My mom likes to poke fun at me when I agree to do something non-car-related with her, “Oh, you sure you want to go for a hike? There aren’t any vehicles to drive or shoot…you suuure?” Little did she know, there would be a truck to shoot.
New York’s lower Hudson valley is peppered with relics of times past. Just drive up the Taconic Parkway and you’ll see networks of old stone walls and decrepit foundations scattered in what is now parkland or people’s backyards. It’s fascinating. I’ve even gone so far as to dig up old maps to try to identify old roads through the woods, pre-highways, these could have been main thoroughfares now used for hiking and nature walking.
About an hour into the hike we lose the sound of the highway and the path is lined with stone walls. Over a small crest we find this rusting pile of metal and even some bits of wood still screwed into the frame. Did it break down? Was it stolen? We’ll probably never know, but I think an ID should be possible. Help?
And some stamped numbers, which I used my mom’s phone to snap since of course all I had with me was a massive 300mm prime lens.
The other night I did something I do a lot. I met up with a guy I’ve only met briefly in the past to go out in his car and…wait that could be misleading. Let me start over. The other night I shot some photos of a bonkers ‘01 S4, and it turns out I first met this car about 4 years ago.
Before I get into that, a quick rundown of this nondescript Audi four-door. The car has been through a progression of upgrades spanning seven years and three different sets of turbos. From stock turbos to stage 3 K04 turbos to even bigger Porsche turbos and upgraded internals, this car has come a long way. But you wouldn’t know it from the outside, like the nerdy girl with a wild side—you know the one.
But back to the story at hand. Rewind four years, I was still working atClassic Car Club Manhattan. For how long ago it was, I remember the scene in vidid detail, it was a mild fall evening and my last task for the day was to collect the club’s black Audi R84.2 6-speed from a member in Great Neck, out on Long Island. Train out, meet the member, aim for NYC, pretty straightforward. I merge onto the highway and settle in for the short ride back to the city. Traffic was light, I was in the middle lane.
Keeping up with the flow of cars, I note a rapidly approaching set of headlights. Instinctively, I downshift with a CLACKfrom the R8’s open gated shifter. The headlights slow as they approach until he’s right next to me: a badge-less black B5 Audi. Sans badges, I’m assuming this is a juiced up 1.8T, then he pulled.
It rapidly became apparent that this sleeper sedan was quicker than the V8R8, much quicker. I got a huge kick out of seeing him scream away from me. The encounter ended with smiles and thumbs up on both sides before he tore off into the night. The memory had retreated into the depths of my mind until the other evening, when I realized I was sitting in that exact B5 Audi. The owner remembers that night four years ago as well, “Usually when my car is faster than an exotic, the driver won’t even look at me, but you smiled and gave a thumbs up.”
Let’s say you met a time traveler. Someone who had been instantly transported from a time long ago to 2016. This person would have zero concept of modern technology, and transportation, and would inevitably be very curious about, well, everything.
Being a car enthusiast, you’d get right to the point and begin by offering the time traveler an automotive education. How would you do this? You’d take your new friend directly to the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles.
The kind ticket salesman will suggest you begin on the top floor of three and work your way down. With vast variation from the first horseless buggies to the “retro” new generation Ford Thunderbird, a lot can be learned here. Wend your way through a star-studded row of movie cars including Walter White’s Pontiac Aztek, and soak in a Ghia-bodied Plymouth. Down the staircase you find slightly more modern metal. A chopped Jaguar F-Type shows off its aluminum underpinnings in a life-size cross section. Turn a corner and say hello to the clay sculpted face of a new Ford GT concept. Hello.
Another bend to the right puts you and your time traveler head to head with a somewhat pedestrian-looking hydrogen-powered Honda FCX. The background is filled with glistening chrome hot rods — all lifted, so as to appreciate the equally shining chrome underbody of these greaser deights. Pass through a doorway into a white room filled with silver cars, and even the time traveler’s jaw drops to the floor. Wipe up the drool, both from the present and past, and soak in the swooping raked metal body of the 1959 Chevy Corvette XP-87 Stingray. Follow the bulbous blisters of the aero-optimized 1954 Mercedes-Benz W196 R Streamliner to its rounded edges — beauty in metal and rubber, in any era.
