MY FEEDLY

Sergio Perez’s Ferrari 056 Formula 1 Exhaust – A Sculpture by Mike O’Connor

This unusual, almost alien-looking, sculpture is the work of Mike O’Connor. It started life In Maranello, Italy where it was manufactured by Ferrari as part of the Ferrari 056 engine that was used by both Scuderia Ferrari and Sauber (as an engine customer).

This particular exhaust was used by Sergio Perez in Monza at the 2011 Italian Grand Prix. Monza is famous for being a high-speed circuit so the Ferrari V8 with its 18,000 rpm red line would have sounded biblical echoing through the grandstands packed with tifosi.

Each of these sculptures is made by Mike O’Connor, the founder of the Fastest Club – an exclusive group of historic Formula 1 car owners who travel around the world with their cars to a number of F1 races each year and spend time on track putting their vehicles through their paces, allowing fans to see them in action and hear the collection of much loved V8 and V10s from years gone by.

Above Image: Each set of headers are joined at the manifold to create an unusual, symmetrical sculpture.

Mike owns a 2011 Sauber Ferrari (chassis #4) that was used by Sergio Perez in the 2011 season, though thankfully it isn’t the one he crashed at the Monaco Grand Prix that year. Fortunately for us, Mike also has an Art Degree, which led him to take the spare exhaust systems he had in storage and do something remarkable with them.

Each sculpture is created by taking a real Formula 1 exhaust and bolting each set of headers together to create a single, biological-looking piece which is then affixed to a base. The unusual appearance of each piece will be instantly familiar to any petrolhead, but non-car folks can be quite perplexed as to what they’re looking at and they make great conversation pieces as a result.

If you’d like to read more about them or buy your own you can click here to contact Mike directly.

Images Mike O’Connor

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from Silodrome https://silodrome.com/formula-1-exhaust-sculpture/
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Lock Pick Training Kit – $40 USD

This Lock Pick Training Kit was developed to give people a quick and inexpensive entry into the world of competitive lock picking.

Although we often associate lock picking with burglars and other assorted thieves, the truth of the matter is that the overwhelming majority of locks that are picked are picked by locksmiths to let people back into their own homes or cars.

Most of us have had to call a locksmith at some ungodly hour because of lost keys, and we’ve all marvelled at how quickly they can do it, and how much money they earn for it.

Lock picking has been a popular pastime by non-criminals for hundreds of years, in fact King Louis XVI of France was a keen designer, picker, and manipulator of locks all the way back in the 1700s.

Today there’s an organised competitive world surrounding lock picking, it’s called “locksport” and tournaments are held right around the world.

The clear padlock you see here was specifically designed for training locksmiths and lock pickers, it has a clear acrylic case so you can see what’s happening inside, with brass and stainless steel internal mechanisms.

The kit comes with both the padlock and a series of five lock picking tools, specifically a tensioning wrench and four picks. Even if you don’t plan to start competing in the world of locksport, you never know when the ability to pick a lot is going to save you one of those expensive locksmith call-outs.

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The Black Ghost: Street Racing Legend – 1970 Dodge Challenger 426 Hemi Documentary

The Black Ghost: Street Racing Legend is a new documentary from the American Historic Vehicle Association about a 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T SE ordered new by a man named Godfrey Qualls.

This triple black 426 Hemi would become a legend in the underground street racing scene in Detroit and only years later would people discover that the car was being raced by an off-duty cop.

Godfrey Qualls was a remarkable man by any measure, a Purple Heart veteran and then a Detroit police officer he had ordered his Challenger R/T SE in 1969 as a way of recapturing the excitement he had felt jumping out of planes as a paratrooper. The car certainly delivered.

Qualls remained a legend in the Detroit street racing scene for decades, though no one knew his name. He raced but kept his identity secret due to his day job on the force. It wasn’t until many years later when he called in some help to get the Challenger running again that people began to learn of his story, and the incredible history behind the car.

I won’t go into any further detail here as I don’t want to ruin the film, it runs 40 minutes in length and it’s already been seen by three quarters of a million people despite the fact it was only released a few days ago (at the time of writing).

If you’d like to visit the Historic Vehicle Association and read more about the important work they do you can click here.

