The story of two bad wrecks and how experience teaches that managing expectations is key for track days (and even more important for wheel-to-wheel racing).
An anonymous artist known as Ememem, has been filling in street and sidewalk divots with striking geometric mosaics — colorful bursts of beauty amid the asphalt.
Over the years, out of the many forms of racing there have emerged drivers that have won race after race and championship after championship. Overshadowed by these few stars are a multitude of drivers that few know and remember. Some, had short-lived careers that never allowed them to reach their zenith, and some have simply been lost in the crowd. In this series we will attempt to remember a few drivers who did wonders on the track but were ultimately outshone. One of these little known drivers is Francois Cevert.
Not everyone is flailing about in an economic freefall. That’s not to say it’s time to throw caution to the wind, but for those who still have a few bucks in the bank, you should know that six-figure supercars weren’t exactly immune to the financial crisis.
As of 11:31am on Sunday, September 12, 2010, my relationship with the vehicle affectionately known as the Old ’89 drew to a close. As the previous five articles in this series suggest, I had plenty of fun behind the wheel. But now, the burning question is whether or not I actually flipped this car right and proper. Of course, I’d be a lousy scribe if I answered such a question in the first paragraph, so first, a bit of suspense.
Looks A Bit Like:
A Ford Focus. No surprise there, as Ford is one of Chana’s joint-venture partners, along with Suzuki.
Here’s the part where I really, really like my job, because in the end, we’re all just a crazy bunch of gearheads looking to satisfy our automotive cravings, and I’m now asking for your help. The only thing better than shopping for a car is bringing all your car-loving friends along to shop with you, and since this series began, it has become very clear just how passionate Winding Road readers are regarding this little adventure.
The Honda CR-Z arrives at dealers this week, which seemed a fitting time to give another perspective on this interesting car. Having driven the CR-Z in and around San Francisco, we opted this time to try it in the Midwest on the flatter and more pockmarked roads between Chicago and central Wisconsin (the American Le Mans series was visiting Road America, so we chose that as a suitable destination).
The 2011Jaguar XJL is the beneficiary of Bowers & Wilkins finest car audio effort yet, and our sister publication The Absolute Sound has taken a look at it to see if it really is something special.
“Rex Roy spends a week with the Mitsubishi i-MiEV.” To those who know me, this would be an experiment on the order of Wife Swap. Producers of that wacky and twisted program intentionally find completely incompatible families and have the husbands swap spouses. Tension, irony, and humor ensue. Sometimes individuals learn acceptance, open-mindedness, and ways toward better living. Other times, disaster on the order of one-in-the-head, two-in-the-chest is narrowly averted.
Once upon a time, topless cars came in all shapes and sizes, and by that we mean all sizes. At 4500 pounds and sporting a wheelbase of 130 inches, the gloriously finned 1959 Cadillac Eldorado convertible was just a few inches behind a modern full size pickup truck in size. Its convertible top used enough canvas to cover a mobile home, and four people could fit comfortably in the back seat alone, never mind the wide bench up front and the endless trunk space out back. That was a convertible—drop the top, load up the family, the dog, the neighbors, and your in-laws, and head out for a day of windburns and suntans.
When I wrote down first impressions of Chevrolet’s V-6-powered Camaro RS about a year ago, my comments had a somewhat negative slant. True, the car was fresh looking and evocative as could be, but it also had a lot of rough edges and basic design-related flaws.
Life with the Old ’89 is winding down, and not just from the standpoint of time. If anything, time is now an ally to this car, as it’s long past the point of depreciation from age alone. To that end, many folks in this business think these cars will be something of a collector item in years to come, and judging by some recent 1989 Taurus SHO sales that topped the $10,000 mark (which may have influenced my decision to buy this car), they could be right.
Racing is something that people tend to think is expensive or only for professionals. Well, truth be told, it’s not. For interested beginners, all that’s really needed is the entrance fee to your local motorsports venue in your pocket and your daily driver. You don’t need any kind of racing experience for many events and you don’t need a sports car (although having one can make events so much more fun).
We recently had the opportunity to drive the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution MR at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California, courtesy of Jim Russell Racing Drivers School. Our instructor was the hilarious and talented Paul Gerrard, who, besides knowing a thing or two about bending an Evo around a track, is able to eloquently and anecdotally describe the high-cost addiction that is racing (if you meet him, ask him about the driver who funded his automotive lust by robbing banks). Your author, never having driven a track on par with the famed course formerly known as Sears Point, was understandably thrilled at this opportunity.
A lot of photons have been shot at General Motors over the past 20 months or so, which I suppose comes with the territory when you run around with government bailout financiers. Beyond the cheap shots and ridiculously impractical advice, two themes seem to stand out and at least resonate a bit:
1. GM needs to build better cars
2. Ford is doing a better job
It’s been a long, harsh winter for many of our readers, and for some of you, record snows have translated to record floods. The Winding Road office in southeast Michigan received no shortage of the white stuff this year, but then a curious thing happened around these parts. Somewhere around the end of February, winter just, well, disappeared. We don’t mean to brag (okay, maybe a little), but for a state prone to prolonged stretches of truly miserable spring weather, the abrupt about face from snowy cold to summertime heat has us positively giddy. As of this writing in early April, we’re already moving into our second day of 80-degree temperatures. Michigan may be leading the nation in unemployment, but at least we can work on our tan between job interviews.
Chevrolet is touring the country with the Volt, inviting journalists to drive the car in an autocross environment (something about it “not being good for prototypes to be seen on real roads”). Naturally, when the tour came to Austin, I went over to a local mall to pilot the Volt and ponder its future.
We were recently lucky enough to have Mazda’s RX-8 R3 in the Winding Road office for a week. Truly touched by the car’s utter brilliance for a relatively small sum of money, Editorial Director Tom Martin declared that he could justify the Mazda’s abilities versus any sporting car on sale today.
Anyone who has ever sported a car they fancied something special can relate to the weeks and days leading up to a big car-related event. Even if, say, that something special is a slightly rusty, four door Ford Taurus. As it turns out, Conan O’Brien and I aren’t the only fans of this sneaky sleeper sedan; a few of you have mentioned the national Taurus SHO convention taking place in the Winding Road suburb of Dearborn, Michigan, and with the electrical fire well and truly tamed on the Old ’89, I’m looking forward to accompanying a field of over 100 cars next week in Motown.
Here, Seyth uses an onboard camera to give you a taste of Mini’s Mission Control feature in the Camden.
Well, folks, after a day spent driving the new XJL and the Panamera back to back, I’m here to tell you that the luxury sedan market has new players intent on upsetting the proverbial apple cart. As Seyth indicated in his coverage of the new XJ, Jaguar is back in a big way. As a measure of just how far Jaguar has progressed, my recent time in the XJL suggests that Porsche, more than BMW or Mercedes, is the required comparison. Lexus really doesn’t merit mention in this company. How times change.
Happy Birthday, America! For Independence Day, we wanted to celebrate with an appropriate list. We thought we’d combine one of our favorite things—the automobile—with everyone’s favorite part of the Fourth of July (apart from, of course, our freedom from the redcoats).
