Bradley first called this one. Somewhat amusingly, [the entertainingly-titled] “Octopussy” came out the same year as “Never Say Never Again” (which was with Connery, not Moore). The tires on the Alfa now look comically narrow, but it still looks perfectly happy being pitched into a corner sideways. And god does the car sound good. It doesn’t appear that they altered its V6 soundtrack for the big screen – why mess with a good thing? – and for that we’re certainly grateful.
Mein auto!
The Magnificent Six
I own a brown car, a 25-year-old brown car. Traditionally, brown isn’t high on the list of colours you want to be seen driving around in. Sure, it’s metallic, reasonably tidy, and even has a certain slickness to it, but it also easily lends itself to all manner of ridicule from ‘friends’ and ‘loved ones’.
Nevertheless, you don’t get a choice of colour with second-hand cars, and for me that’s always worked out quite well.
Bayram was driving at a local PCA autocross, where he spotted and photographed this Z belonging to a fellow driver. Meaty!
Yeah, Rusty, aka The Godfather, aka “Batsh-t Crazy” may get all the mainstream press, but how about owner Mike Burroughs’ ‘other’ car, the sane-in-comparison S54’d, velocity stack’d E36?
Like the E28 gone straight to hell – in all its chopped roof, frame-dragging, ‘low-is-a-lifestyle’ glory – the stretched, slammed, AMG Monoblock’d E36 isn’t exactly our thing, but to call the handiwork that went into the final product anything less than deeply impressive would be intellectually dishonest. Regardless of our tastes, we can tell and appreciate craftsmanship when we see it.
AWOL (which knows how to make a video about as slick as Burroughs’ cars are polarizing) brings the story as well as the visual and aural goods— if this doesn’t make converts out of skeptics, then nothing will. Good stuff starts around the 3:27 mark – the S54 with its velocity stacks makes an heroic noise – but the whole thing is worth a watch:
It’s like a car crash— we are unable to look away.
Actually, it’s not too bad. Jarring, yes; incongruous, yes— but certainly could be a lot worse. We want to hear what the Automobiliac thinks.
We do prefer this, however.
(via)
Now, this is something we have historically not paid much attention to, because we like fixed head coupés. But Carby has recently been intrigued by one, and that got us thinking as well— in fact, we’ve got questions aplenty, such as:
964 and earlier are the only Targas we’d ever consider. They are undeniably attractive, but would we prefer one to a coupe? There, the jury is out. We are inclined to think ‘no’, however.
What do you think, or better yet, know from experience? Have your say.
The what? The Caterham Roadsport 125 Monaco, i.e., the no-frills, entry-level Caterham. Which will still deliver greater thrills and driving satisfaction than just about anything else on the road— ‘entry-level’ in the loosest use of those words. Looks so old school, so simple, so… inviting. Watching this, you truly get the sense that this is how pure sports cars are meant to be, with as few sensation-dulling layers as realistically possible between the driver and the four contact patches keeping him or her glued to the pavement. This has become a cliché when talking about cars, but it really does remind us of an oversized go-kart.
Penned by Walter de’Silva, refreshed later in its life cycle by Giorgetto Giugiaro, tuned by Autodelta— a number of legendary hands have been involved in this car. And here, Brooklands does a suitable stand-in for Monza. The Autodelta body kit walks a fine line between suitably aggressive and boy racer – we find the rear valence and door panel extensions to be among the most love-it-or-leave-it modifications – but ultimately, we think we could rock it.
Just a good old-fashioned Bond chase scene through some narrow European streets in that most unofficial of Bond movies, 1983’s “Never Say Never Again.” Bond’s modified Yamaha notwithstanding (meh), the R5 Turbo with the villainous Fatima Blush behind the wheel is the main draw. Even onscreen, the taut, nervy handling characteristic of the mid-engined, rear-wheel drive Renault is a fascinating thing to watch, in part because you don’t see a thing quite like that anymore.
Motoring Con Brio 