It’s been a while since we’ve delved into the archives here in The Garage, so for this pre Christmas weekend I thought it might be cool to spin back to 1967 with the Castrol Book of Acheivments. This nice little magazine covers all sorts of motorsports. Rallycross, Formula 1, Grand Prix motorcycles, jet airplanes and even trials testing of boats. Perhaps most notable however are some of the differences in motorsports media from the Sixties to today.

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Anybody who’s been around racing for a few decades will no doubt fondly recall a small bore, rear wheel drive Datsun of some sort or another. 510, B210, and later on the 200sx & the 240sx. They were cheap to run, reliable and a blast to drive. While Nissan has gotten it together with the 240/260/280’s spiritual successor, the 350Z, the car is still an expensive toy to run. What about the little guy?

Over at Autoblog, John Neff has reported that Nissan may be close to bringing a small, rear wheel drive car to life. Possibly based on the Foria Concept shown at the 2005 Tokyo Motor Show, the car would fulfil the cries of drifters and racers around the world.

Formula 1 legend Clay Regazzoni was killed this week in a collision with a truck in Parma, Italy.

Regazzoni had a Formula 1 career that spanned 11 years, with 5 wins. He drove for Ferrari, Ensign and Shadow. He also scored the first ever win for the young Williams team. His time in F1 ended with a spinal injury in a crash at Long Beach in 1980. Regazzoni went on to race in a variety of sports car endurance races and the Paris-Dakar desert raid in vehicles equipped with hand controls.

It’s rather ironic that such a talentend driver could survive decades of racing, only to be killed on the street. Clay Regazzoni’s spirit will be missed.

via BBC

The boys and girls over at Hot Rod Magazine have been bringing us some of the coolest muscle for longer than many of us have been on this planet. Somehow, I stopped reading Hot Rod years ago, but now that the rod culture is starting to turn my crank again I’ve been watching with interest.

This week on HotRod.com they’ve got 3 killer Rat Rods from this year’s Power Tour. Oops, we’re not supposed to call them Rat Rods. Ok, how about looks like I found it before I bolted it up to some modern motivational devices? Either way, this segment of the hobby turns my crank.
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Here go those lawyers again, thinking like adults when they’re trying to fix teenage problems. Problem: Kids dropping out of school. Solution:Ummmm, I know, let’s take away their driver’s license!

This is what the lawmakers here in Ontario have done. The politicians have decided that any Ontario teen under the age of 18 who drops out of high school will have their driver’s license revoked.
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Over at the Jalop today, Mike has posted on the joys of vintage HO slot cars. His post got me thinking about the good old days, when the biggest stress in life was trying to figure out why my slot cars wouldn’t go. Then a thought struck. I bet there is a few cars stuffed in a box somewhere in the workshop. A quick search turned up the old Stromberg Ferrari Testa Rossa box that contains what remains of my old 1/32 slot cars.
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Oh, how hypocritical the motorsports press can be. Not long ago, a big to do was made when our boy PT went dune jumping in a golf cart and broke himself. Now, Jimmie Johnson breaks his wrist when he bails out of a golf cart. Officially, it was a result of the driver turning too quickly & I wasn’t holding on tight enough. Come of Jimmie, grow some balls and tell the world the truth. You and the boys had a couple of pops on course and were screwing around.
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One of the things I love about The Garage is that I’ve come to learn about (and in some cases meet) some incredibly cool people who are just as entrenched in the car hobby as I am. Coop is one of those guys. An artist who is heavily involved in the SoCal Hot Rod culture, Coop is one of those rare individuals who is actually able to help mould the culture.

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Ok, so maybe I’m going a little overboard with the videos today, but I’m having fun sharing some rally goodness. I just came across this little historical gem. It’s a really nicely done history of Group B, spanning from the Fifties through to the Eighties. The only problem is once again the sound track. I can’t remember the name of the simp who sings this crap. It’s even worse than Bryan Adams.

Ever seen a Finnish rally car ace dance? Neither had I, but this next compilation somehow manages to fit in some tribal village action. There are a few clips that I haven’t seen before, but not all are actually Group B. The flick opens with a shot of a BMW M1, which I can’t recall ever seeing one on gravel. Be sure to keep an eye out for the Ferrari. A 400i if memory serves.

Oh yes…ignore the cheesy Bryan Adams soundtrack!