Descend the final staircase into a darkened cavern rife with Delahayes, Delages, and Bugattis that would be at home in an F. Scott Fitzgerald book. Placards reading “1/1” — the first produced, and only one of its kind ever produced — are common in this room of coachbuilt masterpieces. In the final exhibit, a selection of BMW Art Cars caps the tour handily. The 1975 BMW3.0CSL painted by Alexander Calder, steals almost as much of your attention as the previous two floors combined.
Education complete, time to hit the gift shop to furnish the home and office with little die-cast models of all the beautiful wheeled works of art we’ll dream about driving for years to come. And you can only imagine how your time traveling pal will describe to family and friends that Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse to his friends and family.
Driving old cars can be a mixed bag. On one hand, they tend to be nice to look at and fun to see how “things used to be.” On the other hand, they tend to be mechanically temperamental and lacking relative to what we may be accustomed to in terms of performance and handling.
But for a few minutes, leave all that behind. You’ve just been handed the keys to a mechanically sound ‘69 911T. Take it for a spin.
Once you’ve gotten used to manipulating the 5-speed dog-leg transmission it’s a joy to use. Mechanical whine from the drivetrain will fill your ears as you row through the gears tugging from side to side on the truck-sized steering wheel through the twists.
Hearing the flat six warp from metallic rasp to that signature hollow Porsche howl is especially beautiful when your mind immediately connects the dots all the way to the 991 GT3. They’ve changed shapes (albeit slightly) and engines (albeit slightly) and chassis (albeit slightly) but the DNA is still there, and that’s the part you can’t beat.
It’s pretty amazing what you can do with a cheap LED and a DSLR. Last weekend a friend visited and brought this beastly yellow machine, of course I couldn’t help but break out the tripod and snap a few shots.
Using my trust Sony A7 with the kit 28-70mm lens, I was able to produce some pretty spectacular images without a ton of work. To be honest, it’s mostly trial and error, with just a little bit of strategy (beer) sprinkled in throughout.
Sure, you could go out and spend 10 grand on Profoto B1 strobes and expensive lenses or camera bodies, but when you can produce images like this with almost any DSLR and a $20 LED from a gas station, why the hell not?
Basic Steps:
camera goes on tripod
ISO 100 for least amount of “noise” or “grain” in the image
set exposure long enough to light the car (I used between 6 and 15 sec exposures)
have a friend hit the shutter for you so you can light the car as soon as exposure begins
keep the light on the car, experiment with how far away from the car you hold the light
move as smoothly as possible while lighting as much or as little of the car as you please
review your results and adjust your technique
It will take multiple tries, and of the handful of images I posted here, I had at least 10 throw-aways of each. Don’t expect to get perfect results on the first go, but you’ll never get anything if you don’t keep trying.
This Z06 is part of the CCC Manhattan fleet, go HERE to find out more about the club.
The McLaren 12C is a fantastic car, there’s no disputing this fact. It was born from years of street and race proven technology and received by the automotive community with open arms. But there was something missing.
The performance within was heralded as a real milestone for the “super sports car” segment. With self leveling suspension and some super slippery aerodynamics paired with an extremely potent turbocharged V8, the car quickly catapulted itself far beyond what most drivers are capable of fully exploiting.
Much like the Nissan GT-R, the technology packaged into the 12C leaves the driver a bit insulated from the very aspects that made cars like the Ferrari F40 and Lamborghini Countach so endeared among enthusiasts. They weren’t easy to use, they were loud, and they weren’t really good for much other than driving quickly.
Last weekend I encountered a 12C Spider whose owner had quite properly mitigated one of these aspects. The stock exhaust on the 12C has a nice purr to it but is decidedly quiet when revved next to something like a Ferrari 458 or Mercedes SLS. The turbochargers muffle the sound from the 12C, to the point where you’re left pining for the crack of an Italian V8 or the bellow of a German V8.
The solution comes in the form of the McLaren Sport Exhaust, which, as far as I can tell is just straight pipes. One of my favorite mantras perfectly applies here: louder is better. The free flowing pipes expel exhaust gasses with a new timbre, the roar under power assaults your eardrums in the best way, with crackling overrun off-throttle as the cherry on top.
NOTE: I should have listened when they said it spits flames…this GoPro was hanging onto the back of the car by a thread of melted plastic, but somewhat incredibly the thing fired right back up after it cooled down and I put a fresh battery in.
What to even say about this car. It’s silver? It’s loud? It’s like a Singer, but wider? It’s like a Rauh-Welt, but with a better spoiler?