Official Description:

The 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T SE ordered new by Godfrey Qualls was a piece of legend on the streets of Detroit. Optioned in triple black with a 426 Hemi, it dominated street races throughout the 70s before disappearing for decades. Learn the full story behind this original survivor car, how it made its way back on to the streets, and having its story documented as a piece of America’s automotive history!

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from Silodrome https://silodrome.com/the-black-ghost-documentary/
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A Rare Factory-Red Jaguar D-Type – Britain’s Le Mans-Dominating Supercar

The Jaguar D-Type is perhaps most notable for the fact that it was a car designed using some cutting edge aircraft technology (in the 1950s) that would defeat all who came before it at Le Mans and forever change the way racing cars were built.

The Jaguar D-Type

The two men responsible for the D-Type were aerodynamicist Malcolm Sayer and engineer William Heynes. Working with a small team they incorporated modern aerodynamic theory into the C-Type, D-Type, E-Type, and XJ13.

From a racing perspective the most famous of these cars is of course the D-Type thanks to its slew of wins at major races around the world including the now legendary three wins in a row at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1955, 1956, and 1957.

William Heynes was the Jaguar Chief Engineer and Technical Director who had hired Malcolm Sayer in 1951. The two men first collaborated on the Jaguar C-Type before beginning work on the sports racing car that would change the world, developing some technologies that are still in use in racing cars to this day.

Above Image: The distinctive and highly aerodynamic shape of the D-Type helped some versions of the car reach top speeds close to 200 mph, an astonishing figure for the 1950s.

They designed the D-Type around a central monocoque tub, front and rear subframes were developed to hold the engine and suspension up front, and the fuel cell and rear suspension in the back. This design helped to both lower weight and increase rigidity.

They then designed what is considered one of the most beautiful car bodies of all time to envelope the monocoque and subframes, utilizing Sayer’s aircraft design experience from his time designing aircraft at the Bristol Aeroplane Company during the Second World War.

His remarkable understanding of high-speed aerodynamics resulted in the D-Type with its 3.4 litre straight-six being faster on the Mulsanne Straight at Le Mans than the Ferrari 375 Plus with its 5.0 litre V12.

The combination of handling and high-speed ability were hallmarks of the D-Type throughout its competition life in the mid to late 1950s, and they would see it win time and time again against fields of cars with larger and more powerful engines.

Above Image: The XK engine was tilted slightly for a lower hood line, resulting in a small asymmetrical bulge.

Jaguar withdrew from motorsport at the end of the 1956 season, leaving them with a number of D-Types on hand and nowhere to race them. The decision was made to convert many of them to Jaguar XKSS specification – essentially turning them from Le Mans-winning race cars to road-legal sports cars, they proved popular and the most famous XKSS owner was A-list American actor Steve McQueen.

Tragically in 1957 a fire broke out at Jaguar’s Browns Lane plant, destroying many D-Types awaiting conversion to XKSS specification. As a result just 16 examples were built and they’re now among the most collectible cars on earth.

Engineering and aerodynamics from the D-Type would strongly influence the Jaguar E-Type and set the design language for Jaguar going forward – even today the best selling Jaguar F-Type has strong Heynes/Sayer styling influences.

The Jaguar D-Type Shown Here

The Jaguar D-Type you see here is remarkable for a number of reasons, perhaps the most notable of which is its color – a highly unusual bright red rather than the more common British racing green.

Above Image: The XK engine is fitted to a front subframe that attaches directly to the central monocoque.

It’s believed that just two or three D-Types ever left the Jaguar factory painted red, one historian suggested it may have been to break into the Italian privateer racing market, though this may have been tongue in cheek.

The car was delivered new to Henlys of Manchester, England in 1955 where it remained unsold, it was finally bought by an automobile salesman by the name of Bernie Ecclestone (yes, that Bernie Ecclestone).

Ecclestone sold it to racer Peter Blond for £3,500, and he campaigned the car and took two wins at Snetterton, with race entries in period at Aintree, Silverstone, Oulton Park, and Goodwood.

Today the car has an unbroken history file and still carries its numbers-matching 3.4 litre Jaguar XK engine, as well as its distinctive red paint work and red leather interior.

