Video: Swiss Hillclimb Excellence – New..!!

I’ve been fixated with this European Hillclimb Championship video captured recently by FingerVideo in St. Ursanne, Switzerland. A broad range of sporting variants charge (and dance) their way through the town and up the Pass, posting truly incredible speeds in the process…

Enjoy 😉

Car control: Europeans have it, and understand it.

-Blake J.
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Video: Hot Wheels Loop-The-Loop – Full Scale..!

Fairly certain I’m not in the minority here as having devoted a huge portion of my youth towards the collection, upkeep and fun-times associated with the wonderful world of Hot Wheels. Eventually, I branched out into Matchbox cars (had the coveted carrying-case ‘briefcase’) and even Fast 111’s trickled onto the make-believe scene as well.

I carted this around wherever I went… Important business inside..!

Yet, with Hot Wheels (along with the endless deluge of click-track that constantly morphed and grew within our collection) there was always that one tricky bit of fun called the Loop-the-Loop – Enter too fast and your car would just fly off the edges. Enter too slow and your car would just roll right back towards you… Needless to say, it took a carefully judged weight and angle of attack coupled with the right amount of lead-up track in order to complete a successful (and clean) Loop-the-Loop.

Full scale fun…

Enter the flamboyant X-Games held over this past weekend and here we have the full scale version driven by Greg Tracy (green car) and Tanner Foust (yellow car), complete with the requisite jump at the end… Enjoy..!

–Blake J. 
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Mercedes-Benz: SLS AMG Black Series Caught Storming the ‘Ring

This was the sort of thing that was always lingering away in the ‘Inevitable’ files of modern Benz motoring ever since the God-of-Thunder SLS was bestowed upon the motoring landscape back in 2010 – an AMG ‘Black Series’ version of the gullwinged ‘bahn-stormer due in 2013.

Spy shots a-plenty have come scourging in from the formidable testing ground for all-things fast and rumbly over the past several months showing an SLS clad in awkward body-armour, permeating its signature bark ‘n wail throughout the twisting and diving Eiffel region. Now, fresh onto the Land o’ Internet comes this newest video showing the forthcoming SLS Black negotiating a slow-speed corner before rousing up a mechanically thunderous soundtrack to the delight of onlookers and YouTubers…

Aside from the obvious wheel-arch extensions to accomodate a slightly wider track (and wheels), the word on the street seems to be that this next AMG Black Edition will come embellished with close to (a faintly ridiculous) 650 bhp and an even-faster shifting version of the 7-speed DCT gearbox (same one used in the Ferrari 458). Shame that no proper manual transmission will ever be offered – think of how truly exciting that would be..! Hello AMG…?!?

Further details on the SLS Black are unsurprisingly scant at best for now, so why not have a gander below at the Black Series lineage so far to date in helping to remind of AMG’s bouts of occassional madness (and the not-so – hello SLK55 ‘Black’) within this often-dour automotive shift plane…

The ’07-’09 CLK63 AMG Black

The bonkers ’09 SL65 AMG Black

The not-so bonkers SLK55 AMG Black…

The latest Black – the C63 AMG

-Blake J.
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McLaren: Inside The Technology Centre – Video

Insightfully revealing new video here from the Drive Channel on YouTube showing the inner-workings of the mysterious McLaren Technology Centre. Most of what is shown in the 26-minute video has been previously unseen by film-crews, so to derive some sort of visual access to parallel McLaren’s notoriously precise methods of detailed engineering is a joyful encounter… Enjoy 😉

To be honest (and a bit nit-picky), I’m not entirely sold on the presenter’s abilities (or school-boy wardrobe selection) during this rare opportunity to ask some of the more pertinent and intriguing questions that could/should have been asked… but regardless, a great job by the cameraman/crew in capturing the interior aura and static mood of this near-otherworldly entitiy of McLaren.

