Author: Harlo

Categories
Porsche Video

A 911 Fixie

Bugatti Design Chief, Achim Anscheidt makes a strong case for the similarities between a Porsche 911 and a fixed-gear bicycle. I’m not a fixie rider but I know more than a few and I have to agree with the man. Each of them love fixed-gear because they feel so connected to it; that the bike becomes an extension of themselves. Anscheidt’s comments suggest that it’s not just performance they’re talking about. Each bicycle is a design expression of the rider/builder. That motivation is part of what is behind this marvelous little 911R-ish lightweight hot rod.

In the past ten or fifteen years, I’ve noticed a lot of VW Beetle builders adopting the techniques and even the visual aesthetic of American hot-rodders. It’s only natural that the Porsche 911 become the next platform for this kind of experimentation. I can imagine the R Gruppe peeps among you telling me that this is nothing new, and I agree. But with Singer and Magnus and projects like Achim Anscheidt’s 911 gaining wider exposure, it is definitely on the rise.

Bonus: Anscheidt’s method for finding a tape line on a set of Fuchs is fantastic. I don’t know that I’d have thought of it but it’s such an obvious little technique. I love these kinds of restoration and customization tips.

Categories
Grand Prix Historic Racing Photos

Raised in the Pits

When you think about it, Damon Hill accompanied his father to the track so often that he really only had one choice: Become a racing driver or never go to the track again.

Categories
Vintage Racing Advertising

Patented "Safety-Shoulders"

Bred from the tires that triumph on the track…the Dunlop Road Speed RS5
This is the highway equivalent of the famous Dunlop R5 racint tire…the tire that has carried more International Grand Prix racing champions to victory than any other tire.
The Road Speed RS5 take sustained speeds up to 130 mph in stride, with superb steering control and road-holding traction. On wet pavement, the RS5 more than holds it own, with hi-styrene polymers in the rubber compound contributing maximum wet-hold capability. Patented “Safety-Shoulders” carry the tire smoothly over shoulder ridges, highway dividers and give the tire added traction in high speed cornering. Low angle prime nylon ply construction keeps a tight grip on the tire crown at high speeds…keeps the flat 7-rib tread hugging the road through every driving maneuver.
If you drive a high-speed sports car or fast saloon and want to capitalize on both its performance potential and everyday serviceability…the Dunlop Road Speed RS5 is the tire for you. Try a set…at your nearest Dunlop dealer. You’ll find him in your Yellow Pages or write.
Dunlop Tire and Rubber Corporation. Buffalo 5, New York.

Categories
Vintage Racing Advertising

Relieving any Maidenly Tensions

The Elite Is Not Delivered Race-Ready
Contrary to some delightfully flattering folk tales, the Elite is not delivered race-ready. This myth arises, no doubt, from the factory practice of road driving each new car. By the same token, these factory jaunts do have virtues and one should not be deceived by the fresh, virginal appearance of a new Elite.
Colin Chapman’s crews have a bit of a go with each new one. It’s rather an old world tradition. nothing beats an English country road for relieving any maidenly tensions that might inhibit a new machine, and wilful tendencies can be discovered and corrected before they become evil habits.
The Chapman suspension has been thoroughly scrunched and wiggled till it carries through fast corners on all fours with the tenacious grace one expects from a Lotus. The overhead cam Coventry Climax gets a thorough-going physical on the test bench even before it goes into the car, and on the road the Girling discs get a brisk exercising along with the clutch gearbox combo to assure a proper assortment of changes.
In short, a new Elite has had at least a taste of the fast heel and toe work that lies ahead in high speed touring or prize competition. To the owner we leave the details of final break-in and the selection of various racing accessories, plus painting on the number. A dandy job for a decorative crew member. And if you do come off a winner, there is a comfortable inside passenger seat to carry off your trophy.

$4,780 in 1958 is about $36,660 today. Damnit.

Categories
Ferrari Historic Racing Photos

The Real Cuba’s 1958 Gran Premio de Cuba

Color photography dates back to the 1890s but the cost associated with it, even after “modern” color film was available to the masses, was typically several times more expensive to buy and process. Even as late as the early 60’s, it was much more common to see black and white snapshots from race tracks. It’s just one more reason why these color shots of the 1958 GP de Cuba uploaded to Cuba Green Screen by The Real Cuba are so precious. Those ultramarine waters and blue skies would lose some luster as medium greys—not to mention the Ferraris and Jags.

The 1958 Gran Premio de Cuba will always be remembered as the time when Castro’s rebels kidnapped Juan Manuel Fangio on the eve of the race. Whenever I read of it, I always try and imagine how that must have affected his team and the rest of the field. I struggle to put myself in their position. Or Fangio’s; locked in a bedroom listening on the radio to the race he should be winning, a guard over his shoulder. I wonder what would happen in similar circumstances today. If Vettel got nabbed before the Bahrain GP, how would the teams; the sport; or the media react? Would the show—as it did in Havana 60 years ago—simply go on?

Fangio was returned unharmed after the race, and even befriended his captors in the years afterwards. The events have cemented the ’58 Cuban GP in the history of Caribbean politics as well as the history of sport. Looking at these marvelous photos though, I may start to remember the event for Carroll “Chicken Farmer” Shelby lounging in his Ferrari in a pair of hickory striped overalls getting gassed up.

