At one point Jay Leno was a normal gearhead, just like the rest of us. He was working at a car dealership in Massachusetts when he met and befriended a master mechanic and drag racer Paul Annunziata. Jay went on to become a huge TV star and Paul continued on his racing dream.
In the 1970s Annunziata decided he wanted to build a Pro Stock dragster that was also 100 percent street legal. Annunziata succeeded in building his 1,000-horsepower Duster and it went on to win numerous awards.
Sadly, Annunziata was stricken with lung cancer, so he decided it was time to let his Duster go. Instead of selling it to some random collector, Annunziata chose to donate the car to his old-time friend, Jay Leno, under the gentleman’s agreement that Leno would not sell the car.
Jay agreed not to sell the car, but refused to allow Annunziata to just give it to him. In a mutual agreement, Leno paid Annunziata an undisclosed amount for the car and Annunziata did the noble thing and donated the money to a local auto restoration school as a four-year scholarship.
Annunziata passed away in 2011 and Jay decided it was time to feature this beloved Duster on his show Jay Leno’s Garage, which you can see above. You even get to go for a ride in this amazing piece of machinery.
What’s more impressive are the five years that Annunziata spent building this car, so we decided to dig in and really show you what went into building this beast.
Click past the jump to read about the development of this 1,000-horsepower Duster.
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When you put Ken Block and Motley Crue legend Tommy Lee in the same room, you can expect that something crazy is about to go down. And true to their respective reputations, a lot of things did go down...and up again...and sideways...and, well, you get the idea.
The two icons of their respective industries decided to do a little seat swap with Lee getting to ride shotgun on Block’s MWRT Ford Fiesta Gymkhana World Tour Car and Block getting a seat on Lee’s "unique" - to say the least - 360-degree Drum Roller Coaster.
The ensuing video prepared by Monster Energy shows us exactly how the whole seat swap transpired, complete with shots of Lee getting his shriek on as Block went all Gymkhana on him and Block getting the treat of watching Lee do his drum solo upside down.
Trust us, we’re not making these things up. Check out the video and watch how the two managed to put new meaning to the phrase "bro-tastic!"
Every automotive enthusiast has heard about Carroll Shelby and knows about his huge contribution to the automotive industry. He began his racing career as an amateur, and in 1959, won Europe’s prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans. In 1962, he tested his first Ford-powered AC 260 Roadster – the car that would become the Shelby Cobra. This was the beginning of his extremely impressive career, but unfortunately, on May 10, 2012, this legend died at the age of 89.
"Today, we have lost a legend in Ford Motor Company’s history, and my family and I have lost a dear friend. Carroll Shelby is one of the most recognized names in performance car history, and he’s been successful at everything he’s done. Whether helping Ford dominate the 1960s racing scene or building some of the most famous Mustangs, his enthusiasm and passion for great automobiles over six decades has truly inspired everyone who worked with him. He was a great innovator whose legend at Ford never will be forgotten. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends," said Edsel B. Ford II, member of the Board of Directors of Ford Motor Company and great-grandson of Henry Ford, founder of Ford Motor Company.
RIP Carroll Shelby. The automotive industry has lost an inspiration and will surely miss you.
Hit the jump to read more about key moments in the history of Carroll Shelby.
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Patrick Dempsey will be dropping his doctor’s smock from Grey’s Anatomy and replacing it with a sleek pilot suit in the near future. The 46 year old actor will be making his American Le Mans Series (ALMS) debut this weekend at the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca behind the wheel of an LMP2 prototype from Dempsey Racing.
Patrick Dempsey and Joe Foster will be the lead drivers and will be joined by Jonny Cocker in the No. 27 Trina Solar/GNC Beverages/Motegi Racing/Dempsey Racing Judd-powered Lola B12-80 Coupe. This year, Dempsey plans to race for a part of the ALMS season, but next year he hopes for a full championship run.
"It is nothing short of an awe-inspiring experience in every respect,” said Dempsey, who will be racing a prototype sports car for the first time. "It feels familiar but so much more intense, the braking, the acceleration, cornering and power, it is all on a much more dynamic level than the GT cars I have driven.
