The Amazo Effect

Meep Meep

2013-05-15T09:00:00.000+01:00

Zippedybop! Koo-Koo Ka Choo! It's Bill Cosby's Old Ferrari

2013-05-13T13:00:00.000+01:00

DISCLAIMER:
We apologise for the title of this piece; There may be more distinctly cheesy Bill Cosby puns coming up; Those of a nervous disposition might want to watch Leonard Part 6 instead and we'll let you know when we're done, although having seen that film, I recommend you stick with us.

Bill Cosby. A person who has probably become a bit of a parody of himself, no thanks in part to numerous pisstakes on Family Guy and The Simpsons. Add to that his cuddly, loveable buffoon image on The Cosby Show and you may be thinking you just can't take the man seriously.
Well, shame on you, you should. He starred in the great 60's spoof spy series I Spy as well as Mother, Jugs & Speed and Uptown Saturday Night. But the main reason why you Amazosonians should take this man seriously? He's a petrolhead. Oh yeah.
As well as once being the spokesperson for Ford of America back in the 1970's, he's owned some pretty tasty automobiles; various Rollers and Italian exotica almost go without saying; but he also owned one of the two Cobra Super Snakes. It may have had an automatic transmission, but the Super Snake also had a 427ci big-block Ford V8 with twin Paxton superchargers and 925 bhp. Thats nine hundred and twenty five brake horsepower. Gulp. Only two were built.
Cosby bought it, drove it once, and then promptly sold it to someone else as it terrified him, a fact he elaborates on in his '200mph' skit:

Going back to his love of Italian thoroughbreds and Ferraris in particular, he also owned this Ferrari 365GT4 2+2. Not to be confused with the later (and almost identical looking) 400 successor wit the GM automatic transmission, The model was introduced in 1972 to replace the 365 GTC/4, with a chassis derived from that of the legendary 365GTB/4 Daytona. The 365 GT4 2+2 featured all-new Pininfarina bodywork with little resemblance to the Daytona. The car was longer and wider to fulfil its role as a relaxed grand tourer but most of the running gear, including the engine, were carried over from it's Daytona forebearer. These cars were never officially imported to the States, so I assume he ordered it through the 'Milano Imports' as mentioned on the plaque.
Now take a moment to get used to the colour. Now on the face of it, brown, and a shade of brown that reminds you of, you know, that stuff should be the worst colour to have a car painted in, but this brown horse has kinda grown on everyone in the office. The car is currently for sale on eBay for $37,500; I spy a bargain for someone stateside....

The mallet is for the knock off nuts; this brown beauty has centre-lock wheels

12 Hours of Sebring, 20th March 1971

2013-05-13T09:00:00.000+01:00

Vic Elford (the driver in the photo) and Gerard Larrousse won Sebring in 1971 driving this Martini & Rossi Porsche 917K. Their main competition came from the John Wyer Gulf Porsche 917 team and the Penske prepared Ferrari 512M driven by Mark Donohue and David Hobbs.

During the race, Pedro Rodriguez's Gulf Porsche 917 had a coming together with the Mark Donohue Ferrari 512M. Donohue always felt that Rodriguez and the Porsche teams were trying to knock him out of the race. Some felt that the Penske Ferrari 512M had the best chance of beating Porsche 917s at both Daytona and Sebring but accidents at both races ruined their chances..

Sharply Dressed

2013-05-10T09:00:00.000+01:00

REIMS 2013 - Salon Champenois du Véhicule de Collection

2013-05-08T13:00:00.000+01:00

9-10 March 2013, Reims Parc Des Expos.
The Salon Champagne Vehicle Collection is among the five largest European trade fairs. A similar format to our Enfield and Bromley Pageants, There were copious amounts of classic cars on display an autojumble, model stands and vintage magazine vendors. According to official figures, more than 26,000 visitors from throughout Europe attended the two-day event.
More pictures here.

