Sacrilege or Superb? A Porsche 911 / Bentley V8 Turbo Hot Rod By Alexandre Danton

This is undoubtably one of the most unusual vehicles we’ve ever featured on Silodrome, and it’s going to ruffle a lot of feathers.

What you’re looking at here is a creation by famed French artist Alexandre Danton, it started out as a 1971 Porsche 911T however as you can tell, there isn’t much of the original car left.

A bespoke chassis was created to accommodate a turbocharged, front-mounted 6.75 litre Bentley V8 engine from a Bentley Mulsanne Turbo producing over 300 bhp. Power is sent back through an automatic transmission to a live axle rear end, where it’s conveyed to the asphalt via a set of wildly oversized wheels and tires.

Now of course, there are the Porsche purists who’ll decry the very existence of this car, but it’s rarely the purists who you want to go for a beer with at the end of a car show.

Alexandre Danton is much more like the kind of person you’d go get a drink with, he builds wild custom cars, he’s covered in tattoos, and he eats purists for breakfast. Danton has built a number of completely unique custom cars including a Lamborghini Espada, a Ferrari 360 Modena, and a slew of other European cars that he’s built into his own kind of hot rod.

Above Image: The car is powered by a turbocharged 6.75 litre Bentley V8 engine from a Mulsanne Turbo producing over 300 bhp.

The car you see here is one of his most eye-catching creations, not least for the fact that it’s a front-engined V8 Porsche hot rod, a type of car that I don’t think has ever existed before.

Danton is well-known for taking both parts and inspiration from around the world, known officially as the Danton Arts Kustoms 911 Targa, this car takes its prodigious engine from Britain, its body from Germany, and its core philosophy from the United States – and it was all built by a Frenchman.

Although it has clearly been built for straight-line speed rather than cornering, with its live axle rear and wide rear tires, the car does also have double wishbone front suspension with coilovers allowing full adjustability and the ability to change ride height.

The interior of the car is spartan, as you’d expect from a hot rod, with WW2 bomber-inspired alloy seats, a shifter, switches and gauges, and ample use of riveted aluminum. Up front the car uses a 911-style front clip with a cold air intake filling the righthand side headlight location and feeding back into that Bentley V8.

Above Image: In true hot rod-style the interior is spartan, with WWII bomber inspired seats and ample use of riveted aluminum.

As with many of Danton’s builds this car was never intended to be road legal, so it’s not going to be a daily driver unless you happen to have a wildly incompetent vehicle examiner. But as a car show attendee and a collectible the Danton Arts Kustoms 911 Targa is one of few cars guaranteed to gather a crowd of curious onlookers and agitated purists.

Sadly I don’t have performance specifications on hand for the car, but given the fact that it clearly has a very low curb weight coupled with the 300 bhp and 455 lb ft of torque it’ll clearly have no trouble setting blisteringly quick 1/4 mile times.

If you’d like to read more about this unusual 911 or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing on Bonhams. It’s due to roll across the auction block on the 20th of March with a rather affordable hammer estimate of £5,000 to £10,000.

Images courtesy of Bonhams

The post Sacrilege or Superb? A Porsche 911 / Bentley V8 Turbo Hot Rod By Alexandre Danton appeared first on Silodrome.

from Silodrome https://silodrome.com/porsche-911-bentley-v8-turbo-hot-rod/
via gqrds

Trevor DTRe Stella Electric Motorcycle – A Flat Tracker For The Street

This is the new Trevor DTRe Stella, an electric dirt tracker from Belgium that produces 260 Nm (or 192 lb ft) of torque at the rear wheel thanks to the magic of reduction gearing.

It’s common knowledge that electric motors are torque monsters, they typically produce 100% of their torque from 0 rpm right through their rev range – the team at Trevor spent countless hours on the dyno to use this instant torque to their advantage, creating a wall of torque that bests many four-door saloon cars.

“Trevor” might sound like an unusual name for an electric motorcycle company from Belgium, but it all makes sense when you learn that Jeroen-Vincent Nagels, co-founder of Trevor, is a big fan of the British sports car maker TVR.

As any TVR owner will tell you, the company was named for its founder Trevor Wilkinson, who simply removed the “R”, “E”, and “O” from his name to make it sound a little more racy.

