Sunday, May 30, 2010

Talking About the "King of Cool"

A post or so ago, I was telling you about Steve McQueen's black 1958 Speedster. Well here it is, his first race car.

Steve is leading at Riverside in 1959 followed by Ronnie Bucknam also in a Speedster who went on to become a professional sports car racer driving Toyota 2000GTs and also Shelby Mustangs and Cobras for Shelby American. Photo: Chad McQueen collection.

Another shot at Riverside. Note the "Rudge" knock-off wheels. Photo: Chad McQueen collection.
After the Speedster was retired from racing, it wore "Nurf Bars" front and rear and was driven on the street by Steve. This is how the car looks today after being restored with bumpers minus the nurf bars and roll bar. It is now owned by Chad McQueen.

Friday, May 28, 2010

Polizia

Blog follower, Rocky Kuonen sent this along to share.

A new patrol car in the Italian police force….Just what they need to catch speeding drivers.



OOPS!


Monday, May 24, 2010

One Pricey Toy

A few years ago I spotted one of these at Pebble Beach...it's a very cool toy.

It's a rare Bugatti that recently sold for nearly $40,000,000 -- making history as "The World`s Most Expensive Car." This 1936 Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic will cross the country from Connecticut to California, where it will star in the new Mullin Automotive Museum in Oxnard.


With its low stance, 200 bhp engine, lightweight construction, 123 mph top speed and influential teardrop body, many believe this is the ultimate Bugatti and the first supercar ever made.

Ettore's son, Jean Bugatti, who played a large role in the development of the Type 57 series, personally styled the Atlantic. Jean's lines draw an interesting mix of aircraft styling together with the avant-garde tear-drop that is so reminiscent of the thirties. Design highlights include a heavily raked windscreen, riveted fins, and oval doors with kidney-shaped side windows.

Friday, May 21, 2010

The King Of Cool

Yeah...It's got to be Steve McQueen!

Steven McQueen won the first amateur sports car race he entered in Santa Barbara in 1959 driving his 1958 Porsche Speedster. After that first outing, he continued driving the Speedster, entering races at Willow Springs, Del Mar, Hourglass Field and Riverside. After the Speedster he would move to a Lotus XI in late 1959, hitting all the same tracks again. Other cars raced by him were a Cooper FJ, an Austin Healey at Sebring and a Porsche 908 Spyder which was used for a Factory Poster.

Here he is at the start of his racing career. This photo was taken at San Diego's "Hourglass Field." He was driving his black 1600 Speedster at the time. The event was put on by the California Sports Car Club. Hourglass Field sat where Miramar College is now. Photo: Chad McQueen Collection.

In 1963 he is jumping into the Jag that he nicknamed the "Green Rat". The car is now owned by the Robert Peterson Collection of the Peterson Museum. Photo: John Domimis/Life/Getty Images.

This is his 1956 Jaguar XKSS, chassis number-XK.SS.713, one of 16 built. McQueen purchased the Jag used in 1958 for $4,000 and had it repainted BRG from its' original off-white color. Photo: John Dominis/Life/Getty Images.

Originally, the Jag had red leather, however Steve had it redone by SoCal Drag racer/hot rodder/upholsterer Tony Nancy in black leather. Pinstriping pioneer Von Dutch fabricated a metal glove box door to cover the open storage space.

From his racing Lotus he went to an open wheel Cooper T52 Formula Junior in 1962. His first outing in that car was Del Mar at a SCCA weekend double-header winning both events.

This is the LeMans Movie Poster with the 917...the best racing movie made.

Some of the other cars that he owned and enjoyed were; his first sports car a MG-TC then a '53 Siata 208S, a '63 Ferrari 250 Lusso, a '67 Mini Cooper S, a Ferrari 275 GTS, a '64 Corvette Sting Ray, a '69 911S, a '52 Hudson Wasp, a '49 Cadillac Series 62, a '57 fuel-injected Bel Air, a '71 911E, and a '76 930 among others.

Steve McQueen passed away in Mexico on November 7, 1980 from complications of mesothelioma.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Door Art #2

Another example of "Door Art." Along with the onset of the automobile, people started slapping advertising on doors for products and services. "Hot Rod" or "Speed Shops" grabbed onto this for their delivery parts trucks or the racing cars that carried their speed parts. Here are a few examples from the last rod show.

This was painted on a '65 Corvette Sting Ray.

"B" Street was rather clever.

This one is just visibly COOL!

