..in what appears to be fading afternoon light in the summer. We could use some of this— because right now is anything but.
The gentleman’s sport sedan
•January 27, 2011 • 1 CommentThe Mark 2 Jag saloon. Still fascinates us to no end that a car that looks like this – i.e., one that wouldn’t look out of place tooling around the English countryside, family in tow (or alternatively, transporting less than savory characters in a hardboiled British gangster caper) – could contain – at the time, anyway – such a sporting nature within.
Quoth Hammond, “it wasn’t the Jaguar of its time at all… it was the Subaru Impreza.”
Mk2 makes its appearance around the 2:00 mark:
And the usual overly-dramatized Car’s the Star. Pretty comprehensive, though:
Oh, white 911 on black Fuchs..
•January 26, 2011 • 3 Comments
Some E34 M5 inspiration
•January 26, 2011 • 12 CommentsCongratulations to reader Colin on his recent acquistion— a Brilliantrot (er, that’s “red” to any non-Bimmerphiles and/or non-German speakers) E34 M5! We are envious, to say the least.
Colin’s acquisition.
Colin had requested some modding inspiration, and naturally, we are happy to oblige. We happen to think these cars don’t need all that much in terms of achieving the right look— you can pretty much call it a day after OEM wheels and the right stance. (Of course, performance mods are a different ball of wax altogether, and for that we defer to folks who are more familiar with these cars— like E34 M5 owners.)
On that note, here are some E34s we like. Not all Brilliantrot, not all sedans, and not all M5s, but I think we can all use our imagination to some degree:
What a surprise! With the exception of ride height (of which none of the examples shown is particularly crazy), most of these cars look stock. Disappointed? Don’t be. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: OEM wheels make the most sense on a lot of cars, and we think the E34 M5 (and probably a lot of BMWs in general) fall firmly into that category. And as we already told Colin, we think the factory M-System wheels (with either the Throwing Star wheel covers (represented here in abundance) or the M-System I Turbines (not shown here)) look the best, followed by the M-Parallels (the 5-split spoke wheels). These are some handsome, handsome factory wheels.
If you know of any good E34 M5 examples, please link ’em up for us, as well as for Colin.
And just as a reminder of how good the E34 M5 was (is):
Did we mention we’re envious?
Moment of zen
•January 25, 2011 • Comments Off on Moment of zen
The extent of how much times have changed
•January 25, 2011 • 12 CommentsCan you imagine BMW selling a pear green 5-Series car today? Nein. And the saddest thing? We think the color looks absolutely fantastic. We’ve seen it before but feel like we’ve slept on just how lovely it is— especially on this 5er.
They were so much cooler back then, weren’t they?
Assorted grab bag of stuff we like
•January 24, 2011 • 5 Comments
Cinematic cars: Toyota 2000GT in “You Only Live Twice” (1967)
•January 23, 2011 • 2 Comments
In this installment of the Bond franchise, Agent 007 is dispatched to Japan, which can only mean one thing: Japanese cars! Naturally, the most famous (and sporting) of these is the rakish Toyota 2000GT, as it stylishly weaves its way through the outskirts of late-’60s Tokyo.
Despite what’s shown in the film, Toyota never made a 2000GT convertible. The roofs were removed from two 2000GTs to accommodate the 6’2″ Sean Connery, who otherwise wouldn’t have fit into the fixed head coupe (source). One of the cars used in the film is displayed at Toyota headquarters, while the other is in the private collection of a Toyota executive and occasionally trotted out for shows.
(You will need to launch in a new browser since embedding is disabled)
Presenting the latest addition to the Motoring Con Brio stable..
•January 21, 2011 • 25 Comments
..a 1989 Delphin Metallic 325i. Hat tip to the previous owner(s) for modifying it pretty darn well— there are a lot of badly modified E30s out there, and we are pleased to report that this isn’t one of them. It’s a little rough/unfinished around the edges (which we certainly don’t mind), but not counting the little things here and there that will need to be addressed over time, we cautiously venture to say that much of the heavy lifting seems to have already been done.
Is it an M3, that most lustworthy of E30s? No. But we’re certainly not complaining. We are happy to be the latest to assume ownership of this magnificent – if unassuming – machine, which has aged gracefully during its now twenty (!) some-odd years of being. The lines still look fresh, and in the metal, it remains every bit the head turner we remember it being in our youth, its classic Teutonic appeal undiminished. We’d argue that not even the E36 – a car we don’t dislike, by the way – can make that claim.
We hope (and expect) that it’ll make us better drivers, as we learn the fine art of momentum driving and extracting the most out of its modest (by modern standards) ~ 178 horsepower (with chip) and 164 lb-ft of torque.
Look for more of this (photos and video) over the course of the year. Should be a good one.
This one’s for Nick
•January 20, 2011 • 4 CommentsSeemed fitting enough.
Oh, and who can forget just about our favorite Youtube video ever, which we will happily reblog – and reblog some more – until the proverbial cows come home. As per usual, crank this one up loud!
Motoring Con Brio 