Automotive Car Magazine: racecar

Showing posts with label racecar. Show all posts

Monday, June 27, 2011

One famous Ferrari, probably why you recognize the name Testa Rosa

Testa Rosa = italian for red head... due to the red valve covers on a Ferrari engine

Driven by Carroll Shelby to 1st place at the Brynfan Tyddyn, Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania open road race

http://www.ibeam-net.com/pvr/0652MD_Testa_Rossa_back.html

Friday, June 3, 2011

Runs of three

Interesting Buick dual quad in this 41 Studebaker, fantastic air cleaner housing

Racing, click on these for full size,

Though Smokey set several speed and endurance records with the car at Bonneville, with both a 302 cubic inch and a 396 cubic inch engine, it never won a race while Yunick owned it. It was later sold to Don Yenko, who did win several races.

A stock appearing Camaro, Smokey had acid-dipped the body panels and installed thinner glass to reduce weight, tilted the front end down and the windshield back for aerodynamics, widened the fenders, z'ed the front frame, and sucked the floorpan up to lower the car. The driprails were even brought closer to the body for a tiny aerodynamic improvement. Don't forget that the most common thing Smokey did to all his cars, was to streamline them for reduces air drag, all the underside was modified to reduce angles and flow air around flat spots. All of the aerodynamic things Smokey did are readily attributed to his experiences as a B-17 pilot, and the knowledge gained from airplane design and dynamics.

Carroll shelby once had a special AC Cobra made for Bill Cosby

Bill met Carroll in a department store one day, and Carroll asked Bill why he drove foreign cars - outraged that an American would buy foreign cars. Bill said no American car was fast enough for the daily drive to work. So Carroll took this as a personal slight, being the builder of the coolest and fastest American car, and had a duplicate made of his own personal customized AC Cobra, just like this one in this February 1968 Road and Track article.
Listen to the Bill Cosby stand up routine on side A of the album, 200 MPH around a tree, no one can tell a story as well. Dual supercharged, dual quad, Shelby 427 side oiler... and Carroll had his mechaincs put it together exactly to his specs, and never allowed any others made that could match it. It held the record for the fastest production car for about 3 decades.

Not exactly a production car, but neither is an Enzo model Ferrari. At the level these guys compete, and build, it's close enough for me. Worth reading and learning.

This Vette was getting serviced and was at the right height for photos

Hot Rod City ( in El Cajon) went out of business a couple years ago

This is in the showroom, of the now "East County Collision center". How a full race saturn ends up there, minus the drivetrain... no idea. Hot Rod City was a cool place to look around in, full dealership feel to 30's and 40's customs for sale, think of a Good Guys car show where it's all for sale.