Classic Cars Authority: March 2012

Saturday, March 31, 2012

Will the Bahrain GP happen?

I'm working on a post on the boycott and just emailed a contact at Human Rights Watch.

Aung San Suu Kyi and Benazir Bhutto

To almost everyone's surprise, there is an election in Burma tomorrow.

The image of Suu Kyi waving from the sunroof of her Montero/Pajero is ominous. You see, after years of house arrest, Suu Kyi reached an understanding with the military government and is running for office.

Benazir Bhutto, after years of exile, reached an understanding with the military government but was killed two weeks before an election.

Friday, March 30, 2012

Recap: Shmee150's Gumball 3000 2012 Teaser

In summer 2012, follow Shmee150 on an adventure across the USA, from New York City to Los Angeles; the Gumball 3000. Video updates will be posted daily, right here on Shmee150's YouTube channel - Subscribe now to see them first.

Thanks for watching, Tim

Mega Millions $540 million jackpot line/queue

I bought a few tickets last night. If I win, I vow to amass the greatest Youngtimers car collection in the world.

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Close call, these guys caught their pop up tent just before it crashed into their cars... and ruined the paint and bodywork on their show cars

The wind picked up after 11 am... and the rain started at 130

Nice Olds F85 caught my eye in a parking lot... Cragar SS rims make about everything look better... but the overall design, though simple, is good looking

Looks a lot like a 66 Chevelle from the side

Take the lettering off the tail panel, and no one would know what this car is.

The well animated vehicles from the movie "Tin Tin", quite the variety

A train crash in the movie "Hugo" replicates the famous Oct 1895 Granville-Paris Express wreck photo... pretty cool to include that in a movie

here is the original

The engine careened across almost 98 ft of the station concourse, crashed through a 2 foot thick wall, shot across a terrace and sailed out of the station, plummeting onto the Place de Rennes 33 ft below, where it stood on its nose. All on board the train survived, five sustaining injuries: two passengers (out of 131), the fireman and two conductors; however, one woman on the street below was killed by falling masonry. The accident was caused by a faulty Westinghouse brake and the engine drivers who were trying to make up for lost time. A conductor incurred a 25 franc penalty and the engine driver a 50 franc penalty.
Via: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/19/Train_wreck_at_Montparnasse_1895.jpg

I've posted that old photo before, because it's just amazing to me. Trains falling out of buildings... not very often that happens http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2010/02/one-of-most-impressive-photos-ive-seen.html

Osama Bin Laden commemorative coin ad

Hey kids, Xmas is just nine months away.

Recap: Ferrari SA Aperta - Insane Startup and Drive-off

At the launch party for the new 458 Spider, this Ferrari SA Aperta was present parked outside. The SA Aperta is the convertible (Aperta means Open) version of the Ferrari 599 GTO, the 660hp monster, and it is limited to just 80 cars - this being car number 6.

In the video you can see a couple of quick shots before the owner arrived, you hear an FF behind me startup before the SA Aperta does, making a monumentous noise! The driver certainly also had his foot down on the 'loud pedal' to make quite that much sound - I wasn't expecting it, nor was my microphone. You can then see the Aperta leave with an Audi R8 GT in convoy.

Thanks for watching, Tim

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

most unusual utility spotlight I've come across, looks like vintage German VW bug equipment, my compliments to the owner for finding such a rare thing

I should have gotten a better photo of the top of it. Anyone seen one before? I never have

louvered headlight covers?

unusual, and cool handmade car show plaque

I'd rather get one of these than the aluminum postage business card ones that are so common

87 year old Bentley driven over 1.5 million kilometers, and cross country for fun, still a pleasure to it's owner, 49 yr old, carpenter Robin Hine

I discovered this story on the Vintage Racing League newsletter that I get in email on a weekly basis, http://multibriefs.com/briefs/VRL/VRL123111.php but the full story was removed from the source they cite, the Vancouver newspaper, so I looked around the internet, and found a Facebook page for Robin's 6000 mile trek across Canada in his Bentley, http://www.facebook.com/pages/RM-X-Canada/229863477043872#!/pages/RM-X-Canada/229863477043872 photos are from a subscription only newspaper the Globe and Mail http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/tom-hawthorn/robin-hine-travels-across-canada-in-vintage-bentley/article2118997/

slammed VW vans

reflections of blue bugs

here's a cool mod to a bug with no air conditioning.. front hinged windshield

the fender mounted side mirrors are a nice touch too

and that it's a right hand drive is also unusual... and cool

one more reason I won't have a dog

just one of 20 photos demonstrating why dogs are not good pets from http://justacargal.blogspot.com/2012/03/20-reasons-i-dont-own-dog.html

2012 Nuclear Security Summit captions

Leaders from over 50 countries convened in Seoul to talk nuclear security. Here are some photos from the talks:

When did Jordan's King Abdullah II become William Shatner?

Am definitely not a fashionable guy, but I've always dug the cut of Medvedev's suits and his tie knots.

Say what you will about Kazakhstan's Nazarbayev, but he did unilaterally give up his young nation's entire nuclear weapons stockpile.

No matter how powerful you are, you always feel like an outsider at social functions.

I guess the Polish environmental minister memorized the chapter about bowing in Asian cultures on the flight over.

I now pronounce you man and Sheila!

How did Chile get to stand in the middle of the whole photo op? Did they draw straws?

Recap: Nissan Juke-R - Launch Control and Race Accelerations

The Nissan Juke-R is an amazing idea for a car, conceived as a publicity stunt, Nissan have taken a Juke and fed it the engine and spec of the GT-R, creating an absolutely monstrous machine!

I noted the 100 metre sprint times of 3 cars, the Lamborghini Aventador clocked 5.78, the Nissan GT-R managed a tiny 5.38 and the Juke-R came in just a touch behind the Aventador at 5.88; remember this is a Nissan Juke we're talking about here (or 'Joke' if you prefer...)

Here you can see the car showing off a few launch control starts and huge accelerations from the line and up the track at Goodwood.

Thanks for watching, Tim

Uh-oh

While filling up this morning, the shop owner was admiring the Popemobile. "Oh sure, I've worked on one of these before. Then the owner died in a light aircraft crash."

Recap: McLaren MP4-12C [GTspirit.com] - Ride, Revs, Accelerations and Flybys

My friends at http://www.gtspirit.com were invited to the McLaren Technology Centre to road test the new MP4-12C and they forwarded on the invite to me to join them to shoot this video. Head here to read their full review: http://www.gtspirit.com/2012/03/19/road-test-2012-mclaren-mp4-12c/

Thanks for watching, Tim

Crazy Ferrari Colour

Normally, most people are satisfied with one colour on their car. If not, especially in the case of Ferrari, they have a bi-colour paint scheme done, with the roof being one colour and the car being another colour.

This is the norm, and normally looks cool.

What I've found is a two tone Ferrari but not in the normal sense.

This car has a two tone paint of yellow and red down the length of the car, making it look very interesting indeed. It also has the 'Ferrari' graphic painted down the side, just in case people don't realise it is one. I kinda like it, its different and I applaud the driver for his uniqueness.