Cars..

[roadscholar]

Something I’ve not seen before, anyone know what it is?

 

 

 

[KTM Doug]

New Boxster prototype

[roadscholar]

Looks like fun, kind of a cross between a dune buggy and a 50’s Indycar.

 

 

 

 

[walton66]

neat

 

[Bill_Walker]

On 7/27/2020 at 5:27 PM, roadscholar said:

Looks like fun, kind of a cross between a dune buggy and a 50’s Indycar.

Maybe a bit of Lotus 7 or 1950s sports car "special" thrown in.  Since it has a dealer plate, I imagine you can track it down.

[BamaJohn]

I'm betting the owner used to be a soap box derby guy.....

[roadscholar]

Just came across this guy, I like his style.

 

 

[roadscholar]

When underdogs rule : )

 

 

[Rougarou]

Meh,......here's a little RX7

 

[roadscholar]

 

[eddd]

 

[eddd]

Definitely not your Grandpa's Mecedes...

 

 

[Bill_Walker]

5 hours ago, eddd said:

Definitely not your Grandpa's Mecedes...

I wonder what engine is actually under the hood.

Sydney Dragway looks like a particularly bad track at which to have your chute and/or brakes fail, with the embankment at the end.

[TEWKS]

D’oh! 

 

 

[wbw6cos]

[roadscholar]

In the Porsche thread on Advrider the past few days I’ve been correlating the date to some of the models (ok I’m bored : )

 

9/17

 

 

9/18

 

 

 

 

 

9/19

 

 

By the way the 24 Hours of Lemans is this weekend and the 50th anniversary of Porsche’s first overall win, they’ve won 18 more times since.

 

 

 

[roadscholar]

A bizarre little Italian car from the 50's (Nardi Bisiluro) built just to race at Lemans, and an informative description and article on car design by Chris Bangle, past chief of BMW styling. You may or may not like his designs (5 series, 7 series, 1st gen Z4, Z8) but he knows what he's talking about.

 

 

https://www.domusweb.it/en/design/2011/09/12/the-asymmetric-racer.html

[roadscholar]

Another Nardi, this one with a BMW engine.

 

[Bill_Walker]

On 9/19/2020 at 5:16 AM, roadscholar said:

In the Porsche thread on Advrider the past few days I’ve been correlating the date to some of the models (ok I’m bored : )

September is Porsche month!  Unless you use European date order, in which case there's a Porsche day every month (or nearly so, and you'll need to use leading zeros on the month number.  Was there a 902, 903 or 905?).  But you don't get to go beyond 912, so the mighty 917 doesn't make the cut.

[roadscholar]

21 hours ago, Bill_Walker said:

September is Porsche month!  Unless you use European date order, in which case there's a Porsche day every month (or nearly so, and you'll need to use leading zeros on the month number.  Was there a 902, 903 or 905?).  But you don't get to go beyond 912, so the mighty 917 doesn't make the cut.

 

Yes, 902 was the original designation for the 912 (4 cyl) as 901 was for the 911 before Peugeot intervened threatening to sue over using a zero in the middle. 903 and 905 were semi-automatic transmissions, the latter became the Sportomatic which led to the Tiptronic then the PDK.

[roadscholar]

Ok, what day is it?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quiz, can anyone name these guys?  Without looking it up : )   (honor system)

 

[wbw6cos]

1) Jerry Seinfeld

2)  Tom Selleck

[Jake]

3)  Tom Cruise

6) Larry Minetti

7) FP

[Bill_Walker]

#4 is a famed racing driver, but I'm blanking on his name.  Not quite Jackie Stewart, not quite Derek Bell (although age can be tricky).  And what's Selleck doing with a 928 instead of a 308GTS?

[roadscholar]

1 hour ago, Bill_Walker said:

#4 is a famed racing driver, but I'm blanking on his name.  Not quite Jackie Stewart, not quite Derek Bell (although age can be tricky).  And what's Selleck doing with a 928 instead of a 308GTS?

 

You're right Bill, not quite the Wee Scot but it is in fact Derek Bell who had an illustrious career in sportscars.  In finding those pics I came across an interesting piece about him and his time with Ferrari that sheds some light on the politics of F1 and Maranello in particular. 

