Shooting brake intrigue

•November 5, 2009 • 1 Comment

It won’t win any beauty contests. And it’s not at the top of our list if we were to go shopping. But we here continue to be intrigued by that clown shoe of all clown shoes, the original M Coupe. Despite its unconventional shape, it continues to be an aggressive headturner— hunkered stance, bulging (practically swollen) fenders, wide rear tires. We think it has real character, and real presence— something that can’t necessarily be said about modern BMWs. And we hear it’s a real hoot to drive. We certainly wouldn’t mind scratching this particular itch someday.

Continue reading ‘Shooting brake intrigue’

Random snap: Z4 M Coupe in the paddock

•November 5, 2009 • Comments Off on Random snap: Z4 M Coupe in the paddock

Photo: brechtdecancq.com

What we're listening to now

•November 5, 2009 • Comments Off on What we're listening to now

Morrissey, circa 1991. Nice muscular rockabilly sound here.

– Gyro

Déjà vu

•November 5, 2009 • 1 Comment

We find this to be enormously amusing.

Where have we seen this narrative before? Oh yeah, that’s right.

– Gyro

Youtube find of the day: the Dirty Mac

•November 5, 2009 • Comments Off on Youtube find of the day: the Dirty Mac

Probably not anything new to some people, particularly older cats, but we find this quite extraordinary: one-time English supergroup The Dirty Mac, consisting of John Lennon, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards and Mitch Mitchell (of the Jimi Hendrix Experience) that Lennon put together for The Rolling Stones’ TV special, The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus, which has a fascinating history in its own right.

Seeing Lennon and Jagger banter amiably before the group dives into the Lennon-penned “Yer Blues” is a bit like seeing De Niro and Pacino on screen together for the first time. Clapton and Richards then performing alongside Lennon (with Richards on bass) only ramps up the surreal (and awesome) factor.

– Gyro

Camera portrait: Leica M5 and Dual Range Summicron

•November 4, 2009 • Comments Off on Camera portrait: Leica M5 and Dual Range Summicron

This is beautiful equipment. When you handle one of these, the old world craftsmanship will blow you away (the body dates back to 1971 or so, the lens to 1954 or so). Highly recommended for anyone interested in mechanical rangefinder cameras and full manual control of the photographic process.

– Gyro

What we're listening to now

•November 4, 2009 • Comments Off on What we're listening to now

– Gyro

Staggering figure of the day

•November 4, 2009 • Comments Off on Staggering figure of the day

Car and Driver editors tested the 4000+ lb PDK-equipped Porsche Panamera Turbo from 0-60 in 3.3 seconds. 3.3. Think about that.

In the meantime, here’s a random picture of an Aston Martin Rapide, so we don’t need to look at the scarily fast (and just plain scary-looking) Panamera. Woof.

– Gyro

Ronan McGrath on running the Nurburgring in a new M6

•November 3, 2009 • Comments Off on Ronan McGrath on running the Nurburgring in a new M6

Via Autoweek comes this very nice writeup (a few years old, but none the worse for it) by a man who did what most of us only get to dream of doing: take European delivery of a brand new M series BMW, have tuning shop Hartge do some work on it, then run it at the Nurburgring for a few days (taking care to observe the requisite break-in period beforehand, which, rather amusingly, requires keeping the car to “only” 105 mph for the first 2,000 km). Long but well written. Read on…

The plane landed in Munich on a rainy May 29th, and as we taxied I reflected on a year’s preparation for the Nurburgring. The Nordschleife is arguably the most beautiful, difficult and dangerous track in the world. It is 14.9 miles of blind curves, negative camber and 1000-ft of elevation changes with tarmac stained by the tire marks of Fangio, Moss, Carraciola, Stewart and countless other motorsport legends.

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Wolf in sheep’s clothing: HPA R32

•November 3, 2009 • 2 Comments

Twin turbo R32? Yewbetcha.

It’s no secret that we’re big fans of the Volkswagen R32 (whether MkIV or MkV). But when you add an HPA twin turbo kit, the car, highly capable as is in stock form, becomes a genuine track weapon capable of hunting big game like Porsches and Corvettes. Perfect for someone who truly values the Q-car aesthetic (or just really loves the People’s Car).

Be prepared to pay (mightily, depending on who you ask) for the privilege of 550 bhp, though.