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Archives for July 2008

Video: McLaren M6B lapping Infineon Raceway

July 31, 2008 by Gary Grant 1 Comment

Some time ago, Gary Faules took us on a tour of Infineon Raceway in Lucky, the GT350R. I just stumbled across this video that puts things into a completely different perspective. Vintage racer Gary Sheehan takes us for a few laps of the legendary Sears Point track in the McLaren M6B Can Am car originally driven by Jo Bonnier. While I get the feeling that Gary S is far from flying in the beast, this video gives a pretty good idea what the view was like from the cockpit of one of the Can Am monsters.

Oh yeah, you might want to crank the speakers for this one!

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Default ThumbnailVideo: Modern Targa Florio Default ThumbnailHealey 3000 Goodness from Zolder Default ThumbnailVideo: Lucky hits the track Default ThumbnailVideo: In car at Infineon with Gary Faules

Toyota gets tough: 2008 Toyota Tundra

July 31, 2008 by Gary Grant 3 Comments

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Way back in the early Nineties, Toyota made their first foray into the North American style of work trucks with the T100. Traditional truck buyers were less than enthused by the T100’s lack of V8 power and lesser capabilities and few buyers switched showrooms. Toyota followed up the T100 with the first generation Tundra, which was much better received. It was a true full size truck. This new truck was still down on power when compared to the traditional domestic work horses, but the driving experience was beyond the competition. With the latest redesign, Toyota has brought the Tundra to the forefront of truckdom with true 2 door work trucks and high end 4 doors for the boss and his family.

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Gallery: Grand Am on track at the Porsche 250

July 30, 2008 by Gary Grant 1 Comment

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It seems that yours truly has been replaced as The Garage Blog’s official on track shooter. Scott Simmons is much more adept at following the machines at speed, as the shot above (and others in the gallery) shows. I think I should just stick to the fun paddock and pit shots where I belong.

The shot above is actor Patrick Dempsey (ok, so we’ll assume it’s him) in the #40 Mazda RX-8 during the Porsche 250 at Barber Motorsports Park. There is a huge gallery of on track action after the break.
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Default ThumbnailGallery: Porsche 250 weekend at Barber Motorsports Park

Thunderhill Raceway Park is Officially Closed!

July 28, 2008 by Will Faules 5 Comments

dsc01777.jpgdsc01775.jpgdsc01778.jpgdsc01780.jpgdsc01779.jpgdsc01796.jpgdsc01813.jpgdsc01854.jpgdsc01820.jpgdsc01842.jpgdsc01847.jpgdsc01848.jpgdsc01844.jpgBut unlike many businesses, Thunderhill has not gone bankrupt or changed ownership. The Fastest Three Miles in the West is closed for construction until the Open House Ceremonies the eve of Friday, August 8th. The $1.5 million project is making very big improvements to the facility. A 2 inch overlay of the track with all new curbing is the main purpose for the 12 day construction. There will be another big awning in front of the Main Building just like the existing one. Another 50’by300’ are being added to the skid pad. The main building is being repainted inside as well as redecorated. All racing walls will be repainted and improved. All Turn Worker boxes will be improved. Many hills that create blind spots will be reduced to make fewer blind spots. Much land surrounding the track will be reworked so that there will be even more, safe runoff room than already exists. There will even be a new opportunity for people to advertise and support the track; a new wall for 8’x16’ billboards is being added in a prime viewing area of the track. We are very excited through all of this because Thunderhill Raceway will be an even better place to lap for cars and bikes alike.

The San Francisco Region of the Sports Car Club of America put on a wonderful action packed event all last weekend. The last car came off track at 4:15p.m. And construction crews were working full steam ahead at 4:16p.m. until 10:00p.m. the first night removing old curbing.

At 5:30a.m. this morning we were back at it. By the end of today we were already ahead of schedule. Pictures and the video of the heavy equipment at work coming soon.

