Napa Valley Roadster – Petrolicious

Posted on by

There’s something about old Datsuns that seem to inspire a cult following. From the full range of Z-cars to the legendary 510 and the humble little Roadster. The Datsun Roadster hit upon the Miata formula long before Mazda got to it: add Japanese reliability to the fun of a classic British roadster. Petrolicious brings us the story of Dandridge Marsh, a roadster owner whose journey began when he moved to Napa Valley. He wanted to pursue the romantic notion of driving a classic car through the wine country. That pursuit eventually led him to this 1.6 liter Datsun Roadster. It’s definitely not hard to see the appeal with a backdrop like that.


Napa Valley Roadster from Petrolicious on Vimeo.

Aston Martin V8 Vantage S vs. Morgan Aero Coupe – Car and Driver

Posted on by

Car and Driver’s European Correspondent, Jethro Bovingdon, sets up a British sport coupe showdown. It’s old school vs. new school with the Morgan Aero Coupe taking on the Aston Martin V8 Vantage S. The Aero Coupe is the most performance oriented model from a 100 year old company that still uses ash wood in the frames of some of their cars (if you want to call the 3-Wheeler a car). It’s simple and light giving it a good power to weight ratio with a BMW V8 under the hood. As with anything made by the hands of skilled craftsmen, the Morgan Aero Coupe is not inexpensive. The price tag is in the same neighborhood as the Aston Martin V8 Vantage S. Jethro takes both cars out on track to see how each car takes a different approach at similar concepts.


Source: CAR and DRIVER on YouTube

1968-69 Lamborghini R485 Tractor – Jay Leno’s Garage

Posted on by

I guess we’re just going to have a “Weird Things Made by Well Known Car Makers” day here on Flux Auto. This week’s episode of Jay Leno’s garage features one of less than 20 Lamborghini R485 Tractors that was imported to the US. The 4-ton monster is powered by a 5.0 liter 4-cylinder diesel engine that makes 85 horsepower and 350 foot-pounds of torque that uses the same starter as the Lamborghini Countach. The owner, Bill Scott, tells us how Ferruccio Lamborghini got his start working on tractors after World War 2 and how famed test driver, Valentino Balboni, began working for the company as a mechanic for these tractors. It just goes to show how stupid it is for people to have stigmas against blue collar work. As long as their is a need for physical goods, we will always need people who are skilled and creative with their hands. When your car breaks down, you’ll want the guy with the dirtiest hands to fix it. When it comes time to bring new ideas into the real world, you’d be wise to ask the same guy his advice.


Source: Jay Leno’s Garage on YouTube

Quirky Cars of the Porsche Museum

Posted on by

Porsche-Meuseum via http://auto.indiamart.com/autoblog/the-new-porsche-museum.htmlThe Porsche Museum is located next to Porsche headquarters in Zuffenhausen, Germany. The 60 million Euro facility is a wonder of architectural design that holds around 300 exhibits. Fortunately for us but unfortunately for the museum, Porsche’s history and racing heritage is far too large to be contained in 300 exhibits. Porsche released this video showing off the museum’s satellite storage area on the outskirts of Stuttgart. Cars that are being rotated out of the main museum come to this storage area before being transported to different displays around the world. Many of the cars are also restored to working condition here. Two of the staff historians detail some of the more obscure and quirky cars that have come through the storage facility:


Source: Porsche on YouTube

The Making of Gymkhana Five

Posted on by

Ken Block and DC Shoes just posted this video that gives us a behind the scenes look at the filming of Gymkhana Five. All of the shooting was done over a span of four days after two different scouting trips to San Francisco.


And here is Gymkhana Five again so you can see how it all came together:


Source: DC Shoes on YouTube