Tags: Martyn Schorr / Porsche / Porsche 911 / Porsche 911 Carrera GTS Rennsport Reunion Edition / Porsche racing / Rennsport Reunion

PORSCHE 911CARRERA GTS: RENNSPORT REUNION EDITION!

- Jumat, 25 September 2015 No Comments

Built by Porsche Exclusive, there will be just 25 Reunion Edition 911s. Run, don’t walk, to your nearest Porsche dealer!

In honor of the fifth Rennsport Reunion, Porsche has unveiled a special edition of the 911 Carrera GTS at this year’s gathering at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. The Rennsport Reunion Edition is limited to 25 units worldwide and will be sold exclusively in North America.



Built by Porsche Exclusive, the Rennsport Reunion Edition is based on the 430 horsepower 911 Carrera GTS. The limited edition production model is painted in custom Fashion Grey. Decorative black and red decals cover the front hood, the roof, and the rear deck lid. The driver and passenger doors are decorated with black and red decals featuring the PORSCHE logo. 20-inch Sport Classic wheels painted in high-gloss black give the Rennsport Reunion Edition a very striking appearance. The lower exterior trim of the side mirrors as well as the satellite radio antenna is also finished in high-gloss black. LED headlights in black including PDLS Plus complete the black accents on the exterior.



Inside the 911 Carrera GTS Rennsport Reunion Edition, both the carbon fiber dashboard trim above the glove compartment as well as the illuminated door-sill guards in carbon fiber display the special model designation. As part of the GTS Interior Package, the SportDesign steering wheel, the door panel trim, the dashboard trim, the floor mats, and the GTS logo on the headrests are all stitched in Carmine Red. The central tachometer and the seat belts also feature this color. The center compartment lid is embossed with the Rennsport Reunion V logo. The special appointments fitted by Porsche Exclusive are rounded out with a Fashion Grey painted vehicle key and a leather key pouch featuring Carmine Red accents and “911 Carrera GTS Rennsport Reunion Edition” lettering.





Available exclusively with a manual transmission, the 911 Carrera GTS Rennsport Reunion Edition is powered by a 430 horsepower 3.8 liter flat-six engine, capable of propelling the car from 0 to 60 mph in 4.2 seconds and to a top track speed of 190 mph.



Other standard features on the car include 18-way Adaptive Sport Seats Plus, PASM Sport Suspension, a Bose Audio Package, and Rear Park Assist. The MSRP for the 2016 Porsche 911 Carrera GTS Rennsport Reunion Edition, which goes on sale immediately, is $148,335, not including the $995 destination charge.



For more information on Porsche 911s, please visit http://www.porsche.com/usa/models/911/911-gt3/

Tags: AC Ace / Alfa / Chasing Classic Cars / Elva / MG / Mike Matune / PIBRRR / Porsche 911 / Porsche 914-6 GT / Porsche racing / Put-In-Bay road races / Sprite

PUT-IN-BAY (PIBRRR): ROAD RACES REUNION!

- Selasa, 08 September 2015 No Comments

Mike Matune covers the 1950s-era road racing reunion, celebrating classic ‘airport & street racing' at its finest.

The starter waves the green flag as the field accelerates down the front straight during the 2015 Put-in-Bay Road Races Reunion on South Bass Island in Western Lake Erie. In period, the racers at Put in Bay occupied an important spot on the racing calendar for small-bore production and race cars. Its recreation as a vintage event has involved perseverance and dedication by the community, spectators, organizers and participants, who are all to be congratulated for their accomplishments.



The anticipation begins even before you step onto the island, as you take the Miller Ferry over shared with race and street cars of all ilk, trucks, trailers and transporters. The ferry trip gives one a chance to begin decompressing as you enjoy the company and the views, both the scenery and the automotive eye candy aboard.

Part of the festivities includes an Original Course Tour. Here Joe Bojalad and his son share their AC as they negotiate Cemetery Corner. The Bojalad’s AC was featured in an episode of “Chasing Classic Cars” after Joe, Jr. found the car and had it restored for his Dad to once again drive at Put-in-Bay; reprising Joe Sr.’s 1955 win in the same car.

To accommodate racing today, the race has been moved to the Put-in-Bay Airport, tying together two sports car traditions, the through-the streets and airport venues, both of which figured prominently in post-WWII sports car racing. Here Kurt Niemeyer’s Alfa Romeo Giulietta Spyder negotiates the chicane between the runway and the South taxi way. Niemeyer’s Alfa is another example of the traditions of PIBRRR, having been run by his Dad in the original event and making its reappearance on the Island after recently being reacquired by Niemeyer.

