AC/DC’S BRIAN JOHNSON: HIGHWAY TO HELP!

Rocker’s first 24-hour race nets him and Daytona Prototype teammates, below, a 12th-place finish and successful completition of fund raising for the Austin Hatcher Foundation for Pediatric Cancer.

Sarasota Café Racer Brian Johnson competed in the prestigious Rolex 24 at Daytona as part of the Chattanooga-based Fifty Plus Racing/Predator Performance/Alegra Motorsports Team, which also included Chattanooga businessman Byron DeFoor, former Rolex 24 overall winners Elliott Forbes-Robinson and Jim Pace, and former Rolex 24 class winner Carlos DeQuesada. The #50 BMW-Riley Daytona Prototype finished 12th.

2012 FOCUS ST-R: FORD FOCUSSES ON DAYTONA!

Ford Racing’s Focus ST-R debuts today at the Grand-Am 200 in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge ST class as part of the Grand-Am weekend at Daytona.

Don’t be fooled by its close resemblance to the production Focus ST, which is intentional. The ST-R is Ford Racing’s  purpose-built, fully prepared competition car. It features a powerful 2.0-liter EcoBoost engine, FIA-regulation roll cage, uprated brakes and track-tuned suspension.

The all-new Focus ST-R has been crafted by engineers at Ford Racing in the U.S. – with technical support from Ford’s Global Performance Vehicles Group – to allow it to compete in a variety of series, including Grand-Am ST, World Challenge TC and the Canadian Touring Car Series. Ford also hopes teams will race the car in key European motorsports series and major national events such as the 24 Hours of Nürburgring.

For more information about the Grand-Am event at Daytona, please visit, http://www.grand-am.com/

Check out the latest Ford Focus models, http://www.ford.com/cars/focus/

For more details on competition-prepared Focus ST-Rs, http://multimaticmotorsports.com/

2012 EVOQUE COUPE: RANGE ROVER LITE!

AC/DC Rocker, Sarasota Café Racer & Range Rover Autobiography owner, Brian Johnson checks out the sporty, sexy & chopped Evoque.

Range Rover is on a roll. Its bold foray into the world of premium compact/crossover SUVs with its LRX Concept-based Evoque has exceeded all expectations. The 2012 Evoque is cleaning house when it comes to winning awards and accolades from the media. It has already garnered more than 50 International awards, including: North American Truck of the Year, Best of the Best Truck (Autoweek), All-Star (Automobile), Sport/Utility of the Year (Motor Trend), Car of the Year (Top Gear) plus the prestigious R.L. Polk Loyalty Award.

2012 ASTON MARTIN DBS: CARBON EDITION

Steve Wakefield test-drives what could be the ultimate GT sports car!

With prices starting at approximately $290,000 for the coupe and over $300,000 for the convertible, the Carbon Editions of Aston Martin’s venerable DBS line are truly very special editions. Following on the success of the DBS Black introduced in 2009, the latest iterations are available in the first quarter of this year. There are two new colors in addition to Carbon Black: Flame Orange and Ceramic Grey. Our friend Steve Wakefield in the UK did some really grand touring in a Flame Orange Carbon Coupe.

For the complete drive report, please visit, http://www.classicdriver.com/uk/magazine/3600.asp?id=15671

For more information about the latest from Aston Martin, check out, http://www.astonmartin.com/

BMW’S GREATEST HITS: SPORTY SEVEN!

BMW has an incredible reputation for quality, luxury and performance. Here’s My Car Quest’s roundup of the seven sportiest Bimmers.

Number One With a Bullet is the iconic and incredibly valuable 1956-1959 BMW 507 roadster, originally conceived by legendary U.S. importer, Max Hoffman. He convinced management to build a roadster version of the classic 501 and 502 sedans. Designer Albrecht von Goertz is responsible for the interior and exterior and Fritz Fiedler engineered the mechanics.

While Elvis Presley was in the Army in Germany in 1958, he leased a white 507 which had been previously owned and raced by Hans Stuck. Prior to him taking delivery, the engine was brought back to street specifications. He later purchased a red one. Just 252 507s were built between 1956 and 1959.

