If you are like me, and have been literally waiting years for the new Ford Bronco, well you are in luck, as our friends at the Blue Oval have released a new teaser video. Of course it is not actually of the new 2020 Ford Bronco but it is Broll of the Ford Bronco R Baja Racer. According to the company, the Bronco R race prototype is designed with the same production model’s body-on-frame architecture to test its capability and durability, while also energizing off-road enthusiasts who eagerly await the return of America’s original sport utility vehicle. At the end of the day, although this truck is on steroids it is our best look yet at what the new Bronco might look like.
The newly unveiled Ford Bronco R racing truck arrives to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Rod Hall’s Baja 1000 victory in 1969. Shelby Hall, Rod’s granddaughter, will run the new one in portions of next week’s Baja 1000.
Our good friends at Jalopnik’s sister site Truck Yeah have posted a very cool story about a vintage Ford Bronco running in the 2018 NORRA Mexican 1000.
This video provides a glimpse into the grit and drive it takes to win the insane 1300+ mile off-road race from Ensenada to Cabo San Lucas in Baja California, Mexico.
Back in 2016, Blake Wilkey rose to fame as a result of an insane video titled Urban Assault which went on to become a massive viral sensation. It still stands up today as an epic video and is worth watching if you haven’t seen it. Blake actually had to do some jail time for breaking a long list of driving laws in San Diego where the video was filmed. However, the risk/reward has paid off nicely and Blake is now a social media darling with thousands of followers on Instagram.
After that first video, Blake went on to sell his 700 HP Baja Buggy to a Prince in Dubai. However, that did not end his off-road shenanigans as he has successfully leveraged his popularity by attracting major sponsors who have helped him build a beautiful new Baja buggy. From all accounts, Blake seems to be a very affable, down to earth, fun loving guy so we are not surprised his rise to fame has continued to shine bright.
Earlier this month, in the run up to Las Vegas’s big off road race the Mint 400, Blake Wilkey launched his newest project titled Urban Assault 2.
This new video is 7.5 minutes of Blake driving like a mad man through the streets of Vegas. The cinematography is top notch with lots of cool backgrounds all behind the carnal noise and crazy power of Wilkey’s LS3 powered Baja buggy. Make sure to follow him at @b357wilkey
Kudos to the marketing and PR folks at Toyota USA for creating this cool ad series for their TRD models. The most recent episode sees Canadian veteran off-road racer Andy Bell take his two famous motorcycling friends Jamie Bestwick and Roland Sands across Vietnam behind the wheels of three beautiful Toyota Tacoma, Toyota Tundra and Toyota 4Runner models. Having traveled to Vietnam myself, I can attest that it truly is one of the most beautiful and rugged countries in the world. Vietnam’s back-country really is the perfect test ground for Toyota’s incredible off-road TRD models.
One of our favourite car video series is Ken Block’s Gymkhana, which shows off the driving skills of rally car driver Ken Block as he drives through a variety of on- and off-street courses.
The latest installment in the series, released back in July 2012, is Gymkhana Five which is set in San Francisco. However, it’s just this week that the making of video for Gymkhana Five was released by Ken Block and DC Shoes.
The video provides an in depth look at the video production process, from the many hours of scouting out locations, to vehicle preparations, to takes and re-takes.
The making of video runs approximately 10 minutes and is well worth checking out even if you aren’t a rally car fan.
The original Gymkhana Five video can be found below:
Check out this amazing video shot at a Hyundai Motor Group Exhibition Pavilion in South Korea. The installation uses thousands of cubes that are synchronized to move in and out, giving the illusion of motion. The example of the car driving away is quite incredible. Although not developed expressly for this purpose, it’s one pretty cool form of advertising for Hyundai.
The following is a great little montage showing some of the cool vehicles that James Bond has driven over the 24 films in the series.
This got the RedlineNorth Team thinking about some of their favourite vehicles from the series and we’ve decided to profile a few.
