Motoring Con Brio

Guest contributor: Marc Wöltinger on his 1967 Type 34 Karmann Ghia

•October 28, 2011 • 12 Comments

By accident (or, the car that found me)

I’ve been into cars since my earliest childhood. Cars used to be my favorite toys, favorite subject to draw, favorite everything. My mom actually wanted to take me to a child psychologist because I was so obsessed with them. Even from an early age, I had my indisputable favorites. As there were always quite a few American cars around in Switzerland, I soon fell under the spell of Detroit iron. The throaty rumble of the V8 in conjunction with the spectacular design made a big impression on me.

As I approached driving age, the all-important question started to come up: what car was I first going to own? In Switzerland, you can’t get your driving license until the age of 18, so there’s plenty of time to take this matter into careful consideration. But there was one important fact that was limiting my options: money— or rather, the lack thereof. So, that 1972 Stingray wasn’t really an option. Neither was the 1965 GTO.

Posted in Guest contributor, Still images
Tags: aircooled, ghia, karmann, karmann ghia, switzerland, type 14, type 34, volkswagen, vw

“Formula One Grand Prix of America” coming to NYC area

•October 27, 2011 • 5 Comments

You might have heard the news. Well, this preview of the street circuit was too good not to sloppy second— thank you Axis!

Posted in Circuits, Moving images, Racing
Tags: f1, formula one, formula one grand prix of america, grand prix, new jersey, new york, new york city, nyc

Another weekend, another day at the track

•October 27, 2011 • 3 Comments

This time over at scenic and historic Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Connecticut. It doesn’t get much better than a crisp (and dry) autumn day in New England with fall colors in full bloom. Sadly, it was our last track event of the season, even though motoring will continue well into the winter.

Here are just a handful of shots— this one was a relatively brief affair.

For those of you who track and autocross your cars, hope you had a great season. It was an interesting one for us: tried a new track (Summit Point), saw close family get bit by the track bug (always fun), drove a new-to-us car (E30 BMW). Here’s looking forward to next year— should be a fun one, as always.

Posted in Motoring con brio, Still images
Tags: bmw, e30, ferrari, lime rock, lime rock park, lrp, m3, porsche, track day

Car dealerships from the past

•October 26, 2011 • 16 Comments

Fascinating stuff! What any of us wouldn’t do to be transported back in time to one of these showrooms right this moment? Some of these bring back memories of our youth (if not the cars themselves, then their settings), as we’re sure they do for many of you who are of a certain age.

Truly a bygone era.

Michaelson Volvo, Renault, Peugeot (Baltimore, MD):

Escondido Datsun (Escondido, CA):

Madison Smith Naturally (Nashville, TN):

Thos S. Kenny Motors (St. Louis, MO):

Wilton Imported Car Center (Wilton, CT):

Posted in Still images
Tags: alfa romeo, bmw, datsun, ferrari, fiat, jaguar, mercedes-benz, mg, peugeot, plymouth, porsche, renault, saab, simca, triumph, volkswagen, volvo, vw

For some people, this is what an early morning drive looks like

•October 25, 2011 • 4 Comments

Needless to say, we are beyond jealous.

More on this superb Type 34 Karmann Ghia in a little bit.

Posted in Roads, Still images
Tags: alps, furka pass, ghia, gotthard pass, karmann, karmann ghia, swiss alps, switzerland, type 34, volkswagen, vw

Assorted grab bag of stuff we like

•October 24, 2011 • 16 Comments

Getting right to it.

As a reminder, click here if you’d like to see any of these larger.

Posted in Grab bag, Still images
Tags: alfa romeo, audi, bentley, bmw, datsun, ducati, ferrari, ford, honda, jaguar, lamborghini, lotus, mini, porsche, renault, volkswagen, vw

Reader contribution

•October 20, 2011 • 1 Comment

Reader Nick C. was nice enough to share these images that he took at the 2011 Porsche Rennsport Reunion IV. Thanks Nick! Would’ve loved to have been there to take in the combined roar of flat fours, sixes, eights, and twelves.

Posted in Still images
Tags: laguna seca, porsche, rennsport reunion iv

BMW track weekend at New Jersey Motorsports Park

•October 19, 2011 • 2 Comments

Though we didn’t drive, we were trackside recently at New Jersey Motorsports Park’s Lightning road course (a rather cruel fate, to be sure). We did manage to reel off a few shots while roving the paddock and the side of the track— our attempt at making lemonade out of lemons.

These are just quick n’ dirty snapshots straight from the camera (i.e., pretty lazy and not to be confused with art, which shouldn’t be hard to do).

Posted in Circuits, Motoring con brio, Still images
Tags: bmw, driver school, hpde, lightning, mazda, mercedes-benz, mini, new jersey motorsports park, njmp, track day, volkswagen, vw

A very useful hack

•October 18, 2011 • 4 Comments

For as long as we’ve been running them, people have been asking for the images in the weekly grab bags in larger sizes. Now that request has finally been answered. Simply copy the location of the image you’d like to see larger (right-click and “Copy Image Location” in Firefox or “Copy image URL” in Google Chrome, etc.), and before opening that location in a new tab or window, append “_b” before the “.jpg” extension.

So instead of this:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4077/4776566421_d2212419e5.jpg

Do this:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4077/4776566421_d2212419e5_b.jpg

Then go forth, save as, set as wallpaper, reblog, or post on your forum de choix to your heart’s content— it’s not elegant, but it works. Note that some don’t exist in larger sizes (though most do), meaning even the addition of “_b” will return the same 500 pixel width size for those images.

Past grab bags can be found here. Enjoy!

Posted in Announcements

Lotus 340R in Japan

•October 18, 2011 • 4 Comments

Now here’s an oddball that gets seldom discussed: the very limited production sibling to the Lotus Elise, the 340R. And what better way to take in the sights of Japan than in one of these?

For what it’s worth, in 2009 evo magazine placed the 340R at number two on its list of “100 Greatest Drivers’ Cars” (the Pagani Zonda F topped the list):

If being the greatest drivers’ car meant having the world’s best steering then the Lotus 340R (or any mk1 Elise/Exige) would be standing on the top step. ‘The 340R is like an Elise turned up to 11,’ says unlikely Spinal Tap fan Metcalfe. ‘The chassis composure when really pushed is beyond brilliant; it’s close to unbelievable’. John Simister has the 340R at the top of his list ‘for its speed, purity, transparency and compactness. It provides a huge visceral buzz yet doesn’t assault you with the wrong sort of “noise”.’ ‘Sublime,’ says Barker (source).

(Images via)

Posted in Still images
Tags: 340r, japan, lotus