Airport circuits all have a few of the same things in common; wide open flat concrete surfaces, courses marked by hay bales, hangers, airplanes and speeding race cars. This shot of Rick Frazee and his Sprite illustrates all the elements of the airport circuit genre. 

At the end of the front straight, a 180 degree sweeper moves you back onto the runway. Klaus Selbert sets up for that turn in his Porsche 911 under the watchful eyes of corner worker Jeff Knapp of Lake Erie Communications. The sign reminds one that this is an active airport. Accordingly, racing was delayed each morning until the mail plane departed and ended in the late afternoon as the airport reopened, the course being set up and dismantled accordingly.

What do you do when you and your ultra-rare Porsche Carrera Speedster have an altercation with a hay bale? Why you take it back to the Paddock and make repairs so you can drive it home, just like “Doc” Weiss does here. Weiss has been racing this car since 1962. Such is the nature of PIBRRR where camaraderie, a laid-back atmosphere and reliving the sports car traditions of the past are the event’s guiding principles and where your ego very much takes a back seat.

Joe Bojalad’s Elva Mk VI Prototype is steeped in racing lore. Marking the transition from front to mid-engine sports racers, this Mk VI enjoyed success in England and on the Continent before being imported to the U.S.  Here Bunny Ribbs, perhaps better known as the Father of noted racer Willy T. Ribbs, raced it to a West Coast Championship. He was an accomplished racer.

While PIBRRR certainly exudes a laid-back aura, the participants took the racing seriously, perhaps not fixated on results, but certainly interested in the challenge of the course. Here Paul Adams in an Elva Mk II looks for the apex while Michael Barstow in an MG TD looks for a way around Adams. Of interest, is that both of these cars traveled from California to Ohio. 

 In period, the original organizers of Put-in-Bay concentrated on lower-displacement cars. The current races mirror that car selection, limiting most racers to small-displacement cars built before 1964 with some exceptions. To add interest and expand participation, classes for Guest Street cars and Racing Exhibition Entrants have been added. An example of the later is the Porsche 914-4 of Scott Sadowsky.  Here he illustrates one of the quandaries of the circuit; just how close can I get to that hay bale and not hit it? Hitting a hay bale will get you at least a stern lecture from the stewards, if not an invitation to take the next ferry off the island.

Tom Cole gives us an example of the Guest Street class in his Porsche 912. Cole‘s car is a Concours award winner, but that didn’t keep him from trying his hand at the Original Course Tour as well as making the over 450 mile round trip from his home in Southwestern Ohio. Put-in-Bay is developing a draw and a lucky few have discovered it.

 Before racers head home on Wednesday, they participate in a car show well attended by race goers and participants alike. Cars are divided into street and competition categories. Awards recognize not only appearance and provenance, but also the spirit in which competitors take part in the event.



Words & Photos: M.M. “Mike” Matune, Jr.



For more information, please visit  http://www.pibroadrace.com/

Tags: Ak Miller Caballo II / Ault Park Concours / BRE Datsuns / Corvette / Ferrari Dino / Ford Thunderbird / Frank Kurtis / Haggerty Insurance / Magnus Walker / Mike Matune / Pontiac GTO / Porsche 911 / Von Dutch / VW Beetle

AULT PARK: 38TH ANNUAL CONCOURS D’ELEGANCE!

- Rabu, 24 Juni 2015 No Comments

Our Mike Matune discovered the Ault Park Concours in Cincinnati, OH only a few years ago and has been looking forward to covering it ever since.

Tom Shaughnessy brought the famous “Caballo II” from California to grace the field at Ault Park. This car, top, is another piece of real Americana, having been hot rodder Ak Miller’s effort to take on the world’s best. Starting with a Frank Kurtis frame, it has a Jack Sutton crafted aluminum body. Under hood you find a Hilborn fuel-injected early Chrysler Hemi. In period, it showed up everywhere from the Mille Miglia to Bonneville and Riverside Raceway.

Each year the show presents a different, interesting, high caliber group of cars with an array of featured marques and themes. Among this year’s, was a celebration of the VW Beetle, above, a car that still evokes strong emotion and devotion long after its roughly 65 year production run of over 20 million examples had ended. You could trace the evolution of the iconic shape as time shaped detail, but not the basic concept. The show benefits Juvenile Arthritis.

