SANTA BARBARA: STREETS OF PARADISE!

Posted on May 23, 2019 by MartynL

The 2019 State Street Nationals was all about great cars, puddles and panache, blogs CGC correspondent Jim Palam. It was raining as I motored south on Hwy 101, heading to Santa Barbara and the State Street Nationals Car Show. Promoters had promised over 300 cars this year, the 20th since California car guys starting showing their hot rods, classics, sports and exotics on this famed central artery of the city they call Paradise. I parked at the North end of the 10 block State Street strip design...

2019 INDY 500: WHAT YOU NEED TO SEE AND DO!

Posted on May 21, 2019May 21, 2019 by MartynL

Motorsports Maven Jim Donnelly’s quick and handy Indy 500 survival and 'to-see-and-do' guide for all you road warriors out there. Let’s say you’re making an oft-discussed, long-planned and much-anticipated journey out to Indianapolis for the first time this week, to take in the Greatest Spectacle in Racing on the most hallowed weekend in motorsport. Maybe you were already in town for the big Mecum auction that took place over the past weekend. The point here is there’s a ton to see, do, and eat ...

1,200 HP PORSCHE 911 TURBO!

Posted on May 17, 2019 by MartynL

MADMAX: 1,200 HORSEPOWER PORSCHE 911 TURBO!

Record-breaking racer Zef Eisenberg and the MADMAX Race Team return to Pendine Sands, South Wales this weekend (18-19 May 2019) to attempt set the highest speed ever achieved by a wheel-powered vehicle. Eisenberg, better known for racing motorbikes, makes a switch to four wheels in hope of hitting the 200-mph barrier and beyond in a specially built, road legal 1,200 HP Porsche 911 Turbo! The record will not only supersede The Wire star Idris Elba's Flying-Mile speed record (180.361 mph) set at ...

GORDON MURRAY: ONE FORMULA!

Posted on May 15, 2019May 17, 2019 by MartynL

A virtual exhibition of Gordon Murray’s 50 years of automotive design & engineering, immortalized in an online showcase where fans can ‘sit’ in Senna’s Formula One car; examine detail of a McLaren F1. Gordon Murray has unveiled a fully immersive, internet-based virtual exhibition of 40 different iconic race and road cars produced during the past 50 years of his illustrious career in vehicle design and engineering. The online exhibition, GORDON MURRAY: ONE FORMULA!, brings to life the p...

2019 QUAIL MOTORCYCLE GATHERING: UNWRAPPED!

Posted on May 13, 2019May 21, 2019 by MartynL

They say four wheels move the body; two wheels move the soul. Now in its 11th year, The Quail Motorcycle Gathering proved once again to be a vital force that attracts passionate motorcycle enthusiasts from around the world, to the emerald lawns of Quail Lodge & Golf Club in Carmel, CA. They come to celebrate the history, the beauty, the power and the future of all things two-wheels. To unwrap the essence of this annual gathering I arrived a day early to explore & learn as the exhibitors ...

PART V: REBUILDING MY TOTALLY-NOT-COLLECTIBLE MUSTANG!

Posted on May 11, 2019 by MartynL

Stephen Cox wraps up his mini-series and blogs about the performance improvements after the installation of a new Windsor racing engine and transmission. The ‘80 Mustang is arguably the least desirable of any Ford pony car ever built and is certainly not worth the money and effort for a restoration. But the car has tremendous sentimental value for my family and me. I bought the car in early 1982 as the second owner. My wife and I dated in this car and I've since put over 240,000 miles on the o...

BALDWIN-MOTION: HERITAGE & HORSEPOWER!

Posted on May 11, 2019May 11, 2019 by MartynL

A celebration of more than a half-century of horsepower & heritage and kick-ass, road & track big-block Chevy Supercars. BALDWIN-MOTION: HERITAGE & HORSEPOWER! Randy Leffingwell wrote in American Muscle Cars in 1990,“Motion (Performance) and Baldwin (Chevrolet) got together to provide enthusiasts a faster car than any manufacturer could offer.” Motion Performance’s Joel Rosen was the driving force behind the creation of Baldwin-Motion in 1967. His calling card was a 427 Camaro...

‘19 FORD EDGE ST: ECO-BOOSTED CROSSOVER!

Posted on May 10, 2019 by MartynL

The Ford Edge ST is quick, fairly agile and very usable. But this is no Mustang GT. Instead, it’s a way to carry the family; then drive home on the back roads you used to take that Mustang on before two kids and a dog, blogs Dan Scanlan. The idea of a really sporting crossover isn’t new. BMW has had the X5 for 20 years, while the Porsche Cayenne is 16 years’ strong and Jaguar has its new F-PACE. But if I say Ford Edge, most folks think of a rounded crossover that’s more suited to the school ...

LAMBORGHINI MIURA P400: THE ITALIAN JOB!

Posted on May 7, 2019 by MartynL

Fifty years from the release of the film The Italian Job, Lamborghini Polo Storico has certified the Miura P400, chassis #3586, as the original car used in the 1969 film. The Arancio Miura P400 with white/black leather interior has been the most pursued Miura in recent decades: it appears at the start of the film, driven by the Rossano Brazzi on the Great St Bernard Pass. In the movie plot the car is destroyed, but nobody would have really ruined what was the most desired car of the moment. In ...

GREAT DRIVES: ONE NIGHT AT TEXAS WORLD SPEEDWAY!

Posted on May 3, 2019 by MartynL

Most of racing's great stories (and some of its great drivers) are not on radio or TV. You gotta go see it for yourself, blogs Stephen Cox. Al Unser, Sr. used a hotel lobby display car to win at Indianapolis in 1987. Juan Fangio at 46 years old broke and re-broke the Nurburgring lap record three times during his miracle Formula One victory in 1957. Every motorsport enthusiast can recite a list of the great driving performances in auto racing history. But many of the sport's truly amazing drives...