This handsome Aston was at First Class Fitment this year. It’s amazing how the right wheels and a drop in ride height can make a car look 10x better. It also sounded great as it left too.
An Albino Hennessey Venom GT at the Quail
I think white is an especially menacing color on the Hennessey Venom GT. It’s like an angry ghost, ready to possess you with an insatiable desire for speed.
This one was on display at The Quail, just after the Venom GT had made its 270mph run. This is definitely one of the most insane machines you’ll find on the road.
Petrolcious shows us the Toyota 86’s special sauce
When Toyota does things right, they really nail it. Supposedly, there are many more good things coming soon.
-Nick
A bright BMW 507 at the Greenwich Concours
The classic BMW 507 is a looker without a roof, but it’s also quite handsome with its hardtop in place. I love when these things aren’t an afterthought in the car’s design.
-Nick
Motor Trend makes us all want the Alfa Romeo Giulia QV even more
Does anyone really want an M3 anymore? I know I sure don’t.
That time I saw Sir Stirling Moss driving the 300 SLR 722 at Pebble Beach
Taking a trip down memory lane, looking through the photos I’ve taken over the years, I stumbled across this gem from Pebble Beach in 2011. It’s none other than Sir Stirling Moss, and he’s driving the legendary Mercedes 300 SLR 722 in which he won the 1955 Mille Miglia. He set the all-time speed record for the Mille Miglia that year, and it has never been beaten. I realized I hadn’t shared it yet, and it definitely needed to be published.
Sir Stirling Moss is a gentleman about as epic as they come. His wit is hysterical in conversation, and he’s an absolutely fearless driver. Stirling didn’t just put-put the SLR around at the event either. No, after I snapped the shot above, he took the 722 down to the shoreline for a quick photo-op, and then proceeded to absolutely flog the car up the side road behind the lodge. The crowd had moved on while Sir Stirling was having his photo-op, and everyone was astonished and surprised as the SLR’s racing-spec straight-six was fully unleashed, tires screeched, and we all saw a silver flash pass between the openings between buildings. The sound was delicious to our ears, and I was beyond thrilled to see the man himself give it the beans for old time’s sake.
Sure, the 300 SLR 722 is about as valuable as a car can be, easily worth $50 million + if it ever went to auction, but who better to let it rip than the man who still know’s it best? It’s a moment I will surely never forget.
More photos of the car from Pebble Beach below, as well as two videos about Sir Stirling Moss and this most-insane Mercedes racecar.
Petrolicious on the 1955 Milli Miglia:
My video from a press conference Sir Stirling held at Lime Rock:
My take on the 2017 Geneva Motor Show
The Geneva Motor Show happened this week, and every year it’s like Christmas has come for the car industry.
Here are the highlights for me, and my thoughts on each…
Ferrari 812 Superfast
The front-engine V12 Ferraris are by far my favorite Ferraris. They have always been the ultimate expression of what a grand touring car can be, and their lineage goes all the way back to the beginning of Ferrari road cars in the early 1950s.
The 812 Superfast takes the insanity of the Ferrari F12 Berlinetta, and takes it up yet another notch. With damn near 800hp on tap from its still-naturally-aspirated-V12 engine, the 812 Superfast is now the ultimate GT car (really more of a supercar) that money can buy. I also think it looks absolutely manic, yet somehow still in an elegant sort of way.
Porsche Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid
Do you think anyone ever imagined this when the Toyota Prius first came out? Hybrids were once pathetic little econo-boxes, but here is a 680hp Porsche Panamera with a hybrid system developed from the 918 hypercar. This is exactly how hybrid technology should be used. I want a 680hp bullet that can still get decent MPG when I’m not thrashing it. If nothing else, isn’t technology all about having your cake and eating it too?
Motor Trend: BMW M2 vs Chevy Camaro V6 1LE
Can a $40,000 V6 Camaro really take on the mighty BMW M2? Like, really?
