Market Cars

McLaren LM5 Artists rendering

After revealing pictures and details of its first project the MP4-12C, McLaren Automotive confirmed a second and a third car were being planned. The MP4-12C would be the middle child, leaving space below and above. It's in the latter segment that Coventry University graduate Matt Williams got hooked on.

By recalling the old McLaren F1, Williams made the connection strong between his concept and the original. For instance he kept the three-seat layout with a central driver's seat and the rest on either side behind him. The three sports seats were designed from a racing style point of view with a slim profile and four-point harnesses. McLaren's Formula One heritage was not ignored as the multifunction steering wheel has a display for the tachometer and the lightweight chassis is of a carbon fibre construction.

Again, as a hark to the 1992 master copy the designer saw it fit to rekindle the BMW-McLaren relationship as far as the engine goes. Instead of an "in-house" motor the M5/ M6 V10 is preferred, also mounted mid-ship. Depending on the application a 5.0-litre naturally aspirated V10 can get around 515kW (700hp) so the choice is not a bad one, although the real thing would use a McLaren-developed powerplant.

Posted on Tuesday, January 19, 2010 / 0 nhận xét / Read More

Ferrari 430 Scuderia GT3 Classic STP Livery Adorns

The classic STP livery, made famous by Richard Petty and NASCAR, will now appear on something a bit more eloquent. Esseng, England, racing team Chad Racing will be running a Ferrari 430 Scuderia GT3 in the famous blue-and-red during the British GT Championship.

Chad Racing ran the 430 Scuderia during last year's British GT calendar, with Chris Hyman behind the wheel. Hyman returns for the '10 season, along with 18-year-old sensation Daniel Brown. In his rookie race last year, Brown managed to capture the checkered flag, also taking the crown one race later. Autosport called him the "driver find of the seasaon."

Brown finished 10th overall last year in points, while 46-year-old Chris Hyman ended in a tie for 17th. "It's great to have such an iconic brand as STP with us, and we are confident that the Daniel Brown/Chris Hyman line-up in our new 430 Scuderia will mount a serious challenge at the front of the GT3 field this year," said team manager Piers Masarati.

The 14 races of the 2010 British GT Championship season will take place over eight dates, beginning in April at Oulton Park.

Posted on Monday, January 18, 2010 / 0 nhận xét / Read More

Volkswagen set for podium clean sweep

Volkswagen looks set to make a clean sweep of the top three positions in the 2010 Dakar, as the “World’s Toughest Race” enters its final stage from San Rafael to Buenos Aires, the finish point. In the overall lead after 13 stages is VW’s former WRC champion Carlos Sainz, but he’s only leading teammate Nasser Al-Attiyah by just two minutes and 48 seconds. American Mark Miller looks to have secured the final podium spot – he is over 31 minutes behind Sainz but almost two hours ahead of Stephane Peterhansel, the highest placed X-Raid BMW driver in fourth.

The penultimate stage was won by nine-time Dakar winner Peterhansel. With that, the Frenchman has won four stages in this year’s race, extending his record of stage victories to 55. The relatively smooth and fast wrap up stage will start today evening in South America.

Posted on Monday, January 18, 2010 / 0 nhận xét / Read More

2010 FIA GT1 spec Nissan GT-R finds customers

This is the GT1 Spec Nissan GT-R that will run in the 2010 FIA GT World Championship. The GT-R will race in the top tier GT1 class along the likes of the Maserati MC 12, Corvette Z06, Ford GT and Saleen SR7 (GT2 class features lower powered cars like the Ferrari F430, Porsche 911 GT3 RS and Aston V8 Vantage). Nismo campaigned a GT-R last year, but Nissan’s motorsports outfit has found two customer teams for 2010 – Sumo Power GT (UK) and Swiss Racing Team. The season starts in April at Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina Circuit.

The 2010 spec GT1 GT-R is powered by a 5,552cc V8 engine with 600 bhp (the regulation limit) and “over 650Nm” of torque. Power goes to the rear wheels via a six-speed transaxle gearbox. The race car only weighs 1250 kg, so you can imagine the performance of offer even though Nissan doesn’t give any figures. Brakes have six-piston calipers with carbon discs and pads all round.

Go ahead and download a new wallpaper from the hi-res gallery after the jump!

