We wanted to share some close-up car porn from the various race teams doing their final testing this weekend at the Roar Before the Rolex 24. Only a few more weeks until RedlineNorth will be on site in person covering the Rolex 24 at Daytona.
Everyone is entitled to a different opinion, but I’m most excited to see the brand new Ford GT race car fielded by Chip Ganassi Racing perform in the Rolex 24 Hours.
Multimatic, the manufacturer, is a privately held Canadian company who has been a global leader in automotive technology and component engineering since 1984. They’ve always provided an unwavering level of support for racing, and as a result, today, are responsible for building all the Chip Ganassi race cars and road cars for Ford, of which there are a total of 250 this year.
It’s pretty cool that a company with a relatively low profile can create such innovative and winning race car technology right in our own backyard.
I’ll be watching the Ford GT closely at the Roar Before the 24 test at Daytona from January 8-10. Sources says Ganassi is apparently going to LeMans with four of these cars in June as well – so no pressure :).
Growing up as a kid in the 1980s the Back to the Future film franchise is part of your DNA. So it should be no surprise that we were interested in seeing what Toyota would do to capitalize on the 30th anniversary of the blockbuster film. Well, good on them for letting our imaginations go wild and for a brief moment let us dream of going to a dealer to order a 2016 Toyota Tacoma with the “1985” Marty McFly 4×4 look.
“Marty McFly” Toyota Tacoma
Unfortunately, it’s highly unlikely this beauty will ever see production, as it will likely end up in some auto museum along with all those other concepts that never come to life. Nevertheless, how cool would it be if they made a “Back to the Future” anniversary model with the 2016 Tacoma? I would totally park it beside my “Fall Guy” GMC 2500 series…..
“Marty McFly” Toyota Tacoma
“Marty McFly” Toyota Tacoma
Photos courtesy of Toyota.
With every passing day this VW scandal seems to be getting bigger so now seemed like a good time as any to take a closer look.
VW Scandal
And Jalopnik has gone ahead and done us a solid with this article that explains how the whole mess started with VW attempting to cost cut. I’m no litigation expert but after reading this it appears that things may still get a lot worse before they get better. It truly is a big f’ing mess that will likely take a few years to sort out. I do feel sorry for the thousands of workers around the world and all the secondary industry folks who had nothing to do with this but will be severely affected. I sincerely hope VW puts its best men and women on the case and is able to come out of this a better company in the future.
We wanted to share a very unique story we came across on Jalopnik. A proud Dad to be from Soddy-Daisy, Tennessee came up with a totally cool way of sharing the news of his baby gender reveal. We always appreciate a guy who incorporates cars into important family milestones!
As an owner of an import performance tuning business, George (the Dad) of Custom Concept Motorsports came up with the idea to fit his wife Coir’s turbo Toyota Supra with coloured smoke tires and do one massive burnout for friends and family. Who knew they even made these things but apparently they do. He had the speciality tires shipped to his shop from his friends at East Coast Customs all the way in Brisbane, Australia. The colour would be blue if they were having a boy and red/pink if it was a girl. The results speak for themselves in the video below. George can do a serious burnout too!
The Goodwood Festival of Speed, if it’s not on your bucket list, it should be since it is one of the top events an auto enthusiast can experience. Wrapping up today on the grounds of the immaculate Goodwood House, West Sussex, England, this three-day festival is an annual hill climb featuring historic motor racing vehicles of epic proportions. This year’s line-up includes a variety of famous racing cars from eras past driven hard and fast around the famous estate’s private track. As an homage to the racing stars of the past, the event brings together both auto and motorcycle enthusiasts from all over the world attracting on average 150,000 annual spectators. To check out this incredible event you can watch live streaming on YouTube. Happy viewing!
We typically do not cover political stories here on RedlineNorth but wanted to share today’s announcement from NASCAR supporting South Carolina’s removal of the Confederate flag.
“As we continue to mourn the tragic loss of life last week in Charleston, we join our nation’s embrace of those impacted. NASCAR supports the position that South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley took on the Confederate Flag on Monday. As our industry works collectively to ensure that all fans are welcome at our races, NASCAR will continue our long-standing policy to disallow the use of the Confederate Flag symbol in any official NASCAR capacity. While NASCAR recognizes that freedom of expression is an inherent right of all citizens, we will continue to strive for an inclusive environment at our events.”
This is the right thing to do and surprisingly, NASCAR has long had a ban in place against the flag on anything officially related to the racing series. However, there have been a few hiccups along the way with the most recent situation happening in 2012 with the Dukes of Hazzard’s 1969 Dodge Charger the “General Lee”. At the time, NASCAR made a last-minute decision to cancel Bubba Watson from doing a parade lap at the Phoenix International Speedway in the General Lee model he had purchased at a local auction. He had intended to drive the car on a parade lap before the start of the 2012 spring Cup series race when NASCAR pulled the plug after concerns were raised about the Confederate Flag painted on the car’s rooftop.
1969 Dodge Charger “The General Lee”
“The image of the Confederate flag is not something that should play an official role in our sport as we continue to reach out to new fans and make NASCAR more inclusive,” NASCAR spokesman David Higdon said in a statement released to the Associated Press.
