AllCarCentral.com

ALLCARCENTRAL.COM
AUTOMOTIVE MAGAZINE &
CAR NEWS BLOG | 2010

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November 30, 2010

NEW CARS for 2011 AND PORSCHE

Audi R8 Spyder 5.2 2011

Audi R8 Spyder 5.2 2011

November came and is now in the history books. Some of the things which ACC has touched are: A retry at driving Porsche cars. Seeing all the new and some very nice old cars at the San Francisco, International Auto Show, All the kings men and all the kings horses could not pull off the Top Marques Monaco's "Royals Only" event at Abu Dhabi's Yas Marina F1 Circuit.

The email which came from Porsche with the invitation to again drive one of their new cars was a pleasant surprise since I had previously received an invitation from a different part of the organization, but driving Porsches is a good thing, right. Story Here So I jumped in and enjoyed the 911 4S one more time, with the bonus of a drive in a Standard Boxster. Out of my experience of the 911 4S, Cayman and Boxster, my ranking of the cars is the order of the previous list. The Boxster is a nice car, a bit under whelming for my expectations but not a car that would be in anyone's way on the road. The Cayman? Loved it. Not the power of the 911 but! And this reminds me of a guy I meet back in the 1960's. Ron Funk was his name. He was featured in a ski movie called, I think, "The Last Of The Ski Bums". When I first met Ron he was driving a sweet 356 Porsche coupe. The next time I saw him he had a VW 'Bug'. As to moving down in cars? Ron said the he wanted a car that he could drive at the limit and not have every cop on the road after him. That type of requirements would cancel out the 911's.

Porsche Boxster 2010

Porsche Drive November 2010

As to driving at the 'limit' I just read a very good article In the PCA Clubs monthly magazine the Panorama, written by Porsche racecar driver, Vic Elford in which he explained his views on driving. Vic puts all the emphases on "Balance" as the most important aspect of good driving. Vic also makes a note about skiing and driving in the rain.

How about the 2011 new cars. One family member commented; Why bother looking at them. They all look alike! Mostly I concur, however finding the ones, which stand out, is the fun.Full Story Here

The 2011 Audi R8 5.2 Spyder was one of the standout cars of the show, and along with, although not a 'new car' and definitely not a car which will be on the showroom floor, was the 2009 Corvette Stingray Concept. Most all other cars on the floor were under the 'Green Banner" and over all a bit boring.

Fiat was on the floor with the 2011 revision of the Topolino with their 500 setting along side the Chrysler 300. The Saab people were a bit more relaxed this year, and they all could say "Spkyer".

But where was Mercedes-Benz?

Corvette Stingray Concept 2009

Corvette Stingray Concept 2009

There is a FREE November Calendar page available for down-loading at the LEFT HAND SIDE OF THE OPENING PAGE HERE

Any help in documenting events would be most welcome. Contact us through the AllCarCentral.com site. Just use the 'Contact'

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October 26, 2010

BULLET FAST LAMBORGHINI

Lamborghini Sesto Elemento 2011

Lamborghini Sesto Elemento concept 2011
Lamborghini Media Photo 2010

How fast can you make a street car go? Lamborghini, under the wing of the Volkswagen Group, presented a car at the Paris Auto Show 2010, that claims a 0 to 100/km/hr (0 to 62 mph) in 2.5 seconds. The Lamborghini Sesto Elemento - concept 2011 with overall curb weight of just 999 kilograms and permanent all-wheel drive, is bragging the V10's output of 570 hp, and a power-to-weight ratio of only 1.75 kilograms per hp.

Porsche, the car company that made the Turbo famous, is trying out an electrical boost system in the new 911 GT3R Hybrid. With a flick of a switch the driver can engage an additional 160 HP to the front wheels. The recharging of the system is done under braking, therefore no performance power is consumed and it is said to improve gas mileage, which is important in endurance racing where Porsche excels.

The season ending race at Mazda Raceway, Laguna Seca, was an interesting mix of street/race cars and full on racing machines. Not unlike the track and road racing of any time before, say the 1980's when the rule makers took over racing.

The Global Tuners Grand Prix, GTGP, was on a rainy weekend and the drivers gave us a good show. This was real grass roots racing, back to when cars and drivers lined up and pressed on to see which had the best stuff. Porsche, VW, Audi, Viper, Volvo, Subaru, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Corvette, Ferrari all on the track. Yes these were street cars.

