Repost: Austin 7 Road Rally Competition Car Pix

Seems like our old post on this lovely car is missing some photographs so we're re-posting the photos here.

There's an excellent account of this car and its sister competing in the 10th Classic Marathon from Paris to Tangiers. This page carries a fun account of doing a winter rally in one of these two cars. The original post is here. You can see a bit more of this wonderful machine on the old motorsnippets.com web site here and here.

Fully-Restored M151 Jeep

We just dug out some pictures of a beautifully-maintained M151A2 MUTT (Multi-Utility Tactical Truck).

Though to the untrained eye this may look like the classic Willys Jeep seen in so many war films, this is actually a later evolution of that popular American concept. Initially built by Ford, the M151 series replaced the well-known MB and M38 jeep Light Utiity Vehicles that had served so well in WWII and Korea.

In production from 1959 until 1982, some of these M151s may still be in service with the US military but they have virtually all been replaced by the bigger HMMWV. This means the vehicle you see here forms a direct family link from the Jeeps and Hummers on today's roads to the primitive but invaluable jeeps that bounced their way across war fronts on at least four of the world's continents some 75 years ago.

The M151 first saw service in Vietnam and as late as 1999, US Marines were using a FAV (Fast Attack Vehicle) variant of the MUTT in Kosovo.

Despite the MUTT looking like a relic of a bygone age and its having been elbowed aside by the Humvee for almost all front-line applications by US troops, the M151 can still be found in active use with dozens of the world's armies.

Thanks to YouTube, we found a few high-quality videos of an M151A2 for you to enjoy.

The example in these videos appears to be in even better condition. It certainly carries more period equipment.

Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati Rock Bangkok 2005 Motorshow

You might want to don a pair of sunglasses before delving into this bunch of shiny, bright yellow Italian thoroughbreds. Ferrari, Lamborghini and Maserati appear to jostle for position in this seeming traffic jam of mouthwatering exotica.

Chevron B16 at Brands Hatch for the Ferrari Festival

I'm digging through my library. My lossy compression is your gain!

Check out a few photos of a gorgeous Chevron B16 at Brands Hatch. My memory is old and fuzzy but it's a few years ago at the Ferrari Festival.

The B16 is a beautiful little "mini-Lola T70", built for endurance sports racing at places like the 24 Hours of Le Mans and Nurburgring in the late 1960s and early 1970s. You can read more about Chevron, and the B16, here and here.

1995 Honda Argento Vivo spider by Pininfarina

I try to feature only photos I've shot myself but I just couldn't help it today. This is such a beautiful car, I'm amazed it has had so little coverage in the motoring press. Behold, the 1995 Honda Argento Vivo by Pininfarina.

More Porsche 911 GT1 Photos

I know it's been a while since you enjoyed anything new on here. It gets a bit like that sometimes, you know? I am SO glad I don't have any kids of my own to worry about or I doubt I would ever acheive anything else useful. How DO parents do it?

I just uploaded six more reasons to drool.

So put down whatever useful job you're working on and get on over to flickr!

I'll be rooting around in my hard disk some more later and hope to find some more goodies for you. Glad some of you have been enjoying these photos and keep the comments rolling in.

Pieces of Audi, yo......

2006 Chevrolet Camaro Concept Is HOT!!!!

Dude, sweet! GM's 2006 Chevrolet Camaro Concept has just been launched and it's hotter'n hell!

Not only that, but MPH Magazine has a reader's photoshop of what a convertible version might look like.

All the official photos and specs are here.

Bring on the 2006 concept gold medallions and blow-dried chest hair!

Porsche 911 GT1 Photos

I tell ya, you kiddies are SO lucky!!! This feels like Christmas all over again. Ho, ho, ho!!!

I'm exhausted but I still found time to upload a bunch of my own photographs of 1 Million US Dollars (count 'em) worth of Porsche 911 GT1, freshly-arrived from its German birthplace in a top-secret London batcave for really cool machinery.

