CAFÉ RACER 76: 06/07/13

Bugatti Veyrons invade the Paul Ricard Circuit

The ultimate track day?

Bugatti has released photos from an exclusive track day event at the Paul Ricard Circuit.
Described as a unique experience for the company's "dearest friends," the track day allowed participants to drive the Grand Sport Vitesse under the watchful eye of Bugatti test driver Pierre-Henri Raphanel. Featuring a quad-turbocharged W16 engine that develops 1,200 HP (883 kW) and 1,500 Nm (1,106 lb-ft) of torque, the Grand Sport Vitesse rockets from 0-100 km/h in 2.6 seconds and has a top speed of 410 km/h (255 mph).
Bugatti track day at the Paul Ricard Circuit 05.6.2013

Bugatti track day at the Paul Ricard Circuit 05.6.2013

Bugatti also brought along three Grand Sports which have a slightly more modest output of 1001 HP (736 kW) and 1250 Nm (922 lb-ft) of torque.
Bugatti track day at the Paul Ricard Circuit 05.6.2013

Source: Bugatti

Kawasaki GT550 - Auto Fabrica

Less is more. It's a phrase that's tossed around with more reckless abandon than an SUV being driven by a texting teenager. Most builders think that stripping the indicators and mirrors off of their latest project bike gives them a ‘clean and minimal’ look. But we're here to tell you that as far as minimal goes, that's just the tip of the iceberg. Want to see the other 90% beneath the surface? Look no further than the inaugural build from London's Auto Fabrica - their ‘Type One’.

Here's Bujar - one half of Auto Fabrica's dynamic duo. “We started in January 2013. The company consists of myself and my brother Gaz. Both are professional designers; Gaz is involved in Product Design and I have graduated last year from Automotive Design. Our builds go through a lot of design process and changes and get developed throughout. We manufacture our own parts in house and all of our work is done in 2mm aluminum and hand beaten and formed in house by us. We also offer aqua blasting service in house and almost all of our parts are taking through this process to give that unpainted, original OEM finish.”

“It started life as a ugly duckling Kawasaki GT550. The reason we chose this bike is because we haven't seen a GT550 get any decent treatment in the past and the fact that it's a shaft driven 4 cylinder I thought was pretty cool - it had that concept bike feel. We stripped the bike completely, trimmed and cut the frame, cut tank mounting points below the top tubes so we could get the seat right up close to the tank.”

“The tank was modified to get a flush and smooth finish and also to raise it 25mm from the rear to get a much better stance. We used Hagon rear shocks which were 30mm above standard, we also dropped the forks an inch which gave us the desired stance, matching the original sketches and renders.”

The seat was made in house. The intention was to keep it as clean as possible and also have a solid unit - you can actually lift the bike from the rear seat. The rear light is integrated in the back to give it that cool 80's look. The foam and leather unit is a 3 piece which bolts onto the seat and can be removed easily. Again this was to get a very high quality look and feel to the bike.”

“A Land Rover colour and trim designer helped
with the paint selection and the leather used”

“The speedo is a refurbed Honda unit. I redesigned the face and also exposed the brass needle which picks up on a few other subtle brass touches on the bike. A Land Rover colour and trim designer helped with the paint selection and the leather used.

In terms of the overall look and feel of the bike we are very happy - considering this is our first build we learned a lot. As a general approach to customizing bikes, I think we focus a lot on subtle details that only become apparent once you spend a bit more time around them.”

from PIPEBURN

The ‘Lost’ Marilyn Monroe, in Pictures

A new book of photographs by John Vachon shows screen goddess Marilyn Monroe relaxed and enjoying the Canadian outdoors. The shots have only recently been discovered, being part of a 1,000+ portfolio of images taken in 1953 for the US magazine LOOK.

LOOK only selected three, and it was believed that the rest were lost forever. The troubled American star was in the Canadian Rockies filming ‘River of No Return’, and the idea was that she should spend some time with the Minnesota-born photographer, developing a relaxed personal relationship that genuinely showed her as ‘the girl next door’.

The 128-page book, published by Dover Publications, shows 100 of these b/w images, all carefully re-touched and re-toned.

Related Links

Dover Publications' website: www.doverpublications.com

Text: J. Philip Rathgen (Classic Driver)
Photos: The estate of John Vachon / Dover Publications

Spa Classic 2013

The Spa Classic 2013 was held 24-26 May at the famed 4.352 mile, 20-turn Spa-Francorchamps track in Belgium. A crowd of more than 13,000 enthusiasts witnessed the 3rd running of the Spa Classic with its strong grids and competitive vintage racing action.

With the Ardennes region’s predictably unpredictable weather, the three racing days were plagued by chilly and fickle weather that made Eau Rouge and the the rest of Spa that much more challenging. In addition to nine classic car grids, this year the greatest hours of Touring were revived with two grids dedicated to endurance racing. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Porsche 911, a complete grid of this model was present and on Sunday, a parade of over 50 cars was organised on the track.

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Photographer Julien Mahiels documented the 2013 Spa Classic, offering the following picture gallery that shows the varied field of entrants and the Spa racing circuit. We split up the 350 pictures that Julien captured into two galleries. The first gallery starting below features our favorite 100 images, all displayed in the full-width view of our website. The second gallery, complete with race report and results, can be found on the last page of the article and gives a comprehensive view of all the photographs. To see more from Julien, visit julienmahiels.net.