Author: Tabitha
The Ford Motor Company spent millions to develop a car that would beat Ferrari and become the first U.S. entry to win the yearly 24 Hours of Le Mans (France) endurance race. In 1966 that goal was realized, with the Ford taking the top three spots with its teams piloting GT40 racecars. To commemorate that event, California-based scale model maker Exoto has created the Anton Grey Mk II Sports Chronograph watch. The black-face version displays the winning GT40’s number 2 (driven by New Zealander’s Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon), but other colors are available. Each watch comes with a large…
Think of Anki Drive as a kind of three-dimensional video game. Developed by Anki (pronounced: On key), a San Francisco, Calif., robotics company, the product consists of a roll-up oval-track layout containing special built-in electronics that transmit data to optical sensors located beneath each racecar. The cars are controlled through an app that’s downloaded to your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad, which turns the device into a Bluetooth-enabled remote. Anki Drive’s artificial intelligence (no Internet connection required) allows one player to compete against up to three other players or against the system that assigns specific characteristics to each car. Anki…
You might know him best as a team owner in NASCAR, but he owns 95 auto dealerships that employ 10,000 people. As such, he has seen a lot of change over the last few years and today he shares that experience. By TOM JENSEN www.wheelbasemedia.com It’s good to be Rick Hendrick right about now. He’s the founder of the Hendrick Automotive Group, which is the largest privately held automobile dealership in America and the sixth-largest overall. There are 95 dealerships in 13 states, representing 29 different automotive nameplates. In 2014, the company’s sales topped $7.5 billion, which is an…
Toyota has launched an Internet application page for its hydrogen-fuel-cell sedan, which this fall will be available to several hundred California residents through eight dealerships. Toyota hopes to sell 3,000 of the revolutionary vehicles within three years, with plans to expand sales to four northeastern states – Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and Rhode Island – through 2019. The culmination of two decades-worth of research and development, the Mirai takes compressed hydrogen and pushes it through magical membranes that separate the electrons from the hydrogen, using them to power an electric motor that drives the front wheels, “like in a…
Bavarian automaker BMW might have two of the hottest-selling electric cars on the market today – in the guise of the battery-electric i3 city car, and the i8 hybrid sports car – but its sights are also set on exploiting hydrogen power, sometime around 2020. At a recent media event in France, BMW showed off Toyota’s fuel-cell technology built into both a BMW 5 Series GT demo car, and a heavily modified i8 sport coupe. The lack of existing hydrogen fueling infrastructure remains an issue. “Technically, we’re ready to put fuel-cell cars on the road, but so far it remains…
Many years ago, AMG of Germany took regular Mercedes-Benz models and turned them into more potent street and racing models. The company was so successful that Mercedes-Benz eventually purchased AMG and began building high-output versions of most of its vehicles under the AMG banner. Stealing a page from M-B’s playbook, Volvo is apparently purchasing its racing partner Polestar and will begin producing limited runs of sedans, wagons and even hybrid models that will each receive the full-on Polestar performance treatment. The automaker also plans to sell Polestar engines and other parts through its dealer network. Will Polestar moving in-house, does…
It’s common knowledge that Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) will introduce its own sporty car that shares platforms with the Mazda MX-5 Miata, to be called the Fiat 124 Spider (an homage to the sports car that Fiat created back in the late 1960s). The roadster will reportedly use a relatively modest 1.4-liter turbocharged engine that makes 135 horsepower. That should be OK for the lightweight two-seater, but The Sleuth hears that a planned Abarth-branded performance version will blow the doors off the regular-strength Spider and its MX-5 relation by employing the same 237-horsepower 1.75-liter engine that was developed for the…
Lego’s latest Creator Series includes this Ferrari F40 model (Item #10248) that’s sure to challenge any builder. The set is highly detailed with 1,158 pieces and includes the body (including opening doors), interior with twin racing seats, wheels and twin-turbocharged V8 engine. The completed Ferrari measures 10-inches long by five-inches wide by three-inches high from the wheels to the rear spoiler. And if Ferraris aren’t your thing, there are a number of other vehicles in the Creator series to select from. The F40 sells for $100 and is available from www.shop.lego.com.
Early adopters take note: For the latest in carbon-fiber wheels, there are a couple of new choices on the market. Carbon Revolution of Australia supplies wheels for the Ford Mustang GT350R and will sell you a set of one-piece CR-9 carbon fiber wheels for about $16,000 a set. Along with a 40-50 percent weight reduction over traditional alloy wheels, Carbon Revolution says its products will improve acceleration, handling, steering response and tire grip, while reducing stopping distances, fuel consumption and road noise. Get full details at www.carbonrev.com. Similar advantages are available from Maryland-based Vitesse AuDessus The company produces original and…
In case you weren’t aware, Bentley will make a sport utility vehicle for the 2017 model year. The awkwardly named Bentayga is the handle it’s stuck with, for better or worse. According to The Sleuth’s sources, the big all-wheel-driver will trade heavily on the automaker’s EXP 9 F concept model from a few years back, which makes it a more conservatively styled version of the Continental GT coupe. The interior will offer three rows of seats, all resplendent in the finest of leathers, while the rest of the cabin will be awash in wood and brushed-aluminum trim. The Bentayga’s chassis…