For the complete lineup of BMW’s Greatest Hits, according to Daniel Fenu on Mike Gulett’s blog, please visit, http://mycarquest.com/2012/01/7-greatest-sporty-bmws-over-the-ages-%E2%80%93-guest-post.html

CORVETTE CONCEPT: HAPPY 59th BIRTHDAY!

Chevrolet’s 1953 Motorama Corvette, the Concept Car that became America’s Sports Car, and still is.

On January 17, 1953, GM introduced a Corvette Concept Car at the Motorama at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City that would become America’s Sports Car. Fifty-nine years later, both the car and the hotel are still iconic brands. While they produced only 300 1953 Corvettes and it was not an immediate success, Chevrolet laid the groundwork for what has become an internationally respected sports car. In May 2011, the original Concept Corvette was photographed with GM’s Global design VP, Ed Welburn, above, in the Waldorf Astoria Grand Ballroom by Emile Wamsteker.

For more information on the 1953 Concept Car launch, please visit, http://www.corvetteblogger.com/2012/01/17/the-corvette-legend-started-59-years-ago-today/

Check out the latest Corvettes, http://www.chevrolet.com/corvette-sports-cars/

CHEVY 427 LS7: YOU BUILD IT, YOU BUY IT!

First Crate Engine Build Experience customer, Jeff Kasper, participates in 505-horsepower LS7 ‘build & buy’ program.

 

The  “assembled by” plaque on Jeff Kasper’s LS7 crate engine is more than an engine dress-up accessory. It tells the story of the first hot rod builder to participate in the assembly of his LS7 in the GM Performance Build Center in Wixom, Mi. Kasper, a sales and business manager for a semiconductor manufacturer in California, will be installing his 505-horsepower 427 in a new Camaro.

“The build program was the thrill of a lifetime,” said Kasper, above, whose garage contains a new Camaro SS and a Chevrolet Volt. “Going inside the assembly facility and actually participating in building my very own engine greatly exceeded my expectations – and I’d absolutely recommend it to every enthusiast.”

DETROIT AUTO SHOW 2012: MOTOWN MAGIC!

These days the auto industry has its mojo back and is firing on all cylinders. And at this week’s Detroit Auto Show, it showed off its new swagger by pulling the wraps off an array of terrific new metal, blogs Road Test Editor Howard Walker.

From a new small Cadillac, to a brand new version of Acura’s NSX supercar, above, to a super-sleek Lincoln sedan, Detroit was rockin’ with newfound excitement. After two days of walking the show, kickin’ tires and talking the talk during the media preview, here are my picks for the 10 Best of what’s new in the Motor City.

ACURA NSX

It was a sad day in 2005 when Honda pulled the plug on its NSX supercar. It wasn’t the fastest on the block, but this mid-engined two-seater was one of the finest handling sports cars ever built. Honda plans to re-capture some of that magic with an all-new NSX, badged, as before, as an Acura and scheduled to hit showrooms in 2013. Looking like a cross between an Audi R8 and a Ferrari 458 Italia, it’s powered by a mid-mounted 300-horsepower 3.5-liter V-6 driving the rear wheels. But twin 27-horse electric motors on each front wheel will give the NSX all-wheel drive. One extra surprise: Honda plans to build it at its Marysville, Ohio plant.

IRAN ROAD TRIP: ISFAHAN CAFÉ RACERS RULE!

Family-friendly car guys in Iran’s third largest city are latest to join the global Café Racers Community.

A couple of weeks ago 46 cars, including vintage and modern BMWs, Chevrolets and Mercedes, started a 20-mile road trip from Isfahan to Margh to celebrate the launch of Iran’s second Café Racers satellite lunch group. Founded by Ali Samandarien, a well known collector of American (1950s-1960 Chevrolets) & European (Opel, Mercedes) cars and head of the local chapter of Iran’s Classic Car Committee, the Isfahan Café Racers lunch group welcomes families to their events.

MISS AMERICA VIII: NO SUBSTITUTE FOR CUBIC INCHES!