Hagerty Insurance’s Youth Judges program was very much in evidence with close to thirty kids participating. They toured the show field and judged the cars for themselves, later presenting awards to their favorites. It is critical that we involve the next generation in our hobby/sport/business and our hats are off to Hagerty for their support of this successful program.

Ford’s Thunderbird has been with us for 60 years now and has been just about everything in its life from sleek two-seater to a personal luxury car. Edward Finke’s ‘59 “Squarebird” represents one of those stops along the way with the Thunderbird as racer. Built to take on NASCAR, these cars were delivered with 390-inch engines with three speed manual transmissions and sans power accessories. It never raced, but rather ended up (allegedly) in the nefarious moonshine trade. As the car became known to revenuers, it became a museum piece, further preserving it.

Regardless of your automotive taste, how can you not find a triple-black, tri-power, four-speed  ‘64 GTO convertible captivating? This one was full-on concours restoration with every tag and marking intact. The “dog dish” hubcaps and redline tires are period correct.

And while we are on stunning black cars, we have to mention Stephen Barrett’s ‘59 Corvette with a brilliant red interior. A 270-horsepower solid-lifter, dual-quad 283-inch engine, bolted up to a four speed, powers it.

Under the heading Future Cars from the Past, Ault Park presented examples of what many thought in the day we would be driving now. Von Dutch (Kenny Howard) created this futuristic car from an F86 wing tank and Harley-Davidson motorcycle engine. Details include wheel pants, swing-away headlights, rudder & wings and fore & aft seating to provide the feeling of flying on the ground. In the background, other future cars include a Delorean and a GM Motorama early Corvette tribute, the fastback Corvair.

The Ingram Collection was well represented at Ault Park with several great cars. Among them was this ‘72 Porsche 911 STR, custom styled by Magnus Walker who was also in attendance. The car has appeared on the cover of Road & Track and made numerous TV appearances. Walker posed for numerous selfies and took in the entire show. His comments during the awards ceremony on the quality of the Ault Park Concours and his appreciation for all things Cincinnati from the city’s architecture to Montgomery Inn ribs were warm and well received.

We’ll admit to not having a huge knowledge base regarding motorcycles, but couldn’t help but be impressed by Jim Walther’s ‘40 Indian. An F-head, straight four of about 80 cubic inches powers the bike through a lever-shifted three-speed transmission. Suspension is by a quarter-elliptic leaf spring up front and coils in the rear. it was discovered in pieces over 20 years ago and restored by its owner and may have been a police bike.

Jim Jaeger’s ‘66 Dino 206 SP was Ferrari’s entry into two-liter prototype racing in the mid-1960s. Powered by a 200-horsepower 2.0-liter V-6 engine, its styling is reminiscent of larger-engined Ferrari prototypes. It's a Le Mans veteran, driven by Hobbs & Salmon.

Despite their pragmatic nature, a fire engine’s styling has often reflected the time in which it was created. There is no doubt Mark Radtke’s ‘24 REO-Speedwagon Obenchain/Boyer example belongs in the “Brass” era. It served Van Buren Township in Western Ohio before winding its way in life onto a Concours show field.

Much had changed by the early-1970s when the Datsun 510 burst onto the scene and assumed the role of giant killer. That was in the heyday of the Under-2.5 Liter Trans-Am. They would vanquish all in their path and take home the series championship two years in a row. The Nissan Heritage Collection is today the caretaker of an original Brock Racing Enterprises (BRE) 510. While a milestone in the evolution of the Japanese car in the American market, it was only a step to where they stand today.

Part of the Mercedes Featured Marque class, Dr. Jack Hahn’s ‘93 500E resulted from a partnership between Mercedes and Porsche to put a big engine in a midsize car. But they didn’t stop there as they added larger brakes and increased the track, flaring the fenders in the process. By the time they finished, the creation was a “Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing”.



Next year’s Ault Park Concours d’Elegance is scheduled for June 13, 2016, featuring Ferrari. Special displays will include 100 Years of BMW; The Pickup Truck and the 50th Anniversary of the Ford GT40’s 1-2-3 Sweep of Le Mans.



Words & Photos: M.M. “Mike” Matune, Jr.



For more information, please visit: http://www.ohioconcours.com/

http://cincinnatiparks.com/ault-park

http://www.arthritis.org/ohio/juvenile-arthritis/

Tags: Adam Carolla / Aston-Martin DB4 Zagato / Group 44 / GT40 / Jefferson 500 Historics / Kas Kastner / Lola / Mike Matune / Paul Newman / Porsche 911 / Racing Corvettes / Summit Point / Triumph / Vintage Racing / VRG / WINNING

JEFFERSON 500: VINTAGE RACERS INVADE SUMMIT POINT!

