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    dimanche 26 juillet 2015

    Aston DB10, Jaguar C-X75 and Bigfoot Defender star in new Bond film trailer


    The long-awaited trailer for forthcoming James Bond epic Spectre has been released – with fleeting glimpses of Bond’s limited-production Aston Martin DB10, and the Jaguar C-X75 and Land Rover Defender Bigfoots driven by his adversaries…

    Spectre will be released in UK cinemas on 26 October, with a U.S. debut following on 6 November. Before then, Classic Driver will be bringing you an exclusive driving report of Bond’s new car, so stay tuned…

    Enduro Tour - Albania Off-Road

    An Amazing Weekend across the Albanian Mountains. The best enduro trails around Tirana. 
    Next departure Sep-10th-2015 http://www.macedoniaadventures.com/in...



    Taste of Dakar - The Ride of My Life

    "Taste of Dakar" is the third installment of “The Ride Of My Life” series and was chosen as one of the "Best of the Web" and featured on the nationally syndicated TV show, Right This Minute. This 50-minute video explores the world of adventure motorcycle riding featuring Jimmy Lewis’s off-road riding school and the Altrider “Taste of Dakar 2014”. 




    FIA WEC 6 Heures du Nurburgring 2015 ; Vingt voitures en tests sur le « Ring » / 20 cars for Nürburgring test


    A un mois de la reprise du championnat FIA WEC, 20 voitures sont attendues sur le circuit du Nürburgring (Allemagne) lundi et mardi prochains pour une séance d’essais organisée par Toyota Racing.
    L’équipe Championne du monde d’Endurance en titre étant basée à Cologne, elle jouera quasiment à domicile pour la 4e manche du championnat FIA WEC (30 août), les 6 Heures du Nürburgring. Pour préparer ce rendez-vous, Toyota Racing a organisé deux jours de roulage sur le circuit de l’Eifel les 27 et 28 juillet. La seconde journée sera ouverte au public.
    Outre une Toyota TS040 Hybrid confiée à Anthony Davidson et Sébastien Buemi, Porsche Team sera présent avec une 919 Hybrid pour Timo Bernhard, Romain Dumas, Brendon Hartley et Marc Lieb. Audi Sport Team Joest a prévu de faire rouler une R18 e-tron quattro pour André Lotterer, Benoît Tréluyer, Lucas di Grassi et Loïc Duval.
    Pas de Nissan Motorsports ni de Rebellion Racing, mais le Team ByKolles devrait en être avec une CLM P1/01. Six prototypes LM P2 sont également attendus : Strakka Racing étrennera sa Gibson-Nissan. G-Drive Racing, KCMG, Team Sard-Morand et Extreme Speed Motorsports seront de la partie.
    Porsche Team Manthey, AF Corse et Aston Martin Racing participeront à ces essais en catégorie LM GTE Pro, alors que 5 véhicules sont attendus en LM GTE Am, dont la Porsche de Patrick Dempsey.
    33 voitures figurent sur la listes des engagés des 6 Heures du Nürburgring après le retrait du prototype LM P2 N°35 OAK Racing. Le départ sera donné dimanche 30 août à 13h00.
    With a month to go before FIA WEC action resumes at the Nürburgring at the end of August, 20 cars are expected to attend the test organised by Toyota Racing at the German circuit next Monday and Tuesday.
    The FIA World Endurance Championship’s reigning champion is based in Cologne, so the 6 Hours of the Nürburgring on August 30 will practically be home soil for Toyota Racing which has booked the track for two days of testing on July 27-28. Tuesday’s run will be open to the public.
    In addition to a single Toyota TS040 Hybrid in the hands of Anthony Davidson and Sébastien Buemi, Porsche Team will also be present with a 919 Hybrid for Timo Bernhard, Brendon Hartley, Romain Dumas and Marc Lieb, while Audi Sport Team Joest has planned to take an R18 e-tron quattro for André Lotterer, Benoît Tréluyer, Lucas di Grassi and Loïc Duval.
    Neither Nissan Motorsports nor Rebellion Racing will be at the ‘Green Hell’, but Team ByKolles is expected to bring a CLM P1/01.
    Six LM P2 teams are also listed: Strakka Racing (which will have its new Gibson-Nissan prototype, G-Drive Racing, KCMG, Team Sard-Morand and Extreme Speed Motorsports.
    Porsche Team Manthey, AF Corse and Aston Martin Racing will all put their respective LM GTE Pro challengers through their paces, and five LM GTE Am teams – including Patrick Dempsey’s Porsche – will attend.
    The entry list for the 6 Hours of the Nürburgring features 33 cars following the withdrawal of OAK Racing’s N°35 LM P2 prototype. The race will start at 1pm on Sunday, August 30.