Those are some pretty bold statements but I think this 911 deserves to have it all. I feel like I’m still just gawking at the car as I write this post. It even has hounds-tooth cloth seats. It’s fucking perfect. The video and the spec sheet speak for themselves, enjoy.
Body & Chassis
1970 911 E chassis-one of the lightest 911 factory chassis, factory silver car, south west US car, 65000 miles.
Steel 930 flares
F/G RSR bumpers & ducktail – MA Shaw
Interior
ST vintage seats
Schroth Profi II Harnesses
Auto-power roll bar
Palo alto custom gages
Perlon carpet
RS door panels
Engine
3.5 L
SC case, with 74.4mm crank (3.2)
JE10.5 ceramic coated pistons, lightweight wrist pins-new, ARP rod bolts
DC60 cams
46 mm PMO carbs
Electromotive Crank-fired twin plug ignition system
930 sodium filled exhaust valves
964 oil pump
Fluidyne oil cooler, all Aeroquip SS braided lines, fittings
Headers, M&K muffler
Tuned by Powertech and made 340HP, 285WHP (5/2015)
Transmission
915
Stock Ratios, Factory ZF limited slip 60/40,
Rennshift shifter
Brakes
930 set up, rear calipers machined to fit SC trailing arms, air ducting on fronts
Wheels
Braid BZ
F: 9 x 15 Pirelli 225/50/15
R: 11 x 15 Pirelli 345/35/15
Suspension
Bilstien RSR raised spindle and reinforced front struts, coilover springs
The formula is correct with this bawdy German duo. A well balanced chassis, drive to the rear wheels, and most importantly a potent V8 motor up front. Only thing missing was a sinuous stretch of tarmac, which we just so happened to find.
When these cars were new I ate up all the comparison tests. I watched Clarkson, Hammond, and May slide them around Ascari and read all the glorious praise for the BMW’s handling and the Benz’s thunderous V8. Many of you know I have an affinity for BMW in general, and I’ve driven a great many of them including all different flavors of the E9x generation from convertible DCT to manual sedan and all the coupes in between.
Which is why I was excited to hear that my favorite NYC automotive institution Classic Car Club Manhattan recently added a 2010 Mercedes Benz C63 to their fleet. I’ve always respected the AMG ethos of adding power and luxury, but the C63 represented a sort of forbidden fruit in my mind. It went a bit beyond the typical “luxobarge” designation that AMGs tend to be awarded, with it’s smaller size and favorable comparisons to the M3, I was very keen to try it out.
It did not disappoint. In fact, I was very impressed. While I loved the ability to ring out the high-revving V8 in the BMW, there were compromises that were so readily assuaged by the larger displacement V8 in the Benz. To put it bluntly, the E9x M3s have a serious lack of low-end torque. I love low-end torque, and not having it is frustrating around town when you just need that squirt of power to merge or change lanes. The C63 has no problem in this area, the low burble quickly turns into a cracking thunder as you feed the 6.2 liter eight banger more fuel. The torque though! All the torque! Everywhere!
Torque is what makes a car feel fast. Torque is what made the Fiat 500 Abarth tolerable around town, despite not really being that fast. Lack of torque is what makes the E9x feel slower than it really is unless you’re really driving 8/10ths, despite having very similar performance to the Benz. Torque is what left me pining for longer drives, using any excuse to drive the C63. Torque is what made me forget all about the E92M3.
Words simply can not do this car justice. In the realm of exalted sports cars, inhabited by the likes of the E30M3 and Mazda Miata, The NSX has a distinctly different flavor.
The aforementioned sports cars are known now as “the best” for a combination of reasons that center squarely on the fact that they are really fun to drive. The NSX is no exception, but instead of simply aiming to create a really awesome driving machine like Mazda and BMW did with the original M3 and Miata, Acura/Honda set out to teach the world a lesson. They essentially pulled a Tyler Durden and said “fuck what you know” about Ferrari performance, we’ll do it better, for less. And so they did.
Long before Ayrton Senna got his hands on the NSX, Honda had lofty aspirations. Starting with the initial design, penned by Pininfarina, the same company that designed countless F-cars over the years. Further design cues were liberated from the F-16 fighter jet, for the forward oriented passenger compartment maximizing 360 degree visibility. High speed stability is augmented further with the long flat tail extending out behind the cockpit.
