Mercedes Benz Museum: The Beginning of the Automobile
Posted: November 21, 2012 Filed under: EVENTS / PLACES | Tags: Automobile, Benz, Daimler, Early, first, Germany, Mercedes, Mind over motor, Motorwagen, Museum, Stuttgart 4 Comments »
I stopped at the Mercedes Benz Museum in Stuttgart during my trip to Germany this year. It is a fascinating facility in every respect, but the display of early automobiles is truly something to savor. Daimler (Mercedes Benz today) invented the motor car, so the museum is able to show the progression of the automobile quite actually from Genesis. These cars set the stage for every car we know and love today. In this feature you will see Daimler and Benz cars, the Mercedes name was added later on for added appeal. You will see the development from the crude origins of the automobile to where Daimler-Benz cars began to resemble the luxury objects that they are today. Enjoy. Read the rest of this entry »
2012 Scarsdale Concours d’ Elegance
Posted: October 23, 2012 Filed under: EVENTS / PLACES | Tags: 2012, Alfa Romeo, Aston Martin, Bentley, BMW, Cadillac, Concours, Corvette, DBAR1, Elegance, Fall, Ferrari, gallery, Lamborghini, Mclaren, Mercedes, Mind, Morgan, motor, Mustang, New York, Nick, NY, Over, Packard, Photo, Porsche, Rat, Renntech, Rod, Rolls-Royce, Scarsdale, SLR, Stingray, Walker, Zagato 2 Comments »
We were in attendance for this year’s Concours d’ Elegance in Scarsdale, NY. This show is one of my favorites because the venue and time of year are just perfect for this sort of event. The Fall air is a bit crisp, the trees are turning all sorts of beautiful colors, the town is quite nice, and the cars are incredible. This is an overview gallery of the event, and certain cars will get their own features later on. Enjoy.
Chris Harris tries the Merc CLS 63 AMG Shooting Brake….. sideways of course
Posted: September 20, 2012 Filed under: Auto Idolatry, SHOWCASE | Tags: 63, AMG, brake, Chris, CLS, Drive, Harris, Mercedes, Mind, motor, Over, shooting Leave a comment »Chris Harris tests the Mercedes CLS 63 Shooting Brake for Drive. He makes a very good point on how this car is a niche within a niche, and how the market is moving that way overall. Enjoy.
-Nick
Concours d’ Elegance of America: 1948 Daimler DE 36 Drophead Coupe by Hooper
Posted: August 24, 2012 Filed under: Auto Idolatry, EVENTS / PLACES, SHOWCASE | Tags: 1948, 36, 48, 5.4, 8, America, Benz, Britain, British, Concours, Convertible, Coupe, d', Daimler, DE, Detroit, DHC, Drop, eight, Elegance, engine, England, english, Head, Hooper, Inline, Mercedes, MI, Michigan, Mind, motor, of, Over, Plymouth, Red, Straight, tone, two, UK 1 Comment »
This DE 36 DHC is not a product of the German parent of Mercedes Benz. The Daimler name was actually shared by two separate companies for a period of time, one the German company we all know and the other the oldest automotive marque from Britain. This car is the latter, and is one of just 6-7 DE 36s built. Under the hood lies a 5.4L straight 8 with 150hp, and at around 3 tons the DE was most certainly meant for relaxed cruising in style. This DE 36 DHC recently sold for a little over a half-a-million dollars in 2010. It was brilliant to see in person this summer, literally stopping me in my tracks when I saw it. Not many cars can outshine a Bentley S1 or various Rolls Royces that were around it, but this Daimler succeeded. This is automotive art like we no longer have today. Enjoy the pics.
Shots from the 2012 Canadian Grand Prix
Posted: July 20, 2012 Filed under: EVENTS / PLACES, Photography by Dan Valanzola | Tags: 1, 2012, Alonso, AMG, Bull, by, Canada, Canadian, Dan, F1, Fernando, Ferrari, force, Formula, grand, Hamilton, Hulkenberg, India, Justin, Kimi, Lewis, Lotus, Mclaren, Mercedes, Mind, Montreal, motor, Nico, one, Over, Perez, Photography, Prix, Raikkonen, Red, Rosberg, Sahara, Sauber, Scuderia, sergio, Valanzola, Vettel 1 Comment »
Kimi Raikkonen by Dan Valanzola
Dan Valanzola was at this year’s Canadian Grand Prix. Lots of fun was had, and he got some great shots. Here are a few of the best. Enjoy….
