Top five Classic Car Chase Movies: Part 2

Hammond Eyes

Nice pict of Hammond of Top Gear and now Grand Tour, especially the eyes that have it.

A bbc website article something about chocolate ice-cream.

Car and Chrono 1

Here's something from one of my other blogs, VreMax: Car and chrono.

More pictures of my Okean 3133 Final Edition chronograph, even if they are not too good.

It's color matched to Ford's blue oval.

The main entry on this watch is here My Okean 3133 Final Edition and there is a story there.

Many great racers were associated with specific chrono watches, such as Paul Newman and the Rolex Daytona, Steve McQueen and the Tag Heur Monaco...

Me, I love mechanical chronos too, and when I got into watches some time ago I decided I would build a collection specifically of affordable chronos... but due to lack of funds have got only three so far, with there being no new addition since 2013... but am still hopeful.

I said "affordable" mechanical chronos and the two prime examples are the Poljot 3133 and China's ST19** series. 

Unfortunately, Poljot is out of production already but still can be found.

Also note the stopwatch is on - the red central hand is moving.

Equipe Remy Julienne CAR CHASE in "Burglars" ("Le Casse") - '71

American Drive In

Letting go of Expectations

Merry Christmas from Bob Wells.

Hot New Country Aug 1999 - Nick Barraclough

What You Hear on Car Radio in Moscow

Need for Speed Rivals - Grand Tour GOLD - Porsche Cayman S

Need for Speed Rivals - 22 - Ch 8 Ch 9 RACER CAREER COMPLETE

How to Shower and Stay CLEAN when living in a car, van or RV

I watched this today. Got some ideas for my dacha aka summer cabin in the woods / swamps.

Lada Niva with curtains

From my car-spotting blog, here is a well used-up but still sold Lada Niva with curtains in the window.

I say "Lada Niva" but the proper name for this long-running VAZ-2121 model is "Lada 4x4" as the "Niva" name migrated to Lada's Chevy Niva in the early 1990s which is the same car but with a different body.

This is a regular 3-door Lada 4x4, there is also a 5-door version and two (3-dr and 5-dr) Urban versions.

Essentials List for Living in a Vehicle

50K 2008 ford focus

50K km over 8 years.
At this rate it won't make it to 100,000. Something will give. Either it or me lol.

NFS Rivals - 1 - Intro

Mafia III - Hot Rod Mag Collection Complete

A complete Hot Rod magazine collection in Mafia 3.


While I am at it, here is another collection.

Range Rover Evoque Convertible revelado en Chile

Mafia III Flying car!

Millionaire Gives Money Away and Lives in VW Van

Living or Traveling in a Kia Sedona Minivan

Jobs for Nomads Part 1: Live For Present Not Future

Bob Wells wants you to be a nomad.

Mafia III Traffic Jam

Gran Turismo Music - GT4 Default Racing Playlist

For all lover of GT4 out there here is my 2-hour long tribute to Gran Turismo 4 and its music. 

Mafia III - Wooden Bridge Car Jumpin

Mafia III - Va-Va-Voom!

Mafia III

Starting Mafia III.

Nice 60s cars in this one.

The subject-matter though is controversial, more so than the first two Mafias, of which I am a veteran player.

Car Stories: the Volga GAZ-3105

Here is another one of my car stories.

The subject this time is the Volga GAZ-3105 automobile.

I have no personal experience but once saw it at an exhibition as reported on one of my other blogs, VreMax, where I first wrote about this car exhibition that I visited a year ago - in August of 2014. 

After that I did some internet research, pulled some pictures, so here goes a brief history of the rare car (only 50 units made).

The Volga GAZ-3105 that I saw there.

The Volga-3105 was to be a separate model but never saw the (full) light of day and only achieved a limited production run of 55 units. 

It was meant to replace the last Chaika GAZ-14, I think.

It looks a bit uncouth but it's mainly due to the small wheels I think. 