-Nick
What will the new 4.0L Porsche 991.2 GT3 do to the 911 Market?
Porsche has finally done it, they’ve brought back the manual GT3 and have given it the 4.0L engine to boot. It’s basically the Porsche we’ve all been dreaming about, and it’s the car Porsche once said they’d never build again. Right after Porsche said the days of manual GT3s were over, values of 997 GT3s immediately went through the roof. It became abundantly clear that Porsche was making a mistake, and this new 991.2 GT3 is here to set things right.
But what’s going to happen to the values of all of those 997 GT3 models that skyrocketed in the last few years? This new 4.0L GT3 with a manual is pretty much an attainable version of the coveted 997 GT3 RS 4.0 or the mighty 911 R, and with PDK it’s a little too similar to the much-inflated 991 GT3 RS.
With pricing starting from $144,650, and surely going up to cross $200,000, loaded with options, why on earth would you want to buy a 997 GT3 or RS for the same money? And can the PDK-only 991 GT3 even have a prayer? How about the 991 GT3 RS?
The 991.2 GT3 is about to make things very interesting in the Porsche market, and not everyone is going to be thrilled about it. I sure as hell wouldn’t want to be the guy who just dropped $200,000 on a 997 GT3 RS, or $175,000 on a 991.1 GT3.
Continue reading What will the new 4.0L Porsche 991.2 GT3 do to the 911 Market?
That Time BMW Put a Le Mans-Winning V12 Into an X5 SUV
This is the BMW X5 LM. It’s a prototype from the era before the super-SUVs of today, powered by the same V12 that propelled the BMW V12 LMR to victory at Le Mans. That’s 700hp and 531ft/lbs under the hood that made this the first sub-8-minute SUV around the Nurburgring. And this was all in 2000, years before Porsche made the Cayenne Turbo and set the SUV world ablaze with performance. However, as it turned out, the V12 from a Le Mans racecar didn’t make a very good production engine, so BMW never produced the X5 LM. Woe is us, but at least the prototype still exists.
-Nick
A Farewell Ride in My Dad’s Porsche 996
My parents are moving down to their place at the shore full time soon, and of course they’re taking their cars with them. They’re only going to be 2 hours away, but driving-wise the shore doesn’t hold a candle to the back roads of Bucks County, PA. The topography at the shore is all flat, the back roads barely curve at all, and the main roads are so crowded, and so heavily patrolled by cops, that there’s nowhere to really let the car run free. I may get to drive the 996 a few times when I visit, but it will never be like it was up here, with old our colonial roads that snake their way endlessly through the forest.
I had to take the Porsche for one more solid drive up here to say my goodbye, of sorts. So one night, after work, I spent 2 blissful hours in it out driving a greatest hits tour of my favorite roads.
The Range Rover Velar Looks Incredible!
I think this is the best-looking SUV on sale, and by a decent margin. BMW and Mercedes need to take notes, this is how you make an SUV look properly sleek. You don’t need some awkward “Coupe SUV” thing like the X6 or GLE Coupe. Instead of chopping off the rearward roof section, Land Rover’s designers chose to give the teardrop treatment to the entire SUV shape. It’s absolutely beautiful.
Even better, underneath, the Range Rover Velar shares its platform with the lovely-to-drive Jaguar F-Pace. The Jag handles great, and is a ton of fun on back roads, and I hope this Range Rover will retain that trait. Engine-wise buyers can choose between a turbo gas 4 cylinder, a diesel 4 cylinder, or the fun model with the 380hp supercharged V6.
The Range Rover Velar slots between the Range Rover Evoque and Ranger Rover Sport, competing with the Mercedes GLC, Audi Q5, and BMW X3/X4. It’s up against some decent competition, but with looks to kill, the Velar may have a leg up on the Germans. I was blown away by the style of the Evoque when it came out, but this takes the design past the next level.
I can’t wait to see the Velar in person because it will probably look even better than in photos.
-Nick Walker
Mind Over Motor 