We love the Ferrari 250 GT SWB Breadvan. It is an amazing and beautiful machine with an amazing and beautiful 3.0-liter V12 engine that makes an amazing and beautiful sound. Here for your enjoyment is a Breadvan running flat-out during the Mugello Historic Festival in 2008.
Enjoy.
Photo: Ferrari. Video: Impuls2000 / YouTube
Via Jalopnik
We bring you a gallery of 10 classic passenger airliners still in regular operation. The list does have one qualifier: Planes must currently be in regularly scheduled passenger revenue service. That disqualifies VIP planes, airshow antiques, freighters and military birds, but it also means that anyone with a stamped passport and a ticket in hand can fly into history on one of these well-loved — if not as well-known — airliners.
Above:
Ah, the 707. It's as much a symbol of American postwar progress as the '57 Chevy and Apollo 11, but it's still flown in regular passenger service only on Saha Airlines — a unit of the Iranian Air Force. Just as Havana residents cherish their 1950s Oldsmobiles and Buicks, economic sanctions mean that Iranian aviators must make do with vintage metal.
Despite high maintenance costs, the old planes have had an unintended consequence of spurring a cottage industry of plane-enthusiast tourists who travel the world over to grab a seat on the 707 service between Tehran and Kish Island. Though feared to be retired after a series of technical failures over the summer, the Saha 707 returned to regular passenger service. For how long, nobody knows.
Photo: Unveiling the Boeing 707 on May 14, 1954.
Flickr/IMLS DCC
Brough Superior has been called “the Rolls Royce of motorcycles,” renowned as much for power as beauty. Founder George Brough personally tested every motorcycle before it left the factory in Nottingham, England, so everyone who owns a Brough can say it was ridden by Brough.
Now someone with deep pockets will own George Brough’s personal machine, the prototype Brough Superior SS100 Alpine Grand Sport he rode to victory in the eight-day 1925 Austrian Speed trials. The stunningly beautiful motorcycle will be auctioned Dec. 15 by Phillips de Pury & Co. It is expected to command at least $600,000.
The motorcycle — it seems uncouth to call something expected to fetch six figures a “bike” — was prepared by chief engineer Harold “Oily” Karslake specifically for the high-speed race through the Alps. It featured Rexine panniers for gear, two tool bags and a Bonnkksen time and trip speedometer. Karslake tuned the 1,000 cc V-twin for high-altitude, and like all Brough Superiors it was guaranteed to do 100 mph.
After winning the Austrian Speed trials, Brough won the London-to-Edinburgh Trial in May, 1925, and then loaned his motorcycle to J.P “Neon” Castley. Castley won the London-to-Exeter Trial in December, then returned the machine to Brough, who raced it in the Victory Cup Trial in March, 1926. He won, of course.
Brough Superior built 3,048 motorcycles between 1919 and 1940, and each was built to the customer’s tastes. T.E. Lawrence — aka Lawrence of Arabia — was among the marque’s most famous aficionados; he owned seven and called them all “Boanerges,” or “Sons of Thunder.” He is believed to have racked up 300,000 miles on his Superiors and once outran a Bristol Fighter at more than 120 mph.
About 1,000 Brough Superior motorcycles are believed to exist.
Photos: Phillips de Pury & Co. More below.
After 32 years of development, the Covini Engineering team claims this is the production version of the six-wheeled C6W it finally is unveiling this week. The future is now.
The unusual sports car takes its engineering inspiration from the Tyrell P34 Formula 1 race car of 1976. The Tyrell had two pairs of 10-inch front wheels to improve downforce, increase traction and provide a smaller frontal area to reduce drag.
Although the specific engineering behind the Tyrell P34 doesn’t necessarily translate to the C6W, when we spoke to company founder Ferruccio Covini two years ago he provided several reasons why he’s creating his modern-day six-wheeler.
Continue Reading “6-Wheeled Sports Car Headed for Production” »
Current Formula 1 champ Sebastian Vettel joined Michael Schumacher, Sébastien Loeb and other top drivers in taking a few laps of the Race of Champions in a Tesla Roadster.
The battery-electric sports cars made a series of demonstration runs during for last weekend’s races, which pit the best drivers against each other in identical cars. The Roadsters were prepped with roll cages, carbon racing seats with safety harnesses and big honkin’ kill switches just in case.