Test Driven: Mercedes Benz C180 Blue Efficiancy Estate
Posted: July 19, 2012 Filed under: Sports and Executive, TEST DRIVEN | Tags: 1.8, 2.0, America, Austria, autobahn, Automatic, Benz, Blue, C180, C250, cylinder, Drive, efficiency, engine, Estate, EU, European, four, Germany, limiter, Mercedes, Mind, motor, Over, rear, Rental, review, speed, Trip, turbo, wheel 1 Comment »
Mercedes C180 Bluet Efficiency Estate
My family and I had this Mercedes C180 Estate for two weeks during our recent trip to Germany. Here in America we have the Mercedes C class, but we do not have the wagon version nor the C180 model, so it was cool to try something a bit different. I have driven a few previous generation C classes over the years, however this was my first experience with the current generation, and this car was fitted with many of Mercedes’ newer gizmos and gadgets. So all in all this C180 offered many new things for me as an American driver, including driving in Germany for the first time. Read the rest of this entry »
Chris Harris tests the Audi RS4 lineage (and a Merc)
Posted: June 20, 2012 Filed under: Auto Idolatry, SHOWCASE | Tags: Audi, Avant, B5, B7, B8, Benz, C63, Chris, Drive, Estate, Harris, Mercedes, Mind, motor, Over, review, RS4, Test, TV, Wagon 1 Comment »Drive’s Chris Harris tests the new B8 Audi RS4, as well as both its predecessors. A very cool video for anyone who loves Audis. The B5 RS4 is still my personal favorite though. Enjoy.
-Nick
Chris Harris on the Mercedes G63 AMG
Posted: May 30, 2012 Filed under: Auto Idolatry, SHOWCASE | Tags: AMG, Benz, Chris, Drive, G63, Harris, Mercedes, Mind, motor, Over Leave a comment »Sums this car up quite well.
-Nick
Visit to the Nurburgring: 24hrs preparation gallery
Posted: May 20, 2012 Filed under: EVENTS / PLACES | Tags: 2012, 24, Audi, Cars, Corvette, facilities, Germany, hours, Mercedes, Mind, motor, Nurburgring, Over, paddock, photos, pictures, Porsche, Preparation, race, shots, Tour, Toyota Leave a comment »
This was my first visit to the legendary Nurburgring. As it happened I was there during the week leading up to the Nurburgring 24 hours, so the track was closed to the public for laps (next time I will do that). However this did mean that the paddock was full of race cars being prepped for the big race. We also wound up having a private tour of the facilities because we were the only members of the tour who spoke english. The race itself will have just finished when this is posted. Enjoy the gallery. Read the rest of this entry »
6th Annual Tristatetuners Spring Meet
Posted: May 14, 2012 Filed under: EVENTS / PLACES | Tags: 240, 6th, annual, Audi, BMW, Cars, gallery, Honda, Infiniti, Mazda, meet, Mercedes, Mind, Modified, motor, Nissan, Over, Silvia, Skyline, Spring, Subaru, Supercharger, supra, TE37, Toyota, Tristatetuners, turbo, Volk, VW Leave a comment »
We we in attendance for the 6th Annual Tristatetuners Spring Meet in Pennsylvania. Here are the highlights.
Kim Dotcom’s CLK DTMs on the Nurburgring
Posted: May 5, 2012 Filed under: Auto Idolatry, SHOWCASE | Tags: AMG, CLK, Dotcom, DTM, Germany, Kim, Kimi, Mercedes, Mind, motor, Nurburgring, Over, Raikkonen, video Leave a comment »Kim Dotcom and Kimi Raikkonen tear up the Nurburgring in CLK DTMs. A really well done video, and an epic song. On another note, sorry things have been a bit slow lately we have all had exams for school. Things may continue to be a bit off here in May, but only because I will be going to Germany for a few weeks getting more material to share here on the site. So be on the lookout in the coming weeks.
-Nick
This is why Pagani is on a totally different level
Posted: April 25, 2012 Filed under: Auto Idolatry, SHOWCASE | Tags: AMG, Car, Drive, Exotic, factory, Fangio, GT, GTspirit, Horacio, Huayra, hyper, Italy, JF, Juan, Mercedes, Miguel, Mind, Modena, motor, Musial, Over, Pagani, passion, spirit, supercar, turbo, V12, video, Zonda Leave a comment »Going to the Pagani factory changed my life. There is something uniquely special about the way they do things and the cars they make that just captivated me. This video from Drive shows many of these qualities very well. I know the video is nearly a half hour, but if you have the time you should give it a watch. Definitely listen to everything Horacio Pagani says too because he is a passionate and genius. Amazing video!
-Nick
