Recently deceased automotive master and all-around great person, Carroll Shelby, has a history that few can compete with. Not only was he one of the best American road racers, but was also a legendary car designer. But his legend is seemingly endless in the automotive field, as even racers in drift series races are influenced by him.
The most recent evidence was when American driver Vaughn Gittin Jr. took home 1st place in round 1 of the World Drift Series in China while driving his Mustang RTR. Though Mr. Shelby never had a hand in drifting, it is obvious that he had a huge influence on Gittin, as he dedicated this victory to the memory of Mr. Carroll Shelby.
After being declared the winner, Gittin was quoted saying “I would like to dedicate this to win to a very special man that we lost recently, someone I had the opportunity to meet just a few times, and someone that was a true inspiration to me personally and to the automotive world as a whole. That man is Carroll Shelby. He is someone that always did what he wanted to do no matter what anyone thought and I know he would be proud to know we are drifting Mustangs in Olympic stadiums here in China and bringing home a huge first place trophy back to the USA!”
Our congratulations have to go out to Gittin for his victory, but the victory pales in comparison to his heartfelt dedication to the man that helped make the Mustang that won the race what it is today. To say that Gittin has our support throughout the rest of the WDS is an understatement.
Somewhere, Mr. Shelby was smiling as this Ford Mustang slid its way around imports and into first place…
Click past the jump to read the full press release.
The new car, which we now know as the Monster Sport E-Runner Pikes Peak Special, looks like an actual LMP1 prototype with plenty of GoPro cameras installed on it. The blue LED stripe headlights even add a mix of Batmobile and K.I.T.T from Knight Rider to it.
Having said all of that, the Monster Sport E-Runner Pikes Peak Special means serious business as Tajima is looking to set not only the electric car record, but also best his own record time in the Unlimited class. Tajima, a six-time defending champ in Pikes Peak, will most certainly be one of the top contenders this year, even if he’s going to pilot a new toy that a lot of people know little about.
From what we do know about the car, it looks like it’s been given the full-on carbon fiber treatment, complete with a pod-like driver capsule that’s encased by a full-on roll cage. Those aforementioned LED lights are also an attractive sight as are the matching set of blue rims. Meanwhile, the plethora of vents and scoops on the car’s body clearly suggests that the racer is ready to throw down at Pikes Peak next month.
Different car, same results, right?
With Monster Tajima behind the wheel, we’re not about to doubt that.
RK Motors Charlotte has become pretty notorious for its Pro Touring models, which are ultra-high-performance versions of classic muscle and sports cars. Not only are they extremely powerful, but RKM also has the restored to a condition that is better than the factory could have ever imagined. Just recently, RKM launched an all-new Pro Touring model in the form of the 1955 Ford Thunderbird Pro Touring.
After the Corvette was a smash hit, Ford decided two years was a long enough wait to build its direct competitor to the Corvette, the Thunderbird. The T-bird and Corvette, however, went to completely different directions over the year. As expected, both vehicles became progressively larger through the `60s and `70s, but the T-bird grew to proportions that no one expected by the time it hit the 1967 model year.
After 1997, Ford decided to axe this growing monster, but released it again in the 2002 model year with styling cues taken from its first generation model. The first generation was arguably the most beautiful for the T-bird and RKM’s model promises to not take away from its classical styling, but rather add to it with modern modifications.
Did RKM hold true to its promise not to completely hack up this first rendition of the T-bird, or did it make this beautiful car just a shell of its former self?
Click past the jump to read our full review and find out.
In early 2011, Mitsubishi announced that it will be discontinuing one of the marquis economy sports cars of the last two decades, the Eclipse. The Eclipse lived a rather odd life, starting out with two nearly identical siblings in the Plymouth Laser and Eagle Talon. After the elimination of the Laser, the Eclipse and Talon remained, turning into two of the most beautiful economy sports cars ever built, in 1995.
In 1998, Eagle folded and only the beautiful Eclipse remained, but the death of its sibling didn’t set too well with the Eclipse, as after just one year of being on its own, it morphed into a rather ugly and over-styled pig that required a V-6 engine to be even remotely fun to drive.
