1960 Corvette.

A lady in red.

Donut derelicts

Big block corvette

“I mean, Sunny, it’s a port city that has struggled to reinvent itself in the day of increased air cargo and containerazation which led to the layoffs of dock workers, regeneration attempts attracting affluent tourism while leaving behind the very working-class people that made the music and art scene there possible.”

“So, fine?”

“Yeah, fine.”

Dodge returns to the track with their factory team, SRT Motorsports, for the debut of the N°93 SRT Viper GTS-R at the 2012 ALMS Mid-Ohio Sports Car Challenge.

#Classic #vintage #American #muscle #AmericanMuscle #red #sport #sporty #SportsCar #convertible #original #Chevrolet #Chevy #Camaro #candy #PhotoOfTheDay #ArtOfTheDay #BestOfTheDay #beauty #model #beautiful #legend #legendary (at Henderson Classic Car Roll In) https://www.instagram.com/p/ClhIqK3yf1j/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Sebastian Vettel in the Porsche 963

Sebastian Vettel has prepared meticulously for his stint with the hybrid prototype. On 14 March, the 53-time Formula 1 race winner paid a visit to the FIA WEC team at the Porsche Penske Motorsport facility in Mannheim. One day later, the Heppenheim native completed an extensive simulator session at the Porsche Motorsport Centre in Flacht and familiarised himself with the special features and complex controls of the Le Mans race car. This was followed on 21 March by the first familiarisation kilometres with the Porsche 963 on the in-house test track at the Weissach Development Centre. In dry weather with tarmac temperatures between 20 and 25 degrees Celsius and 10 to 13 degrees cool air, the F1 champion completed almost two Grand Prix distances in Aragón without any problems. "Of course, I also keep an eye on other motorsport disciplines and know many drivers who are active in the WEC and Le Mans. At some point, my curiosity was so great that I had the idea of trying it out myself. Porsche gave me the opportunity to test a current hypercar with the 963," says Sebastian Vettel. "After the seat adjustment, the simulator session and the roll-out in Weissach, I already had a good feeling. Driving the Porsche 963 on the track here in Aragon - that was definitely fun. I first had to get used to everything and find my rhythm. The driving experience is different simply because of the roof over your head, as well as dealing with the higher weight and the tyres. The Porsche works drivers were very helpful and explained to me what was special and what I needed to get used to. That made it easy for me." The Porsche Penske Motorsport works team has won both the season opener of the North American IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the 24 Hours of Daytona, and this year's first race of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) in Qatar with the approximately 500 kW (680 hp) Porsche 963. At the WEC highlight, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, record holder Porsche is aiming for its 20th overall victory. There, as at the other rounds of the WEC, the entire starting field has relied on a biofuel since March 2022. "Aragon is one of the few places in Europe where we can run around the clock and gives us an opportunity to run 36 hours straight in preparation for Le Mans. The quite long back straight that gives us the top speed of more than 300 km/h we see on the Circuit des 24 Heures," explains Jonathan Diuguid, Managing Director Porsche Penske Motorsport. "Having Sebastian Vettel here is a unique opportunity for the team. He is a four time Formula 1 World Champion. He has massive experience with hybrid systems and high performance racing cars. Having his fresh unique perspective on where the car is and gives feedback on our systems and performances is a unique opportunity. We are happy to have him here. He came out of the car with a smile which is all good." In addition to Vettel, a total of seven Porsche works drivers will take part in the endurance test. Matt Campbell (Australia), Michael Christensen (Denmark) and Frédéric Makowiecki (France) will share the Porsche 963 with starting number 5 in the WEC, while Kévin Estre (France), André Lotterer (Germany) and Laurens Vanthoor will drive the sister car with the number 6. They will be joined in Aragon by reigning DTM champion Thomas Preining from Austria.

I'm rewatching Breaking Bad, and GATDAMN it is so thrilling to see all the little things that I missed the first time that in retrospect, make sooo much sense.