Gar Wood’s masterpiece boasts 2,226 cubic inches, 3,600 horsepower, 32 cylinders and wall-to-wall Holley carburetors.

Starting with Gar Wood’s Miss America I in 1920, the Miss America series of racing boats were designed and built to do two things: win the British International Harmsworth Trophy for the United States, and capture the world unlimited water speed record. Gar Wood dominated the sport of motorboat racing in the 1920s and early-1930 and, between 1920 and 1933, won the Harmsworth Trophy race eight times as a driver and nine times as an owner. Miss America VIII won the Harmsworth twice!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

We'll be back next year with non-stop News, Views & Reviews.

BRIAN JOHNSON: AFFAIR WITH LOLA!

‘Whatever Lola wants, Lola gets,’ says AC/DC rocker and Sarasota Café Racer, Brian Johnson.

Brian Johnson is as passionate about racecars and racing as he is about music. His latest “love”, a real 1965 Lola T70 Spyder (SL 70/15), is a seriously fast racecar that competed back in the day in Can-Am and USRRC (United States Road Racing Championship) competition. Unlike so many Lolas that had left Slough, UK, with 289 Ford power and years later converted to Chevrolet, Brian’s Lola is still Ford-powered. It’s currently seeing service in historic racing powered by a 598-horsepower, 347-cubic inch small-block. Stunning Lola tips the scales at under-2, 000 pounds! Michael Alan Ross photo, above, at Laguna Seca.

STREET RACING: NEW YORK CITY STYLE!

Mitchell Schorr’s DA RACE STREET LEGAL pits an ice cream truck against exotic sports cars in a fantasy racing series at 19 locations in Manhattan.

In the 1960s-1970s, New York City was a mecca for serious illegal street racing. During that era I was Editor of Hi-Performance CARS magazine and on numerous occasions assigned writer Joe Oldham to cover the scene for us. Joe spent a lot of nights at street racing hangouts, often taking part in the evenings’ activities! 

The most popular spots included Connecting Highway and Cross Bay Boulevard (Queens), Mitchell’s (Brooklyn) and the White Castle on Boston Post Road (Bronx). They also raced on Conner Street (Bronx), around JFK Airport and on Staten Island.

2013 MERCEDES-BENZ SL: SANTA’S SUPERCAR!

Mercedes unveils an all-new SL, just in time for your Christmas wish list, blogs Road Test Editor Howard Walker

Here’s a Holiday Season teaser for you. What do the letters “SL” - as in Mercedes-Benz SL - stand for? If you said "Sexy Lines" you’d be, er, wrong. SL actually stands for Sport Leicht which, pronounced in your finest guttural German, actually translates into Sport Lightweight.

Only trouble is, it’s been quite a few decades since the SL has been anywhere close to being light in weight. Maybe that oh-so-cute ’60’s 230SL with its funky pagoda-style hardtop was the last true Jenny Craig Benz SL!

FRANK DOMINIANNI: THE FINAL LAP!

Last month the Corvette racing fraternity lost one of its most colorful competitors of the 1960s, and I lost an old friend.

A fierce competitor, Frank Dominianni raced Corvettes with and against the biggest, most well-financed names in the sport and won: Mark Donahue, Dick Guldstrand, Roger Penske, Dick Thompson, Don Yenko and others. He had no sponsors; built, race-prepped and drove his red #69 fuel-injected, solid axle Corvettes. A master at engine and chassis dyno tuning with aircraft engine building and maintenance credentials, Frank owned and operated a landmark Long Island speed shop since 1947, Hi-Speed Equipment in Valley Stream, NY. Photo above with Frank behind the wheel of #69 and Jan Hyde, Bridgehampton, 1978.

GIORGETTO GIUGIARO: ARTISTRY IN MOTION!

Some of the most beautiful designs in the automotive world have come from the pen of Giorgetto Giugiaro. Mike Gulett blogs about the man and his art on My Car Quest.

Italdesign’s Renaissance man has designed pedestrian people movers like the VW Golf, adrenalin-producing Supercars for BMW, Bizzarrini, Bugatti, De Tomaso, Iso & Maserati, and pasta for Marille and cameras for Nikon. He’s also a painter and fine artist. Rivolta GT painting, above, Iso Grifo A/3L, right.