Channeling Colin Chapman’s ethos, Honda had a breakthrough with the NSX in the form of an all aluminum monocoque, the first of its kind in any production vehicle in the world. Other firsts for the NSX include the first electronic throttle ever fitted to a Honda, and titanium connecting rods allowing the throaty V6 to rev all the way to 8,000 rpm.
The technical details are surely impressive, but again, my words can’t express the impact that this car had, and still has. Sitting in it, feeling the leather wrapped shifter, the near perfect driving position, the surprisingly robust low-end torque; the aura of something bigger than just a car hangs heavy. This is a gift from the motoring gods, a place where the spirit of Ayrton Senna can live on forever. Thank you Honda. Thank you Ayrton.
Racetracks are magical places. Even if you’re not there to race or drive at all, there’s a certain feeling associated with the acrid stank of race gas and burned rubber. Which is why I jumped at the opportunity to be a “spotter” for a Porsche Club of America member.
I’ve driven track days, raced karts and battled at the 24 Hours of LeMons, but I have never been a spotter. I didn’t even know what it entailed but I readily agreed knowing this gig would get me within proximity of a large range of classic and contemporary P-car racing machines. I went to bed early the night before, dreaming of the raw and hollow wail of a flat six motor; or fifty of them.
Arriving at the track Saturday morning I was greeted with the unfortunate news that the driver I was to spot for had encountered a terminal electrical issue forcing him to retire before even hitting the track. Gremlins be damned, my entry fee was paid and I’d been told the catering at Monticello Motor Club is top notch.
With my trusty Sony A7 and borrowed 70-200mm lens I set out to find some good vantage points to practice panning shots. The first qualifying session released from pit lane was like a swarm of angry bees. Spec Boxsters were dime a dozen, as were 996 GT3s, but the classic air cooled machines hold a special place in my heart garage after getting to know the CCC ‘74 911 a few years ago. The sound is truly intoxicating, especially off-throttle when you get this other-worldly BWAHHHHH as the revs drop:
A few hours later I left sufficiently sunburned with a full belly and a full memory card. Of course, the only danger of going to the track and notdriving is when you depart, and have to continuously remind yourself that the E90 328i you’re driving is in fact not a race car, and the roads that surround the track are definitely not a racetrack.
This is not a car that people usually aspire to, or that is pined after. Stereotypes abound; this car is known best as either the Porsche you buy when you can’t afford a 911 or a hairdresser’s car. But that’s all nonsense and here’s why.
Porsche is primarily known for building the 911. The 911 employs a rear mounted motor, which, by all accounts, should not work at all in terms of handling dynamics. As the Klaus’s and Dieters over in Stuttgart have spent the last 50 plus years toiling to mitigate the wonky characteristics of a rear-engined vehicle, the answer may have been in the middle all along. In 1996 the first generation Boxster was introduced with the Porsche signature flat-six motor behind the driver but infront of the rear axle, making it a mid-engined car.
There’s a reason Ferrari and Lamborghini have been mid-mounting their engines for decades, and the reason is that a mid-engined vehicle keeps the weight in the center of the vehicle, allowing for more predictable and neutral handling at the ragged edge. This translates directly into the everyday driving characteristics of the Boxster in the absolute best of ways.
Turn in is sharp, weight transfer happens almost seamlessly, and the raspy hollow howl of the 2.7 liter flat six will plaster the most idiotic grin on yours and your (lucky) passenger’s face. A quick pull on the smooth silver PDK paddle for an upshift is met with the next ratio and un-interrupted power delivery. Pull on the left paddle for a downshift and revel in the BARKfrom a central exhaust outlet that sounds like it’s actually inside your ear.
This car will happily plod along city and suburban thoroughfares with the transmission in automatic mode, but it lives for the twists and turns of an empty country lane. Only so much can be expressed with words, check out the video above to immerse yourself in the Boxster driving experience through the lens of a GoPro fastened to my head.
Spring has arrived! What better way to celebrate than with a blown 6-speed drop-top V10 on an empty twisty country road.
This car is properly insane with a twin turbo setup from AMS making what I’ve been told is north of 700-hp at the wheels. It’s kind of deceptive since the power is delivered in such a linear fashion, but at the higher RPMs this thing just goes into warp speed.
The above photo is not a photo of the 570S. Since I wasn’t allowed to take any photos of the new “base” McLaren (no matter how hard I tried to bribe every McLaren employee in attendance), I’m just going to describe it in some detail.
