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    vendredi 30 novembre 2012

    Yamaha Moto Cage-Six Concept


    moto cage 6  Yamaha Moto Cage Six Concept
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    moto cage 6 06  Yamaha Moto Cage Six Concept
    Someone requested some more photos of this bike a while back, so here you go. Cage-Six stunt bike concept Built from the Yamaha XJ6.

    Tapping into the Undercurrent: BMW i3 Concept Coupé


    This could well be the future of city transport. Launched at BMW’s LA Show preview party in a sunny shade of ‘Solar Orange’, the i3 Concept Coupé shows that ‘style’ and ‘speed’ can live with ‘economy’ and ‘environmentalism’.



    The message Classic Driver received at the by-invitation-only event was that in 2013 not only would the Bavarian company have a production-ready electric car, it would actually be able to offer that car to the public at dealerships. This latest concept is a step towards that car, although it’s likely another will be shown next year. Compared with the i3 hatchback, the Coupé has only three doors, a more steeply raked roof and more rounded windows.
    The small car was revealed by the company’s design chief Adrian van Hooydonk, at a typical luxury LA location of a white villa set high in the hills above the city.


    Despite its small size (3964mm long, 1768mm wide and 1555mm high) the three-door has good interior space, with individual seats for rear passengers and a ‘lounge’ atmosphere.
    As a technological ground-breaker, the i3 is presented as the world’s first ‘fully networked electric vehicle’. That is to say that BMW’s ConnectedDrive services are fully configured to download real-time traffic information via a smartphone, ensuring the most economical route planning and vehicle dynamics settings.


    ‘Under the bonnet’ (it’s actually located on the rear axle) lies a BMW Group electric motor generating 170bhp and 184lb ft torque. The car uses Lithium ion batteries which are stored inside the floor structure of the car – that same set-up as the 5-door. BMW quotes a range of around 100 miles when the car is at its most efficient Eco Pro+ setting.


    No performance figures have been released, but one can assume that BMW will live up to its ‘ultimate driving machine’ image and make the car as perky as it is parsimonious.

    Text: Classic Driver
    Photos: BMW

    TECHNICS SPORTSTER XL883N


    Harley XL883N by Roland Sands for Technics
     This is one of those redeeming examples, an alliance between Roland Sands Design and Technics, the DJ and audio technology brand.
    Harley XL883N by Roland Sands for Technics
    Sands’ brief was to evoke the style of Technics’ ubiquitous SL-1200 decks, familiar to everyone in the business of spinning records. He chose a 2010-model XL883 Iron Sportster as his starting point: part of Harley-Davidson’s ‘Dark Custom’ range, it’s designed to evoke the dirt tracks and drag strips of the 1950s. Sands, however, has pushed the XL883N in an entirely new direction.
    Harley XL883N by Roland Sands for Technics
    The tank has been heavily-modified and is matched to a completely new seat and tail unit. The stocky, upright demeanor of the standard Sportster is gone—it’s now low and sleek, with 39mm clip-on bars to accentuate the look.
    Harley XL883N by Roland Sands for Technics
    Other RSD parts are used to great effect. That includes the inlet and exhaust, the ignition and rockerbox covers, and the rearsets. The brake calipers are from Performance Machine, hooked up to RSD 11.5” discs, and much of the cabling is from the Barnett Stealth Series.
    Harley XL883N by Roland Sands for Technics
    And those wheels? They’re custom fabricated and 19” x 2.5” in size, both front and back. “The true link between the bike and the turntables came alive the first time we rotated the wheels,” says Sands. “It was very cool to see the dots on the wheels shift direction as the wheels spun.”
    The mix of silver and black paint—with satin and gloss finishes—is also inspired by Technics’ products. And it works beautifully. Subtle and stylish, the Technics Sportster should be studied carefully by every marketing manager planning to commission a custom bike build.
    Harley XL883N by Roland Sands for Technics


    Fair Hostesses: Where would motor shows be without them?


