Riding a streamlined Vincent Black Lightning is likely one way to get traffic ahead to part like it’s the Red Sea. Another is to adorn your helmet with satan’s own horns and wear a face mask that makes you look like a steampunk stormtrooper. Overall, on a scale of badassitry, from one to ten, I’d give this guy a 100. I’m actually kind of scared to give him anything less. 

Image: [cluturecrammer]

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The second installment to the Beverly Hills Cop movie series has one of my favorite title sequences. As Axel Foley, Eddie Murphy takes his Ferrari 328 GTS to work through Detroit morning traffic, accompanied by a Bob Seger soundtrack. There are Ferrari engine noises, there’s some inspiring driving and there’s also a number of continuity issues (count the times the 328 is replaced by a 308).

When I was a kid, I almost wore out my VHS copy of the film just rewinding the sequence back and watching it again, then repeating. Got to love YouTube.

Make the jump to see the clip again. It has been a while, hasn’t it?

Click here to view the embedded video.

The sequence runs from about 2:30 ’till 4:48.

By the way, the rest of the clip is in Italian. Got to love YouTube.

[Source: YouTube]

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We love driving schools.

Any chance we get to strap into a car and fling it around the cone-laden confines of a wide-open area makes for a great day. Thus it should come as no surprise that when Jaguar rang us up on the Hoon-phone to invite us to their latest driving experience, we sputtered out a “F*#k yes!” before they finished speaking. We apologized for swearing, and marked the date on our calendar.

Keep reading to find out what went down when the marked day arrived…

Right off the bat, we could tell this wouldn’t be as fun as the Jaguar Performance R Academy we attended. That event took place at a race track, and it was strictly for machines with the R badge on the rumps of the assembled pretty kitties. This event, called Jaguar ALIVE, was geared more towards folks considering buying a Jag, and was much more tame than the tire-tearing day we experienced out in Fontana.

That doesn’t mean we were bored though…

Jaguar brought out their elite A-team of driving instructors, which include Davy Jones and Roberto Guerrero among others. If you don’t know either name, you need to Google them ASAP. I’ll save you some trouble though. Jones is the last American driver to win at Le Mans (1996), a Daytona 24 Hour winner, and possesses an icy-smooth demeanor behind the wheel of a car. Guerrero is a former CART and Indy racer who held the lap record at the Indianapolis 500 from 1992-1996, has recently switched to racing off-road, and is one of the funniest and nicest men in motorsports. There are other well-qualified instructors as well, such as Adam Andretti (who can turn tires into smoke and dust with ease) and Morgan Kavanaugh (who normally teaches cold-weather techniques to drivers trekking out to Colorado).

For the ALIVE event, Jaguar had taken over the parking lot at the Verizon Amphitheater in Irvine, Caliornia. The tarmac was split into a different sections; an autocross course, rough road simulation, traction control demonstration, and a long straightaway to show off the acceleration of the Jaguar XK-RS. We passed on the rough road simulation because we already know that modern Jag suspension can handle the ruttiest of rutted Southern California freeways. Our first task of the day was to tackle the autocross course, and show these well-funded potential buyers what the proletariat can do behind the wheel of a high-dollar, high-horsepower machine.

Not much it turns out…

Our time was respectable, but disappointing. Why? The instructor had traction control off during our first two runs through the course. When we were running through our third run, the one that was being timed, we felt that the car was dying out of the corners. A glance at the gauges, and we figured out that said instructor had turned traction back on. …sigh… Our time was low enough to be respectable, but far from the best.

Oh well, on to the other courses.

The traction control demonstration, which we initially guessed would be rather boring, was in fact quite enlightening. Piloting a Jaguar XF, we pulled onto a soap and water covered piece of rubbery plastic splayed across the parking lot. With traction turned off, we were told to floor it, and the mighty cat was reduced to a tire-spinning sculpture that went nowhere in style. Roll off the mat, and pull back on this time with traction control engaged. We were again ordered to floor it, and the car slowly and effortlessly (at least from the vantage point of driver and passenger) pulled off the mat. From there, we went over to a figure eight to sample the varying degrees of traction intervention as we tried to get the tail out. With traction control on, you can’t do it, but switch to DSC Trac and you get a little bit of slip. Turn the system completely off (thank you Jaguar!), and you can enjoy super sideways action and smokey displays of tire destruction.

