Thursday, July 29, 2010
Just a quick notice to all of our readers who have been wanting to customize an AMG Mercedes-Benz to their liking for years: The AMG Confirgurator is finally up on the Mercedes-Benz website! Go here to configure a Mercedes-Benz AMG model!
Sunday, July 25, 2010
If you are a fan of The Car Blog on Facebook, you already know the benefits. You get updates on every post, news from where our writing team is going and what we're covering next, full photo galleries from events and posts, and special mini-posts. Currently on our page you can see full coverage of the 64th annual Zero-60 Garage Birthday Bash sports and exotic car show, as well as the full photo galleries from Iola, the Kohler International Challenge, Big Three Performance Car Show 2009, Bergstrom Premier Exotic Car Show, and also cars that our staff spots on their commutes and trips! If you don't care, skip over this post. If you do care, visit our Facebook Fan Page today!
Friday, July 23, 2010
Every year for one weekend in July, both the ultra-rich and amateur racers get together at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, for high-octane races and events of every kind. From the muscle car class to the F1 racers, there's something for every gearhead alive. Those who prefer trailer queens can attend the Saturday evening concourse, which has almost every car imaginable and many you're never heard of. People flock from all over the world to attend and race in these events, and some of the most rare, valuable, and strange cars are on display and in the races. This is the Kohler International Challenge.
This year's Challenge was sponsored by Ford, and they brought on the firepower. The Falken/Monster drift Mustang driven by Vaughn Griffin, Jr. did exhibition laps in between races, making a loud enough sound to be heard from the other side of the track. Ford brought along a full line of Mustangs, including the new 2011 GT 5.0, which started deliveries to dealers earlier this month, and numerous Mustang race cars in drag, drift, and NASCAR Nationwide guises. Also along for the ride was a European Ford Focus RS, which us Americans have craved after for a long time but never have received. Though the next-gen Focus has already been revealed this year at NAIAS, a flock of admirers still crowded the RS. All Ford vehicles got into the track for free, a marketing ploy that was probably covered in cost by Ford. Consequentially, there were far more Mustangs than there were of any other muscle car, five of which were GT350 race cars raced by famed Cobra Automotive. There were many Shelbys there, real and fake, and three of them managed to crash during the weekend's largest race, the amateur muscle car race. In fact, when a GT350 clone hit the wall hard in turn eleven of the track, the race had to be stopped. A Cobra replica and a real GT350 experienced mechanical failures, but the vast majority of the fifty-plus car race finished.
Also in great show was classic, pushrod V8 Can-Am cars like Dan Gurney's Mcleagle and timeless Lola racers. These things were the most brutish cars in the field, if not the fastest. Going 170 to 180 miles per hour down the straights, they fielded an extremely competitive race right up until the end, with lead changes almost every lap of the 4-mile fifteen-foot course. They also managed to deafen all spectators who watched in awe from the stands or from the pathway next to the safety fence. There were about twenty to thirty of these priceless gems, most of them powered by American big-block motors. There were a couple oddities like the 1962 Dolphin-Porsche Porphin and the only Shelby Can-Am car ever built, and they raced very competitively and many competed in the concourse, too.
Some of the stars of the races, though, were the screaming, 15,000-rpm F1 and Le Mans race cars. Everything that competed in F1 and race endurance Le Mans after the early days was open to run in this event, and there were Sunoco-sponsored F1 racers of the eighties, the one-and-only Aston Martin-powered Riley MkXI Daytona prototype, and even the #2 Audi R10 TDI that one 12 Hours of Sebring in 2006 and 2007 and 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2008! These shrill, loud cars wound through the curves with little effort, seemingly in complete control of the situation whether they were in the lead going over 200 on the straight or far behind, crashed in the sand pits. Of course, that's exactly what the drivers of these beautiful beasts are trained and paid for, right?
There were many more classes that raced, too, including GT3, Formula 5000 (shown in the to photo), Classic Sports Car racing, and more. You could spend the weekend just in the parking lot of this event, where we found a real Shelby Cobra nonchalantly parked, a variety of Aston Martins, Porsches, Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Maseratis, etc, extremely tuned production cars, and not-quite-legal yet still licensed race cars. To Check Out The Full Gallery of the Kohler International Challenge 2010, visit our Facebook fan page and go to photos.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Iola is a huge event each year in the heart of the Midwest with thousands of cars, tens of thousands of visitors and enthusiasts, and its signature massive swap meet. The car that really caught my eye this year was the 1926 Rickenbacker roadster owned by Ron and Donna Jones of Greeneville, TN. It is a real stunner with beautiful brasswork highlighting the front end. Unfortunately our pictures do not do the car justice (click on The Car Blog’s Facebook Fan Page link to the right and then go to the photo section for lots of Iola photos).
One very interesting detail are the streamlined brass headlights with vertical light slits. I am not aware of any other Rickenbacker with these lights, and they appear to be exactly the same as those on some 1930 Cord L-29’s. How is it that these lights are on this single 1926 Rickenbacker and then do not appear again until four years later on the Cord L-29?
One very interesting detail are the streamlined brass headlights with vertical light slits. I am not aware of any other Rickenbacker with these lights, and they appear to be exactly the same as those on some 1930 Cord L-29’s. How is it that these lights are on this single 1926 Rickenbacker and then do not appear again until four years later on the Cord L-29?