Any help in documenting events would be most welcome. Contact us through the AllCarCentral.com site. Just use the 'Contact'

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October 12, 2010

CARS FROM ITALY AND SOUTH AFRICA

Perana Zagato Z-One 2010

Perana Zagato Z-One 2010
Concorso Italiano® Monterey, California 2010

There is always at least one surprise car waiting for discovery at each event. One surprise at the Concorso Italiano® was the Zagato designed Perana from South Africa. I first saw it setting on the lawn with the pre-dawn mist covering it.

We have just posted about 60 Lamborghini images from the Concorso. The thing that I personally like about the new Lamborghinis is the wonderful bright colors that they now have. The 'HOT LAMBO' lines really work with the 'HOT LAMBO PAINT'. You can see the images here.

Also we have over Lamborghini images from the Concorso.
Alfa Romeo images from the 60th Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance®
Bugatti images from the 60th Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance®

I have just returned from a vacation, (didn't even take a camera) to see the fall colors in the Eastern US States. We went via United Airlines to Boston, Mas. and drove a Chevrolet Cobalt to Quebec, Canada via Montreal and then back to Boston.

The report on the Cobalt, but first a note about the once proud United Airlines. The flight crew was good and this is not their doing, but, I was embarrassed for them. Mid-flight, the crew came up the plane trying to pick-up some spare change for gas money from the passengers by selling off some old sandwiches and bits of cheese. By the time they got to the back where I and my wife were they only had one small box of dried cheese. I assume that the crew must have pooled their previous tip money, as they treated the passengers with free coffee and sodas.

Now the Chevrolet Cobalt. This little car served us well on the twisty back roads and on the few freeways we traveled. The nice bits of the car? As expected it got reasonable gas mileage, which was able to be monitored on the dash by pushing a button on the steering wheel. The power was acceptable and easy to drive. Did not do any passing so can not report on that. It had an auto transmission and power door locks as well as some readouts on dash like, outside temperature and how many miles we could drive with the gas left in the car.

The transmission and power door locks did cause me some concern. When the car is stopped and the shift lever is placed in 'Park', ALL the doors un-lock! NOT VERY SAFE!

The seat headrest could be moved up and down but I could not move it away from the back of my head. For 7 days this thing annoyed me. I would have cut it off if I had a saw. For that alone I could not wait to get out of this car.

Any help in documenting events would be most welcome. Contact us through the AllCarCentral.com site. Just use the 'Contact'

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September 1, 2010

The Worlds Greatest Car Event(s)

Porsche 918 Spyder Concept 2011

Porsche 918 Spyder Concept 2011
Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance®, California 2010

August was a very busy month in the automotive world, particularly concerning the vintage and new car models. The world of cars, old and new, arrives at the Monterey Bay Area in California in mid of August every year to show off the best in old cars and the latest in new car models. Car designers, car sellers and buyers, car lovers of all years and backgrounds merge into one great car-love-fest.

Some thing new has been developing over the last years. Some car manufactures have been offering test drives to show off their latest new cars. Porsche (Test Drive Story) and Spyker (Test Drive Story) were the most visible and AllCarCentral received offers to give their products a hands-on experience. Driving is much better than just having a look at all the shinny bits.

Buying and selling were top events with many auction houses set up all around.

Gooding & Company, the official auction house of the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance reporting to AllCarCentral.com, that they sold MORE THAN $64.59 MILLION IN COLLECTOR CARS. "In two days, Six New World Records Achieved, Three $6 Million+ Collector Cars Sold and 13 Total Lots Sold for More Than $1 Million Each"

The world class shows Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance® (2010 Event) and Concorso Italiano® (2010 Event) , which also engage and support AllCarCentral.com, repeated again this year with outstanding performances in fielding rare and outstanding cars and people from all over the world.

SCRAMP, the new governing body of the vintage race event at the Laguna Seca race track, turned down, just days away from the start date, AllCarCentral Publishing's request for media access to the event. This also prevented us from applying to other venues. So we took advantage to the wonderful Pebble Beach activities and jumped on the chance to test drive a new Porsche Cayman S in Carmel Valley and enjoy a informative visit with Roger Corman along with Gregory Berkin. Mr. Corman discussed his production of the classic road-racing film, "The Fast & Furious" (1954) of the Pebble Beach Road Races and Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. Gregory Berkin is the director/producer of the feature film series The Pebble Beach Experience which also highlights the original road racing which started in 1950. It was the SCCA road race on the Pebble Beach tree lined roads that started all which is now one of the worlds greatest showing of cars.

