Auto Mobiles

Filed under: Etc.

TVR Grantura. Click above for model history and more photos.

Trevor Wilkinson, who founded the British sports car marque, TVR, has died at the age of 85 in Minorca, Spain, where he lived in retirement. Mr. Wilkinson had apparently been seriously ill, according to reports. He built his business in his hometown of Blackpool, and the company name, TVR, is just an abbreviation of his first name. It's first production car was the Grantura (above).

Wilkinson left TVR in 1962 but remained owner until 1965, when the first in a succession of subsequent bosses took the reins. The one constant, however, has been the name -- his name -- that Trevor Wilkinson gave the company all those years ago, which has since appeared on some pretty impressive cars along the way. Rest in peace, Mr. Wilkinson.

[Sources: BBC, TVR Blog]

 

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Filed under: Motorsports, Tuners, Videos, Lifestyle

The new website encompassing all things sport compact, RiceBoyTV.com, has put together a web-based reality series following 17-year-old drifter Patrick Mordaunt. The video content follows Mordaunt through the trials and tribulations of his rookie season as a driver in the Formula Drift series. The show is currently on the second webisode, with the third waiting in the wings and many more to come as the season progresses. Patrick Mordaunt may not already be a name with which most casual drift fans are familiar, but he is certainly working hard to make sure things don't stay that way for long. His story is one of interest, as the talented young driver has a lot of heart.

Those in the sport compact industry first came to know Patrick Mordaunt when he was hardly a teenager. The avid Japanese Option video watcher was a regular attendee at any and all Southern California events remotely related to drifting. Patrick then began hitting the local test events with his '85 Toyota Corolla before he could even legally drive on the street. His thirst to learn quickly earned him immense respect in the pits, while his passion and tenacity stood out, causing industry insiders to take notice. Add in his uncanny ability to rack up the professional drifting licenses, with three in all, and It's no surprise that many folks, such as the crew at RiceBoyTV.com, want to help the guy achieve his dreams.

You can find Patrick's first webisode here and the second here. Keep checking back for updates throughout the 2008 Formula Drift season.

[Source: RiceBoyTV.com]

 

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Filed under: Motorsports

Click for photos from the Canadian GP in our hi-res gallery

Formula One racing is one hell of a spectacle. Although other forms of motorsport, like NASCAR and Le Mans-style endurance racing, hold large fan bases, F1 - at times in spite of itself - remains the favorite for racing fans around the world. Since the cancelation of the US Grand Prix at Indianapolis, there remains just one Formula One race in North America: the perrenial Canadian Grand Prix, held at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal. That's why when the opportunity arose to visit Montreal in the summer, we timed our visit around the grand prix weekend.

Much to our continued frustration, however, the various powers that be in charge of F1 racing deemed us unworthy of a solitary press pass to cover the race weekend for you, our growing readership that numbers over 5 million monthly. After three months of jumping through hoops of red tape (and every loophole we could find) with the FIA, Formula One Management and the race organizer's office, our application was unceremoniously rejected. With our flight out set for after race weekend and stranded without a ticket, our friends at Ferrari North America were kind enough to give us a ticket at least for the Friday practice session. So we packed up the camera - and an umbrella - and headed out to rain-soaked Isle St Helene to check out the action. What we came away with, from our brief foray into motorsport photography, is a deep reverance for skill. Not just on part of the drivers, engineers and strategists that comprise the teams - theirs we already knew to be as unfathomably atmospheric as the compression inside their 20,000 rpm masterpieces. But for professional motorsport photographers, who manage to capture the breakneck fast-paced action in still frames. Of course it helps when you have one of those spiffy FIA-issued vests that gives you access to the best vantage points, but just the same, we'll contemplate those skills a little longer next time before turning the page of our favorite racing mag. As for our modest attempts at joining their ranks, you can see the results in the high-resolution gallery by clicking the thumbnails below, and stay tuned for our recap of the race.

Photos Copyright (C)2008 Noah Joseph / Weblogs, Inc.

 

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Filed under: Car Buying, Plants/Manufacturing, Honda, Toyota

Automotive times are a-changin, as fuel-efficient cars are now outselling trucks by a wide margin. Toyota's flexible manufacturing capabilities allow it to adjust to these crazy times, and the Japanese automaker is discussing a plan to build still more Camrys at its Indiana truck plant. The Princeton plant is only running two shifts right now, and its trucks and SUVs are suffering just as much as similar offerings coming out of Detroit. That makes the plant a great fit for the Camry, which sold an astonishing 51,291 units last month. Honda has already decided to increase production of the Civic, which was the top-selling vehicle in the US last month with over 53,000 units leaving the showroom floor.

[Source: Auto News (subs req'd)]

 

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Filed under: Etc., Government/Legal, Driving

Drivers can fly through the Nürburgring Nordshcleife at tremendous rates of speed, risking life and limb to shave a second or two off a lap time. But apparently if you let the rear wheels slip a bit while coming into a turn, you're a drifter just begging for a pink slip. Bridge to Gantry blogger Dale Lomas was banned from the 'Ring for what he says is nothing more than some oversteer, but the heavy-handed Germans didn't see it that way. Officials wrote Lomas, who prides himself as a paid racing instructor, a ban slip with an offense that translates to "Drifting while Overtaking."

