Legendary director developed his chops on the race track
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Long before American Graffiti, Indiana Jones and the one about space ships and gay robots, George Lucas was a lowly student at the University of Southern California trying to make an impact on the world of film making. One of his first foray’s into cinematography is an eight minute short showing driver Peter Brock whipping a Lotus 23 around the Willow Springs Raceway in California.
Ventura County, the US of A: the owner of this Mercedes E-Class must have got a pleasant shock when a Corvette C6 convertible rear-ended his vehicle in spectacular fashion.
Full marks to the Corvette’s structural designers for making a car that doesn’t buckle under the weight of a stodgy German saloon.
What a beautiful couple they make. Check out another picture (from the back, the way you like it) after the jump…
 Audi’s supercar available to GT3 teams from next year
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Audi has announced that a customer-orientated version of its hugely successful R8 racer will be available from next autumn. The 500bhp machine is seen as a competitor to Porsche and Ferrari in the GT3 racing class. The new Audi R8 will meet all of the FIA’s production-based GT3 motorsport regulations that allow the car to be entered in numerous national and international race series, which will mean a conversion to rear-wheel drive as four-wheel drive are banned.
“The R8 is the first production Audi to bear the name and genes of a successful racing sportscar and is therefore an excellent base from which to build our first big customer sport program,” said Head of Audi Motorsport Dr Wolfgang Ullrich. “Ever since the R8 was unveiled we’ve been inundated with inquiries about a racing version. We will offer customers a racing sportscar equipped with the best technology and the typical Audi qualities, but it will be easy to handle.”Â
Say hi to the rather sexy One-77, Aston Martin’s new V12 coupe - the first new AM since the company was sold to Ford. Aston will make only 77 models (hence the name, which is provisional), and each customer will be able to customise the supercar to their personal tastes.
The tale of the tape? The One-77 will be powered by a hand-built 7-litre V12 engine, front-mounted and contained within a sleek aluminum and carbon-fibre chassis. It’ll propel you from 0-60 in 3.5-seconds, and has a top speed of more than 200mph (some reports have claimed 220mph).
The Spadaconcept Codatronca is essentially based on a mundane Corvette, not that you’d know it. With its head-turning, stealth-bomber styling (imagine KITT and the Batmobile had a baby), it’s one of the most talked about supercars ever made. Indeed, it features in the new Batman movie, The Dark Knight, as Bruce Wayne’s weekend drive.
The best thing about this vision in black is that it’s actually going into production, with 20 examples due to be built later this year/early 2009, reportedly priced around £250,000.
New company Mindset is making a bold attempt to shake-up the car industry with its Six50, a battery powered electric/gas hybrid that can squeeze almost 500 miles per charge (plus a two-cylinder petrol motor as a generator). The Six50 also features solar panels on the roof, which can aid the charging of the lithium ion batteries.
The car is set to weigh just 650kg, hence the Six50 name, although a recent prototype made of aluminum and plastic weighed in at around 800kg, so it still needs to go on a diet. The car is powered by a 70KW (95bhp) engine that can propel the car to a pretty decent 75mph, and goes from 0-100kph in less than six seconds.
The Six50 is projected to hit the European market in late 2009, priced around €50,000. No word yet on how much it will cost in the UK.
Pagani has released shiny pictures of its new road-legal track car – the very limited edition (just five cars will be made, initially) Zonda Cinque.
The specs? It produces almost 700bhp (669, to be precise), and will get you from 0 to 62mph in 3.4 seconds, and up to a rapid 120mph in less than 10 seconds. It’s also the first time a road-going Zonda has been fitted with a six-speed sequential gearbox. The wheels are made from titanium - including the nuts and bolts. The ceramic-coated exhaust system is also made from titanium.
Yes, but how fast will it go? More than 219mph, Pagani claims. What, 220mph?