Lotus Esprit S1 – The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
Lotus Esprit – The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
First up the Lotus Esprit. Who can forget the underwater scene from the Spy Who Loved Me where James Bond’s white Lotus Esprit converts into submarine mode after driving off a dock into the water. There is also the classic scene with the car ‘driving’ in from the ocean onto a crowded beach – much to the amazement of beach goers.
The Esprit in the film was fully equipped with anti-aircraft missiles, depth chargers and could deploy black ink under water to foil enemy pursuers.
Two Lotus Esprits were loaned to the production company for filming. One was actually turned into a functional submarine. Once the movie was released they became so popular that there was supposedly a three year waiting list to purchase one.
The Esprit S1 (1976) had a 4 cylinder, 2.0L engine that produce 160 hp. Lotus claimed the Esprit could do 0-60 mph in 6.8 seconds and had a top speed of 138 mph (222 km/h).
The car was equipped with machine guns behind the front indicators, a bullet shield behind the rear window and a revolving licence plate that switched between a number of different plates. It was also capable of deploying a smoke screen and an oil slick to foil unwitting enemies, and of course a little red button that deployed the passenger ejector seat!
The original Goldfinger DB5 with gadgets was sold on October 27, 2010 for $4.1m (£2.6m). For a more reasonable price a scaled down electric model of the Goldfinger DB5 can be had for £48.
AMC Hornet
AMC Hornet – The Man with the Gold Gun (1974)
The American Motors Corporation (AMC) Hornet had its Bond debut in the 1974 film The Man With The Golden Gun. The V8, 175 hp Hornet is best remembered for the corkscrew jump over a river during during a car chase scene. A specially modified version of the car which had a lower stance and larger wheel wells was used by an uncredited British stuntman Loren “Bumps” Willert for the stunt. The jump distance was approximately 16 meters (52 ft) and the jump off speed was 65 kph (40 mph).
The original Hornet is still on display at the National Motor Museum Beaulieu, England.
The Škoda Superb is a large sedan built by the Czech car manufacturer Škoda Auto. Škoda Auto’s parent company is the Volkswagen Group which is significant for the smaller manufacturer since they are able to leverage the larger resources of the global Volkswagen Group.
The Superb models produced from 2001 to 2008 were based on the Volkswagen Passat platform but were 10 centimetres (3.9 in) longer. The 2008 and newer models are all based on a stretched version of the Volkswagen Group’s A5 Octavia platform. The current 2012 model Superb is a five-door five-seat liftback saloon/sedan, with an innovative tailgate known as ‘Twin-Door’.
It is currently the largest and most luxurious model in Škoda’s model range. The Superb name had originally been used by Škoda for luxury cars produced between 1934 and 1942.
With this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans wrapping up over the weekend we thought it was an appropriate time to look at this incredible race.
The 24 hours of Le Mans is the world’s oldest active endurance auto race having been held annually since 1923 near the town of Le Mans, France. This year’s race was historic for a number of reasons as it was the 80th anniversary and first win by a hybrid-powered car.
With the no.1 Audi R18 e-tron quattro of Andre Lotterer-Marcel Fassler-Benoit Treluyer taking the checkered flag on Sunday, Audi Sport secured its spot in automotive history with an 11th win to put them second on the all time win list only behind Porsche’s 16 overall victories. With the 11 victories coming in 13 attempts, Audi Sport has come to define what it takes as a racing team in today’s modern era to win the Holy Grail of endurance which is Le Mans.
All these victories are not ending at the racetrack as Audi has been leveraging their experience to produce some of the world best performance vehicles.You only have to look at Audi’s amazing line-R8, A8, A6, S5 and S4 models to see first-hand how the former NASCAR saying of a “win on Sunday” translates to “sell on Monday”.
Here are some images from the weekend action along with the 2012 Le Mans trailer video.
In the spirit of our recent posting of the Hot Wheels car jumping record, the following is an attempt from the guys on Fifth Gear to complete a loop de loop. Despite it being a small car the planning and physics that went into this are quite incredible. Not a world record, but pretty cool nonetheless.
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