Named Car Designer of the Century in 1999 and inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame in 2002, Giugiaro’s client list is virtually a Who’s Who of automobile manufacturers: Alfa Romeo to Zastava!

For more about the Art of Giugiaro, please visit,
http://mycarquest.com/2011/11/the-art-of-giugiaro.html

For video coverage of Giugiaro-designed Iso Grifo and Bizzarrini, check out, http://mycarquest.com/2011/12/bizzarrini-and-iso-grifo-videos.html

For a list of Giugiaro’s most notable designs and his background at Bertone, Ghia and Italdesign, check out, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giorgetto_Giugiaro

RICHARD PETTY: ‘OUTLAWED’ HEMI-CUDA!

In 1965 King Richard thumbed his nose Bill France’s NASCAR Hemi ban and built a Super/Stock Hemi-Cuda.

Chrysler’s 1964 domination of NASCAR racing with its Hemi Plymouths and Dodges pissed off a lot of people in Detroit. And, most just happened to be working at Ford! At the time, neither Ford nor GM had the powerplants to go head-to-head with the latest Mopars.

The unstoppable Richard Petty decided to take his toys to another sandbox: quarter-mile drag strips. Petty’s NASCAR shop created a highly modified Super/Stock early Barracuda, #43/JR, powered by a dual-quad 426 Hemi. It went through a couple of iterations, a second injected B/Altered Cuda, before cooler heads prevailed at NASCAR and Perry was back doing what earned him the title, King Richard.

Photos above, right, from MOPAR, THE PERFORMANCE YEARS, Martyn L. Schorr, http://www.amazon.com/Mopar-Performance-Years-Martyn-Schorr/dp/0982173318/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1323720739&sr=1-1

For the complete story, please visit Jon Patrick’s blog, The Selvedge Yard,  
http://theselvedgeyard.wordpress.com/2011/11/17/1965-the-year-richard-petty-the-king-of-nascar-turned-drag-racer/

BENTLEY OFFERS FREE BREITLING WATCH!

Grab one of the 100 Ice Speed Record Breitling watches before it’s too late, blogs Howard Walker

Still rushing around searching for that perfect Christmas gift? I have a suggestion. How about the stunning new Bentley for Breitling Ice Speed Record Watch? It’s free!

Only 100 of these magnificent Swiss-made chronographs are being offered to commemorate the 205-mph world speed record - on ice - set earlier this year, below, in a Bentley Continental Supersports Convertible.

FERRARI 458 GRAND AM: DAYTONA DEBUT!

American Grand-Am racing series Ferrari to have coming-out party in Florida next month.

 On January 26-29, the 24-Hour enduro at Florida’s Daytona International Speedway will host the racing debut of the 458 Grand Am. The 458 Grand Am is derived from the GT3 version of the 458 and is the latest racing model from Ferrari. It was developed in collaboration with Michelotto and aimed specifically at the American Grand-Am Series.

For more information, please visit,
http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/grand-am-mwr-af-corse-team-up-for-rolex-24

Photos courtesy of Juha Lievonen,  http://www.photosbyjuha.com/

ROCK STARS & COOL CARS!

You may or may not like their music, but you gotta love their rides!

This week London (UK) auction house, Coys will be auctioning off the Aston Martin DB5 coupe, formerly purchased new by late Beatle George Harrison. A stunning blue ’36 Cord 810 Phaeton from Jimmy Page’s collection will also cross the block. Legendary guitarist and songwriter Page is best known for his performances with the Yardbirds and later with Led Zeppelin, the group he founded.

For more about the cars and the auction, check out Mike Gulett’s blog,
http://mycarquest.com/2011/12/rock-stars-and-their-cars.html

427 CAMARO & CHEVELLE: BALDWIN-MOTION RULES!

The legend of Roberto Schneider and his 500-horsepower Phase III Chevys.

