• for sale

We’ve never seen one of these on the roads in Australia and had frankly forgotten that they even built these in RHD. A very rare beast.

Located somewhere in Victoria, Australia. Listed on Carsales for $499,990.

• motorsport
• news

Bob Graziano, President and CEO of FoMoCo of Australia, sends the word via an internal email, as scooped by Speedcafe.com:

As we continue to transform our business, we would like to share with you news that will break soon on decisions we are making to ensure a bright future for Ford Australia.

This afternoon, we will announce we will provide support to teams racing Ford Falcons in the 2015 V8 Supercars series but will not renew our sponsorships after the 2015 season.

We are electing to invest our funds to continue expanding and refreshing our product lineup while delivering a leading consumer experience.

At least now there’s no uncertainty.

• motorsport
• video

Highlights from Round One of the 1972 Australian Hillclimb Championship held at Newcastle, NSW.

• video

evo’s Jethro Bovingdon gets behind the wheel of two of the latest breed of hybrid-hypercars and has a thrash around the Anglesey Ciruit in Wales to find out which is the faster of the two.

• motorsport
• video

This is the first lap of the 2014 Nurburgring 24h rennen, onboard Ring-Attack #303 BMW M235i Racing with the driver Jesse Krohn.

Nearly all of it at ten-tenths. So very fast.

• motorsport
• video

Go behind the scenes as the Williams Team prepare a pair of FW15 chassis for pre-season testing ahead of their dominant 1993 season.

via @karunchandhok

• video

McLaren introduces their trackday programme for extremely well-heeled customers.

Sounds similar to the Ferrari FXX programme, though McLaren contend that they’re not following trends and they don’t mimic.

If only there were a GT1-style race series for cars like this, kind of a shame to see the hallowed GTR plate attached to a car that won’t get a chance to compete at Le Mans.

• profile

Classic Driver’s Jan Baedeker profiles Lamborghini’s former and 40-year veteran test-driver:

Valentino does his job with the casual attitude of a postman on his rounds – the only difference being that we overtook a truck at 230km/h. On the wrong side of the road. In a bend.

“Mister Lamborghini” indeed.

• interview
• video

A great little video from CarChat:

Don Dethlefsen of The WerkShop in Libertyville, Illinois talks about the the very first restoration his shop did of a fully optioned 1973 BMW 2002tii.

via @Coudal

• motorsport
• profile

Mark Oastler for Shannons Club:

From the moment its entry was proposed late in 1978, the little rotary-powered sports coupe from Japan challenged traditional thinking on what an outright contender in 1980s touring car racing could be. And that was enough to trigger a farcical political stoush over its acceptance, which played out from late December 1979 to January 1981.

The fascinating story of Mazda’s foray into the Australian Touring Car Championship.

• for sale

It’s not often that an automotive manufacturer lets one of their prototype hacks out onto the open market. Which makes this Ferrari mule, used to develop both the Enzo and 599, a very rare beast indeed.

Located in Langenfeld, Germany. Offered by Modena Motorsport GmbH.

via PistonHeads

• collections
• motorsport

Jonathan Moore for Speedhunters takes us inside Toyota’s Cologne-based motorsport HQ. A hard-to-access facility positively brimming with ex-WRC, Le Mans, and Formula 1 machinery, not to mention the odd one-of-a-kind prototype or homologation special.

• motorsport
• news

SpeedCafe reports:

American giant Team Penske has confirmed it will join the 2015 V8 Supercars Championship with Marcos Ambrose in partnership with legendary outfit Dick Johnson Racing.

Ford, Dick Johnson Racing, Marcos Ambrose driving #17, and Team Penske. What could possibly go wrong?

• builders
• profile

My Life at Speed tours Paul Chaleyer’s ‘Historic and Vintage Restorations’, as they restore an eclectic mix of motors ranging from an Aston Martin DB4, various MGs, a number of tweaked Alfa Romeos, and an incredible Maserati 450S recreation.

via @Build_Threads

• for sale

#6 of 15 specially-commissioned lightweight models built for the Australian GT Championship.

This example looks very tidy and has relatively low KMs. Only blemish is the after-market sunroof, worth fixing for such a rare car.

Located in St Ives, NSW. Listed on Carsales for $65,000.

• motorsport
• video

After being granted approval to run their newly-developed RGT 997 GT3, Tuthill Porsche gave it a proper baptism at the recent ADAC Rallye Deutschland.

• design
• interview

The September 2014 issue of CAR magazine features an in-depth interview with two key designers of the iconic McLaren F1: Peter Stephens and Gordon Murray.

Gordon Murray on getting commitment from suppliers for the project:

“We’re going to build the best engineered car in the world and the best driver’s car in the world, can’t tell you a thing about it at all, but if you want to come on board I need all this stuff for free”.

• builders
• video

Watch as the good folk from Bad Obsession Motorsport shoehorn the oily bits from a Celica GT-four into an Austin Mini.

“Safely ensconced in a shed in deepest, darkest Shropshire, two men with their faculties dulled by liberal dosing’s of Jack Daniel’s finest No.7 brand embarked upon a journey that would change their world.”

With a little bit of fabrication along the way.

via AUSmotive

• motorsport

A must follow for all Formula 1 fans on Twitter, run by the Associazione Vittorio Brambilla.

• video

“Imagine one of the best looking race tracks in the world. A huge crowd of car enthusiasts and some of the craziest car builds.”

23 minute documentary about Gatebil, Swedish home of all things drift.