The Green Hell isn't just some lawless speed haven, which makes sense considering the dangers inherent in the famous circuit's myriad twists and turns. Still, while getting banned from the 'Ring is a real bummer, at least the pink slip looks good hanging on the office wall.

[Source: Bridge to Gantry]

 

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Filed under: Etc., Celebrities

Now that we've all had the cold reality of Knight Rider's return smack us in the face, there's not much more to be said about the show that hasn't been addressed. Taste being a fickle mistress, ABC is offering up a new drama that sounds like "As the Badge Engineers." Actually, it's called "The Prince of Motor City," and the show's structure is pretty boilerplate - there's the family fireworks, the prodigal son, the strong matriarch, and the forces of opposition pushing back against the protagonist. ABC is saying that the family drama, starring Andie MacDowell and October Road's Warren Christie, draws inspiration from The Bard's own Hamlet.

Basically, The Prince (Christie) is Billy Hamilton, son of an automotive legend. Billy followed high-minded academic pursuits at Harvard instead of the car business. Even though the rest of the family refuses to acknowledge Billy, his mother, Gertrude (MacDowell) dotes and visits often. Billy's father croaks, and surprisingly leaves him in charge of Hamilton Motor Works. The ghost of Billys father keeps humming Elvis tunes, while Moms and Uncle Charlie might be shacking up, and the CFO wants Billy's head on a platter (and his job.) Shoot, it almost sounds like it could be good, they've even got Jack Bender, late of Lost, to direct. It sounds like the network wants this show to succeed with the talent they're throwing at it. It will be interesting to see just how tone-deaf a rendering Hollywood does on the car business, though. If we could make one request; please pluck a gem from the MC5 as a theme song.

[Source: TVSquad]

 

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Filed under: Motorsports

Collisions are a common occurrence on Montreal streets. If you don't run into another erratically-driving motorist running a red light, you're likely to experience a near-crash thanks to the crater-sized potholes blemishing the city's tarmac. Although motor racing events carry some of the charm and character of the venue in which they're held, we wouldn't have expected Montreal's treacherous street driving to translate onto the race track. But then the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is a road course of sorts. So the hundred-thousand-plus racing fans who turned up at the track for the 30th running of the Canadian Grand Prix, the driving was a familiar site.

As we reported previously, the race officials didn't deem our readership worthy of in-depth, up-close coverage of the race, but we think otherwise and have a breakdown of the race results after the jump, so click on to read on. (If you've TiVo'd the race and don't want to spoil the results, go no further.) Click on the image or on the thumbnails below to view our images from Friday's practice session in our high-resolution image gallery.

Photos Copyright (C)2008 Noah Joseph / Weblogs, Inc.

Continue reading 2008 Canadian Grand Prix: Pit Stops & Potholes (and Spoilers -- Beware)

 

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Filed under: Garage, Economy, Hatchbacks, Toyota

Click above for a high-res gallery of the Toyota Yaris.

Read a few car reviews and it's easy to walk away with the impression that we're a jaded lot; only interested in performance, luxury, and price. Any vehicle that doesn't have stupendous amounts of the first two for the tiniest pile of the latter gets kicked to the curb. It's true, driving cars that don't belong to us facilitates a certain view into how the other half lives that could definitely ruin one on lesser vehicles. On the other hand, there's an entirely different type of enjoyment to be extracted from cars that forego ostentation without ratcheting up the crap factor. Toyota's Yaris will never be mistaken for a Lexus, but it's neither the absolute nadir, nor ultimate zenith of autodom, meaning it has a shot.

Photos Copyright (C)2008 Dan Roth / Weblogs, Inc.

Continue reading In The Autoblog Garage: 2008 Toyota Yaris Liftback

 

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Filed under: Etc., Lifestyle, Celebrities

No, these are not more spy shots of the 2010 Ford Mustang -- this is the 2006 Mustang GT that you'll soon see on the silver screen in the movie Death Race. A perusal of the film's automotive gems makes it look like Cars for post-apocalyptic and seriously angry adults. But if it were the 2010 Mustang, we'd probably find the time to stop by a Ford dealer today...

Lead man Jason Statham will have his giant outboard mirrors full of other similarly distressed cars, including two Buick Rivieras -- a Boattail and a Chop Top -- a 300C, a Trans Am, and what looks like a Peterbilt called "Dreadnought." And if there were any way to make an XJ12 sexier, check out Colt's Jag. Click the link for a full rundown and info on the cars of your demise.

[Source: Jalopnik]

 

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Filed under: Motorsports, Motorcycles

MotoGP is the pinnacle of motorcycle racing and could be considered the Formula 1 of the two-wheeled world. Current series point leader and seven-time Grand Prix World Championship title winner Valentino Rossi has a habit of debuting a new helmet design at the Italian Grand Prix at Mugello, and this year's design did not fail to disappoint. Featuring a roughly life-size portrait of The Doctor himself in the middle of a scream, it was pretty hard to miss Rossi, even in the field of brightly colored riders and bikes. If you haven't watched the race and plan to, now would be the time to stop reading, otherwise, find out who won the event after the break, along with a link to the video of Rossi's debut of his unique new helmet design. Thanks for the tip, Gabriel!

[Source: Youtube]

Continue reading Valentio Rossi's new helmet a scream

 

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