Roberto Schneider could have purchased any number of cars he wanted in 1968, regardless of cost. The 18-year-old grandson of a wealthy Mexican industrialist, who owned the largest bank in Mexico, lived on his family’s 90,000-acre ranch in Chihuahua. The ranch was known for raising the finest cattle in Mexico and, among other things, for supplying President Lyndon Johnson with breeding stock. In 1968 he fell in love with Yvonne Flores and they got engaged. Yvonne was the beautiful daughter of Oscar Flores Sanchez, the Governor of Chihuahua. Roberto was also in love with fast cars.

“I discovered Baldwin-Motion in 1968 as I read car magazines and saw those cool 427 Camaro advertisements. I talked to a friend in Mexico City who owned a 427/435 Corvette.  He said if I wanted the quickest, fastest street car available - one that also could be raced - to order a Phase III 427 Camaro from Joel Rosen.”

FERRARI 599XX: AERO (R)EVOLUTION!

New Aero package plus Formula One Technology puts the latest 599XX in a class by itself.

Launched at the Bologna Motor Show, the "extreme" 599XX boasts the latest improvements in chassis dynamics and an active aerodynamics package that’s integrated into the Ferrari’s electronic control (ESP, ABS, SCM & F1-Trac) systems. Riding on new Pirelli tires, the 599XX’s performance-enhancing features are of great interest to customers participating in track-based R&D programs in 2012-2013.

For more about the 599XX Evolution, check out Tim Pollard’s feature in CAR Magazine, http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/News/Search-Results/First-Official-Pictures/Ferrari-Evolution-first-pics/

Please visit Ferrari’s official website for the latest model information, http://www.ferrari.com/Pages/Gateway.aspx?CountryId=88&CountryTitle=United%20States

JAGUAR XK-SS: McQUEEN’S MACHINE!

Mike Gulett blogs about a legend and his legendary ’57 XK-SS, a fast, sexy and delightfully impractical sports car!

“I loved that Jag, but I drove it too fast,” said Hollywood icon and consummate bike and car guy, Steve McQueen.

The XK-SS, a street version of the D-Type racer, was a very limited build of leftover customer racecars after Jaguar pulled out of racing. They managed to convert 16 of the D-Types before a fire destroyed Jaguar’s plant and remaining nine vehicles. Steve McQueen’s right-hand-drive XK-SS started life as a white car with red interior, imported by Jaguar Cars North America in April 1957.

For more about McQueen’s machine, check out Mike Gulett’s My Car Quest, http://mycarquest.com/2011/11/this-jaguar-was-once-owned-by-steve-mcqueen-twice.html

COBRAS AT GOODWOOD: HALF-CENTURY CELEBRATION!

2012 Goodwood Revival to celebrate the Cobra’s golden anniversary with a unique one-model race.

The finest collection of significant and authentic competition AC Cobras ever assembled in the UK will gather at next year’s Goodwood Revival (September 14-16, 2012) for an exceptional one-model race.

To mark the 50th anniversary since Carroll Shelby’s introduction of the initial versions of this Anglo-American cult sports car, the 2012 Revival will feature a grid exclusively of 30 Cobras and derivatives.  This special all-Cobra race will be a 45-minute two-driver competition, with driver changes in the pits between 15 and 30 minutes. 

2013 CADILLAC XTS: DON'T CALL IT THE NEW SEDAN DE VILLE!

Cadillac brings back the almost-full-size sedan with lots of style and space, blogs Road Test Editor HOWARD WALKER

As the besotted owner of an XXL-sized Cadillac – a vintage Eldorado convertible - I constantly shed a tear for the demise of the full-size, big-as-a-house, Caddy sedan. No more is the hulking DTS - aka the DeVille Touring Sedan. Gone is the sporty, but still hulking STS. And such whoppers as the mighty Fleetwoods and Sedan de Villes are but a dim and distance memory. These days, if you want a four-door Cadillac you have to downsize to the CTS. Or up-size to the gigantean Escalade sport-ute. New XTS was revealed to the media by Ed Welburn, GM Global Design VP, above, at the LA Auto Show.

LAMBORGHINI GALLARDO LP 550-2: PURE SPYDER!

Purist sports car aficionados rejoice: New Gallardo Spyder delivers unbelievably agile and spontaneous handling.

