Motoring Con Brio

Lowered R8 in a warehouse looks surprisingly good

•April 8, 2011 • Comments Off

Fine, so it’s stupid low, and yes, the words “proper suspension geometry” are meaningless here— but we’d be lying if we said we weren’t at least a little bit intrigued. Maybe even more than a little bit. It’s one of those “so trashy it’s kinda hot”-type deals. Except it’s not really trashy, just kinda dumb.

It’s also possible – likely, even – that this is just a clever Photochop. Whatever, we’re digging the novelty of seeing a slammed R8. Crank those coils – imaginary or otherwise – up a couple of clicks, and it’d genuinely be perfect.

Posted in Mods, Still images
Tags: audi, dumped, lowered, r8, slammed

RS fünf

•April 7, 2011 • Comments Off

We’re not huge fans of the car itself (oddly enough, we prefer the S5), but these minimalist shots really suit the car, which looks perfect in this shade of grey (Dolphin?). Plus, we’ve always loved the [A/S/RS]5’s rear end, which is flat-out gorgeous.

Walter de’Silva considers it the most beautiful car he’s ever designed.

christiaanploeger.com

Posted in Still images
Tags: audi, b8, rs5, s5, walter de’silva

The weird and wonderful

•April 7, 2011 • 13 Comments

This stuff has been making the rounds among the BMW faithful. Good back story here in case you missed it.

BMW M8 (*not* pronounced “mate”):

X5 LM. Don’t scoff— this ain’t your ordinary soccer mom X5:

Proof:

And how perfect is it that it’s actually wearing BBS LMs?

In addition to the massive V12 this particular X5 benefited from tremendous weight savings through aluminum panels, lighter high-bloster seats, and use of carbon fiber. It is rumored that Herr Stuck managed a 7:49 time on the Nurburgring putting it 1 second faster than the M3 CSL and over 15 seconds faster than the E92 M3 (source).

“El Camino” E30:

What’s this? Oh, right:

E36 M3, er, Touring:

Which is a bit of a misnomer, because when you think BMW Tourings, you tend to think of these:

Or these— wait, what?

Hat tip to Brandon! Thanks m8 🙂

Posted in Design, Still images
Tags: bmw, concept, e30, e31, e34, e36, e46, stillborn, x5 le mans, x5 lm

Mercedes leading BMW

•April 6, 2011 • 3 Comments

Fantastic old DTM shot, full of smoky atmosphere. Naturally, this one was put out by the Mercedes press office.

Posted in Still images
Tags: 190 e, 190e, 2.5-16, amg, bmw, cosworth, dtm, e30, evo, evolution, m3, mercedes-benz, sport evolution, w201

Bugster hot rod

•April 6, 2011 • 3 Comments

Okay, this is just awesome— it’s a VW Beetle riding on a Boxster chassis. A Bug wouldn’t be the first place we’d turn to if we had a Boxster donor car on our hands, but this build is very, very trick. While a bit modern for our liking, the Lamborghini Grigio Telesto paint, satin black trim, and LM-look wheels are tastefully done. Would love to see the disbelieving looks on people’s faces as they get reeled in one by one at, say, a Porsche track day.

From the same continent that brought us the likes of the Ring Mini (VTEC just kicked in, yo!), the 993 Turbo’d Race Taxi, the Cossie-powered Model ‘A’ (still one of the craziest and most impressive things we’ve ever seen), the Alfa V6-powered ’52 Benz, and other mad hot rods, natch.

bugster.at via Ralf Becker

Posted in Mods, Still images
Tags: beetle, boxster, bug, käfer, porsche, volkswagen, vw

Your moment of zen

•April 5, 2011 • 2 Comments

Another outstanding photograph.

Ferrari 246 F1, 1958

Posted in Still images
Tags: 1958, 246 f1, dino, f1, ferrari, grand prix

Concorde and DS

•April 5, 2011 • 2 Comments

What a stunning image— one of the finest automotive photographs we have ever seen.

Hat tip to Tamerlane for this one.

Posted in Still images
Tags: citroën, citroën ds, concorde, ds

Assorted grab bag of stuff we like

•April 4, 2011 • 7 Comments

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

More »

Posted in Grab bag, Still images
Tags: ariel, audi, bmw, caterham, datsun, ferrari, ford, lotus, mercedes-benz, mg, mini, porsche, renault, subaru, volkswagen, vw

What we’re listening to now

•April 3, 2011 • 2 Comments

Taking a quick break from cars. We’re digging Exile-era Stones at the moment, but in terms of cool, it’s hard to beat the mid-’60s rhythm-and-blues Stones— the Brian Jones slide-inflected “Little Red Rooster” is an especially brilliant reading of American blues.

Posted in Moving images, Music to drive by
Tags: 1965, brian jones, little red rooster, rolling stones, rolling stones now, stones

Illustrations by Guy Allen

•April 1, 2011 • 8 Comments

Some really nice stuff here— pop art meets consummate petrolhead objects of desire. Though they are illustrations, we are impressed by how the sexiness of the cars has been effortlessly captured through ink and paper, even enhanced in some cases (see: Turbo, 2002— what wide tires you have!). Very neat stuff that’s right after our own hearts.