Alfa Romeo 1750 saloon:

Rare Giulia Sprint GT Veloce:

Alpine-Renault A110:

A brace of Auto Union 1000:

2CV and Arcadiane campers:

Ami 6, deux fois:

The want is strong for this base-spec BX...

...and this GS Break. 80's Citroens seem to be undergoing a renaissance:

Thsi Darl'Mat bodied Peugeot 302 Roadster, finished 8th, Le Mans 24 hours, 1937

1910 De Dion Bouton Type CL:

A Ford 4D? Nope, a Citroen U23:

Fiat-Abarth 124 Spyder:

Mustang III Ghia, C3 'vette:

Abarth 695:

Georges Irat ODU Roadster:

La Licorne L04 Cabriolet:

Lotus Europa Special:

Matra M530:

Opel Commodore GS:

Opel Olympia:

Mercedes-Benz 170:

Panhard CD and PL24...

...and double Dyna Zs:

Peugeots 201, 202, 203:

Yamaha SR500:

Terrot, BSA-powered:

Bernadet moped:

Lovely Aermacchi 125:

Belgian Saroléa bike:

René gillet v-twins:

And now a plethora of Peugeot bikes; 1905 Type Z:

Rally moped is nice:

1937 P112:

1938 P135:

1947 P135:

1955 55GL 125:

Morini Franco Motori moped:

Gnome Rhone AX2 dates from WWII; looks more modern:

FIN

Lotus Eater

2013-05-08T09:00:00.000+01:00

A Date With Destiny, Revisited

2013-05-01T10:00:00.000+01:00

Long time fans of this blog will no doubt remember our Senna Week last year. We're very proud of what we achieved and very flattered with the feedback we received, the whole experience sparked an idea in Amazo-san's fertile brain; the results you see below. It's basically the photos we used from that fateful day in May 1994 at Imola, set to two pieces of music that we feel suit them perfectly.
We hope you enjoy it as much as we have and as much as the 'Zo did making it.

In Brightest Day, In Blackest Night

2013-05-01T09:00:00.000+01:00

Roland Ratzenberger - The Forgotten Tragedy

2013-04-30T13:00:00.000+01:00

April 30, 1994. The forgotten victim, the forgotten tragedy.

People tend to forget that there were two deaths during that fateful race weekend of the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix. Ask any race fan who died that weekend, and they will tell you without hesitation, Ayrton Senna. Its a tragedy in itself that Roland Ratzenberger's demise became little more than a footnote to the weekend.

Ratzenberger was born on July 4, 1960 in Salzburg, Austria. His early racing career was spent in the single seat, open-wheel class of Formula Ford where he made his début in 1983, where he excelled by winning the Central European and Austrian championships in 1985. Ratzenberger entered into sports car racing in the late 80's when he raced for the first time at the Le Mans 24 hours in the Brun Motorsport Porsche 962. His Sarthe début would prove to be short-lived when his Porsche retired in only the third hour. In 1993, he recorded his best finish with a class victory, and an overall finish of 5th place in the Toyota 93C-V that was entered by the SARD Sigma Advanced Racing Development) team.

Outside of Le Mans, Ratzenberger spent the early 90's racing in Japan in the Japanese Sports Prototype Championship, Japanese Touring Car Championship and finally the Formula 3000 championship. 1993 saw him finish 11th overall in F3000. For the 1994 season, ex-March Engineering aerodynamicist Nick Wirth put together the Simtek team. He signed David Brabham, son of 3-time world champion Jack Brabham as one of the drivers; the other driver he signed was Ratzenberger on a five race contract. With the ban on active suspension systems now in force, Wirth had to redesign the Simtek car (as did many other teams) and came up with the S941 which was sporting a 'customer' (i.e. off-the shelf as opposed to tailored for Simtek) Ford HB V8 and a full manual gearbox. Simtek was at a disadvantage from the start of the season because they were operating on a skeleton crew of 35 employees, which was a tenth of the amount Scuderia Ferrari employed for their F1 effort. They ultimately would last only through 1994 and 1995 seasons.