 

Tom Selleck it seems bought everyone on the cast of Magnum P.I. a new 928, maybe he liked em better than the 308 who knows.  Only one to go, the tall lanky dude, he's also from a different country and his career is about on par with Derek's, in fact I'm sure they've shared the same car a time or two. His father was a famous racing driver too. Edit, just found this photo, I knew they'd driven together : )

 

 

https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/june-2007/66/derek-bell-enzo-his-part-my-downfall

[Bill_Walker]

20 hours ago, roadscholar said:

Only one to go, the tall lanky dude

Hans Stück.

But who the hell is "FP"?

[roadscholar]

Ferry Porsche. 

 

Good job on Hans, I figured you’d be the one to get those last two.

[Jake]

I had no shot on those last two, so kudos to Bill.    Only my warped interest in unsung supporting cast actors was I able to recognize/name Larry Minetti, who carried much of the comic relief in Magnum P.I., much like Ross Martin did for Wild Wild West back in the day.

 

Porsche.  There is no substitute.

[RandyShields]

Ross Martin??!!  Now there is a blast from the past.  The original Artemus Gordon, with all manner of fancy gizmos to show off.  No wonder Robert Conrad (or Conrad Roberts) did not like the Will Smith remake with poor, concocted plot lines.

[roadscholar]

 

[roadscholar]

16 hours ago, Jake said:

I had no shot on those last two, so kudos to Bill.  

 

Porsche.  There is no substitute.

 

No slouch behind the wheel either, after only a few minutes it was obvious the man could properly handle a sportscar in it’s element.

 

[Bill_Walker]

Aw, shucks.

[TEWKS]

I remember doing a lot of this as a youngster. I dumbed it down to Firebirds and Camaros  but the gaze was the same.

 

 

[roadscholar]

1 hour ago, TEWKS said:

I remember doing a lot of this as a youngster. I dumbed it down to Firebirds and Camaros  but the gaze was the same.

 

 

 

Same here but it was a Corvette. In October 1962 I rode my Vespa down to the local Chevy dealer to check out the new '63 Stingray, it was a life altering experience but not how you'd think. Three long years passed before I got my hands one one, a used '65 convertible. It was cool, fast, and fun (I drove it from Fla to Cape Cod with the top down) but after awhile realized it just wasn't that well made. The previous Summer a buddy and I had driven a Porsche 356 to L.A., it wasn't nearly as fast, sleek, or sexy but the driving experience and quality were much nicer. By October 1966 I'd sold the Vette and bought a  '63 Super 90 coupe and haven't looked in the rearview mirror since : ) 

 

 

 

Interesting footnote, at the time the used 356 cost 33% less than the Vette sold for, now it's worth two to three times as much. 

[wbw6cos]

HA Ha!  His name is William and he got caught not paying attention in class.  It is like deja vu all over again.  

[Bill_Walker]

On 10/6/2020 at 11:54 AM, wbw6cos said:

HA Ha!  His name is William and he got caught not paying attention in class. 

And drawing pictures of cars.  They know us so well!

[John Ranalletta]

For you Porsche-o-philes....

 

 

[Hosstage]

I'm not a Porsch-o-phile, but I want to be!

Whenever I think about THE car to have, Porsche always rises into the top of the list.

Aston Martin too, I love their look, certainly not as commonly found as Porsche, and no performance slouch.

[TEWKS]

Mopar trouble 

 

Sidetracked 

 

[Bill_Walker]

3 hours ago, TEWKS said:

Mopar trouble

My mom had a 1970 Dodge Challenger convertible, in that same "Plum Crazy" shade.  It only had a 318 2-barrel, but it had a 4-speed manual tranny with the Hurst "pistol-grip" shifter, hood pins, and "Rallye Suspension".  I drove the shit out of it when I was in high school, especially on twisty roads.  It looked exactly like this photo, only without the white stripe or hood scoop.

 

[TEWKS]

If you hadn’t mentioned the last two details, I would of believed it!  Edit..(joke being your mom was in a car commercial) 

 

[Bill_Walker]

14 hours ago, TEWKS said:

If you hadn’t mentioned the last two details, I would of believed it!

My mom was cool, but she wasn't blonde.  Good find, though!

If my mom's Challenger had had the 440 six-pack, I probably wouldn't be here today!  The 318 was plenty fast enough on the roads I liked (think CA-1 between Mill Valley and Stinson Beach).