Nothing like a simple "Spade."

Monday, May 17, 2010

A Little Downsizing



What can I say...blog followers Keith Nelson and Neil Heimburge both sent this along to me. Are you thinking the same thing I am..."How many people are going to try to outrun this guy?"

Don't forget to tell your friends about "Along For The Ride."

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Tijuana Road Races

Some years ago my buddies and I would spend a day in Tijuana (A.K.A...."TJ") waiting for their cars to get the full "Tuck 'n Roll" treatment. Back then, you could get the works from carpet to headliner, for a 100 bucks. Nothing like a freshly-stitched interior. Then we would head to a place called the "Long Bar" to down a few beers. What's this got to do with racing in TJ, nothing, except this was all happening about the same time...1966.

As far as I can tell, the Tijuana Road Races started in that year and continued until 1972.They were put on by the "Tijuana Auto Sport Club." The track was located about five miles from downtown Tijuana at a subdivision called Playa de Tijuana that skirts along the beach in the shadow of the bullring. It was a 1.2 mile course that ran along the upper street where the pit and paddock were, down to the lower street and along the beach with a few bails of hay as safety barriers. Safety was not a high priority for these races as spectators would sit on the barriers and try to kick the cars as they would come by or run across the track between some of the racing cars. Most of the entries for these races came from nearby San Diego. They usually had three races for each event-one for Modifieds and Sedans; a fifteen minute race, one for Production under three liters; a twenty five minute race, and one for Formula cars; also a twenty five minute race. Qualifying positions were on your honor, timed by one of your crew members.




Program from 1968...the third running of the races. Image via Frank Sheffield



The track came as close to the border as you could get. Image via Frank Sheffield

A LeMans start...check out the driving suits. Image via Frank Sheffield
Another start from the other side of the track. Image via Frank Shellield


A "Speedster" and "Triumph TR2" chasing an "MGB" going into turn 5. Photo by Vern Jaques, via Frank Sheffield


A "Sprite" and "MGA" cresting the hill coming up from the beach in turn 4. Photo by Vern Jaques, via Frank Sheffield


Action coming down the hill to the beach in turn 2. Image via Frank Sheffield

An "Elva Courier" exiting turn 2 and onto the straight along the beach...
notice the "Federally" corner workers. Image via Sports Car Graphic 

In 1970 the Road Races moved from the beach location to the old Tijuana Airport where they finally died two years later.

Monday, May 10, 2010

Number of Speedsters Made

Fellow blog follower Wayne Bostic enjoyed the post on the "Speedster Racing" and sent this to me to share with everyone.

As you can see...not a large number. It's amazing that the econo Porsche of its time has become so valuable.


FYI - following is the production of Speedsters (ref. book Porsche Speedster by Dr. Michel Thiriar)
Speedster Production
Pre-A
1954 200
1955 1,034
Total 1,234
356A T-1 from Oct 1955
1956 1,256
1957 591
Total 1,847
356A T-2 from Sept 1957
1958 1,131
1959 32
Total 1,163
Grand Total Speedster Production 4,244

Saturday, May 8, 2010

356 Factory Tour...Part 2

Back to our 356 Factory Tour. In Part 1 we took a look at the body parts being stamped and the welding and assembly of those parts into a physical car.

This is Part 2 of the 1960 356 Factory Tour. This is were the undercoating, painting and final assembly of the body takes place before being shipped to Porsche for mechanicals. This part is a little over eight minutes.

Enjoy!


The link if you did not get it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KS-tmnS_7_c

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Speedster Racing in 1955

These shots were taken in 1955 when the Speedster was brand new to the Porsche U.S. market. This unlucky guy had decided to take his new car to the track to do some sports car racing...note it has no roll bar as was the norm back then. By the look of the background I think it was at the "Torrey Pines" track although the photos came from a "Santa Barbara" race program in late '55.

The program also talked about James Dean running his 1500 super at that race. I'll cover more about that in a future post.

These photos were taken by Dave Iwerks.








There was no word on the condition of the driver...no doubt he at least had a headache.

Monday, May 3, 2010

Cal-Speedway 2010

Blog follower Marc Riesenberg sent in these awesome photos of the last California Speedway Club Race event...very cool! I really like the white POC GT3...It reminds me of those old photos of racing cars from the early 1900s with there wheels looking out of shape. How the heck did you do that Marc? Check them out.










You can see more at:

http://944sd.shutterfly.com/californiafestivalofspeed2010