Simtek managed to get one of their cars on the starting grid for the first race of the season; the Brazilian GP at Interlagos. Brabham managed to turn in a qualifying time that put his S941 dead last in 26th. In those days, F1 was not limited to the 12 teams we see currently; there were more than 12 teams battling it out for the 26 grid spots. Consequently, Ratzenberger failed to qualify for that race. However the Pacific GP would see Brabham and Ratzenberger take 25th and 26th respectively on the starting grid. To give an idea of how far behind the frontrunning cars the Simteks were, Ratzenberger qualified 6.7 seconds behind pole position winner, Ayrton Senna. Unlike Senna however, Ratzenberger would finish the race and worked his way up to 11th after more than 50% of the field was wiped out due to mechanical failures or crashes.

Saturday April 30, 1994, was the second round of qualifying for the San Marino GP. Pole position was still occupied by Ayrton Senna, who had set a blistering 1:21.548 during Friday's qualifying session. The best Ratzenberger had set on Friday was a 1:27.657, which was just over 6.1 seconds slower. During the warm-up lap, while passing through the Acque Minerali chicane, he made contact with the kerbs and damaged the S941's front wing. Instead of opting to come into the pits to have the damage repaired, he decided to go through with a hot lap. Pushing the Simtek through the 6th gear, 190mph Tamburello Corner, he came tearing down the straight to the slight right Villeneuve corner that led into the double left-hander, Tosa. At some point when approaching Villeneuve, the damaged front wing broke off completely, and resulted in a catastrophic loss of downforce on the front end of the S941; the end result being an inability to slow down the car. Roland left the track at approximately 195mph and went straight into the concrete wall that was about 20-25 feet from the edge of the track. The car slid all the way against the wall and grass until finally coming to rest on the track at Tosa. Medical personnel arrived immediately and red flags were waved to stop qualifying. Professor Sid Watkins got to the scene and was able to intubate Ratzenberger, but he already knew the chance of survival was non-existent. Ratzenberger was pronounced dead at the hospital as opposed to the race track because according to Italian law, had he been declared dead on the track, the San Marino Grand Prix would have been cancelled so the accident could be investigated. The race organisers stood to lose $5 million if that happened, and it unfortunately was the decision that was made.
The decision would have dire consequences the following day.

Roland Ratzenberger' demise marked the first fatality during a race weekend of a driver in 12 years, since Ricardo Paletti at Montreal twelve years earlier. Many drivers and team members were visibly shaken by the news a few hours later that Ratzenberger had succumbed to injuries. This was the first real exposure that any of the drivers in F1 in 1994 had to death on the track. 20 years earlier, death was an all too real occurrence that hung over the heads of drivers like a sword. They either accepted the risks and went on with business, or they opted like Sir Jackie Stewart (who had seen too many fatalatities and had his own near-misses) to not chance fate any longer, and retire from the sport. The show must go on is an all too common refrain in many sports. As it always did, for better or for worse, the F1 circus did go on.

For many, it will be the death of Ayrton Senna that is remembered and rightly so, for his genius and impact on F1 is still felt to this day. However, Roland Ratzenberger is the forgotten man in F1’s nightmare weekend. He was full of determination, humour and desire to achieve his dream. He was a popular man amongst all those in the paddock, which is rare in a sport filled with egos. He may never have climbed the very heights of F1 the way Senna had or indeed won races, but the fact that he was cruelly robbed of the chance is a sobering thought.

Roland Ratzenberger, July 4 1960 – April 30, 1994

Ferrari 365GTB/4 'Daytona' - A 90's Tribute

2013-04-26T12:00:00.000+01:00

'Beautiful, spectacular, fantastic, fascinating, elegant, powerful- that's the Daytona; a driver's Ferrari!'

coos the narrator on this documentary. And he's right; its all of that. It's 2013 and none of his adjectives have lost any substance in the 20-odd years since he uttered them.

