Lamborghini Countach LP400
Images by Jeroen Vink
from Tumblr https://somar78.tumblr.com/post/660030013184311296
Lamborghini Countach LP400
Images by Jeroen Vink
There can be little doubt that this car is one of the best pound-for-pound entertainment propositions that we’ve featured here on Silodrome, particularly for anyone looking for open-wheeled fun with a sub-$9,000 USD price tag.
At first glance many might think that this car rolled out of that famous Maranello garage back in the 1960s under the watchful eye of Enzo Ferrari himself.
On closer inspection it’s quickly clear that it’s a replica that was built for the fun of it, and rather than a temperamental Italian V12 in the back it’s powered by a far more affordable American engine.
This car reportedly started life as an Indianapolis Parade Car back in the 1970s, it belonged to a man named Jim Shillington.
Jim was a member of the Indianapolis 500 Shrine Club, and all members had their own decorated parade cars much like this one – you can see an image of how it originally looked below with Jim at the wheel:
Sadly Jim passed away back in 1990, no one is quite sure what happened to this car in the meantime, more recently it was bought bike Mike Sassaman who realized that with a little bit of work the car could be made to look like his favorite Formula 1 car – the 1967 Ferrari 312 piloted by Lorenzo Bandini.
Mike set to work modifying the body, he added vent openings and a NACA duct up front and removed the engine cover in the rear. He then carefully created his own take on the famous Ferrari “Spaghetti Exhaust” by cutting and welding 1 1/2″ mandrel bends he sourced from Speedway Motors.
The next order of business was adding a aluminum mock engine cover that made it look like a V12 was lurking underneath. Truth be told the car is powered by a vastly different engine, a Corvair flat-six with air-cooling. With a swept capacity of 2,683cc (2.7 liters) and 110 hp at the crank, this engine sends its power back through a reliable 4-speed VW gearbox to the rear wheels.
This drivetrain has a few advantages, it has a very low center of gravity thanks to the engine layout, and it’s considerably lighter than many comparable engines thanks to the fact that it was largely made from aluminum alloy.
Those velocity stacks you see in the mock engine cover are functional, they allow air into the two carburetors sitting atop the engine and they provide air for the cooling fan.
Mike originally built the car as a fun project and he’s displayed it at a number of shows, it always draws a crowd and people are fascinated to hear the history of the car and to learn about the work that was done to it to make it look the way it does now.
The first question many people want to know is usually whether the car is road legal, though that would be great fun the car is track or closed circuit only and it’s not legal for use on public roads.
Mike has now decided to sell the car to make space for his next project, he’s asking $9,000 USD for it and he can include an an Aluma 7812 Tilt aluminum open car trailer for an additional $3,500 USD if the new owner wants an easy way to transport it.
If you’d like to contact Mike his email is mdsassaman at aol dot com and the car is currently based in Reading, Pennsylvania.
If you’re interested in buying the car I would suggest contacting Mike relatively quickly, as I have a feeling it’s going to get a lot of interest.
Above Video: Some amateur footage of the Indianapolis 500 Shrine Club doing a parade lap at Indianapolis, the car shown in this article is likely among them.
Images courtesy of Jerry Keefer and Mike Sassaman
The post For Sale: A Fully-Functional Ferrari 312 F1 Replica – $9,000 USD appeared first on Silodrome.
This is the Baak Moon, it’s a comprehensively rebuilt Triumph Bobber created by the European company’s new American base of operations. As a result it features a slew of WWII-era American design choices – like that classic springer front end.
Bobbers like this were the bread and butter of the American motorcycle world in the years after the Second World War. Many were built from ex-military bikes like the Harley-Davison WLA, and many were ridden by former soldiers who were struggling to reintegrate into society.
When it was first shown to the public in 2016 before its release in 2017, it was clear that the Triumph Bobber was going to be a popular target for custom motorcycle builders.
Much like the Sportster, its long-running contemporary from Harley-Davidson, the Bobber was built with an eye to making sure it had a modular design well-suited to allowing owners to get the tools out and make it their own.
The core architecture of the Triumph Bobber is relatively straightforward, it uses a tubular steel frame with a swing arm rear and it has telescopic forks up front. The engine is a 1200cc parallel twin with a single overhead cam powering four valves per cylinder, it has a 10.0:1 compression ratio, and a 270° crank angle.
This engine develops 78 lb ft of torque at 4,000 rpm with 77 bhp at 6,100 rpm, and power is sent to the rear wheel via a 6-speed gearbox and a belt drive. The Bobber tips the scales at 251 kilograms (wet) which works out to 553 lbs in the old units.
When Baak Motocyclettes was founded in Lyon, France back in 2012 they brought their own unique savoir faire to the custom motorcycle building world. In the years since they’ve built over 150 custom bikes followed by slew of custom cars including a Porsche 911, a Mini Cooper, and a Land Rover Defender.
Rather than just building custom motorcycles Baak has developed a line of parts and apparel which are available for order globally. In 2020 Baak opened a new garage in California and the Bobber you see here is the latest build from the New World side of the business.
They decided to name this bike the Baak Moon as a reference to its wheels which are fitted with classic black Moon Discs. I’m going to turn it over to the team at Baak now to tell you the story of this build in their own words:
“This bike was build primarily as a showroom bike. We wanted to show what we can do and our vision of the Triumph Bobber. Part of our inspiration comes from a very rich part of the motorcycle history, pre-WWII the AMA (American Motorcyclist Association) created Class C racing to make competing easier and more accessible.”
“The bikes of that generation were given a “Bob Job” to reduce their weight and improve their performance. Although Triumph motorcycles didn’t take part in class C racing in the 1930s, their bikes were extensively bobbed by American riders starting towards the end of the 1940s, in the same way as their Class C American cousins, by US servicemen that came back home after the war with improved mechanical skills and a newly found passion for English bikes.”
“We ultimately wanted pay tribute to this part of the motorcycle history while integrating modern touches.”
“Once the bike was on the lift we basically stripped it down to only keep the frame, engine, wiring harness, swing arm rear brake system. For this build we’ve selected parts with a strong identity such as the springer fork or the solid wheels wrapped in Avon Safety Mileage MkII tires, as well as a complete assortment of our BAAK signature parts.”
“As often with our builds we’ve swapped out the bulky factory gauges and fitted a new headlight with an integrated Motogadget Tiny gauge, our classical BAAK N˚1 handlebar, a set of aluminum controls (designed and produced in house like a large part of our catalog) and black levers, the factory mufflers were replaced by a pair aluminum mufflers with our iconic design and of course the seat has been wrapped in a very nice black suede leather. The same material is used on the airbox delete cover.”
“The bulky and long factory rear mudguard was also replaced by a shorter tire hugging fender revealing the beautiful thread pattern of the MkII tires and the license plate holder find its place on the left side of the swing arm.”
“The beautiful paint job designed in our Lyon HQ and executed by our painter in Los Angeles, the talented Carlos Molina and it finishes the bike perfectly and brings that vintage look we were after. We chose a very specific shade of ivory from an old Porsche 356 paint catalog complimented by a light coat of metallic to make the bike radiant.”
“This bike is surprisingly fun and easy to ride once you’ve become used to the way the springer fork operates. After a trip up and down the U.S. Route 1 between Los Angeles and Monterrey through the beautiful twistys of Big Sur, the verdict is “excellent.”
This bike is now for sale, if you’re interested please contact Laura via Baak Motocyclettes here more information.
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The post The Baak Moon – A Custom Triumph Bobber appeared first on Silodrome.
by Marco Varano Photography https://flic.kr/p/2gnFvro