#wiesmann for the Mondays
Thing of beauty that Wiesmann gt mf5
Wiesmann MF5 for #caseofmondays
GOODWOOD & THE JOY OF HILLS
We love hill climbing. Simple format; there’s a track up a hill – you have to be quickest. Unlike gridded wheel-to-wheel racing, there are no tactics, no strategies available and no one to show you the way. It’s just a pure test of car and driver.
If Colorado’s Pikes Peak is the ultimate Hillclimb, then Goodwood’s Festival of Speed (coming up this weekend) is a delicious tongue tip taster of the form. Every year a huge variety of vehicles — from priceless vintage cars and the latest in cutting edge Hypercar exotica to Rod Millen’s Pike Peak slaying Celica (above & Below) — gather on the lawn of Lord March’s elegant Sussex Estate.
I was lucky enough to witness this monstrous missile setting its record time a few years ago. Sometimes a vehicle can be so powerful it’s a little frightening to be near it.
This was such a car.
Not sure if Rod Millen will be at Goodwood this weekend – but rest assured it’s the highlight of the petrolhead year. And you should be there.
PIKES PEAK 1958
With the motorsport season finally upon us we can’t help but share with you this amazing little race car.
Apparently, this open wheeled beast was the vehicle in which legendary US racer Bobby Unser won the 1958 Pikes Peak ‘race to the clouds’.
We’re not sure of much more spec or details on the vehicle itself – only that the thing looks like more fun than a barrel of drunken monkeys. At Christmas.
Questons, for example include: is that a flathead V8? What kind of carbs are they? And what sorts of times would this machine have made up the hill?
Any info that you, dear readers, can afford, would be much appreciated.
GROUP 5 HERO: BMW 320 TURBO
Of all the racing formulas that produced stunning race cars, Group 5 is one of our favourites.
And this BMW 320 Turbo is a fave among faves.
The formula, which was in its deregulated niceness, was almost the precursor of Group B rally in that there were super fat versions of the road cars. The regulation required only the bonnet, roof, doors and rail panel were left unmodified. What resulted were spectacular racing cars.
We particularly love this guy’s casual stance. And his beard. if anyone can identify the man, we’d like to send him our sincere congratulations on his pure stylish ease…
Look out for a mini series of group 5 wonders!
WALTER ROHL AND THE BALLET OF THE QUATTRO.
Not sure whether or not we’ve posted this before or whether you’ve seen it: but this edit is one of our favourite clips of all time.
We love the teutonic coolness of the navigator’s voice (though it obviously wasn’t recorded in-car). We love the simple cutaways to Walter’s blue suede shoes, the steering wheel and the page turning navigator book (though they probably weren’t shot at speed).
But mostly we love the point of view madness that illustrates the divine lunacy of Group B rally – and which ultimately resulted in the formula’s early demise.
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