This absolute gem of a film was recorded by someone from TV onto a VHS tape many years ago; sadly the precise details have been lost in time, but that really doesn't matter. This is an unapologetic tribute to what was then the last of the front engine V12 Ferraris, with and added bonus of an interview with a very famous former Daytona owner; the late great Clay Regazzoni.
But what REALLY makes the programme is watching a car, which at the time was worth up £150,000 (and would cost you £300,000-400,000 to buy now) being driven like it should be, i.e. having it's neck wrung by the driver.
Turn the volume up to 11, and enjoy.

- Amazosan

Top Trumps Car Of The Day - Sbarro Lola T70

2013-04-26T09:00:00.000+01:00

1960 Edsel Two-Door Sedan Convertible - Sledsel

2013-04-24T13:00:00.000+01:00

An Edsel; surely not the greatest of base material to start with when building a top class custom; aren't they those 1950's cars with the grill that looks like someone's squashed it's lips together? Well yes and no.
The Edsel marque only existed for three model years (1958-1960); designed to fit between the Mercury and Lincoln marques as so to push the latter upmarket to do battle with Cadillac, which was at that time a rival for the likes of Buick and Oldsmobile. Poor build quality, together with a disastrous lack of market research led to releasing a product that didn't appeal to the majority of the car-buying public; the result was poor sales. The brand was canned in 1960 with losses of $350m; an expensive exercise in how not to launch a car company. Ford announced the end of the Edsel program on Thursday, November 19, 1959; however, production continued until late in November, with the final tally of 2,846 1960 model year cars, such as the example you see here.
Unlike the '58 & '59 cars the 1960 Edsel Ranger is a bit of a looker; this particular example started life as a 2-door saloon (the convertible is super-rare and hard to find) converted to a ragtop with a whole ton of work done to stop it shaking apart. That gorgeous rear end is original Edsel and the car has a lot more work done to get that low ride height. It makes the contemporary Ford Thunderbird, one of the supposed 'glamour' cars of the FoMoCo line-up look more than a little gawky in comparison.
Read more info about this oxmoronic Edsel here.

Marauding Presence

2013-04-24T09:00:00.000+01:00

Bentley Barnato Roadster Concept By Benjamin Knapp Voith

2013-04-22T12:00:00.000+01:00

Automotive designer Benjamin Knapp Voith pays tribute to the Bentley Boys with this superb Barnato Roadster concept designed during a 8-month internship at Bentley Motors. It's aim is to create a modern interpretation of what the Bentley Boys - those elite and adventurous gentlemen racers of the mid-1920s, who drove such monsters as the 4½ Litre Blower - would drive if they were alive today.
In honour of their memory, not to mention the Bentley Boys’ many race victories at Brooklands and four consecutive wins at the Le Mans 24 Hours, Knapp Voith named the concept the Barnato Roadster, after Woolf Barnato, an English financier who had made a fortune as a entrepreneur in South African diamond and gold mining. He was also a keen racing driver and one of the Bentley Boys; he achieved three consecutive wins out of three entries in the Le Mans 24 hours.
Based on the wheelbase of the Continental GT, the Barnato features an interesting asymmetrical seating arrangement with an optional passenger seat inspired by current LMP2 racers, a body made of carbon fibre, and would be powered by a modified version of the Audi S4′s V6.
Ben´s tribute was apparently not only inspired by Bentley´s early racers (the 1924 Bentley 3/8 'Hawkeye Special' especially, to our eyes), but also the R-Type Continental.
The end result is a stylish contemporary car with self-evident attention to detail, keeping the proportions and curves that make a vintage Bentley special. While to our eyes it seems a little too dainty to suit the 'fastest lorry in the world' image that Ettore Bugatti so famously coined, there's no doubting the design keeps drawing your eye back in.
Take the Blue Train to here for more info; a brief portfolio of Benjamin Knapp Voith's work here.