(Full Disclosure: McLaren wanted to show off the new 570S to a bunch of VIPs ahead of the NYIAS. Somehow I ended up on the list too. There were free drinks, and a McLaren branded silk scarf.)
Since the invitation clearly states that no cameras were allowed, I showed up early with my camera. It was impossible to miss the event space with the two 650S’s parked right out front.
I walked up just as the lady at the door with a clipboard had just turned away a group of enthusiastic European tourists. The nice lady steeled her face as I approached looking quite a lot like just another European tourist, with my camera slung over my shoulder. She checked twice after I gave my name, seeming to not really believe that I was supposed to be there. She wasn’t wrong.
Once off the massive car elevator, they required everyone to check-in and forfeit their mobile device and any other camera gear. I thought it’d be fine relinquishing my beloved camera, rationalizing that I was there to see a very cool new sports car and the only way I could do that was without my camera. But seeing it spirited away along with my iPhone and then walking inside the event space left me wondering how the hell I was going to tell the internet all about it. I’ll find a way.
Not long later, in a whoosh of fog and white linen, the 570S was revealed. First impressions were whispered the room around, and were for the most part predicable:
-It’s kind of a mix of 650S styling and P1 styling
-It has a ton of carbon fiber, especially at the rear
-The aerodynamic elements on the sides are impressive, with pass-throughs and buttresses
-It looks great in McLaren Orange, and has tons of “swoops” integrated into the design
These were all valid, and all quite predictable indeed. But after standing behind the 570s for what must have been three to four tequila drinks, I noticed something quite striking.
The 570S is actually hiding a first generation Ford Focus in it’s rear bumper! It’s even more pronounced without all the camouflage nonsense.
On the way out the door everyone was gifted a small square box. Not wanting to seem too excited to open the small box, I put it in my bag. Down on the street a line of brand new BMW X5s with McLaren decals had replaced the two 650S’s. I leaned in to one of them and asked if I could get a ride, but was brushed off by an important looking man who told me they were for VIPs only. Fair enough.
I walked down to the corner to find a cab, and noticed a trash can filled with fancy square McLaren boxes.
Fuck it. I ripped my box open and reveled in the soft silken kerchief only a British sports car maker could get away with gifting. I think it’s supposed to be a pocket square but I may or may not have blown my nose in it.
I met up with fellow opponaut 505turbeaux last night after he collected this surprisingly well kept 505 from New Jersey. The car didn’t shake. It didn’t rattle. The lights worked. I was impressed.
We went down to one of my favorite photos spots to capture the glory of this quirky French machine which, in the words of my girlfriend, “looks kind of like a Toyota Corolla, but an old one.” Quite so, m’lady.
Just the thought of paying $600 for this puts ideas in my head. I have $600, barely…HM! 505 (the guy) has had numerous 505s in the past, so he’s got a decent stockpile of strange French car parts to keep this peach running. When asked what he’ll do with it once home, he told me he’s going to take it all apart and give it a good once over. Makes sense.
It was cold and we were thirsty. A few snaps later my fingers were frozen and 505 was doing the peepee dance so we headed for shelter. Luckily, shelter also had alcohol. Something tells me 505 will be enjoying this 505 for years to come.
Let’s not kid ourselves. Wagons are the tits. Especially when they go sideways.
When I was presented with the opportunity to shoot some photos of afellow Jalop’s beauty of a Benz wagon last night, I did an excited jig while grabbing my camera. This morning, it snowed. This afternoon, we hooned.
A few weeks ago I was prohibited from flying my quadcopter in a designed RC flying area. Normally I would just accept this as the plight of quad pilot, having been told by everyone and their mother where I am, and am not, allowed to fly. But this time there was a guy with an RC plane who was allowed to fly in the same area.
The park ranger told me I couldn’t fly a quadcopter anywhere in the park, no exceptions. I asked why the RC airplane pilot was allowed to fly, but I was not, and was told that despite neither of us being able to produce a permit, the RC plane guy was a member of a local RC flying club that certified him to fly at any designated RC airfield.
The park ranger then pulled out a piece of paper with a list of contact info for local FBI offices and the NYPD, along with a long list of very detailed information which was supposed to be collected from me and relayed to the listed local agencies. I asked for a copy of the paper, in order to get a better idea of what the rules are, and was told that it was “classified information”. Having a camera slung around my neck, I asked if I could photograph the sheet; at which point the ranger bristled and told me I was lucky I wasn’t getting a ticket. For what?