And it's so funny that of the three main male characters:

A little blonde drug dealer with cheesecake porn laying around

A macho law enforcement officer who says things like 'her ass is like an onion, it makes me want to cry'

A mild mannered, soft spoken chemistry teacher who wears khakis and drives a family car

Out of those three, only ONE of them has this deeply deeply internalized toxic masculinity that is slowly poisoning the narrative, and will destroy a family and level a small American desert city, and it's not the one you think.

I mean, Jesse just wants to be in a family. When he goes to his parents, it isn't because he's homeless! He owns a home! He just needed to feel safe and like he belonged somewhere. And yeah he's a little hoodlum who sells drugs, but he only wants to make enough money for his funions and oversized shirts and porn. He just wants love and snacks and to touch some boobies now and again. WHOMST AMONG US.

And Hank, well, the first time I watched it I hated him but now I can see how yes, he's macho, but he does respect his family and he respects/stays out of women's business. I mean, he does the family intervention, he helps at every turn, he tries to protect Walt from feeling like less of a man by making them all hide that Walt Jr got into trouble. He is more performing toxic masculinity than he is ACTUALLY toxic. When the rubber hits the road, his masculinity is very helpful and protective and respectful.

And then you've got Walt, seething and ready to explode because someone offered him a job and money, because he's being asked to be accountable emotionally to his family, because he is being asked to eat leaner meat so that he doesn't die of heart failure, I mean he is SEETHING, because he has quietly wished he could be macho and badass and he sees the guy in the sportscar and yeah, the guy's a dick, but Walt is resentful that HE's never been allowed to think only of himself and he wants to teach everyone a lesson, he wants to be feared, and the rush he gets, the screaming he does in the car when he gets one over on Tuco, THAT was his meth. That's what he got addicted to.

It's so much fun putting this all together the second time. I very much recommend a second watch of Breaking Bad if you haven't.

WOOOO excellent writing. I love it.

Talk to us more about miatas. The sillies

There's so much I could say about it, but I feel like a nice thing to do is to start from Miataland, the wonderful place I alluded to in my kei car post (you really ought to read that section before this post) - or more specifically its collection, for despite being some half-hundred Miatas, it's not monotonous at all.

While sure, there is some bit of "this one's a different color!" going on (which I definitely can't say I understand, but being a collector often comes with being a completionist), the bulk of the collection is extremely varied - not least because the above is just the first of the four generation the Miata has been sold for.

Well, more accurately the MX-5, since that's the only official name that lasted all throughout, with the American "Mazda Miata" being ditched by the third generation in favor of MX-5 and the Japanese "Eunos Roadster" name turning to "Mazda Roadster" with the second generation since the Eunos brand got nixed. And every generation, known by the two-letter codes that represent the model in their chassis number (VIN for yankees) that span from NA to ND, has further changes within it!

The NB, seen left in the beautiful 10th Anniversary Edition, received interior and exterior updates in 2001, seen right in the rare Mazdaspeed Turbo edition, one of the extremely few factory turbo Miatas (leave it to Mazda to turbocharge a sportscar engine and manage to gain only 26hp out of it) - and, being more of a huge update of the NA than a new car, it retained the two engines, the 1.8L that many have because they say it's the better engine and the 1.6L that many say is the better engine because it's the one they have (though updating the 1.8 with Variable Valve Timing for, in other markets, more power, and, in the US, less more power).

The NC did it one better - not only did it get an exterior refresh and two engines -1.5 and 2.0- but it even had different tops, with an optional "PRHT" electric metal top that further cemented its reputation as a big fat boat of a Miata, for its outrageous increase in size (two inches all around) and weight (up to 90kg or 200lb). No, seriously. This generation is actually extremely overlooked, so much so that Andrea, the owner of this whole shebang, only has two (which I do appreciate is quite an insane sentence). But that means you can scoop one up for not that much, and I do recommend it!

