Tag: story

Video: 1955 Belgian GP movie tells the story of Spa

Filed under: Motorsports, Classics, Europe, Videos, Ferrari, Racing

With the Belgian Formula One Grand Prix happening this weekend, Shell reminded a few guests what the Spa-Francorchamps track and Belgian countryside were like in 1955. That year the petroleum company made a 30-minute movie about the grand prix – this is back when the track was called the Francorchamps National Circuit, near the town of Spa, and a list of its important corners didn’t include a mention of Eau Rouge – where it was doing the same thing it still does today: working on fuels and lubricants via its technical partnership with Ferrari.

To create the mood, journalists were invited to a vintage cinema where they mingled with Ferrari F1 drivers Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa and other extras in period fifties gear, and watched a screening of 1955 Belgian Grand Prix. You can scroll down for a screening of your own, as well as the press release, minus the petits-fours and pinups.

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1955 Belgian GP movie tells the story of Spa originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 25 Aug 2013 20:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video: The story of NASCAR’s Richie Parker asks you to leave your excuses at the door

Filed under: Motorsports, Videos

ESPN: Richie Parker video

This is Richie Parker. He’s a number of things: car enthusiast, engineer, employee, son. He’s a normal guy for his age, working a job in a field he loves. Oh, he also happens to have no arms. After watching this video from ESPN, we can’t help but think that Richie might describe himself in just such a way, with his birth defect a secondary part of his life, scarcely worth mentioning. His story is a remarkable one, about not letting bumps in the road stop you and about finding ingenious solutions to problems you or I have never thought about.

Richie was born with bilateral amelia, a non-genetic birth defect in which limbs aren’t formed. While the idea of not having any arms might be terrifying to many, as shown in the video, having dealt with it since birth has lead Richie to develop a number of interesting solutions. He can ride a bike, open the fridge and microwave on his own, use a computer and drive a car with his feet – virtually everything we can do (and take for granted) Richie can do with a bit of determination and creativity. Not surprisingly, finding those interesting solutions to everyday problems teamed with his love of cars led to a job at one of the finest NASCAR teams in the country. Take a look at the full video from ESPN, embedded below.

After that, perhaps you’d be interested in hearing a bit about some more people who have managed to overcome similar issues in equally impressive ways.

Continue reading The story of NASCAR’s Richie Parker asks you to leave your excuses at the door

The story of NASCAR’s Richie Parker asks you to leave your excuses at the door originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 22 Aug 2013 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video: McLaren’s origin story gets the Tooned treatment

Filed under: Motorsports, Marketing/Advertising, Videos, McLaren

Second episode of Tooned features McLaren origin story.

British television network Sky has aired the second episode of Tooned, and this time, the digitally animated cartoon follows the story of McLaren founder Bruce McLaren and his early life in New Zealand. McLaren drivers, who were the focus of the first episode, take a back seat on this one.

The fable shows a young McLaren attempting to build his car to go 100 miles per hour through trial, error and fierce determination, knowing that he’d hit a few bumps along the road before he could become successful. His first race was in a modified Austin Seven that his father built, however, which is animated into the cartoon in the form of an old, red car.

Check out the video of McLaren’s child-friendly Formula One promo below. Parents, consider this a good time to introduce your children to the world of motorsports.

Continue reading McLaren’s origin story gets the Tooned treatment

McLaren’s origin story gets the Tooned treatment originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 29 Jul 2013 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video: Jaguar releases C-X75 concept build story

Filed under: Concept Cars, Coupe, Hybrid, Videos, Jaguar, UK

Jaguar C-X75 Concept Story - video screencap

If you want to know what was going through the minds of decisionmakers at Jaguar when the company decided to build the batty C-X75 Concept, look no further than the quick video after the jump. Jaguar set about building a car with the performance of a Bugatti Veyron, the electric range of a Chevrolet Volt and the emissions of a Toyota Prius, and they turned to a legendary engineering firm to help make it happen. Williams, the same crew behind Williams F1, helped Jaguar stitch the concept car together, and the result is unlike anything we’ve seen before.

The twin-charged 1.6-liter four-cylinder mounted amidship is paired with an electric motor at each wheel for a combined output of over 850 horsepower. And, since the whole chassis is hewn from carbon fiber, a production version would’ve been light enough to give machines like the McLaren P1 and Ferrari LaFerrari a run for their money. Shame they apparently couldn’t make the business case work. Watch the concept build story in the video below for yourself.

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Jaguar releases C-X75 concept build story originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 27 Jun 2013 12:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video: Watch this story of a father, a son and a classic Plymouth on Father’s Day

Filed under: Classics, Convertible, Videos, Specialty

Father's Day Plymouth

They met in high school. Bev was a cheerleader, Joe played sports. The pair got married, and the first car they shared, driving off into their mutual futures together on their wedding day, was a 1948 Plymouth convertible. As is often the case with first cars – and especially cars as classically stylish and memorable as the Plymouth – they were left with nothing but fond memories after being forced to sell the car after Joe was drafted into the military.

Fast forward 60 years and their son has pulled off a brilliant surprise. The result of which is summed up rather nicely by Bev herself: “Uh oh. Grandpa’s got tears.” And you may, too. Scroll down below to see the video, produced and shared by Hagerty, for yourself.

Happy Father’s Day from the crew here at Autoblog.

