Horex VR6 2013

Foto: Horex
from Racing Café

1996 Ferrari F50 GT

Take the words ‘Ferrari’, ‘fast’ and ‘rare’ and - in today’s collecting climate at any rate - you have a recipe for an extremely valuable motor car. The F50 GT, of which only three were built, is one.

As is so often the case, it was motor racing’s homologation process that gave birth to the F50 GT - and was also the reason for the project’s cancellation. This was despite some blistering testing times for the 750bhp machine set by factory test driver, Nicola Larini.
Ferrari, with its F40 GTE, had provided privateers with a strong and powerful car for the BPR Global GT Endurance Series, the precursor to the FIA GT Championship. Against the McLaren F1, though, it lacked outright pace. And when Mercedes-Benz returned with the very first CLK-based mid-engined racing cars it was pushed yet further down the grid.


So the decision was taken to use the company’s then-current limited-series supercar, the F50, as a homologated basis on which to create a successor to the F40 GTE. Given that the car's suspension and engine points all bolted directly to its stiff chassis tub, the F50 was well on the way to being a perfect racing car. It was, in any case, intended to be a two-seat version of Maranello’s contemporary Formula 1 single-seaters, a vehicle meant to give owners the closest possible experience to driving an actual GP car.
Taking a standard F50, Ferrari, using its long-time customer racing partners Michelotto, Dallara and others, increased the 4698cc V12’s power by at least 200bhp, installed a six-speed sequential gearbox with carbonfibre clutch-plates, and reduced the overall weight by 200kg. Suspension was now fully adjustable.

Visually, the F50 GT ran in coupé form only, with a lower stance, Speedline light-alloy wheels, a rear diffuser and massive rear wing – the model’s defining feature.
In testing, it proved incredibly quick at Fiorano, comfortably beating times already set by a full-race prototype 333 SP.
Sadly, with six chassis built and one car completed, the project was cancelled. The reason? Homologation again. With a slight change in the rules, Porsche, McLaren and Mercedes were able to build impossibly expensive and impractical ‘evolution’ versions of their road-based racing cars. Ferrari would have been in trouble before the F50 GT had even turned a wheel.
Of the six chassis, only three were built as finished cars, the rest scrapped. The three completed ones were sold to Ferrari’s best clients on the strict condition that they were never raced. You can see one here.
We are indebted to Classic Driver dealer David M. Gizzi, of Euro-Classics, for sharing the information and photographs of one of these very special, super-rare Ferraris. Faster than an Enzo or McLaren F1 road car, harder to find than any F40, 288 GTO or F50 road car, the F50 GT remains one of Ferrari’s best-kept secrets.
Euro-Classics is able to offer for sale one of these three F50 GTs. For further details, call David M. Gizzi on +1 831 626 6050 or email salesinfo@euro-classics.com.
Text: Steve Wakefield (classic driver.com)
Photos: Euro-Classics

Michael Schumacher, Keith Flint, John McGuinness, Randy Mamola, & Pol Espargaró Villá score the ultimate track day on bikes thanks to Monster Energy

Monster Energy put together retired F1 driver Michael Schumacher, Prodigy’s frontmanKeith Flint (and avid rider and sometimes racer), TT legend John McGuinness, and retired GP rider Randy Mamola, and Moto2 rider Pol Espargaró at the Paul Ricard circuit, filming a promotional video for the energy drink company, that hopefully we’ll see very soon.

This odd quintet lapped the French circuit, with the F1 champion on a Ducati Panigale, Espargarò on his Pons Kalex machine, McGuinness on his Honda, Mamola on a Yamaha Superbike and Flint on a Suzuki.

Schumacher took up bike racing as a hobby and even took part in the KTM Super Duke Trophy in Italy, the 8 hour endurance race at Oschersleben, and also rode in 3 IDM Superbike races before crashing at Cartegana during a test which left him with a neck injury said, “Coming here today I felt so proud to be able to turn my hand at riding a bike with guys I really admire. I can’t begin to explain how much fun it was to ride the track with the likes of John, Randy, Keith and watching Pol Espargaro’s huge talent.”

While 19-time TT winner McGuinness said, “Riding with Michael was so good. What he’s achieved on four wheels makes him the Godfather of motorsport. I wasn’t expecting him to be anything less, but he’s fast! You can see his enthusiasm for motorcycles and it was a massive pleasure to spend the day with him.”

“Today I was truly able to use the word ‘legend’ to describe the company I was keeping; both from four and two wheels. As I pulled out of the pit lane I mentally pinched myself as I followed out Randy Mamola, Michael Schumacher and a true gladiator in John McGuinness. That Espargaro kid is a bit of a handful too isn’t he?” said Flint about his illustrious track mates.

Photo Source | monsterenergy.facebook.com

Studio Motor's Honda CB750

By guest writer Ian Lee.

I went for my first ride in a tuk tuk this week. Do you think I was in Singapore? Nope. Laos? Not even close. Thailand? No siree… I was actually in a workshop on the outskirts of Sydney. I got the idea of it though, garishly decorated and loud, a simple means to get around. Hailing from the same part of the world, comes a bike that is the healthy opposite to the idea of a tuk tuk. Well thought out aesthetics, the note of 736cc of Honda quad cylinder power, and a race fairing beat out of galvanised plate come together to show (once again) the talents of Donny Ariyanto at Studio Motor. If only as much thought went into tuk tuk design as went into this. 

After spotting a replica of ‘Bugsy’ Mann’s famous CB750 racebike at the mall, an inspired Nugroho O.S commissioned Studio Motors to build him a bike modelled on the 1970 Daytona 200 winner. Starting with a bike that looked sad, but with an almost original condition engine, Donny and his team got to work. In true Studio Motor style, 1.2mm thick galvanised plate was used to form the fairing, gas tank, fender and tail. And because racebikes, even replica ones, aren’t complete without rearsets, a pair was sourced from Nui projects. 

The factory front end has been ditched, in it’s place a Suzuki Bandit 400 pair of forks. The Bandit’s Nissin master cylinder and caliper have been retained to add to the stopping power of the front end, to bring it more up to date. 19 inch wheels are fitted front and rear, with Donny convincing Nugroho to keep the Comstar rims, to keep the bike looking as period correct as possible.

The bike is rather visually pleasing, Komet Studio applying a Spies Hecker based candy red with varnish. The wetlook effect finish is exactly what Donny was aiming for with the paint. The powertrain got a freshen up too, the engine block covered with a mix of powdercoating and polishing offsetting each other. The exhaust is entirely custom, put together by Asky Custom Muffler to bring out the beautiful note of the Honda 4. 

Donny and Studio Motor have really come into their element, using all their resources, on top of their own abilities to produce this machine. The paint, the lines, the skinny tires all work together to produce a replica of a replica – which is something amazing in itself. And in a part of the world that produces something as aesthetically and aurally displeasing as the tuk tuk (they do put a smile on your face though), it’s good to know there are guys like Donny around to show us some true automotive beauty.  

from pipeburn