S Folinsky

In the late 70's, I used to own a 1967 Tiger "1A". The car had the Chrysler Pentaprism on the side and reference to "FORD" was not on the engine -- rather it was a "Sunbeam" V8. The California Association of Tiger Owners [a.k.a. "CAT"] was a godsend. CAT actually had replacement rubber manufactured. Also, the Tiger had many outsourced components -- the tech notes on parts from OTHER cars were also a godsend.

Once kid number 1 was on the way, had to sell it.

Pulaski

And presumably 4 glow plugs.

Steerpike

There should be a ban on sites that auto-play videos and music, period! I'm all for music and video, but such things should never auto-play. For music, there should be a big, fat 'stop sounds' button provided if they must auto-play it.

S Folinsky

You presume correct. However, I have yet to wait for them to warm. With the modern engine management and direct rail injection, it seems that they will very rarely be necessary except in extreme winter weather. A neighbor with a a 70's vintage MB 240D has to wait a few seconds even in our balmy climate.

markonline1

Didn't see that episode, but that is one of the best show's on TV at the minute, especially the Mustang episode's. If I get a break from Sponge Bob or Peppa Pig, then the TV is usually on VeloCT

Steerpike

Brings back sweet memories of my last car before moving here, 1983 --- Lancia Fulvia. Beautiful wooden dash, wooden steering wheel, nightmare to own . I completely rebuilt the engine. Weekend before I moved here, a truck rolled back into me at a light, damaging the 'bonnet' (how odd that sounds ... 'hood' definitely wins there!), making selling it a futile task ... so I gave it away. It was time to leave ...

Lancia Fulvia Rallye 1.3 Coupé 1968 | Vehicle dashboards and interior…

Lancia Fulvia - Classic Car Reviews | Classic Motoring Magazine

Nutek

markonline1

I've lost count of the amount of times I've seen that video, especially now that I'm a mustang owner. I usually get sent a link to it every couple of days from someone back home LOL. Still has me in stitches though.

Pulaski

It makes me want to cry.

Mr Weeze

There must be certain things people have to send you if you own a certain car; I got this once or twice a month:

Audi RS6 ABT Crash – Yes, he made it out alive without barely a scratch!

Cape Blue

"Yoo too old", "sheat".

Pulaski

If you liked that, check out Wrecked Exotic Cars - Pictures of Expensive Car Crashes and Wrecks.

Bob

Paul Walker’s 550bhp Skyline is for sale - BBC Top Gear

Could be a bit pricey...Paul Walker's FF car...

Hiro11

The big three have been offering some very niche high powered cars over the last several years but it's truly gone a bit bonkers in 2014.

It started about 5 years ago with the Corvette Z06 which was a fairly hardcore track version of that car. Dodge offered several track focused version of the (fairly garbage-ish) Viper, one of which (The ACR) was seriously fast by any measure. Then in rapid succession you got the Camaro ZL-1 and about 17 different Hi-Po versions of the Mustang (GT-500, GT-500KR, various Roush versions, GT California, Bullitt etc) . Finally, you got the ridiculously fast and somewhat dangerously darty Corvette ZR-1 which was faster than a Porsche Carrera GT if you could keep it on the tarmac.

But these were but a taste of what's coming now. First you had the 707 HP, $60K Challenger Hellcat which basically took a large 4,000+ lbs car with a hemi V8 and bolted in a gigantic supercharger that requires 80 HP just to run. Then Dodge offered a 4 door version with the same engine, the Charger Hellcat. 700+ HP from a factory car is truly ludicrous, especially on what's essentially a family sedan platform.

Next you got the Camaro Z/28 which took an economy muscle car and slapped on a 500+ HP Z06 engine, Brembo carbon ceramic brakes, an extremely complex spool valve suspension and outrageously fat bespoke Pirellis with almost zero tread. This has tranformed an agricultural pig into a car that can lap with (and beat on some circuits) seriously hardcore track stuff that costs twice as much like a 911 GT3 RS.

Now Ford has announced the Mustang GT-350 Shelby which for less than $55K will give you a car with 500+ HP flat plane V8 (the first one Ford has ever made) that revs to 8,500 rpm, a limited slip differential and Ferrari-style (literally from the same vendor) magnetic suspension. This car is likely on the performance level of the Z/28 but the new Mustang is even a bit more sophisticated.

Finally, you've got the completely outrageous 2015 Corvette Z06. 650 HP supercharged V8, alloy frame, carbon roof and hood, huge brakes, gumball tires etc. Co-developed with the C7.R LeMans car, this car basically broke every production car record Car and Driver had (sub 3 seconds 0-60, 1.16 lateral Gs, sub 11 second 1/4 mile etc). Top Gear said it will beat anything short of a LaFerrari, P1 or 918 on a track... that is an outrageous claim. On sale at your local Chevy dealer for less than $80K base.

By any stretch, these are ludicrously poweful and capable performance vehicles to be in mass production. American cars have always offered gobs of power but I think what's new in the past few years but particularly this year is that these are no longer just straight line muscle cars (with the possible exception of the Hellcat). All are truly top class track cars that will appeal only to a very small group of people (they even thinned the glass on the Z/28, fer crissake). The fact that they've done it for the prices these cars are offered at is fairly impressive.

Pulaski

Is this what is meant by a "compact car"?



It was a nasty wreck on the M25 today. Remarkably the driver of this car was cut out alive and taken to hospital. One other driver was not so lucky. Two drivers have been arrested in connection with the death.