 Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel celebrate with Red Bull boss Christian Horner on the podium |
Dienstag, 31. Mai 2011
Red Bull under the spotlight
1970 Coronet Super Bee W.I.P. (Update 5/26)
So after the disaster that was the Porsche 911 (see topic "Conceding Defeat") I decided on a muscle car build.This is a repop by MPC that was recently released in its origional box art however on close inspection theres a few areas where the mold shows its age. However: some of the nicer aspects of this repop are individually bagged chrome/clear parts, the latter being wrapped in a foam padding to prevent scratches. 
The kit also includes a MPC bumper sticker and a miniature version of the box you cut out and fold up. But i digress . On to the WIP....
So i started out with a lil body work. The front pan is a seperate piece that butt joins to the body and the fit was mediochre at best. so I welded it to the body with a ton of superglue and built up some fills with Bondo and styrene to re-enforce the joint. After a few passes with sandpaper i shot a quick coat of Plastikote primer to see how everything was shaping up.
There were some rough spots on the fenders and around the hood so i started in on massaging those out as well as 2 small divots in the trunk lid. I dont get to a PC that often anymore so ill keep up text updates as often as possible from my Iphone and pictures when i can. Lots more to come on this!
-Mike
Looking back at Monaco
The post-race rush to get articles written went on deep into Sunday night, not helped by a traffic jam getting out of Monaco at 11pm, which meant that 50 minutes were wasted, looking at the back of a truck. Having finished it all in the wildly early hours of Monday, we set out to drive [...]
Toshio Suzuki Jacques Swaters Bob Sweikert Toranosuke Takagi
Mopars, mopars, an more mopars
I'm only 14 and my dads had a 70 challenger convertible, a T/A (hemi orange), a 70 and 72 Roadrunner, as well as a T7 copper 69 1/2 lift off hood roadrunner. Hes had two 71 cudas also. Our house currently has 2 mopars, a 71 demon slant 6(My brothers) and a 70 challenger SE. Mopar runs through my blood. I've got the REVELL 70 Roadrunner im converting ino a GTX. Its black with white stripes and it will have a burnt orange or B5 blue interior. Should I put a vinyl top on it or go slick top????
Montag, 30. Mai 2011
Why the Monaco GP still packs a punch
Once a year Formula 1 absolutely lives up to its billing as the most glamorous sport in the world and that time comes at the Monaco Grand Prix.
On Friday morning, I had to gingerly step aboard a tender and then climb a rope ladder dangling from the side of a yacht to interview Renault's Nick Heidfeld on deck. Yes, this really could only happen in Monaco.
Without a doubt, the glamour and prestige of the tiny principality, where residents are required to have a significant sum in the bank, inflates F1's wow factor.
"I love it here, it is fantastic," crooned Lewis Hamilton, a Monaco race-winner in 2008 for McLaren. "Wow, this is such a beautiful place to be."
Monaco's street circuit provides a unique thrill for spectators (Getty)
After a muted showing in recent years, the harbour is once again crammed with multi-million pound yachts. Force India owner Vijay Mallya held a Bollywood-themed party on the Indian Empress while the imposing Force Blue made its return with flamboyant owner and former Renault boss Flavio Briatore on board.
Red Bull and Toro Rosso have also taken to water in their floating motorhome - complete with its own swimming pool - while Ferrari have gone one better by putting up their personnel on a yacht.
With such exotic playthings at hand it's hardly surprising the guest list includes Hollywood A-listers Scarlett Johansson and Leonardo di Caprio.
But for all the privilege and status on show, the Monaco Grand Prix also provides unrivalled access for fans.
The more affluent spectator can fork out up to �3,800 for Sunday's race but the cheapest seat is �65 and offers amazing trackside views and a party atmosphere from the Rochers hill along the side of the royal palace.
It's also the only paddock where fans can walk along the waterfront and peer into the teams' inner sanctums before posing for photos with their heroes as they emerge from the motorhomes.
And when the racing is over and dusk falls, the party begins on the track as fans sip a biere or two at the Rascasse bar.
Glitzy promotional events are par for the course in Monaco (Getty)
When Stirling Moss raced here during the Sixties he developed a habit of waving at female fans sunning themselves along the harbour.
Moss said he even used it as a ploy in the 1961 grand prix when he was under pressure from Richie Ginther's chasing Ferrari. Moss took his hand off the wheel to salute a girl and prove he wasn't feeling under pressure.