    Rockefeller - The rise of an American dynasty


    As a young man, John D. Rockefeller, born 1839, decided on two goals: to live to be 100, and to earn $100,000. The first, he didn’t quite make – he was a mere 97 when he died. But as for the second… well, on his death in 1937, John D. had amassed the equivalent of $336 billion in today’s money...

    A name synonymous with vast wealth 

    Bentleys have never been cheap to run – but when you’re called John D. Rockefeller, the cost of fuel is unlikely to cause a problem. It was actually John D. Junior who originally owned the 1958 S1 Drophead featured elsewhere in this issue, but it was his father, John D. Senior, who largely established the family fortunes that still make the name ‘Rockefeller’ synonymous with vast wealth almost 80 years after his death.

    Black gold

    John D. Senior was born in 1839 to Bill Rockefeller – appropriately enough in a town called Richford, New York. Bill was essentially a ne’er do well who lived a vagabond existence, abandoning his wife, Eliza, and John’s five siblings for extended periods, in order to roam the country conning people out of money, often in the role of quack doctor.
    Despite his father’s long absences, John D. enjoyed a relatively steady upbringing and proved a studious child with an interest in numbers and a degree of ambition that led him to establish two particular goals: to live to 100, and to earn $100,000. Little could he have known that when he co-founded the Standard Oil Company of Cleveland, Ohio, in 1868 along with his younger brother William, he was setting himself on the road to becoming the wealthiest man in history, bar none. As demand for the ‘black gold’ soared, so did the Rockefeller wealth – and, by the time he died in 1937, John D. had long surpassed that $100,000 target and amassed the equivalent of a staggering $336 billion in today’s money.
    To put that into perspective, Bill Gates is currently the world’s richest man – but his worth amounts to a mere $79 billion.

    Not a bad life, really...

    John D. Senior’s life was not, however, all work and no play. He retired in his late 50s and spent the final 40 years of his life enjoying the trappings of success, notably through a string of remarkable properties such as Kykuit, the six-storey home he built on the vast Westchester County estate; the 100-room holiday home called The Eyrie on Maine’s Mount Desert Island; and a large mansion on West 54th Street, which was razed soon after his death. (The site is now occupied by the Museum of Modern Art which, incidentally, was co-founded by his granddaughter, Abby Rockefeller.)
    But the tycoon’s true legacy is best reflected in his remarkable philanthropy that saw him give away more than $1 billion to worthy causes, ranging from medical research to education (he formed, for example, the University of Chicago and tirelessly supported all eight colleges of the Ivy League).
    One can only wonder whether or not he regarded his ‘premature’ death as a failure. He checked out at 97, three years earlier than he had hoped – but it wasn’t really a bad life, was it?

    Family business

    And neither was the legacy he left behind, since the extended Rockefeller family (that runs to around 200 members) is now said to be worth around $10 billion. And many have made their mark on the world, too.
    John D. Junior, the original owner of the aforementioned Bentley S1, built a rather well-known New York landmark called the Rockefeller Center comprising 19 commercial skyscrapers in Manhattan. Then there is David Rockefeller who, on his own merits (with perhaps a little leg-up from the family connections), became the CEO of Chase National Bank and built himself a fortune said to be in the realm of $3 billion.

