One for balsa, the Peugot 908 HDI FAP. Overall winner at Sebring this year, and Le Mans in 2009. These cars (and the Audi R10 they duel) are turbodiesels; they sound like vacuum cleaners - but utilize gobs of torque to get around racetracks very quickly.
I’ve gadda admit those cars looked bitchen with the chrome roofs. I was kinda (I was rooting for the Audis) feeling bad for them in this last 24hrs till the last 908 ran the vette off the road. My girlfriend said she could hear me scream in the yard!!
That was not a good spot to try to overtake the Vette.
Here's one of the rear body pieces showing some of that chrome, and the underside view showing a lot of vac'd carbon fiber. There was at least $100K worth of bodywork in bubblewrap in their pit. This piece was out, at ready.
I get a good dose of composites tech at every race, got myself kicked out of the Acura (Honda) garage last year for asking too many questions. I told them I was usually on the other side of that one, so I understood.
Ya, the 908 was trying make up time and I can understand that but damn…
I’m with you, I love seeing the carbon fiber work those guys are doing. To not only make those 3d shapes but to be functional and 1% stronger than it needs to be for weight. Amazing. In house at that.
Next time your watching F1 look at the little stuff in the garages. The little fans that they put in the brake ducts to cool the discs. All custom carbon. The bits on a moto gp bike. Levers/ covers. Hell your paying all those in house carbon guys. Might as well make them build something.
yah, i'm with Rooster... just never could get into the Euro supercars. fast for sure and must be a blast to drive but just not my thing... i've always been partial to Mopar even tho i've never owned one. always had chevy's just for wrenchability. '64 Nova, '70 GMC K10 shortbed lifted 6" with 35's, '71 Blazer... i really miss the Blazer
mine looked like this but not as clean:
it started life as an automatic but where's the fun in that? swapped it for a 4 speed granny and an 350 i built with my grandpa. my second auto-manual conversion on one of these trucks so, it went a lot easier... from trial and error on the first swap, i knew exactly what i needed from the junkyard.
i don't have a car or truck right now but half the fun is wrenching with your buddies... couple months back, we dropped a 350 into my buddies '73 Blazer. he built the engine in his garage and we had it in the truck in a couple hours. few more days of fiddling later and he's driving it to work. sweet
too much fun
F1 is the pinnacle, there's some vac'd bits of EPS in there too. And some fibers other than carbon, in places. The carbon suspensions and composite gearboxes take the cake.
I was in one of the Sebring garages (forget which), when I saw some carbon tool holders. I asked about them, and was told pretty much what you said - the fabricators had some extra time and were just fiddling around. Reminded me of surfboard builders....
Here's some carbon brake duct work in Grand Am/Rolex:
Ray, are you getting pumped for September yet?
I know I am…there have been whispers of a strong indian summer…
Wow... I feel like I came late to the party. I go away for the weekend, and a thread about my old board, hair, and cars is topping the charts. Stingray, it looks like you are making some good progress on fixing that board. Keep the pictures coming!
I'm not much of a motorhead, but I did dabble with fixing cars in high school. I had an old two door '65 Buick Skylark that was passed down from my grandmother, then to my older brother, and finally to me. It was kind of a POS by the time I got control of the wheel, but it was a great ride. I don't know if I have any pics of it around.
Another for the Chevy fans, this was probably my favorite production based race car in the world circa 1969. From the epic Trans Am series, as driven by Mark Donahue:
-Rooster: yah, those Broncos were sweet too... they get a bad rap for their front ends but, they were solid... some of my ford buddies run Cleveland motors and absolutely swear bye them... turn their noses up at the Windsors. Clevelands only... bummer yours got stolen. a buddy of mine had one and we used to go to Pismo every year and play in the sand. solid truck
-nice Mike! '69 and '70 were the best years of Camaro IMHO...
As a point of interest, Pantera's were powered by a 351 Cleveland engine, bolter to a ZF transaxle. Plenty power/torque.
Not quite related, but this is the one that I rented for one week in September for the Plaskett Creek event… I plan to drive along the coast with my daughter and join the crew up there at the end of the week, then leave the van in SF and fly back home…
One thing I miss about living in Italy is watching the F-1 racing. After soccer it’s the number 2 sport. It’s kind of like watching pro surfing- they are so far beyond what normal mortals can do. The onboard cameras are kind of like Brian Conley’s films. Also, the sound of those cars is incredible. I tried looking for a clip and found this one- imagine driving up to 185 mph, in the rain, on narrow two lane streets, cornering at close to 100 mph. And trying to pass?? At about 1:40 he tries to go for a pass and shortly after taps the guy in front of him, loses his wing and has to pit.