Much like the Trevor FTR Stella, the cars built by TVR have always been lightweight, mechanically simple vehicles focussed on nimble performance, and they’ve often been prodigiously powerful.

Above Image: The DTRe tips the scales at just 79 kilograms, or 174 lbs, but it produces 192 lb ft of torque at the rear wheel.

The project to build the DTRe Stella began almost by accident, when Philippe Stella and Jeroen-Vincent Nagels were holed up in a cottage in Cadaques, a small coastal village near Barcelona. The two men were working on a new project for their custom motorcycle outfit dubbed “The Mighty Machines”.

They had a couple of vintage dirt bikes on hand that they used to ride into town for groceries and whiskey, and of course to explore the dirt roads that litter the region.

It was during these off-road excursions that the two men first began to throw around ideas for a new electric motorcycle, something lightweight with flat tracker styling that would be ideal for exploring cities and dirt trails alike.

Skipping forward to a year later the two men were in London at The Bike Shed, unveiling N60 MM.01, an electric motorcycle built as a collaboration between Belgian motorcycle company Saroléa and The Mighty Machines.

It would be here that the men would talk to Torsten Robbens of Saroléa about their idea, fittingly while watching a dirt track race. This conversation kickstarted the project into high gear, the name Trevor was registered and Robbens brought in John McInnis – the former designer at electric motorcycle manufacturer Alta Motors.

Above Image: The street-legal and off-road-only versions of the DTRe Stella, the road-going version has all the lighting required by law to be used on the street.

By early 2020 the first prototypes were ready, they made use of a lightweight chromoly steel trellis frame that surrounds a 2.7 kWh lithium-ion battery pack. A set of Öhlins Blackline forks are used up front paired with an Öhlins Blackline STX46 monoshock in the rear.

19″ HAAN flat track wheels are used front and back fitted with road legal Dunlop DT3 flat track tires, and directional control is provided courtesy of a set of alloy Domino handlebars.

The electric motor is mounted at the swingarm pivot point, it’s an 11 kW brushless DC three-phase motor. This gives the Trevor DTRe Stella 192 lb ft of torque at the rear wheel courtesy of carefully chosen sprockets – creating a reduction drive that significantly multiplies the electric motor’s torque.

The bodywork is a single piece of ABS that gives the DTRe that distinctive flat tracker look, the final specification of the bike will depend on whether you choose the street-legal or off-road version. The street bike with all the required lights for legality will set you back €14,495 and the off-road version will cost €12,995.

For the money you get a highly-capable electric motorcycle with a range of 1.5 hours, a top speed of 90 km/h, a weight of 79 kilograms, and a charging time of 1.3 hours with a 3 kW charger.

If you’d like to read more or order yours you can click here to visit the website.

Follow The Mighty Machines on Instagram here

Images by Bram Coppens + Rob Mitchell

The post Trevor DTRe Stella Electric Motorcycle – A Flat Tracker For The Street appeared first on Silodrome.

from Silodrome https://silodrome.com/trevor-dtre-stella-electric-motorcycle/
via gqrds

An Uprated 1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1 – Now With 402 hp + 456 lb ft

This 1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1 is a great example from the first year of production of the now famous high-performance Mach 1 version of one of America’s most successful sports cars. The car has been sympathetically upgraded with a slew of new performance parts to significant boost power and performance, all while keeping the exterior in factory stock condition.

The Ford Mustang Mach 1

First introduced in mid-1968 as a 1969 model year, the Mach 1 included a range of performance upgrades and styling enhancements that set the car apart from other more pedestrian Mustangs, and apart from the five other factory performance Mustang models available at the time – the GT, Boss 302, Boss 429, Shelby GT350, and Shelby GT500.

With the Mach 1, Ford was looking to add to the Boss 302 and Boss 429 performance models and begin to move away from the Shelby Mustangs – 1970 would be the last year for the Shelby cars until they made a comeback in 2005.

Ford offered the Mach 1 package only on the “SportsRoof” fastback body style and original cars are identifiable by the body style code 63C on the door data plate – many Mach 1 copies or “tributes” have been made over the years but original cars are easy to detect.