The ND, instead, is quite the enthusiast's darling - how many cars these days get smaller and lighter with a newer generation? How many cars out there are no bigger nor heavier now than thirty years ago? Oh and also just look at it. Once again, a refresh (i.e. "The lights are 'new', the mirror's bigger, and there's a software update! Please care :)") was just unveiled, and you can get them in 1.5 and 2.0 flavor and optionally with the "RF" hardtop on the left. Well, not those two you can't, because the one on the right is the only example of the 300-unit 30th Anniversary Edition in Italy, and if you think Mr. Miataland can't flex harder on the Corvette dads of America who insist theirs is super rare because of that specific year (that is no different from the others) with that specific combination of options (that is in no way special) with that (random) color they only made 503 (and yes there's many people like that), the other car in this picture is a 1-of-1 Miataland edition. I should clarify: he didn't just make up his own special edition; Mazda asked him to make up his own special edition for them to build for him to celebrate his collection. Which, I want to stress, Andrea is not at all vain about. And props to him because if that happened to me I cannot fathom being humble about it.

Hell I am not humble about having sat in this M2 (IT'S INCREDIBLE!!!! IT FEELS NEW IT SMELLS NEW), imagine owning one PAIR.

Which also makes an important point: the Miata is probably one of the cars they made the most special editions of. I mean, G-limited, R-Limited, S-Special, S-Limited, RS-Limited, SR-Limited, VR-Limited A, VR-Limited B, Tokyo Limited, V-Spec II, 93LE, BBR Turbos and of course the M2 1001, 1002 and 1028. And want a kicker? Have three: those are just the first generation ones, and just the ones he owns because there's some he's missing, and they're not even all the special first generation Miatas he has - because we've not even gotten to modifications.

From fiddling with the engine as per the supercharged one in the foreground or outright replacing it as per the 5.0L V8 (!) one in the background...

...to completely altering its shape by way of changing bumpers and lights, as per this Pitcrew kit-adorned example...

...to just fucking making it an extremely bad Ferrari 250 GTO... replica? It's so far off I can't even tell if it's sincerely trying.

And such modifications are genuinely innumerable. I could hit the image limit just with full-transformation body kits for the first generation Miata, let alone all the weird bumpers, side skirts, spoilers, mirrors et al across all of them!

And that's the thing about the Miata - it can go in so many directions and will take it just fine. That's what they mean when they say Miata Is Always The Answer (M.I.A.T.A.): classy old roadster cruiser?

Miata! Get the Nakamae quilted interior bits and any of the plethora of chrome accessories and you're good to go! Barebones weapon?

Miata! The existence of CarbonMiata alone is proof enough that you'll have no problem sourcing weight reduction bits. Serious track car?

Miata! Even a stock one will be competent in autocross (oh right, we're trying to be accessible: "What If We Pretended This Parking Lot Was A Racetrack? We Have Cones!") and you're going to spend six digits before you run out of possible upgrades. Silly track car?

Miata! The thing is so small and light that you can just upgrade it with stock components from bigger cars, and they made a million of 'em (not hyperbole) so even if the bit you're looking for isn't one of the plenty used in many other cheap cars it will still be in plentiful supply. Drift car?

Miata! Obviously you can get drift modifications for it, it's one of the cheapest rear wheel drive sportscars out there. You can use a stock one or go as hard as you want, DestroyOrDie makes front suspension components that allow for more angle and of course every suspension you could want is available. Rally car?

Miata! This is an actual 90s picture, they even used a couple for ice racing! Rock climber?

Miata! Paco Motorsport makes a lift kit for them and the owner of the one in picture, Jimmy Has No Garage, also sells a kit they codeveloped with Godspeed Project, and that's just to talk about off-the-shelf solutions! Four seater?

Okay, maybe that's a bit of a stretch. Pun intended.

And again, please note: all these are just the first generation.

The Miata really is an insanely versatile car that was so beloved all over the world all through the years that from the most outlandish to the most minute every part of it has been taken in every imaginable direction, most often by people who dedicated their lives to it. The enthusiastic curiosity it oozes has thoroughly proven contagious.

And throughout the years it remains determined to get to experience more adventures! You find a ton of them that racked up hundreds of thousands of miles with nothing but a happy owner to show for them. Road and Track notably bought one with some 350k miles and were, shall we say, impressed.