-Blake J.
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Video: Ken Block’s Gymkhana 4 – Bonus Edit

Say what you rightly have to say (and think) about the Ken Block/DC Shoes ‘Gymkhana’ series of spectacular, automotive hoonery… Some call it masturbational and self-congratulating to the point of being absurd and some celebrate the undoubtedly phenomenal driving skills and OTT antics of Mr. Block (and the overall sound/visual production levels) as something we should covet and simply enjoy in this Health ‘n Safety riddled world we’ve become so (worryingly) obsessed with…

Either way, there’s no denying that a newly stripped-back and ‘less-Hollywood’ re-edit of last Summer’s Gymkhana 4 video will entice the interest of even the most stuffy of automotive enthusiasts… This is just flat-out, automotive pornography on an out-of-control level that’s just pure fun and simply ridiculous… Enjoy…!

-Blake J.
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Video Tribute: Carroll Shelby and the Cobra

As most of you will have probably heard or read by now, we lost an American automotive legend last week – Carroll Shelby passed away resulting in complications from pneumonia… He was 89.

Carroll in the original AC Cobra – the 1962 CSX2000

Responsible for developing the mighty AC Cobra (great feature in last month’s Octane magazine), the Shelby line of high performance Mustangs and lest we forget his heavy involvement with bringing the Ford GT40 to fruition where it swept the limelight away from Ferrari in ’66 by winning Le Mans 1, 2, 3… It subsequently won Le Mans every year to ’69.

The GT40 that crossed the line in 1st place at the legendary 1966 Le Mans

The video below comes courtesy of a ‘Behind The Headlights’ feature/documentary that originally aired on the Speed Channel. At just over 43 minutes in length (edited w/out those annoying US commercials) it comes as an intriguing testament to the die-hard mentality and perseverence of Carroll and all the talented ‘blue collar’ engineers that developed and assisted with the birth of the Cobra from its original, humble British roots to the flame-spitting, Le Mans-entered Daytona Cobra Coupe…

Enjoy… 😉

Rest in peace Carroll…

Also, for those wishing to own a Carroll Shelby-approved ‘continuation’ of the original Cobra Coupe (amongst other ’60s Ford/Chevy Motorsport icons), you simply can’t go wrong in checking yourself into one of the incredibly beautiful (and detail-ridden) examples built by South African-based Superformance. Some tasty examples of their stunning recreations below…

The Superformance Corvette Grand Sport Roadster

Their Shelby Daytona Cobra Coupe…

And their exquisite GT40 recreation…

Blake J.

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Video Duel: Remembering The Talented Gilles Villeneuve

May 8th, 1982 marks 30 years since the death of Gilles Villeneuve; one of the most-talented and fearless drivers the sport ever witnessed… Here, we bring you a short video-clip tribute narrated by the ever-colourful (and opinionated) Jeremy Clarkson to assist in documenting this incredibly entertaining jousting match (for 2nd place) between Rene Arnoux and Villeneuve at the ’79 French Grand Prix…

 

-Blake J. 

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Videos: Ferrari, AMG and Audi Self-Congratulating their Online Social Marketing Numbers

‘Social Media is king’ – Yes yes yes… In this day and age we’ve firmly grasped that unequivocal reality by now, despite how confusingly ridiculous and painfully dumbed-down the ‘clickable’ methods of self-congratulating fanfare have become in achieving these Grand Statements of Internet Glory, as so brazenly rolled out by top-brand manufacturers…

Yet somewhere along the way of this tail-spinning online world, rife with increasingly brain-numbing tactics and strategies and marketing obsessions with SCO’s and such, influencing people to simply click a ‘thumb-up’ button on their computer’s screen has actually become A Big Deal… as AMG proudly displays hereth…

Now think about that for a second – Massive companies and corporations are actually celebrating the fact that many millions of humans clicked onto their Facebook page and subsequently clicked a thumbs-up button, with their mouse… We’re supposed to go ‘wow!’ to that news and say ‘job well done chaps’… ?

