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(via Vintage Race Car For Sale: Datsun 240Z)

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itsbrucemclaren:speedxtreme: 1969 CHEVROLET CAMARO SS...

itsbrucemclaren:

speedxtreme:

1969 CHEVROLET CAMARO SS RESTOMOD

What machine!

from Tumblr https://somar78.tumblr.com/post/657153541147852800

itsbrucemclaren:speedxtreme: 1969 CHEVROLET CAMARO SS...

itsbrucemclaren:

speedxtreme:

1969 CHEVROLET CAMARO SS RESTOMOD

What machine!

from Tumblr https://somar78.tumblr.com/post/657148829773250560

For Sale: Steve McQueen’s First Husqvarna

The motorcycle you see above was the first Husqvarna ever bought by Steve McQueen, he would later become synonymous with the brand and famously rode a Husqvarna in the cult classic motorcycle film “On Any Sunday” by director Bruce Brown.

Earlier in his racing career McQueen had been a regular rider of Triumphs, specifically of the Triumph TR6C modified into “Desert Sled” form for racing in the deserts of Southern California.

It was a big move for him to leave his Triumphs behind and go with a new brand, but so impressed was he with the new Husqvarna Viking 360 that he literally bought the one out from under Swedish motocross champion Bengt Åberg after seeing him race on it.

Fast Facts

✱ After seeing Swedish world champion Bengt Åberg competing on his Husqvarna in 1968 McQueen offered to buy the bike on the spot and Åberg finished the season on a new bike.

✱ After his long passion with Triumph it was a paradigm shift for him to switch from the heavier British four stroke to the lightweight Swedish two-stroke.

✱ McQueen’s new love for Husqvarna greatly helped the company’s brand name awareness in the United States, and it played a significant role in the popularity the company still enjoys.

✱ The motorcycle you see here is the one ridden by Åberg in ’68 and bought by McQueen, it became the first of his many Husqvarnas.

Steve McQueen’s First Husqvarna – The Viking 360

When it was first released in 1966 the Husqvarna Viking 360 was clearly going to be a threat to the formerly dominant four-strokes in the world of off-road motorcycle racing.

Above Image: Footage from “On Any Sunday” showing McQueen on a Husqvarna with his friends and fellow riders Mert Lawwill and Malcolm Smith.

With 37 bhp, off-road ready suspension, and a curb weight of just 215 lbs the 360 was directly based on the 1966 and 1967 250 World Championship winning 250cc Husqvarna.

This was a motorcycle that had started to pop up on the radars of American off-road riders, and Husqvarna sent Bengt Åberg over to the United States to compete on the new model and show the world what it was capable of.

Åberg went on to win the World Championship on a Husqvarna in 1969 and 1970. After the similar earlier successes of two-stroke CZs in 1966, which had won 9 of the 14 500cc Grand Prix races and clinched the championship, it was clear that the era of dominant four-strokes was at an end.

Steve McQueen is now remembered as a retro racing icon but what many people don’t grasp is that back when he was buying and racing his cars and motorcycles they were modern state-of-the-art machines.

Above Image: The restored bike now presents in as-new condition, and it’s probably cleaner that it was when McQueen himself bought it.

He did have a penchant for vintage vehicles as well of course, including his first motorcycle which was an Indian Chief with a sidecar, it was many years old and a little rundown when he bought it. The girl he was dating at the time told him “either that cycle goes or I do!” and he made his choice – keeping the motorcycle for the rest of his life.

As Husqvarna released ever faster models McQueen upgraded and this 360 Viking was used less and less. After his passing it was sold on into private hands, and in 2014 it was subject to a restoration to bring it back to as-new condition so the new owners could ride it themselves if they wished.

The bike is now coming up for public auction for the first time in many years, it’ll be rolling across the auction block in California with RM Sotheby’s in mid-August and at the time of writing there’s not yet a price guide – though low-six figures is likely a safe bet.

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

The post For Sale: Steve McQueen’s First Husqvarna appeared first on Silodrome.

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Niki Lauda’s McLaren MP4 Steering Wheel Is For Sale

This is the steering wheel fitted to Formula One World Champion Niki Lauda’s McLaren MP4 for the 1983 Italian Grand Prix at Monza.

