The Garage

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Archives for October 2010

NASCAR – It’s Hallowdega time for the 6th Chase race

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Enter the wild card race in the chase where anything can happen and usually does.  where the points leader can wreck and the points followers can win.  Where an unknown can find his way to the front in the final laps and leave the contenders behind….. and where the Hollywood types like to strut their stuff.  We’ve seen Talledega Nights and now on the eve of halloween we have “The Legend of Hallowdega”.

Award-winning filmmaker Terry Gilliam will premiere his short film THE LEGEND OF HALLOWDEGA starring David Arquette and Justin Kirk with special appearances by Dale Earnhardt Jr., Darrell Waltrip and more on October 31st, 2010.  The film, produced by AMP Energy Juice and @radical.media, will premiere on Halloween Sunday with the first chapter to debut on ESPN just prior to the start of the AMP Energy Juice 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. Starting Halloween night, the film will be available in its entirety on www.LegendofHallowdega.com. THE LEGEND OF HALLOWDEGA is the first short film for both Gilliam and AMP Energy Juice. [Read more…]

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NASCAR – Denny Hamlin takes the win to tighten up the Championship Chase NASCAR – 5 Races to Go in the Chase and no one’s really talking about it Podcast: Tony Stewart talks about Darlington win NASCAR – Jamie McMurray takes the win and the Chase gets shuffled

Let the voting begin

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This vote has been a long time coming. When I first announced our first photo contest, I had no idea I would have such a tough time finding a voting method that I was happy with. My apologies to all of you who submitted photos!

To everyone else, please take a few minutes and have a look through the gallery and then vote for your fave. One lucky photographer will win a year’s subscription to Flickr. Just to make it worth your while, we’ll add in something extra for the voters. Leave a comment on this post. We will randomly select one of the commenters to receive a swag bag full of automotive goodies.
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Legendary James Bond DB5 sells for £3 million

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My very British Mother-in Law informed me the other day that the man on the radio said that the James Bond Aston Martin had been sold for £5 million. As I hadn’t yet seen a press release to that effect, I went looking. It would seem that either the radio was mixed up or Grannie was.

In fact, the auction of one of pop culture’s most iconic cars took place yesterday in London at Sotheby’s, with the auction being conducted by Canadian house RM Auctions. The winning bid? A cool £2,912,000!

The stunning DB5 comes complete with all of the special goodies that Q supplied Agent 007 in his battle against the bad guys. Just as cool, the purchase comes with a custom suit for the new owner, created by the same artisans who dressed Sean Connery for his role as Bond. Pretty exciting stuff and a definite benchmark for the collector car market.

Full details and photos after the break
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The cars I’ve driven

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Over my 70 odd (very) years I have driven many different cars on the road. Some were fun and some were pieces of dung. Many I owned or had long term use of. Others were very short term including the very first Pontiac Firebird Trans Am. Technically it did not exist. VIN 00001. Four 48 IDA Downdraft Webbers and a 5 speed ZF gearbox among other things. It may feature in a later story. My favourite was an Alfa and I will get to that in a bit.
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Turn Two: VW Tiguan

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What is Turn Two, you ask? A feature here at The Garage, where another editor gives his take on a car previously reviewed here. It is our hope that you, the reader, enjoys and benefits from more than one point of view.

It’s an all too common problem-you’re a driving enthusiast, married a few years, and the inevitable question of raising a family comes up. You stare, longingly at whatever sporty ride resides in your garage, fearing you are destined to vanilla crossovers or minivans. Make no mistake, there are a wealth of competent CUV’s out there, but not everyone has the budget to run out and buy a BMX X3 when the time comes to buy a small crossover with sporty intentions. Enter VW’s answer to this equation, the Tiguan. The question is, can the Tiguan be a serviceable crossover while maintaining it’s own distinct persona?

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Related posts:

This week in The Garage: 2009 VW Tiguan Review: Volkswagen Passat CC Review: VW Jetta TDI Cup Edition 2009 VW Tiguan: breaking stereotypes Review: 2010 Volkswagen GTI

Early Holiday gift ideas: JOBY Gorillatorch BLADE

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Growing up, I always remember that every garage I visited (and there were many) had one of those rickety old trouble lights hanging on the wall somewhere. Over the years, the possibilities for shedding light on a situation have grown wildly, even more so since we began seeing LED flashlights not too long ago.

