Month: February 2021

Mazda 787B

This morning I came upon this video, about the great Mazda 787B. The 787B was the first Japanese car to win at La Sarthe. Additionally, and just as important, it was also the first car powered by a Wankel engine to do that. Rotary engines are basically a thing of the past, and do to emission concerns it’s unlikely that we’ll see them on the streets again. Therefore, the 787B will certainly be the one and only Wankel-powered car to ever win at Le Mans.

Gordon Murray’s T.50s

I’m not exactly the biggest fan of Gordon Murray’s cars – or in other words, the Mac F1 is not on my dream garage list. However, the new T.50s Niki Lauda is another story. Revealed yesterday and produced by Gordon Murray Automotive, the car is sex on wheels. Top speed of 330 km/h, up to 1500 kg of downforce and powered by an atmospheric V12 that delivers 711 hp (or 725 hp when the ram air induction system kicks in). AND, gorgeous. You can easily see the F1 in those lines, and it looks stunning.

GMA will produce only 25 models, at US$ 4.5 millions a pop, plus taxes. So I probably will never even see one in the metal, but I can wish Spark will make one in 1:43rd 🤯.

The coming of the disk brake

Just a few minutes ago, going through my YouTube page I found this gem, and had to share it. From what I understood, this short film was filmed in 2012, but released in late 2020. Just 32 minutes, but to hear Stirling Moss reminiscing about those “poetic times” was absolutely fantastic. And it’s not just Stirling Moss, but Norman Dewis as well. A true legend when it comes to Jaguar, he talks about how he got involved with the Jaguar C-Type and his almost victory (together with Moss) at the 1952 Mille Miglia.

The film doesn’t show much technical details about the project’s development, however the participation of Jackie Stewart, Martin Brundle and Derek Bell make these 32 minutes totally delightful.

Silver Arrows – Part III: When is a silver car a Silberpfeil?

And finally we arrive at the last part of the series. After explaining what is a Silberpfeil and how they came to be called that, now it’s time to define which cars are Silver Arrows. Even though Mercedes-Benz uses the term very broadly, not every silver car is a Silberpfeil. Historically speaking you can count them on your fingers. Even if you add the variations (like hill climbers and record cars), the actual number is very low. How low? Click below.

Part III: When is a silver car a Silberpfeil?

Silver Arrows – Part II: Where does the name come from?

Last week I briefly explained what are the Silver Arrows. Of course you can write a whole book on the subject but I think my text can give at least an idea about what were these silver cars. For me at least, another very interesting side to these cars is the name. Why are they called Silver Arrows? I find the story behind their name quite entertaining. Through the link below you can have a glimpse of how it came to be.

Part II: Where does the name come from?