It’s no secret that I’m a BIG fan of the 959. Come on, Mercury would drive one… So I was happy to stumble upon this episode of Jay Leno’s Garage. It’s 29 minutes of pour entertainment with the God Car.
Videos
The new ELECTRIC King of the Nordschleife
Today VWs’ ID R did a full lap at Nürburgring in 6:05,336. That’s only slower than Porsche’s 919 Evo ( 5:19,546) and even faster than Stephan Bellof’s 1983 record.
That means I definitively need the ID R in the W-143 Garage… 🙂
And the WRC continues bonkers…
Last Saturday, at Rally Chile, Hyundai pilot Thierry Neuville and co-driver Nicolas Gilsoul had a bit of a rough time. Both walked away fine from that, but as you can see, the WRC continues insane.
Okay, maybe not Group B-insane, but still bonkers.
Jaguar XK120 – the first cat at Le Mans
Petrolicious just released a delightful video about the XK120, Jaguar’s first car to race at La Sarthe. Not as successful as the later XK120C from 1951, but in my humble opinion MUCH more of a looker.
Want a Ford Escort in your collection?
Handmade with silver, gold, platinum and diamonds, this little jewel is going on auction next month. Looks like bidding with start at US$ 90.000,00, so start saving those dimes and nickles.
How you build a new hypercar – Koenigsegg way
A couple of days ago Top Gear posted a video where Top Gear Magazine’s Jack Rix visted Koenigsegg’s factory at Ängleholm, Sweden. The video was shot a few day’s before the unveiling of the new Jesko at the 2019 Geneva International Motor Show this March, but it went live this week. It focus more on the Regera than on the new Jesko, but it’s always a delight to see Christian Von Koenigsegg’s passion for his cars.
How you build a vintage 356 Carrera Speedster Zagato nowadays
Stumbled upon this video on Petrolicious last night. Zagato has just created what they call the “Sanction Lost” program. The Sanction Lost initiative was created to celebrate the studio’s 100th anniversary. The idea is to recreate some of the design firm’s “lost” projects. The cars will be produced in a very limited form, and all hand-made, using period correct techniques and materials.
The Zagato 356 Carrera Speedster was a one-off produced in 1957, that was destroyed in a race accident not long after it was delivered. Because of it’s beautiful lines, this will be the first of the Sanction Lost cars. With the official blessing from Porsche, only nine will be produced, all spoken for.
I know it’s a cliché, but to me this car is poetry in motion.
How you build a vintage E-Type nowadays
Remember in my review of Jaguar’s E-Type Lightweight when I said that in 1963 Jaguar planned to produce 18 units? By 1964 however, upper management decided to cut production short after number 12 was done.
Astonishingly, back in 2015, Jaguar decided to complete the 18 car run. In their Browns Lane factory, where the Lightweight was originally produced, the missing 6 cars came to life. Built to original specifications, and utilising the unused chassis numbers, these “new” Lightweights came out of the factory exactly like their older brothers back in 1963 and 1964.
With a price of over £1million, they sold out even before production began. Ain’t it nice to have lots of money?
Sir Stirling Moss’ greatest victory
The 1955 Milli Miglia, of course.
His record of 10h7’48” still stands to this day, and will never be beaten. Why? Because the Mille Miglia was absolutely insane. Imagine around 500 cars on public roads going over 200 km/h through cities and villages. Oh, and those roads were NOT closed to the public.
And some say that the Avusrennen was bonkers…
Mercedes T80 – the monster that never raced
The T80 was a 3000 hp behemoth designed to shatter LSR. Unfortunately World War II broke out just before the record attempts, so we never will know how fast it could really go.