Fast Cars

Of course, as usual, most of that will be filler and crap. The bits worth watching (ie: when the proper race cars are on, as opposed to stupid and boring stuff like V8 taxi racing and skanks singing the national anthem) are:

NYC sinkhole swallows up SUV - U.S. Life - MSNBC.com:

If you be a-wondering whatever happened to that California Swedish ex-convict, Stefan Erikssen, the last I read is that he was cruising around Mexico on the missing yacht and that no one, including the police, was particularly concerned with his whereabouts, saying that his normal habitat ranges from Sweden to the UK to California, according to Pepperdine University’s “Graphic”. Erikssen is the fabulously rich playboy whose red Enzo sports car spectacularly split in two on the Coastal Highway near Malibu. The driver and suspected Ferrari Enzo murderer, mysteriously ran off into the Malibu hills, leaving Erikssen, the owner of the car who just so happened to be a “passenger”, virtually uninjured.

All of this can be yours for $106,000. Not a bad price for a racing car you can drive to and from work in air conditioned comfort. Yes, you can have the best of both worlds.

Today, however, the cars weren’t the usual cars you find at drag racing, because they were all vintage road and race cars. There were a few modern cars there, but really not many at all. Lots of sports and race cars from the 40’s through to the 70’s, with a few street cars thrown in.

The Volkswagen Eco-Racer. Why oh why, if car manufacturers can seemingly churn out these 100 mpg sports cars with top speeds of 230km/hr at the drop of a motor show, do we not see more 100mpg + vehicles on our road right now? You have to start suspecting hidden agendas, don’t you?

No, not on the runway, happily. The Dubai-based Emirates has just announced another sports sponsorship deal. Beginning with this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix, the distinctive “Fly Emirates” logo – in evidence at an increasing number of top global sporting events - will appear on the Team McLaren Formula One cars at motor races across the world, as well as on the uniform of drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Juan Pablo Montoya.

Some time ago, I went through some brochures from Dunhill. Gerard pointed out the Wheel watch. An interesting construction of ‘hiding’ the crown. The case design is inspired by old motors and it is shaped like the evocative metal ’spinners’ often used to attach wire wheels to period sports cars. The crown is hidden by the engine-turned bezel. This systems cleverly protects the crown from knocks. The monolug system looks good and emphasizes the case’s ’spinners’ design.

At the end od the day, I don’t know the answer, I don’t have a clear idea how to fix it. With so many cookie cutter tracks on the schedule, it is pretty much impossible to make it as interesting as it once was. Trading out race dates at places like Winston-Salem, North Wilkesboro, Rockingham, and such, and replacing them with 1.5mile D shaped ovals sprinkled all over the US has taken away much of the character and nature of the series, and replaced it with a sort of generic “race of the week” look that to me just looks like the same track with a different name painted on the wall and a different background on the wide shots. Otherwise, it is the same old same old, playing into the hands of the teams with the most money for development of downforce and plate race cars, and less reward for the good drivers that tend to flourish on the slightly tighter or more skill oriented tracks.

BMW has long been linked to neuromarketing - the 2003 Forbes article, In Search of the Buy Button, noted that the BMW Z8 generated one of the strongest brain responses of 66 cars shown to subjects in an fMRI scanner. A little over a month ago, neuroscientist Stephen Rose did a radio interview with the BBC (listen) in which he mentioned that BMW had set up a neuromarketing lab.

So, im going to the F1 at Sepang at last (upon invitation, no way i could afford those grand stand tix!!!).. and am pretty excited about it too… expect I’ll be taking lotta pics.. and am going to have a grand time and see for myself why my friends love the Formula One so much

I feel guilty even writing this as I drive my gas hog SUV around. Granted I bought it six years ago before I had been slapped the last couple of times, but still I feel compelled to sell it, not so they win as many would say, but I’m sick of keeping repressive regimes in power who are brutal to their own people all so I can have the choice of driving what I want.

4. Ok, I have to add a fourth. As I am typing this I turned on the heat in our building and now I am practically high from the smell. We rent our office from some guys who keep this building as a auto shop for their sports cars. They apparently have been doing some painting lately because the smell in here is overwhelming.

After a year of competition with four other cities, Charlotte, NC will be the home of the NASCAR Hall of Fame:

Designed by noted Formula One designer and long time Dyson collaborator, Peter Boutwood, the goal was a new presentation consistent with Dyson Racing’s history as America’s premier sports car team. “The challenge was to re-design the whole corporate image, brand and liveries of Dyson Racing while retaining the origins of its image, integrity and identity,” recounted Boutwood. “It was necessary that the new image unite in a strong corporate brand befitting a successful race team.

Yeah, I know the automotive industry is notorious for copying each other. (Hyundai, anyone?) And Bimmer buyers purchase more for the rep and the driving experience than its looks.

Favre told ESPN yesterday (after a session learning how to drive a NASCAR, which I’ll bet just fulfilled every single off-season conduct clause of his GBP contract) that he’s waiting to see how the team upgrades before making His Decision.