I am sure that if it had made mass production, it would have been continuously improved and would eventually look good. As it happened with most Russian cars.

My "Cannonball Run" commute

British drivers swearing REACTION!!!

NSFW
I too think local Brits sound funny at best.

And at worst... there is more out than in.




btw, the youtuber dude is pretty funny too... at best.

More Gran Turismo Music: GT4 Race Playlist Longer

A longer version - about 1h22m.

My GT4 race playlist in a longer version - pulled it straight from the GT4 Jukebox via TV headphone out.



Gran Turismo Photo Dump: GT4 Race Playlist Longer

GT4 Race Playlist Short

Monday sucks, work has no meaning anymore because you are working to make the 1% richer, so why not listen to some GT4 music instead of uselessly commuting.

So here goes.

My GT4 Race Playlist in the shortest version.

Posted once before but this time I managed to remove distortion even though some noise persists.

And by the way, lets all stop working and see how "they" like it!

Gran Turismo Photo Dump: GT4 Race Playlist Short: My GT4 Race Playlist in the shortest version. Posted once before but this time I managed to remove distortion even though some noise persi...

Bike in the Fall

Bicycling in the fall aka autumn 2016.

 

New discipline in cycling - catch the train... or don't let it catch you!

Something on the Radio

Thursday sucks so why not listen to some old international radio request show instead of wasting time commuting to work, and work has no meaning any more.

GT5 1989 Nissan Z 300 ZX TT 2 Seater (Z32)

First Nightingales May 2016 + Dawn Chorus

Thursday sucks, so why not listen to some birds singing in the now past May 2016.

1970 Chaparral 2J Race Car in GT4 Pictures

Driving to Checker Flag by Etnica from GT4

A 2004 FPV F6 Typhoon... in GT4 pictures

A rarity today in my GT4 car picture series which is a 2004 FPV F6 Typhoon.

Sporting a coat of Mercury Silver, it is parked below in Beacon Hill.

FPV stands for Ford Performance Vehicles, and the manufacturer is based in Australia.

This is a rare car in the world of Gran Turismo as it only appears in GT4 and GT PSP, and the description reads as follows.

The FPV F6 Typhoon was the top-spec model of the XR6 series, based on the MkII facelift of the Ford Falcon, was launched in late 2004 as an entry-level FPV model. The utility version, known as the Tornado, entered production in 2005, based on the brand new BF-series Falcon. In 2005, the BAII F6 Typhoon was disqualified from Motor magazine's annual Performance Car of the Year competition due to clutch failures in 2 separate cars. After initially blaming the magazine's testers, FPV labelled the car as "simply too powerful" and withdrew the car from sale for several months while they engineered a fix. All of the cars released with the clutch issues were recalled. The F6 Typhoon returned, albeit in 6-Speed Automatic BF guise, to win Motor magazine's Australian Performance Car Of The Year award in 2006.

A powerful car and a high-performance vehicle, it goes however for low-key, nondescript, deliberately deceptive "sleeper car" looks.

And now it can be seen at Togakushi Kogen, Nagano, which is a "picturesque part of the prefecture known for traditions and pristine waters. This stage (?) is located on an icy road with a backdrop of beautiful snow-capped peaks".

The front end looks rather like my 2008 ford focus (Europe).

my Personal Jesus

So, it's Sunday again.

Without Bound - Perspectives on Mobile Living (Documentary)

Something to watch later.

Chaparral! ...in GT4 Pictures

Now, what is this? A vacuum cleaner? An air con unit?

Noooo, it a car.

It's a Chaparral - the GT4 1970 Chaparral 2J Race Car.

And it's pictured here parked at Nanzenji.

A very powerful car, and with two available turbo upgrades in GT4, its power can be increased to over 1000 bhp.

However, it's rather hard to control, fragile, also likes to fly in GT4 for some reason... I look confused, shouldn't it like stick to the surface?

From the Gran Turismo file.