Any help in documenting these events (or any other) would be most welcome. Contact us through the AllCarCentral.com site. Just use the 'Contact'

Ferrari SP1 2008 Leonardo Fioravanti Hunichiro Hiramatsu

Ferrari SP1 2008, Car Designer Leonardo Fioravanti,
Ferrari SP1 2008 owner Hunichiro Hiramatsu
Concorso Italiano®, California 2010

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July 11, 2010

CORVETTES AND LINCOLNS

Diablo Valley Corvettes

Diablo Valley Corvettes
Concord, California 2010

Corvettes were out in the park so we took a stroll through the shinny glass-fiber bodies and have a set of photos with identifying notes for your enjoyment Here...

2009 Lincoln MKS

2009 Lincoln MKS
Future Auto Center of Concord, California 2010

Summer is a busy time with many things going on. Sometimes work just gets in the way. But with trying to keep up with the AllCarCentral site we have managed to get in a test drive of a 2009 Lincoln MKS this was quite interesting with all of Lincoln's attention to passenger comfort, which has always been a Lincoln hallmark.Full story here....

AllCarCentral's "Calendar" list auto events all around the world so check it out at Calendar. Automotive events are all the action in the summer months, so take photos and send them to us with a short description of the event so we can post them in the AllCarCentral.com site. Just use the 'Contact' link to get an email link for sending photos. One great tip I will share about taking photos of cars. Take the car shots on all sides and inside as you normally would, but then, for the last shot of that car, take a photo of the descriptive poster that explains the make, model, and year. This is soooo easy with our digital cameras. If you do this you will always know what you took a photo of.

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June 10, 2010

PORSCHE - LAMBORGHINI AND RACING IN THE SUN

2011 Lamborghini Gallardo LP570-4 SuperLeggera

2011 Lamborghini Gallardo LP570-4 SuperLeggera
Sonoma Historic Motorsports Festival 2010 Infineon Raceway

These last few days have been full of great cars and great events. The Wine and Car races at Infineon Raceway has taken on a new look and force after the loss of the August Vintage car races at Laguna Seca. The 2010 event after 23 years has received a new name, it is now called the Sonoma Historic Motorsports Festival. Before, this event was something of a prelude to the August event but now major changes are apparent. There were around 300 different cars reported to be on the track over the weekend. The show was great with much unique machinery for all to have a look at. The Sunday event included a special wine and food tent which was included with the entrance ticket. High class stuff this. If you missed this, put it on your calendar for next year. There are 73 images loaded and a story for you to have a look at that will give you some idea of what was on the track.

I received an invitation to have a go at another new car. Life is good at the AllCarCentral office. Porsche Cars North America gave me a chance to try out the 2010 911 Carrera 4S coupe. It was a black one. Very nice. The 911 4S comes on strong with a punch. I could really feel the flat-6 pushing me from behind. The extra parts that make up the front drive assembly give this model a special feeling all its own. I would call the car a powerful brut, but one which was also very easy and light to control. The story and photos are here.

I love finding new car surprises. This last week had 2 such moments. The first was the two 911 GT3 RS cars that were sitting in the drive at Michael Stead Porsche dealership, in Walnut Creek, California, when I brought back the 4S. They had just been pushed them of the truck, and still had their wrappings on. click on the link above to see photos.

The second surprise was having a 2011 Lamborghini Gallardo LP570-4 SuperLeggera resting in the sun at the Infineon Raceway's infield, waiting its time to start leading the vintage racing-cars-of-the-past around the track on the warm-up laps. There are probably only about 5 of this model in the US.

How about an all-out race between the Porsche 911 GT3 RS, Lamborghini Gallardo LP570-4 SuperLeggera and the Ferrari 599XX. Get Brabham, Helio Castroneves and Michael Schumacher in an all-out, big money winner take all showdown.

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May 31, 2010

LE MANS CARS, OLD CARS AND BUICKS IN SERBIA

American Le Mans Laguna Seca

Doing the Corkscrew
American Le Mans Laguna Seca 2010

Summer months in the northern part of the world brings out the shinny and fast cars. We are trying to keep up with all that is sent to the World Computer of AllCarCentral, but we are working at the maximum and falling behind. Anyone willing to do coding, we will teach, please contact us.

Soooo... What is new! American Le Mans cars and their traveling circus was at Mazda Raceway at Laguna Seca and ACC had a photographer at the track shooting everything that move quickly and some that were parked. The Corvette was featured and that will be posted soon. Keep checking on the Corvette site and the ALM Race page here.

