I found this over at Jay’s Garage and had to share. This is the famous “Short Wheelbase Series 3” car, a one-off creation of Jason Len from XK’s Unlimited where he shortened a 2+2 Series 3 car down to the original size of the Series 1, complete with the Series 1 rear tub and covered headlights (though still with the Series 3 grille.) Mr. Leno bought it from Mr. Len 15 years ago and in this video talks about its creation and takes it for a test drive. The best part is the latter half of the clip where he talks about sports cars in general and their designs. Enjoy!
Engine pR0n of the Day: Carburettors Deux
I can not recall exactly what machine these carbs and intake manifold came off of, but I suspect it could have been a Bentley. They obviously come from a time betwixt the Brass & Classic eras. Perhaps Steve Markowski can chime in and let us know, as they were in his shop last time I was there.
I don’t know about you guys, but could look at stuff like this all day.
Car Photo of the Day: Surprised?
I really like the Audi TT. I know it is just a souped-up VW New Beetle, which is really just a VW Golf with a goofy body. The TT appeals to me because it is such a “F**K Off” vehicle. Unlike Porsche, or even GM, who has to produce a car that fits within a narrow set of parameters which only their “core customers” define, Audi was able to take a small car platform, and adapt it to a unique little car, specific to their brand, that clearly appeals to an automotive enthusiast.
Audi has occasionally talked of doing what I think is my dream car: A TDI-powered TT. Audi developed the TDI into a Le Mans winning technology, so it only makes sense to offer it as an option in their product line, especially in a sports car like the TT. I’d love to commute to my job in an open-topped 2-seater sports car, powered by my own home-brewed fuel… “smelling the french fries” as it were. The torquey little 1.9L TDI, even at 90HP is good enough to motivate the little roadster. I don’t need to have 300HP to race from light to light! 50 MPG is reward in an of itself. The original roadsters, images of which often grace these pages, that is little British cars from the 50s and 60s, were rarely considered “overpowered” in fact quite the opposite. Tiny A-series engines of diminutive displacement provided plenty of smiles per mile back then, I don’t see why those days are not worth reliving, this time with Diesel.
This particular Audi TT was photographed on the 2007 Classic Motorcar Rally, which includes a division for “Contemporary” (that is post 1976) cars. It draws machines such as this Audi, many BMWs, Mistubishis, etc. If you love TSD rallying, then there’s no excuse not to join us, as any car will do. It is a fun group, with great meals, great people, tours of classic car collections, awesome roads, and lots of fun. This year the event will take place on Vancouver Island in late June. It’s not too late to sign up! Head on over to their website and check it out: The Classic Motorcar Rally.
Car Photo(s) of the Day: Steve McQueen’s other car… the Jaguar XKSS
I noted via a twitter from the Autoblog guys that Jalopnik is featuring Steve McQueen’s Jaguar XKSS today. But they only have a couple of photos of the car itself. That just won’t do!
Given that I’ve had the distinct pleasure of being around (and in!) a few XKSS’ in my time, I figured I’d share some bounty. Given that there were only 16 built, and just over a dozen remain in their original configuration they should be savored, so here’s twice as many XKSS photos than there were XKSS’ built. Enjoy!
Update: Paul got most of them right, but here they are now captioned with their IDs…
Continue reading “Car Photo(s) of the Day: Steve McQueen’s other car… the Jaguar XKSS”
New Time Lapse: Three months in the making!
This is just a rough cut, with some lingering on the last days of winter. This is not the 16:9 HD final Director’s Cut… just sort of a rough draft. Let me know what you think.
Car Photo(s) of the Day: Weekend Stumpers.
Nick & I will were scheduled be gone all day long, at the All British Field Meet in Vancouver BC today. Meanwhile I’ll leave you with a bunch of mysteries for the carspotters to debate over while I’m gone working in the yard. Behave yourselves!
Note: This post was pre-written at lunchtime on Friday and set to go live around 7 am. Nick arrived home later in the day with an armload of homework, so he called off the trip to Vancouver. Enjoy the photos and good luck. (I’ll check in and see how the carspotting is going occasionally.)
Jaguar XK engine head bolts (sort of engine pR0n bonus)
The question came up on the E-type mailing list this evening about the number of washers under the head bolts on early Jaguar 4.2L XK engines. Since I have one, I said I’d run and take some photos. So here they are.
Looks like just the one D-shaped thick washer Ben. Hope that helps.
The rest of you can just view this as more engine porn. =)
