Author: Dustin Driver

The Bugatti 100P is a streamlined organic flying manta ray with counter-rotating propellers and two screaming supercharged straight eights. It’s half flying machine, half H.P. dream. Bugatti only made one and sadly, it never flew the skies in anger. Now, however, a group of intrepid engineers are bringing it back to life in the form of a meticulous, full-size reproduction.

Ettore Bugatti built the 100P to compete in the 1939 Deutsch de la Meurthe Cup Race. This was the hay day of aviation, when winged monsters like the Gee Bee tore the skies asunder in pursuit of ultimate speed. Usually in the presence of an audience. It was by all accounts, incredible.

The 100P, like all of Bugatti’s creations, was wildly innovative. Its design was stunning, with forward-swept wings, a Y-shaped empennage (tail section) and an almost totally transparent cockpit. Its mechanicals were equally marvelous, featuring two Bugatti 50P supercharged straight eight engines mounted behind the pilot. Twin drive shafts ran from each engine (spinning in opposite directions) to turn the dual propellers up front. Special radiators were mounted in the fuselage with air intakes at the leading edge of the stabilizers. Each engine was good for 450 horsepower.

The 100P was a stupendous aeronautical achievement and would likely have set speed records in the skies over Europe. Then the Nazis marched on Paris. The plane was put in storage during the war. After the war, it was rescued and restored, but not flown. It eventually ended up in the hands of the Experimental Aircraft Association, which displays the plane at the Air Venture Museum in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

Bugatti and experimental aircraft enthusiasts have long dreamed of seeing the 100P soar. That’s why businessman Scotty Wilson started a project to recreate the plane almost 30 years ago. Remarkably, he and his team are nearly finished with the reproduction. They need just $50,000 to finish. And they’ve turned to Kickstarter for help. Head on over to the project page to give them some love. The 100P is probably the most beautiful flying machine ever devised and it deserves to, well, fly.

Porsche is getting ready for its return to Le Mans in 2014. And it wants to remind you all that in 1971 it thoroughly and properly kicked ass. The monstrous 240-mile-an-hour 917 took first and second places, setting multiple records along the way. Oh, and 10 of the 13 cars that finished that year were Porsches.

In 1971 Porsche built the first magnesium-framed 917. The delicate birdcage of highly flammable and ultra-lightweight metal weighed just 42 kilograms, or 92 pounds. The frame was swathed in gossamer sheets of flowing fiberglass and perspex and given menacing tail fins. Then Porsche gingerly installed their latest creation: A magnesium and titanium air-cooled flat 12 good for more than 600 horsepower. The results were positively manic. Click through to see a highlight reel from the season, featuring the tarmac-swallowing, fire-breathing, time-warping 917.

The 917/30 variant could hit 62 mph in just 2.3 seconds and 124 in 5.3. It had a top speed of more than 240 mph. The comparable Ferrari of the day, the 512, had trouble breaking 200 mph.

In testing, driver Jackie Oliver did an average 155 mph per lap, the highest average speed ever recorded. The Martini Racing team went on to win Le Mans that year. Drivers Helmut Marko and Gijs van Lennep went 3,315 miles, a distance record, at an average speed of 155 mph, a speed record. The record remained untouched for decades.

A Porsche 917 in Gulf livery also took second place. Porsche 911s and even 907s took the majority of the other positions in the race. Only two Ferraris finished.

If the video below doesn’t get you excited about Porsche’s return to Le Mans next year, you’re not human.

The Vixen RV and its campy promo video has gone viral. But, really, the Vixen was a miserable lump and an almost complete failure. The GMC motorhome, however, was the ultimate in RV luxury and technology, a shagadelic masterpiece of late ’70s style. It’s one of the most advanced motorhomes ever devised, featuring fully independent suspension, front wheel drive and a great, big torquey V8. Custom murals optional.

The GMC Motorhome is special. It was (and is) the only motorhome to be designed and built by an automotive manufacturer. GMC built the chassis, engine, bodies and in most cases interiors of these monsters. Nobody does that. It usually works like this: A manufacturer like GMC will assemble a chassis, then ship it off to a coach builder like Bounder to finish the job. GMC approached their motorhome like any other car or truck in their line. They designed it from the ground up and built the whole thing in house. It was bonkers. Motorhomes are low-volume specialty vehicles. Any major automaker would be insane to build one.

