971 Trans Am AMC - Javelin

This car is a unique piece of Trans Am history. It was built in 1970, driven by Mark Donahue and finish second in the points championship. In 1971, Penske sold this car to Roy Woods racing, and they updated the sheet metal to 1971. In 1971, the car was driven by Vic Elford, Peter Revson, Milt Minter and George Follmer. In 1972, Roy Woods again campaigned the Javelins in AMC red, white and blue colors, and won the Trans-American championship with George Follmer and Roy Woods, as the drivers.
This car was restored as driven in 1972.


Saturday, July 30, 2011

SUPERHEAVY

For 18 months, Mick Jagger has been working on a secret album with Dave Stewart, Joss Stone, Damian Marley and AR Rahman. Super Heavy is the fitting name of this heavyweight musical collective, who plan to release their debut "fusion" album in September.

"It's a bit odd," Jagger told Rolling Stone. "A different kind of record than what people would expect." It's certainly a motley crew: one Stones frontman, one Eurythmics founder, one English soul singer, plus Bob Marley's youngest son and India's most famous film composer. But Jagger promised that Super Heavy's music is "not all weird and strange". Fans, he said, "will find most of it accessible". read more


text excerpted from www.guardian.co.uk

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Laird Hamilton



Laird Hamilton has been a surfing hero since the 1980s, solidifying his reputation as the king of big wave surfing when he conquered Tahiti's Teahupo'o Reef at its most perilous in August 2000. As an innovator, he pioneered many new activities including kitesurfing, tow-in surfing and hydrofoil boarding. He's on the board of directors at H2O Audio, makers of pro-level waterproof iPhone and iPod cases, and has his own signature line of Surge waterproof earphones, proceeds of which are donated to the Beautiful Son foundation for autism education.

source: www.gizmodo.com

Monday, July 18, 2011

Scientist Swims -Au Naturale- with Belugas

Call her Natalia. Her story is like Ishmael's in "Moby Dick," but with more nudity and fewer harpoons and peg legs.
 

Natalia Avseenko, a Russian scientist, allegedly stripped naked and swam with two white whales in the Arctic to tame them before they were sent to an aquarium.
Her frigid tale was reported in the Daily Mail , which said she survives the dangerously cold waters through meditation and her background in yoga.
It's necessary for her to bathe au naturale, because marine biologists believe the beluga whales do not like to be touched by artificial materials, the Mail reported.
The aquatic ballet took place in the Murmansk Oblast of the White Sea off the coast of Russia, the British tabloid said. With sub-freezing temperatures at -1.5 Celsius or 29.5 Fahrenheit, the Daily Mail claimed that Avseenko held her breath underwater for more than 10 minutes.
Yet the newspaper didn't report what she did during the icy encounter to domesticate the mammals for their future lives in captivity.







source: www.huffingtonpost.com 
             www.dailymail.co.uk