FIA GT 500 Km, Donington Park, September 6 1998

2013-04-22T09:00:00.000+01:00

It may not have been the best looking car on the grid in some peoples eyes, the front engined Panoz certainly had some speed. A car that would improve over the years in the top class in FIA GT and ALMS. Here it is seen chasing the AMG Mercedes for the lead at the 1998 FIA GT Donington Park 500 km. At the time Brabham and Eric Bernard were holding a strong third place ahead of the works Porsches, but would unfortunately retire just before half distance.

Wheels Day 2013

2013-04-19T13:00:00.000+01:00

Friday 29th March 2013, Rushmoor Arena, Aldershot, Hampshire.
The weather's been a bit unseasonal this year, but the conditions were good enough not to be a deterrent for the entrants or the crowds. Sure, there were some sodden parts (as some of the cars found out!), but everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves.
More pictures here.

Model A pickup is sporting real-deal Halibrand wheels, while the '65 Mercury Comet wasn't exactly lacking the the rolling stock dept, sporting what looked to be genuine old-stock American Racing wheels:

Mercedes L319 motorhome was just lovely:

A car fit for royalty. The Martin Walter built Vauxhall Cresta PC estates were rare even when new (they were only produced between 1967-68) and very expensive; only two are known to exist. The Queen owned one as well, but the whereabouts of that car is not known.

MKIV Zodiacs are always a treat for the eyes:

Lowered Corolla on Rotas - simple and elegant:

Ford 307E van looks tuff:

Chevy AK truck had patina by the boatload:

Rock on to Corvette avenue:

'PUSSHHH!!!'

Anyone for Golf?

1964 Pontiac Parisienne. Parisienne was the Canadian nameplate for the top of the line model sold in GM of Canada's Pontiac showrooms:

A personal favourite of Amazo-san's; late 70's C3 Corvette. Two-tone paint was a common colour scheme for 'vettes at the time:

1950 Ford; another car with great patina:

1961–1963 Buick Special; it's aluminium block 215ci V8 led a long career as the Rover V8. We're digging that aerial:

Bar the wheel spats and lights, Triumph Renowns look like this from the factory. This one has a Ford V6:

A replica of the Rea Racing Transit that legendary TT racer Joey Dunlop used to transport his bikes around in. Full feature coming soon.

Slot mags, primer and zoomies - one cheeky Rascal:

After the Greenbrier at last year's event, this year we were treated to a Corvair rampside pickup:

Volkswagen Type 147 Kleinlieferwagen (small van), a design commissioned by the German Postal Service:

Farinas will be the next hot ticket, car wise. This MG Magnette's got attitude:

Can't build 'our' type of cars under IVA? Well this Pop passed the test. Get building, kids:

THAT Panhard:

Two legendary, yellow V8-powered MKII Consuls, but that's where the similarities end; the first is Henry Hirise. We'll be getting some magazine scans up from it's original build in the 70's , but trust us when we say that the restoration to it's former glory is absolutely faithful:

And the Mark Spooner-built Lemon Squash. Like it or hate it, it's a one-off:

'70 Dodge Dart Swinger:

Lovely Model A:

Don't be fooled by the '37 Ford looks; its a much modified 7W-shape Ford 10:

Is this an old build? Appliance wires on this Austin 12/4 Heavy saloon tend to suggest so:

'57 Ford Ranchero:

The fun wasn't restricted to the show area; this Vauxhall Chevette Special was in the car park area...

While this Transit minibus was tucked behind the stands. Yum.

£400 bought you this MKII Cortina with original strut tops...

...while a lot more money would be needed to take this '35 Ford delivery truck home:

The Opus HRF, a kit car created in 1967 by Geoff Thomas and Neville Trickett, the men behind the Minisprint. This example was very well finished; 'Allard Shorrck' badge and Dragstar rocker cover suggest the pre-crossflow has a lot of ponies waiting to get out:

Yes, that is a VW flat-four out back, and it ain't luggage. #awaits 16-page rant thread on popular modified car forum#

Fiat 130 saloon, debatable wheels:

Simca 1100 - making Minilites look good:

While this 1967-1968 Chrysler 300 2D Hardtop can make anything look good. The 'non-letter' 300 series cars are seriously underrated, in our opinion.