Above Image: The characteristic styling of the Mach 1 is hard to miss, with its blacked out hood, hood pins, chin spoiler, rear spoiler, and hood scoop.

Each new Mach 1 started with a SportsRoof body, they all came with V8 engines however there were a number of choices for new buyers, ranging from the 351 cu. in. (5.8 litre) Windsor V8 with a two-barrel carburetor and 250 bhp all the way up to the 428 cu. in. (7.0 litre) Ram Air Cobra Jet & Super Cobra Jet V8 with a four-barrel carburetor and 335 bhp.

Externally the Mach 1 was fitted with a matte black hood with hood pins, a hood scoop (including an optional Shaker scoop), new wheels with Goodyear Polyglas tires, chrome exhaust tips, a chrome pop-open gas cap, a rear deck spoiler, rear window louvers, and a black dealer optional chin spoiler.

The cars weren’t all show and no go however, apart from the V8 under the hood they also come with competition suspension and an optional “Traction Lok” limited slip differential rear end. Depending on engine there were also front or front and rear sway bars fitted.

There has been no small amount of debate over whether the 351 V8 or the 428 V8 are better, the larger engine is more powerful of course but it’s also notably heavier, and this can have a detrimental impact on handling – though this isn’t a problem if the kind of motor racing you’re interested in happens one 1/4 mile at a time in a straight line.

Ford kept the Mach 1 in production from 1969 until 1970, they brought the nameplate back from 2003 to 2004, and recently they revived it again in 2021. Surviving original examples from the first series are always popular with collectors, but buyers always need to do their due diligence and make sure they’re not getting a clone or “tribute” as they’re sometimes called.

Above Image: The “Mach 1” decal running along the upper perimeter of the trunk lets everyone behind you know what you’re driving.

The 1969 Mach 1 Mustang Shown Here

The car you see here is a 1969 example that benefits from a professional nut and bolt rotisserie restoration, it started out as a rust free California car, and it’s been comprehensively upgraded to the point where it’s now much quicker than it would have been when it left the factory.

The rebuild included competition suspension, but a lot of the focus on the rebuild was in the engine bay. The original 351 V8 was stroked out to 392 cu. in. and balanced and blueprinted. It was fitted with RHS aluminum cylinder heads, a Weiand Stealth intake, an Eagle 3.850 inch-stroke crankshaft, a Ford Motorsports dampener, BRC forged pistons, a Crower camshaft and valve springs, a Holley 750 4-barrel carburetor, and a slew of other mods.

Power is now at a dyno-tested at 456 lb ft of torque and 402 hp – considerably more than even the 428 V8 ever made when new.

If you’d like to read more about this Mustang or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing on Mecum, it’s due to roll across the auction block in March and it’s being offered with no reserve.

Images courtesy of Mecum

The post An Uprated 1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1 – Now With 402 hp + 456 lb ft appeared first on Silodrome.

from Silodrome https://silodrome.com/ford-mustang-mach-1-upgrade/
via gqrds

Tardza – The Recycled Porsche

Tardza is a unique short film about an unusual Porsche 911, nicknamed Tardza by its owner Pawel Kalinowski.

The car has a fascinating history, it belonged to a homeless man in Seattle who lived in it with his dog for many years, before crashing it one day and leaving it at a body shop to get the fender repaired.

He didn’t have the money for the repairs, and he had other debts, so the car was forfeited and ended up being bought by Kalinowski and shipped to Poland.

If you’re a member of the global vintage Porsche community you probably already know who Pawel is. For the uninitiated he’s the founder of Car Bone – one of the world’s leading suppliers of parts for custom vintage 911s, not to mention 356s, 914s, and many other models.

The story behind Tardza starts out tragic, the former owner was struggling with both drug addiction and homelessness, but in his previous life had been successful enough to have bought a 911.

After the car was bought by Kalinowski it became a community project of sorts, he made friends around the world who helped supply parts for the car and over time it’s been completely restored – all except for that front fender a memento from its former life.

As with most Car Bone projects the 911 wasn’t intended to be returned to factory condition, but rather to be rebuilt as an entirely unique car that pays homage to its own heritage.