“With the Gallardo LP 550-2 Spyder, we are expanding the Lamborghini lineup with a purist model that adds yet another dimension of driving fun. This will appeal in particular to a very special group of customers who enjoy a spirited driving style and also like to experience the sheer pleasure of open-air driving,” says Stephan Winkelmann, President and CEO of Automobili Lamborghini. “This special model with rear-wheel drive is a logical expansion of our lineup of Spyder models with all-wheel drive.”

Check out Tim Pollard’s LP 550-2 Spyder coverage in CAR, http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/News/Search-Results/First-Official-Pictures/Lamborghini-Gallardo-LP-550-2-Spyder-2012-unveiled/

For more information about the latest from Lamborghini, please visit: http://www.lamborghini.com/en/home/
http://www.lamborghinisarasota.com/

MOTION MADNESS II: REUNION OF THE TITANS!

The Second Annual Baldwin-Motion & MOTION Reunion at the Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals kicked ass and took names!

If you want to see the finest antiques, grand classics and exotic sports cars, you make the annual pilgrimage to Concours at Pebble Beach (CA) and Amelia Island (FL). When it comes to the ultimate muscle cars and Corvettes, cars that ruled the streets and drag strips from the 1950s to date, you have just one choice: Chicago (IL) and MCACN. Dan McMichael's MOTION Maco Shark, above, stole the show!

PEBBLE BEACH 2012: IT’S GOOD TO BE KING!

Pebble Beach will have it all next year: Cars of the Kings to Kings of the Road.

Maharajas, or “great kings,” who ruled states throughout India and South Asia until the middle of the twentieth century, often owned the most luxurious cars in the world. Many were ordered with unique custom coachwork and specified for ceremonial processions, touring and even hunting expeditions. Popular nameplates included Rolls Royce, Daimler, Hispano-Suiza, Maybach, Bugatti, Duesenberg, Minerva and others.

Contrasting with the Cars of Kings at 2012 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, will be cars that truly qualify as Kings of the Road: Shelby Cobras. The Concours will be celebrating Carroll Shelby and the legendary Anglo-American AC Cobras, powered by small and big-block Ford V8s. Shelby’s partnership with UK’s AC Cars started in 1961.

For more information about the 2012 Pebble Beach Concours, please visit, http://www.pebblebeachconcours.net/pages/3008

http://www.sportscarmarket.com/news/4866-pebble-beach-concours-delegance-announces-classes-for-2012

2012 CORVETTE DAYTONA: PROTOTYPE POWERHOUSE!

Chevrolet’s latest Corvette racecar will compete in the legendary Rolex 24 at Daytona next January.

 “The opportunity for innovation is what makes GRAND-AM’s Daytona Prototype Class such a good fit for Chevrolet,” said Jim Campbell, Chevrolet vice president, Performance Vehicles and Motorsports. “Sports car and endurance racing is an outstanding platform for manufacturers like us to test and learn.”

New Corvette Daytona Prototype, above, mixes it up in today's practice with the Fifty Plus Racing BMW-Riley driven by AC/DC rocker and Sarasota Cafe Racer, Brian Johnson. Photo by Juha Lievonen, http://www.photosbyjuha.com/

2013 SHELBY GT500 MUSTANG: 200-MPH SUPERCAR!

Ford raises the bar, fueling decades-old Ford vs. Chevy battle for bragging rights.

Ford reveals the 2013 Shelby GT500 Mustang at the Los Angeles Auto Show, firing the latest salvo in the Camaro-Mustang wars. With 650 supercharged horsepower, top speeds of 200-plus mph are expected. Ford’s classic Ponycar has matured into one serious Supercar.

“SVT keeps the Shelby GT500 on the cutting edge of technology and takes muscle car performance to new heights,” said Jost Capito, Director of Global Performance Vehicles and Motorsport Business Development. “We encapsulated every aspect of performance in this car – whether it’s 0-60, top speed, racetrack or quarter-mile times. Beyond that, the daily driver also will find this car perfectly fits his or her needs.”