It’s due to roll across the auction block with RM Sotheby’s on the 22nd of January and you can click here if you’d like to read more about it or register to bid.

The post A Rare Factory-Red Jaguar D-Type – Britain’s Le Mans-Dominating Supercar appeared first on Silodrome.

from Silodrome https://silodrome.com/red-jaguar-d-type/
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The Baldwin Motion Phase III Camaro – A Rare Street-Legal 525 hp 1/4 Mile Killer

The cars built by Baldwin Motion were among the fastest semi-production cars in the United States in the ’60s and ’70s, they were so fast in fact that the DOJ and EPA shut the company down in 1974 with threats of $50,000 USD per car manufactured (in 1974 dollars) if the company didn’t comply.

The reason Baldwin Motion piqued the interest of the DOJ and EPA was said to be down to their habit of removing all emissions equipment from cars as part of their high-performance rebuilds.

The truth of the matter is a little more complex, this was the age of the Ralph Nader book “Unsafe at Any Speed”, and companies producing cars deemed too dangerous for the street were being targeted.

Above Image: The mighty 454 cubic inch, 525 hp V8 built by Baldwin Motion to guarantee 11.5 second quarter mile times.

Although Baldwin Motion aren’t as famous as Roush, Shelby, or Yenko the work they were doing was arguably more impressive. In the late ’60s and early ’70s you could buy a Baldwin Motion Camaro or Corvette that was guaranteed to run the quarter mile in 11.5 seconds or less, or your money back:

“We think so much of our Phase III Supercars that we guarantee they will turn at least 120 mph in 11.50 seconds or better with an M/P-approved driver on an AHRA or NHRA-sanctioned drag strip. Phase III Supercars are completely streetable, reliable machines that will run these times off the street.” – Joel Rosen, Baldwin Motion

Baldwin Motion had been formed in 1967 with the partnership of Baldwin Chevrolet based in Baldwin, Long Island, New York, and Motion Performance – originally founded in a Sunoco service station in Brooklyn, New York. The two companies combined their resources to offer highly-modified Chevrolets right off the dealer showroom floor, with the same full factory warranty enjoyed by any other Chevy.

Among the cars offered by Baldwin Motion were their famous special-bodied Phase III GT Corvettes and the car shown here, the Baldwin Motion Phase III Camaro. Other vehicles on offer included highly-modified Novas, Chevelles, and Biscaynes.

Above Image: The purposeful suspension set up used on the car was designed specifically for drag racing, however the cars were are streetable and 100% road legal.

An article about the Baldwin Motion 454 Motion Super Vega in Car Craft magazine titled “King Kong Lives On Long Island” would prove unintentionally disastrous for the company, it caught the eye of people at the EPA and eventually brought the hammer down on the whole enterprise.

After much legal wrangling a $500 fine was paid and Joel Rosen promised not to build anymore wild customs for American roads. He got around the restrictions by building cars for export or race track use only, but this severely limited his customer base and eventually the company had to stop operating.

Today Baldwin Motion cars are wildly popular collectors items that have no problem blowing the doors off many modern supercars in the 1/4 mile dash

The 1970 Chevrolet Camaro Baldwin Motion Phase III Shown Here

The car you see here is an original 525 hp Baldwin Motion Phase III Camaro that has been painstakingly restored by Scott Tiemann of Supercar Specialties in Portland, Michigan.

Above Image: The interior of the cars remained largely unchained, and there was little to tell you you were sitting in a 525 hp tire-melter.

The Baldwin Motion fitted each Phase III Camaro with a worked 454 cu. in. LS6 V8 producing over 500 hp and sending power back to the rear wheels via a M21 4-speed transmission and a 12 bolt Positraction rear end with 4.10 gears.

No two Baldwin Motion cars were ever identical due to the way they were built to customer specification, this car has a COPO 9796 tall rear spoiler, a COPO aluminum intake, an ultra flow air cleaner, Phase III valve cover and retainers, the Super Bite suspension kit, Hooker headers and side pipes, Cragar SS wheels, a Motion hood with pins, Motion stripes, and it was previously part of the Les Quam collection.

If you’d like to read more about this car or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing, it’s due to be offered by Mecum and at the time of writing there’s no auction estimate.