"It’s an amazing machine and it is incredible to even have the opportunity to race in a car like this at this level, and what better track to start with than Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. This race will really be a continuation of our learning and testing process only this time in front of a bigger crowd. We should be able to accomplish much more development and familiarization during an endurance race."
The race will begin at 1:30PM PDT on Saturday, May 12, 2012.
In what can only be described as a scene out of Mission Impossible, Guy Fieri’s 2008 Lamborghini Gallardo was stolen in May of last year by an extremely brave and stealthy burglar who scaled the roof of the showroom the celebrity chef’s Lamborghini was being stored in, before rappelling down, unlocking the garage door and driving off with unquestionably one of Fieri’s most prized possessions.
And almost exactly one year to the day since the theft, the Marin County Sheriff’s Office and Mill Valley Police Department recently recovered the vehicle in the most unlikely of places. It was rumored that the robber may have sold off the car, but no, it actually turned up in a storage container in Point Richmond, California owned by a 17-year-old male.
The same teenager was recently brought to attention after firing at an occupied pickup truck from his blacked-out motorcycle. Fortunately, no one n that event was injured, but this goes to show that the suspect has clearly been in the criminal world for some time, as it takes some nerve to fire on innocent civilians. Actually it doesn’t only take nerve; it also takes extreme levels of stupidity.
Either way, the teen is likely to be charged for the theft of the supercar as well as the shooting in the coming days and we’ll be very surprised if he escapes substantial jail time.
It’s easy to be jealous of Steven Tyler. The dude’s a rock star, he’s a judge on American Idol, and at 65 years old, he can still light up a room by his mere presence alone. Now it appears that we have one more reason to be green with envy at Mr. Aerosmith himself.
Word has it that Tyler has made a new automotive purchase, except that this particular vehicle isn’t something that you see on the road a whole lot. Known for his passion for sports cars, Tyler did himself one better this time by purchasing no less than the 800-horsepower Hennessey Venom GT Spyder.
Even more impressive is that Hennessey will actually build him a custom Venom GT Spyder, complete with distinctive customization details reserved only for this particular model, including an interior dressed in black leather with matching red accent stitching and a custom audio system that will be developed by David Frangioni, CEO of Audio One and a one-time audio engineer for Tyler and Aerosmith.
So how much did Tyler shell out for this one-of-a-kind Hennessey Venom GT Spyder? The buzz is that the Aerosmith front man and AI judge had to split with over $1.1 million for the car. It’s a number that’s beyond our reach, but for someone of Steven Tyler’s stature, $1.1 million is peanuts.
UPDATE 05/20/12: Steven Tyler’s Hennessey Venom GT Spyder is rounding into shape pretty nicely, so much so that the American tuning company even decided to give us a little tease of what the Aerosmith front man has in store for him when the 1,200-horsepower monster is delivered to him. Check out the Venom GT Spyder in the dyne after the jump.
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It’s no secret that Formula 1 drivers are some of the most highly paid sportsmen in the world. With some contracts topping $10 million without taking into account individual sponsorships, F1 drivers could literally swim in money. One of the most interesting things about this is that many F1 drivers just drive regular, everyday cars, rather than sports cars as everything feels slow when compared to an F1 car.
However, if reports are to be believed, 2008 world champion Lewis Hamilton may have just purchased a road-car as close to an F1 car as you can get, the Pagani Zonda. And, no not just any old Zonda, but a one-off car built specifically for him reportedly called the 760 LH, and it doesn’t take a genius to work out what the ‘LH’ stands for.
Hamilton’s car is said to be based upon the 760 RS which was recently commissioned and built for a very special Chilean owner. The 760 RS is the most powerful production car Pagani has built to date, even surpassing the Huayra by about 60BHP, pumping out an incredible 760 horsepower. The car ordered by Hamilton differs in one major way to the RS, as it will be built with a traditional manual transmission, leading the McLaren driver to state, “my company car has a paddle-change gearbox, so when I drive for fun, I want a manual.”