Known in photography circles for their Gorillapod flexible tripods, Joby has taken the concept and added a removable LED flashlight to it. The Gorillatorch comes in 4 models, the model the folks at Joby sent us was the BLADE.
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Last minute Xmas ideas: let there be light

Fritz Hochreuter passes

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I’m sad to report that long time Ontario Porsche racer Fritz Hochreuter on Friday evening. A member of the Deutscher Automobil Club in Toronto, Hochreuter was well known in racing circles far beyond the Ontario racing scene.

From the Sixties through to the Eighties, Hochreuter was a regular competitor in endurance racing at Sebring and Daytona, also competing in the Trans Am series. Most often, he co-drove the long distance events with other Canadians Rudy Bartling and Rainer Brezinka. Hochreuter was also known to build rather impressive Porsche racing engines.
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Related posts:

SCCA Announces Trans Am is back on the schedule for 2009 Porsche unveils 2009 911 GT3 RSR The story of the Mo Carter/Robert Barg ’67 Camaro Racing loses another one: RIP John Gunn Early Xmas shopping idea: 2011 Golden Age of Endurance Racing calendar

NASCAR – Denny Hamlin takes the win to tighten up the Championship Chase

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Deny Hamlins display car

Denny Hamlin started the day telling the media that he was going to win this race.  “Mark my words” he said in a television interview “I am going to win this race today”.  Starting from the pole was certainly an advantage in his eyes, but as the race began Denny’s car looked like it was going to fade to black and finish.  Dropping back from the pole and surrendering the lead to Marcos Ambrose before the first 10 laps had been finished.

“We just did not have a race winning car all day, until the very end.  Mike and the guys just kept adjusting and adjusting until they got it right.  They got me from 6th to 3rd on that last restart.  I was hoping the 29 and the 31 were going to use their stuff up racing each other  and I was just sitting there patient and saving my rear tires until I needed them.”  Denny made it look easy as he drove around the 31 and 29 cars on his way to victory lane.  Making the pass with only 5 laps to go and holding his breath that there would be no last minute cautions as the race ran down,  Denny Hamlin took the checkered flag.

With Jimmie Johnson finishing in 5th it brings Hamlin to within 6 points of taking over the lead in the Chase.

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NASCAR – 5 Races to Go in the Chase and no one’s really talking about it

White Car With No Plates

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I get some pretty cool stuff come through my inbox, but today’s story is one of the coolest in a while. Toronto based photographer, Parr Yonemoto, was in Midland, Texas on October 8 when he was treated to the following bit of automotive awesomeness.

I went to the Commemorative Air Force AirShow in Midland, Texas, fully expecting demo runs by the Chaparral 2k on the Saturday and Sunday. Upon my arrival there Friday morning, I saw both the 2K and a 2E being prepped. One of the crew chimed in that Lone Star JR would demo the 2K as advertized but also that Jim Hall would run the 2E “in a few minutes…”. Sure enough, the legend himself donned his driving suit and shoes, checked his goggles and waited for the signal to climb in. As much as I would have wanted to shoot the sequence of Jim Hall climbing in and setting off, I was more interested in catching the car wailing down the runway/taxiway. There were two runs up and down the runway and a final run up with a return down the taxiway. Pure Magic!
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Chaparral 2E Continuation

NASCAR – 5 Races to Go in the Chase and no one’s really talking about it

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I find it funny how we can be in the middle of an unprecedented run by one driver at a 5th consecutive championship, and halfway through that run no one is talking about the chase.  Heading into Martinsville this week here’s what has been in the news.

This week in NASCAR it was all about who’s moving where and Kasey Khane’s sudden illness that also miraculously disappeared in time for him to run his inaugural 5K run the next day. It was about Marcos Ambrose wanting out of his contract early to move into Kahne’s spot. It was about what is happening to the team who bears the biggest name in this sport (Richard Petty Motorsports). It was about everything BUT the chase for the 2010 Sprint Cup Championship.  Yup you guessed it…. we’re in the middle of “Silly Season” in the NASCAR Garage.

Now don’t get me wrong. I do find all of those things interesting, but I find it even more interesting that in a season where the NASCAR officials decided to let the boys “Have At It” that as we draw towards the end of the season we have such low interest by both the fans and the media that there’s a guy waiting to make history and 3 other guys trying to stop him.

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