Speak up now or forever hold your piece not only applies to weddings but in car races as well. Have you ever wished you could take part in a world famous race? Well here is your big chance and like the old saying, there is no time like the present. My very good friend Francisco Ortiz has years of experience running La Carrera Panamericana in several cars. Last year he ran a beautifully prepared Datsun 510 replica of PETE BROCK’s BRE 510. Francisco is already signed up to run again this year’s world famous La Carrera Panamericana and is looking for a navigator. This is the opportunity of a lifetime in more ways than one. Since Francisco is from Mexico obviously he speaks Spanish (and English), has a very good understanding of all the customs of Mexico and knows the roads very well. This is a great opportunity for someone to arrive and take part without all of the concerns of the long drive to get there. All you need to do is arrive a couple days in advance with your racing suit and helmet and Francisco will be able to get you familier with your duties as navigator.
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Thanks to our tight Father’s Day schedule, I wasn’t able to stick around to see the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series battle it out. It’s a bit of a shame, as the always unpredictable Mosport weather dropped a bunch of rain on the roundy round gang. We spent a few moments with Pierre Bourque, who was a bit disappointed with his 20th place starting position. Bourque was hoping for a top ten finish for the first weekend of a new, untested car. Fortunately, his road racing experience (doesn’t it always rain at Daytona) with The Racer’s Group paid off when the skies opened and he worked his way up to 7th by the time the checker fell. On the last lap, J.R. Fitzpatrick came from third to take the win on a wet track.

Check out our gallery of paddock shots after the break
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There isn’t much to say other than this is one of the funniest things I’ve seen in a really long time!

Dan’s VW van jump

Mosport and Trans Am. The two names have been intertwined since the early days of both institutions. Unfortunately, one continues to flourish, while the other has more or less died gone on hiatus. Way back in the early days of The Garage, I sent an open letter to Paul Gentilozzi and friends suggesting that a workable modern formula for the ailing series might be found in the roots of the series. While I never expected a response (and never got one) the data recorders showed a healthy bit of traffic from the Trans Am and SCCA offices. Let’s hope the message sunk in.

If Trans Am is to have a snowball’s chance in hell of having a resurrection, the Mustang Challenge for the Miller Cup certainly could show the way. These modern Ford race cars are beyond exciting. A production body shell, prepared initially by the factory to go racing. An affordable, exciting platform that provides equal excitement for fans and drivers. These cars look great and sound absolutely incredible. They scramble for traction and slide all over Mosport’s undulating surface, just like the real Trans Am cars way back in the 60’s and early 70’s. These are real race cars the crowd can relate to, unlike the tube frame monstrosities that populated the series for the last decade and a half of it’s life.

After the break, there is a huge gallery from the paddock, qualifying and Sunday’s race. Grab a cold one, sit back and enjoy!
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Man, that Father and Son duo from the west coast never cease to amaze me! Gary Faules had a perfectly wonderful Father’s Day post yesterday and in it, I learned that young mister Will has added another arrow to his quiver. The Fusion FRC-14.

The Fusion is a Canadian built sports racer, powered primarily by hi-po bike engines and large enough to seat two. Built as a lapping day weapon, the FRC-14 can also be configured for endurance racing. The younger Faules, whose day job is manning the marketing office at Thunderhill Raceway, has just become the newest dealer for Fusion.

Does this mean that The Garage could be heading to Sebring or Daytona in 2009 with Will at the wheel of a Fusion? Time will tell!

To get more info, visit the Fusion web site or e-mail Will at will@thunderhill.com

What better way to spend Father’s Day morning, but hiking around the infield of one of North America’s most storied race tracks? That was how my Father’s Day began, shooting race cars and pretty girls at Mosport. It was bright, sunny and hot as hell this morning and the on track action was pretty hot too. Also hot were some of the hired help around the circuit.

Check out the gallery of paddock girls after the break and watch over the next few days for some of the 400 or so racing shots I grabbed too.
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Those who pay attention to the offbeat but increasingly mainstream world of cross country motoring records are well aware of the accomplishments of our friend Alex Roy and his motley crew of automotive miscreants known as Team Polizei. They may also be aware that Herr Roy swears that he has sworn off any further pursuits of long distance infamy.

Herr Roy has been alternately praised and criticized for his shameless self promotion over the past few years, but more recently that promotion has taken somewhat of a different tack. It seems now that Roy is intent on the world domination of the Team Polizei brand. But to what end? The clues are substantial, yet Roy isn’t talking. Well, not about the end goal.

Is there an end goal, or has the goal already been accomplished?

Exhibit #1: The release of Interceptor 144R, a race prepared yet street legal Euro spec M5 in Team Polizei livery.

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Famed civil war town Gettysburg, Pennsylvania is playing host to a different type of battle this weekend. Devotees of gull wing sports cars will descend on the town to show off and ogle Delorean DMC 12’s and Bricklin SV-1’s. Malcolm Bricklin will be on hand to judge the concours along with hip hop producer Damon Dash.

The event is being held at the All Star Events Complex just outside Gettysburg with events today and tomorrow.

The above photo is from Flickr user (and The Garage flickr pool member) toolnorth.

I really need to delve into the Flickr pool more often to liven things up here in The Garage, so I can offer a bit more variety. The problem is that there are so many great images, and yet I continually go back to the work of Flickr user Nigel Smuckatelli.

His real name is Louis Galanos and he spent some time toting a lens around Sebring and Daytona back in the golden years. It’s fortunate for us that Louis took the time, because his work is just incredible.

The car above is the Porsche 917k campaiged by the Martini & Rossi team for Helmut Marko and Rudi Lins in the 1971 24 hours of Daytona. The car did not finish.

Be sure to visit The Garage on Flickr, where there are just too many great photos to show here.

Every now and then, manufacturers will hold a ride and drive event for fleet customers to come out and sample their vehicles. It is a convenient way for all the buyers to come out and get a taste of what a manufacturer has on offer. Any time there is a parking lot full of vehicles waiting to be driven, you’ll find the auto scribes aren’t too far away and today was no exception.

General Motors invited a bunch of local journalists out for the day to sample a good chunk of the GM stable. They were nice enough to invite us out a bit earlier than the buyers, so we had a chance to blast through as many cars as possible in a few hours. We were able to spend a bit of time with Chevy’s Cobalt SS, HHR SS, Tahoe 2 mode hybrid and….oh wait. It seems we spent more time talking than driving and only drove the three. That’s ok, as we got some great photos and will have some impressions of these pretty neat cars as the week goes on.