But this was GM in the ’70s, which by all reports was totally batshit. So in the early ’70s they got a bunch of GM geniuses in a room and asked, “What’s the perfect motorhome?”

The result was, really, spectacular. The team devised a steel ladder chassis with self-adjusting, fully independent suspension and disc brakes. Then they dropped in the massive 455 cubic-inch V8 and transmission from a Oldsmobile Toronado. They designed a properly ’70s-tastic futuristic body to put on top of it all. Finally, they built a full-scale, 26-foot clay mode—likely in a Hunter S. Thompson-esque drug-addled haze. It was the biggest clay model GM ever built.

The motorhome went into production in 1972. Its body was made of aluminum and fiberglass. The floor, marine plywood. It had massive windows, air conditioning, an 8-track stereo and cruise control. It made moustaches and chest hair everywhere tingle with delight.

The GMC motorhome was produced until 1978 in 23 and 26-foot varieties. Many survive today due to their stout, rust-proof construction and have a cult-like following. It’s easy to see why. The motorhome still looks futuristic and definitely has charm. One can imagine piloting it across the country like some giant beige shuttlecraft, seeking out new life and civilizations. Boldly going where no one wearing a gold chain and Hawaiian shirt has gone before.

Sources: Wikipedia, GMC Motorhome

The Triumph Spitfire is adorable. It’s perky. It’s sweet. And that’s exactly why it needs a screaming, searing, sky-splitting, pavement-melting turbine engine from a helicopter. The appropriately named StanceWorks forums member godzillus is installing a 320-horsepower Allison T63C18 turbine into a rusty Spitfire as you read this post. Oh, and it’s a senior design project for engineering school. Who said school isn’t any fun?

Some perspective: The Spitfire was designed in 1957 by Giovanni Michelotti and was based on the sedate Triumph Herald saloon. It was a nimble, fun and very pretty little roadster produced from 1962 to 1980. Originally it was equipped with a torquey little 1.1 liter (1,147 cc) push-rod inline four. By 1974 the engine had grown to a respectable 1.5 liters (1493 cc). It never weighed more than 1750 pounds. Imagine then, a proper little British roadster with a 320-horsepower turbine engine that tops out at 53,000 rpm and generates 425 ft-lbs of torque at idle. Running stock suspension and brakes. Yep.

godzillus tells us, via the StanceWorks thread, that he and a team of students are building the beast as a senior design project for (the world’s most awesome) engineering school. They say they’re doing it to test a digital turbine controller, but come on. We all know they’re doing it in the name of hoons everywhere.

The team received the car as a gift from the local Triumph club and they’re borrowing the Allison turbine, which retails for more than $250,000. The students have scraped together $3,000 for the build, which is mostly going into fabricating parts for the engine swap, a roll cage and safety equipment. Thus there’s no extra cash for upgraded brakes and suspension. Sadly, the team ”will never get to drive this thing in anger,” says godzillus.

As you can see from the pics below, the team has already made great progress. They’ve patched the rusty bits, sprayed the car with primer and have mocked up the engine in the car. They’ve also created some trick 3D CAD files to design the seven-inch exhaust that will no doubt leave burn marks on the asphalt. Heck, if we’re lucky, the exhaust may even light the asphalt on fire.

Godzillus, on behalf of the entire Ridelust readership, I demand a video of this masterpiece ripping a hole in the space-time continuum!

It seems Fisker is finally succumbing to the relentless seas of misfortune. It’s been battered by storms, supplier problems and financial troubles. Founder Henrik Fisker has fled. Its workforce has been laid off. Nearly all of them. Things are grim. But should petrol-guzzling, tire-burning, fire-breathing gear heads like you care? Yes. Yes, you should.

You should care about Fisker for one simple reason: It’s disruptive. The automotive industry is big, old and stagnant. It moves at a glacial pace and changes very little. Fisker, and other new car companies, are free to innovate, to explore new technology, and to do crazy things like use a turbocharged Pontiac Solstice engine just to spin a generator.

