Up there in Canada seeing a vehicle stuck in a snow bank is the norm but down here in the U.S. we prefer to keep things wrapped in a bun. Yes, it’s true the famous wieny-mobile spun and “ate it” on a snow covered Pa. highway but the hotdoggers are OK.
Let’s be “frank” motor vehicle accidents aren’t much fun for anyone. But when a 27-foot-long tube-steak spins out on a snow-covered highway, it’s bound to generate some grins. That’s what happened Sunday to an Oscar Mayer Wienermobile on Route 15 about two miles south of Mansfield (at least it didn’t roll over). The roaming wieny contained two hotdoggers driver Emily Volpini, 22, of Lexington, Ky., and Caylen Goudie, 22, of Hinsdale, Ill. Although they didn’t “relish” the experience, they weren’t hurt, investigating state Trooper Rex Johnson said. “Hotdoggers” are goodwill ambassadors for Kraft Foods and Oscar Mayer. There are 12 of them in the country two for each of the six Wienermobiles. They spend a year on the job traveling around the country. Part of their job is to recruit their replacements. “We thought we had come out of the blizzard,” Goudie said. “We thought we were through it. Then we hit a patch of ice. The Wienermobile weighs 7,000 pounds, so usually ice and snow isn’t much of a problem. It was this time.” Continue reading →
This past spring Jack Roush unveiled his European spec performance pack for the Ford GT. To mark the end of production for the retro supercar, Roush set out to create an exclusive series of engine upgrades as well as unique interior and exterior styling treatments for a select group of European buyers.
The vehicle was designed and assembled at Roush’s Brentwood technical centre in the UK, and was only available through one dealer in Surrey, England. Only ten 600RE versions were built. Check that, only nine are now running. The third in the series only saw three days of fresh air before its untimely death. Continue reading →
Life is so busy that sometimes even the best of us have momentary lapses of concentration. Such was the case this past weekend when the best co-driver I’ve ever driven with slowly pulled out in front of a guy who was traveling much too fast in a McDonald’s parking lot. Fortunately, nobody was hurt other than a bit of pride. Continue reading →
While following links in Youtube after the Roo video, I came across this segment of one corner. There is no info given as to the year, or the location, but I would guess this is either a vintage event or was taken in the 80’s. Somehow I think there was no caution listed in the route book for this corner. The Civic roll is downright scary.
It truly saddens me to report that rally star Colin Mcrae has been killed in a helicopter crash near his home in Lanarkshire. Also killed in the accident were Colin’s young son and his friend, and another adult family friend.
The racing world has lost one of it’s truly great participants. Our thoughts go out to all 3 families.
Cars and road trips… You just have to love them, the good with the bad. It seems that long drives are either uneventful or riddled with excitement but no in-between.
Several years ago my mother was driving the 8 hour drive from their summer home in North Eastern Oregon back to their winter home on the South Western Oregon coast for the last time because dad had Alzheimer’s and mom wanted to be near their favorite ranch where she felt as if she could take better care of dad in their golden years.
On the way back mom was getting tired so she pulled into a truck stop with a restaurant that was sitting up on a hill that sat along the freeway. She asked dad to go inside and get her a cup of coffee to help keep her alert. But when dad got out of the car and because of his condition he accidentally let their pet dog out of the car. Frustrated and no longer able to deal with such problems he just said to hell with it and walked on into the cafe. That left mom panicked and rushing around the parking lot trying to catch the dog that was running away from her and out into traffic and so on. All of a sudden mom realized the car was rolling and as she frantically tried to jump back in the car and as she fell began being dragged along on the ground and almost ran over herself. As she helplessly laid on the ground in tears watching in horror she saw her car roll down the hill towards a hotel. There was only one single parking space that was empty in front hotel rooms and as amazing as it was her car drove perfectly into that spot without hitting a single car before crashing right thru the wall into the only empty hotel room. As mom collected herself Dad walked out with two cups of coffee in is hands and saw Mom laying on the ground, the dog running around and he asked, “Where in the hell is the car?” Mom just pointed to the car sticking out of the hotel wall and so Dad just turned around and went back into the cafe sat down and drank his coffee.
Don’t feel bad, it’s ok to laugh along. It sounds like a terrible story but if you knew my dad I’m positive he would make us all laugh until we cried with this story. He was such an awesome man… I sure miss him.
While sifting through some La Carrera videos last night, I came across this video from last Fall of Markus Winkelhock rolling a MINI at the Nordschleife track. This must have been one hell of a ride!
Hot on the heels of a drag car disaster in Tennessee, there has been another case of stupidity. In Dekalb, Illionois a monster truck display set up by NAPA went horribly wrong yesterday when the driver lost control following a jump. The resulting wheelie sent the truck through a crowd of spectators, through a fence and across some adjacent train tracks. Three adults and six children were hurt in the incident, including a mother and her 4 year old daughter who are in serious condition. Continue reading →
Somewhere in the neighborhood of 215 mph, Dario Franchitti got a bit of a nudge from Dan Wheldon during the Firestone Indy 400 at Michigan International Speedway. What followed was one of the wildest rides IRL has seen for some time. Perhaps the wildest part is that there were no injuries. While the design strength of the cars kept everyone safe, Lady Luck player her part as well, given that Dario’s car hit AJ Foyt IV in the head.
It seems we’ve hit a popular topic with the combination of Manfred Winklehock and the BMW M1. West Coast contributor, Gary Faules spent some time poking around Youtube last night and came up with a few choice vids of the man and one of his steeds in action.
First up, we have the super scary crash where Manfred’s Formula 2 car takes flight off a rise at the old Nurburgring. Remember that once the car begins to roll, it’s going through fencing. To give you an idea of how close this could have been, watch the visor on his helmet as he exits the car. He obviously caught the fence in his face.