- Selasa, 26 Mei 2015 No Comments

The Vintage Racers Group (VRG) takes over Summit Point Raceway with their latest rendition of the Jefferson 500. Our Mike Matune was trackside.

Racers and spectators were treated to five days of driver schools, practice, qualifying and, of course, racing.  Here the Cunningham Cup cars, top, are caught coming under the bridge with Hobart Buppert’s Chevy-powered Lola and Michael Zappa’s Ford-powered Superformance GT40 racer at the head of the grid. Behind them comes a field chock full of all manner of noise, horsepower and speed. Herb Wetanson’s Aston Martin DB4, above, has been re-bodied with a shell paying homage to the great Zagato-bodied racers of the 1960s. The body is presented in raw, polished aluminum to show off its lines and workmanship required to create it.

It is hard to dispute the contribution Bob Tullius, Brian Fuerstenau and Lanky Foushee, collectively Group 44, made to the Triumph marque specifically and the sport in general. We were reminded of that by Jim Dolan’s 1972 GT6. For a couple of years in the early 1970s this car cut a wide swath through the D/Production SCCA wars, compiling a surprising record. After its Group 44 days it continued its competitive life with the SCCA and ventured into IMSA in the GTU category. It has since been the subject of a couple of restorations, but remains a track-ready racecar.

Sam Halkias’ TR6 pays tribute to actor/racer Paul Newman’s victories at the SCCA Runoffs in a similarly liveried car.  Newman’s exploits as a racer are told in the Matt Stone/Preston Lerner book Winning and in the new film, Winning: The Racing Life of Paul Newman. 

But there was more to see than just Triumphs at the Jefferson 500. Here, setting up for Turn 10, we have Charles Powell’s ‘72 Corvette. This was a family affair and they are proud of their efforts at fielding the car. It has been a racecar, primarily in the Midwest, since the mid-1980s. The Powells keep the car as close as possible to its period racing preparation level with allowances for safety concerns.

In talking with the owner of this ‘87 Porsche 911, the word “evolution” came to mind. The car has evolved and been “back-dated” to give it the flavor of a ‘73 RS. Over the years, the bolt-in rollbar gave way to a larger weld-in piece and finally a full cage.

If the Wright Brothers’ original airplane had the lift equivalent to the downforce the wing on the back of Dave Coleman’s Porsche provides, the first flight would have likely been a lot longer!  Racing is full of compromises and I’m sure a wing this size presents a drag penalty that counters its downforce.

After traversing Summit Point’s long front straight, cars must brake hard into Turns 1 & 2 which combine to change a car’s direction 180 degrees. Christopher Zappa is doing just that in his TVR Tuscan which features a race-prepared Ford Essex V6 powerplant. All of the Zappa team cars are prepared to a very high standard as illustrated by Christopher’s mount.

Nick Giampetro’s Mustang reminded me that we are celebrating the 50th anniversary of Shelby’s GT350. Today valuable GT350s are popular entries in vintage events around the world. Later this Summer, the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion will honor the GT350 as its featured marque. 

Derek Sweger’s ‘71 Porsche 911 proves that street-driven racecars still exist. Heralding back to bygone days, it features a roll bar and a larger, but still streetable, engine. On the outside he has picked up styling cues from the RSR and included markings from the same era such as the Camel GT logo on the door.

Vince Vaccaro has campaigned his Alfa GTV for about four years. Built on the West Coast in 1980, it is the handiwork of a builder best known for street rods, which probably accounts for the high level of fit and finish as well as the graphics. The car’s performance matches its appearance as Vaccaro finished second in the IMSA RS/SCCA 2.5 Challenge race.

This year’s Jefferson 500 had the additional distinction of hosting the Kastner Cup for Triumph cars. Named for R. W. “Kas” Kastner, it drew a cross-section of the British marque. Kas has had a long and storied automotive career, but it is his efforts in Triumph’s U.S. Competition Department and his authorship of manuals on how to prepare racing Triumphs that endears him to Triumph aficionados. Each year one car is selected as the Kastner Cup winner based on its competition success over the weekend, the car’s presentation and the driver/team’s “attitude & interest in vintage racing”. This year’s winner was Mark Wheatley in his TR4; our congratulations go out to him.



Words & Photos: M.M. Mike Matune, Jr.