But let’s back up. What, exactly, happened? Some of the first Karmas had a faulty hose clamp that could cause coolant to leak into the battery compartment. Then a few of the cars burst into flames without warning. A recall ensued. Then Fisker’s battery manufacturer, A123, went bankrupt, causing a crippling battery shortage. Then Superstorm Sandy totaled more than 300 brand-new Karmas at a port in New Jersey. Then the Department of Energy froze Fisker’s massive $528 million loan. Finally, Fisker himself stepped down as head of the company mid March, citing a disagreement with the rest of Fisker management.

Then, of course, there were rumors that the Chinese were going to buy out Fisker and save the day. Fisker co-founder Bernhard Kohler even said in an interview with Auto Bild that Chinese automaker DongFeng submitted a bid to bail the company out. No one knows, however, if the deal will go through.

Last week, even more bad news: Fisker laid off 160 employees on a calm Friday morning. Right now it looks like Fisker is going away. And that makes me sad.

The Karma is a beautiful car. An impractical, silly, insane and beautiful car. It weighs an absurd 5,300 pounds, yet can magically accelerate to 60 mph in just 6.3 seconds. It can only travel 32 miles on its massive batteries, after which time it revs up a 2-liter, 260-horsepower GM Ecotec four cylinder for juice. And revs up it does, sustaining a blistering wail regardless of throttle position. It is 16 feet long, yet has less luggage space than a MINI. It has 22-inch wheels. It is a Hot Wheels car writ large. And I love it.

It’s a shame that such a technologically advanced and stupendously ludicrous vehicle will be lost to bad luck and poor management. Automobiles are more than economically sensible means of transportation. They’re expressions of speed and power and beauty. They’re mobile art. We need more cars like the Karma, even if they aren’t economical, practical or even viable business propositions. Because, simply put, they’re inspiring.

No, we can’t have it in the U.S. Unless the Large Hadron Collider opens a rift into a parallel universe where Alfa Romeo never left the States. Anyway, we can dream and gaze upon it, mouthes agape, minds frazzled by its pure beauty. Lucky bastard Europeans will get to chose among four engines—two 1.4-liter turbo fours with 120 or 170 horsepower and two turbo-diesel mills with 105 or 170 hp. Alfa will later unleash a cloverleaf-badged monster with a direct-injection 1.8 liter turbo four that puts out 235 hp. Right now a six-speed manual is available with all engine choices and a dual-clutch transmission is on the way. Sigh. Hit the jump for more teasing.

In the future, I will fly to work suspended below a whirling, hissing disc of 600-degree Celsius steam. The Dragonfly SF1 rocket-copter has bullet-shaped rocket engines at the tips of its rotors that dissociate a mixture of 70 percent hydrogen peroxide into furious jets of water vapor. The thing splits the very air around it, spitting and screaming like some alien beast. It’s wicked. The Dragonfly can hit 115 miles per hour and reach an altitude of 13,000 feet. With an 18.5-gallon fuel tank, it can fly for 50 minutes at 40 mph. An add-on 16-gallon tank extends range to 100 miles. The whole thing only weighs 234 pounds and can carry 500 pounds. Amazingly, the rocket-copter experiences less vibration and is easier to fly than a conventional helicopter. The Dragonfly is currently being tested, but should be available for purchase in the near future. Expected cost? Can you really put a price on something this awesome?

Source: Swisscopter

A PR nightmare.

The old Pentastar is really trying to live up to its logo. Chrysler announced yesterday that it’ll team with NASA to develop and share technology. No, don’t expect a MOPAR space shuttle or a Charger with solid rocket boosters. The moribund automaker will use NASA batteries and composite materials for future hybrids and electric cars. It’s not the first time the two groups have worked together. Chrysler built Redstone rockets for the Mercury space program in 1961 and boosters for the first two Apollo moon missions.

And no, do not expect a Dodge Challenger NASA Edition. Definitely not.

