By Speedhunters

Car Culture At Large

Nurburgring 24 Hours, Nurburgring, Germany Carpe Diem or more fully Carpe diem quam minimum credula postero, should be the guiding principle for all photographers. For those of you who paid as little attention to Latin lessons as I did all those years ago, I will translate, “Seize the day, trusting as little as possible in the future.” What is he on about now, I hear you say? Well you only get fleeting opportunities to make what one of my writer colleagues, Marcus Schurig, calls magic. Continue reading at Speedhunters.

—By Dino Dalle Carbonare

By John Coyle

Deputy Editor

Lot of people over on StreetFire are making fun of these dudes for all their screaming and the top speed claims. But that said, this looks like exactly like what I want to do on vacation, especially if I was in Germany. Bravo, gentlemen.

By John Coyle

Deputy Editor

This video was shot at this year’s Youngtimer Trophy at the Hockenheimring in Germany, and as you’d expect, there’s some great footage of DTM hardware in action. But the 935 is totally the star of the show. To be honest, even though I know it’s functional—the Germans do not “pimp” autos without a clear purpose—I still think the giant spoiler looks a little silly. Maybe I’ve just seen too many crappy Hondas with park benches stapled to the rear deck. Anyway, while the exterior shots of the action is killer, the onboard footage is my favorite stuff. The vicious music of the motor and the way the car slices through the field is just wicked.

When someone lists a little old econobox with an asking price like this, I tend to think that either 1. they’re crazy, or 2. they’re not really serious about selling it. Not really sure which is the case for the owner of this unrestored, low-miles 1978 Golf on eBay, but there are some pretty hilarious questions in the listing’s Q-and-A section (Is there actual bronze in the paint? Will the rear wheels steer when I turn the wheel?), so I’m kind of guessing that potential buyers might be suffering from some problems as well. Check out the auction and decide for yourself: worth it?

I’m not generally a fan of "art cars," but it seems to me that if you had a stamp collection you didn’t want anymore, this isn’t the worst possible way to dispose of it. The car reportedly belongs to a stamp dealer in Berlin, so maybe he just sees it as a way of moving out unwanted inventory—nice job! More pics below the jump.

Source: Spluch.

Continue reading "This Trabant Could Mail Itself Around The World" »

This was the weekend that Jarri-Matti Latvala would love to forget. With a pace note on the opening day that sent him and his co-driver into a violent crash, his car and his confidence never recovered. He was able to finish the stage, but the car wasn’t the same afterwards. He also had another off that sent him into a field on the 2nd day, but he only lost a few seconds. Unfortunately though, it wasn’t enough and he didn’t finish in any top point-scoring positions.

No, this rally belonged to the Citroen C4 Team of Sebastien Loeb and Danni Sordo, who scored a 1-2 finish, making it was the 7th time Loeb has won here since the race’s inception. It was a big win for him and he did it in style, finishing a full 47 seconds ahead of his teammate.  More…

Continue reading "2008 Rallye Deutschland Review" »

The short-lived Veritas (1948-1953) gave Germany its first Formula 1 team, and now a new company is resurrecting the legendary name for the purpose of bringing a new supercar to market. The revised Veritas RS III will run a 5.0L BMW V8 with a manual shift, though a sequential-trans V10 capable of going from 0-60 in just over 3 seconds is also in the works. Word is that development of the new Veritas will be complete by the end of 2008, and that the cars will be built at a rate of about 30 per year thereafter.

Via The Auto Channel.

Continue reading "Bringing Back the Veritas?" »

When I laid the foundation for Automotive Traveler in my very first “rear view mirror” editorial, I made no secret that much of its inspiration came from the great road trip stories I had read over the years in the great English motoring publications like Octane, evo, and most of all, Car. Things like driving a Ferrari from Buenos Aries to the tip of South America were grand adventures that quite frankly, were rarely found in our domestic titles. Those stories were the reasons why I felt it was worth shelling out $10 or more at Borders or Barnes and Noble. Read more…

Yesterday the March 2008 issue of Car appeared at my local Barnes and Noble and it’s a keeper, with an in-depth story on Germany’s Autobahns, and how in this era of green political correctness, it’s now on the endangered species list. If you’re going to experience this form of automotive nirvana, you should start making your plans now.