(How's that car going now? Who knows, they put it up for sale after eight years and a car chase) Like I like to say of many old Japanese cars, it'll keep going until it dissolves. Its only real problem is it's very prone to dissolving, so look out for rust.

And now, since today is Halloween, y'all have a chance to scare me for good: I have a list of modifications I would do to a Miata were I to own one. (And have lots of money. (And lots of time. (And a clue how to turn a wrench. (And probably other requirements I am forgetting about.)))) It is an extremely, extremely long list. Like, over a hundred items long. WAY too long for one post. Probably too long for a chain of ten. Where was I going with this? Huh, I must have been thinking out loud again. Anyhow, here's a poll. It boosts engagement!

Links in blue are posts of mine about the words in question - if you liked this post, you might like those!

From Mako Shark to Manta Ray: The Evolution of the Most Influential Corvette Concepts

Published: 14 Nov 2022, 16:04 UTC • By: 

During the 1960s, General Motors introduced a trio of stunning show cars that laid the groundwork for the C2 and C3 Corvette. Although many other concepts followed, these three remain the most influential, as they went on to inspire the styling of modern iterations, including the current, mid-engine C8.

Like the Corvette itself, the notion of a concept (or show) car was born in the U.S., under GM’s roof. Dubbed Buick Y-Job and designed by the legendary Harley J. Earl, the drop-top beauty unveiled in 1940 previewed a series of novel features and design cues that influenced the division’s mass-produced models for over a decade.

When GM decided to build a rival for the European sports cars that were flooding the North American market in the post-WWII years, the same Harley J. Earl was selected to draw it up. To build hype around it, the corporation commissioned Earl and the Chevy team to build a show car which was codenamed EX-122. First shown to the public at the 1953 Motorama in New York City, the concept would become known as the Corvette and with a few minor changes, it entered production a few months later.

Contrary to popular belief, the C1 wasn’t the commercial success that GM had envisioned but it did pique the American buyer’s interest in a homebuilt sportscar, so the corporation poured resources into the development of a successor.

Under the supervision of Styling and Design head Bill Mitchell, the new Corvette’s design was ironed out as early as 1961 and, as they did in the past, the team created a show car that would help promote it. Like the upcoming production version, the vehicle was designed by Larry Shinoda, who drew inspiration from the 1959 XP-87 Stingray racer.

Gone was the curvaceous, European-looking theme of the C1, with the ‘Vette’s body now boasting far more aggressive lines that look like the sleek shortfin mako shark. Although it was officially codenamed XP-755, the concept car unveiled at the 1962 International Automobile Show would become known as the Mako Shark due to its unmistakable resemblance to the fast-moving predator.

One aspect that contributed to this was the car’s spectacular paintwork. Legend has it that, upon returning from a fishing trip with a taxidermized shark head (some reports state that it was a complete shark) as a trophy, Bill Mitchell hung it in his office and instructed the design team to replicate its coloring on the show car.

Several attempts to make such an impossible task possible were made but Mitchell was not satisfied. The styling head would put the trophy next to the car and since the paint was not identical, he instructed the team to try again. Annoyed by this, an unnamed member of the team snuck into Mitchell’s office one night, took his beloved trophy, and airbrushed it to look like the car’s latest paint job. In the end, the boss couldn’t tell the difference and, since the car and the shark now looked the same, he finally gave his frustrated team the thumbs up.

The Mako Shark managed to draw enough interest in the C2 as it became a fan favorite at every event where it was showcased. It underwent styling and detail changes over time, gaining front fascia and interior upgrades. The car also lost the distinctive "double-bubble" canopy borrowed from a previous concept and became a pure convertible.

Apart from the unique paint and several flamboyant design cues, its overall styling made it to the mass-produced model. which became the commercial hit that its predecessor never was.

Unlike other GM concepts that were eventually destroyed, the original Shark is still alive and well, residing in the corporation’s Heritage Collection located in Sterling Heights, Michigan.

