October 2009 - Posts
Posted
Oct 31 2009, 09:00 PM
by
Dino Dalle Carbonare
with 22 comment(s)
These are the posts I love the most, allowing readers to get a more down-to-earth look into companies and personalities. Away from the limelight it is always so refreshing to see just how normal people are and the guys at T&E were a great bunch to spend the best part of a day with. I dropped by their main shop in Yokohama to try to get a behind the scenes look at what is one of the most respected aero parts makers in Japan. The man behind it all is Takahiro Ueno, who currently drivers the 2JZ...
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Posted
Oct 31 2009, 10:53 AM
by
Patrick McGrath
with 8 comment(s)
There aren't too many drift dynasties around. Let alone one quite as successful as these two brothers. Born and raised in County Cork, in the south of Ireland, James (L) and Mike (R) are the most successful brothers in the European drifting world. To get a better view of this story, we need to go back to 2004, where I first saw Mike competeing in an E30 325 BMW. . Like pretty much all Irish drift stories, this one again begins at the home of Irish drifting, the Rosegreen / Tipperary International...
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Posted
Oct 31 2009, 06:30 AM
by
Vaughn Gittin Jr
with 19 comment(s)
The RTR-C was the inspiration to create the Mustang RTR, which is basically a toned-down version that offers similar looks without the carbon or the serious performance gains. The reason I chose Autosport Dynamics (ASD) in Charlotte, NC to build the RTR-C is due to their attention to detail and complete understanding of my vision. I wanted a Mustang that was simply untouchable and was a work of art; all the way from the carbon fiber HRE CF40's, to the way that the weave of the carbon lines up...
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Posted
Oct 30 2009, 04:25 PM
by
Mike Garrett
with 22 comment(s)
It's that time of the year again. Next week the city of Las Vegas will be taken over by gearheads of all types as the SEMA Show rolls into the Convention Center. Although the economy is showing signs of a comeback, this year's show will still be toned down a bit compared to years past, with some companies skipping the event for financial reasons. Nonetheless, it's still SEMA - and there will still be miles of the latest and greatest machinery to check out.
Here are just a few of things to look out for next week-...
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Posted
Oct 30 2009, 03:32 PM
by
Rod Chong
with 10 comment(s)
This Speedhunters film is going to be my final contribution to the Driver's Month special features.
It's a quick portrait of the multiple World Touring Car Champion, Andy Priaulx.
Shot last month at the Imola round of the WTTC, we've done our best to capture the essence of Touring Car racing. The intensity, the aggressive driving and the on track dramatics.
Thanks Andy Priaulx for taking the time to talk to us. Enjoy the film!
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Posted
Oct 30 2009, 01:21 PM
by
Vaughn Gittin Jr
with 27 comment(s)
If you are halfway into drifting, then you have heard of Drift Alliance Ace Brian Wilkerson and his infamous Zombie car. The car was given the name after a serious smash into a wall at the 2007 D1GP in Englishtown when Brian let it all hang out in a battle against Imamura. He let it hang a bit too much and got bit by the wall - a wall that showed no mercy and immediately transformed the beautiful Cassius Red S13 into none other then a Zombie. Like most of us drifters, he didn't care that the...
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Posted
Oct 30 2009, 12:35 AM
by
John Brooks
with 17 comment(s)
1968 was a year of revolution; politically, socially, culturally, even down to something as trivial as sport. Nothing was ever the same again, it was, perhaps, the End of Innocence. Politically, students and workers had taken to the streets in Paris during May nearly toppling the government. In the "Prague Spring" a Soviet satellite made a bid for freedom, bloody and brutal repression by the Russians was the final outcome. In the USA a presidential election year saw LBJ resign and Richard...
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Posted
Oct 30 2009, 12:01 AM
by
Vaughn Gittin Jr
with 37 comment(s)
Even though Formula D has come to an end for the year and is a huge relief for many, the next five days are full of suspense, insanity and excitement for me, as I get ready to introduce my dream that will become a reality in a big way at SEMA. A new generation of Mustang will be introduced to the world - the Mustang RTR which will be a dealer-installed performance and appearance package available at select dealers in 2010. Official introduction to be posted here next Tuesday. If you will be at SEMA...
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Posted
Oct 29 2009, 07:09 PM
by
Jeroen Willemsen
with 25 comment(s)
Some of you should recognize this car as the 550 Maranello that has been build by Garage Saurus . It's a car that is constant developing. I have been following the build and I have been amazed at the quality of the build. This time they went out for a track day on the Fuji Speedway for some much needed testing. It is just a testament that Garage Saurus is still one of Japans greatest tuners. JeroenWillemsen
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Posted
Oct 29 2009, 04:15 PM
by
Mike Garrett
with 29 comment(s)
It was the Winter Nationals at Pomona California in 1974. We were down to the last round of qualifying, with no success of making the field yet because I’d had ignition problems all weekend. But when I warming up the car in the pits, it sounded so sharp. I knew I’d found the problem. But little did I know I was about to take the “E ticket” ride of my life on the next run....