Images courtesy of Mecum

The post The Baldwin Motion Phase III Camaro – A Rare Street-Legal 525 hp 1/4 Mile Killer appeared first on Silodrome.

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Toyota Land Cruiser FJ70 – The Perfect 1980s-Era 4×4?

When the Toyota Land Cruiser FJ70, and the 70 series family, were introduced to the general public in 1984 Toyota executives must have been watching the reception the vehicles were getting very closely.

Toyota knew if the car was seen as inferior to its forebear it would potentially permanently harm their reputation in the highly competitive world of four-wheel drive manufacturing, a reputation that had been carefully built over the preceding three decades.

The Toyota Land Cruiser 70 Series

The 70 Series was developed to replace the 40 Series Land Cruisers which had grown to become among the most beloved four-wheel drives in the world. As any automaker knows, replacing a model that has become a cult classic in its own lifetime is a risky undertaking, and a strong argument could be made that it’s often bungled in one way or another.

Amazingly Toyota nailed it first time out. The reason the 70 Series Land Cruisers proved so popular was because they kept every single element of the 40 Series that people loved, but very carefully and incrementally updated it. Even the most ardent Toyota diehard would admit that the styling of the 40 Series Land Cruisers was notably dated by the 1980s, and Toyota addressed this concern directly.

Above Image: The more modern, angular lines of the 70 series was a contrast to its predecessor, but the engineering remained as rugged as ever.

The J40 series was very closely based on the J20 series Land Cruisers which had first been released all the way back in 1955 to compete with the American Jeep and the British Land Rover – in fact the former vehicle inspired its styling and the latter vehicle inspired its name.

Land Cruisers had become popular because they were among the most reliable and capable four-wheel drives in the world, reliability being a key concern when you know you’ll be hundreds of miles from civilisation.

When the engineers at Toyota set out to design the new J70 Land Cruiser they kept the same basic architecture as the J40 vehicles – a ladder frame chassis with live axles and leaf springs front and back, a reliable engine up front, and an all-steel body offered in a variety of lengths to suit different uses.

The new body used on the J70 was clearly inspired by its predecessor but it was a far newer and more modern design throughout, with sharper angles and a purposeful, no-nonsense presence. The interior had been completely updated as well, with much more thought given to the comfort of the occupants than the J40.

Above Image: Land Cruisers have always been famous for their reliability, most notably for their impossible-to-kill engines.

The 70 series Land Cruisers proved so popular they largely dominated the market in places like Australia, New Zealand, and throughout much of Africa and South America.

The Toyota 70 series has now been in production for over 36 years, its popularity shows no signs of waning and Toyota has no public plans to discontinue or replace it. For reference, the popular 40 series was in production for 24 years.

The 1989 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ70 Shown Here

The 1989 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ70 you see here is an early short wheelbase version with the original, more angular bodywork.

In recent years we’ve seen the values of early J40 Land Cruisers skyrocket, along with other classic four-wheel drives like Series Land Rovers, first generation Ford Broncos, and early International Scouts.

Above Image: The interior of the 70 series Land Cruisers represented a significant upgrade over the outgoing J40.

We haven’t yet seen this meteoric value increase in the later 70 series Land Cruisers but many are speculating that it won’t be long until we do.

The vehicle you see here benefits from a careful recommissioning that includes brand new Toyota blue 8B2 paintwork, gold cadmium plated hardware, original switchgear, controls, and the original upholstery.

It’s fitted with the 3F 4.0 litre inline 6-cylinder petrol engine which is mated to a 5-speed manual transmission, a 2-speed transfer case, and it has locking front hubs. It’s now riding on a new set of Mastercraft Courser AXT tires on black steel wheels, and as a bonus it has working air conditioning.

If you’d like to read more about this vehicle or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing on Mecum.

Images courtesy of Mecum

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from Silodrome https://silodrome.com/toyota-land-cruiser-fj70/
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1 of 3 Ever Made: The Rare Ferrari 375 America by Vignale

Just three examples of the Ferrari 375 America were bodied as coupes by Turin’s legendary Carrozzeria Vignale in 1954, each of the cars was unique in its own way as they were built by hand without the aid of a body jig.