In 2006, Mitsubishi finally came to its senses and realized that the new body style just wasn’t doing the “Eclipse” name justice, so they went back to the drawing board and created a rounder Eclipse that more closely resembled the one from the late-90s. Oddly enough, this new sportier Eclipse is actually heavier than its predecessor, but that certainly does not take away from its beauty.
In the earlier years, when a car was on its last production year, the final model to roll off of the production line was kept by the manufacturer and stored. In more recent years, the last model typically ran off of the production line like any other model and became lost in the sea of models. Mitsubishi seized this opportunity to fully customize the final Eclipse, which is an SE model, so that it was truly a one-of-a-kind vehicle. Now this brand new Eclipse is up for sale by RK Motors Charlotte.
Click past the jump to read about this custom 2012 Eclipse SE final model.
In 1963, Chevrolet released an all-new Corvette to replace the C1 generation. This Corvette featured a high beltline and the body featured more chiseled lines. The C2 Generation `Vette was nicknamed the “Sting Ray” by its designers, Bill Mitchell and Larry Shinoda, and that eventually became adopted as part of the name and the 1963 Corvette Sting Ray was born.
The 1967 model year was the final one for the Sting Ray, but it was also its peak year, as its top level L88 427 cubic-inch power plant produced upwards of 500 horsepower, even though Chevy claimed it only produced 430 horsepower. The lower engines, the L68 427 and L71 427, were no chumps either, pumping out 400 horsepower and 435 horsepower, respectively.
Classic car specialists, RK Motors Charlotte, decided that the stock Sting Ray was just not enough and decided to heavily modify this classic muscle car. The resulting vehicle is the sexy and ultra-desirable 1967 Corvette Sting Rat Pro Touring, a one-off special edition designed by the folks at RKM.
Typically, we are totally against the hacking up of a classic muscle sports car like the Sting Ray, but RKM has a habit of improving these cars without ruining the original look and feel of them.
Click past the jump to read our full review and see if RKM hit a homerun, or struck out, with this Pro Touring Sting Ray.
The 1967 model year was the debut year for the Plymouth Belvedere GTX, which most enthusiasts simply know as the Plymouth GTX. The GTX was always one of the top performers in the 1960s, but was also a refined muscle car, receiving the nickname “The Gentleman’s Muscle Car” in its early years. Unfortunately, the GTX was a late arrival to the muscle car area and only lasted five model years.
In its debut year, there were 12,115 models built, which makes it a rather rare car in itself. Options were not scarce for the 1967 GTX, as it had two engines available, a 425-horsepower, 426 cubic-inch V-8 Hemi or a 375-horsepower, 440 cubic-inch V-8. It also had two transmission options, a three-speed automatic and a four-speed manual.
In addition to the engine and transmission options, there was also coupe or convertible options available. One would assume that the convertible four-speed manual option with a Hemi would be a popular option combination, due to its raw power and ability to shift with the wind in you hair, but that’s not the case. Only seven of these convertible models with four-speeds and a Hemi engine rolled off of the assembly line in the 1967 model year.
That makes this one of the rarest vehicles on the planet, let alone one of the rarest muscle cars ever built. To boot, it is a natural rarity, as opposed to a planned one, like a special edition. It just so happened that dealers ordered so few of this option combination that the factory only produced a few.
If you want to own one of the most rare mass produced automobiles on the planet, now is your chance, as RK Motors Charlotte has just placed a convertible 1967 GTX with a Hemi and a four-speed up for auction on Ebay.
Now we know that it’s rare, but how has this vehicle held up over the course of the past 45 years?
Click past the jump to read our full review on this rare vehicle.
The Ferrari Enzo’s successor has been in the pipeworks for upwards of five years now and with its launch creeping closer and closer every day, additional details are being released frequently. The latest information to be released is in regards to sales of the car codenamed the ‘F70’ and just which markets Ferrari plans to targets with its latest halo car.