The story, written in a very concise way over 14 glorious pages by multi-lingual German journalist Georg Kacher (who contributes to Automobile–hopefully they’ll pick up the story so it reaches a wider audience) and stunningly photographed by Charlie Magee, is a primer for everything you need to know about the subject. The issue is a keeper, well worth its $10.25 cover price, just so you can file the issue away for future reference on this subject.

Current map of the Autobahn network

Unlike the popular misconception held by many enthusiasts, the autobahn system is not totally “de-restricted.” Rather, certain sections are, as the autobahns suffer the same high traffic density as our Interstates, thus as a practical concern, much of the system carries 130-KPH (81-MPH) limits. But what the article provides are Georg’s 10 Best sections for unlimited speed motoring.

Sign indicating a de-restricted (no speed limits) section of the Autobahn

Because I have friends who live in Jena, in what was once East German, the DDR, he included the section of the A38 from Gttingen and Leipzig as his personal #3. Of more recent construction, after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany, this is one of my favorite places to release my inner right foot when I’m behind the wheel of a proper performance car. It’s where you can feel as comfortable at 150-MPH as you would on I-80 in northern Nevada at 85-MPH.

2004 Corvette in Berchtesgen (with Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest in the background)

He also included for me, my most memorable section of the Autobahn system, the A5, running from Karlsruhe to Basel as #6. At the time I had a girlfriend who called Karlsruhe home and on a trip back from covering the Geneva Auto Show, I was wheeling a tweaked C5 Corvette. Between Baden Baden running north to Karlsruhe, the A5 runs flat and straight and is three lanes wide for extra safety.

I was cruising at 150-MPH and saw the unmistakable tail light of an M5 about 15 car lengths ahead. Then I saw his right directional flash and as I started to overtake the Bimmer I dropped down a cog to fifth and powered by with the heads-up display showing an indicated 170-MPH. Thinking I might not have another opportunity like this again I stayed in it with the display finally topping out at 184-MPH as I approached Karlsruhe with its 130-KPH limit. When I arrived in Karlsruhe I was drenched in sweat, so much so that when I arrived at her flat, she asked me if it was raining outside.

To prove it wasn’t a fluke, the next day I returned to the scene with my girlfriend who got the obligatory speedometer shot just as the needle touched 180. Due to the fact that it was daytime (the 184-KPH run was done late at night) traffic was an impediment to an ultimate top speed run. But 180-MPH in traffic I thought was quite noteworthy, and to a degree, scary. The 184-MPH from the night before remains my personal best when it comes to driving legally on a public road, which has only whetted my appetite to attain the double ton before I hang up my Pilotti’s.   

Hitting 180 on the A5 somewhere between Karlsruhe and Baden Baden

The days are finally getting longer, which is raising the tantalizing possibility of getting to both enter and leave work while it’s light outside. Of course, the more I think about it, that situation seems about as likely as giving up booze or converting to Scientology. Here’s the news:

• Sold! To the dude with way, way, way too much cash! The Ferrari FXX just purchased in a online auction went for almost 4 million bucks. Sure, the price is steep, but on the rare days the factory actually lets the lucky owner drive it, he might get to rub elbows with Michael Schumacher. Auto Express
• Aston Martin is opening a test facility at the Germany’s N?rburgring. Does this mean more podium finishes and happy customers? You bet it does! CarScoop
• Look, just because someone is a talented driver doesn’t mean they can’t look great in a swimsuit. Good guess, but no, I’m not talking about Tony Stewart. Sports Illustrated via Top Gear
• If you’ve ever seen some of the swamps which pass for roads in Russia, then you understand nobody over there takes pavement for granted. So once crews get started laying blacktop, they don’t stop. For anything. English Russia

For a careless motorist outside of Oldenburg, Germany, veering off the road and dumping his car six feet deep in a ditch was scary enough. But the truly terrifying part of his ordeal was yet to come, as ten bodybuilders thundered over from the nearby Explosives Fitness Studio. The strapping übermenschen handily heaved the stranded ride back up to street level—no word on whether it was still in running condition when they were done. The grateful driver meeky accompanied them back to the fitness center, where he sprung for a round of energy drinks. Prost!