The 1954 Ferrari 375 America is powered by the remarkable race-winning 4.5 litre Lampredi V12 capable of approximately 300 hp, making it one of the fastest and most powerful production cars in the world at the time.

In post-WWII Italy the burgeoning race car builder Ferrari was just finding its feet. Led by a charismatic and deeply stubborn man named Enzo Ferrari, this new automaker was mostly focussed on building race winning cars, however they did also build road cars to help fund their competition efforts.

The Ferrari 375 America + Vignale

The limited number of Ferrari’s road cars existed within a model hierarchy, and at the top of this hierarchy was the name “America”.

Above Image: The stunning lines of the 375 America combined with the potent ~300 hp V12 made it one of the fastest production cars in the world in 1954.

This naming convention was likely for two reasons, America was a lucrative market for these high-end sporting GT cars, and America had just played a significant role in helping to free Europe from tyranny – the word “America” conjured up images of freedom and liberty, with many Europeans immigrating across the Atlantic after the war for this very reason.

The chassis and suspension of the 375 America shared much with the Ferrari 250 Europa GT, however the car was set apart by its almost impossibly beautiful bodies shaped by the likes of Pinin Farina (it was two words until the company officially became “Pininfarina” in 1962), and Vignale.

This was an era when many automakers would still sell you a rolling chassis which you could then get “bodied” at your favorite coachbuilder. Most automobiles of the time used a separate chassis and body, and so some pre-WWII clients even had both summer and winter bodies for their cars.

Before the 375 America there had been the 340 America and the 342 America released in 1951 and 1952 respectively. Just 12 examples of the 375 America would be built, 11 coupes and one cabriolet. Of these, eight would be bodied by Pinin Farina and four would be sent to Vignale – who built three coupes and one cabriolet.

Above Image: The distinctive aluminum body was shaped one panel at a time using hand tools without the use of a body buck.

Alfredo Vignale had founded Carrozzeria Vignale in 1948 and rapidly became one of Italy’s most important coachbuilders. Frequently working with Giovanni Michelotti, Vignale bodied cars from some of the world’s most prestigious marques including Ferrari, Maserati, Cisitalia, Alfa Romeo, Lancia, and he worked with American Briggs Cunningham to develop the Continental C-3.

Vignale was famous for creating beautiful lightweight aluminum bodies which was ideal for Ferrari, who wanted his cars to keep the sporting nature of the competition cars that occupied much of his time.

The Lampredi V12 + Technical Specifications

The 375 America was powered by the race-derived Lampredi V12, this was an astonishing engine for its day, with a swept capacity of 4,522cc, a bore x stroke of 84mm x 68mm, a bank of three twin choke Weber carburetors, and a twin coil, twin distributor ignition. The engine was good for a claimed 300 hp, it had been designed by Aurelio Lampredi specifically to compete in Formula One after all.

Power was sent from the long-block V12 back through a 4-speed all-synchromesh transmission to a live axle rear. Customers could specify their preferred gearing, with some wanting better acceleration, and some wanting to be able to drive at sustained highway speeds at lower revs.

The car utilizes a tubular steel frame with independent front suspension consisting of unequal length wishbones, a transverse leaf spring, and Houdaille shock absorbers. In the rear you’ll find a live axle on semi-elliptic leaf springs, with matching Houdaille shock absorbers.

Above Image: The Lampredi V12 was a tour de force of engineering by the standards of the era, it’s an all aluminum 60° V12 with a single overhead cam per bank.

Brakes were drums on all four corners and the car uses worm and sector steering, it has a fuel capacity of 140 litres. It boasted breathtaking performance by the standards of the day with a claimed top speed of 250 km/h or 155.3 mph.

The Ferrari 375 America Shown Here

The car you see here was originally displayed at the 1954 New York World Motor Sports Show and 1954 Geneva Motor Show, for many attendees it would be the first time seeing a Ferrari in the flesh and it doubtless left a lasting impression.

It was sold new to legendary racing sponsor Robert Wilke, of Leader Card fame, and over the course of its life it’s maintained documented ownership history from new with noted enthusiasts.

If you’d like to read more about the car or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing on RM Sotheby’s. The price estimate is $2.4 million to $3.4 million USD, and it’ll be rolling across the auction block in Arizona on the 22nd of January.