It’s unclear just how long Hamilton will have to wait for his brand new hypercar, but considering the Zonda is built completely by hand, he’ll be lucky to have it delivered in the next six months. It’s also worth noting that Horacio Pagani has previously stated that one-off Zonda’s will continued to be made if demand is there, despite the Huayra now being the company’s flagship supercar.
Please note that the car featured is the Pagani Zonda F Clubsport Final Edition.
We’ve heard rumors that Land Rover would be building a special edition Range Rover Evoque in collaboration with no less than Victoria Beckham, but now it looks like those rumors will come to life at the Beijing Auto Show.
Days leading up to its official debut, Land Rover did a little pre-emptive strike and pulled the covers off of the Evoque Victoria Beckham Edition.
Already known for being one of the best designed SUVs in the world - it recently won the 2012 World Design Car of the Year - the Range Rover Evoque was the perfect template to work on for two icons of style. And to their credit, Land Rover and Victoria Beckham succeeded in enhancing the Evoque with the finest quality materials and craftsmanship and ultra-premium interior ambience.
The exterior of the Evoque Victoria Beckham Edition was hand-finished in a high-quality matte grey paint finish. To complement the stealthy look of the SUV, Land Rover fitted the Evoque with a new set of 20" gloss black forged alloy wheels with ultra luxurious rose-gold details, a feature that’s limited to only this model.
The SUV’s interior also gets fresh new styling, highlighted by the sport design four-seats that are finished in a semi-aniline Vintage Tan leather, with a bold ’baseball’ stitch detail chosen by Victoria Beckham as a coy reference to her world-famous husband, David. The Vintage Tan leather is also present on the door inserts, the arm rests, and the central storage box lid.
Finally, the Evoque Victoria Beckham Edition comes with a bespoke, four-piece luggage set that’s made from high-quality internal structure and clothed in hand stitched black leather. Two wheeled suitcases and wash bags - "his" and "hers" - come with zip pulls finished in matte grey and linings made from microsuede.
Only 200 models of this special edition Evoque will go on sale. While the SUV is set to be available worldwide, China gets first dibs with deliveries set to begin in October 2012.
The last time Zahir Rana was behind the wheel of his beloved Ferrari Enzo XX Evolution, he plunged it straight into the Atlantic Ocean at the Targa Newfoundland Rally late last year.
Since that fateful dive, the car has been in the care of Edo Competition, who was given the unenviable job of restoring the €2 million race car back to tip-top shape. After several months of intensive work, Zahir Rana flew from his home in Calgary to see that repairs for his pride and joy are nearing completion.
As a man with an insatiable thirst for speed, Rana asked the folks at Edo Competition to give his XX Evolution a complete styling and performance make-over. On the aesthetic front, the Enzo XX Evolution is expected to be given the styling treatment of the Ferrari FXX whereas the engine, which previously produced 840 horsepower, is now being modified to deliver a staggering 950 horsepower.
A few months ago, Rana’s Ferrari Enzo XX Evolution was swimming with the fishes in the Atlantic. Today, it’s nearing its full repairs and is poised to come back better and faster than ever.
BMW has always been obsessed with producing the ‘ultimate driving machine,’ and no, those machines don’t just come in the form of M-series vehicles. Nope, BMW strives to deliver perfection in every single car made by the German giant, and if Richard Hammond is to be believed, they may have just created the best car ever with the recently launched BMW 320d coupe.
On paper, a claim like that may sound unfounded considering there are cars literally 10 times the price of the 320d on the market, and surely they’re better? But, that’s not the point. The point is whether a car is or isn’t the complete package, and Hammond truly believes the 320d is that exact package. He praises the styling, the handing, the rear leg room, the price and has great difficulty naming even one flaw.
In the end, the respected journo simply states that the red stripe running across the dashboard in the Sport trim variant is the only downside of what else is a perfect car.
It’s very interesting to note that the 320d in question is actually the base version in the diesel range, yet it seems to be the best. It may only come fitted with a four-cylinder diesel engine producing 184 HP at 4,000 rpm, but it does deliver 280 lb-ft of torque and as we know from experience, the best thing about diesel’s is the seemingly never endless torque they deliver.
Follow the link to find the original review on the Mirror.
