Rio - Metro Barra

METRO BARRA from Archigraph on Vimeo.

Bungee Cord Sofistication - 1934 MG Jacobsen Special

 

 

Weekend in Old Town La Quinta, CA - 1960 Cadillac Eldorado convertible

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.

Story by Peter Linsky    Photos by David Gooley from Excellence - The magazine about Porsche

 

 You may have never heard of Carl-Gunnar Hammarlund, a quiet Swede nicknamed “CeGe.” He was well-known for hosting a long-running (1956-1970) program on Swedish Public Radio about cars and driving safety, a subject taken quite seriously in Scandinavia. But he was known for something else, too: speed. To say Hammarlund was successful as a racer would be an understatement. Consider his record in 1961 and 1962, as noted by Swedish racing enthusiast and historian Tomas Karlson: Eleven GT starts, eleven wins, and two Swedish national GT championships. His weapon for all those wins: this rare 356B Carrera Abarth GTL. Though Hammarlund drove for Swedish VW/Porsche importer ScaniaBilar in his spare time, his main job was to run the public relations office at the Swedish arm of British Petroleum, according to Swedish automotive magazine Racing. He first wet his competitive feet in 1949, hillclimbing at Alby with a home-built, American-style midget with Ford V8-60 power; he posted top time. He then entered trials and rallies as part of Scania’s Volkswagen team. It was at this point that he met a rather talented mechanic named Willy Dolling. “Because of my knowledge of VW and Porsche motors, I was asked by CeGe in April of 1953 if I could prepare and maintain his racing cars,” says Dolling, now 80 years old and retired in Stockholm. With the help of Dolling, Hammarlund and Erik Petterssen co-drove a brand-new, Dolling-prepared 356 Carrera coupe to an overall win in the 1954 International Swedish Rally, also known as the Rally to the Midnight Sun. Hammarlund and his Porsches were quickly established as the favorites, no matter where they appeared. “Between 1954 and 1959, CeGe competed in 28 races throughout Europe,” recalls Dolling. “Of these, he won 26, came second in one, and fourth in another. In 1959, a Scandinavian Grand Touring championship was created with seven races per year. CeGe won every one of these races every year up to and including 1962.” Hammarlund’s talents were not limited to Porsches. He co-drove a Ferrari 375MM with Allan Borgefors to a good placing in the 1000km 1956 Swedish Grand Prix for sports cars, right behind the factory entries. He also had several rides in a Maserati 450S. Even so, some of his most memorable successes came in Porsches. He won the GT class with his 356 Carrera at West Germany’s Avus Ring on September 16, 1956, the same day Porsche factory driver Richard von Frankenberg survived his famous crash in the “Mickey Maus” RS 1500 Spyder, which saw von Frankenberg leave the track at the top of the high banking. Hammarlund also claimed a GT win at 1958’s Grand Prix of Sweden, a few years before he moved on to greater success with the Abarth Carrera GTL. 

 

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
 

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.

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.

Read more: TMG EV P001 Becomes First EV To Break the Nurburgring 8-Minute Speed Record | Inhabitat - Green Design Will Save the Worl