Showing posts with label Classics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Classics. Show all posts

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Check Out This All-Original 1971 Mercedes-Benz 250 with 35,000 Miles


There was a time when German premium automakers produced cars that could last for a very, very long time if properly taken care of. Old Mercedes-Benz taxi cabs clocking hundreds of thousands of kilometers, and in some instances, even surpassing a million kilometers on the same powertrain, are a testament to that.

Now imagine if such a car was treated as a garage queen for, if not all, most of its life, having been driven only 35,000 miles (a little over 56,000 km) since its birth 42 years ago. What would it look like today?

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Saturday, February 9, 2013

Tour the 2013 Chicago Auto Show in 117 High-Res Photos


The press days of the 2013 edition of the Chicago Auto Show came to and end on Friday, with the McCormick Place now open for the public until February 19. While not as rich as last month's Detroit motor show, the Chicago event had its moments with a few important for the North American market world premieres. Read more »

Audi A1 Quattro Versus the Original Ur-Quattro from 1989


The original Ur-Quattro from the 1980s is the quintessential Audi that defined the brand with the four-ring logo, both on the track and on the showroom floors. While it’s a completely different world today, some things remain the same for Audi, including its love for all-wheel drive sports cars.

Audi says the spirit and soul of the Ur-Quattro lives on many of its modern-day creations, such as the limited-run A1 Quattro, of which only 333 examples were produced.

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Friday, February 8, 2013

Viper’s Nest: 2013 GTS Snake Goes Against Heavily-Tuned 1997 Predecessor


Mad, bad and dangerous to know and drive: it’s a description that fits the Dodge Viper to a tee. Until the 2013 brand-new SRT model, that is, which has gained all kinds of bells and whistles and is supposedly a more user-friendly kind of supercar.

The latter term is relative, of course, as all who have driven the 2013 SRT Viper agree that it is more civilized than its wild predecessors but still remains an animal when you push it to the limit.

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Thursday, February 7, 2013

Dies Natalis*: Porsche Celebrates Golden Jubilee of its Iconic 911 Sports Car


Though no one could have guessed it at the time, the Porsche Type 901 that made its debut at the IAA show in September 1963 would live on for five decades and become an automotive icon.

Of course, it came to be known as the 911 due to Peugeot having already registered all three-digit car designations with a “0” in the middle, forcing a name change.

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Toyota Land Cruiser J40(?) Jump Goes Painfully Wrong


One of the things that I just cannot accept or understand is why some people continue to refuse to wear their seat belts. It’s not about obeying the law for its own sake, but purely for your own safety. Period.

Of all people, the last one you would ever imagine to not wear their seat belt would be someone participating in a race or a dangerous stunt, yet this seems to be the case with a passenger (if we're not mistaken, as it looks like a right-hand drive model) of what appears to be an old Toyota Land Cruiser J40 – or so we think.

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Tuesday, January 29, 2013

This 1991 Acura NSX has Only 4,882 Miles on the Odo and it's up for Grabs


While many of us might not understand why anyone would buy a real sports car like the Acura NSX (sold as a Honda outside of North America) and keep it parked in a warehouse for most of its life, we guess that you will appreciate the fact that someone did and you now have the opportunity to acquire it.

The eBay find is a one-owner, unmolested, 1991 NSX with only 4,882 miles (7,855 kilometers) on the odometer and no accidents. That's pretty rare in our book, at least in North America.

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Friday, January 11, 2013

Watch Arnold Schwarzenegger Steamroll a Mercedes-Benz with his Personal Tank


Yes, we're talking about that Arnold Schwarzenegger, and if you're not entirely convinced by the first video that it is really him driving the tank that steamrolled an old Mercedes-Benz W123 station wagon model, then a quick visit to the Slashfilm cinema site will lay your doubts to rest.

Arnie, as many like to call him, invited a group of journalists to the Melody Ranch Studios in Newhall, California, where dozens of famous western TV shows have been filmed in the past, including Gunsmoke and The Lone Ranger.

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Thursday, January 10, 2013

Lexus Hints at Bringing Back the Sport Cross for the New 2014 IS Series


Why would an automaker ponder if we remember one of its past models and whether it will bring it back? Well, if you ask us, the only reasonable explanation is because it actually plans to do so.

Case in point, a Lexus posting on the brand's official Facebook page where the Japanese carmaker states:

"Do you remember the ‘02 IS 300 Sport Cross with its style, utility and performance? Will we bring it back? Watch the 2014 IS premiere on Facebook in 6 days to find out!"

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Friday, January 4, 2013

Death of a Classic Beemer…


We are getting ready to put down an old friend. No, not the family dog…our old friend is a 1989 BMW 325i. It is 23 years old, which in Southern California car years is equal to 102 in human years.

Our Beemer failed a smog test this weekend. (Luckily, failing high school algebra wasn’t a criterion for euthanasia or I wouldn’t be writing this!).  The car is in that very gray area where it would cost more to fix it than it’s worth.

And before we go too far, let me emphasize that we are not serious car people. We call our car The Beemer, which BMW car enthusiasts argue is incorrect. BMW motorcycles are to be called Beemers and cars are to be called Bimmers. Tomato, Tomahto I say. I am a phonetically based person and Beemer seems to be what a BMW vehicle should be called. Let’s move on.

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Four Generations of Range Rover Luxury SUVs Come Together


The Range Rover series is regarded by many as the forefather of today's luxury SUVs with a rich and rather interesting history spanning more than four decades.