Source: Wired

The VW Type 3 Squareback is a scrumptious little jellybean and I would proudly putter around in one. So when my family recently gave the order to scrap an inherited ‘71 Squareback, I died a little inside. This city boy has limited garage space and zero mad money for restoration projects. I had to let it go. If I had a Jay-Lenoesque restoration shop, or even an extra 500 bucks, I would’ve dragged it home and made it buzz with electricity. Sacrilege? I appreciate a high-strung pancake engine that can rattle the world to bits, but a Squareback that can spin its tires with nothing more than a high-pitched whine is simply rad. Florida-based bakery Pastry Art built this ‘lectric Squareback to deliver sugary confections. Mine would’ve looked something like it, but with a more subtle paint job. Hit the jump for a video of the build.

Project Green Machine from VW TV on Vimeo.

This mean-lookin’ electric Mini blasted around the ol’ Nürburgring-Nordschleife in nine minutes, 51.45 seconds, hitting a top speed of 116.19 miles per hour. Not bad for a battery-powered racer. The car is about 400 pounds lighter than the Mini EV that was released for testing a few months back. It’s also lower, has race suspension, and a lower final drive ration for faster acceleration out of the corners. The 150-kilowatt motor puts out an equivalent 204 horsepower and gobs of torque at any RPM. The driver, former Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters racer Thomas Jäger, had this to say about the car:

“I’ve driven this circuit many times, but never in such an extraordinary car,” Jäger said in a statement. “The power of the electric motor has an incredible effect, as you can access its full reserves of torque at all times. Another element of this fascinating experience is the lack of noise from the drivetrain. All in all, that was certainly the cleanest and quietest race lap I’ve ever driven.”

See? Electric cars can be damn fun.

Source: Wired Autopia

The VATH G55 AMG has a measly 680 horsepower and pathetic 590 pound feet of torque. It’s the perfect shoebox for spindly namby pamby boys with sunken chests. Like me.

Source: WebridesTV

McDeeb Clubman

Last night I dreamt I was cutting up the asphalt on a battered black sport bike. It’s been a while since I rode, and the last time I did I wiped out—slid a rented Honda across the Chiang Mai ring road with my fiancée on back. We were okay, just shaken up. That experience, along with the birth of my son almost two years ago, made motorcycles strictly forbidden at my house. Still, motorcycles are like nicotine: You never get over them. So I cruise sites like The Kneeslider and dream. The McDeeb Royal Enfield Specials have been popping up over there for the past few weeks and they’re spectacular.

McDeeb Thruxton

McDeeb was founded by Fabrizio “McDeeb” Di Bella, an Italian with an obsession with British bikes. He opened up his shop, Classic Farm Motorcycles, in the mountains of the Camonica Valley 12 years ago. Today he imports and modifies Royal Enfield bikes and sells performance parts. Royal Enfield bikes are as basic as they come; air-cooled 500cc single cylinder mills in steel frames. Di Bella makes them look fantastic with cosmetic tweaks and gives them some extra go with a 612cc performance kit. The custom bikes aren’t cheap, between 10,000 and 15,000 Euros. And, unfortunately, they aren’t available in the states. But you can pick up an Enfield and order some McDeeb parts for it.

Source: The Kneeslider

I have fallen ill. Amidst vivid fever dreams I have a vision of a mechanical monstrosity, a great roaring beast that spits smoke and fumes as it careens down a black ribbon of asphalt, headed for certain death. I’m still not sure it’s real.

Audi plans to send an autonomous TTS up Pike’s Peak at this September. The car, developed with the Stanford University Electronics Research Laboratory, is festooned with sensors and crammed with computer gear. It’ll use GPS, accelerometers, gyroscopes, and more to feel its way up the 12-mile course without a driver—at race speeds. It’ll be the first time a robo car has driven the course at more than 25 miles per hour. The car can be shut off remotely if it decides to veer off the course and hunt for spectators. And they have Tom Selleck on standby, just in case. The guys over at Wired Autopia took a ride in the robo car as it careened around the dirt course at 40 mph. Check out the video.

