Zambezi is a little on the darkside for my taste, but it still looks awful purty on standard Fuchs I reckon:
Agree it's odd that someone would want to repaint in black - a colour I happen to like, but not well suited to the 914. I'm also of the view that the 914 - even more so than is the case with most cars - should not be modded or tarted up. One of the great joys of the model is its simplicity and straightforward seventiesness! I know you - like me - are very fond of 911s, and that maybe, again like me, (more recently), don't object to the quality upgrades like Singer, but the 914 was never intended to be a car carrying the kind of value and snob appeal that would eventually warrant such pricey skulduggery! Happy New Year Brad and Heil Zuffenhausen!

 

I can agree with that! I appreciate Singer, but they are not for me.
Plus, they are stealing all the 964's lol.
I'm going to have to pull the trigger sooner than later, or I'm not going to be willing to spend the money on one.
I can't believe that they are going for $60k all day long when those same cars 10-12 years ago were going for half that on a good day.
I always think, this has got to be the top...then it isn't lol.
The thought of picking up a decent E36 M3, or an FD3S RX-7 to hold me over is sounding more appealing every day....
But those aren't getting any cheaper either.

 

Thank you. It is replacing a 912 which was burnt, in an arson attack. I enjoy the mid engine handling of the 914. Like a gokart with much more grip

 

Still a lot of fun although this one has gone

 

A 914 or an FD3S... you've really got a thing for the "permanent garage sculpture"

 

I'm a glutton for punishment, what can I say lol.
And rotaries aren't that bad. With proper upkeep lol.

 

I will say I'm looking forward to that gated dog leg. Closest to an F40 I will most likely ever come hah.

 

And complete engine replacement every 150k - 200k miles, of course

 

Just an excuse to drop in a 4 rotor.

Not an FD, but you get the idea lol.

 

I think this is the most pornographically automotive thing that's come across my desk in a very long time.

 

And just as I said that about yesterday's photo, Facebook has outdone itself yet again.



Jo Siffert v. Pedro Rodriguez, Spa 1000km 1971

 

That is frikin cool!

Safety has come a long way. Both for the drivers and spectators.

 

That is so good. Siffert was a hero of mine.

 

Great shot of Mario demonstrating at the 'Ring his mental attitude towards the dangers of the sport at the time. He was of the view that if you were going to take to the circuit, you had to be prepared to take the risk. Enigmatically, he said, "And you cannot dwell on that side of it…that’s the worst thing you can do.”

Back then the risks were plentiful and ignored by many. One of the worst was Denis Jenkinson who wrote as Motor Sport's 'Continental Correspondent', frequently berating Jackie Stewart for his crusade to improve the possibility that drivers might survive their careers!

The last time I had the privilege of seeing JYS ‘live’ was at Brands Hatch in October 1971 at his World Championship Victory celebration meeting. Just recently I’ve had Jenks at close quarters when I was doing some editing for the digitisation of the Motor Sport archives. I don’t wish to offend those who hold the Boddy/Jenks era in the highest regard, but I have to say that DSJ’s writing was pretty awful; this judgement does not undermine his value in being a source of information/insight at a time when we had nothing like today’s exhaustive coverage of Formula 1.

If Jenks was not a good professional writer, JYS was a supremely accomplished professional racing driver, in and out of the car. And his campaigning work on behalf of all the then-current and future drivers was of the greatest importance. Perhaps if DSJ and some other commentators who decried him had not been so vocal, safety could have been improved much more rapidly: then I might not have had to witness that October day the death in the BRM of that great cavalier driver, Jo Siffert. Just prior to MRC's post of Mario 'flying,' Abrod reminded us of Jo and Pedro wheel to wheel at Spa - one of their last close encounters, for Pedro had died at Norisring in the July.

 

Yeah, people can moan all they want about gravel traps and tire barriers and HANS devices but I would take another decade plus of history-making racing by Siffert, Rodriguez, Rindt, Senna, all of them. (Just maybe not at Tilke tracks!)

 

Anyway, another 917 - this one driven by Leo Kinnunen at the 1970 24 Hours of Le Mans.

 

There was a 917 on display at the Peterson Museum in LA a couple years ago.

I didn't get a decent photo of it, but I it touched it when no one was looking...

 

Last time I saw JYS race was at Silverstone in 1970 where he finished 2nd to Chris Amon's only F1 win, where the Much Advertised Racing Car Hoax flattered to deceive. By then I was a student and could just afford my own subscriptions to Autosport and Motoring News [+], but for much of life until then Jenks was pretty much the only source of information through my dad's Motor Sport subscription. I think it was the death of Jim Clark that really started me thinking how unnecessary the carnage was.

On a side note: have the Motor Sport archives been re-scanned? I took out a subscription to the archives when they were first put online to do some research, particularly in the cars for sale section and found them pretty hard to read. The OCR versions of the main articles were not reliable for searches on key words, but the scanned copy was at least readable.



[+] Had to give up drinking beer to afford that

 

That’s the car that was at the Peterson. I forget the name of the owner of the collection (not Jerry).

it’s currently having its engine rebuilt by Porsche racing. I didn’t sit in it, but I did get up close and personal with it.