Earlier this month, we brought you an all-new video where Porsche actually gave Chris Harris an exclusive ride-along story on the not-yet-released 918 Spyder. That was a very impressive piece and really shows how much respect Harris has gained in the industry. Well, now Porsche is really pulling out all of the stops and entrusting Harris behind the wheel of its multi-million-dollar museum exhibit, the Porsche 962C.
Yeah, we’re talking about the 800 kg (1,763 lb.), 650-horsepower 962C that took home the 1987 24 Hours of Le Mans title. The same Porsche 962C that you can walk into Porsche’s museum and look at but not touch. This guy got to sit in this legendary car’s driver’s seat and whip it around Porsche’s test track at 150 mph.
As always, Chris brought along his ride-along camera and gave us an in-car view of him carefully navigating this legend around the track. Before and after the drive, Chris also gets to interview the lead engineer on the 962 project and gets some insight on just how much planning went into this car, from its rear axle to the massive amounts of down-force the various parts of the body create.
In all, this is a downright awesome video and all of the noises that come from the engine are completely beautiful.
The Mercedes-Benz300SL Gullwing is a rare enough car, as there were only 3,258 examples ever built. Of those, only 1,400 were coupes. So, when you start talking about special edition models, you are getting into some of the rarest cars in the world.
When the SL300 was busy kicking ass at venues like the 24 Hours of Nürburgring and 24 Hours of Le Mans, it was not the standard road-going model that you saw. In fact, the car you saw boasted a completely different body. All of the road-going cars, prior to the car’s retirement from racing boasted a steel body and the racing models featured a lighter allot body.
After the 300SL’s retirement from racing, the alloy body became a 5,000 Deutsche Marks option on the already pricey base 300SL. Because of this massive markup, only 29 models were ever built and sold to the general public, thus making it one of the rarest Mercedes-Benz’s available today.
To read more about the 300SL Alloy Gullwing, click past the jump.
The Chevrolet Corvette is heading into its seventh generation and it’s set to be unveiled in Detroit on January 13th, 2013. With the release of this almost 100 percent all-new `Vette – only the cabin air filter and the top latch are carried over from the C6 generation – also comes an all-new version of the Corvette’s signature crossed flags logo.
GM was rather generous with us upon announcing the upcoming release of the C7 Corvette, as it also released an image of the restyled badge. Sure, it is essentially a modernized version of the C6’s badge, but it’s still cool nonetheless.
In celebration of this upcoming release, we thought we would outline all seven renditions of the Corvette’s crossed flags badge and connect them to their respective generations. So kick back and enjoy as we take you from 1953 all the way through 2014!
Click past the jump to read the full evolution of the Corvette and its emblem.
Remember the nugget of pure awesome that was the BugattiEB110? Don’t worry if you don’t, as likely three-quarters of the world doesn’t remember the short-lived predecessor to the Veyron, which saw only 139 examples from 1991 through 1995. If you don’t remember that then you definitely don’t remember the lighter and more powerful EB110 Super Sport that was available in 1992.
For those that don’t know of it, the 1992 EB110 SS pumped 603 horsepower from its 3.5-liter V-12 engine. It blasted from 0-to-100 km/h (62 mph) in only 3.2 seconds and had a top speed of 348 km/h (216 mph). All of this during the dark ages of the supercar, the early 1990s. To put this in perspective, the Lamborghini Diablo could only muster up 425 horsepower, hit 60 mph in 3.9 seconds, and had a 202 mph top speed. So, yeah, the EB110 SS was bad-ass.
Because of how rare it is, you will likely never see one in person, let alone see one do a burn out and be driven like a real supercar. Well, we’re here to give you that once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, through the power of interweb video!
The above video is chock-full of awesome tire smoldering, hard driving and all sorts of sweet small displacement V-12 engine noises. Kick back, crank up the volume, and enjoy!
Back in the mid 1980s, the performance car world was still on its back, thanks to the uppercut that the 1970’s emission standards laid on the likes of the Camaro, Mustang, and Corvette. However, the exotic car companies, like Ferrari and Lamborghini, and luxury car companies, like Mercedes-Benz and BMW, all had the upper hand, thanks to the deep pockets of their customers.
These deep pockets allowed these high-level car manufacturers to spend more time and money developing cars that both met the emission standards and performed awesomely. One of these monsters of the early-emission era was the 1985 Mercedes-Benz 300E “Hammer” by AMG. Much like the M3, the “Hammer” was a midsize car that was relatively tame from the factory, boasting a 177-horsepower, 5.6-liter V-8 engine. If you wanted that extra power that the “Hammer” provided, simply pony up an additional $89,120 on top of the 300E’s base price of $39,000 and Benz would build you this custom beast.
Rarely do we see one of these in the wild and even rarer is to catch a glimpse of the factory-owned model, which is claimed to produce between 381 and 396 horsepower and hit a top speed of “over 190 mph.”
Well, Chris Harris not only got to drive one, but it just so happened to be the factory-owned model. In typical Chris Harris fashion, he doesn’t just take it on a leisurely stroll either, he got this classic 80’s beast sideways on several occasions.
