Flight 427, now departing through gates 1, 2, 3 and 4.
Pardon the word play, but Flight 427 is our way of informing you that Corvette can now be ordered with a 427-cubic-inch Turbo-Jet V8. We threw in the bit about the gates just to let you know our fully synchronized 4-speed’s a must with this rig.
The regular-version 427 dispenses 390 jp and 460 lbs-ft of torque on hydraulic lifters, while the special-cam edition turns out 425 hp and the same amount of torque on solid lifters. Which one you order depends on whether you spend your time on the observation deck or the flight line.
Otherwise, we recommend our trusty 327 cubic-incher, available at ratings of either 300 or 350 horsepower. More than enough to slip the surly bonds with, eh, Orville?
You’d better believe it.
Corvette Performance The Chevrolet Way.
’66 Corvette. Fasten your seatbelts. They’re standard.
I love that they openly mock anyone who would even consider the standard 427, or—heaven forbid—the 327. Wusses. We need more open mockery of potential consumers in today’s advertising.
via Voiture-Jaune
Categories
Clark Takes a Drive Through Bologna
Matt at Hell For Motors hipped us to this marvelous clip of Clark at Imola. The lack of audio is heartbreaking, but you’ll make it through somehow.
A local commenter on YouTube points out what should be obvious, but always seems to be overlooked: How startlingly different from the modern Imola this is—which has just undergone another round of updates in the past few years. Much more like a drive in the country than the contemporary, sterile, track. When does the movement to backdate racetracks start? Where can I sign up to help?
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1964 F1 Cockpits Compared
Surtees’ Ferrari 156 Cockpit
In October 1964, Road & Track published a marvelous comparison of the season’s Grand Prix cars as the drivers see them. It’s interesting to see the variety of subtle differences in both instrument layout and the hints at differences in construction. Notice the cramped quarters of the Ferrari 156 with it’s aluminum fuel tanks encroaching closely on the drivers hips versus the relatively roomy frame of the Cooper. Similarly, check out the even spacing between instruments in Clark’s Lotus 24, each with a small attached label versus Gurney’s Brabham tighter, more random, cluster with hand painted instrument labels looking very low tech, shade-tree hot rodder. As pointed out in the original article, it’s interesting that John Cooper seems to have greater trust in his drivers than the other teams, as indicated by the lack of a shift gate (although I don’t see one on the Brabham either).
Gurney’s Brabham BT11 Cockpit
Clark’s Lotus 23 Cockpit
McLaren’s Cooper T73 Cockpit
Scans of the complete article at Manitouguy’s Blog.
Sound engineer turned Ferrari restorer Tom Yang visited Monticello Motor Club with his friends Jim and Sandy. Tom says, “Jim and Sandy prepared to do some exploratory laps in their cars. We were surrounded by modern GT3 Porsches, and some newer street cars taking their laps around the track, but when the GTO and Cobra were unloaded from the transporter, people stopped to watch!”
I should hope so. Shall we take a lap in the GTO? Probably.
More photos (in heartbreakingly small sizes) at Tom Yang’s Ferrari Restoration (careful or you’ll lose a few hours digging through his archives).
Ed Foster from MotorSport took part in August’s Citroen 2CV 24 Hour race at Snetterton. MotorsTV just posted the footage and it looks like a whole lotta fun.
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Sportiva Elegante
Elegant sporting. Sporting Elegance. Porsche.
Props to the advertising department for choosing a career woman rather than more stereotypical arm-candy. Perhaps he’s the arm-candy.
Following up on yesterday’s legend of the Mille Miglia train crossing post, and building upon last year’s post about the incident, I’ve recently stumbled upon more photos of Hans crashing his BRM at the end of one of the long straights at AVUS. The crash at the 1959 German Grand Prix is well known, but while searching for images for yesterday’s post I found these that I’ve not seen before. I didn’t know that the crash was captured at other angles. I’ve seen the photo of Hans crouched beneath the tumbling BRM many times, but these other angles give an even greater impression of how truly close—and how truly lucky—Hans was.
It is not these photos that are the great testament to his bravery, but that he ever got in a racing car again.
This astounding collection of photos from Ten-Tenths member Navyflier is well worth digging through the thread to take it all in. What remarkable shots! What excellent access to the pits and paddock! What atmosphere! It’s shots like these that anyone can use to justify their obsession with historic motorsport to their well-meaning and concerned friends. They worry about us. But a glimpse of these images should help them understand.
Here’s something that just couldn’t happen today. The Hurrell/North team discovered that their Saab’s fuel tank wasn’t large enough for the race so they swapped out the tank from their street A40 Austin, which necessitated punching a hole in the body work to accommodate the fuel filler. Love it.
These are just the tip of the iceberg: more at Ten-Tenths
Just because something is workmanlike and cleanly executed doesn’t mean it has to be boring. At first glance, this map of Watkins Glen is simple and unadorned; sterile even.
It may look like just another architect’s rendering, but I find it charming. It manages to look both professionally crafted with all the hallmarks of industrial drawing at the drafting table and hand-drawn and personal. It’s as if a friend pulled together a quick sketch to show you the track he raced last weekend, but your friend just happens to be a master freehand draftsman.
This image is from Jeanne Beeching’s biography of Bruce McLaren The Last Season, which focuses on McLaren’s final season of Can-Am racing. Whether the map was created specifically for the book or pulled from some other source, I don’t know.
via automobiliart
Categories
A Legend I Hope is True
Hans Herrmann’s bravery behind the wheel has never been questioned. It certainly wasn’t after the 1954 Mille Miglia when Hans was driving as a railroad crossing just outside of Brescia dropped it’s gate. Judging that there wasn’t sufficient time to stop, Herrmann signalled his navigator, Porsche engineer Herbert Linge, and they ducked their heads beneath the gate as they sped through. It’s almost too Hollywood to believe. Although my hope is that this artist’s interpretation of the event shows the train closer than it actually was, this is how I imagine it as well.
Motorsport is filled with undocumented moments of heroism. That there is no photograph of this unbelievable moment of bravery (or foolishness) is a great shame and makes me wonder what other unseen feats have not been as well remembered as this incident at the railroad crossing.