    'Rockefeller' takes some beating

    Meanwhile, David’s brother, the late Nelson Rockefeller, served as America’s Vice President during the tenure of Gerald Ford, while another brother, Winthrop, became the Governor of Arkansas. His son, Withrop Paul, served as the state’s Lieutenant Governor until his death as the result of a blood disorder in 2006, aged 57.
    Nowadays the family is no longer in even the ‘top 20’ on the respected Forbes list of wealthiest Americans – yet when it comes to having a name that carries serious currency, ‘Rockefeller’ still takes some beating.
     
    Photos: Getty Images / Rex Features / Bonhams / Mick Hales - Historic Hudson Valley / The Rockefeller Archive Center

    Fleetliner: Retro Modern Hot Rodding


    In my coverage of last weekend’s Canepa Cars & Coffee event I mentioned a couple of the most high profile vehicles at the meet. One was a rare and iconic McLaren F1 and the other was a brand new LaFerrari still wearing dealer tags. While both of these cars were getting a lot of attention, there were a couple of machines of the more homebuilt variety which were drawing equally big crowds.
    Fleetliner-08
    This one comes not from a prestigious automaker in Europe, but a workshop in Pennsylvania called Posies Hot Rods & Customs. And although this one-off custom creation was built nearly a decade ago, it’s every bit as impressive today.
    Fleetliner-06
    If you’re wondering what exactly you are looking at here, join the club. Although everyone was drawn to this custom machine, most asked the same question: ‘what is it?’
    Fleetliner-02
    Known as the Fleetliner, this car started out as a 1947 Chevrolet sedan, but it’s hard to tell by looking at it. The body has been narrowed by 12 inches and the front end from the firewall forward bears zero resemblance to a stock ’47 Chevy.
    Fleetliner-03
    Beneath the heavily altered body sits a completely custom tubular chassis, and the car’s fenders have been removed in favor of an exposed 19-inch front and 20-inch rear wheel setup with tall Excelsior tires.
    Fleetliner-07
    The idea of doing things differently continues to the engine bay, which is home not to a V8 but a 308 cubic inch Roush-tuned Ford inline six with a Holley fuel injection system.
    Fleetliner-10
    There’s also a Powerdyne supercharger, which helps make the six-banger produce somewhere in the neighborhood of 400 horsepower. The trans is a built C4 automatic.
    Fleetliner-04
    The inside is more sportscar than it is ’47 Chevy – there’s a custom instrument panel and center console, custom upholstered bucket seats and a 10-point rollcage.
    Fleetliner-01
    Whether you want to call it a custom, a hot rod, or a vintage-themed race car, the Fleetliner is a perfect exercise in retro styling, modern engineering and outside the box thinking.
    Who needs exotic supercars when you’ve got something like this?
    Mike Garrett

    Even Ferraris get the blues...


    'Rosso Corsa' might be the most popular colour for a Ferrari - but if you really want to stand out from the Maranello crowd, may we suggest you go for something a little different...

    From Roman war paint to national racing colour

    “In ancient Rome,” the Internet tells us, “red symbolised blood and courage; Roman soldiers wore red tunics, and generals wore a scarlet cloak, and had their bodies painted completely in red during ceremonial triumphs.” So, it might not come as a complete surprise that post-Roman sportscar brands such as Alfa RomeoMaseratiLanciaFerrari and Abarth also chose red to be their racing colour. But while other marques cultivated their colourful diversity beyond the racetracks, Ferrari turned the ‘Rosso Corsa’warpaint into the signature colour of its street cars, too. In the 1950s and 1960s, a bright red Ferrari might have been a true eyecatcher. But today, we must admit to growing a little tired of seeing Italy’s finest in simply red.

    'Nocciola', anyone?

    Luckily, there are more than 600 Ferraris for sale in the Classic Driver Market and, while almost 300 of them are painted red, you can find some pretty exciting substitutes, should you be brave enough. So how about a Ferrari Testarossa in the very rare original colour combination of ‘Blue Chiaro Metallic’ over Cream, a ‘Nocciola’-coloured 330 GTS, a Vignale-built 330 Shooting Brake in ‘Verde Metalizzatto’ with a golden roof, or one of only seven Daytonas built in ‘Verde Medio’? Battle honours invariably go to the bravest, after all...

    Colourful Ferraris in the Classic Driver Market