[John Ranalletta]

On 10/9/2020 at 10:18 AM, John Ranalletta said:

For you Porsche-o-philes....

 

 

 

 

More Porsche candy.

 

SavageGeese's production quality is some of the best on YouTube.

 

 

[roadscholar]

Those guys are actually pretty good, they're growing on me..

 

Porsche is really an engineering firm with a side business of making cars, sort of : )  Not sure how much now days but in the 70's, 80's and 90's they did a lot of design and engineering for other car companies that was confidential because those companies obviously didn't want the public to know. The Harley V-rod motor being a notable exception.

 

[KTM Doug]

This guy could handle a muscle car in the sixties 

 

 

[roadscholar]

 

[mickeym3]

Like BMW's obviously but since they don't offer much in the way of true drag cars I'll stick to my 40 year old MOPAR..and yes, I did buy the photo so no infringement on our NHRA D2 photographer.

[roadscholar]

I did a little drag racing in the 60's, and lost both of them : ) I had a 66 Cyclone GT (390) it was one of the slower cars at my high school in Daytona. We did some "informal" racing in Tomoka State Park on Fri or Sat nights although I did it only twice because even at 17 knew it was probably curtains if something went wrong with trees lining both sides of the road. One buddy had a 65 GT350 the other a 66 Fairlane GT (same car as the Comet) but with a 3 speed which he claimed was faster in the quarter, and it was although he was a better driver with more experience too. I knew not to mess with 442's, tri power GTO's or Hemi's, they were in a different league, then  there was one guy with a 427 Corvette..

 

 

[John Ranalletta]

In jr college years, I hung with a group of Ford owners and drag racers.  One had a 63 1/2 Ford Fastback with 427, x-bolted mains & blueprinted heads from Holman/Moody.  Another, a 32A, flathead gasser. Another with a Shelby Cobra.  When the Cobra arrived from CA equipped with Hurst shifter and fiberglass top, we pulled the engine; and with purchased spare engine, shipped both to Holman/Moody for their magic.  I didn't participate in the expense.  I was the kid go-fer.

 

It was a magical time.  I do remember helping pull the Dana rear ends and sending them for repair after 2-3 events.  Brad Wagner owned the Cobra.  Reportedly sold it for $5k and rumors have it that a Japanese fellow has it stored away.  Brad bought a Fairlane Thunderbolt, delivered with a driver's seat, fiberglass hood and motor.  I checked out shortly after and don't know what happened to that car.

 

[roadscholar]

That's pretty cool. On second thought it’s damn cool. Surprisingly, growing up in Daytona in the 60's I never knew anyone with a Cobra, there may have been one or two lurking but we never saw one, sure heard about them though. There were a few NASCAR connected speed shops so you'd think somebody had one. Ray Fox (Junior Johnson's crew chief/engine builder), Smokey Yunick,  Red Farmer, and I'm sure others but never saw one.  When I blew up the engine in my first 356 my step dad took it to Red Farmer to have it replaced, he did a great job probably having never worked on a Porsche before. Came across this story about Red, it's kind of long but well written with good insight into the life of a 'never say die' race car driver. 

 

https://bittersoutherner.com/red-farmers-unfinished-race#.X6rOiWhKjIV

 

Also if anyone's traveling thru the Smoky Mtns on I-40 the Floyd Garrett museum is def worth a stop. Floyd used to have a trucking business in Fernandina Bch, one day in the mid 80's he let a few of us visit his collection. At the time he had I think three garages at his house with about seven cars, they were all some kind of factory race cars in perfect condition including a couple Ford Thunderbolts, Chevy's, and Dodge's from the early/mid 60's. Most of them had aluminum bumpers and fiberglass hoods, I never even knew those cars existed until then. He fired them up for us, it was pretty awesome.

 

https://musclecarmuseum.com/

 

  Edit: I messed up, after thinking about it and a little more research it wasn’t Red Farmer but Red Vogt that repaired the Porsche, he had a shop behind the speedway in those days. You know what they say about the 60’s, if you remember them you weren’t there : ) I’m leaving the story about Red Farmer because it’s a good one, the one about Red Vogt isn’t bad either.

 

https://www.onedirt.com/features/my-dad-founded-nascar-an-interview-with-little-red-vogt/