Friday, February 1, 2013 at 10:04AM This photo was taken on the occasion of the last time I drove my GT4 this year. That was in Mid November. I really can't wait to get the car back on the road in ferbruary or March. I'm starting to go a little crazy.
;)
208 GT4, Dino, Fall drive, Ferrari in Musings Sunday, January 27, 2013 at 9:00PM The Countach screams for attention, but I am also drawn to some of its refined details. I love the subtle courses of perforation in the upholstery, seen in this shot I took at Greenwich last year.
Countach, Design, Lamborghini, interior in Musings Wednesday, January 23, 2013 at 11:44AM If you can stomach listening to me talking about cars and my watch company for two 28 minute segments, please have a listen!
Wes Garcia over at Megadeluxe was kind enough to interview me for his most excellent site! Definitely book mark it, as he posts some amazing stuff all the time!
Part one of the interview is about my personal cars and car design. The first 5 minutes are skippable but then it gets rolling!
Part two is about how I went about starting the watch company, and some other tangents!
Autodromo, Design History, automobiliac, interview, megadeluxe in Musings Tuesday, January 15, 2013 at 12:24PM Continuing on our theme of unloved cars this week, let's talk about the original Vector W2 Prototype. Of course when I was a tiny kid in the 80s, I thought the Vector was the be-all end-all of supercars. It was the topic of many breathless schoolyard conversations and sketches in the margins of my notebooks. But as time went by, it has become sort of the Jean Claude Van Damme of supercars--just a punchline to a bad 80s joke. The sort of thing that we look at today and say "wow. did we really think that was cool back then??" Putting aside the 3 speed automatic transmission, I think the time has come to perhaps re-appraise the car on stylistic grounds. Although I agree it will never be a "timeless" car, I think it's now getting old enough to appreciate it as a period piece, and a successful execution of the design trends of that time.
With the later iterations of the design, the car became increasingly overstyled and needlessly complex, in order to compete with also-vulgar Lamborghini Diablo. But I think the original prototype has some really wicked, menacing proportions, and cool detailing. I love the fighter jet look imparted by the shut lines and tight panel gaps. The design borrows heavily from Bertone (the Athon -also from 1980- comes to mind), but creator Gerald Wiegert added his own Art Center-trained, American flavor to the mix. I think the way the organic fender flares relate to the chiseled belt line of the car is particularly well executed and unexpected. Perhaps we should look past the later Vectors, such as the disgusting M12, and appreciate the intent behind the original car --to make a home grown super-exotic with the latest technology and the most extreme styling that was cutting edge at the time.
Design History, Prototype, Vector, W2 in Musings Sunday, January 13, 2013 at 11:07PM ;)
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I've long been smitten by the Lotus Europa. In fact, I have a strong suspicion that my first vintage race car --if I am financially blessed to have ANY race car some day-- will probably be a Europa. I love how incredibly low they are, and the flares just add another level of cool. Chapman's genius for chassis engineering and use of fiberglass really shows in this peculiar car, and they are still relatively affordable and cheap to run.
However, I know I am in a small club who likes the Europa, and many consider it to be weird and ungainly. Let's hear from you, fellow Automobiliacs! Love it or hate it? And please say why you think so!