Source: Wired

All the exotic steel at the NYIAS has you revved up and yearning for some supercar lovin’, but you can barely make the payments on your Scion. Don’t fret. If you have an iPhone, you can transform that gutless hipster shoebox into a high-performance machine. Just download the Instant Supercar app, plug your iPhone into your stereo system, and enjoy the melodious sounds of a finely-tuned supercar as you putter around town. The app monitors the iPhone’s accelerometer and plays recordings of supercars like the Porsche 911 Turbo, Nissan GT-R, and Corvette ZR-1 based on real-world acceleration. Fun for the whole family. Only $2.99. Expect a comprehensive review soon.

Source: Instant Supercar

Sixteen gull-wing doors that fan out like the wings of some horrible insectoid beast. And it’s shaped like a giant liver fluke. The Superbus was spawned at the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. It carries 23. It’s electric. It’s made of carbon fiber. It can go 150 miles an hour. And it’s real—they’ve tested a rolling chassis and plan to have a fully operational Superbus in the coming months. They’ve also come up with an SMS/Internet-based door-to-door on-demand system. Make a request and the Superbus will come for you, picking up other passengers with similar destinations along the way. Then it’ll blast out of the city onto purpose-built “smart highways” where it’ll drive itself at 150 mph. Or that’s the idea, anyway. And again, this thing is real. Delft University of Technology hopes to market the Superbus worldwide.

Source: Gizmag

Come close my little birdies, for I have some well-digested automotive news to regurgitate into your hungry maws: Mazda says it’s going to bring its new SKY-D (not a manga about a flying vampire hunter) diesel engine to the States. The engine gets a claimed 43 miles per gallon on the highway when paired with Mazda’s new SKY-Drive six-speed slushbox. Put that in your combustion chambers and burn it, Ford Fusion Hybrid. The engine also runs super-duper clean. No horsepower or torque figures yet, but Mazda does hint that the engine will show up in the next-generation Mazda6. Why do I care? Because Mazda makes fun, well-handling cars. And if the SKY-D ends up in the Mazda3, the VW Golf TDI will get some real competition. Hit the jump for the full press release.

NEW MAZDA SKY CONCEPT POWERTRAINS TO DELIVER DRIVING PLEASURE AND ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE FOR ALL

SKY-G and SKY-D engines significantly improve fuel economy and dynamic performance

Mazda is synonymous with powertrain innovation. And now, the company that has engineered the world’s only mass produced rotary engine is at it once again. The Mazda SKY Concept is a development strategy behind a series of next-generation powertrains with global roll-out starting in 2011. The word “sky” reflects Mazda’s desire to deliver driving pleasure while helping to ensure blue skies and clean air for future generations. To achieve this, Mazda engineers have adopted a “sky’s the limit” approach, and are embracing unconventional thinking in their pursuit of ultimate powertrain efficiency.

“Improving fuel efficiency and reducing CO2 emissions is not just a goal at Mazda, it’s part of our business plan; we will make vehicles that are safer for our environment,” said Jim O’Sullivan, president and CEO, Mazda North American Operations. “We will increase our fuel economy globally by 30 percent by 2015 and offer affordable eco-friendly vehicles to all Mazda customers, not to just a limited segment of the market. The SKY Concept powertrains will play a big part in making this happen.”

The all-new next-generation SKY Concept powertrains are the product of Mazda’s ongoing Sustainable Zoom-Zoom strategy. These technologies are about a year away from launch, and are being developed using unique innovative Mazda engineering spirit. The SKY-G (gasoline-based) and SKY-D (diesel-based) concept engines will deliver the sporty driving experience that Mazda is known for, coupled to superior eco-friendliness. Fuel economy will improve 15 percent on the SKY-G and 20 percent on the SKY-D, with a simultaneous increase in torque.

Another key element of the SKY Concept is the all new SKY-Drive automatic transmission. SKY-Drive is a unique six-speed automatic transmission that offers driving feel comparable to a dual clutch transmission, while also improving fuel economy by five percent compared to Mazda’s current automatic six-speed transmission.