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Posted
Oct 29 2009, 02:32 PM
by
Mike Garrett
with 17 comment(s)
Found this really cool photo on the Noblesse offical site, taken before a huge nationwide Honda Fit meeting in Japan earlier this month.
Noblesse never fails to impress, whether it's with their sexy dress-up builds or their track cars.
-Mike Garrett...
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Posted
Oct 29 2009, 12:04 PM
by
Mike Garrett
with 21 comment(s)
The other day we got an email from Australian photographer Jared Ahearn who wanted to share some photos he shot at the finale of the "Stadium Drift" series held last weekend in Queensland. I'm not terribly familiar with this series, but judging by Jared's photos it looks like the event was full of the kind of mayhem we love....
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Posted
Oct 29 2009, 10:37 AM
by
Mike Garrett
with 8 comment(s)
I was going through some of my old photos this morning when I came across this picture I took of a 240ZG race car at last year's Nismo Festival. I figured it was time my computer got a new Desktop and of course I had to "share the wealth" with you guys.
Head over to the Desktops section to pick it up in widescreen or standard format.
-Mike Garrett...
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Posted
Oct 28 2009, 06:30 PM
by
Dino Dalle Carbonare
with 24 comment(s)
If you were wondering what video I was talking about in my Retrospective about Taniguchi, this is it, shot by a couple of friends of his that really struggled to keep up with him!
-Dino Dalle Carbonare
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Posted
Oct 28 2009, 05:30 PM
by
Dino Dalle Carbonare
with 19 comment(s)
It was hard to pick a second D1 driver to do a small retrospective on, following the post on Ueo's career as a professional drifter. There are just so many great drivers in Japan to choose from, but after much deliberation it just had to be Nobuteru Taniguchi. Taniguchi is one driver I have great respect for, having managed to build a racing career with his own two hands, starting off in small one make racing sereis making it all the way to Super GT. In fact as I write this he is preparing to...
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Posted
Oct 28 2009, 02:45 PM
by
Mike Garrett
with 10 comment(s)
Just a couple weeks ago I posted a photo of a previous gen Accord Wagon from Japan, pondering how cool it would be if Honda decided to bring the new Accord Tourer to North America as the TSX Wagon. Perhaps someone from Honda was reading? Acura has just announced the TSX Sport Wagon will be joining the lineup for 2011. The car most likely will look very similar to the Euro/Japanese market Accord Tourer pictured up above.
Hmmm...I wonder if it will be time to replace my daily driver come 2011?
-Mike Garrett...
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Posted
Oct 28 2009, 12:21 PM
by
Mike Garrett
with 48 comment(s)
I'm not quite done with my Garage Boso features yet, here's one more Boso-built car you guys might be interested in. The RA21 Celica above is owned by Option Magazine and Tokyo Auto Salon founder Daijiro Inada - a very well known personality both in Japan and abroad. Dai spends a lot of time in LA visiting his brother and taking part in the automotive culture here, so he decided to build a car to enjoy in sunny SoCal. After picking up the project, Dai brought the car over to Garage Boso where the guys got to work on transforming it into a modern kyuu-sha hot rod....
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Posted
Oct 28 2009, 10:21 AM
by
Mike Garrett
with 17 comment(s)
So did you guys hear the news about a new Mad Max film being made? Somebody should contact the owner of this JZX90 Chaser in Japan for casting.
The specs on these SSR Formula Mesh wheels? 16x10 -27 up front and 16x11.5 -16 out back. This wheel setup combined with the old school flares and flat paint make this one of the hottest JZX cars I've seen in a while.
-Mike Garrett...
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Posted
Oct 28 2009, 08:10 AM
by
Rod Chong
with 65 comment(s)
Wow what a response we are getting to our Access Zero 42 coverage! Glad you lot like the photos, but the true testament has to go to the organizers of the show who brought a lot of fellow auto enthusiasts together for this meet. Linhbergh and I decided we were going to select 1 car from the event to shoot as the November "Slammed" theme calendar desktop. It needed to be a car that we hadn't already shot as photo features, and one that we weren't already aware of. I wasn't sure...
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Posted
Oct 28 2009, 05:00 AM
by
Linhbergh
with 51 comment(s)
Irwindale came, and Irwindale went. The tire smoke has settled and the modern gladiatorial spectacle known as Formula D has ended, but the ink is still drying from the tales written in the FD history books. However, there was one particular gladiator that stuck out from the rest. It was a story of "David and Goliath" proportions, retelling the classic children's book The Little Engine that Could. A student from San Diego California and the only privateer with zero sponsors, Matt Powers...
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