    It's a well-known fact that the simplest route to a man's wallet is through his groin, which is why the most important people in the automotive world are not engineers, designers, road testers or salesmen - but car show hostesses.



    I've struggled to determine exactly when it was discovered that draping attractive women on and around motor cars helped to enhance the latter's appeal. The earliest illustrated record in my possession is in the form of an advertisement for a 1948 Chrysler, which promotes the availability of custom interior finishes by depicting a shapely woman in a tweed two-piece advancing towards the open door of a rag-top New Yorker sporting upholstery which matches her clothes.
    There's also a rather alluring black and white shot of a demure, tightly permed young woman in my copy of the 1950 British Motor Car guide. She's standing beside a Standard estate, tentatively reaching out to stroke the neck of a horse. But it's hardly a sexy image is it?



    Presumably it was during the Swinging 60s that the use of nubile, mini-skirted young things to distract the mainly male attendees of car shows became de rigueur. I know that by the following decade the combination of cars and crumpet was a recognised recipe for success, because I remember being acutely embarrassed at the 1975 Earls Court show when a dark-haired beauty in a jaunty cap, flared trousers and a chiffon scarf that hung between loosely nylon-clad breasts beckoned the 11-year-old me onto the Lotus stand
    According to one of our more scholarly Classic Driver colleagues, however, it was the great British sports car company TVR that took the art of the show hostess to its zenith (while simultaneously saving on the expense of costumes) simply by fielding girls Helen Jones and Sue Shaw who were completely naked at the 1971 London Motor Show.

    But that's about as brash as a set of straight-through pipes on a Blackpool V8. Surely a bit of tight-topped teasing is more stimulating to the imagination?
    Perhaps these images of hostesses through the decades will help you to decide your preference. A little innocent 1960s sauce? Or a large portion of 21st Century silicone? The choice wasn't, isn't, and probably never will be, yours… even if you buy the car. 
    Text: Simon de Burton from classicdriver.com
    Photos: Getty Images

    Grossglockner Grand Prix 2012


    from :http://www.sportscardigest.com 
    The Grossglockner Grand Prix 2012 was held 20 to 22 September on the unique Grossglockner High Alpine Road in Austria. The Grossglockner mountain race was one of the most prestigious motor sports events of the 1930s. This year it was revived and held as a classic car event.
    The 2012 Grossglockner Grand Prix was a homage to the legendary “Mountain Grand Prix” races held there in the 1930s. With 92 bends, 14 hairpins, almost 15 kilometres and an altitude difference of almost 1300 metres, the event presented a challenge for man and machine now as they did then. As in the original race, the route was from Ferleiten to Fuscher Torl in Austria.
    Mercedes-Benz, who took part in the race for the first time in 1938, shipped over several cars for the revival, including a SSK, a model that was successful in mountain races from 1928 to 1935, and with a W 125 Silver Arrow Grand Prix car from the 1930s. W 125 racing cars took part in the original events in 1938 and 1939, and in 1939 Hermann Lang drove one to victory.
    In the 2012 Grossglockner Grand Prix the driver’s paddock was established at the Ferleiten toll station in line with historical precedent. The field was limited to 50 pre-war cars, 5 Veritas cars and 20 racing cars from the 1950s. The post-war cars participated as an homage to other famous mountain races.
    After a practice run, the drivers set their own time target in a “timed run” that had to be confirmed twice. They therefore covered the route four times. The road was understandably closed to normal traffic for the duration of the event.
    After the mountain prize, competed for on the Thursday and Friday (20 and 21 September), there was also the option of booking an additional Rally Day for Saturday 22 September 2012. The rally route, known as the “Alpine Challenge” covered 160 kilometres of mountains and valleys in the national park of Hohe Tauern, and also included the Grossglockner High Alpine Road. Speed was never the primary consideration in this event, but rather driving pleasure and an appreciation of the scenery.
    The spectacular views from these photos say it all. Seeing these breathtaking cars blitzing through an equally breathtaking location was destined to be nothing short of an unforgettable experience. Since many important old Mercedes like these don’t get used very much, it’s a blessing to get to see them in action, especially on their old stomping grounds.
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    1928 Mercedes SSK at the 2012 Grossglockner Grand Prix
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    Mercedes-Benz Classic at the Grossglockner Grand Prix 2012. 1928 Mercedes-Benz SSK.
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    Mercedes-Benz Classic at the 2012 Grossglockner Grand Prix. Jochen Mass in the 1937 Mercedes-Benz W125.
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    1928 Mercedes-Benz Type SSK.
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    1928 Mercedes-Benz Type SSK on the Edelweiss at sunrise.
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    1937 Mercedes-Benz W 125
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    1928 Mercedes-Benz Type SSK driving down to the valley.
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    Jochen Mass in the 1937 Mercedes-Benz W 125

