The cars and bikes thread!

[Raza]

I think that business is part of the unaffected areas.

The separate Recaro Group, which manufactures and licenses child safety seats, aircraft seats, gaming chairs and seats for soccer stadiums, is not affected by this filing.

They do not specify desk chairs, but that would seem to be this group. Only the auto seat division, their original business, is affected. Personally, I prefer Herman Miller desk chairs.

I actually ended up with a Herman Miller Aeron instead of a Recaro and could not have been happier. But I did also buy one of their Logitech collaborations and have not been nearly as happy with it. I should have known when they cut prices from like $999 to $699 that it was subpar compared to the rest of their offerings.

[geoffbot]

This is by far the most special car I've ever seen https://youtu.be/MtyT0u90t0U

[Raza]

This is by far the most special car I've ever seen https://youtu.be/MtyT0u90t0U

I had a 1:18 scale model of one as a kid, but I can’t remember if it was the fixed roof or the roadster. Haven’t seen it in almost 20 years. But I think it was the fixed roof.

[tribe125]

This is by far the most special car I've ever seen https://youtu.be/MtyT0u90t0U

Is there a Haynes manual for it?

[geoffbot]

Is there a Haynes manual for it?

I'm gonna say nein

[skywatch]

Car Week part 1.1
Rolex Classic 50th Anniversary
Laguna Seca Raceway, Thursday 15 Aug 2024




Friends came from out of town with tickets to the two-day happenings at Laguna Seca. They stayed with us for the week, and invited me to join them with their spare ticket. This was my first time at Laguna Seca. It’s a challenging track in the beautiful Monterey hills, with a surprising elevation change.




This event is special because race car collectors bring their very rare classic cars and actually race them, with professional drivers. The public also gets to wander through the pits and talk to the owners and drivers. It’s relaxed and friendly love affair with motorsports. First off, we poked around the cars featured in the display area and pits.


Alfa 1953 driven by Fangio




Brand new BAC Mono - street legal and only $200,000. My friend wants one now.




BMW M series hybrid prototype




Bugatti racing, their new “production” supercar




My friend CTIII in front of a competition trailer-pull beast, 4 supercharged V8 truck engines on a massive drivetrain





1966 Falcon Sprint that we saw racing against Trans-Am class ‘70s era muscle cars, and holding its own quiet respectfully. At over 100 MPH, it tended to fishtail a bit, but dang was that a loud race.





McMurtry had a tent showing one of the four prototypes of an extremely fast electric supercar, the Speirling, which includes a vacuum system that pulls it down against the road for increased traction, 0–60 in 1.4 seconds.





We saw a race with over 20 Endurance class cars, including this Nissan











To be continued

[skywatch]

Photo uploads got broken here... I'll try again.

[skywatch]

Car Week part 1.2
Rolex Classic 50th Anniversary
Laguna Seca Raceway, Thursday 15 Aug 2024


Antique racers from the 1920s and 1930s had a special pit area. All of them were maintained in racing condition, which is rather astonishing considering that some of them were one-of-a-kind. The antique race was the first we watched in the morning. Some of these cars were driving well over 60 MPH. Beautiful ancient mechanical beasts.


The #33 Duesenberg was one of my favorites


And here it is driving



Shiny vintage 1936 MG getting ready for the track


And the Jeager instrumentation inside the MG


Some more fly-by photos. The first of these was a one-off with three rows of copper cooling pipes surrounding the engine.









A row of REO… “Riding the Storm Out” Maybe?


To be continued

[skywatch]

Car Week part 1.3
Rolex Classic 50th Anniversary
Laguna Seca Raceway, Thursday 15 Aug 2024




1950-1960 vintage racers might be my sweet spot. I love the almost feminine curves of the sports cars from this era. This 1954 Jaguar for example:





My favorite car of the whole day? Probably this Lola Mk 1 from 1960.






This Lotus performed quite well in the race later that afternoon.






I think this silver Porsche (?) also participated in that race.




Racing around the famed Corkscrew, four storey drop with a quick left-right-left curve.






This green 1954 Jaguar won the 50’s class vintage race, and this driver was not puttering around.

[skywatch]

Grrr... let's hope the website behaves a bit better with a shorter post. It has been muting my photos as "attachment" so I hope they are at least showing up for those who click.

Car Week part 2
Ferrari Collectors Club GTG
The Barnyard, Carmel CA, Saturday 17 Aug 2024


The Ferrari club meeting is probably our favorite event of Car Week, because it’s so relaxed. They meet in the parking lot next to a little craft brew pub that we enjoy, so we got there early and watched the cars pull in while sipping a pint and nibbling on barbecue flatbread. To my tastes, the quiet cars sing the prettiest songs. I like the quirky ones too.





Muscular Testarossa probably not my favorite type.



Quirky angular 1970s Dino always reminds of a FIAT




My favorite, 1960 Dino