These new eco-friendly products – combined with weight reductions of 100 kg (220 lbs.) on next-generation vehicles, improved aerodynamic design to reduce drag, and the introduction of electric devices like the fuel-saving stop/start system called i-stop (currently available in Japan and Europe) – will help Mazda meet its stated goal of improving the average fuel economy of its global line-up by 30 percent, with a drop in CO2 emissions of 23 percent (compared to 2008) by the year 2015. And because the combination of these developments improves the basic performance of all products in the Mazda line-up, it will make eco-friendliness available to all Mazda customers, not just a select few who buy a niche product.

Celebrating its 40th Anniversary in the United States in 2010, Mazda North American Operations is headquartered in Irvine, Calif. and oversees the sales, marketing, parts and customer service support of Mazda vehicles in the United States, Canada and Mexico through nearly 900 dealers. Operations in Canada are managed by Mazda Canada, Inc., located in Ontario; and in Mexico by Mazda Motor de Mexico in Mexico City.

This Garia Edition Soleil de Minuit (The Midnight Sun) golf cart costs $17,499 stock. Options—a fridge, custom colors—can push the price to $52,000. And you’ll still be hanging out with old guys in bad clothes.

That’s right, a new poll shows that most Americans want more public transportation and would rather take the bus than drive. The survey, commissioned by transportation advocacy group Transportation for America, found that 82 percent of Americans want more funding for public rail and buses. And 73 percent said they’d rather ride a bus to work.

From Wired:

Support for public transportation was strongest in urban areas and in the Northeast, but a full 58 percent nationwide said that more money should be spent on bus, rail and other public transit. Even in sparsely populated rural areas that may never see a bus or a train pass through, half of respondents said they’d support increased transportation funding.

“In small towns and big cities alike, Americans are saying loudly and clearly that their lives would be better, and their nation stronger, if we had world-class public transportation and more options for walking and bicycling,” said Geoff Anderson, T4 co-chair and CEO of Smart Growth America.

Makes sense to me. Nothing sucks the joy out of driving like a commute—cars crawling over asphalt, stale air oozing out of the dash, news radio squawking ceaselessly from the speakers. I love driving. But commuting is not driving. Given the option, I’d take a bus or train over a car every time. On a bus or train you can play games, read a book, or browse car blogs. You can stare out the window and wistfully dream of better days. Plus, buses and trains consume far less energy per passenger than cars. For a daily commute, you can’t beat mass transit.

I say save cars for fun, like track days or weekend trips to the beach. And if we start thinking of cars as fun again, rather than transportation appliances for the daily grind, maybe auto manufacturers will make them fun again. What do you think?

Source: Wired

This is RideLust. We have, ahem, unhealthy obsessions with cars. But which cars? Most car junkies get raging . . . crushes when they see Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Vettes, Alfas, etc. What sets us apart? More pointedly, what sets me apart?  In this series I’ll show you the seriously sexy sheet metal that absolutely floors me. First up: The 1963-65 ATS 2500 GT. Hit the jump to find out why good things happen when Enzo Ferrari fires his engineers.

Enzo Ferrari could be a total asshole. In 1961 he had one of his greatest moments. A team of his engineers, led by Carlo Chiti and Giotto Bizzarrini, complained that Enzo’s wife was meddling with the business. So Enzo fired them. Chiti and Bizzarrini, understandably pissed, decided to form their own company to challenge Ferrari. ATS (Automobili Turismo e Sport) was born. They built the ATS 2500 GT, the first mid-engined Italian sports car.

The 2500 GT was designed by the brilliant Franco Scaglione, who would later pen the breathtaking Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale. It had an advanced space frame chassis and a Chiti-designed overhead-cam 2.5-liter V8 good for somewhere around 250 horsepower. It was fast in its day, and handled well.

Unfortunately,  funding dried up and ATS withered away after a few years. Only a handful of the road cars were ever built.

I think the 2500 GT is gorgeous. There’s just something about that stubby nose, that flowing greenhouse, those big trapezoidal air vents, those muscular haunches. In many regards it lacks the finesse of later mid-engined marvels like the Lamborghini Miura or (gasp) the Ferrari Dino. But you can see the rage in its raw, almost hasty lines. This car was a big “fuck you” to Enzo Ferrari. And I love it.