Motoring Con Brio

The one about Steve Jobs, Ross Perot, and a couple of Porsches

•October 31, 2012 • 4 Comments

Read this recently in a couple of different places and had a laugh. Read on..

[Software engineer and NeXT employee Randy] Adams told a story from 1985 when both he and Jobs each owned a Porsche 911. One day at the NeXT offices in Palo Alto, Calif., Jobs rushed to Adams and told him they had to move their cars.

“Randy, we have to hide the Porsches,” Jobs reportedly told Adams. “Ross Perot is coming and thinking of investing in the company, and we don’t want him to think we have a lot of money.”

The Porsches were hidden behind the office so they could not be seen by Perot. The Texas businessman eventually invested $20 million in NeXT (source).

Not the car that Jobs hid, although the BBS ‘Turbofans’ are mighty cool.

Posted in Still images
Tags: 911, apple, NeXT, porsche, ross perot, steve jobs

Assorted grab bag of stuff we like

•October 29, 2012 • 11 Comments

Getting right to it.

Be safe, those of you in the path of the hurricane.

Posted in Grab bag, Still images

Mini— the new one

•October 25, 2012 • 7 Comments

We know we don’t give these a ton of love on this site, but that doesn’t mean we’re down on them— in fact, we’re tempted (though not in a truly serious way) by JCW edition Clubmans all the time.

This one (while neither a JCW nor a Clubman) is looking especially fine lowered on BBS RXes (which we’re considering as track wheels for the E36). Lovely.

Photos courtesy of user ‘sprp85’ on bimmerforums.com

Posted in Mods, Still images, What would you buy
Tags: bbs, bbs rx, bmw, cooper, mini, rx

The presentation is a little embarrassing..

•October 23, 2012 • 11 Comments

..but we have to give love to a film that provides so much quality screen time to the luscious Alfa Romeo 164 QV. We know it’s FWD, but we think we still want one.

Someday.

Posted in Moving images, Roads, What would you buy
Tags: 164, adelaide hills, alfa romeo, australia, deviation road, qv, south australia

Assorted grab bag of stuff we like

•October 22, 2012 • 4 Comments

Getting right to it.

Posted in Grab bag, Still images

From Stuttgart to Lyon: the 2012 Blenheim Alpine Cup

•October 19, 2012 • 4 Comments

Every year, our friends at the French motoring website the Blenheim Gang embark on a grand European journey they dub the Blenheim Alpine Cup. Blenheim’s Alasdair Campbell‘s offers the following dispatch from this year’s journey. Color us jealous.

As real world driving enthusiasts, we do believe our cars belong on the road under any circumstances, which sometimes includes watching pouring rain come down from behind the windshield, or being trapped in yet another horrendous Parisian traffic jam. But of course, to make up for the many hours spent in these less than ideal conditions, we’ll occasionally treat ourselves to some of the best driving roads that Europe has to offer, all while under the brilliant sun of an early September. So, as it has now become an annual tradition, we set off once again for a 1500 km trip, which this year would take us from Stuttgart to Lyon. And this, basically, is the story of how we spent a whole week driving, and how we thoroughly enjoyed each and every minute.

Posted in Guest contributor, Roads, Still images
Tags: blenheim gang, bmw, lyon, mazda, miata, mx-5, mx5, porsche, saab, solitudering, stuttgart

Ignore the music for a moment..

•October 18, 2012 • 3 Comments

..or better yet, turn it off completely, and you actually have an informative video on the differences between early and later E24 6ers— we certainly learned a few things.

An interesting watch.

Posted in Moving images
Tags: 6-series, 6er, bmw, e24

Solitudering, the European circuit you’ve never heard of

•October 17, 2012 • 6 Comments

Okay, that we’ve never heard of.

The Solituderennen (eng: Solitude race) motorsport events are held on the 11.4 km Solitudering race track near Stuttgart. The event and the track were named after the nearby Castle Solitude. Motorsports events were held there from 1903 to 1965.

Due to the narrow track, initially mainly motorcycle events were held there until 1956. The track and the pits were widened in early 1957 and sports car racing was staged by the automobile club ADAC.

Grand Prix motorcycle racing events were held at the track from 1952 to 1964, with the German motorcycle Grand Prix taking place there in even-numbered years: 1952, 1954, 1956, 1958, 1960, 1962 and 1964.

From 1961 to 1964, non-Championship Formula One Grand Prix races were also held, in addition to previous Formula 2 and Formula Junior events.

In 2003, a memorial event was held, with many former participants and vehicles (source).

Long, but you owe it to yourself to watch— with the sound way up (though skip ahead to 5:05 if you must):

(Hat tip to Hugo— great find!)

Posted in Circuits, Moving images, Racing
Tags: solitude revival, solitude-rennstrecke, solituderennen, solitudering

M Drei

•October 16, 2012 • 17 Comments

Just picked this up to be the yin to our E28‘s yang. And it really is. Compared to the E28 the E36 is refined and a thoroughly modern car (one-touch power windows?!), and we feel fortunate to have both. And in spite of not being our favorite Bimmer design historically (the classic ‘shark nose’ profile of the earlier cars will always be our first love), all in all it’s not too hard on the eyes 😉

Will the E36 displace the E28 as our ride de choix? In a word, no— simply because the latter car continues to provide certain pleasures – visual, mechanical – that the E36 doesn’t. But we think there will be a place – literally as well as emotionally – for both.

Speaking of which, we know it’s been quiet on the E28 front— we hope to have an update on that shortly 🙂

Posted in Motoring con brio, Still images, What would you buy
Tags: alpine, alpine white, alpinweiß, alpinweiss, bmw, e36, m3, m3/4/5

Urban Outlaw..

•October 15, 2012 • 3 Comments

..which we first blogged about here, is out now.

At a little over half an hour, it’s not short insofar as Internet films, but if you have even the slightest interest in these cars (where “these cars” = early Porsche 911s, and highly modified ones in particular), then it’s well worth the watch. Great cars, great filmmaking.

URBAN OUTLAW is a portrait of Magnus Walker, the rebel Porsche customizer who turned a hobby into an obsession, and an obsession into a successful business. From a workshop in downtown Los Angeles, Magnus obsessively harvests fragments from donor 911s, grafting them onto vintage frames to create one-off automobiles with the spirit of Ferdinand Porsche but an ethos entirely his own.

Watch: Urban Outlaw | Reelhouse

Posted in Mods, Moment of zen, Moving images, What would you buy
Tags: 911, aircooled, long hood, longnose, los angeles, magnus walker, outlaw, porsche, urban outlaw