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The Baby Vanderbilt Racers in my own back yard

July 28, 2008 by Gary Faules 10 Comments

For years I have had a fascination and love affair with the rich history of the Vanderbilt Cup Series. I must admit, one of my biggest reasons for this interest is because of that same history as it relates to the area which I call home… San Francisco. This story has it all, intrigue, fortunes, men with power, race cars, airplanes, world travel.

To get things started it helps to understand how much more the San Francisco Vanderbilt Series Race stood out than any other race and that’s saying something considering how amazing any of the Vanderbilt Series Cup events were. The Panama-Pacific International Exposition was a world’s fair held in San Francisco
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Dynolicious turns iPhone into a gearhead’s wet dream

July 28, 2008 by Gary Grant 7 Comments

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Until recently, I’ve resisted the iPhenom. I absolutely refuse to spend a fortune on a phone that is a glorified mp3 player. Then again, I could enhance my techno experience by accenting my Sanyo Katana (which I love) with an iTouch so that I can carry my photos around with me. Now, the folks at Dynolicious have created a killer app that I just have to have. I mean, it’s a legit business expense to be used during road tests. Right?
[Read more…]

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Gallery: Porsche 250 weekend at Barber Motorsports Park

July 28, 2008 by Gary Grant 4 Comments

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What could be a better combo than Playboy Playmates and race cars? Well, I suppose there could be a few things, but not many. Our roving Southern connection, Sister Karin & Bro inlaw Scott ventured out to Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama last weekend for the Porsche 250 Grand Am event with camera in hand. The sights went far beyond Playmates, as there was cars, bikes and even a few airplanes. Of course Scott was decent enough to grab at least one shot of Hef’s girls before Karin beat the daylights out of him! I’m told there are more pics to follow over the coming days.

Huge slideshow after the break
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The Garage hits the slots

July 28, 2008 by Gary Grant 2 Comments

On our recent trip to Lime Rock, I had hoped to bring something cool home for the kids, just like any good Dad is supposed to do. What was I going to pick up? Who knew. Until of course I was taking some respite from the sun while poking about in the Driving Impressions store and came across the Scalextric slot cars. I knew I had to bring home some slot car goodness.
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Video: 2008 Pike’s Peak International Hill Climb highlights

July 27, 2008 by Gary Grant 8 Comments

Over the past week, The Garage regular Gary Faules has been keeping on top of all the La Carrera Panamericana competitors who went up the hill at Pikes Peak. As I’ve been dealing with some technical issues at my end, I haven’t kept up to date myself. Now that my Laptop is functioning properly again, I’m going crazy with all the incredible video that is cropping up.

Youtube user allterrainvideo has put together a great highlight video, shot from a variety of different spots on the mountain. A few things caught my interest. First off, once you get up near the top, it’s really windy up there. Spectators are completely crazy, standing right along the edge of the road. There is next to no margin for error, if you make a mistake, the edge is really close. There are some incredible sounding machines hammering their way up the hill, and then there is Monster Tajima’s ride. That just has to be the coolest race car ever built!

Be sure to crank this one up really loud.

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Default ThumbnailVideo: Monster Tajima tackles Pikes Peak Default ThumbnailTranssyberia Rally: Stage 9 takes it’s toll Default ThumbnailVideo: Big Bad Buick at La Carrera Panamerica Default ThumbnailVideo: 2005 La Carrera documentary Default ThumbnailVideo: more from Go Fast Energy at La Carrera

NBC reveals the Attack Kitt

July 27, 2008 by Gary Grant Leave a Comment

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When the modern day Knight Rider tv movie was shown a couple of months ago, pundits criticized the schlocky story and iffy acting but everyone agreed that Kitt was beyond cool. For the upcoming series, producers felt they needed to kick things up a notch and make Kitt a bit more extreme.

At the 2008 edition of Comic Con earlier this week, NBC unveiled the decidedly more aggressive looking Kitt Attack version. They also sent in the Comic Con Virgin to do a few interviews and catch the reveal.

Video after the break
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Default ThumbnailNow that’s my kind of ride Default Thumbnail14 Year Old Destroys Dad’s Dream Car Default ThumbnailVideo: Knight Rider visits Jay Leno’s Garage or every car geek’s wildest dream
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