But can McLaren driver Jenson Button, a Monaco playboy turned triathlete, still have a sneaky glimpse at an average speed of 100mph? "No," he answered sternly.
Whatever you think of Monaco's champagne and celebrity, the yachts and those who pose upon them, Button is spot on - none of it detracts from the racing through the streets.
The miniature land, stacked on a rocky lip of land between France's Mont Angel mountain and the Mediterranean, is just made for the fastest cars in the world to hurtle around.
First comes the noise, the hum hidden among the biscuit-coloured buildings that gathers to a roar as the cars flash past.
Watching the cars fly by the grand Casino, weave nose-to-tail round the hairpin, thunder through the tunnel and then out again in a blink of light past the water and back round to Rascasse is mesmerising, and often nail-biting.
The late Ayrton Senna, who won in Monaco a record six times, spoke of an out of body experience as he glided between the barriers and round the twisting curves.
Driving precision is everything here and there is virtually no let-up, no straights to clear the head over 78 laps.
Two-time Monaco winner turned BBC pundit David Coulthard commented: "For me there's no better challenge for the driver than Monte Carlo and no more glamorous grand prix. For me it's still a thrill."
Maurice Trintignant Wolfgang von Trips Jarno Trulli Esteban Tuero
2012 Porsche 911 to be non-hybrid, non-KERS - report
The rumor mill is back in action as a new report is indicating the 2012 Porsche 911 will not offer a kinetic energy recovery system (KERS) or hybrid variant for the foreseeable future.Mack DM800 Logger ERTL WIP
Here are some pics of my current truck project. This is the first of a number in a trip down memory lane for me. I remember seeing the original ERTL DM800 kit reviewed ( when NEW ! ) in the Aug 1976 edition of Scale Models ( Brit publication ) for the great sum of UK5 pounds & 25p. ( I still have the original mag ! ). As I was lucky to get about 25p a week for chores it was way out of my price range. So when Model King re-issued the Mack a couple of years ago ( Thanks Dave ! ), I bought one and now 35 years later am "living the dream". The plan is to have it finished for our local contest held in August ( a fitting date ). As usual however, the detail bug has hit ....
One of the best features of the Mack is the rear suspension and drive. That's why I chose the logger, as it all remains on display. The trunnion caps were cut off, drilled and the pivot has been replace by aluminum tubing, that allows the bogie to travel, whilst remaining tight ( aligned ). I found it important to complete this first, to allow the set up of front of the frame. You can see the resulting travel in the third pic. , that allows the wheels to all stay on the ground
The wheels have an odd method of retention using the hubs. They need to be cemented on, and as I needed the tyres attached to align the front of the frame ( and can't get back in to paint the inner rims later ), that's why I painted the whole assembly early on. All the frame will be a weathered red. Not sure about cab colour yet. I want it to look vintage - any suggestions ?...
Aston Martin V12 Zagato racer arrives at the Nürburgring [spy photos]
Our spies have caught the first pictures of the Aston Martin V12 Zagato racing prototype, ahead of its debut at the 4-hour ADAC ACAS H&R-Cup VLN race on the Nürburgring's Nordschleife.Team Lotus Launch Their 2011 Machine The T128
Team Lotus (the one who raced last year) have become the second team to officially pull the covers off their new 2011 car. The green and yellow liveried machine will start be raced by Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen this season under the name of Team Lotus as the management’s row with Group Lotus, now [...]
Sonntag, 29. Mai 2011
Save Gas on Memorial Day Weekend
Many families choose to take road trips over long weekends, and with Memorial Day being this weekend, more people than ever will take to the open road. This can be quite the scary notion for two distinct reasons. For starters, gasoline is spiking at $4.00 per gallon which makes travel expensive even just across town. The second reason is that more and more drivers on the road seem to be getting their drivers license without having taken the test. I drive roughly 20 minutes each way to and from work in Southern California and to be honest, I fear for my life nearly every time. Between cell phones, eating, passengers, and plenty of other distractions, it is a very dangerous world. Hopefully these tips can help keep you be safe and thrifty over the holiday weekend.
One way to temporarily increase fuel economy is by coasting to a stop. If you notice a light turn red in the distance - do not speed up just to stop short at the end. By letting the car coast as if it were in neutral you can boost gas mileage and save your brakes. The brakes on your car will ultimately bring you to a halt and keep your car from moving, but up until they are needed all they do is waste kinetic energy. Allowing your car to coast in stop and go traffic situations will allow the engine to work less, the brakes to work less, and will most likely cut down on those irritating false starts.