After the slippery fun, it was time to move on to the Jaguar XKR-S, and a shot at straight-line glory. Jag had set up the course so that customers could see just how quickly they could make the run from zero to 60 miles per hour. This being Hooniverse, we wanted to see if we could blow past 60. Spoiler alert: We did.

So, despite the event not being as fun as the R Performance Academy, we still have a good time. Also, we had to remind ourselves that this event is designed to give potential customers a peek at what they might be able to experience if they decide to put a Jaguar in their garage. Next to the various courses was an air-conditioned tent that featured a chance to sit in an XJ and take in the Bowers & Wilkins sound system, and an E-Type stood inside to remind folks about the excellent history of the automaker. If you’re interested in buying a luxury automobile, this is an excellent event to attend, and we hope more automakers put on events like this. The Jaguar ALIVE experience travels the country to give everyone a shot at seat time in its stylish machines.

[Images courtesy of Jaguar]

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After serving in the Navy, Dave Friedman attended and photographed many amateur sports car races around the Los Angeles area. In 1962,Friedman was hired as staff photographer for Shelby-American Inc. It was in this capacity that Friedman earned the opportunity to photograph the development of the Shelby Cobra. In 1966 and 1967, Friedman was hired by Ford Motor Company to document the company’s racing program. Friedman again bore witness to the unique experience of capturing the first American-designed and built racecars to conquer the grueling 24-Hours of Le Mans, the GT40. Friedman had a lengthy jaunt in the film industry, but continued to photograph his passion of motor racing through into the nineties.  

Brought to you now by the Henry Ford museum, The Dave Friedman collection documents over 60 years of various automobile races and racecars and includes photographs, slides, negatives and contact sheets.

The museum claims “Many of the images were taken by Dave Friedman himself, but the collection also contains images acquired by Friedman from other photographers, both in the United States and Europe, such as Jack Brady and Eric De Faile. In addition, the collection includes files that detail specific races, including such information as entrant lists, car details, programs, press kits, and published materials. The collection also includes material related to racing teams and manufacturers including Ford Motor Company, Shelby-American International, Dan Gurney’s All-American Racing, Jim Hall’s Chaparral Racing, Corvette, Ferrari and Porsche. Material in this collection was used by Dave Friedman to illustrate over 30 books about automobile racing.”

Additional images from the Friedman collection can be viewed here, and here.

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400hp? Yep. Rear-wheel-drive? Yep. Back country roads and perfect driving weather? Oh yes. This is the wider, lower, longer, and damn fast 2012 Porsche 911 Carrera S.

Every Tuesday night during the summer time, I get the chance to help run a local car show. We’ve had varieties of muscle cars, exotics, and hot rods show up to dazzle all of us car fanatics. This past week, a good friend of mine brought out a brand new 2012 Porsche 911 Carrera S, and I got to take it on a quick drive throughout some of Wisconsin’s best rural back roads.

Looking at this black Porsche 911, code-named 991, is just stunning. When the recent redesign of the 911 first appeared online months ago, I was hooked. The mechanical gurus at Porsche took one of the best looking sports cars ever made, and made it even better. Drool at it from behind and you’ll see quad exhaust tips out back, deployable rear spoiler, and those revised sharp looking tail lamps.

Want to get under the hood? Good luck, a small opening about the size of the spoiler pops open to give you a bland view of just the cooling fans, and a few lids for your fluids. We joked that it was a dual-purpose hood that served as an additional spoiler for even more downforce. Yes I realize it’s a rear-engine car, but I wish you could see more of that monstrous 400 horsepower 3.8-liter boxer engine. 

She’s got big hips. Move up past the twenty-inch wheels to the front where a pair of all-new headlamps and LED running lights sit above a more aggressive lower bumper. Back seats in Porsche’s have always been kind of a joke, but my 6’1 lanky self had to see just how cranked to the side my head and neck would be. Whatever, the driver’s seat is what you’re really buying.