For more about the 2013 Shelby GT500 Mustang, please check out, http://www.motorauthority.com/news/1068559_2013-ford-mustang-shelby-gt500-debuts-in-l-a-with-650-hp

For more information about the latest Mustang models, please visit, http://www.ford.com/cars/mustang/?searchid=61240949|2322884069|

CAMARO ZL1: MAXIMUM MUSCLE; MINIMUM DRAG!

Powered by a supercharged 6.2-Liter LSA small-block, the aerodynamic Camaro performs like a Corvette.

Chevy’s hottest enthusiast Camaro boasts Supercar levels of performance plus aerodynamic technology. With a 580-horsepower supercharged engine, the latest Camaro to wear ZL1 badging can hit 170 mph on Germany’s famed Nurburgring’s Nordschleife course. To maintain stability and steering response at that speed, the ZL1 features an aerodynamic design that generates downforce to press the tires on the track.

“The Camaro ZL1 lapped Nürburgring in an incredible 7:41.27 seconds, which would not have been possible without work of our aerodynamics team,” said Al Oppenheiser, Camaro chief engineer. “The design of the ZL1 creates downforce like a racecar, harnessing air pressure to press the tires against the track for extra grip and control at high speeds.”

ASTON MARTIN BULLDOG: RAZOR-EDGED CONCEPT!

Few Concepts are road-ready. Joe Breeze blogs about the one-of-one Bulldog that ran over 190 mph three decades ago.

Powered by a mid-mounted twin-turbocharged and injected 5.3-Litre V8 putting out over 600 horsepower, the radical Bulldog Concept from Newport Pagnell wowed show-goers in 1980. And, at 191 mph, it really turned heads at the MIRA test track. The wedge-shaped gullwing coupe was to be Aston Martin’s answer to Lamborghini (Countach) and BMW (M1). However, just one, a left-hand-drive model was built.

Check out the full story on Aston Martin’s venture into the land of Supercars at, http://www.classicdriver.com/uk/magazine/3200.asp?id=15484

BRIAN JOHNSON: RACING FOR THE KIDS!

AC/DC front man and Sarasota Café Racer will race at the Daytona Rolex 24 to raise one million dollars to support families affected by pediatric cancer.

 
The Austin Hatcher Foundation for Pediatric Cancer has partnered with AC/CD lead singer Brian Johnson, above in his Lola T70 Spyder, Michael Alan Ross photo, Chattanooga-based Fifty Plus Racing, Predator Performance and Allegra Motorsports to help support families affected by pediatric cancer. The goal of the new program, Highway to Help, is to raise one million dollars.

They will be competing on Daytona’s 3.56-mile, 12-turn Speedway road course in the premier DP Category, Grand-Am Rolex Series. Daytona Prototypes typically have 500 horsepower engines and a top speed of 195 mph.



CORD SUPERCHARGED 812: TIMELESS TREASURE!

Auburn built just 196 supercharged 812 Phaetons and this one, originally owned by legendary cowboy star Tom Mix, could be the rarest of all.

Tom Mix starred in approximately 350 movies and was the "King of Cowboys" when John Wayne was just a youngster. On October 12, 1940, while driving his Cord between Tucson and Phoenix, AZ, Mix crashed in a construction zone on Route 79 and was killed almost instantly. The 60-year-old actor was unable to brake in time and his 812 rolled into a gully. He had been hit in the head by an aluminum suitcase with cash, traveler’s checks and jewelry that had been on the package shelf. The gully was later named “Tom Mix Wash” and a plaque on SR 79 is inscribed, In Memory of Tom Mix.

JAGUAR XF DIESEL: BIG APPLE TO LA LA LAND!

The mission: Cross eleven states and cover 2,800 miles in seven days in a luxurious oil burner with its steering wheel on the wrong side.

A Jaguar XF powered by a 2.2-Litre diesel mixed it up with yellow cabs, above, and left New York City today with the goal of arriving in Los Angeles in seven days time - a journey spanning over 2,800 miles and 11 states. With independent UK test drivers David and Alexander Madgwick at the wheel, the British-registered XF will cross a continent in order to evaluate just how frugal the 2.2-Litre four-cylinder diesel engine, not yet available in the U.S., can be.