The Grand Ascent Hillclimb 2012

06/16/2012

On Tuesday 12/11, you'll get to see a classic episode of Chasing Classic Cars where Wayne Carini goes through his plan to market and then sell th Porsche Special Hill Climb Car. He takes it to the Hershey Hill Climb race to put it through its paces and has a darn good time doing it. But that doesn't stop him from taking it to auction.

THough the Hill Climb took place back in June, we were lucky enough to have Kenneth Visser - automobile fan, blogger and photographer extraordinaire on site and reporting back on the action. Take a walk down memory lane below, and don't forget to tune in to Chasing Classic Cars starting on Tuesday 12/11 starting at 9p.

Another fine tradition has been reignited with the second running of the The Grand Ascent Hillclimb held on the grounds of the Hershey Hotel.  This is a VSCCA sanctioned hill climb exhibition and features a wide variety historic racing cars thundering up a five turn three quarters of a mile long course.  A unique opportunity to see, hear and smell vintage race cars slamming gears.  This event was reignited with the start of the Elegance At Hershey.  We'll talk more about the Concours later.  Let's take a look at some of the neat machinery that was attacking the hill.

Wayne Carini was selected as the Honary Grand Marshall of the Grand Ascent.  He brought his smile and his driving skills to the hill.

Wayne Carini of Chasing Classic Cars took the Bill Rutan VW* special with a 356 four cam motor up the hill.  Wayne spoke about the rides up later "I had a blast"  And his sub 57 second times were reflective of his blistering pace. 

 

Astronomical Price For Neil Armstrong's '67 Corvette

05/08/2012

The ebay auction for Neil Armstrong's 1967 Corvette Sting Ray ended on Sunday with the highest bid being 250,090. An atronomical amount that did not even meet the seller's reserve.

The high price seems to solely be based on the fact that the first man on the moon once owned the car, not the car's model, make or condition. The car has not been driven since 1981, and looks like it made a trip to the moon itself. According to the seller the car was stored in a climate-controlled environment and is mostly original. 

To prove the validity of the car's previous ownership, the  seller presents the car's original General Motors "Protect-O-Plate," a factory issued metal tag with the name of the car's original owner. The Corvette was given to Armstrong, after race car driver Jim Rathmann convinced the GM president to set up a program to supply each astronaut with a pair of new cars each year. Most chose a family car for their wives and a Corvette for themselves.

Not bad being an astronaut those days.

In tonight's episode of Chasing Classic Cars Wayne Carini is commissioned to sell several classic Chevrolets and a Dodge Challenger. With the risk of getting lost in the crowd of 2,000 cars being sold at the Mecum Auction in Kissimee, Fl, Carini would be over the moon if any of those cars got a bid that high.

The Oldest Surviving Mini Could be Yours

04/27/2012

That is, if you can pay the $19,000-$24,000 this Austin Mini Se7en De Luxe is estimated to be auctioned for on Wednesday, April 30, in London.

To the untrained eye this car looks like a rustbucket that belongs at a junkyard, but to those with car knowledge this car is a very exciting piece of scrap metal.

How Complicated is a Steering Wheel in an F1 Car?

04/18/2012

By Doris Molenaar

Maybe I’m just an idiot driver – but there are many buttons on my steering wheel that I don’t know the use of, mostly because while I’m driving I can’t pay attention to the traffic and look at my steering wheel at the same time. I sometimes make a half-hearted attempt to find the cruise-control button, but I immediately start swirling and somewhat panic-stricken that I will crash my car into the guard rails I’ll give up on that adventurous quest and think: “I’ll just keep my gas pedal right here.”

(OK, clearly I’m an idiot driver)

But you can understand my amazement when I saw this video where racing driver Michael Schumacher explains how a modern Formula One car steering wheel works – something that closer resembles a game controller than anything. This colorful steering wheel functions as a driver’s control panel, information display and communication hub.

Besides having features like paddle shifters, with this steering wheel you can change everything from engine torque to fuel mixture. There is a boost button that release 80hp for about 10 seconds (I call that the mushroom option), a neutral button and an obligatory blue button for reverse. To further prove that it’s actually a game controller there is also a reset button.

The only thing I think the steering wheel is missing is a button that shoots out turtle shells to knock out any competitors.

The Corvettes of Amelia Island Concours 2012

04/08/2012

One can find it challenging to define an automotive “golden age”.  For someone growing up in before WWII, it might have been the roaring twenties and the rise of custom bodied cars.  That sun settled with the depression and the start of WWII.  After which gave rise to the nimble sports car which in turn gave birth to the “golden age” of the American muscle car. 

In the fifties, the big 3 were focused on profit and marketing strategies.  Big was in as suburbia ventured out on the exponentially increasing highway system.  Even as the bean counters sought sturdy profits in comfortable sedans, there was an undercurrent coming from the youngsters. 

GM introduced the Corvette in 1953 to focus on the youth market.  It may not have been obnoxiously powered, but the Corvette used fiberglass to lighten the load of the 150 hp Blue Flame 235 cubic inch straight 6.

Beyond the gaze of management, there were guys tinkering with bold ideas and even bigger horsepower.  Zora Arkus-Duntov led a team of engineers to create the ultra light 1957 XP-64 SS concept.  The 1850 pound Corvette was powered by a 307 horsepower, fuel injected V-8.  Using the Mercedes 300SL as a template, the featherweight Magnesium bodied Corvette was created with the 24 hours of LeMans in mind.

The XP-64’s first test was to be the 12 hours of Sebring.  Juan Manuel Fangio, the winner of the 57 Sebring, came on board to test the XP-64.  In his virgin runs the Corvette was 4 seconds faster then the competition.  But the program fell victim to the American auto making industry uniting to ban the factory racecars.  Can't you just see Racer X running down the road in this ride?