"Nicknamed "The Vacuum Cleaner", this car took the motoring world by surprise and became an icon in racing history."


The 2J may well be the most innovative, wildest racing machine ever created. The car, characterized by its big boxy rear end, entered the 1970 SCCA Can-Am racing series in North America, as the first machine in the series to feature active ground effects...in the form of a giant vacuum.
The Can-Am series was quite unusual as, at the time, there was no rule to limit the amount of horsepower for its race cars. Chaparral boss, Texas oil magnate Jim Hall, pulled a wild car from his sleeve when he created a race car that utilized two engines: one was a 690 HP powerplant to power the car and the other, an air-cooled snowmobile engine that powered a pair of large fans to suck the air flowing underneath the car, thus making it "stick" to the road surface. The area between the sides of the bodywork and the ground were sealed by floating pieces of high-strength Lexan. Nicknamed "The Vacuum Cleaner", the Chaparral 2J astounded race fans and the other Can-Am drivers alike.
Aside from its odd looks, the 2J often took pole position by several seconds over heady competition that included the previously-dominant McLaren M8D...that is, when it was running. The 2J experienced many mechanical problems in its maiden season, making every race it entered a thrilling event.
Before the start of the 1971 season, the SCCA banned the use of engines used for other than powering the car itself, and the Chaparral 2J was banished from motorsports forever.

Nextbase Click & Go Lite Portable DVD Players Review

Road Rage Los Angeles (Vernon): Motorcyclist vs Driver

SpaceX - Static Fire Anomaly - AMOS-6 - 09-01-2016

That was a week ago.

By the way, the camera is about 4 kilometers from the explosion.

Driving Slowly to Fast GT5 Soundtrack

Here is me driving to GT5's racing playlist.

A lot slower in the real world than in the world of Gran Turismo.

Part 1

Country to Town Driving

Driving country to town. Slowly. Taking in the scenery.

Driving to Wave 103 FM from GTA Vice City Stories, two clowns there keep me amused.

SpaceX rocket explodes during launch preparation

"Re-usable" (?) SpaceX rocket explodes per BBC.

Not to gloat but I foresaw and prophesied all of that in this now seminal article on this very blog.

The concept of "re-usability" doesn't hold water when applied to space travel.

The sooner Musk accepts it and acknowledges that he's wrong (and that he is just a limited if so far lucky idiot of course) the better it will be for all.

And this is not even a pre-flown booster. Imagine what will happen when (and if) they attempt to use their pre-flown garbage.

UPDATE: Turns out Falcon 9 boosters were produced by Yuzhmash of Ukraine, but the company however is not now in position to make any more as of post-2014.

So Musk's favoring re-usability may be down to a very earthly reason that Space X's supply of rockets is very limited and he doesn't have access to more.

Still, re-usability is a very faulty concept when it comes to space travel, and he should renounce it once and for all. 

Car Stories: ZiM GAZ-12

Today's car story on this blog is the story of the ZiM-12. 

From one of my other blogs, VreMax, where I reported on this car exhibition that I visited a year ago - in August of 2014.  

A ZiM GAZ12 limousine seen at that car exhibition.

Also known as GAZ-12, GAZ-12 ZiM, ZiM-12 or just ZiM, the ZiM GAZ-12 was a Soviet limousine produced by the Gorky Automotive Plant from 1948 till 1960. 

It was neither a copy of, nor based on, any other contemporary car, contrary to what wikipedia claims, although certain exterior design elements characteristic of the large American passenger cars of the period may be observed here but such similarities are superficial and the 1948 ZiM GAZ-12 may actually predate some of the cars "appointed" to be its inspiration or even source for copying.

Also, in some ways, the ZiM GAZ-12 was a pioneer, in particular, it was the world's first unibody (aka frameless) limousine with three rows of seats. 

The ZiM GAZ-12 was meant not only to serve government officials but in keeping with proletarian ideals served the people as a taxi and an ambulance and was offered and sold for private ownership too, although only successful writers, scientists or actors could really afford one at the time. 

