It’s the worst nightmare of racers and organizers alike. An out of control race car slamming into a spectator area. It happened on Saturday in Selmer Tennessee, at the Cars For Kids charity event. At the end of a parade, racers were to perform burnouts for the cheering fans on a closed highway lined with spectators. When it was Troy Chritchley’s turn, up came the revs and the smoke show started. Then things went wrong and he lost control of the car. The car left the roadway and hit a pole, sending bodies flying along the way. Reports vary from 6 to 7 deaths and some 18 or so injuries. So why did this tragedy occur?
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Over the years, it has become apparent that car industry types and automotive journalists have something in common. A certain negativity towards car manufacturers that translates into a level of bitchiness when talking about cars. Why this concerns me is that I’m not only a car industry guy, but I like to think that I’m part of a new wave of writers.
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Happy Father’s Day and welcome to the 25th edition of the Carnival of Wheels. It’s another big day for racing, as the 24 hours of Le Mans has finished up, the US GP is today and the NASCAR boys are in Michigan. I didn’t get to watch too much of the French summer classic, but it looks like Audi won again and Corvette was beaten by Aston Martin. Of course, Villeneuve didn’t finish, surprisingly it wasn’t his fault. Now it’s time to begin our hot laps around the auto blogs, we’re going to do a couple of sessions today, as this week’s CoW is a big one. So grab a coffee and away we go!

We all know someone who has a saved by a Volvo story and this week, Rickey adds his story to the list. Sounds pretty lucky that all his brick received was a bit of a bump. Much better that the other car.
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Any hopes of the 1958 Plymouth Belvedere that was buried in Tulsa Oklahoma surviving in showroom condition were dashed when the sarcophagus lid was removed and water was found in the concrete container. Now Miss Belvedere has been removed and put on display for the crowds to see. What is left is in pretty poor condition, but a few details remain, like the citizens signatures on the decaying white wall tires.
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It’s been forty years since the first Canadian Grand Prix at Mosport. To celebrate, the 2007 VARAC festival will be featuring vintage Formula 1 cars, giving fans the opportunity to see some incredible machinery up close and on the track. Joining the F1 cars will be Historic Sports Racers, along with a paddock full of vintage sedans, sports cars and a variety of open wheeled classes.
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When I first saw the new Ford Edge, I couldn’t help but think that Ford had set their sights squarely on the successful Nissan Murano. Visually, designers have taken a decidedly Japanese shape and moulded it into a package that there is no mistaking for a Ford product. The 5 door crossover sport utility looks great from every angle and from the reaction we’ve gotten around town it seems to have made it’s presence known with the public.
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Growing up I spent many hours digesting a series of books from the Fifties about a racer and his car. The star of the Black Tiger series was of course a Bentley Speed Six, one of the greatest race cars of all time. Those books left their mark on my psyche and the Bentley is a big part of that.

The Brooklands track was the scene of many Bentley wins and the circuit is now celebrating it’s 100th anniversary. To mark the occasion, Bentley is assembling some of their famed race cars along with the new Brooklands Coupe.

More photos and full press release after the break.
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When you work in the retail side of the car industry, visiting your manufacturer’s head office is sort of like Vegas. What happens there stays there. In other words, cameras aren’t usually welcome and discussions aren’t repeated. Fortunately for our readers this week, The Garage cameras were allowed to take some shots of a bit of a rare beast. Rare here in North America at least.
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By now, most readers have likely caught wind of the 1957 Plymouth Belvedere that was buried in front of the court house in Tulsa Oklahoma. The car was buried as a time capsule in 1957, with plans to open the case 50 years later. 50 years later just happens to be tomorrow.
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We never cease to be amazed by some of the things we see presented to us by our West Coast contributer, Aaron Von Minden. Today we have bronze cylinder heads and an intake manifold that have just returned from the polishing shop. These are for the flathead in the Savage Speed shop truck! Too kool.
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