A mostly dreadful excuse of a movie, yes, but if you came of age at or around this time, you would know that the sight (and sound) of that front-and-rear-spoilered Countach noisily laying waste to tarmac in the opening credits – all the while toying with a police Trans Am in a hapless game of cat-and-mouse – managed to sear itself into many a young, impressionable mind, anyway, cinematic merit (or lack thereof) be damned.
We wanted to do a feature on Mercedes Motoring because 1) their photos are awesome, 2) the cars are awesome (is there anything more bulletproof than an old Merc that’s been properly maintained?), and 3) their story is compelling (young guys sniffing out barnyard finds and lovingly restoring them like Old World master craftsmen- an enviable livelihood). As you will see, the results speak for themselves, and are obviously a labor of love. Without further ado, here’s Becki Chernoff for Mercedes Motoring.
JG Francis of Mercedes Motoring is my friend, mentor, and oh yeah, my boss. Sometimes while flipping through his Flickr I have to remind myself that I’m not looking at a brochure for classic Mercedes-Benz diesels. As an avid auto enthusiast, I’ll tell you up front— Mercedes-Benz was not my first love. I am a mechanical engineer living in the Motor City and I was raised on American steel. That said, since I began working for JG I have come to greatly appreciate the particular era of M-B diesels he restores, and agree that they are undeniably some of the best cars ever made.
The comparative merits of this car (vis-à-vis its closest competition) can be debated forever— and they have been (taking us back to 2008). But one thing we do know: the basso profondo rumble that these beasts emit is ridiculous, and, we think, one area where its competitors are not quite as up to par. Each has a different timbre – all meritorious – but this one reminds us of an American muscle car bulging through its sharp Italian suit.
Image: Martijn Mezger
Here’s a small selection of photos (and cars) we like from the portfolio of photographer Neil Denham, making a second appearance. Lots of Lotus and early Porsche here— no complaints, naturally. Oh, and wet roads.
Enjoy.
Images: denhamautos.co.uk
If such a car were to exist, you get the sense that this bad mofo might be it, exposed rivets and all. The owner hasn’t forsaken performance, either, as the car wears a set of super sticky Hankook Ventus RS3s wrapped around its black steelies. We heartily approve this sort of madness.
Image: David (-hammer03)
Cars that are on our perennial short list of must-haves. And this particular example is nice enough (handily) to bring back for an encore appearance.
Its one-time Malaga stablemate, also no slouch:
Images: Michael Dubois
Like an Alfa Romeo GTV rendered in monochrome, on traditional black-and-white film emulsion. Old school mechanical perfection- in more ways than one.
Images: Truls Bärg
Focus RS in an Italian piazza— if not quite la dolce vita (we think you’d need a proper Italian car for that), pretty close.
At least one guy seems to be impressed (we do this ourselves quite a bit, incidentally).
Image: turbodiesel
The Internets is all over this today, and since it’s right up our alley, we’re going to join ’em. 2013 Porsche 918 RSR as purportedly rendered by a 13 year-old. Ace.
A few of our favorites..
#50 “Porsche AG” Porsche 918 RSR:
#54 “Flying Lizard Motorsports” Porsche 918 RSR:
#57 “Martini Racing” Porsche 918 RSR (FTW?):
#52 “Gulf Oil” Porsche 918 RSR:
Images: teamspeed.com (via Autoblog)
Motoring Con Brio 