I’m not a fan of cars with zillions of buttons, no no no, keep it simple. In this case though, the 911 Carrera S didn’t have an overwhelming amount of buttons which was nice. The center counsel hints at Porsche’s almighty Carrera GT super car from the mid 2000s, as it rises up towards the dashboard.

This particular 911 Carrera S had the optional PDK (Porsche Doppelkupplung… had to look up the spelling on that one) seven-speed automatic transmission. I had my fingers crossed tight hoping I’d get to drive one with the new seven-speed manual. As a true gear head, manual-transmissions are the way to go, but there are a few exceptions I’ve made for decent automatics. Weeks ago I drove my friend Mikee’s brand new 2012 VW GTI with the six-speed DSG automatic transmission… It felt like a go-kart and I loved it. Now sitting behind the wheel of this $111,900 super Porsche, I was anxious to try out this frequently mis-pronounced gearbox. 

Pulling out of the show lot, I was impressed by the electric power assist steering that tempted  me to try maneuvering the 911 Carrera S at low speeds with just my pinky finger. The drivers seat was as comfortable as a business-class seat on some pricey European airline. Looking ahead at the 200mph speedometer and giant GPS screen in the second-right gauge, I couldn’t help but think how cool it’d be for Porsche to bring back the swivel gauges like they did in the older 911s.

Heading out onto my favorite wide-open stretch of country roads, I plopped the gear selector over into manual mode, pushed the optional Sport button and let the Carrera S work its magic. Porsche claims the 2012 911 Carrera S will fly to 60mph in the very low 4 second range. This is true, trust me. Apart from the blitz-fast acceleration, the ride was fantastic. I always like driving cars on this particular stretch of road because of the occasional bumps. I was expecting the new 911 Carrera S to bounce around and just be a pain on uneven road, nope not the case. I’d even argue that the 2012 Nissan GTR I drove a while back had a much much worse ride.

Handling around the big curve was smooth and easy as you just pointed the nose of the 911 Carrera S into the curve and stepped on the gas. For a 400-horsepower German rocket, it was a breeze to drive. I was reminded too just how fun, rear-wheel-drive cars are with high horsepower and near-perfect suspension. I’ll pass on the all-wheel-drive Carrera4 models. The base (non $8,000+ optional carbon-ceramic) brakes stopped and slowed the car too without a nervous sweat.

Fantastic is the word that best matches Porsche’s seven-speed dual-clutch PDK transmission. I strayed away from the paddle shifters and chose to tap up or down the gear lever. Shifts were blink-of-an-eye fast and smooth, especially when downshifting into the uphill S-curve. Then there’s the sound. Porsche’s flat-six engines have never earned a sweet spot in my ears. Never. The exhaust note from this 911 Carrera S made me not only feel like I was driving a race car, but made smile more than a little kid would on a Christmas morning.

Porsche, you’ve won me over,  I’ll buy a new 991 generation Carrera S…..Black works just fine too.

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Since this post is this olelongrooffan’s 327th since the Hooniverse Overlords foolishly gave bestowed upon me a key to the vault right at two years ago, I thought I would pop up this 1979 Impala coupe that could, at least theoretically, could have a 327 installed in it.

Yesterday this olelongrooffan posted a Shared Platform Edition of an offering from the General in the early 70′s. Today I thought I would follow up with a shared platform offered by the General at the other end of the 70′s. Having said that, as this gen B body was not offered with a 327, this one probably has a 305 or 350 under the hood. The fact that it is on a lot here in the Home of The World’s Most Beach and not in the local junkyards this olelongrooffan roamed around in early in the day suggests that it does not have the, then offered, Oldmobile 350 diesel

Ironically enough, I would not mind owning this coupe. It is clean, just under 100K on the clock, probably decent gas mileage and it looks pretty damn nice. That rear window alone is worth the price of admission. Probably well kept and with the exception of the centers of the full size wheel covers appears to be complete. I would solve that problem by popping on some dog dish hubcaps as soon as I could find some out at the Turkey Run.

Yeah, I’d Hoon it. After all, this olelongrooffan is a member of the Brown Car Appreciation Society. Aren’t you?

Copyright Hooniverse 2012/longrooffan

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