    Grossglockner Mountain Grand Prix History

    The first Grossglockner mountain race took place in 1935. The route was covered only once and immediately rated, the winner being Mario Tadini in an Alfa Romeo. The next two events were held there in 1938 and 1939, and in the “Mountain Grand Prix” the drivers were required to absolve two runs of the pass road. The event was seen as Europe’s longest and most difficult mountain race. The initial plan was to include the complete, almost 38-kilometre long stretch of the high alpine road from Fusch to Franz-Josefs-Höhe, including two tunnels. However, the route was eventually shortened to around 15 kilometres.
    Mercedes-Benz first took part in 1938, with Hermann Lang and Manfred von Brauchitsch driving W 125 cars. In adverse weather with fog and rain they achieved 2nd and 3rd place behind Hans Stuck driving an Auto Union. The following year, Hermann Lang emerged the winner of the Grossglockner race, ahead of Hans Stuck and Hermann Paul Müller in Auto Union cars. This brought him the title of “Mountain Champion” six weeks after having already won the Vienna mountain race. Manfred von Brauchitsch had bad luck owing to the changeable weather: on his very first run he encountered a bank of fog in his Silver Arrow and came fourth. In the Grossglockner race the W 125 cars entered by the Mercedes-Benz racing team competed in their mountain racing versions for the first time, with a modified cooling system and lower final drive ratio.
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    Training for the Grossglockner mountain race on 6 August 1939. The eventual victor, Hermann Lang (starting number 128) with a Mercedes-Benz W 125 mountain racing car with a 5.6-litre engine, attempting to improve traction with twin tyres on the rear axle. Directly behind the vehicle stands a W 154 that was only ever used in training, next to which is another W 125 with the starting number 127 which was driven to fourth place in the race by Manfred von Brauchitsch.
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    Training for the Grossglockner Mountain Race on 28 August 1938. Hermann Lang in a Mercedes-Benz W 125 with additional slide carburetor, starting number 83. In the race the starting number 83 was worn by the winning Auto Union driven by Hans Stuck. Hermann Lang, with the starting number 82, finished second.
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    Grossglockner Mountain Race, 28 August 1938. Manfred von Brautisch in a Mercedes-Benz W 125, starting number 81. He came in third.
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    Training for the Grossglockner Mountain Race on 6 August, 1939. Manfred von Brautisch in a Mercedes-Benz W 125 mountain racing car with a 5.6-litre engine, starting number 127, attempting to improve traction with twin tyres on the rear axle. He came fourth in the race.
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    Grossglockner Mountain Race, 6 August 1939, in difficult weather conditions. Manfred von Brautisch in a Mercedes-Benz W 125 mountain racing car with a 5.6-litre engine, starting number 127. He finished fourth.
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    Grossglockner Mountain Race, 6 August 1939. The eventual victor, Hermann Lang (starting number 128), with a Mercedes-Benz mountain racing car with a 5.6-litre engine.
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    Grossglockner Mountain Race, 6 August 1939. The eventual victor, Hermann Lang (starting number 128), with a Mercedes-Benz W 125 mountain racing car.
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    Grossglockner Mountain Race, 6 August 1939. The eventual victor, Hermann Lang (starting number 128), with a Mercedes-Benz W125 mountain racing car.
    [Source: Daimler AG]