FIN

Top Trumps car Of The Day - Fiat 126 Jungla

2013-04-19T09:00:00.000+01:00

the Cutaway Diagram Files - MGTD

2013-04-17T09:00:00.000+01:00

Coming Right At'cha

2013-04-15T09:00:00.000+01:00

Top Trumps Car Of The Day - Bertone Citroen GS

2013-04-12T09:00:00.000+01:00

What Do You Get When You Cross An E30 with an 8-Series? Er...

2013-04-11T13:00:00.000+01:00

After the subtly sublime E30 the other day, a slightly bonkers one to test your sanity.
As any keen follower of new car news will know, BMW will be releasing a 4-Series in 2014. It's basically the replacement for the E92 3-series coupé (ergo no more two-door 3er, an end of an era), and while it's the kissing cousin of the latest F30 range, but is now being pushed as a model in it's own right. It's probably something BMW should have done years ago, after all, the 5er has the 6er, the 7er the 8er. Well one German owner decided to make a little 'phantom' model of his own; he took a 1989 325i convertible and fused the front end of an 850i coupé onto it..
Now, it may seem that he's one Schottenhamel short of an Oktoberfest for performing such an act but read on; it does make a tad more sense the deeper you delve...
While there's only a single digit gap between the E30 and E31 models, in reality, these two BMW models of course couldn't be more different from each other. There was a slight problem as the 8-series is a fair bit wider than the E30, which was solved by... removing one of the BMW kidney grilles. Not the best nor wisest way to narrow the nose, as the result is... well, have you seen a serial cocaine abuser with a collapsed septum? Go on, Google it, we'll wait. See what we mean?Ouch.
Aside from the wild front end, it gets a lot milder further back; flared wheel arches cover 8x15 Shaper Camp 2000 wheels and Pirelli rubber, a different rear bumper of unknown origin and a Momo steering wheel.
Engine-wise, it's a bit more mundane; the familiar M20 2.5 six is standard, which means 170 gee-gees, but as anyone who has experienced these engines, thats not a bad thing. We'd slot an M52 to bring it into line with the front end though; the M20 is so 1970's, dahling.
Even if do you find the... um, er, 825i's looks alluring, the €6,990 price tag on Autohaus Bryjak seems less than tempting as it is a bit too close for comfort to the lower-end prices (€10k or thereabouts) for a real, early 1990s 8-Series model in Germany. It still sold though, so someone found the oddball looks appealing.
Having said that, we think the idea was sound, just based on the wrong 3-series; imagine this front end treatment on an E36 coupé. Now THAT would have made sense as a production model and a car fitting of a 4-series moniker.

USAC Championship, Golden State 100, California State Fairgrounds Race Track, Sacremento, October 1st 1967

2013-04-10T09:00:00.000+01:00

A.J. Foyt (no.1) in his Meskowski built Offenhauser-powered Ansted-Thompson car inside of Mario Andretti (no.14) in the Kuzma built, Offy powered Dean Van Lines car. Foyt won the race, with Andretti coming second.

Slammed BMW E30 - Autumn Lows

2013-04-08T13:00:00.000+01:00

It's busy, busy, busy, busy at Amazo Towers right now, lots of features on the bubble that we're sure you'll like, lots of people buying interesting cars and not enough time to get through it all (looks at Wheels day pictures with fist in mouth).
So what does that have to do with this fine example of a BMW E30? Well not much, but we don't have any info to give on the car, so some filler material about an unrelated subject works wonders...
But seriously, it's always annoying when we find nice pictures of a car with absolutely no info. But look on the bright side: all the more time to admire the photos and less time reading our drivel...

'Glass Blower

2013-04-08T09:00:00.000+01:00

Nightfire Of The Vanities

2013-04-05T09:00:00.000+01:00