One of the best bits about blogging is having the oppertunity to Big Up your mates.
One of the best photographers that I have encountered in the last 20 years or so is David Noels.
The Belgian has had stacks of editorial and corporate clients over the years, most notably General Motors.
He recently launched a blog and I recommend that you pay a visit to see his great work, like this
John Brooks, March 2011
Woof, Woof.
Just to prove that Wouter on UCP likes the new stuff too, HERE is his take on the latest offering from the crazy peoples at Pagani. Huayra indeed.
On the Goodwood Lawn
The glossy publication Vanity Fair describes its raison d’être as “From world affairs to entertainment, business to fashion, crime to society, Vanity Fair is a cultural catalyst that drives the popular dialogue globally.”
Out for The Count
Pretty pretentious stuff and a definite candidate for Pseuds’ Corner, so perhaps not the place to look for something that would appeal to this site.
High Hats and Arrowed Collars, White Spats and Lots of Dollars
Well that’s another of my theories that bites the dust. I found this engaging piece about the fabulous car collection of Ralph Lauren. Sixty odd classics that are all in working order.
Radiating Power
We are indeed fortunate that Mr. Lauren shares his treasure with us peons at shows like the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Back in 2008 the unique 1930 Mercedes-Benz SSK “Count Trossi” Roadster joined the others in the Cartier “Style et Luxe” exhibition.
Those of you interested in the above work of art can see more on UCP, HERE.
Meanwhile take a few minutes and go over to Vanity Fair to marvel at the whole collection.
John Brooks. January 2011
Those of you who enjoyed David Blumlein’s excellent piece on the Armstrong Siddeley Special will relish Wouter’s latest post on The UltimateCarPage.
It features the Invicta S-Type, a very civilised and very fast car, second British overall winner of the Monte Carlo Rally (Donald Healey in 1931 after the Hon. Victor Bruce took his AC 2 litre to victory in 1926).
Arguably one of the best examples is up for auction soon.
The full article can be seen HERE
John Brooks, January 2011
30’s Elegance
A step too far……..
The expression legendary has been thoroughly debased by application to people and things that are nothing of the sort. However amongst the Pyrite are to be found nuggets of the Real Stuff.
Porsche 956/117 is such a car, taking back to back victories at the 1984-85 Vingt Quatre Heures du Mans as well as 12 other wins in its three season career. A third win at La Sarthe in 1986 seemed on the cards till the engine expired during the night. Following the fatal accident of Jo Gartner, the race had been run under a safety car for several hours and this was believed at the time to have caused the problem.
Legend can be appropriately and deservedly applied to this Champion.
John Brooks, January 2011
As someone who fancies himself when it comes to dealing out the rough stuff I am regularly put back in my place by the automotive commentary site www.autoextremist.com
Peter De Lorenzo spares no one, not even himself, in pursuit of The Bare-Knuckled, Unvarnished, High Octane Truth. His commitment to telling it how he sees it is absolute and at Kamikaze levels. I doubt he gets many invites these days in Detroit.
This week he takes GM CEO, Dan Akerson, to task, actually he flays him alive. I will bet that some poor sod in the GM PR department will sleep with the fishes as a result of the impotent rage that this commentary will engender in The Boss.
De Lorenzo also articulates concisely just what is so wrong about the very idea of the Ferrari FF. I can only add that it should have been called the Ferrari FFS.
Go right away and read this wisdom, you will not be disappointed.
John Brooks, January 2011
Buy This Book!
Since bursting on to the endurance scene in 1999, the Pratt & Miller built Chevrolet Corvettes have been an integral part of GT Racing both in North America and Europe. They have seen off challenges from ORECA Vipers and ProDrive’s 550 Maranello and DBR9 projects to earn the title of GT1 World Champions. The only car that might have contested this situation was the Maserati MC12, however as the Italian was ineligible to compete at Le Mans (too wide) the Heavyweight title fight never took place.
To back up the achievements of the factory, the C5R and C6R were also campaigned with great success by private teams winning several titles and 24 hour races.
The end of the line for the factory cars came at Le Mans in 2009 but the customer cars can still compete till their homologation runs out at the end of this year. So they still rumble on the FIA GT1 World Championship.
Time perhaps to reflect and celebrate the achievements of this American Iconic Racer.
Hold the Back Page
Step forward Nigel S Dobbie who is the author of this mighty tome “Corvette Racing The GT1 Years”
333 pages sounds a lot and yet considering just how much information there is contained between the covers, the book could be twice as thick. The story of the programme is traced year by year with commentary on each of the significant races that the Corvettes took part in . There are whole chapters dedicated to profiling the factory drivers, comparing the various liveries, tabling the results and recording the history of each chassis. I cannot imagine that there is a question about the Corvette GT1 projects that is not answered somewhere in this book. It is surely the standard reference book on the GT1 Corvette and is a work of considerable scholarship.
Oooh Look at the pictures………….
OK, time to declare my interest.
Nigel showed great wisdom and taste in contacting me to supply images from the early years. I was lucky enough to be at the first public test during the run up to the Daytona 24 Hours in 1999 and pounded the ALMS beat for the first few years. So perhaps there was some logic to that. However the majority of the photography in this well illustrated book is that of the author and it is of a highly professional standard.
In conclusion, if GT1 Racing or Corvettes floats your boat, you will want to buy this book. At £59.99 it is not cheap but for what you actually get it represents extremely good value.
Nigel has set up a website HERE where you can see other reviews and more importantly order a copy.
Go on you know you want to.
John Brooks, January 2011
Another site that I visit daily is www.ultimatecarpage.com
It is a cornucopia of motoring goodness, if there are no new posts there is always something in the archive to lucky dip to.
This week saw a piece on the Tyrrell P34 partly saluting the car, partly as an obituary to the late Derek Gardner. I commend it to you all. HERE
John Brooks, January 2011
Today’s offering dates back nearly 30 years to October 1982. One of my first media passes at an endurance event was for the 1000kms of Brands Hatch, part of the World Endurance Championship for Drivers.
935 at Druids
John Fitzpatrick (driving) and David Hobbs took third place overall in this Kremer copy of the legendary Porsche 935-78.
Of course the titanic struggle at the front between Rothmans Porsche and Martini Lancia overshadowed this fine effort.
No matter, the 935 in this final evolution still looks the dog’s bollocks, even allowing for the passage of time.
John Brooks, January 2011
Yea Right.
In fact there is no such interest but having plugged one great post at GrandPrix.com, it seems only fair to salute the other F1 site that I read regularly.
Mike Lawrence’s contributions to www.PitPass.com are also on the required reading list. Thoughtful, erudite and provoking, the posts are never dull. His latest musings on the coming change of engine regulations in Formula One gives background and depth not usually seen in these days of short attention spans.
Do yourself a favour, open something red and full bodied, settle down and feast at this table.
John Brooks, January 2011