Long time since I've been here, but might as well contribute a bit.
Back in 1973, my first year surfing, I heard about this spot on southern Vancouver Island that was a point break and supposed to be good in the winter.
So, a week before Christmas I threw my wetsuit in the trunk of my 1965 GTO and headed south.
My Goat had a 389 bored out .030 with two Carter AFB carbs that each flowed around 650 CFM as I recall. Set-up on a manual progressive linkage I basically drove the car around using one carb and the other came into play when I stomped it. With a Muncie four speed aluminum case tranny and a Hurst shifter, Hooker headers and all the good bits and pieces gleaned from parts books and mag articles in the valve-train area that sucker would get up and go when urged to.
The old joke was I could pass anything on the highway except a gas station.
Mileage was terrible, to say the least, but gas was barely 50 cents a gallon so who cared?
Anyway, I arrived at the point spot late in the afternoon to find a guy I'd met earlier that year hanging out. We went to the local hotel for dinner and a few beers while talking story and he said I could stay in the local surfer's clubhouse if I wanted. There was no sign of any surf but Derek thought there was a swell enroute and was staying the night in his van.
I bunked in that night and slept pretty good until I became aware of new and different sounds outside.........coming from the ocean.
It was barely light yet when I got out of my sleeping bag and wandered out to the front window to take a look.
I literally could not believe my eyes as a set broke in perfect symetry, each wave peeling perfectly for what seemed well over a hundred yards. I had seen only crappy beach break before although I'd seen pics of Rincon, but I'd not ever seen anything like this!
Derek was up shortly and we went to the hotel again for a good breakfast before surfing.
I had one slight problem in that I had no surfboard, nor fins, having brought along only my wetsuit. I had no racks on the GTO, which is why I had no board.
The tide filled in and the swell got a bit bigger and soon the one local living there at the time showed up and chatted with Derek about going out. I introduced myself and mentioned I'd met his Mom earlier that year and that was the first time I saw Jim Van Dame.
He and Derek went out and rode perfect waves for the next couple of hours while I went insane on the beach trying to find some kind of wave riding vehicle.
Rummaging under the clubhouse I came up with a plastic wedge shaped thing that I supposed could be belly ridden should I be able to:
1...Get out.
2: Actually catch a wave.
A mere half hour later I lay on the beach, exhausted, frustrated, pissed off and generally wondering if I'd ever be able to walk again, so tired was my body.
Jim and Derek enjoyed many long rides, Jim riding some backside and some frontside. He was a natural goofy but learned to switch living right at a good righthand point.
I finally recovered after some time spent sitting in the sauna and then was absolutely blown away when Jim came in and offered me the use of his board. We'd just met and I was a beginner kook but he'd seen my efforts at trying to get outside with the plastic wedge, where I'd throw it over the white-water then swim like a crazy fool towards it only to do it over and over again.......but ended with my never getting out.
He felt sorry for me I guess.
I wrapped the bungee cord leash around my ankle, waited for a lull in the sets and made it out quite easily, which is one of the reasons this spot is so popular, it's easy to get out.
After three attempts to catch a wave and stand up I finally succeeded and was rewarded with a ride of 50 feet or so which was just enough to convince me that this wave was going to play a big role in my future, one way or another.
Anyway, the fellow that lent me his board that day passed away last October in California and a bunch of us that knew him are meeting with his Mother and one of his sisters on August 23rd. to send his ashes out the river and across the bar that he paddled over so many times back in the day. I'll be there but the GTO that carried me there the very first time I saw the place break and actually caught and rode a wave is nothing but a fond memory nowadays.
For me, James Tyler Van Dame will always be a fond memory also.
RIP Jimmy, you left way too soon amigo, and my heart buckled a little bit when I heard we'd lost you.
Take care.
If I had time I would post a pic but…Lets not forget Mark Donahue’s 73 porche 917. WOW!!
It destroyed the field, and the Can Am series.
LOL – can’t believe it took me this long to check this thread – pull M Daniel’s string on cars and see what happens!
Best car porn I’ve seen in a while:http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=p1cLfiVSyrw
[quote=“$1”]
As a point of interest, Pantera’s were powered by a 351 Cleveland engine, bolter to a ZF transaxle. Plenty power/torque.
[/quote
A friend of mine just pick one up with a 383 stroker. Makes me want to listen to heavy metal and watch “Cannon Ball Run”.