The laps weren’t blisteringly quick, but it’s cool to see these guys having some EV fun. Videos below.
Photo: Tesla Motors
Continue Reading “Video: Sebastian Vettel Takes a Lap In a Tesla” »
The cool news is there’s a new speed record for electric aircraft. A French pilot flew his twin-engine, electric powered Cri-Cri to a top speed of 162 miles per hour. This beats the previous record of 155 mph set by an Italian team in 2009.
The somewhat embarrassing news is the record was set September 5. The flight came shortly after EADS — the parent company of Airbus — flew its own electric Cri-Cri to great fanfare. In all the excitement, not to mention the torrent of info released by EADS’ PR team, a lot of people missed French aviation company Cri-Cri setting the record in its own airplane.
The Cri-Cri that set the record used two 35-horsepower electric motors made by Electravia. They were fitted with custom propellers designed for the flight. Sleek motor cowlings helped minimize drag, and the company claims the speed was achieved using only 75 percent power. More power would have been used, but the Cri-Cri airframe is not designed to exceed 161 mph even if the team went one over that. Electravia claims the engines and propellers could have pulled the tiny single-seater past 220 mph.
It’s a remarkable accomplishment, one that shows electric aviation is following a path trod by the earliest aviators. The first electric flights, made just a few years ago, were slow, short and did little more than demonstrate it was possible — much like the early Wright brothers flights.
Continue Reading “Electric Airplane Sets New Speed Record” »
Rhys Millen drifting his 750-horsepower Hyundai Genesis coupe up Serra Do Rio Do Rastro in Santa Catarina, Brazil. Everything you need to know, by the numbers: 9.4 kilometers, 156 turns, 7 minutes and 17.898 seconds. Top speed? More than 136 mph.
You will never, ever drive like this.
Millen made the record-setting run during Red Bull Xtreme Drift on Nov. 13. DC Chavez shot and edited the video, which he sent us this week. Thanks, DC.
Video: DC Chavez
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PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania — Most people would call The Dirty Dozen a grueling bicycle race. Hardcore cyclists in Pittsburgh call it a great way to burn off Thanksgiving dinner.
Every year since 1983 bike nuts have subjected themselves to a 50-mile ride that hits the 13 steepest climbs in a city not known for being particularly flat. Conquering that many hills is no easy feat, but to make it just a little tougher the route includes Canton Avenue, which has been called the steepest road in the world.
Canton Avenue takes no prisoners. It quickly and mercilessly punishes the weak and the stupid. This cobblestone beast has a 37 percent grade. It’s a bitch to climb under the best of circumstances, much less after tackling eight other hills in 30 miles. The rest of the course is no piece of cake, mind you. It crosses rivers and valleys while also forcing riders to navigate holiday traffic.
Almost 200 riders turned out this year, and most of them conquered all the climbs. They’re a dedicated bunch, and many of those who falter halfway up simply coast to the bottom and try again. The goal for most riders is to finish, not to win, and some of them need seven hours to do it. If it matters, this year’s winners were Steve Cummings and Betsy Shogren, both of whom have won before.
Photos: Jason Kambitsis / Wired.com
We’ve already taken you inside the factory where the Chevrolet Volt is built to show you what it’s like. Here’s some time-lapse video that shows the process from beginning to end in not quite two minutes.
The plug-in hybrids — and yes, the Volt is a plug-in hybrid — are rolling off the line at Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Center now. The Green Car of the Year starts rolling into driveways later this month.
Video: General Motors
Today marks the end of a month Airbus and Boeing would like to forget. Both companies endured in-flight emergencies with their latest airliners that required grounding the aircraft.
The trouble started for Airbus on Nov. 4 when an A380 experienced an uncontained engine failure shortly after takeoff in Singapore. The plan had to return to the airport for an emergency landing. Pieces of the engine penetrated a cowling designed to contain them in the event of just such a failure, and the shrapnel pierced sections of the wing and fuselage.
Less than a week later on Nov. 9, a Boeing 787 experienced a brief fire during a test flight to Texas. Flight testing has been on hold since the incident and delivery of the first Dreamliner is expected to be delayed yet again.
All in all, not a good month for either company.
Continue Reading “Airbus, Boeing Eager to Forget Post-Halloween Nightmares” »
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