The U.S. has always been one of, if not the largest sales market for Ferrari. Ever since the brand’s inception in 1929, Americans have enveloped the Italian marque and as a result of this long history between duo, Ferrari aims to target the U.S. significantly. It also hopes it will be the car’s largest market when it goes on sale next year.
A company insider who was speaking to Bloomberg released the information as well as a few other juicy details including the new car’s rumored price of $850,000 in the U.S., which will put it right in the same realm as the incredible Porsche 918 Spyder. Even though the U.S. is said to be the F70’s largest market when deliveries begin in mid or late 2013, less than 100 units are expected to make their way here if the 399 units of the Enzo which were produced are a guide as to how many of its successor will be produced.
Ferrari expects the F70 to completely reshape the automotive industry as it should pave the way for other supercars to follow and if the rumors are to be believed, it’ll feature an incredible V12 engine pumping out 800HP by itself or 920HP when combined with the advanced KERS system.
The past few days have been pretty busy for BMW. First they unveiled the 3-Series Station Wagon and after it the 1-Series three-door and the M135i. And now the US market has received a new model to its 1-Series line-up: 135is offered in both coupe and convertible version. Prices will start from $44,145 for the coupe model and $48,845 for the convertible and sales are scheduled to begin this fall.
The BMW 135is is powered by a TwinPower Turbo 3.0-liter inline-6 engine that delivers a total of 320 hp (+20 hp increase compared to the 135i) and 317 lb-ft of torque (+17 lb.ft). The engine features Valvetronic throttle-less intake technology, direct injection and a single twin-scroll turbocharger and has been combined with a standard 6-Speed manual transmission or an optional 7-Speed Double Clutch Transmission, but also with a Performance exhaust system.
The new 135is will be distinguished by exclusive 18" wheels, unique high-gloss black kidney grill, black mirror caps and special exterior badges in additional to the standard M Sport Package components. For the interior BMW will add stainless steel pedals, special interior badges and optional black leather seats with blue stitching for the standard sport seats.
The Ghia L6.4 was just about as exclusive as you could get in the 1960s, as it was designed and built only for actors and other high rollers in Hollywood. The final of the 26 Ghia L6.4s ever built was built for one of the largest stars of that era, Dean Martin. Martin was not the only Rat Pack member to own a L6.4, as Frank Sinatra also owned one, as did other Rat Pack members.
Recently, one of the 26 Ghia L6.4s built, the one owned by Dean Martin, was put up for auction on eBay as Hyman Ltd. got its hands on Martin’s old L6.4. For a car of its age, the modern features are plentiful, but it still wasn’t enough for Dean Martin, as he shipped the car off to George Barris, “Hollywood’s King of the Kustomizers,” to have even more customizations performed on this already rare vehicle. This customization turned Martin’s L6.4 into a one-of-a-kind vehicle.
Click past the jump to read the full review on this vehicle and see how it has held up throughout the years.
One Lap America actually has roots dating back to the original Cannonball Sea-to-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash, known simply as Cannonball. Many of today’s enthusiasts think that Cannonball was simply a movie or plot, but this was actually a real-life cross-country race that included high speeds on U.S. highways.
The original Cannonball only lasted five runs until its organizer, Brock Yates, decided he had better quit this no-holds-barred race before the authorities decide to close it down. In 1984, the Cannonball returned, but was not about making it across the country as fast as possible, but about making it through a course that went throughout the lower 48 states and ended up with the amount of miles closest to Brock’s estimate.
In the modern era of the One Lap America, the race is now about following the rules of the road, as you drive throughout a predetermined course, and between these leisurely drives, you have track events. The scoring of this event is solely based on the track event results, but you and your co-driver(s) must also survive driving 24 hours on end, stopping only to enjoy a “gourmet” gas station hot dog or two along the way.
This 19-event, eight-day racing series just wrapped up on Saturday and we have your full list of winners in each class and we have also broken down a list of all of the oddest and most awesome cars to grace the 2012 running.
Click past the jump to read about the odd and awesome cars, as well as the winners from each class.
