Le Mans
November 16th, 2011 by NZ Classic Car
Never heard of British sports car manufacturer Atalanta Motors? You’re not alone, the boutique builder, originally located in Staines Middlesex, England, manufactured vehicles from 1937 until the outbreak of World War II in 1939.
So what? You could ask. Well it turns out that Atalanta is set for a comeback under the new ownership of Martyn Corfield who recently purchased the nameplate.
Back in the day, Atalanta was responsible for producing some truly cutting-edge cars, equipped with such modern advances as fully independent coil spring suspensions, adjustable dampers, hydraulic brakes, a semi-automatic gearbox and a twin-spark cylinder head.
Atalanta cars were good enough for the factory to take home the team prize in the 1939 Welsh Rally, which would prove to be the brand’s most significant racing achievement before the second world war halted production. Read the rest of this entry »
July 20th, 2011 by NZ Classic Car
The Monterey car week is a massive classic car event on the American calender and with it scheduled for August, details are now being revealed. One of the major highlights of the event are the auctions, especially the RM Auctions event and this year some of the cars are very unique.
No Monterey auction would be complete without some movie star cars and this time around its a pair of ex-Steve McQueen cars that are on the consignment list.
First up is a very tidy 1970 Porsche 911S that was delivered to McQueen while he was on the set of the movie Le Mans. The car actually made an appearance in several of the movie’s opening scenes and is in mostly original condition with just 12,400 miles on the clock. Read the rest of this entry »
June 20th, 2011 by NZ Classic Car
The Mazda 787B quad rotor Le Mans prototype car would have to be one of the most unique machines to ever campaign on the famous French circuit. During the recent 2011 Le Mans race the 787B was back to wow a new crowd.
It was in 1991 that the 670kW Mazda 787B made history at the 24 Hours of Le Mans by becoming the first Japanese-built machine to win the race. It was also the first and only rotary-powered machine to take Le Mans glory and instantly became one of the most famous race cars on the planet. To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the historic victory, Mazda gave the 787B a full restoration including reworking that great 90s paint work, and announced it would be bringing it to France for the 2011 24-hour race.
A few videos of the 787B lapping the Circuit de la Sarthe have been filmed and we have added them below for your viewing and listening pleasure. There’s one clip of Johnny Herbert, the winning driver of 20 years ago, piloting the 787B on its demo lap. There’s also one of actor/car enthusiast Patrick Dempsey being given a lap in the rotory-powered beast and his commentary. 
But the 787B is the star of this show and definitely worth a view, check out the videos below. Read the rest of this entry »
June 13th, 2011 by NZ Classic Car
Racing legend and motorsport ambassador Stirling Moss has officially announced his retirement from all forms of racing at age of 81 years old. After an incident at the Le Mans track, Moss decided it was time to pack it in and leave it up to the youngsters. Moss was originally scheduled to race his 1961 Porsche RS61 in a Le Mans Legends support race last weekend, but lost his nerve during practice. The Porsche Moss was driving was the same car he damaged at the Laguna Seca track in the States when Moss spun out and was struck by a passing Lotus.
At Le Mans, the former champion said that he scared himself while behind the wheel during practice. He had promised himself that he would give up the sport if he felt that he wasn’t up to competition or that he was holding up the other competitors, and that’s what he’s done. The decision was reached in the pit lane at Le Mans. Read the rest of this entry »
June 13th, 2011 by NZ Classic Car
When it comes to the top echelons of endurance racing Audi rules the roost, so long as its cars can stay on the track. At last weekend’s Le Mans 24 hour endurance race the Audi LMP cars were firm favourites – but it all didn’t go to plan.
After dominating qualifying to put two Audi R18 TDIs in pole and second spot on the grid, Audi was looking flash. But just one hour into the race, two-time winning driver Allan McNish found himself in all sorts of strife and completely smashed his pretty prototype racer. McNish was trying to work his way round his teammate when he encountered traffic and got connected with a GTE Class Ferrari 458 Italia. McNish and his Audi crossed rapidly through the sand trap and hit the barrier at a high speed, the R18 disintegrated sending carbonfibre, metal and tyres everywhere. Photographers and marshals scattered to get out of the way of the debris and amazingly no one was hurt – not even McNish who walked away.
McNish’s racing day was over, but Audi did still go on to take Le Mans victory through Andre Lotterer in the #2 R18 TDI.
Check out a clip of McNish’s high-speed crash below. Read the rest of this entry »
May 28th, 2011 by NZ Classic Car
THIS COMPETITION HAS EXPIRED
Privateers took the car racing right from the launch of the E-Type in 1961, but it took Jaguar a further two years to develop a genuine competition version – the aluminium-engined and bodied ‘Lightweight’ which weighed in at 975kg (2150lb), over 100kg less than the standard car. It was in fact a roadster with a hardtop which unfortunately provided less than ideal aerodynamics – some of the later cars were fitted with full fast-back coupé bodies that proved to be more effective.
Twelve of the Lightweights were produced and featured Lucas fuel injected, aluminium-block versions of the 3.8-litre Jaguar engine with over 224kW (300bhp). However, unlike its predecessors – the C and D-Type – the Lightweight did not win at Le Mans, Sebring, or any other major international races, but did have some success in lesser national races.
Our featured 1:43 model from Spark is one of the three cars ordered by American Briggs Cunningham for his assault on Le Mans in 1963. Cunningham first entered his three Lightweights – painted in his traditional colour scheme of white with two blue stripes – at the Sebring 12-hour prior to Le Mans, where they finished eighth, 19th and DNF. At Le Mans the cars were competitive in practice, but in race two, they were out before the 40th lap, while the surviving Lightweight finished ninth overall and second in class behind a Cobra Daytona Coupé. Read the rest of this entry »
May 27th, 2011 by NZ Classic Car
It’s not called endurance racing because it’s easy. But exactly how hard it is on both driver and machine is something few of us really realise. To educate the masses Audi has created a visually fantastic animated short film.
Called A Day in the Life of an Audi Driver the film features narration by the Audi Le Mans team driver Alan McNish who takes the viewer through some interesting facts about the famous 24 hours race. Winning Le Mans certainly looks like a tough task and Audi would know, its had victory 9 times in the past 11 years in both petrol and diesel-powered cars.
Check out the short film below. Read the rest of this entry »
May 25th, 2011 by NZ Classic Car
The year was 1991, and Mazda achieved its greatest motorsport achievement by becoming the first, and only, Japanese carmaker to ever win the 24 Hours of Le Mans race. It was also the only time a rotary-powered vehicle has taken the win in the world’s most famous endurance race.
The track weapon Mazda used for the job was its 787B (pictured), and to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Le Mans win it has undergone a full restoration. The organisers of this year’s Le Mans race must appreciate the unique nature of Mazda’s victory, or just the killer 90′s paintjob, and have asked Mazda to demonstrate its 787B on the track before the start of the race. Le Mans fans will be treated to a few laps listening to the quad-rotor engine producing its 521kW of power, although in 1991 it was rumoured to produce up to 670kW of grunt.
Since 1991, the winning Mazda 787B has mostly been on display at the Mazda Museum in Hiroshima, Japan. The recent restoration work was carried out by current Mazda employees who participated in the company’s original Le Mans Challenge Project, along with engineers from Mazda’s subsidiary engineering company Mazda E&T. The restored 787B has been tested by former Mazda factory drivers Yoshimi Katayama, Takashi Yorino and Yojiro Terada at Mazda’s Mine Proving Ground in western Japan. Read the rest of this entry »
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