Hit the jump for more money-saving tips.
Save Gas on Memorial Day Weekend originally appeared on topspeed.com on Friday, 27 May 2011 20:00 EST.
Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG by MEC Design
There have been plenty of aftermarket companies that have released program options for the Mercedes SLS AMG. And with the car’s popularity continuing to soar, you can expect that more and more companies are ready to take a stab at the German supercar. Some of them even have already done so more than once.
MEC Design is no stranger to working on the SLS AMG, so much so in fact that their first design for the car was introduced 18 months ago. Fast forward to this week and the aftermarket company has prepared a new program for the SLS 63 AMG, one that includes an aerodynamic package for a customer from Florida.
MEC Design’s exterior package for the SLS 63 AMG includes a two-piece front spoiler, a spoiler lip finished in carbon, optional LED headlights, new side sills with four optional LED lights per side, a rear trunk-lid lip, a two-piece rear roof spoiler, a roof air scoop, a custom built, stainless steel sport exhaust system, three different diffuser options (Extreme, Formula, or GT3), and a set of mecxtreme3 allow wheels that are available in either 20" or 21".
Inside the car, MEC Design gave the SLS AMG a sports steering wheel dressed in carbon and Alcantara with leather/Alcantara and carbon/leather combinations coming as added options for customers. Speaking of carbon fiber, there’s plenty of the high-end material placed inside to make it look like its swimming in the posh item. Carbon inserts have been applied on the middle console, door guards, entry guard, the seat casings, and just behind the rear seats.
There’s plenty to see if you have the photos to look at. Fortunately, we have a mega gallery that you can consume at your heart’s desire.
Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG by MEC Design originally appeared on topspeed.com on Sunday, 29 May 2011 12:00 EST.
Mopar Missile Duster Finished
This one is done.
99.0% Reliable Resin with a Ross Gibson motor.
Thanks for looking!
Desmond Titterington Johnnie Tolan Alejandro de Tomaso Charles de Tornaco
Back In The Day: Monaco Grand Prix
So the race we all look forward to the most is almost upon us ? the Monaco Grand Prix.
Images of icons from a bygone era shooting along the streets of Monte Carlo and past the famous harbour stay etched in the minds of F1 ...
Samstag, 28. Mai 2011
Fernando Alonso and Michael Schumacher Work Together To Score (Video)
Here at Formula1Fancast, we are often sifting through Formula 1 videos looking for some interesting ones to show you.
Well, we came across one we hadn’t seen before and it shows the lighter side of the sport.
It involves Fernando Alonso, Charles de Tornaco Tony Trimmer Maurice Trintignant Wolfgang von Trips
Infiniti FX 30dS tuned by AHG Sports
German tuner ups the Infiniti FX 30dS appeal quotient to make it a Porsche Cayenne Diesel competitor.Luigi Villoresi Emilio de Villota Ottorino Volonterio Jo Vonlanthen
Perez ? conscious, talking
Sergio Perez is at the hospital in Monaco following his accident at Monaco. The Sauber team says that he is “conscious, talking and undergoing tests”.
Freitag, 27. Mai 2011
2011 Monaco Grand Prix practice in 100 pictures | F1 pictures
Pictures of the cars doing their first laps of the Monaco weekend during practice today.
Has F1 made overtaking too easy?
There have been five grands prix so far in the 2011 Formula 1 season and every single one of them, in its own way, has been a cracker.
The introduction of faster wearing tyres from new supplier Pirelli, the DRS overtaking aid and the return of Kers power-boost systems has led to a perfect storm of close racing, overtaking and pit stops.
This has made for an exciting season even though Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel is running away with the championship after four wins and a second place in five races.
Yet there is disquiet in some parts of the Formula 1 paddock.
There is a purist view that what the world is seeing is some kind of pale shadow of what F1 really should be. Superficially the racing has improved, some are saying, but is it real? Is this F1 or a tainted, cheapened version of it?
After years of complaints about overtaking being too difficult in F1, about races tending towards the processional, about a general lack of entertainment, it might seem a somewhat perverse thing to say.
But the sense, in some quarters, is that in trying to spice up the show, the sport has veered a little too far towards showbiz and lost some of its true essence.