Read more about Car Bone here

Images: Bartek Kolaczkowski

The post Tardza – The Recycled Porsche appeared first on Silodrome.

from Silodrome https://silodrome.com/tardza-the-recycled-porsche/
via gqrds

Lotus Europa Twin Cam Special – An Affordable Mid-Engined Classic

This is a Lotus Europa Special, arguably the most desirable version of the famous mid-engined sports car that helped establish the British automaker as a significant force in the world of sports car manufacturing.

Lotus And The Ford GT40 Program

What a lot of people don’t know is that the original design for the Europa was penned for Ford, in the hope that it would be chosen as the basis of the car that would become the Ford GT40 and go on to dominate the 24 Hours of Le Mans, trouncing Ferrari in the process.

As it played out Ford chose the Lola Mk 6, a similar design from a competing British company, and it would be Lola engineers that would work with Ford to create the now legendary GT40.

All wasn’t lost for Lotus however, the Europa would go on to become a mid-engined icon in its own right, and it would be the godfather of one of the most famous cars of the 20th century – the DeLorean DMC-12.

The Lotus Europa – An Affordable Mid-Engined Car

The project to develop the Europa kicked off in the mid-1960s. Colin Chapman’s Lotus Formula 1 Team was successfully making use of mid-engined cars and it was decided to bring this same architecture to the company’s road cars.

Above Image: The interior of the Europa has seating for two, with excellent visibility for both the driver and passenger.

At the time Lotus was using a steel backbone chassis as the core of its road cars, this would then be fitted with a lightweight fiberglass body. The benefits of this were significant, it meant Lotus didn’t have to invest in expensive steel stamping equipment and it helped keep their cars as light as possible – a core tenet of Chapman’s “simplify then add lightness” philosophy.

Lotus had made good use of Ford engines and gearboxes in the past but this stopped with the release of the first Europa, possibly because they didn’t get the GT40 contract or perhaps because they were looking for reliable engine sources closer to home.

Chapman would eventually decide on using a modified version of the Renault 16 engine in the Europa, providing 82 hp at 6,000 rpm for the 610 kg (1,350 lb) car which was considered adequate at the time.

Both the buying public and the press were clamoring for more power and so later versions of the Europa were fitted with the superior Ford-based Lotus Twin Cam engine that was used in the Lotus Elan and the Lotus Cortina.

This Twin Cam Europa would first appear in 1971, power was appreciably increased, with 105 hp from its 1,557cc (1.6 litre) capacity. Though slightly heavier, the Twin Cam was a better engine in every regard and it transformed the Europa.

In 1972 the Europa Special would appear, this would be the final major iteration of the model, and it would feature the “Big Valve” version of the Twin Cam engine, now producing 126 bhp. This would be the fastest and arguably the most desirable version of the car, it’s capable of going from 0 to 60 mph in 6.6 seconds it has a top speed of 123 mph (198 km/h).

Above Image: The unusual back end of the car holds the Twin Cam engine, with big valves in this instance, and a small luggage trunk.

When first released in 1972 the Big Valve Europa Special was painted in the John Player (a cigarette company) livery consisting of black with gold accents. This livery was chosen to emulate Lotus’ F1 cars which had clinched the 1972 Formula 1 World Championship.

The John Player livery became so popular that the original run of 100 cars was expanded to thousands, although the first cars are the only ones with the special numbered JPS plaque.

The Europa would leave production in 1975 to be replaced by the Lotus Esprit, though the two cars looks vastly different they shared very similar underpinnings.

The 1973 Lotus Europa Special Shown Here

The car you see here is a desirable 1973 Special, making it a Twin Cam “Big Valve” with 126 bhp. The car is wearing the now famous John Player Special livery and it’s presented in good original condition throughout with its original paint scheme and wheels in place.

With an estimated hammer price of €20,000 to €30,000 this car is an order of magnitude less expensive than other mid-engined cars from this era, and it offers that beautifully balanced handling with fine steering feel that Lotus cars are famous for.

If you’d like to read more about it or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing on Bonhams, it’s due to roll across the auction block at the Les Grandes Marques du Monde à Paris on the 3rd of March.

Images courtesy of Bonhams

The post Lotus Europa Twin Cam Special – An Affordable Mid-Engined Classic appeared first on Silodrome.

from Silodrome https://silodrome.com/lotus-europa-twin-cam-special/
via gqrds