Click on over for more shots and thanks to Bring a Trailer for pointing the way.

Categories
Vintage Racing Advertising

The Creation of Two Masters

1955 Abarth “Spyder” 1100
The 1955 Abarth Competition Spyder was road tested by the Italian Racing Ace Gino Valenzano.
Gino says, “I tested many cars on a 6 Km. twisting course and the Abarth proved to be faster than many sports cars with twice the displacement.”
This new comet is the creation of two Masters: Abarth for the mechanical end and Boano for the streamlined coach work.
It is powered by a 1089 cc. modified Fiat engine with a bore of 68 mm. and a stroke of 75 mm. Compression ratio is 9:1 with 2 Weber side draft carburetors, develops 6 bhp. at 6000 rpm. Weight 1148 lbs.
Tony Pompeo • Phone JUdson 2-3863
1877 Broadway, New York 23, N.Y.

Categories
Classic Sportscar Racing Ephemera

2000GT

Forget about buying the car, just the brochure for a Toyota 2000GT is a rare and hotly collected item. The thing to remember when you’re walking out of the auto show this winter with arms loaded with brochures is that when you only make 337 examples of a car, you don’t need to print as many brochures for it as Ford needs for the F150. Recently on the Final Gear Forums, GhettoAdam pointed to these images scanned from the brochure. I can’t say it’s quenched my thirst to see the full brochure, but it helps.

Damn, that rear-end is sexy.

Categories
Ferrari Grand Prix

Inputs

People occasionally ask me why I’m not a fan of contemporary formula racing. I usually start by boring them to tears with tales of the 2005 USGP fiasco and my long drive home from that event, swearing off Formula 1 again and again with each passing mile. But when I look at this photo of a contemporary Formula 1 steering wheel it does a much better job than I could of communicating my real reason.

I admire Formula 1 engineers and aerodynamicists. They have pushed the automobile to the absolute limits of technology. I just think they may have pushed beyond the limits of what an automobile is. This steering wheel doesn’t control a car. A spacecraft; a fighter jet; a robot, maybe. But not a car.

I spend most of my workday at a computer. I click buttons all day. I like buttons. And I know that I sound much older than I am when I say that I do not look forward to these technologies making their way to road cars. I just don’t want to push any more buttons.

I want to feel the hint of tension in my calf when I push the clutch in. I want to feel the gratifying clunk of the shifter when I pull into second. I want to hear the clack of the gears connecting as I pop the clutch. I want to feel it, to smell it, to taste it. I want driving to remain a tactile, physical experience.

Of course I realize that Formula 1 drivers have no ends to the physical sensations that they receive from their machines when they’re racing, but will daily commuters have any sensation when this tech comes to the road?

There. There’s my rant. I try to keep them to a minumum.

Categories
Automotive Art Racing Ephemera

Topps World on Wheels: Alfa Romeo

The latest from our series featuring cards from the 1953—1955 Topps issued bubblegum cards, “World on Wheels”.

From the card’s reverse:

Alfa Romeo

This famous-make Italian racing car has seen action in almost all the major automobile races in Europe. In one race in Switzerland, an Alfa-Romeo, driven by Nino Faurino, hit a wrecked car… causing his car to run into the crowd, injuring both his legs. The Alfa-Romeo company is considered the greatest builder of Grand Prix racing cars in the world. They make sports cars as well.

More on Topps’ World on Wheels at the Topps Archives.

Categories
Restoration

Breathing Life Back into a Written Off BMW CSL

It’s never an encouraging thing when you encounter a photo like this one. This photo of a “written off” BMW CSL popped up this morning on Bring A Trailer’s Facebook feed. I remember seeing this photo last fall shortly after a driver fell asleep at the wheel and careened into Jon Furley’s 1972 BMW 3.0 CSL. The loss of a CSL is a bad thing.
Any CSL is rare, but this is one of only 500 RHD models made. That sounds bad, right? But Furley’s example is a damn-sight rarer, as her original owner was Chris Amon. This CSL was Amon’s street car during the era when he raced the Batmobile BMWs. Noooo!
So, what has happened in the year since the crash? I’d assumed that this one was stripped of her valuable bits and given a tearful good bye. Thankfully that’s not the case. A very brave team has decided that she must live again. After all, what’s one lost corner between friends?
This album on CSI Garage’s Facebook shows that her restoration has begun this past November. Looks like they’ve welded in a replacement front end, rebuilt part of the frame, and pulled and assessed the engine (which was relatively unscathed with only a broken timing case cover and cylinder head cover).

There’s something infectious about the optimism in the vintage sports and racing car community that I love. Insurance adjusters look at this and call her a write off. A random person off the street looks at it and calls it scrap. Hell, most “car guys” would see these photos and say it’s beyond saving. A good restoration workshop looks at this and says, “Yeah, we can do that.” This is not a project for the weak of heart and I’m looking forward to their continued updates—though perhaps not as much as Jon.
Also see this thread on PowerFanatics for many more photos of the teardown. More good news, the family cat that went missing after the crash made it home. Ok, now I’m going from concerned sports car nerd and entering weird internet stalker territory.