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. 

 

All Star Dealers: Air Jordans, 1928 Yankees World Series glory and more!

03/15/2012

by Eileen Marable

The gang at Grey Flannel Auctions are pretty darn lucky. Every day priceless sports artifacts come through their door. Jerseys, shoes, programs and just about anything tied to a sports star or team is open for consideration.

Sports memorabilia is a tricky business. Often it’s filled with emotion and an individual’s personal love for their team. Many sports fans can tell you the weather and the team line up on the day of an away game from their team’s 1985 season. Personal memories can become mixed in – like fans who hold Packer’s themed weddings or those who name their children after their favorite player and hold on to the all the game programs from the year they were born.

With all the variables involved in sports, big personalities and personal preferences, how does one determine what’s valuable in the market of sports memorabilia. What kind of items actually make the cut?

We'll give you some hints: autographed items are great. So are items from the early careers of all-star players or up-and-comers. And, if the item also comes from a record setting game, now you are talking.

Here are some items that with knock Rich’s socks off in tonight’s premiere episode at 10:00p E/P. We think you’ll start to see a pattern:

Michael Jordan’s NBA All-Star Game Sneakers – These sneakers tick all the must have boxes. Not only is this pair of sneakers worn and autographed they happed to belong to the man widely recognized as basketball’s greatest player ever.  Air Jordan. His Airness.  Mr. Michael Jordan. Among Jordan’s many accomplishments include bringing the Chicago Bulls to three back to back NBA championships from ’91 – ’93 and after a brief break came back to do it again from ’96 – ’98. He won five MVP awards and appeared in the NBA All-Star Games fourteen times. Basically if it was important- or even remotely related to – basketball, Jordan has done it. In fact he’s even been voted second only to Babe Ruth on the Associated Press’ list of athletes of the century.  

1928 World Series Program: Yankees v. Cardinals – Admittedly this item has a head start being valuable having survived from back in 1928. A program from this game gets even more points when you consider it had the nation riveted thanks to the amazing efforts of the winning NY Yankees and two of their star players. The Yankees came into the series strong and stayed strong thanks to a team effort. Lou Gehrig drove in as many runs alone as the entire Cardinals team combined.  And the Babe? He hit .625 and hit three homers in the final game to drive a nail in the Series. The Series win marked the first time a team had won back-to-back Series.  A surviving program from this historic game is truly a special find. 

LA Angels All-Star Jered Weaver Autographed Rookie Season Jersey – Weaver is one of the most talked about up-and-comers in baseball.  By now you are getting the hang of this sports memorabilia thing. First, he’s a prominent player with a winning record. Second, the jersey is autographed. Third, it is worn. Weaver used this jersey in his rookie season. But there is a surprising fourth reason that adds to this item’s value. We don’t want to give this one away so you’ll just have to watch and see if you can spot why this jersey might be extra collectible.

Are you hooked on sports memorabilia yet?  Have you gotten the hang of what makes a sweet find?  The team at Grey Flannel have so many items that come across their desks there are plenty of stories to share – and Velocity will be there as they unfold.

 All-Star Dealers airs Thursdays on Velocity at 10:00p E/P and 10:30p E/P 

Don’t let us be the only one telling stories…tell us your favorite sports memories or memorabilia?

 

ONE OF A KIND CAPTION CONTEST: Play and Win!!

02/07/2012

Here's your chance to show us your skills!

We're tweeting out a photo from One of a Kind and we want YOU to come up with a funny, clever, awesome caption to go along with it.  The top 5 submissions will win a Velocity prize pack. 

All you have to do is tweet it to us @VelocityTV1 anytime tonight between 5-11:30 PM ET/PT.

Good luck!

 

 

 

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The Velocity One of A Kind Giveaway Official Rules

VOID WHERE PROHIBITED. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN.  INTERNET ACCESS IS REQUIRED. SPONSORED BY DISCOVERY COMMUNICATIONS, LLC. TWITTER IS NOT A SPONSOR OF THIS PROMOTION. 

OFFERED ONLY TO LEGAL RESIDENTS OF THE 50 UNITED STATES AND THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA ("U.S."), AGED 18 YEARS OR OLDER.

Tech Toys Gift Guide: Gear for the Man Cave

12/09/2011

In the last edition of our Tech Toys gift guide, we took you on the road.  Now it’s time to outfit your man cave in a manner befitting your passion for gadgetry and desire to have a little bit of fun.

Our philosophy is, you work hard so you should be able to play big right?  Right! Well check out these gems we found here and there as we were inspired by some of the amazing gadgets we see on Tech Toys.  Any one of these will make you legendary in your neighborhood:

The Nottage Pool Table as seen on Tech Toys, Tuesdays at 8:30p ET                Photo credit: DCI

Nottage Pool Table

These designer pool tables are ultra-modern, with a patented Vitrik transparent playing surface on top of a 15mm toughened glass top. That means the balls roll just like they do on the ones you see at the bar only they look a hell of a lot cooler. And, when you don’t see a price on their site you know this pool table is going to be classy.

Cowboys Meet the Real McCoy

11/10/2011

It was backup quarterback Vince Young who first dubbed the Philadelphia Eagles of 2011 a “Dream Team,” having signed some of the biggest name free agents during the post-lockout player acquisition frenzy.

For most of the season, however, the Eagles have not so much soared, as crashed and burned.

Turnovers, missed assignments, a defense that plays the run like it's a 7-on-7 drill … there were very good reasons that they hosted their first matchup of the season with Dallas at 2-4.

And then came week 8.

The clouds parted, the music started and the sun shone on the dream that Philadelphia fans have been waiting to experience …