If you have a knack for watching daytime TV, you likely know who Doctor Phil is. In fact, even if you don’t watch it, you likely know that he is the over opinionated and sometimes-controversial psychologist that hands out advice to random people on his show.
Little did we know that Dr. Phil is a car nut too, or at least he seems like one, thanks to the 1957Bel Air convertible he owns. Unfortunately, someone obviously wanted it a little more than him, as the $100,000 drop top – yup, it’s actually worth at least that much on the high end – was the victim of a car thief at a local repair shop.
The Chevy was in the shop for repairing a no-start condition, which proves that the Doc is either too busy to fix it or knows nothing about automotive mechanics, as that should be a simple fix on this all-mechanical car. The police report states that the lock was hacked off of a garage door in the shop and the thief had a clean getaway.
The robber must have either been a mechanic and repaired the vehicle, had a tow truck, or had some help to push this large vehicle out of the shop and to its destination – likely a chop shop somewhere in the local Burbank, CA area.
The car should be relatively easy to spot, as it is a black convertible Bel Air with chrome wheels, wide-whitewall tires, gold badging, and red leather interior — similar to the one above. There is no reward listed, but we’re sure Phil would pony something up for the return of his $100K car.
About a year ago, Swiss artist Dante brought a 24-karat Ferrari 250 GTO sculpture to the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.
Ever the provocateur for all things awesome and artistic, Dante has created yet another masterpiece of a sculpture. This time, the artist’s inspiration is another classic Italian supercar: the Lamborghini Miura.
Instead of Pebble Beach, Dante will be presenting his 24-karat Miura sculpture at the Abu Dhabi Formula One Grand Prix this coming November. In addition to being finished in 24-karat gold, the 1:24 scale Miura sculpture was built using silver and comes with a black marble base and a piano black lacquered presentation case.
Dante will only build 50 of these models with each piece being priced at 50,000 Swiss Francs, which is around $52,000 based on current exchange rates. For that one person who believes he can always do better than that, Dante is also offering a one-off model that will cost double - 100,000 Swiss Francs ($104,000) - than the 24-karat versions.
“Captain America: The First Avenger” was chock-full of loads of action, but one thing automotive junkies couldn’t get enough of was the triple-axle car that Red Skull – the villain – drove in the movie. Though a lot of the scenes in the movie that showed the car were computer-generated, there was actually a real-life example of this beast built, and we found a video showing it in all of its glory.
The Schmidt Hydra Coupe is touted in the movie as being powered by a V-16 Supercharged engine and fueled by a power cube. In real life, however, this massive machine boasted a V-8 Ford engine pulled from a drag car. Taking its styling from the Mercedes 540K, Mercedes G4 Offroader, various Bentleys and Duesenbergs, this tank on wheels is both retro and futuristic at the same time.
It measures in at a massive 7.62 meters (25 feet), boasts six wheels, which is thanks to it being based on a truck chassis. This massive hunk of car is draped in a high-gloss red paint, matching its owner’s skull, and features massive white-wall tires.
It’s a pretty impressive build for a one-off movie car and we’re sure to see it at an auction one day. We’ll have to keep a keen eye out for it, so we can get together all of the details for you.
Until then, enjoy the above video showing us various parts of this awesomely crafted vehicle.
Automakers usually take great pride in unveiling concept cars and while most of them don’t even see the light of production, they make for interesting talking points on what kind of car they could’ve been if they were produced en masse. Very rarely do you see a concept version get sent back under the covers without being seen by the public for the next 25 years.
But that’s exactly what happened last weekend at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance when Porsche brought out what can only be described as the evolutionary concept predecessor of the Panamera, the 928 H50 Concept.
It must be noted that the 928 H50 Concept bears a striking similarity to the 928s that were produced from 1978 to 1995. The overall profile is similar, including the long, sliding hood that harkens back to the aesthetic profile of the 928. There are some awkward lines in there and the front-rear balance appears to be skewed to the former, but for all of its resemblance to the old 928, the 928 H50 Concept has one thing the other doesn’t have: two extra doors.
In the early-1960s, Ford had gained an interest in long-distance road racing and decided it was time to invest in a car that could compete in the likes of the 24 Hours of Le Mans race. In 1963, Ford and Ferrari struck a deal for production, but Ferrari cut the project off after they couldn’t come to an agreement as to whether Ford could participate in the Indy 500 or not.
Ford then decided if Ferrari wasn’t going to work with them, they were going to beat them. Ford negotiated with both Lotus and Lola before deciding to go with Lola, but the car was a complete mess and retired much more than it finished. After the 1964 Nassau race, Carroll Shelby stepped in to right the ship.
Between 1966 and 1969, the GT40 went on to win the Le Mans an impressive four times in a row, entrenching it in racing history and propelling Carroll Shelby even further into legendary status. Following the 1969 model year, the GT project was shut down and the GT40 production stopped at just 107 cars, ending its impressive run.
Check out our full review on the GT40 after the jump.