Later as ZiM GAZ-12 government cars were retired and/or replaced with Chaika or ZiL limousines, some of them eventually trickled into private ownership that way.

In all 21,527 ZiM cars were built.

Behind it are actually the two Chaikas - GAZ-13 and GAZ-14 - that replaced it.


ZiM GAZ-12 test drive [in Russian]

Period pictures of the ZiM GAZ-12

Two-tone paint scheme (cost extra)

Jasper Carrott - Funky Moped (totp2)

Saturday sucks, so why not spend the morning listening to Blue Funky Moped!

And there's Wrighty (?) in there too. Not sure if it's a bonus (or, more likely, a malus).

And here is a photo of a blue funky moped from my collection (...collection of photos not mopeds, you get?).

It's steaming with foonk!

Branson Falls Off Bike

Virgin's Branson falls off his bike in a major - and bone-shattering - accident but survives well. 

BBC News - Sir Richard Branson 'thought he would die' in bike crash 

He is lovin' it!

Speedy recover to you.

Racer X by Kenneth Li

Kenneth Li has achieved something no-one will ever be able to repeat.

Penning one magazine article he achieved more than others could do with a full library of tomes. 

The article dealt with the then new thing of souped-up imports racing in America and provided inspiration to make the first Fast & Furious movie and consequently to launch the franchise which is still going strong a couple decades later.

There is only a small number of films that were based on magazine articles, and of course FF cannot happen over again, so Ken Li's rep is now and forever secure.

The article titled Racer X is even included as bonus materials on some editions of the FF DVDs so you can read it on your TV screen as I did and that is also how I become aware of it.

Here is the seminal article in question and I am quoting it in its entirety.

Estevez leads a new generation of fearless young racers burning up New York’s streets and racetracks in their tricked-out Japanese compacts.

At dusk, they take over the road. Roaring and buzzing like locusts, the swarm of asphalt-scraping Japanese cars — with swooping rear wings and brightly colored logos — merges from the side streets of Uptown Manhattan onto the traffic-congested Henry Hudson Parkway. Zigzagging back and forth like jet-fueled go-carts, they slow to a stop, blocking off three lanes of oncoming cars in preparation for the infamous mile-long run.

A black Nissan 300ZX and a white Mitsubishi Starion pull out of the pack and creep up to the starting line. As the sun dances on the nearby river, the sound of honking horns and screaming drivers is drowned out by the sonic blast of the two engines revving for takeoff. A stocky Latino dude in a blinding yellow shirt stands in the middle of the highway and raises his hands. Both cars lurch and halt like chained pit bulls, their wheels spitting out black smoke. The hands drop.

Michael Kiwanuka - Love & Hate

Friday sucks, car sucks, so why not just listen to some Michael Kiwanuka.

Chaka Demus & Pliers - Tease Me (Official Music Video)

Was reminded of this today.





Also, there is a Saab 900 convertible in dat vid.

Kidnap - Official Trailer [HD]

Visionary Speech from 1986

Friday sucks so so why not start your morning off with some spoken words and listen to an inspiring Communist speech from 1986?

The Blasters - So long baby goodbye

Traffic sucks, car blogs and sites suck, so listen to So Long Baby Goodbye by The Blasters.

British drivers swearing

Warning: NSFW!



Jeeesus F. Christ!

JDM Style?

JDM Style.

Really?

These two pink hieroglyphs are up to no good.

But then this is a Subaru, wink.

Quad FF DVD Set

Today I bought a quad DVD set of Fast and Furious.

Four disks with the first four movies plus lots of extra (at least the box says so), two languages - English and Russian - all for price of about 3 dead presidents.

Might watch. Some again, some for first time. 

Have plenty of DVDs at various homes still, several DVD players plus a couple generations of play stations which also play them. 

But am thinking now about setting one up in car on the cheap so as to watch and go.