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He is careful about he expresses it, but Vettel's team-mate Mark Webber is one of the chief exponents of this view.
Ironically, Webber has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of the new rules so far.
In China, where he qualified close to the back, the Australian used a clever strategy to benefit from the huge grip differences between new and old, hard and soft tyres, as well as the DRS, to climb up to third place by the end of the race, just seven seconds behind winner Lewis Hamilton.
So great was his pace advantage over his rivals in the latter stages that had the race been three laps or so longer Webber would have won. From 18th on the grid. In a race in which there was only one retirement. Even allowing for the superiority of the Red Bull, that is astonishing.
And yet Webber said afterwards that it felt a little hollow. Sure, he had enjoyed himself, and he was pleased with the result. But passing tough, world-class competitors such as Fernando Alonso so easily when they were effectively defenceless did not feel quite right. The racing, he says, is "less intense" than it was.
Webber brought up the subject again in Spain at the weekend, pointing out that the lap times F1 cars were doing on worn tyres and high fuel loads were only eight seconds faster than those of the GP3 cars, two categories down the motor racing ladder.
"We still need to be the pinnacle," Webber said. "We need to be able to push the cars to the limit throughout a grand prix and have very strong lap times, man against machine.
"Pirelli are working hard but we need to make sure the degradation and pace is still of a sensible magnitude and the cars can be put on the limit and not get too far on the showbiz side of things."
It's not just Webber, either. Last week, influential Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo weighed into the debate, too.
Di Montezemolo said: "Listen, I want to see competition, I want to see cars on the track. I don't want to see competition in the pits.
"A little bit, yes - but in the last race (Turkey) there were 80 pit stops. Come on, it's too much. And the people don't understand anymore because when you come out of the pits you don't know what position you're in.
"I think we have gone too far with the machines, too many buttons. The driver is focusing on the buttons, when you have the authorisation to overtake. We have gone too far."
Much of the criticism has, as Di Montezemolo said, focused on the DRS. This is a clever device that moves a part of the rear wing, reducing drag, and therefore increasing straight-line speed.
A driver can use it in a specified zone on the track, on the longest straight, when he is within a second of the car in front at a predetermined point before the DRS zone. The driver defending his position cannot use it.
The idea was to make overtaking easier - but not too easy. The problem is that people have looked at the Turkish race, and the number of times drivers sailed past rivals down the long back straight, and concluded that DRS is making overtaking like driving past someone on the motorway.
That, though, is a misunderstanding of what is actually happening. In Turkey, as in so many of the other races, what promoted the overtaking was the differing grip levels of the tyres at various stages of their lives.
As Charlie Whiting, the race director, points out, in a lot of the cases in Istanbul, the driver behind already had a massive speed advantage over his rival even before he got to the DRS zone. Because his tyres were providing him with so much more grip, he could slingshot out of the preceding corner so much faster.
In those circumstances, the pass would have been easy regardless, DRS or not.
"Our view has always been we shouldn't make it easy, we should make it possible," Whiting says.
"In Melbourne we didn't have quite enough length (in the DRS zone). I think it worked perfectly in Malaysia and China. But we're all learning here. I definitely don't think we've made it too easy.
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"I don't think anyone is under any illusion that it's the DRS that's allowing the overtaking. Opinions vary presumably, but tyres probably have a bigger part to play at the moment. I don't think we've gone over the top with the DRS, and we certainly don't want to. We've got no intention of doing that. We believe it's a good tool and hopefully you agree."
Although I share some of Webber's reservations, I also do not want to see fast cars stuck for ever behind slow ones just because the laws of aerodynamics dictate that drivers cannot follow closely enough to overtake. The DRS is a way of using technology to get F1 out of a hole that technology has got it into.
So, fundamentally, as long as governing body the FIA can find the right balance, I think Whiting is right on this, and the proof came in Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix.
Vettel spent the first 18 laps bottled up behind the fast-starting but slow Ferrari of Alonso. Red Bull tried to jump the Spaniard with an early first pit stop, but just failed when Ferrari responded and got out in front.
So they tried again and despite Vettel having to pass three cars on his out lap and Ferrari responding next time around, the German blasted past the pit exit just as Alonso was emerging.
Last year, with much slower wearing Bridgestone tyres meaning smaller pace differentials between the cars, Vettel would never have been able to pass three cars on his out lap, and he may well have spent the entire race behind Alonso.
