2016 Les Vingt Quatre Heures du Mans*

Look at them.

After 50 years, just look at them:

Chip Ganassi Team UK – Ford GT #66: Olivier Pla, Stefan Mücke, Billy Johnson	Chip Ganassi Team UK – Ford GT #67: Marino Franchitti, Andy Priaulx, Harry Tincknell
Chip Ganassi Team UK – Ford GT #68: Joey Hand, Dirk Müller, Sébastien Bourdais	Chip Ganassi Team UK – Ford GT #69: Ryan Briscoe, Richard Westbrook, Scott Dixon

Breathtaking.

If things go well on June 18-19 2016, they should leave the C7.Rs, 488s, 911 RSRs and Vantages gasping for breath.

Courtesy Andy Blackmore and his famous, beautiful, Le Mans Spotters’ Guide.

*2016 24 Hours of Le Mans

Lewis Hamilton – 2008 Formula 1 World Champion

Lewis Hamilton – 2008 Formula 1 World Champion

Cool. Not much else to say but… Cool.

Darpa Grand Challenge 2005

The DARPA Grand Challenge 2005 was run on 10/09/2005.

As of this time, 11:55 pm Eastern yesterday, four teams have completed the course, just over 131 miles: Red 1, Red 2, Team Gray, and Team Stanford. This is amazing. Last year, the farthest any team got was just over 7 miles.It seems that there is some confusion as to just who has won. They’re still computing the times to complete the course. Wow, what a technological leap!

Les 24 Heures du Mans

Someday I Shall Witness Les 24 Heures du Mans.

Someone, at some time, has to be able to beat the modular Audis and their quick, change rearends. I’d like to be there when it happens. Perhaps it will be the folks from Zytek.

Zytek? Who the hell is Zytek??

What I really want to see is Ford re-enter Le Mans. It was recently announced that the Ford GT topped 200 MPH at the Nardo test track. Is it just me, or are they gearing up for a return to the Mulsanne Straight? After all, they haven’t won (I don’t even know if they’ve even been back) since winning 4 straight from 1966 to 1969.

Speaking of History, checking out the same link above, I’m shocked that Ferrari hasn’t won overall since 1965, when Ford entered the race with the mandate to “Beat Ferrari”.

Until I get to the Circuit, at least I can listen to Le Mans Radio.

italdesign giugiaro toyota alessandro volta

Dear Jehovah / Allah / Buddah / Cthulu / Allmind / Odin / EarthMother / Zeus / Brigit / Adam Smith / Mr. Bibendum:
Can you please influence Toyota to go ahead and make this thing? You see, I love supercars. I find them thrilling, scintillating works of human ingenuity. You see, however, I cannot bring myself to have one, because I lived through the 1970’s in the United States and I made a vow to myself that each car I owned would get better gas mileage than the last. I’ve kept that promise. So, no SUV’s, no sports cars, no supercars for me, yet. Think globally, drive locally.

And then this thing comes along.

Please, oh please, power or powers that be, please bend their ever fertile and imaginative minds towards this, lovely, 408 horse power, 40 mile per gallon, work of art.

Thanks!

Oh, and world peace. Yeah, that too.

Dream a little Dream, in Tokyo

I have a thing for dream cars. Not just you run of the mill supercars, nor your prosaic prototypes that broadly hint at upcoming production vehicles. OK, I admit, calling something like the Ford GT prosaic is not quite right.

Not that they aren’t beautiful. They are. They’re absolutely gorgeous.

Nope, I mean the weird, wacky , bizarre design exercises that, amazingly, are often rolling, drivable, technology testbeds like the Firebird I, II & III, the Buick Blackhawk, even this insane creation from Cadillac (Mr. Wayne will be driving himself, this evening).

Which brings me to the Tokyo Motor Show. Yes, the show was chock-a-block with all sorts of the aformentioned vehicles. But then there was this. And this. And this.

These are the kind of cars I’d buy in a heartbeat. Even the Habitrail inspired one.

5… 4… 3… 2… 1… 0

Well, I’m off. Ahead of me lay some hundreds of miles of open road, a city I’ve never been to, people I’ve never met and friends from far away.

You know, something just struck me. If I was in a different frame of mind, if I was from some other slightly different time and place, I’d be heading south instead of north. What makes a person a Worldcon (or NASFiC) person instead of a Dracon*Con person? It seems in 1995 the two collided when Worldcon was in Scotland. Another thought… How much larger would either be if one of them be if one (the newer one?) shifted slightly in the calendar?

Perhaps I’ll make the trip down South, but for now, I’m out the door. Chat with you in about 15 hours.

Cavorting with Echoes and Ghosts

“Marlin! Why haven’t more of your entries been about Science Fiction?”

Hush, child. I’ll get there. Just a couple of days more and you’ll have more of me gushing about the convention than you can stand. Until then, however, I’m thoroughly entranced by the lure of the open road. Plus, some of my favorite episodes of The Twilight Zone revolve around road trips that go awry. I know better than to fall prey to any diner fortune telling machines.

I will, however, willingly give myself over to the long distant echoes of Coopers, Lotus, BRMs, Chaparrals, and the like. Hopefully out of the corners of my eyes I’ll espy the fleeting shades of Jim Hall, Mark Donahue, Jacky Ickx… Yes, I know they’re still around, but surely the alchemical combination of blood, gasoline, sweat, motor oil, tears and adrenaline they’ve poured into can invoke their presence. Did Steve McQueen ever race at this place?

What place?

By some stroke of genius, some uncanny alignment of the stars, the kindly old ladies at the AAA have the midpoint of my drive going through Watkins Glen N.Y. I stared at the map in disbelief, and then danced around the house in joy. Lunch at the Glen. I’m still grinning.

The Curse of the Mohawk Trail

I asked the AAA to cobble together a scenic drive from Lowell to Toronto. I’d say they’ve done a pretty good job. Over half of my trip will be on the Mohawk Trail, through Northern Massachusetts. After that, I’ll be cruising through the Finger Lakes region of New York. All in all, it should be delightful. My only trepidation is this. I’ve only received 1 speeding ticket in my entire life. It was a couple of years ago, as I was searching for a nice stretch of road to test out my new tires on. I assume that the Leominster city coffers were a little empty, because they were hauling people in like fishermen catching anchovies. Given the state of the state’s finances, I think I’ll tiptoe through the city boundaries.

Looking for Callahan’s

Hopefully I’ll run across it while I’m on my way to Toronto. Or, perhaps on the way back. There’s this bar/saloon/pub, you see, called Callahan’s Place, and I’ve been searching for it over 20 years.

Forget Cheers, Callahan’s is really the place where everybody knows your name. Well, maybe not everybody, just that handsome but somewhat sad looking gentleman standing over in the corner. Yes, the one with those very disquieting, and very sad, eyes.

I admit that my chances of running across Callahan’s are slim. In lieu of that, I’m going to do my damdest to try and share a drink with Spider Robinson. It just may be (but I’ll never truly believe it) that Callahan’s sprang from an amazing place between Spider’s ears and behind his eyes, and if so, the closest I’ll get to smashing a glass in that fireplace is to share a moment or two chatting with him sometime next weekend.