Motoring Con Brio

Cinematic cars: Porsche 356 C in “Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!” (1965)

•November 21, 2010 • 1 Comment

B-movies are cinema, too.

There’s much to like about “Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!”, the so-bad-it’s-good B-movie by auteur Russ Meyer. The over-the-top voiceover talent. The amusingly campy dialogue, with its fondness of alliteration and double entendres. The gaggle of late-’50s and early-’60s sports cars (of which we’re singling out our favorite for this particular segment) being hooned in the desertside. And the combination jazzy leitmotifs and great eponymous theme song by the Bostweeds, a garage rock band so obscure they’re not even listed in the All Music Guide (the music equivalent of IMDb).

Trashy? Sleazy? [S]exploitative? Yes, yes, and yes. But in so many ways, also as American as apple pie.

Warning: mature content (though somewhat tame by modern standards).

Posted in Film, Moving images
Tags: 1965, 356, 356 c, 356c, b-movie, faster pussycat! kill! kill!, grindhouse, low budget, porsche, russ meyer, sexploitation

Photo-reportage

•November 19, 2010 • 3 Comments

Promoting Top Gear USA (which apparently makes its debut this weekend)— Sixth Avenue, NYC.

Posted in Still images
Tags: dodge, manhattan, maserati, mclaren, mercedes-benz, midtown, nyc, sixth avenue, top gear, top gear usa

Designers on their own designs (as well as on others')

•November 19, 2010 • 4 Comments

From an old Classic & Sports Car jury panel. This is nothing new – some of you may have already seen it awhile ago – but it is new to us and we thought it was kinda neat (a couple of the slights are amusing, in particular).

On their own designs:

Peter Stevens on the McLaren F1: “I always intended that the design should be timeless rather than ‘of the minute’, and that is something that I would use as a measure of other designs.”

Ian Callum on the Jaguar XF: “It is the biggest challenge I’ve faced, but I think we pulled it off. I don’t think people appreciate how well proportioned it is, given that it’s a five-seater.”

Gordon Murray on the McLaren F1: “Designed as a road car, but went on to win Le Mans, which in my opinion is more difficult than F1.”

John Heffernan on the Aston Martin Vantage (sic? we wonder if “Virage” was intended— Ed.): “When I borrowed one, it was much appreciated by ‘bikers of the Hells Angels persuasion’, which I liked.”

Patrick Le Quément on the Renault Twingo: “Some love it, some hated it. I wrote to the president of Renault and said: ‘I think you have to vote for instinctive design rather than extinctive marketing.’ He wrote back: ‘I agree.'”

Posted in Design, Still images
Tags: gordon murray, ian callum, john heffernan, julian thomson, marcello gandini, martin smith, patrick le quément, paul bracq, peter stevens, steve crijns, tom tjaarda

Handles like a go-kart

•November 18, 2010 • 3 Comments

Got in some karting recently, which is such a rare treat and always so wonderful— just one of our most favorite things ever. God, we could do this all the time, but damned if track time doesn’t come easy (or cheap).

Need to find a better place to mount the camera next time, too. Video is still very much a work-in-progress for us.

Posted in Motoring con brio, Moving images, Music to drive by
Tags: 1987, 2001, beastie boys, hard to explain, is this it, karting, licensed to ill, no sleep till brooklyn, strokes, the strokes

As only Nick Maggio can do

•November 18, 2010 • 2 Comments

Couple of MCB friends were out recently for a midnight drive/shoot on Mulholland. Here are our favorites from that outing, condensed into a small, Lynchian set befitting LA. Befitting Mulholland.

via a time to get

Posted in Still images
Tags: 911, a time to get, aircooled, jim bauer, la, los angeles, mulholland, mulholland drive, nick maggio, porsche

What driving Stelvio, et al looks like

•November 17, 2010 • 2 Comments

For those who ever wondered, here’s a taste. Pretty much looks like our idea of heaven.

From the creator of the video:

The goal was simple: an Ultimate driving experience. 1000 miles of twisty and windy driving nirvana, the scenic Alps across Germany, Italy, Austria, and Switzerland, all spread out over 10 days of pure Bliss.

This is a compilation of a few drives and mountain passes on my 335is immediately after I picked it up via the European Delivery program.

Notable mountain passes in the video: Stelvio pass, Timmelsjoch, Pordoi pass, Bernina pass, Fluela pass, San Bernadino pass, St. Gotthard pass, Grimsel pass, just to name a few.

Car: 2011 BMW 335is DCT
Equipment: Canon 7D, Sigma 8-16mm, Gripper 3025
Workflow: ffmpeg, mencoder, Blender VSE

via

Posted in Moving images, Roads
Tags: 335i, 335is, alpine, alps, bmw, e92, european delivery, stelvio etc, stelvio pass

Mini grab bag— CAR Magazine edition

•November 17, 2010 • Comments Off

CAR Magazine has a great photo gallery online— we picked out a few highlights to display here.

(Click for higher-res)

Morocco:

Iceland:

The rest can be seen here.

Posted in Grab bag, Still images
Tags: alfa romeo, audi, ferrari, ford, jaguar, porsche, renault, saab, volkswagen, vw

Notice any difference?

•November 16, 2010 • 1 Comment

And yet, despite the gaping size difference, we still find the Giula to be incredibly sexy. The Porsche may make the Alfa (itself a tiny car) look big, but definitely not bloated, and that’s the most amazing thing— even next to an über-svelte 550 Spyder, the Alfa is still stunning to behold, and more than holds its own in terms of presence. What a testament to its magnificent Bertone design.