Naturally, much has changed since the introduction of the first generation model in 1970, which began its life as a mostly utilitarian three-door SUV and it wasn't until Land Rover presented the five-door version with added amenities such as air-conditioning and…carpet that it began taking shape as a luxury model.

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Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Lamborghini Gears Up For 50th Ann., Shares Carbon Tech with Boeing Dreamliner [w/Videos]


In 1963, Ferruccio Lamborghini presented the first car that bore his name: the 350 GTV. A few years later, he would turn the sports car industry on its head with the mid-engined Miura, which would set the template for the Countach, Diablo and Murcielago that followed and established Lamborghini as a supercar manufacturer.

Despite its impact in the automotive world, and specifically in the supercar segment, the Sant’ Agata Bolognese plant was a low-volume operation: from its inception until 2002, annual sales averaged a mere 250 units.

By 2007, however, this number has increased nine-fold, thanks in part to the addition of the smaller Gallardo to the range, while today the Aventador is the fastest-selling V12 Lambo ever and has an 18-month waiting list.

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Monday, December 31, 2012

Check Out This Ex-Mario Andretti Owned Lamborghini Countach 5000 Quattrovalvole


Most people credit the Lamborghini Miura with being the world’s first supercar. It is the Miura's successor though, the Countach, that wrote the handbook on how a supercar should be: extraordinarily flashy with the cabin set forward to accommodate the huge engine set longitudinally amidship making a wonderful, uncompromisingly loud scream when revved hard. Read more »

Past Masters: Andrew Frankel Revisits the 1992 Jaguar XJ220 Supercar


In 1988, Jaguar unveiled a new concept at the NEC Auto Show in Birmingham. It was a study for a lightweight, mid-engined supercar to compete against the Ferrari F40 and the Porsche 959.

A 6.2-liter V12 engine from the XJR-9 endurance racer, an all-wheel drive system, scissor-style doors and a target of reaching 220 mph (355 km/h), which gave the car its XJ220 moniker, wetted the affluent customers’ appetite.

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Thursday, December 27, 2012

Jay Leno Walk us Around Four Pristine Pieces of Corvette History


Most of you are already aware that American comedian and TV show host Jay Leno is a very serious car enthusiast who also likes to share his passion with others gearheads.

With the eagerly anticipated 2014 Corvette C7 just around the corner, Leno invited vice president of General Motors Design Ed Welburn to his garage. Welburn didn’t come alone, of course: he brought with him four Corvettes from the past.

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Mcchip Turns Porsche 993 GT2 Into a Formidable Track Racer with 596-Horses


While some tend to believe that certain cars are like a fine bottle of wine that improves with age, truth is that, once you begin counting a vehicle's age in decades, the more attention it needs to keep it up and running.

When time came to spruce up his car, this owner of the classic 993-generation Porsche 911 GT2 from the mid-1990s, decided to not only restore but also turn the German sports coupe into a street-legal track racer.

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Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Ugur Sahin Design Recreates Rolls Royce Jonckheere Aerodynamic Coupe


Ugur Sahin is a Turkish car designer who lives in the Netherlands and is the founder of the design house that bears his name.

If the latter doesn't ring a bell, then maybe some of his previous works, including the Alfa Romeo C12 GTS, Aston Martin Gauntlet and of course, the Corvette-based Soleil Anadi that went from concept to production, will.

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Thursday, December 20, 2012

Fantastic Four: A Brief History of the Ferrari F150's Illustrious Ancestors


Not all Ferraris are born equal. True, each and every one of them is a bona-fide supercar (with a lemon or two thrown in from time to time; no one gets it always right…). Among all the models built over the years, though, there are four that stand out.

During an interview published in Ferrari’s official magazine, the automaker's Technical director Roberto Fedeli said that people inside the company feel the term “supercar” isn’t strong enough for these cars. “We call them ‘the special cars’”, he said. “Let’s refer to them as our ‘specials’”.

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Sunday, December 16, 2012

How Red Bull Racing Bought Ford's F1 Failure for $1 and went on to Win 6 Titles


The late legendary NASCAR racer and team owner Dale Earnhardt Sr. had famously said, “Second place is just the first place loser”. Sebastian Vettel, who on November 26 won his third consecutive Formula 1 world championship with Red Bull Racing (RBR), thinks along the same lines: “When you win, everything is crazy. When you lose, you have time for yourself, no one is interested”, he says.

Everyone is certainly interested in Vettel and Red Bull Racing, which also won its third constructors’ title in a row this season. What makes their accomplishments even more astonishing is the fact that the RBR team was formed in 2005 and its first win came in the 2009 Chinese Grand Prix.

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Monday, December 10, 2012

A Brief Look at BMW's All-Electric Cars from the 1970s to Today


On July 25, BMW’s first dedicated i Store opened its doors at London’s Park Lane, right next to the BMW and Mini dealerships, a year and a half before the i3 premium city car rolls off the production line at the company’s Leipzig plant.

The i3 was previewed by a concept study at last year’s Frankfurt Motor Show. The prototype is powered by a 170HP electric motor, although BMW has revealed that the production model will also feature a range-extending gasoline engine that will work as a battery generator.

That much you may know as the Munich-based automaker has been promoting its i sub-brand heavily, the most recent example being the i3 Coupe, a three-door version of the 2011 study.

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