Japanese motor companies were often accused in the post-war era of lifting the British design aesthetic and just tweaking the hell out of the engines. For motorcycles it always seemed particularly true. But this 1962 Toyota Publica Sports concept makes me think that the Japanese makers should have been more confident in finding their design voice earlier. Some hints of the 2000GT’s headlamps here 3 years early.
via Influx.
I always assumed that an open-wheeled racer would be leagues easier to maintain than a closed-wheel car. After all, there’s little or no bodywork to deal with: You can more immediately locate and diagnose a problem, you don’t have to spend additional maintenance hours removing body panels, and you don’t have to distort your arms in impossibly ornate ways to reach around things.
It’s all just there.
This 1975 Datsun 280Z currently available on eBay, though, makes me wonder if it’s all just in the setup. This looks just about as accessible as it can be. I don’t know if it conforms to any particular vintage regulations, but this looks almost as easy to work on as a Formula Ford of the same vintage.
Buy it Now at $45K, bidding is open until Sept. 22.
Forget Griot’s. Forget Garage Style Magazine. Forget the Garage-Mahals. If you’re undertaking a renovation of your garage, you can have no better goal than this photo of the Aston Martin works team prepping the 1.5 Liter Ulster for the 1935 LeMans. You can almost smell it.
Via The Old Motor.
Great find by Auto Classica of these Mercedes-Benz factory shots. Hard to imagine the 3-Pointed Star facility being this low-tech looking. Great stuff.
Farbbild has shared some photos of the Oldtimers’ GP at the Ring and, to no one’s surprise, they’re fantastic. I’m particularly taken with his captures from the GT class. I love the photographic style Farbbild achieves here, looking a bit like vintage film, a bit like cross-processing, or maybe just some clever Photoshoppery. More at Farbbild.com and his Masters GT Facebook album. Great stuff as always.
Maser… Merc… Jag… Which would you choose?
I know we JUST took the time to appreciate Ferrari’s little 750 Monza, but browsing the beautiful shots in Swiss automotive photographer Michel Zumbrunn’s site I was struck by the unconventional paint on this little beauty. Digging into it a bit, it looks like Modena restoration house Carrozzeria Mirage did the bodywork and paint, and have shared some shots of their process. It’s a stunning little machine, and the American racing colors suit her well.
The color scheme is appropriate. Although she doesn’t have much race history, chassis 0554M spent all of her short career in the Americas, with races at various years of the Bahamas speed week, Road America, Lime Rock, and Riverside.
I didn’t think it was possible, but this image of a Chaparral 2G at The Bridge in 1968 looks almost serene.
We don’t often think of Ferrari’s machines as barchettas; they tended to be the big boys. But before Ferrari was all muscle, all the time, this slippery little slice of perfection with a body by Scaglietti had her share of successes on the track.
RM Auctions is offering the remarkable example (chassis no.0492M) shown above as part of their upcoming Monterey Auction.
Is it weird that I look forward to Stefan’s sketches more than I do photography from the Goodwood Festival of Speed? He just manages to capture something about the cars that simple photos cannot. I suspect it may have something to do with the more concentrated experience he has capturing the image. It’s one thing to stroll up to the back of the Marmon Wasp or Mephistophele, snap a picture, maybe pause to admire it briefly, then move on to the next car. Stefan has to find a comfortable spot to sketch and really look deeply at the car while he works. Don’t get me wrong, I love a well composed and shot photograph, but I can’t help but think that this extra consideration and closer study translates to an image that captures more than a quick snapshot would. See the complete set on Stefan Marjoram’s Flickr.
This is our third look at Stefan’s work, we’ve previously looked at his work here and here. What can I say? I love his stuff.