French for ‘Team Scotland’

•March 3, 2011 • 8 Comments

Home to one of our favorite team colors out there. A quick history lesson:

Ecurie Ecosse (fr.Team Scotland) was a motor racing team from Scotland. Founded in 1952 by Edinburgh businessman and racing driver David Murray and mechanic Wilkie Wilkinson, its most notable achievement was winning both the 1956 and 1957 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Ecurie Ecosse were based at Merchiston Mews in Edinburgh; their cars were always distinctive in their Flag Blue Metallic paint…

The Team was accompanied by a 2-axle double-deck car transporter capable of carrying three cars (one inside and two on top) together with a support crew, and with mobile workshop facilities.

The transporter was built by coachbuilders Alexander, of Falkirk, Scotland. Based on a Commer chassis it is powered by a Commer TS3 three cylinder horizontally-opposed two-stroke diesel engine.

The transporter has been restored and is still in use (source).

All images via

Posted in Racing, Still images
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Alpina Shark hiding in plain view

•March 2, 2011 • Comments Off on Alpina Shark hiding in plain view

The urban jungle— somewhere in Düsseldorf

(Image by Kay Röhlen)

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What driving events will you be doing in 2011?

•March 2, 2011 • 9 Comments

Whether it’s a track day, race day, road trip, vintage rally, or just your favorite local twisty road hit up over and over, let us know what you have lined up for this year. And when the time comes, share your photos and videos with us. Because as we like to say— as fun as it may be to blog (and to consume blogs) about cars, driving them – whatever is parked in your driveways, garages, and parking spots right now – is about a thousand times better.

As for this blog, we have plans to hit up Watkins Glen a couple of times, Lime Rock and New Jersey Motorsports Park at least once, a southern trip culminating in the Tail of the Dragon (which we’re particularly excited about), a couple of autocrosses, and – gas prices willing – local driving to tide us over in between. If we’re able to squeeze in a karting event or two, that would be gravy.

And of course, we’re eagerly looking forward to breaking in the new ride:

Should be a great one— the driving season can’t get here fast enough (although we are starting to see vestiges of spring). We’re sure you all feel the same way.

Posted in Motoring con brio, Still images
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Now here’s an interesting photo

•March 1, 2011 • 3 Comments

Don’t believe we’ve ever seen these two side-by-side before: a 911 and what’s often referred to as its French counterpart, the Renault Alpine A110— take a rear-engine, rear wheel-driven sports car that’s pretty small, make it even smaller (and a lot lighter), and give it a Gallic twist. Not the best color for this car, but we’ll take it.

A quick look at the specs (approx.):

911

  • Wheelbase: 87-89 in
  • Length: 169 in
  • Width: 65 in
  • Height: 52 in
  • Curb weight: 2315 lb

A110:

  • Wheelbase: 89 in
  • Length: 159 in
  • Width: 59 in
  • Height: 44 in
  • Curb weight: 1777 lb

More A110 badassery here.

Posted in Still images
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Junior

•March 1, 2011 • 8 Comments

Crap! This is new. A stepnose not only lowered aggressively, but sitting on those classic alloys (probably our favorite look on these cars) painted a nice deep gunmetal? Bananas. Along with the stance and bumper delete, this is probably the most aggressive-looking streeted Alfa we’ve seen in recent memory. We couldn’t care less that the paint on the rear body panel doesn’t match the rest of the car. Or that it’s a Junior. Want. So. Bad.

via

Posted in Still images, What would you buy
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Ohh baby

•February 28, 2011 • 4 Comments

Still one of our favorite cars ever, dating back to our youth— this would probably make our ‘top ten’ list. And if it didn’t, we would need to find a way to make room for it.

The example shown here – in what we consider to be the de rigueur color combination for this car – can be yours for only (only?) $13K. Of course, the subsequent cost of parts and ongoing maintenance might quickly engulf the temptingly low initial cost of buy-in. Or possibly not— anyone care to conjecture (educated or otherwise)?

(H/t to BaT, as always.)

Posted in Still images, What would you buy
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Assorted grab bag of stuff we like

•February 28, 2011 • 10 Comments

No additional words necessary, so let’s get right to it.

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Posted in Grab bag, Still images
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Cinematic cars: Mercedes-Benz 280SE (W108) in “The Driver” (1978)

•February 27, 2011 • 2 Comments

In this scene from 1978’s “The Driver,” the eponymous character (Ryan O’Neal, in a wooden performance) is asked to prove his chops in advance of a job (as the film’s title insinuates, the character is auditioning as the getaway driver of a bank heist). The audition commences suitably enough – the O’Neal character admirably hoons a W108 280SE, tires screeching in protest – but then it descends into senseless driver-on-car violence, culminating in the destruction of the poor Merc. Such a pretty color, too. Why couldn’t it have ended after the bumpers were knocked off?! A touring car-look Mercedes would have made such a sweet getaway car.

Factoid: it’s been said the driver part was originally written for one Steve McQueen. One wonders why he didn’t take it?

There are a number of other fine car scenes in the film as well.

Posted in Film, Hoon, Moving images
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The tears of a clown

•February 25, 2011 • 10 Comments

That’s the first thought that came to mind upon coming across the derrière of this TVR Sagaris:

It’s an undeniably sexy car (we love the green, and the tail pipes are a hoot), but we wish it didn’t look quite as… busy. Ultimately for us, TVRs mine a similar territory as Spykers (although the former’s history goes back much farther), meaning we can appreciate them as car guys, but would never picture them as cars for ourselves— even if money were no object.

(Image credit: Victor Masson)

Posted in Still images
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Your daily surreal

•February 24, 2011 • 8 Comments

A Ford GT40 Mark IV – the 1967 Le Mans fourth place finisher, in this particular case – on New York’s Tappan Zee Bridge— just going about its business as usual.

About the car and its owner (both legendary):

MANY vintage racecars spend decades hidden from the world, condemned to exist as four-wheel paperweights because of their immense value — historical as well as monetary — and raucous road manners.

Some collectors, though, view their pedigree racecars as living histories, not static investments, and exercise them on the road and on the racetrack as often as possible.

Jim Glickenhaus, an investment portfolio manager from Rye, N.Y., has a collection that includes a stately Duesenberg from the 1930’s and a tiny jewel of a Ferrari built in 1947. But he spends much of his free time with racing sports cars from the mid-1960’s.

The cars are insured and licensed for road use, and driven regularly throughout the Northeast. Each car undergoes an annual safety inspection as required by New York State, though they are exempt from emissions tests because of their age.

During a visit to his workshop in Danbury, Conn., Mr. Glickenhaus, thumbs hooked into his jean pockets, explained the history of each car in lively detail. First on the tour was a vibrant yellow Ford GT40 Mk IV, a car that qualified on the pole for the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race in 1967 and was driven to a fourth-place finish by Mark Donohue and Bruce McLaren.

Mr. Glickenhaus has driven the thundering treasure some 25,000 miles in the 15 years he has owned it, using it for local Sunday drives and weekend treks, including one to Vermont where he found himself caught in a snowstorm. ”It got a little squirrelly,” he said. ”But it kept going.”

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