Motoring Con Brio

Monster Mercedes

•February 1, 2010 • 5 Comments

Looks to be a hopped-up W109 300SEL 6.3, which, with its place in automotive lore as the world’s first “Super Saloon”/Q-car, didn’t need much “hopping up” to begin with:

0-62 mph/0-100kmph : 6.5 seconds
0-100 mph : 14.6 seconds
Standing 1/4 mile : 14.3 seconds
Top Speed : 221 km/h (137.3 mph)

Bear in mind that this is circa 1967. 1967.

If we had to guess, the example you see here probably improves significantly on those times. It looks absolutely beastly with its bumper delete, meaty racing slicks, cambered stance, and flared arches. If anyone has any additional information on this car, please let us know.

This post from Jalopnik should also be of interest (not about this car, but another bad W109- the AMG “Red Pig” that finished 2nd at the 1971 24 Hours of Spa).

Addendum: not surprisingly, the car is a champ of the historic racing circuit. More pictures and info can be found here (hat tip to Tommy!).

Images: mercedes-fans.de (via tcl).

Posted in Mods, Still images
Tags: 300 sel, 300sel, 6.3, benz, mercedes, mercedes-benz, w109

Assorted grab bag of stuff we like

•February 1, 2010 • 6 Comments

No further commentary necessary, so let’s get right to it.

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Posted in Grab bag, Still images
Tags: abarth, ariel, atom, audi, austin, bmw, citroën, cooper, datsun, ferrari, fiat, lotus, mini, porsche, renault, trabant, volkswagen, volvo, vw

Dennis Stock: 1928-2010

•January 31, 2010 • Comments Off

Renown Magnum photographer Dennis Stock passed away recently. Stock was behind the lens of a number of memorable photographs, including those of automotive patron saint Jimmy Dean:

And he himself was the subject of Andreas Feininger’s iconic photograph, “The Photojournalist”:

Interestingly enough, he also appeared to be something of a car enthusiast himself, or at least an enthusiast of automotive photography– something we didn’t know (admittedly, we find his classic oeuvre with Magnum more compelling– see it here).

Posted in Still images
Tags: dennis stock, james dean, magnum

What we're listening to now

•January 29, 2010 • Comments Off

Incidentally, two joints from 1967.

Have a nice weekend!

Posted in Moving images, Music to drive by
Tags: 1967, are you experienced, break on through, doors, foxey lady, foxy lady, hendrix, jimi hendrix, jimi hendrix experience, the doors

La Carrera Panamericana

•January 29, 2010 • Comments Off

Driver and Leica photographer “Mister Cooper” has some absolutely fabulous images from the La Carrera Panamericana road rally (the namesake of both the Porsche Carrera and Panamera nameplates), where he was a participant. This is probably one of the more visually exciting sets of photographs we’ve come across recently- although part of that could be the Carrera Panamericana itself, which looks like a feast for the eyes (nay, all five senses, if we had to guess). It should go without saying that we’d love to find ourselves there one of these days.

See the rest of it here (tons of raw, unedited material– some mature content within).

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Posted in Lifestyle, Racing, Still images
Tags: carrera, la carrera panamericana, mexico, panamericana, road rally

Time waster of the day: BusSelecta.com

•January 29, 2010 • 1 Comment

Apologies if we’re late to the party, but what brilliant bastard is responsible for coming up with this? As if we didn’t have enough distractions in our lives. A few we whipped up real quick:

Update- some Type 3 love:

BusSelecta.com

Posted in Art
Tags: 356, 911, aircooled, busselecta.com, fastback, notchback, porsche, squareback, type 3, volkswagen, vw

Eye candy: Elise

•January 29, 2010 • Comments Off

We ordinarily gravitate toward the Exige, but this is a rather nice-looking Elise- maybe even the nicest one we’ve seen to date. Yeah, we’d rock it- in a heartbeat.

Image via tumblr.

Posted in Still images, What would you buy
Tags: elise, lotus

Evening Youtube

•January 28, 2010 • 1 Comment

This never gets old..

Posted in Moving images, Racing
Tags: commercial, f1, ferrari, formula 1, gp, grand prix, shell

One of three

•January 28, 2010 • Comments Off

We love this tough-looking Alpina 2002tii (one of a mere three Max Hoffman-built examples), which is totally on point visually. Quoth the now-former owner (the car is sold):

Enough low end torque to take off with authority. Acceleration with each gear is even and progressive with no flat spots all the way to red line. The CR gear box is perfectly matched to the motor output, maximizing torque on each gear. None of them feel too tall but just right. A pleasure to drive- for sure!

We’ll bet.