Both Niki Lauda and the McLaren MP4 are deservedly famous in their own right, with Lauda winning three Formula One Drivers’ Championships as well as a total of 25 wins and 54 podium places, and being best remembered today for his battles with James Hunt.

These battles were immortalized in the 2013 film Rush from director Ron Howard, starring Chris Hemsworth, Daniel Brühl, and Olivia Wilde.

The McLaren MP4 is famous for altogether different reasons, even though it never won the Constructors’ Championship over its three years of competition it did layout the fundamental design of all future Formula One cars.

The McLaren MP4 was the first Formula 1 car to use a carbon fiber monocoque chassis, a revolutionary advance in design made by lead engineer John Barnard. Barnard had first seen carbon fiber being used during a visit to the Rolls-Royce factory where he saw the Rolls-Royce RB211 jet engine being tested.

It was clearly apparent to him that this new material could revolutionize F1 car design, and he was right. Within a few short years of the introduction of the MP4 all other F1 cars would use carbon fiber monocoque chassis and they still do to this day, over 40 years later.

This steering wheel is now for sale, it’s numbered MP4/53 and it’s accompanied by a certificate of authenticity signed by former team boss Ron Dennis. It’s believed that Lauda gave this steering wheel to an Italian journalist after the race as a gift, and it’s presented today on a display base.

The price guide is $8,300 to $10,700 USD, if you’d like to read more about it or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing.

Images courtesy of Artcurial

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A Kawasaki W650 Bobber By Deus Ex Machina

This Kawasaki W650 bobber was built by Australian company Deus Ex Machina in Sydney back in 2009, long before the company became the global juggernaut it is today.

This bike is a great example of the custom motorcycles built by Deus, with its simple lines and real world rideability. Many of the motorcycles built by Deus used Japanese motorcycles like the SR400 and W650 as their starting points, due to their simplicity, affordability, and reliability.

Fast Facts

✱ Deus Ex Machina is today the most famous custom motorcycle company in the world, though they’re now better known for their apparel.

✱ The custom motorcycles built by Deus were initially almost all related to surfing or beach-side cruising, some even had surfboard racks on the side.

✱ This X650-based bobber has a simple hard-tail design, with a sprung saddle, a low curb weight, and an unsilenced open exhaust.

Kawasaki W650 Bobber By Deus

Deus Ex Machina was founded in Sydney, Australia by Dare Jennings in 2006, he was also the founder of 1980s Aussie surf brand Mambo.

Above Image: The W650 engine is a parallel twin with an unusual bevel gear driven overhead cam operating two valves per cylinder.

Deus was originally known for their t-shirts, custom motorcycles, surfboards, and lifestyle gear. Initially Deus grew largely by word-of-mouth, eventually snowballing into one of the biggest surf and lifestyle brands of its kind in the world, and it’s now owned by luxury behemoth LVMH.

This Kawasaki W650 was built back in 2009, the early days of Deus and just three years after the company was founded in 2006. It uses the venerable 650cc parallel twin from the W650, a unit-construction engine with an unusual bevel gear driven overhead camshaft influenced by mid-20th century British engine designs.

With 50 hp at 7,000 rpm the 429 lb (195 kg) Kawasaki W650 was aimed squarely at the modern classic offerings from British motorcycle maker Triumph, the Bonneville in particular.

The W650 has a 5-speed transmission and a chain final drive, and from the factory they came with a relatively standard duplex steel tube frame, twin rear shock absorbers, telescopic forks up front, and a front disc brake paired with a rear drum.

The Kawasaki W650 was introduced in 1999 and sold until 2007, it was later superseded by the Kawasaki W800, a remarkably similar motorcycle with a larger 800cc parallel twin offering more power.

Above Image: This bike is a bobber, characterized by its hard tail rear end and sprung saddle.

This bobber custom from Deus features an entirely new rear end, the original swing arm and twin shocks have been replaced with a rigid tubular steel subframe converting the bike into a hard tail.

Back in the early days of the motorcycle they were essentially all hard tails due to the fact they were made using frames directly influenced by the early safety bicycles.

Although it looks like it might struggle pass a roadworthy inspection the bike actually does tick all the required boxes thanks to its subtle front and rear indicators, head light, tail light, rear license plate, front and rear fenders, and centrally-mounted speedometer.