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Iola Old Car Show And Swap Meet 2010: The Wild, The Weird, And The Wonderful Show Up To Classic Car Mecca
With annual attendance of over 40,000 spectators, the Iola Old Car Show and Swap
meet is a pretty big deal in the classic car world. You can find anything from a Pacer to a
Packard and everything in between and beyond at this gigantic event that makes enough cash
each year to pay for property year-round. Any car you can think of may show up. Among the
starts of this year's car show, auction, car corral, and swap meet in Iola, Wisconsin were a '26
Rickenbacker coupe layered in brass, a Race-modified VW Bug, and Alice Cooper's old '69 Shelby
GT350H. Every year in sleepy northern Wisconsin, the best of the best unite with the worst of
the worst and the average in this local show that has grown into the national classic car Mecca.
Starting in the Car Corral, you will definitely notice some odd and unique cars for sale. A
Lincoln KB, Lotus Europa, Fox Ford Mustang, and a Corvette-powered Austin-Healey can all be
found up for sale. One of the cars that caught our eye was this: A very early, late-Sixties
Lamborghini Espada. For those of you not familiar with the Espada, it is an absolutely gigantic car
by exotic-car standards, even in the time it was released. The Espada is about 15 feet long, with
enough length to make a Chevy truck next to it look short. This particular Espada was in
drivable, but not anywhere near showable condition. At a NADAGuides value in perfect condition
of $56,000 and an asking price of $20,000, this car would not be a good deal considering
restoration costs.
Moving on from there, the main show area had a few very interesting exhibits, including the first public showing of the comeback car for Nickey Chevrolet of Chicago. The new Nickey Camaro is inspired by the '67 Corvette, with the signature Stinger hood. With performance packages ranging from 500-700 horsepower, though it may not pack the same punch as similar Hennessey kits, they come with more history and pedigree. The car they had on display was number one of one so far, but according to some reps from Nickey, they had a few checks waved in their face, so look for more coming up from Nickey Chicago.
Next up, one of the GM Futurliners used in GM's Parade of Progress made a rare appearance, complete with working motor and tours of the cockpit for a little bit of change. This four to eight-million-dollar vehicle was Futurliner number 10, which was saved years back as well as four others by Joe Bortz from the fate of being turned into a restaurant. Yes, somebody was at one point going to turn this piece of history into a restaurant. The car is currently owned by a big insurance company and is used for PR events and major car shows such as Iola.
The theme this year at Iola was Sensational Sixties, and Sixties-era cars came out in storm. Over 5,000 cars attended the public show this year, including unusual ones such as this Mopar with a from-the-factory flower roof and interior. It caused many of the attendees of the show to have flashbacks of their days 0f childhood and neighbors, friends, and family with similar cars. Overall, the show was as big a success as usual, and look forward to features on specific cars in the coming days!
The theme this year at Iola was Sensational Sixties, and Sixties-era cars came out in storm. Over 5,000 cars attended the public show this year, including unusual ones such as this Mopar with a from-the-factory flower roof and interior. It caused many of the attendees of the show to have flashbacks of their days 0f childhood and neighbors, friends, and family with similar cars. Overall, the show was as big a success as usual, and look forward to features on specific cars in the coming days!
Saturday, June 26, 2010
On the way to filling up the tank this morning, seeing that red Cobra replica below (oops, gave it away) was a surprising start to the day and a omen of what was to come. A bit later in the morning we decided to head out to the Zero to 60 Garage in Sherwood, WI, (http://www.zeroto60garage.com/) as we had heard that they open their place to the public on Saturday mornings and we wanted to see what was going on there.
Wow! Beautiful cars. Nice shop. Very cool folks. And did I say Cobras? There is the showroom was an authentic 427 Cobra and rolling into the driveway was a '64 289 (pictured above). No replicas here. And then there were the Ferraris, a 550 Maranello and a 288 GTO, a Mitsubishi rally car, and miscellaneous Camaros, 'Vettes, and a '57 Chevy for good measure.
On July 25th from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. Zero to 60 Garage is having its 64th Birthday Celebration and Car Show. If you are in the area this is one you will not want to miss. All makes and models are welcome and you can contact the shop directly for details.
Wow! Beautiful cars. Nice shop. Very cool folks. And did I say Cobras? There is the showroom was an authentic 427 Cobra and rolling into the driveway was a '64 289 (pictured above). No replicas here. And then there were the Ferraris, a 550 Maranello and a 288 GTO, a Mitsubishi rally car, and miscellaneous Camaros, 'Vettes, and a '57 Chevy for good measure.
On July 25th from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. Zero to 60 Garage is having its 64th Birthday Celebration and Car Show. If you are in the area this is one you will not want to miss. All makes and models are welcome and you can contact the shop directly for details.
Almost since the reign of the Cobra ended in the late Sixties, replicas have popped up everywhere, but there are also many original cars that still exist. The Shelby Registry shows only a few cars that are missing, which means almost every original car that came out of Shelby/American is still in existence somewhere. Most people prefer to keep their cars as investments, locked up in warehouses and air conditioned garages, but some also like to drive them, and drive them hard. Though most original Cobras are stock, theres a small cult of well-off guys and a couple gals who modify them just because they can. It's these people who everyday car guys often admire the most.
Two of the staff at The Car Blog were driving around today and found this specimen at a local diner. One took photos with his phone, and the other (yours truly) was skeptical. We did our research later, and found whether is was fake or not. So you guys show us your skill: Is it real or fake? What are some reasons it is? And if it's fake, What replicar company made it?
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