A million-dollar price tag, 1100 kg and 544 hp mean the road-going version of the GT1 gets from rest to sixty mph in 3.7 seconds. Even better, it gets to a hundred in about 7 seconds. That should just about get your kids to school on time.

Thanks to flickr for the hosting but not for how damn long it takes for my emailed photos to show up on flickr. Grrrrr.....

Meanwhile, here's Tiff Needell putting the competition prototype through its paces:

Friday Bonus Photo: 1977 Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV 2.8i V8

How about a nice little Friday afternoon bonus, eh? Here's something you don't see everyday. Actually, you'd be lucky to see one anywhere. Ever.

Alfa Romeo's racing department, Autodelta, had been campaigning an Alfetta (pic of the shell)with a 340bhp, 3.0 litre version of the Montreal's V8.

Later, the German distributor got Autodelta to fit the standard Montreal engine to a standard Alfetta bodyshell. Twenty were built and, as these were Alfetta bodyshells after all, they would have begun to corrode before they even left the factory. Hence, the rarity.

Unfortunately, the 1970s were not a good era for quality steel, quality construction, quality shipping or quality storage for carmakers, least of all Italian ones.

More info here.

If you are all super lucky, I might find time over the weekend to share my secret stash of XXX-rated car porn. That's right, I'm threatening to whip out my photos of a Porsche Carrera GT1 hiding in its super-secret London batcave....

1928 Baldwin Pacific 4-6-2 Steam Loco in Thailand

I warned you that this blog would get involved in some pretty nasty geargeekness. Here's an old (how many young ones are there?) steam rail locomotive I photographed in Hat Yai, in southern Thailand a few years ago. Actually, it was almost exactly two years ago today, come to think of it.

Anyway, for the oh, probably five billion or so of you not familiar with such things, this is apparently a 1928 4-6-2 - known as the "Pacific" class - of locomotive, manufactured by the American company Baldwin.

While researching this beast, I've unearthed quite a mass of "enthusiasts" of old steam locos and rail history in SE Asia. Well, we like to call ourselves enthusiasts. Lord only knows what the great washed masses like to call us saddos.

Of course, upon reflection, it's no surprise whatsoever there is such a mass of interest in old trains in Thailand. Even the new trains ain't. And the old ones definitely are.

Well, if you can't summon the money or pressure to get Kyosan Kogyo to "knock one out for old times' sake", you can always build one of these scale Baldwin Pacific 4-6-2s.

Amazon.com has a bunch of books and other railroad-related items, much of it from Aristo-Craft/Aristocraft.

Amphicar Action Pix

You know, sometimes it seems like you wait ages and ages for photos of an Amphicar to come along and then, a whole bunch suddenly show up at the same time.

I just uploaded a half-dozen snaps of an Amphicar cruising along the Upper Thames River in Henley, England. As one does....

Thanks to flikr for the hosting.

Amazon has a bunch of amphicar stuff for sale.

Alfa Romeo Giulia GTA replica photos

I just uploaded five photos of a sweet, little Alfa Romeo Giulia GTA replica that was for sale at AROC UK's National Alfa Day back in 2002.

Thanks to flickr for the hosting.

Supercharged Austin 7 road rally competition car pix

I've just posted a bunch of photos of one of Hermitage Engineering's beautiful little Austin 7 "hot rods" up on flickr.

This tasty little beast is a natty little supercharged road rally special that pays homage to the Ulster. Peter Maguire is always eager to point out that he does not produce Ulster replicas but rather cars that live in the spirit of the great Ulsters. Thanks to flickr for the image hosting.

Lamborghini Pic

Not to be completely outdone by the Ferrari Enzo, Lamborghini spread themselves around several places on several floors of Siam Paragon. I found this cuddly duo of Murcielago and Gallardo nestling together, artfully posed in front of a pair of brand new, unused elevators. Thanks to flickr for the image hosting.

Ferrari Enzo Pix

Just like it says on the box, and as promised, here is a fresh photo of the shiny red Ferrari Enzo on display at the shiny not red Siam Paragon shopping centre in Bangkok, Thailand. Thanks to flickr for the image hosting and there are five more photos of this shiny red expensive very fast thing.