Videos

A rusty 911

This morning I stumbled upon the video from Petrolicious. To resume the story, the car was a barn find, but the new owner opted to keep it as he found it. Gave it a total mechanical overhaul, but everything else is how it was when the car was found in a shed in Japan.

I’m a big fan of originality and character in a car, but I have to say that to see such a lovely vehicle like that all covered in rust makes me uneasy. I for one would try to leave some patina but the ugly time scars would have to go.

What would you do? Keep it as is or restore it?

917 turns 50

March 12th, 1969, is an important date for some gearheads (like yours truly). On this day, 50 years ago, at the Geneva Motor Show, Porsche unveiled the 917. It was a very important car for the manufacturer, since it was their shot at attempting an overall win at Le Mans. As history shows us, the begining was really rough, but in the end the 917 won not once but twice at La Sarthe.

The first 917 ever, chassis #917-001, has been restored to it’s original condition of that famous homologation photo. After a painstaking and meticulous job that took over an year, the car is ready and is now displayed at the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart, Germany.

Up above is a nice short video (3m40s) about the 917 by The Wheel Network.

Jesko: the new Koenigsegg

Christian von Koenigsegg has a new car out, and of course it’s an hypercar. The Jesko was officially revealed at the Geneva Motor Show, earlier this week. Up above you have Christian himself explaining some of the engineering and the ideas behind the car. If you have 36 minutes available and are a gearhead like me, watch it. Well, I am a confess a Ksegg fanboy, but nonetheless it’s still ice cool.

And yes, I really need one for the W-143 Garage.

Captain Nice’s speed record

In August 9, 1975, Mark Donohue drove a 917/30 at an average speed of 353.84 km/h (221.160 mph) at the Talladega Superspeedway, in Alabama, USA.

Nowadays the record belongs to Gil de Ferran. In 2000, aboard a Penske Reynard-Honda, he reached an average of 386.285 km/h (241.428 mph) at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California.

But Donohue’s car was MUCH cooler.