Our Friend and Liaison in Europe, Zoran, made photos available to us that were taken at the Belgrade (Beograd), Serbia, Americans cars in Belgrade, a street show on Sarajevska Street. Around the world people love to show-off and look at cars. Watch for more to come from Europe as he is headed to more events.

This last Sunday was a Porsche Club of America car show in Danville, California and we got some nice Porsche shots along with some other makes that were in the mix of the parking lot. We will work these in over time.

The next event that is coming at us in our home area is the Sonoma Historic Motorsports Festival at the Infineon Raceway Sonoma, California. This is a classic and brings out some very nice cars and is a great viewing event. The event is put on by the same organization that created the Monterey Historics in Monterey California. The Infineon event is much more laid back than the Monterey weekend. Come and enjoy the show.

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May 23, 2010

CAR SHOWS and ALM RACING

 36th

1949 Crossley wagon
and Something A Little Bit Bigger

AllCarCentral has received a great collection of images from our good friends, John Quilter and Rick Feibush covering the 2010 Friendship Day Auto Show at Canada College in Redwood City, California. This show is a collection of vehicales rather than a car show with just fancy cars. It looks to have a wide array of subjects. However as AllCarCentral is only about cars we keep to just showing off those. More can be seen at the Event page.

ACC depends on Visitors participation and submittals, so don't keep things to yourself and send in your photos and stories. Our photographer for the American Le Mans Series Race in Monterery California, Ryan Hetzel has sent in some early shots of the cars on the track and you can have a look at the ALM Race page here. More photos will be added later so check back to our ALM Site.

Our season is just getting going so more good things are coming.

New images and data is being added to the AllCarCentral pages every day so keep checking back and enjoying photos of the greatest cars in the world.

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May 5, 2010

THE CHALLENGE OF FERRARI

 Ferrari Challenge  2010

2011 Ferrari 458 Italia
Ferrari Challenge 2010, Infineon Raceway, Sonoma, California

The California Mille start at San Francisco's famed Fairmont Hotel, again provided a great viewing of fantastic cars in a perfect setting. The cars and drivers head off from the Fairmont and make a 4 day 1,000 mile tour of the Northern California back roads. The Mille Starting Show is joined with a full display of classic and historic cars with beginnings from all over the world showing off in the Nob Hill Park.

The owner of a grand 1937 Rolls-Royce 25-30 James Young 4 door Sports Saloon that was at the park, provided us with a history of his car, and can be seen at the Rolls-Royce page. After shooting the Mille cars and the cars in the park, my lovely wife and co-photographer joined the crowd in the Fairmont Hotel lounge and enjoyed a glass of the famed California wine. The wine was as excellent as the automobile display outside. This is a very tough job, but someone has to do it.

So much for touring and looking. How about racing!

May 2, 2010 at Infineon Raceway in northern California came with bright sunshine and perfect temperatures just right for racing and seeing Ferraris in the sun.
The Ferrari Challenge was in town and the show was on.

All levels of all things seem to be less than previous years and so seemed to be the case with the communications from Ferrari back to AllCarCentral. We had not received conformation on our media pass, but as Infineon is close to the world offices of AllCarCentral, I decided that there was no place better to be than at the track on such a nice sunny weekend after so much rain this northern California winter and spring, so off I went and with great pleasure found our request had been granted.

Last year it was raining and although the weather was a downer, the European race rules of 'running in the rain' was in place which gave the spectators some great racing to watch. This year the overall track excitement was more confined with a smaller field of cars and no vintage racers to fill in the gaps between the Ferrari Challenge Cars. Some great photos of million dollar cars spinning in the mud and on a wet track from 2009's Challenge are available here.

With the sun, came the Ferrari Club and their cars. The infield provided a great display of red. Oh yea, there were some free thinkers in with the group that brought Ferraris of other colors, like one smiling lady that brought her 2 white F430s. One was a 2009 Ferrari F430 16M Scuderia Spider Limited 499. The other was a coupe. I guess she could not decide if she liked the top up or down. You can see the Spider here.

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April 22, 2010

THE CALIFORNIA MILLE 2010

California Mille 2009

California Mille 2009

One of the great car road races of all time has to be the 1,000 mile long, Mille Miglia which was held in Italy from 1927 to 1957. The Mille Miglia Retro is still being held today, with the event scheduled for this coming May. Although now it is a tour instead of and all-out race against the clock as it was back in the day before the very damaging crash which put an end to the high speed competition on the open roads.

