LUCRA LC470

In the past few years there has been a revival of lightweight sports cars, the classic british concept. Here we have another of these cars but instead of have a light 2.0 litre engine, it has an all American  7.0 litre GM LS7 V8 with an Aluminium fuel injected 427 ci, 630 bhp!  The LC470 is light, stiff, powerful, fast and perfectly balanced convertible sports racing car, very reminiscent of 1950′s race cars like the Jaguar D-Type, the Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR and the Maserati 300S. I really like the looks and idea of the LC470 and imagine I’m not alone.

More information on the car and specs can be found here.

Images: Lucra

from .moto-verso.co.uk

Bonzo's Big Banger: The 'Led Zeppelin McLaren'

Led Zeppelin’s John ‘Bonzo’ Bonham was a simple soul. Not for him the mysteries of the tarot pack or Aleister Crowley’s ‘Magick, Book 4’. When at home at his Worcestershire farm, a few pints of beer and his close family nearby were enough to keep the band’s powerhouse drummer more than happy. 

He also liked cars and bikes. So much so that, in the band’s 1976 film ‘The Song Remains the Same’, while Plant, Page and Jones choose mystical adventures for their ‘fantasy’ sequences, Bonham is seen content to be at home on his Harley, playing snooker and running an AA Fueler dragster to 260mph at Santa Pod.
The background music to this pastoral scene is Bonham’s ‘own’ Zeppelin number, ‘Moby Dick’.

In 1974 Bonham had been the prime mover in the band’s famous Zeppelin image appearing on British driver Kaye Griffiths’ McLaren M8E/D (chassis 80-08). The car had already been running in the usually undersupported Interserie series in 1971-72, when it was owned by the Belgian VDS team.
Griffiths bought it in November 1972 - minus the fearsome twin-turbocharged Chevrolet engine - and, for the following two years, entered it in several Interserie and British Formula Libre events. The car appeared in 'Led Zeppelin' livery for the May 1974 Martini International Trophy Supersports event at Silverstone, a round of the Interserie. An occasional chart-topper in Formula Libre, Griffiths spun out of contention in the big race at Silverstone.

The car’s dark blue with white stars and grey ‘airship’ paint scheme looked stunning – seemingly straight from the airbrushes of the Hipgnosis design agency. (It was, in fact, designed by Richard Evans Design & Art Direction, Hay-on-Wye, Herefordshire – not far from the drummer’s home.)
In recent years, the 'Led Zeppelin McLaren' has been seen in historic motor racing, in the hands of its current owners, the Moritz family in the USA.

Related Links McLarens in the Classic Driver Marketplace Moritz Motorsports' website: www.moritzmotorsports.com Richard Evans Design & Art Direction: www.rdevans.com

Text: Steve Wakefield (ClassicDriver)
Photos: Dirk de Jager - Strictly Copyright 

Yamaha R1 Street Tracker by Gregg’s Customs

Yamaha R1 Street Tracker is one of the most radical customs built by Gregg Des Jardins of Gregg’s Customs. This bike shows that what a talented men can actually attain while staying few weeks alone in a garage.  A 2009 factory spec Yamaha R1 was used as base to build this tracker. The bike was completely Strip down and retraced into a perfect street tracker.

Gregg installed one of his own custom swingarms, and added a new titanium subframe. The fuel tank was cut down and resized into a much better position. Chunky Street tracker tires and high end paint work in old Yamaha colors adds up to its beauty. The final result is a 160 horse power Street tracker that can make you sit up and take notice.

Yamaha XS400 Custom

Brett over at Hand Made Vintage Kustoms has a knack for building refreshingly unusual custom motorcycles, this bike is based on a 1980 Yamaha XS400 and it’s a hybrid of both the scrambler and tracker schools of motorcycle engineering.
The fuel tank started life on a Honda CB200 before being modified to fit the XS400, those handlebars were discovered on a Yamaha TW225 Tracker, the exhaust was hand made by Brett as was the seat pan and battery box under that rear cowling. The frame has been detabbed and the centre box containing the original battery mounts and air cleaner was tossed in favour of a carburettor based filter and a much cleaner subframe. The rear suspension is Yoshimura with a few added inches of ground clearance for off-asphalt excursions, this coupled with the bike’s light weight and high exhaust exit points give it some off-road potential.
The finished bike has been dubbed “Scrambled X” and is currently for sale out of Perth, Australia for $10,500 AUD (roughly the same in USD), custom motorcycles in Australia aren’t cheap so this represents some solid value if you’re based on the West Coast and looking to get dusty.
Visit the Hand Made Kustoms Facebook Page here.

 

 


 

 

 

Photography by Scott G. Trenorden
via SILODROME