With the Goodwood Festival of Speed just around the corner we wanted to show a cool video segment from our friend’s at Goodwood Road & Racing. They recently travelled across the pond to visit “The King” Richard Petty at his North Carolina headquarters as a warm-up to Richard attending the UK’s Festival of Speed at the end of June.
The trip appears to have been totally worth it because they got up close and personal with Richard and tour the shop with him as their guide. However, the real cherry on top came in the form of a ride along with Petty’s mechanic Larry who took Goodwood Road & Racing’s Andy out for an impromptu rip on the rural North Carolina roads in Petty’s decorated 1970 Plymouth “Superbird”. Petty describes how the front and rear wings made the “Superbird” so stable and how it was near impossible to spin out driving the famous car. Petty goes on to say that he has not driven the car since 1970 which seems like a real shame since we’d make it our daily grocery getter especially after hearing the epic sounds of its 625 horsepower. Make sure to turn up the volume for this one (scroll to 6:50 min)
Talk about music to our enthusiasts’ ears! If you love cars you need to watch this symphony of sound. Nitto Tires has outdone themselves with this video montage showcasing some of the world’s most beautiful and rare automobiles roaring to life. The collection includes a total of 33 models ranging from vintage classics like early Mercedes and Porsches to a 1969 Jaguar E-Type and Austin Healey 3000 Mark III to the roar of the Lamborghini Aventador’s 6.5L V12. Along the way there is the sonic sounds of the Saleen S7’s twin turbos and the exotic Pantera’s sloggy sounding V8. With the distinctive 60s Corvette and Camaro throaty muscle exhaust tying it all together.
For the average car enthusiasts the privilege to see these rare pieces of engineering is simply enough, but to hear each one come alive just puts things on a whole new level. Enjoy the beauty of these classic cars and turn up your speakers!
For those wanting to know the order of this musical genius here you are:
1. 2005 Ford GT
2. 2014 Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4
3. 1964 Austin Healey 3000 Mark III
4. 2013 Vorsteiner McLaren MP4-12C
5. 1969 Jaguar E-Type
6. 2009 Mercedes Benz McLaren SLR
7. 1963 Ferrari 250GT Berlinetta Lusso
8. 2006 Saleen S7 Twin Turbo
9. 2014 Ferrari 458 Speciale
10. 1964 Porsche 356
11. 2002 Ferrari 360 Modena
12. 1957 Mercedes Benz 190 SL
13. 2013 Radical RXC
14. 2013 Bentley Continental GT Speed
15. 1967 Ford GT40 Mark III
16. 2009 Koenigsegg CCX
17. 1971 De Tomaso Pantera
18. 2013 Audi R8 V10
19. 1957 Jaguar XKSS
20. 1968 Chevrolet Camaro
21. 2007 Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano
22. 1965 Ford Mustang
23. 2005 Carerra GT
24. 2014 Lamborghini Murcielago
25. 1974 Iso Grifo Iso Rivolta
26. 2014 Jaguar F-Type S Roadster
27. 1964 Porsche 901
28. 1967 Chevrolet Corvette
29. 2014 Vorsteiner Lamborghini Aventador-V LP-740
30. 2013 Mercedes Benz SLS AMG GT
31. 2010 Aston Martin DBS Carbon Black Edition
32. 1990 Ferrari F40
33. 2014 McLaren P1
Learn more about how the video was made here: bit.ly/1ylloE0
Special Thanks To Following Collections: Lamborghini Newport Beach, McLaren Newport Beach, Petersen Automotive Museum, The Breslow Collection
Well it’s official, Jeremy Clarkson has been fired from the BBC. The story has finally emerged about his sudden suspension back on March 10th as the BBC provided the full details from their resulting investigation.
Jeremy Clarkson
Jeremy Clarkson’s contract will not be renewed after an “unprovoked physical attack” on a Top Gear producer, the BBC’s director general has confirmed as of about 6 hours ago.
In terms of timeline –
Clarkson was suspended on 10 March, following what was called by BBC a “fracas” with Top Gear producer Oisin Tymon. The physical altercation, which took place in a Yorkshire hotel, was said to have occurred because no hot food was provided following a day’s filming.
During the physical attack Oisin Tymon was struck, resulting in swelling and bleeding to his lip.” The attack lasted “around 30 seconds and was halted by the intervention of a witness. The report went on to document that verbal abuse was sustained over a longer period and contained the strongest expletives and threats to sack Mr Tymon, who believed he had lost his job.
Well, the times are a changing as it sure does seem like celebrities are getting away with bad behaviour less today compared to days past. All of which is likely a good thing, it is just sad that it happened to our favourite show Top Gear and at its peak.
Top Gear today is a global phenomena with an estimated 350 million viewers worldwide, making it the most watched show on TV. Originally created in 1977, as a regional television motoring show produced by BBC Midlands it has gone on and reinvented itself several times and time will tell what its future holds. We sincerely hope the show goes on for the BBC and its global audience but with the rumour mill already swirling it seems unlikely things will be status quo. The latest news about Clarkson suggests he is already in talks with Netflix and with Hammond and May alluding to them all being a package deal change looks likely.
Source: BBC, Top Gear Wikia
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