In a salute to the Original Mille Miglia, the CALIFORNIA MILLE was created in 1990 and is run over the back roads of Northern California. It too is a 1,000 mile run and the main component of the event is, it is only open to cars which were around when the original Mille was running. This brings out some fantastic cars. As the run is over 1,000 miles of open roads, it is not an easy event to observe. So the secret is to make it to the starting place which is an event all on its own. The sign-up day has all the cars arriving and being parked in front of the grand old Fairmont Hotel, in San Francisco at the top of Nob Hill. There is also a splendid display of vintage cars set around and in the park next to the hotel. All wonderful stuff.

We will be there once again this April 25, and record the cars at the "ready" in front of the Fairmont. 2009 CALIFORNIA MILLE Photos. The 2010 event story and photos will be on the www.AllCarCentral.com Site. Stay Tuned.

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April 19, 2010

Russian, Serbian, and American Le Mans Series

1976  Tyrrell P34 F1

Marussia B2 2009, Marussia Photo 2009

Several new things to report on.

Russian transportation, to me at least, has always brought vision of military vehicles, great tanks and large trucks like one sees in old news stories or in some action films. Oh yes there is the lowly and funny Trabant and the Lada. The Lada has always been a solid car and I think both were actually made in East Germany. Cars from Russia seemed to stay in Europe and have not been too visible, for me at least, beyond the duties of daily drivers. I don't recall any Lada LM models running in the 24 Hours of Le Mans or Trabant F1 cars running in the Monte Carlo GP. But then there is Marussia

As part of the duties at the website is keeping specification sheets on all the currant car models up-to-date, (all on our list of manufactures websites are visited at least every 12 months). We were updating the M's and I visited the Marussia website..,.. our ACC site is here, where I was once again treated to the inspiring designs that the Russian based Marussia company has been working with.

AllCarCentral's Envoy in Europe, Zoran Callic, through his contacts made available some very nice images from the IV Annual Meeting Association of Automotive Historians , in Belgrade, Serbia. The photos were provided by Ljubomir Ivanovic, who had the privilege to visit the show.

AllCarCenral will have a photographer at the Mazda Raceway, Laguna Seca this May 20-22 to provide us with track side shots of the American Le Mans Series Monterey , Mazda Raceway, Laguna Seca used to be the last race of the season and now the track is seeing the race cars at the beginning.

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April 10, 2010

Cars, April and the Mediterranean

Top Marques Monaco

Top Marques Monaco

April in the Mediterranean must be the magical time.

The AllCarCentral.com Calendar is showing 2 April events which most can only dream about.

Top Marques Monaco, The Grimaldi Forum, Monaco, Monte Carlo and
Concorso d'Eleganza Villa D'Este, Lake Como, Italy

Top Marques Monaco, The Grimaldi Forum, Monaco, Monte Carlo, with a setting against the waters of the bay. Top Marques Monaco Supercar Show goes for the
"haute couture of the automobile industry. Creativity, styling and top performance" Only the best in styling is on show."

This year they are boasting: The NLV Quant 4-seater electric car that proves that electric cars can combine speed, comfort and driving pleasure.
The BMW Shark by AG Excalibur.
A Bugatti by FibreFoil of Dubai and a Pininfarina designed Hyperion Roadster.

The show will be opened by a grand couturier Mr KENZO Takada.

Concorso d'Eleganza Villa D'Este, Lake Como, Italy, on the other hand, states that the "mystique of Historic Cars" is the focus of its being, with cars like the over the top 1955 Ghia Gilda having been on the field.

The Concorso d'Eleganza's home is the Grand Hotel Villa d'Este, one of the world's leading hotels, which is edged by the waters of Italy's Lake Como.

1955 Ghia Gilda

1955 Ghia Gilda

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April 8, 2010

THE PAST, THE WEIRD AND THE NEW

1976  Tyrrell P34 F1

1976 Tyrrell P34 F1

American Road Races of the past, 6 wheel F1 Cars and A New Porsche

Dedicated history writer Geoff Wheatley has allowed us to post his wonderful story about The 1910 to 1912 American Road Race in Atlanta Georgia. A link to it is here.. He is looking for period photos of this race, if anyone can help him please contact this blog

Back in the 1970s the British, who are never too shy to try something different with a car, decided to expand the concept of "putting the rubber to the road" and add 2 extra front tires on the 1976 Tyrrell P34 F1 car. This car will be on track at the 2010 Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion, August 12-15 at Mazda Raceway, Laguna Seca for all to enjoy as the 60th anniversary of F1 is celebrated. Full story...