For more information, please visit: Summit Point Raceway - http://summitpoint-raceway.com/

VRG - http://www.vrgonline.org/index.html

Tags: BMW / Deutsche Marque Concours d’Elegance / Mercedes-Benz / Mercedes-Benz Classic / Mike Matune / Outlaw Porsches / Porsche / Porsche 911 / Speedster / Trabant

BMW, MERCEDES, PORSCHE: DEUTSCHE MARQUE CONCOURS!

- Minggu, 10 Mei 2015 No Comments

Mike Matune checks out the 32nd annual German cars show produced by local area BMW, Mercedes and Porsche clubs.

Marking its 32nd year, the Deutsche Marque Concours d’Elegance has become a staple on the National Capital Area’s Spring car event schedule. Put on by the local chapters of the BMW, Mercedes and Porsche car clubs, the Concours crowds the show field at Nottoway Park in Vienna, VA with all manner of German automotive finery. The Porsche “Outlaw” row contained some interesting variations on the Porsche theme, including Alan Friedman’s ‘73 911RSR. The paint color shocks the retinas and the “Hippy” paint job adds a lot of visual interest. The ducktail rear spoiler, straps on the rear window, wide wheels & tires and numbering leave little doubt that this is a purpose built vintage racer.

In this era of over-restored cars, you have to like Littlejohn Schebish’s Speedster. Originally a racecar, it was found with missing parts and in poor condition. Schebish has elected to keep its flavor as a 1960s street racer with colorful paint accents and nerf bars.

Thought it might be an interesting comparison between the Speedster in the last photo and a shot of Chip Tsantes’ ‘11 911 Speedster.  You can see similarities in the smaller windshield and the tonneau cover. But after that, Porsche takes departure from the original concept of a small, light, minimally appointed car. It would be interesting to see how close Porsche could come to the spirit of the original Speedster in a modern car.

Pagoda Roof Mercedes SLs draw their name from the slight concave shape of their hardtops. Built from 1963 -1971, the cars evolved along the way, gaining power and coming into compliance with U.S. safety regulations.  Raymond Schlicht’s SL was originally delivered in Germany. It has the more unusual five-speed manual gearbox and he pointed out that it’s a coupe model that came with a hardtop only and a small rear seat.

For a moment I thought the Rat-Rod movement had arrived in the Mercedes camp until I learned more about this ‘67 M-B Universal. A W111 chassis or “Twin Fin”, these station wagons were built by an outside supplier on  chassis supplied by Mercedes. Despite its obvious flaws, this one likely will get restored.

And here we have the pride of Communist East Germany, the Trabant. Powered by a two-cylinder, two-stroke 26 horsepower engine, East Germans stood in line to procure one. They stand as a monument to the power of central planning. The owner, George Newman, said there are several that gather every year on the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall (November 8) at the Spy Museum on F Street in Washington, D.C.

This one really threw off a “Miami Vice” vibe with its rear quarter panel strakes, flashy red paint, slant nose with disappearing headlights, flared fenders, whale tail and extended rocker panels. Being a cabriolet just adds to the 1980s feel. Called a Flachbau or slant-nose by Porsche, it was an expensive option costing over $20,000 when new.

The Mercedes 300 SEL 6.3 followed the muscle car idiom of putting a big engine in a small car. In this case it was the 6.3 liter M100 SOHC V8 from the 600 limousine into the W109 chassis. Well equipped with a four speed automatic transmission, four-wheel disc brakes and air suspension, its performance rivaled that of a lot of musclecars.

 BMW built its Z8 as a tribute to the 1950s BMW 507 Roadster. The styling influences can be seen in the Z8’s grille shape and placement of the fender vents. Based on a Tokyo Auto Show concept car called the Z07, it came to production relatively intact design wise. An aluminum body and chassis combined with a 400 horsepower V8 borrowed from the M5 provided for one very spirited ride. A Z8 would achieve exposure on screen in the James Bond film The World Is Not Enough. Doug Dolan owns this example.

Dolan also brought his ‘72 BMW M 3.0 CSi. These coupes used the familiar BMW straight six with swoopy coupe styling and formed the basis for BMW’s highly successful line of CSL racers.

A little way down the “Outlaw" row sat Dave Bergman’s ‘73 Porsche 911E. It had the same flavor as Friedman’s racer but with full street equipment. The overall level of fit and finish was very high in tribute to his vocation of running Bergman Autowerks in Manassas, VA.



Words & photos: M. M. “Mike” Matune, Jr.



For more information please visit: http://www.dmconcours.com/

http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/wp-glance003.htm