Just a few years after the debut of the Mako Shark, the Corvette team began work on the third-generation model which would roll out the factory gates in 1967. While the mid-engine format proposed by Zora Arkus-Duntov with his race-bred CERV II concept was considered, Bill Mitchell's conventional front-engine design was deemed more marketable by GM’s top brass.

Under the codename XP-830, the development of a new concept car kicked off in early 1964 with the C2’s existing chassis as the base. For the C3, Mitchell wanted "a narrow, slim, center section and coupe body, a tapered tail, an all-of-a-piece blending of the upper and lower portions of the body through the center (avoiding the look of a roof added to a body), and prominent wheels with their protective fenders distinctly separate from the main body, yet grafted organically to it.”

Turning this vision into reality took about a year to pull off. Mitchell’s designers completed a full-size, non-running version in March 1965, and days later, key members of GM’s management were invited to see it. Everyone was blown away and unanimously decided that it had to go into production as soon as possible.

Finished in a similar paint and carrying the same Mako Shark moniker as the XP-755, the non-functional concept was first shown to the public at the New York International Auto Show just a month later. While its exterior design was praised by everyone, its futuristic interior received a lot of criticism for ergonomically-nightmarish such as the yoke-style steering wheel with its complicated transmission controls.

Behind closed doors, the development team was working on a running model that would address these issues and in October 1965, it made its public debut in France, at the Paris Auto Show. Powered by the highly successful and versatile 427 version of Chevy’s Mark IV big block, the functional Mako Shark II had rear-exiting exhausts -as opposed to the static model’s side-mounted variants – and a conventional steering wheel with column-fitted transmission controls.

Although it’s unquestionably the most influential concept car to ever don Corvette badges, shaping the look of America’s popular sports car for generations to come, the story of the second Shark, in either non-functional or functional form, didn’t have a happy ending. Unlike its predecessor which enjoys retirement on top of a pedestal inside GM’s Heritage Collection, the static version was dismantled while the running model was transformed into another show car.

This leads us to the third most influential Corvette concept. Completed in 1969 it left the Mako Shark name behind (but not the now-iconic paint) and became known as the Manta Ray.

Its front fascia remained largely the same, with the only additions being an extended bumper ring around the vents and a chin spoiler mounted underneath.

On the sides, the Manta Ray featured functional exhausts that were masterfully integrated into rocker panels, but its most distinct upgrade was the profusely elongated, tail. The now-classic four taillights layout was tucked under the rear deck line and a pair of pop-up flaps that reflected light from upward-facing lamps were added. You can see rare footage of them in action below, thanks to the video posted on YouTube by DtRockstar1

The reshaped tail flowed into a sweeping, scooped-out, stinger-style roof that helped accentuate the aggressiveness of the overall design. Speaking of aggressiveness, the car was powered by the newly introduced ZL1 427-ci (7.0-liter) V8, a lightweight, all-aluminum monster that could spit out no less than 430 hp.

Even if the Mako Shark II had to be sacrificed to build it, the Manta Ray was in itself a work of automotive art that captivated the hearts and minds of sports car enthusiasts. Thankfully, after its transformation, GM decided to keep it and it joined the first Shark in the corporation’s Heritage Collection.

Many other concept cars that carried the Corvette nameplate followed in the next five decades, but none were as pure nor as influential as these three. They inspired the look of every mass-produced Corvette generation that followed, including the current and radically different C8. 

🎁BEST INFRASTRUCTURE PUBLIC DESIGNS IN 2024'S OF AMERICANS FAMILY LEADER...

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The penultimate year of the American Le Mans Series continues with Robertson Racing’s N°04 Doran-built Ford GT-R finishing the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Challenge seventh in 2011.

#Car #classic ##corvette #SportsCar #white #red #vintage #American #domestic #race #racer #racing #RaceCar #ArtOfTheDay #BestOfTheDay #PhotoOfTheDay #LasVegas #Vegas #SinCity #hot #sexy #fast #speed https://www.instagram.com/p/ChpzC94vYZ1/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=