I swear I don’t post every video Porsche puts out.
Author: Harlo
Do you drive a sports car?
Then read this vivid extract from Jimmy Stewart, of Ecurie Ecosse fame.
“Last Saturday morning I decided to take the E-type on Cinturas as far as Inveraray and back, 50 or 60 miles from here. The roads were wet and greasy, with occasional dry patches. I found that on the twisty sections I was travelling at between 70 and 80 miles an hour in 2nd and 3rd gear where on other tyres I would be driving at 45 and 50 mph. And in two straight sections at Loch Lomond I got a speedometer reading of 130 mph, taking it up to a maximum revs in 3rd and banging it into top then braking under racing conditions by tamping the pedal really hard, putting it right through the gears for various corners. And when I got as far as Arrochar I ran into quite a bit of snow and slush, and it was there I was really glad of the Cinturas. They almost felt like all-weather tyres.”
“I’m sure the Cintura is faster in dry road conditions than any other tyre. It almost feels up to the standard of a full racing cover. It gives one the feeling that it’s an entirely different tyre from anything else. It just grips so much better than any other tyre I have ever handled.”
The Cintura solves three sports car problems. Jimmy Stewart’s report amounts to this: the Cintura solves the three big problems of sports car tyres:
1. Tyre wear (“…here at last is a tyre that stands up to the driving I do.”).
2. Tyre heating (“It seems to run extremely cool, even under the most arduous conditions.”).
3. Tyre adhesion under stress (“I feel that the Cintura offers the absolute ultimate in safety.”).
How does the Cintura solve the problem of tyre distortion at speed (which can have unpleasant consequences)? It does so by having a built-in ‘safety belt’: An inextensible textile belt running right round the circumference of the tyre under the tread. It holds the tyre profile virtually unchanged even at very high speeds, and it gives the tyre a much more square and uniform contact area with the road.
Send for Jimmy Stewart’s full report and your free copy of the Cintura book, which lists all sports and saloon cars to which Cinturas can be fitted. See what a difference Cinturas make, even to a brilliant professional driver. If you drive a sports car, really drive it, there is only one tyre for you. In Jimmy’s own words: “I think Cinturas will improve the characteristics of any sports car!”
The standard Cintura: for speeds up to 130 mph.
the High Speed Cintura: for sustained speeds above 130 mph.
To The Pirelli Performance Bureau, 343-345 Euston Road, London NW1
Categories
Rocket Man
Redditor “Neither-nor” dug up this impressive shot of Max Valier testing the rocket car he developed under the patronage of Fritz von Opel at AVUS in January of 1930.
Although Opel lost interest in the project, Valier carried on. This smaller image is from a different test of a continuation model (and may represent Max’s shift from solid to liquid fueled rockets) run in April. Ultimately his interest in rocketry would claim his life a month later when an experimental rocket exploded on the test bench.
Ferrari 750 Monza Cutaway 
Ferrari 750 Monza Model Packaging
We don’t often think of Ferrari’s machines as barchettas; they tended to be the big boys. But before Ferrari was all muscle, all the time, this slippery little slice of perfection with a body by Scaglietti had her share of successes on the track.
RM Auctions is offering the remarkable example (chassis no.0492M) shown above as part of their upcoming Monterey Auction.
Is it weird that I look forward to Stefan’s sketches more than I do photography from the Goodwood Festival of Speed? He just manages to capture something about the cars that simple photos cannot. I suspect it may have something to do with the more concentrated experience he has capturing the image. It’s one thing to stroll up to the back of the Marmon Wasp or Mephistophele, snap a picture, maybe pause to admire it briefly, then move on to the next car. Stefan has to find a comfortable spot to sketch and really look deeply at the car while he works. Don’t get me wrong, I love a well composed and shot photograph, but I can’t help but think that this extra consideration and closer study translates to an image that captures more than a quick snapshot would. See the complete set on Stefan Marjoram’s Flickr.
This is our third look at Stefan’s work, we’ve previously looked at his work here and here. What can I say? I love his stuff.
Oh, and with Derek Bell driving.
It’s been almost 4 years since Coop scanned and shared the 1969 Matchbox catalog on his blog. And I continue to thank him for it. I’ve had a printout of this Lotus 49 illustration from the catalog hanging next to my desk ever since. Check out Coop’s post and the complete scans.
Categories
En La Playa: Tijuana, 1970
Categories
Snap ‘Em Together
A generous collector has uploaded high resolution scans of his BMW brochures to Picasa. This example of the 1978 BMW Motorsport brochure naturally drew me in.
From the brochure’s text:
Why men race.
Racing is high adventure. And this alone is enough to account for racing’s incredible popularity.The sport is burgeoning as never before. There are now more spectators, more participants, and more events than the sport has ever seen. In Germany alone, for example, there are over 1,000 approved racing events held every year. Road races, mountain climbing, circular-track races, rallyes, rally crosses, gymkhanas – the list is endless and varied.
We at the Bavarian Motor Works believe it is a sport worthy of our attention and involvement. For the simple reason that as more people become involved, more people will be capable of mastery of their cars in the extreme driving situations every driver occasionally faces.
That’s a phenomenal point. The natural instinct among the general populous is that racing drivers never turn off their competitive driving and make roads more dangerous. I think this brochure makes the opposite point marvelously well, a trained racing driver understands the road, understands their car, and understands how they interact. They are safer to those around them on public streets than other motorists.