Continue reading Watch this story of a father, a son and a classic Plymouth on Father’s Day

Watch this story of a father, a son and a classic Plymouth on Father’s Day originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 16 Jun 2013 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Top Gear presents its side of story about Tesla Roadster [w/video]

Filed under: Performance, Europe, Government/Legal, Hatchback, Tesla, Electric

Tesla vs. Top Gear

Tesla vs. Top Gear – Click above to view Top Gear’s review after the jump

Tesla has gone to great lengths to publicize its libel suit against Top Gear for the program’s 2008 review of the Tesla Roadster. The suit claims that TG‘s review of the car was rigged, and its assertion that the car doesn’t work in the real world had been decided even before Clarkson drove the car.

Until now, there had been no response from the BBC or Top Gear, other than to say they would defend themselves. According to Top Gear producer Andy Wilman, it’s their policy to hold back any comment until the matter goes to court. Since Tesla has been so vocal about the case, though, Wilman decided to issue a response.

Wilman responds to Tesla’s claims that the show lied about the car’s brakes being broken, that its range is only 55 miles and that an overheated motor immobilized the car. Top Gear says the 55-mile range claim came from Tesla engineers who studied data gathered from the car after the test day. Wilman stands by his show’s claim that the brakes broke, saying a blown fuse in the vacuum pump made pedal effort abnormally high, and that Tesla wouldn’t let them continue the test until the problem was solved.

Whatever side of the matter you stand on, the facts of the case will have to shake out in court. The only thing that seems certain at this point is that the case will likely be long and messy. Click past the jump to see Top Gear‘s original review and draw your own conclusions.

[Source: Top Gear]

Continue reading Top Gear presents its side of story about Tesla Roadster [w/video]

Top Gear presents its side of story about Tesla Roadster [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 04 Apr 2011 14:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video: Rubber is the story of a homicidal tire named Robert

Filed under: Etc., Humor

Rubber movie

Quentin Dupieux’s Rubber – Click above to watch video after the jump

Rubber movieWe’ll let you all in on a little secret: when we aren’t furiously rowing away out our keyboards, snapping photos of our review vehicles or splitting knuckles on the world’s worst project vehicles, we’re stuck in front of Netflix sucking up a deluge of horrible B movies. We just can’t help ourselves. Bad acting and worse editing dipped in the sugary coating of a strange premise is the perfect concoction for shutting off your brain for awhile, which is exactly why we first got excited when we heard about director Quntin Dupieux’s new film, Rubber.

The movie centers on an old tire by the name of Robert that somehow comes to life, acquires telepathic powers and sets out on a murderous rampage. If that doesn’t sound like B-movie gold, we don’t know what does. But after watching the trailer for the flick, we can’t help but think this is a legitimate film that just happens to be slumming it alongside flicks like Death Bed – The Bed that Eats.

Even setting our questionable cinematic tastes aside, we can’t help but want to see this movie when it hits theaters on April 1. Hit the jump to check the video for yourself.

[Sources: YouTube, Bloody Disgusting]

Continue reading Video: Rubber is the story of a homicidal tire named Robert

Video: Rubber is the story of a homicidal tire named Robert originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 19 Jan 2011 17:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jay Leno’s best speeding story is better than yours

Filed under: Government/Legal, Celebrities, Humor, Specialty

Just like any self-respecting car guy, Jay Leno has had his fair share of run-ins with local law enforcement. And, much like the rest of us, some of those run-ins result in great story material for those Monday morning watercooler conversations. But as you’d expect, Leno’s are more entertaining.

Take, for example, a recent exchange Leno had with Visor Down in the U.K. Says the late-night comedian:

I have the record for the oldest vehicle to be done for speeding. It was a 1912 Stanley Steamer, and I had it cranked up to 75mph on a freeway.

Nice. Needless to say, we’re suitably impressed by the speed Leno was able to attain in such a rarefied piece of automotive history. Sadly, the police officer didn’t seem to share our respect:

I’m kind of proud of that, especially considering the engine is steam-powered and makes less than 10 bhp. The cop who issued the citation was remarkably straight-faced and unimpressed with my feat, which I thought was a little unimaginative of him. How could you seriously issue a speeding ticket to something with the same engine as a small steam locomotive?

Jay, if it makes you feel any better (and we’re sure it doesn’t), we completely agree. Read the rest of the interview at Visor Down here.

[Source: Visor Down]

Jay Leno’s best speeding story is better than yours originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 28 Jul 2010 18:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Followup: Toyota ‘strongly objects’ to NHTSA allegations it planted story in WSJ

Filed under: Etc., Recalls, Safety, Toyota

Toyota has officially spoken out against allegations that it planted a story in The Wall Street Journal that attributed the majority of the company’s unintended acceleration woes to driver error rather than entrapped floor mats or faulty software. The Japanese company’s American arm emailed a statement to Just-Auto saying that no one within Toyota has any access to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration’s research, and that no one in the government agency had reported any findings to the automaker.

As you may recall, The Wall Street Journal article cited “people familiar with” the NHTSA’s research on the Toyota unintended acceleration problem. It wasn’t long before fingers began pointing back at Toyota for supposedly planting the story with the WSJ. Just-Auto originally cited a spokesperson with the NHTSA who said that the information that the publication used came from Toyota.

In its defense, Toyota has said that any reports that claim that the company planted a news story are absolutely false. In its independent research, Toyota has found a number of causes of unintended acceleration, one of which happens to be “pedal misapplication.” For those of us that don’t speak corporate, that would be driver error. Whether that means that someone at the The Wall Street Journal managed to get their sources crossed or whether the NHTSA is simply trying to cover its bases after leaking otherwise confidential information remains to be seen.

[Source: Just-Auto | Image: Paul Ellis/AFP/Getty]

Followup: Toyota ‘strongly objects’ to NHTSA allegations it planted story in WSJ originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 19 Jul 2010 13:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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