At the same time, the difficulties all drivers had in passing down the main straight, the DRS zone, when they were able to pass elsewhere - around Turns Four, Five, 10 and 11, for example, where overtaking was previously very rare - proved that it was the tyres not the DRS that were making the difference.
"Barcelona had the possibility to be a drone-a-thon," Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said after the race. "Two years ago here, Sebastian drove around looking at the exhaust of (Ferrari's) Felipe Massa for the whole grand prix.
"This has really changed the dynamics of that and a track where it's traditionally difficult to overtake and produce close racing has produced an absolute thriller. The regulations have obviously contributed and created that. They're working."
It's true that the tyres' fragility is stopping the drivers exploiting the full potential of their cars all the time. This may not always be desirable but, as my colleague Mark Hughes points out in his column, this season it probably is.
If the cars were all on rubber that allowed them to push to the limit in the race, Red Bull would probably be able to tap into more of the speed that gives them such a huge advantage in qualifying. In which case Vettel wouldn't just be winning, he would be driving off into the distance. The tyres appear to be making the racing close, and introducing competition that might not otherwise be there.
Despite Vettel's domination, all the races have been close and exciting to watch and that is having a startling effect on the television audience.
You might expect, for example, that a German winning nearly everything would cause TV audiences to switch off in the UK, but in fact the opposite has been the case.
The BBC F1 audience has been up at all but one race so far this year. China had the highest number of viewers that race has ever had. During the Spanish race, the peak audience was 1.2 million higher this year than last.
But far more telling is the behaviour of the audience during the race. In the past, there would usually be a peak at the start, a significant dip in the middle, another peak at a moment of high excitement - a crash, a pit stop etc - another dip and a peak at the end.
This year, though, the audience has started higher than before - and stayed there throughout the race. People dare not switch off for fear of missing something. Far from the races being too confusing - as some newspapers have said - they are proving to be gripping from beginning to end.
I'll leave the final word to Jenson Button. He was asked if F1 had veered too far towards 'showbiz'.
"There are more positives than negatives," he said. "Of course it's a show; that's what any sport is. We need viewers to exist and the viewers have gone through the roof supposedly. I don't think we've done anything wrong. We've definitely gone in the right direction."
Why Michael Schumacher Could Win The 2011 World Championship
Michael Schumacher?s 2010 comeback was somewhat abortive.� The results, the driving standard and the overtakes were well below par for the former champion.� He even let his team mate beat him for the first time in his career.� So why can Schumacher, the fallen Ferrari hero, win the world championship for an 8th time? It?s [...]
Donnerstag, 26. Mai 2011
Classic Moments ? Monaco Grand Prix 1970 (Black and White Video)
As you all know, it is the Monaco Grand Prix this weekend. A race with an incredible amount of history.
With this in mind, we have sifted through the archives and found some footage of the Monaco race from 41 years ago.
The video shows the final lap of the 1970 race, with Jack Brabham ...
Vettel fastest as Schumacher crashes in first practice | 2011 Monaco Grand Prix
Sebastian Vettel topped the times in first practice in Monaco.
Johnnie Tolan Alejandro de Tomaso Charles de Tornaco Tony Trimmer
Mittwoch, 25. Mai 2011
Life in the pit lane
 The Mercedes pit crew prepare for Michael Schumacher in Singapore |
These are not select millionaires but up to 16 ordinary, yet gifted, guys; team mechanics who have worked their way up the system and often migrate from team to team, are paid real-world wages of between �30,000 and �50,000 a year, are drilled to perfection ? and whose split-second synchronisation brings their teams huge rewards.
Robert Kubica Could Be Ruled Out For At Least A Year Following Accident
Polish racing driver Robert Kubica will spend at least one whole year recovering from a rally crash he suffered this morning, according to his surgeon. Kubica, who races for Renault Lotus crashed the Skoda Fabia rally car this morning and was airlifted to hospital suffering serious injuries. He has spent many hours in surgery, with [...]
Dienstag, 24. Mai 2011
1969 Dodge Charger
here is my charger i have been working on just lowered the front and these are all different phases.
Leslie Thorne Bud Tingelstad Sam Tingle Desmond Titterington
CUP: Pearson?s Career Was Boosted By Policeman
A Spartanburg, S.C., man raised money to help future NASCAR star David Pearson buy a car?
CUP: NASCAR Hall Doubles Its Membership
Pearson, Moore, Allison, Jarrett, Petty honored in second ceremony?
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