Posted on Saturday, January 16, 2010 / 0 nhận xét / Read More

1983 Lancia LC2 Group C racecar

Last sold on these shores in 1982, the Lancia brand has pretty much slipped into obscurity for most Americans, but there was a time when Lancia was on top of the world. From the mid-'70s to the early-'90s, Lancia racked up an impressive tally of international race wins and championships with its doorstop-like Stratos and Montecarlo successor. With the recent Chrysler/Fiat nuptials, the Lancia brand is having a bit of a renaissance, but only as a source of future badge-engineered Chryslers. That's why it's so refreshing to come across something like the car we just found on Craigslist: A genuine Lancia LC2 Group C racecar.

In 1983, Lancia introduced the LC2, a closed-cockpit Group C car co-developed with Ferrari. It went up against the legendary Porsche 956, and later the 962, with a big power advantage courtesy of the dual-turbocharged Ferrari V8 in the engine bay. Its 720 horsepower helped the LC2 win a string of pole positions, but the car wasn't very reliable. It did win a few races for Lancia from 1983-1986, and continued to run in privateer campaigns until the early '90s, but Lancia eventually dropped out of sportscar racing altogether at the end of 1986 in order to concentrate on rallying. The Lancia Delta went on to be one of the most successful rally cars in history, but the LC2 remained the pinnacle of Lancia's rise to glory in international sportscar racing.

The LC2 available on Craigslist is chassis number 2 of just 5 ever built. It ran under the works Martini livery from '83-'86 scoring a win at the Imola 1000K in 1983 at the hands of Teo Fabi and Hans Heyer. Bob Wollek and Alessandro Nannini piloted 002 to a fastest lap after winning the pole at Le Mans in '84. It finished 8th in that 24 hour run, but followed up with a 246-mile-per-hour Mulsanne Straight clocking the following year when it qualified P3 and finished 6th. Chassis number 002 ran in more races than any other LC2 before retiring in 1986. Riccardo Patrese, Michele Alboreto, Mauro Baldi and Lucio Cesario were the other drivers who got seat time in Chassis 002 before it was sold off to a private party in 1988.

Canepa recently put 4,000 hours and $350,000 into a 100-point restoration of the car and is now offering it for sale at $1,250,000. That might seem like a lot of money for a racecar that only scored one win and never really lived up to its promise, but it's not likely you'll find another LC2 cheaper anytime soon. For fans of the Lancia marque, the LC2 ranks right up there with the Fulvia HF, 037 Rally and Delta S4 in the pantheon of Lancia racecars.

[Source: Canepa Design via Craigslist]

Posted on Friday, January 15, 2010 / 0 nhận xét / Read More

Mercedes-Benz Brings and 2009 Mercedes-Benz Actros

As part of this year's celebrations for the 75th anniversary of the Mercedes-Benz Silver Arrows, the German automaker has brought together three generations of trucks that have been used to transfer the firm's racing cars over the years. These include the 1934 Lo 2750, an awesome replica of the once fastest racing car transporter in the world, the so-called 'Blue Wonder' from 1955 that was powered by the original Gullwing's direct-injection engine, and a modern day Actros Truck.

Needless to say, the one that stands out like a shining star is the official replica of the 'Blue Wonder'. Built at the request of racing manager Alfred Neubauer in the mid 1950s, this one-of-a-kind transporter served Mercedes-Benz for more than a decade.

The 6.75-metre-long and two-meters-wide hauler used a lengthened tubular frame from the Mercedes-Benz 300 S luxury coupe of the era.

Power was provided by a three-liter inline-six with direct-injection that came straight from the legendary 300 SL Gullwing sports car of 1955, while various body components such as the doors, wings and some of the interior appointments were sourced from the Mercedes-Benz 180 standard saloon. It was then billed as the 'fastest racing car transporter in the world'.

After Mercedes-Benz withdrew from motor sports at the end of 1955, the 'Blue Wonder' initially served as an exhibition vehicle in the USA, followed by ten years of service for Mercedes-Benz test drives. Unfortunately, Rudolf Uhlenhaut, who managed the motor sports department during the racing car carriers' "active" period, had the one-off model scrapped in 1967.

However, decades later, Mercedes-Benz rebuilt this stunning racing car hauler based on archive photographs.

As for the other two trucks featured here, the Mercedes-Benz Lo 2750 is a completely restored model from 1936 equipped with a four-cylinder petrol engine while the 4-meter tall and 16.5-metre long 2009 Actros Truck that's powered by a V8 turbo diesel currently serves as a carrier for Mercedes-Benz's Formula 1 and DTM racing cars.

1955 Mercedes-Benz Blue Wonder