The engine now breathes through twin carburetors fitted with high-flow, pod-style air filters, this combined with the open exhaust will result in an engine that’s slightly more powerful and considerably louder than the original would have been from the factory.

This Deus W650 is being auctioned live on Collecting Cars at the time of writing, it has just 3,050 kms on the odometer and it’s being offered for sale directly by Deus from their original Camperdown headquarters in Sydney.

If you’d like to read more about it or place a bid you can click here to visit the listing.

Images courtesy of Collecting Cars

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Vintage Race Car For Sale: Datsun 240Z

This Datsun 240Z has been completely rebuilt to compete in vintage motorsport events, and thanks to the remarkable racing successes of the 240Z in period competition the car should be eligible to compete in a significant number of events.

Described simply as a 1973 Datsun 240Z Racing, this car was built into a track car in England before being exported to the Netherlands to compete in historic racing. In 2016 the car was completely restored by SC-Automobil KG in Austria, and today it presents in ready to race condition.

Fast Facts

✱ The Datsun 240Z is one of the most important Japanese sports cars of all time, and played a significant role in establishing the Japanese as credible builders of world class sports cars.

✱ The 240Z enjoyed a number of major motor racing successes including winning the SCCA C Production national title in 1970 and 1971, a third place in the Monte Carlo Rally in 1972, and a win in the East African Safari Rally in 1973.

✱ With styling that’s been compared to both the Jaguar E-Type and the Porsche 911, the 240Z remains one of the most desirable Japanese sports cars of its era.

The Datsun 240Z

Datsun 240Z was critical to establishing Japan as a nation of genuinely competitive sports car builders, alongside other period cars like the Toyota 2000 GT, the Mazda Cosmo, and the Datsun 510 (also known as the Datsun 1600).

Above Image: This car has a body kit that gives it wider wheel arches for wider wheels and tires, as well as a more aerodynamic nose and a front air dam.

Before this time Japan had been seen by many as a nation that manufactured small, inexpensive cars that offered good reliability and often good fuel economy to boot.

Nissan released the Datsun 240Z in 1969, in various world markets it was also known as the Nissan S30 or the Nissan Fairlady Z.

The car followed a relatively standard formula for a sports car of the era, it has a steel unibody chassis, a front mounted engine feeding power to the rear wheels, two doors, a long hood, and a fastback style roofline.

Power was provided by a 2.4 liter (2,393cc 146 cubic inch) single overhead cam inline-six cylinder engine that sends power back through a 4 or 5-speed manual transmission. All four wheels are independently sprung, with MacPherson struts, drag links, coil springs, telescopic shock absorbers, and an anti-roll bar up front.

In the rear the car rides on Chapman struts with lower wishbones, coil springs, and telescopic shock absorbers. Steering is by rack and pinion, and it has disc brakes up front with drums in the back.

As you can see the formula behind the car wasn’t revolutionary in itself, however it mixed all the ingredients together well enough to earn the company over 500,000 sales of the model worldwide while enjoying a significant boost to their reputation.

The Datsun 240Z Race Car Shown Here

The car you see here started out as a stock standard 1973 240Z and spent much of its life this way, in more recent years it was rebuilt for vintage racing.

Above Image: The original 2.4 liter engine has been replaced with a 2.8 liter unit from a Datsun 280Z, producing 280 hp.

As mentioned in the introduction above, the car was sent to the Netherlands to race in historic events and was later restored to the condition you see in the images by SC-Automobil KG in Austria.

The car’s current specification list is impressive, it includes a newly rebuilt 2.8 liter engine from the Datsun 280Z, now with triple Mikuni 48 carburetors and a racing exhaust, capable of 280 hp. It’s clear that the engine must have had a lot of internal work done to achieve that power output however the listing doesn’t go into detail.

Power is sent through a twin-disc sintered clutch and a 5-speed gearbox into a a limited-slip differential with cooling. It has adjustable front and rear suspension, Wilwood disc brakes on all four corners, Ronal magnesium wheels, and a 60 liter racing fuel cell.

The car is fitted with an aerodynamic body kit that features a longer nose, flared wheel arches, a deep front lip spoiler and a small rear spoiler. It’s listed as being ready to race following service checks with a price guide of €40,000 – €60,000 which works out to approximately $47,200 – $70,800 USD.

If you’d like to read more about this 240Z or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing on Artcurial.