Is it not a worldwide ‘given’ that companies such as Coca-Cola and Starbucks and Ferrari have quite a healthy, in the mega-millions, dedicated fanbase despite social marketing claims…? Obviously, Ferrari is the sell-out King of merchandising their brand to legions of followers/minions and, unsurprisingly, they want you to know it…

Somehow, this clicking-of-‘like’-buttons and obsessions with ‘view numbers’ on YouTube pages is seen as a marked achievement by these top brands – in this case, an achievement deemed worthy of chucking money towards silly, tire-smoking video productions to highlight their ‘accompishment’ and ‘thank’ all those that clicked the upward-pointing thumb on their FB page…

AMG c63 ‘thanking you’ for watching and clicking…

Really now…? Is that really an impressive feat…? Well yes, nowadays it is, it would seem… Companies (and people) will do just about anything, no matter how stupifyingly simple and brain-oozingly dumb, to gather your attention and persuade you to click a button, watch a video and interact with your opinions… Utterly baffling sometimes… Squeal away, Audi….

Welcome to online automotive marketing where any cause (or excuse) to illuminate the most banal of irrelevant, self-righteous claims is the way forward. Millions of people ‘like’ your global corporation…? uhm, yeah… we know…. we really, REALLY know… Sally’s self-gratifyingly emotive statement from 1980 says it all…

-Blake J.
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Video: Pagani Zonda 760RS – Driven By Evo Magazine

My oh my… Check out this world-exclusive, hands-on drive along with a detailed view (and soundtrack) of the criminally insane 760 bhp Zonda 760RS, as presented by Evo Magazine’s founder, Harry Metcalfe… What a sound – what a car – what a justified price-tag..!

Interesting to note that Harry mentions “an F1 driver” with the initials LH, that has one of these on order… with a manual gearbox… solely for the purposes of driver enjoyment/involvement… We doff our cap to you, Mr. Lewis Hamilton (you lucky bugger).

-Blake J.
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Subaru BRZ: New Video Sheds Light(weight) Details of Development

By now, you’ll have most-certainly been exposed to the gradually building fanfare of the joint automotive venture that is the Subaru BRZ/Toyota FT86. It goes without saying that this new vehicle harkens back to a time, not too long ago, when simplicity, affordability and exploitable fun were found within the recipes of modestly-powered sportscars.

BRZ looking gruff and ready at our recent local Auto Show

I recently attended our fair City’s annual Big Motor Show at the newly re-domed mega-plex and besides the usual exotica (and lack thereof) to catch my attention, my main focus was on seeing the Subaru BRZ and Toyota FT86 (well, the Scion FRS – North America and all) in the actual metal. While it was rather annoying that both cars were on lockdown mode preventing anyone from accessing their interiors, they were openly displayed to allow up-close viewing.

Sorry dear, it's locked - slightly frustrating with an exciting new car that is focused on driver-involvement and interaction... just sayin'

Of the two cars, it was the Subaru that caught my attention with its almost demure, yet purposeful presence – a bit more aggressive yet less flashy than the Scion counterpart. It looked tough. It also looked smaller than what I was expecting as well – chalk that up to the internet making everything look larger than it really is… – I liked that.

Looks better up close in-the-metal instead of on my computer screen... Want to drive one, now.

I also liked the small wheels – cannot tell you how refreshing it is to hear a manufacturer placing emphasis on ‘fun’ vehicle dynamics (remember ‘fun’ driving…?) without resorting to the fashionable ‘maximum grip levels’ on massively cartoonish 18″ or 19″ wheels… Heck, I wish it had 15″ or 16″ deeply-dished, lightweight wheels to coax even more exhilaration from the chassis… but that’s the old-school BMW e30-applauding side of me coming to the fore… 😉

If they'll offer a 15 or 16" wheel variant with dish, I'm game...

Anyways, on to why we’re conducting this entry… To share with you the newest documentary from Subaru themselves that offers a detailed view of the development process involved with the BRZ… albeit in Japanese with easy-to-read subtitles. I think it’s safe to say that Subaru knows how to build and engineer a fun car… and knowing now how much effort and input Subaru instilled with the creation and development of this new sportscar, my intrigue continues to fall towards the BRZ over the sister Scion…

Part 1.

Part 2.

-Photos by Blake J.

-Blake J.
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