Porsche brought out a new surprise at the Geneva Motor Show in the form of the Type 918, mating very high performance and plug-in electro-mobility. It looks very fast also.

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March 30, 2010

Exotic Cars on the Streets of Belgrade

Mercedes-Benz_SL

Mercedes-Benz SL on Lord Jevremova Street, Belgrade
PHOTO CREDIT TO: Zoran Calic 2010

Belgrade's (Beograd), CVETI Family Patron's Day celebrations brought out a good collection of exotic cars to be displayed on Lord Jevremova Street (Gospodara Jevremova Ulica).

AllCarCentral's reporter in Europe, Zoran Calic sent us some photos of the cars and festivities. You can see more photos here.

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March 29, 2010

Sir Stirling Moss is Top Bidder

Porsche RS 1961 PawelLitwinski Photo 2010

Porsche RS 1961
PHOTO CREDIT TO: PawelLitwinski© 2010 Courtesy of Gooding & Company

Some bits and pieces. From the last few days.

First and most warming, Sir Stirling Moss is top bidder in the Gooding & Company's Amelia Island auction a few weeks ago. Sir Moss was stuck in hospital bed in United Kingdom during the auction due to an accident, but that did not stop him in pursuing the coveted Porsche RS61. full story here.

The British are on the move. Bentley opens yet another dealership in faraway lands. Sao Paulo South America is the new location, 48, so far in the Americas and 172 world wide.

Lexus shows off their new CT 200h at the Geneva Motor show.

Lexus CT 200h 2010

Lexus CT 200h 2010
Lexus Media Photo 2010

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March 25, 2010

ZAGATO

Ferrari 575 Zagato 2007

Ferrari 575 Zagato 2007
Monterey Historic Automobile Races
Mazda Raceway, Laguna Seca, 2007

One of the perks of posting information on the AllCArCentral.com site is discovering the wonderful automotive designs that are being created every day and the wonderful old automotive designs of the past.

In the beginning, automotive manufactures made the 'rolling chassis' which consisted of the frame with wheels and motor. In this form, a wooden box could be set in-place for a driver and the 'car' could be driven. At this point, the 'car' was taken to a coach builder to have the body designed, fabricated and attached to the chassis. As most early cars were made to order the purchaser would contract the coach builder of his choice and they would design the body to the owners specifications. Later the manufactures and coach builders came under one roof and ownership. Mostly that is. There still are independent design houses which design bodies for independent buyers and automotive companies.

One of the most interesting design houses in my opinion, which still survives from the "Golden Days" is Zagato. However there many and we are working to represent all of them on the AllCarCentral.com site.
If you have a favorite design house that is not represented please send us a note.

Zagato 8V 1955

Zagato 8V 1955
Concorso Italiano, Monterey, California 2007

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March 19, 2010

New Cars and Wine!

Infiniti Essence Concept

Infiniti Essence Concept
Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance®
Pebble Beach, California, 2009

Yesterday the Infiniti site was updated to include additional photos and spec. sheets to the archives.

The best thing about work has always been taking the vacation time away from it. But when work takes one to great vacation spots and then treats one to great experiences and parties, who can complain about the work.

This is what life is all about. Great experiences. Great food and drink. Great cars!

The fantastic August week in the Monterey Bay Area of California has long been a favorite of mine. Doing AllCarCentral.com's work only adds to the fun. Part of the duties required this last August of 2009 was attending Infiniti's unveiling of their new Concept model called Essence. The unveiling was done in a darkened tent up on top of the green near the great Pebble Beach Club House. All very dramatic. Wine was served and speeches were made then the covers came off and the special lighting was turned on. All were told "no photos" but some clandestine images were made, as you can see.

The Essence was on display in full sun the Sunday of the 59th Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance® which can be seen here.

Infiniti Essence Concept

Infiniti Essence Concept
Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance®
Pebble Beach, California, 2009
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March 18, 2010

Porsche, Porsche, Porsche!

Porsche 908-03 Spyder sn-908-03-008 1970 2nd Place Jerry Seinfeld Owner

Porsche 908-03 Spyder sn-908-03-008 1970 2nd Place Jerry Seinfeld Owner
Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance®
Pebble Beach, California, 2009

We have just up-loaded some Porsche photos which were taken at the 2009 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in Pebble Beach, California last August. An interesting paring was car owner Jerry Seinfeld who received a second place award with his 1970 Porsche 908-03 Spyder. There are many other Porsche racing cars in the Porsche site also.
Porsche cars

I you like to see Porsche street cars racing on track go to an ALM race. You can check out the calendar here for a comprehensive list of races and shows around the world.
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March 16, 2010

Is the Recession Over!