The ranger proceeded to stomp around for a few more minutes before instructing me to call the park office to get more information. So that’s exactly what I did:
I think I am more confused after this phone call than I was before. Here’s a rundown of information not gotten from this call:
-what the difference between an RC helicopter and RC quadcopter is
-where to obtain a permit to fly in the park
-what the permit actually permits
So I emailed the ranger a long list of questions and got the following response a few days later:
The section of Law that pertains to the use of Quadcopters , RC Vehicles or Unmanned Aircraft on the lands of PIPC are PIPC Park Rules and Regulations. The Part 409, Commercially 409.1(c) Recreation 409.1(j).
The use of RC Vehicles or Unmanned Aircraft are Prohibited except undertaken pursuant to a permit on State Park Lands And PIPC Lands.
I am still researching which Park office does issue the permits.
The activity is regulated on State Park Lands and PIPC lands so any employee of the State Parks or commission can ask for your permit and then take appropriate action. Ask you to stop the activity or refer to the Park Police/Rangers.
This is just what I found quickly I will forward to operations also.
And a few days later, finally some idea of where to get the permit. Maybe.
The Regional Office At The Administration Building Bear Mountain you may apply for a permit. This is separate from the Bear Mountain State Park office but in same building.
A little bit of research into the legal documents referenced by the ranger in the first email show that there is no specific language differentiating types of RC aircraft. How then can quadcopters be outright banned? I understand the permit part, but if I were able to get a permit, then I should technically be allowed to fly in the designated areas.
I understand the “drone” stigma is real, and that people are worried about their privacy and the safety of people on the ground. These are real concerns when anyone can go out and spend $500 on a quadcopter that can fly to great heights and great distances right out of the box, but how are quadcopters so different from the RC planes and helis that have been around for decades? Is it the addition of cameras, and First Person View (FPV) systems? Some would say so.
I’m not going to describe the exhaust note of this exuberant machine, apart from saying that I have a feeling the same guys who engineered the sounds of the Jaguar F-Type had a hand in it.
I was heading up to Riverside Drive with my camera and tripod to take some long exposures, but instead was greeted with this enormous fire raging directly across the river in Edgewater, NJ.
It was not okay. The first indication of trouble was when the guy signing us out went to fire it up to record the miles, and it stalled immediately. HM.After feathering the throttle a couple times it fired right up, and he turned to us beaming, ”Muy bien!”.
It didn’t help that we had forgotten to confirm our booking, leaving us to choose from only about 5 cars. We had to be able to fit at least six, and the rest of the vehicles on the lot were tiny compacts. It would have to do.
In hindsight we all agreed it would have been better to just get taxis to/from town and the airport, but we originally thought we would be doing more day trips and traveling back and forth to town.
Did you ever wonder what percentage of the throttle you are using on the way to get a sandwich? Were you ever curious how many Gs you pulled on the way home from clarinet lessons? Do you have a BMW? You might just be in luck.
BMW says these fancy new apps will work on any of their vehicles 2012 or newer with navigation, but if you have iDrive and ConnectedDrive on a slightly older model, I can confirm they will still work. In terms of free apps, there is nothing that offers the same amount of data. I’ve used Harry’s Laptimer in the past for track days and karting, but you’ve gotta pay for it. BMW is really doing a smashing job with their third party apps, now we just need Waze integration.
I tested this out on a rainy day in my mom’s 2011 328i xDrive, but I seriously can’t wait to try this tech out on a track with some proper M power under foot.
Sat down at my desk this morning and saw a Facebook post indicating that there was a Ferrari F40 parked a little over a block away at Classic Car Club Manhattan. I put my scarf back on so quick I almost got scarf burn.
As far as dream cars go, every gear-head I know had either a Countach, an F40, or both on their wall as a child. Seeing an F40 up close is a magical experience, it’s so other-worldly but at the same time familiar in the spectrum of the era it came from.
The late 80s brought us some of the most spectacularly boxy and insanely well engineered vehicles to date; BMWE30M3, Mercedes 190E Evo, Audi Sport Quattro, Lancia Delta Integrale, etc.
In my mind the F40 sits atop this beautiful pyramid of squared designs and screaming motors unbridled by electronic nanny nonsense. The purest of the pure.
In this nature film we see an intrepid Jaguar encountering snow for the first time. Watch as the cat chases its own tail, frolicking back and forth before thundering off into the wilderness.
