ZORA ARKUS-DUNTOV: GODFATHER OF THE CORVETTE

Posted on June 25, 2020June 25, 2020 by MartynL

Our friends at MID AMERICA MOTORWORKS pay tribute to ZORA ARKUS-DUNTOV: GODFATHER OF THE CORVETTE, the man responsible for America’s first real sports car. Zora Arkus-Duntov was a brilliant engineer who transformed the Corvette from a stylish sports car into a legendary high-performance machine. Arkus-Duntov was born in 1909 and raised in Saint Petersburg, Russia. After the Russian Revolution, the family immigrated to Berlin, Germany where he earned an engineering degree from Charlottenburg Tec...

FORD GT: INVESTMENT GRADE SUPERCAR

Posted on June 16, 2020June 16, 2020 by MartynL

Colin Comer blogs about the FORD GT: INVESTMENT GRADE SUPERCAR being instantly collectible, and it isn’t slowing down. As one of the few “instant collectible” cars that actually proved to be so, 2005–06 Ford GTs have maintained their value at or above their original MSRP since new. In other words, they’ve always defied logic. After all, with 4,038 produced, they aren’t rare, and typically any late-model “gotta have it” supercar is quickly supplanted by the next one. So how is the 2005-2006 F...

1960s: TEN GREATEST PERFORMANCE CARS

Posted on June 16, 2020June 16, 2020 by MartynL

You can call them Musclecars, Supercars, Ponycars or Sports Cars, but Scott Oldham simply calls ‘em as he sees them: 1960s: TEN GREATEST PERFORMANCE CARS. 1965 Pontiac GTO Everyone was a car nut in the 1960s. Everyone. Even the peace loving, pot-loving, free-loving hippies. Heck, even the people at the car companies. Men like Enzo, John Z., Carroll, Zora, Butzi, and Sir William. These men built the cars they wanted, not what market research told them. And they built powerful art forms through...

CHEVY: LS427/570 BIG-BLOCK

Posted on June 12, 2020 by MartynL

Latest CHEVY: LS427/570 BIG-BLOCK LS7 crate motor boasts more of everything, including ease of installation in a variety of vehicles. Chevrolet Performance today announced the all-new LS427/570 crate engine - an enhanced version of the production-based LS7 7.0L engine that offers more horsepower, more torque and, thanks to a simpler wet-sump oiling system, easier installation. A new, high-lift camshaft developed specifically for this engine helps produce a GM-estimated 570 horsepower and 540...

MERCEDES-AMG GT 63 S: ADRENALINE RUSH

Posted on June 12, 2020June 12, 2020 by MartynL

The days have to be numbered for 630 horsepower road rockets like the MERCEDES-AMG GT 63 S: ADRENALINE RUSH. Grab one while you can, says Road Test Editor Howard Walker. Yes, the day will come in the not-too-distant future, when your electrified cocoon-on-wheels is driving you autonomously to who-knows-where, and you'll smile. You'll smile because you'll remember the time when there were cars in the world like the Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S. You'll remember fondly how, back in 2020, this mighty Me...

E.J. POTTER: MICHIGAN MADMAN V-8 MOTORCYCLES

Posted on June 7, 2020June 7, 2020 by MartynL

When it came to exhibition drag racing, the biggest crowd-pleaser was E.J. POTTER: MICHIGAN MADMAN V-8 MOTORCYCLES. Nobody and no motorcycle did it better than the maximum motorhead from Ithaca, MI! Growing up, young E.J. Potter proved to be an inventive and daring motor-head. The teenage Potter was stuck with a crazy idea, one that was unheard of - drop a V-8 engine in a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. He was already tinkering with tractor engines on the farm, building motorcycles and racing at th...

‘20 BMW M8: SUNSHINE SUPERSTAR

Posted on June 5, 2020 by MartynL

Think of the ‘20 BMW M8: SUNSHINE SUPERSTAR as a 600-horsepower tanning bed, writes Road Test Editor Howard Walker. Trust me, you don't need a BMW M8 Convertible. You don't need its 600 hellacious horsepower, or its ability to carve curves like Dale Jr. at Daytona. And while its ease at catapulting you from standstill to 60 mph in, gulp, three seconds may seem a great way of social distancing, it'll make no difference in a Starbucks drive-thru! But, but, if you have $145,000 searing a ho...

CHEVY: GUIDE TO Z-CODE MUSCLE

Posted on June 3, 2020 by MartynL

Muscle maven Scott Oldham sets the record straight on Chevy’s RPO options, CHEVY: GUIDE TO Z-CODE MUSCLE, starting with the light-heavyweight ’63 Impala SS Z11. Of course, Datsun and Nissan have dibs on the Z-Car moniker - we’re not arguing that. But Chevy was actually there first. The original Datsun 240Z didn’t arrive until 1970, while Chevy’s first Z-Cars, the Z11 427-powered Impalas and Z06 Corvette had become legends seven years earlier. Truth is, by the time Mr. K finally got his sport...

ASTON MARTIN DBS: TRIPPING THE SUPER-LIGHT FANTASTIC

Posted on June 2, 2020June 2, 2020 by MartynL

The ‘20 DBS Superleggera Volante delivers hair-raising, open-top V12 excitement, writes Road Test Editor Howard Walker. Ponder this bijou factoid for a second: The top speed of Aston Martin's new, breathtakingly gorgeous, 715 horsepower DBS Superleggera Volante convertible is 211 mph. That in itself is mightily impressive. If my math is correct, at that velocity the thundering Aston is covering the entire length of a football field in a hair over one second. No, what's really impressive is Asto...

KARMA: E-FLEX SUPERCAR PLATFORM

Posted on May 27, 2020May 27, 2020 by MartynL

Racing inspired, all-electric AWD KARMA: E-FLEX SUPERCAR PLATFORM with four-motor BEV architecture is capable of handling over 1,000 horsepower. Following the announcement of Karma Automotive’s all-electric high-performance E-Flex™ platform with supercar-capable architecture last month, Karma engineers have now begun testing the platform in an all-wheel drive (AWD) performance EV prototype vehicle. Equipped with Karma’s racing-inspired E-Flex platform suitable for road and track day application...