Voisin C20 Simoun Demi-Berline sn-47505 1931

Voisin C20 Simoun Demi-Berline sn-47505 1931
Blackhawk Collection
Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance®
Pebble Beach, California, 2007

The world news headlines goes on and on about the largest financial recession in modern times, but not all people are getting the message. Gooding & Company at its auction in Amelia Island, FL this March 14, 2010 sold, among other cars, a 1931 Voisin C20 Mylord Demi-Berline for a sum of $2.75 Million to make it the top priced car of the event. The second priced car a 1961 Porsche RS61 Spyder only brought a $1.705 Million bid.
Gooding & Company

Every time I see prices like this I am reminded of the conversations my wife and I had back in the 1980's when I wanted to buy old race cars and she said we had to be practical and put our money into houses.
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March 12, 2010

Ferrari P540 Superfast Aperta

Ferrari P540 Superfast Aperta Image Credit: Ferrari 2010

Ferrari P540 Superfast Aperta
Image Credit: Ferrari 2010

At what point does Edward Walson resemble Pininfarina? When he commissioned Ferraris Special Projects program to build the one-of-a-kind P540 Superfast Aperta. Only Ferrari allows a customer to design a "one-off," a single car for one's self, who then even gets to name the car. P540 Superfast Aperta.
Ferrari News

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March 10, 2010

SEE THROUGH TIRES

Michelin SEE THROUGH TIRES

Michelin SEE THROUGH TIRES

Belgrade, Serbia is having its International Car Show this month, and my friend sent in some nice photos of the cars and happenings from the inside. From the first look around, with Honda, Jeep and BMW and the rest setting up shop, one may not be able to guess which country the show is taking place. The World of the Automobile is almost One World.
You can have a look here.


Going around the email, where as I received a copy, were photos and a short report on Michelin's 'run flat' tires and possibly their next generation of tires, which are said to be made in South Carolina , USA. These are certainty eye catching. I remember some years back reading and article about this 'new design' being tested, so it would now look like we are getting closer to having these show up on the street corner, most likely mated with the hubcap which keeps on turning while the wheel has stopped.

Also as history keeps on repeating, the above early article's writer also included photos and reference to a much earlier off-road tire/wheel design where a steel rim was held in place about the hub with flexible steel strips and springs. This early tire also was run-flat and would flex over uneven terrain.

What other things? Oh yes, Porsche is working on "Highly Efficient and Ultra-Fast: Concept Car with Plug-In Hybrid".
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March 8, 2010

Top Marks Monaco

Lexus LF-A Roadster Concept 2009

Lexus LF-A Roadster Concept 2009 Aluminum-Carbon Fiber Construction at Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance Pebble Beach, California, 2008

What was in the news? Top Marks Monaco. This is an interesting venue, supported by Prince Albert II of Monaco, and featuring the latest in car design. Monaco, a very old world location where one can find the most valuable and modern yachts and vehicles.

"Hybrid-cars" is the word being said around the world. From Mercedes Benz the holder of the first patent on the automobile to Porsche, the long time maker of performance cars based on a design formula decades old, most all old and new car builders are moving to electric and fuel cell devices to propel the 'new' generation of cars.

Top Marks Monaco, yearly, assembles the latest in automotive technology and this year will showcase leading edge cars which will include, Atomik 500, eRUF Stormster, LFA by Lexus, Fisker Karma, Shelby SuperCars, manufacturers of the Ultimate Aero, and Brabus.
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March 6, 2010

"Mad Machine" Goes Bonkers

Toyota is taking a pounding in the US press over problems with their cars. Cars designs are moving to become totally controlled by computers, and as such the drivers are being less in control. In some ways this is a good thing and some times, when the 'mad machine' goes bonkers, having the computer run wild, it is a bad thing.

An Associated Press investigation into a manufacture installed device which is not unlike the 'black box' in aircraft, (EDR) has led to some interesting points.

Awhile back the US Government established standards, yet to be fully implemented, for EDR's. The EDR is suppose to produce a recording of events which were in place just few seconds before an accident, ie. before air bags inflate, and show; brake status, throttle position, safety belt status, steering wheel angle, occupant size and position, acceleration, velocity change, travel speed and engine rpm and others. This is to be available for crash investigations.

It was noted that Ford, Chrysler, Nissan and GM, makes the EDR recordings readily available to third parties. Honda is said to make the recording available through court order. Toyota on the other hand seems to be dealing with several layers of issues which makes these recording unavailable to US crash investigators.

