Automotive Exceptionalism

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RI Omega Fan

·Apr 14, 2021

vbrad26

I miss the good ol' days of walking the paddock snapping race cars....

_DSC2857 by Vance Braddock, on Flickr

_DSC2840 by Vance Braddock, on Flickr

_DSC2834 by Vance Braddock, on Flickr

_DSC2830 by Vance Braddock, on Flickr

_DSC2718 by Vance Braddock, on Flickr

_DSC2715 by Vance Braddock, on Flickr

_DSC2648 by Vance Braddock, on Flickr

_DSC2646 by Vance Braddock, on Flickr

_DSC1272 by Vance Braddock, on Flickr

_DSC1019 by Vance Braddock, on Flickr

_DSC1018 by Vance Braddock, on Flickr

_DSC4477 by Vance Braddock, on Flickr

_DSC4674 by Vance Braddock, on Flickr

_DSC4659 by Vance Braddock, on Flickr

_DSC4621 by Vance Braddock, on Flickr

_DSC4495 by Vance Braddock, on Flickr

The cars are all amazing, but that Ferrari transporter is over the top! I’d love to see the inside setup.

 

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Vercingetorix

·Apr 15, 2021·Spam Risk

HO!

 

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abrod520

·Apr 15, 2021

Vercingetorix

HO!

Top class team. Speaking of open paddocks, at the '06 Lime Rock race we were able to spend about an hour walking the track with Jorg Bergmeister and Patrick Long who were paired for Petersen / White Lightning that year. Combination of hearing thoughts about the track, the then under-development RS Spyder, and just shooting the shit. Good time

 

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vbrad26

·Apr 15, 2021

Damn. That's pretty cool. I would love to do something like that...
I feel like you couldn't even pay for an experience like that these days lol.

 

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Inspector

·Apr 15, 2021

Had a little get together with some friends at a car meet. (Along with 1000+ other cars that had the entire place bumper to bumper for three hours in the small part of town)

 

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abrod520

·Apr 15, 2021

vbrad26

I feel like you couldn't even pay for an experience like that these days

Eh you never know. Bergmeister and Long back then were just on the cusp of becoming PMNA's top GT pairing, but were still assigned to smaller teams who did these kinds of things. Nowadays I'd imagine you might find a GT3 team doing some of these track walks and such.

Also up until recently, you could yell strange meme things at most of these drivers at some point during the Daytona 24, when they stopped by the Magnus livestream. Now that I miss.

 

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Hijak

·Apr 16, 2021

Inspector

Had a little get together with some friends at a car meet. (Along with 1000+ other cars that had the entire place bumper to bumper for three hours in the small part of town)

Some very nice Cadillacs!👍 As someone who’s owned several Mercs, Audis and BMWs I have to say My Cadillac ATS is pretty awesome. I bought this as a certified used car from the Caddie dealership in ~2016 and wow Cadillac has come a long way. I usually don’t keep (modern) cars this long but with its low miles and how much I like it there’s no reason to sell. I know it’s not a V like the cars in your pic but damn, it handling and the 2.0 turbo are fantastic.

 

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abrod520

·Apr 16, 2021

Marcus Gronholm, Peugeot 206, Rally NZ '03. Another favorite driver/car/livery pairing of mine

 

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abrod520

·Apr 19, 2021

Subaru still runs proper stage rallies in their proper classic livery, at least in the US. This is from this year's Rally in the Hundred Acre Wood (I think, could be from one of the others but it's def ARA)

 

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vbrad26

·Apr 19, 2021

Super cool shot.

 

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abrod520

·Apr 19, 2021

vbrad26

Super cool shot.

Not mine! But I agree, it captures a lot of what I love about rallying. Which is why I had to share 😀

 

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vbrad26

·Apr 19, 2021

Rally drivers are just on another level in my opinion.
Those in-car videos of the Group B cars/drivers are just bonkers.

 

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vbrad26

·Apr 19, 2021

 

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abrod520

·Apr 19, 2021

^ For anyone watching, the famous moment is around 1:58 into the stage.

 

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vbrad26

·Apr 19, 2021

"Ooooh!... Dear God!" lol
I can't believe he was able to make it through that "grid". Code brown moment for sure hah.

 

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MRC

·Apr 21, 2021

Contera MD1 -- no I hadn't heard of this before either. Looks super exotic, super expensive. The second is not true. But with a Lexus engine it's no Lamborghini either.

http://motacarblog.com/2015/05/31/exclusive-look-at-the-contera-md1/

BTW, it has to take the speed cushions on the village High Street very slowly.

 

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vbrad26

·Apr 21, 2021

We'll I've seen a Lambo with a "Lexus" engine lol



But that kit car sounds good on paper. 50/50 WD and under 3000lbs is probably a good combo. Even the stock 1J could be easily upgraded and good for another couple hundred HP. Then you'd have a beast. But if you wanted a different motor and wanted to stick witht he Lexus/Yamaha theme you could also source an LFA motor hah.

 

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MRC

·Apr 21, 2021

vbrad26

We'll I've seen a Lambo with a "Lexus" engine lol



But that kit car sounds good on paper. 50/50 WD and under 3000lbs is probably a good combo. Even the stock 1J could be easily upgraded and good for another couple hundred HP. Then you'd have a beast. But if you wanted a different motor and wanted to stick witht he Lexus/Yamaha theme you could also source an LFA motor hah.

Yeah, just craned that in for a laugh 😗



I don't think the Contera is a kit, it was registered as if new manufacturer-built 2021, and put on the road no earlier than March 1st. Kits get a distinct sequence related to the age of the car they're based on.

I'm not sure about that "close to 50/50" distribution either -- what have they put in the front? Lotus Esprits, of which I have driven a few, are generally around 40/60 to 42/58. The only Elise I've driven (S1) was quoted as 39/61 -- although whether this is with driver inside is not given.

 

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Vercingetorix

·Apr 21, 2021·Spam Risk

I never understood where the urban myth of 50/50 weight distribution came from. It is like some computer nerds fantasy to make things look good on paper, or people who are afraid of a little oversteer.

 

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abrod520

·Apr 21, 2021

What is it about small British sportscar makers using Toyota engines 😕
(Though I'll admit the 2ZZ-GE is a pretty interesting engine with proper cams)