Dope. #44

author: unknown

What to watch this week(end) (April 7th - April 13th)

• Inside West Coast Customs. Tron. Thursday @ 8pm - 9pm (Discovery's HD Theater)
• Chasing Classic Cars. Friday @ 9pm - 11pm (Discovery's HD Theater) 2nd season replays
• Formula 1 - Malaysia Grand Prix; from Kuala Lumpur/Sepang International Circuit. Qualifying. Saturday @ 4am - 5:30am (SPEED/SPEEDHD) replay Sunday at 2am
• GT - Racer: Mangny Cours Grand Prix Circuit in France. 3 hour endurance race for classic cars race cars on this historic Formula 1 track. Saturday @ 10am - 11am (Discovery's High Def Theater) replay
• Formula 1 - Malaysia Grand Prix; from Kuala Lumpur/Sepang International Circuit. Race. Sunday @ 4am - 5:30am (SPEED/SPEEDHD) replay Sunday at 2:30pm
• Rolex Sportscar Series - Porsche 250. From Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama. Sunday @ 12:00pm - 2:30pm (SPEED/SPEEDHD) replay from 4/9/11
• Australian V8 Supercars. Yas V8 400 in Abu Dhabi. Wednesday (4/13) @ 3pm - 5pm (SPEED/SPEEDHD) replay

Motorsports o' plenty this weekend, so get your TVs dusted and the comfortable clothing on. Race two of the F1 season, race four of the Rolex season, race 1 replay of the V8 Supercars season and a replay of the Mangny Cours episode of the GT Racer documentary series. With everyone in F1 jockeying for position after the Aussie GP, it'll be interesting to see if Vettel and Redbull have it all figured out...even without the admitted use of KERS last time around. Can they escape the reliability gremlins of 10'? Who will rise to challenge the throne this year? Ferrari or Mclaren?


Photo courtesy of livesportonuktv.blogspot.com

Quick Vid: BMW Unscripted. Sabine Schmitz.

A short film on Ring' legend Sabine Schmitz.


Video courtesy of BMW.

The saddest news of all is that I'll be in Germany this Summer and won't be able to get a taxi ride from her. I hope they resolve this matter with the release of the new M5.

Web Entertainment intro: Track Culture

We started following the build of a (M5)S85 V10 swapped e46 M3, by the Track Culture crew a few weeks ago, and I just added it to the Web Entertainment section of the website. This is a sample of the finished product.


Video courtesy of Trackculture. Check out the build section here.

Upcoming show: Blown Euros 2011 Spring GTG

It's that time of year again. The first organized car event on the ROTL docket this year is the Blown Euros 2011 Spring GTG. Blown Euros is a cool crew of mainly Tri-State (PA/NJ/NY) European car enthusiasts with fast rides ranging from VWs to Lamborghini's. Everyone blows money on their cars to look good and perform on the road, but this annual Spring GTG is not only an excuse to get out and show off that pile you've had in the garage (or under a tarp) all winter, it's also a yearly opportunity contribute towards the community; all proceeds from entrance tickets this year go towards Variety Children's Charity, which assists special needs children in the greater Philadelphia Metropolitan Area.

blowneuros.com

When: Sunday - April 17th, 2011 @ 10:00a – 4:00p
Where: Sesame Place parking lots, 400-482 N Bucks Town Dr, Langhorne, PA 19047
Cost: $5.00 donation per person
Directions here.

I haven't been to a Blown Euros Spring GTG since 09', but it was a great time. Bring your friends, cars and five dollar bills.

For the love of Pininfarina. #1

The Pininfarina design house has no bounds to it's influential reach in the automobile industry. From flagship automotive collaborations with companies like Ferrari for the 458 and 599, to collaborations with BBS to create OE supplied five spoke wheels for MK3 Volkswagens, Pininfarina is everywhere even if you don't know it is. It's hard to put into words what Pininfarina has meant to cars around the globe since being founded by Battista "Pinin" Farina in 1930, but for the time being let's focus on one of it's more recent notable ventures; the Ferrari P4/5 project, commissioned by investment mogul James Glickenhaus.

Photo courtesy of commons.wikimedia.org

For some background, the Ferrari 'P' designation represents the 'prototype' racecars Ferrari produced for road racing. The first Ferrari P car was the 250P, which was produced in 1963 and won several endurance races including the 24 Hours of Le Mans. As these prototype Ferrari's were produced and raced, they were evolved throughout the year, typically to larger displacement engines, as a rolling testbed for new performance technology for the following season. After the less successful 330 P2 debuted in 1965, the 330 P3 arrived for the 1966 racing season with fuel injection, a closed cockpit, new transmissions and new body design. There were three P3s produced and all three where converted to latter-designated prototypes the following year; one of which being the controversial P3/4 (Chassis# 0846), that kept all the P3 chassis and suspension parts, but was modified by Ferrari to accept the new P4 four-liter engine before the 1967 race season. During the 1967 race season, the Ferrari P3/4 scored a DNF during the 24 Hours of Le Mans due to an accident that rendered it unusable. According to reports Ferrari discarded of this very car after crashing, however, the assumed P3/4 "replica" James Glickenhaus has in his garage currently points to a much different story.

Photo courtesy of Richard Owen - Supercars.net

In 2005 Pininfarina, under leadership of Battista's grandson Andrea Pininfarina, was looking to grow business in the form of one-off commissioned project cars. Andrea approched James Glickenhaus with the idea of producing a one-off automobile and he informed them he wanted a current rendition of the Ferrari P3/4. So James bought a Ferrari Enzo, that Ferrari Enzo went to Pininfarina's assembly plant in Turin, Italy and the rest is history.


Video hosting courtesy of jynxprod.