In this writers view, the first reports in which the EDR's were discussed the tone was that this was an invasion of privacy into the US drivers lives. And the EDR would only be used by the insurance companies to blame the drivers and save their money. As I see things shifting, it looks like that many drivers of Toyotas may have been blamed for driver error, where there may have a 'mad machine' going bonkers. Unfortunately for Toyota, their EDR doesn't seem to be on their side.
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March 4, 2010

Dan Gurney to be at Laguna Seca and a 1965 Nash Rambler, by Pininfarina

Ferrari California 2009

Nash Rambler PininFarina Palm Beach 1956
Pawel Litwinski Photo 2010
Sorce Gooding & Company

The trials of running a website is using computers. Our main computer burned its mother board and is being replaced. The backup computer is slow and therefore so is the work being produced. However we have made some good news updates to the opening page which gives light on new developments at Bentley and the cars at Gooding and Company’s Amelia Islands auction this month. There is a very interesting Nash Rambler, (anyone remember them?) that was designed by Pininfarina in 1965. (Yes that is the correct spelling for the company back then). Also there are some new posts about the Concorso Italiana and Alfa Romeo this August 2010. if you are a fan of Italian cars or just like great automotive designs look at these events.
Concours and Car Shows

Alfa Romeo's


Dan Gurney and some of his racecars will be a Laguna Seca this August 2010 also. Dan was the All American Racer and has done some very special things in world racing. Check him out
links to story here.

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March 1, 2010

Our lives depend on computers

This is the first of the month and time for posting of the news releases which have come to AllCarCentrl.com. One which gave me pause had the headlines. "The new 2011 Lincoln MKX and its game-changing technologies", which was referring to all the computer controlled features the automotive industries are overwhelming us with.

On one side of the US News and TV, is the cry to make it a major crime against all mankind to use a cell phone or text while driving. I agree that this is a dangerous thing to do with a car moving down the roadway, however so is dealing with kids in the back seat, eating while driving, smoking, and so on.

One of the greatest additions to driving in my opinion is the availability of GPS units in the cars. Now we can go directly to our destinations instead of driving around and around trying to see road signs or read paper maps "while driving". And yes some cell phones are GPS enabled and can be used in moving cars.

With all the "game-changing technologies" coming on line, it is also worth noting that Toyota is struggling to deal with some very bad press aimed at some unexplained braking and accelerator problems.

A few years ago we attached to the front wheels, which we aim left and right to keep us safely on the road, very robust pieces of steel and gears. Move the steering wheel with our hands, a large metal rod pushed against other steel parts until the energy and movement pushed directly against the front wheels, which then directed the car around the corned and avoided going straight off the cliff and into the sea several hundred feet below. This was a good strong and predictable system. This system was used in one form or another since the first carriages were guided down the road without their brave horses guiding us from dangerous encounters. Until a few years ago. Someone said I have a better way. Let's use electronics to move this fast heavy car from left to right and keep us from flying off the cliff.

We are now putting our families into computer controlled boxes and sending them off at high speeds, hopping all the electronics bits will guide them and stop them safely.

No more steel bars and reinforced hydraulic hoses to do the job. Just very tiny copper lines on circuit boards and small connectors stop us, turn us away from danger, move us down the road.
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February 27, 2010

Hard Drive Hell

As this blog is about the day to day stuff regarding the AllCarCentral.com website the issues cover the hardware and software maintenance as well as the gathering and posting of the automotive information. All boring stuff but necessary.

Back-up and storage is a main concern with the large amounts of data need in running this site. We have a very large amount of data and it must be protected from loss.

External HD's are used as will as DVD's. The web files make a good off site copy. However an external Raid 1 HD is a main component of the system and it has been a huge problem in that we have just reinstalled the 3rd unit. The duo pro Hitachi 2T drive has been junk. We have spent way too much time on formatting and shipping these units back for replacement and then reinstalling. As they write, they make soooo…. much noise, and even when they are not writing they have to be turned off. We hope the third one will work.
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February 26, 2010

Google Caffeine

New day, a new Blog format. In keeping with making every thing work together and having updates easier to post we have dropped the Google Blog format and used our own coding. Hope you like it.

We had also been scrambling to recover from what is possibility a sneak attack from Google. All of a sudden AllCarCentral.com's traffic took a big drop. The only thing that we have been able to discover is that Google has introduced a new search formula, which seems to be called "Caffeine". Give us a note if you have anything to report on this Caffeine thing.
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