‘83 BMW R80 – The GasBox

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There are clean builds. And then there are ‘clean’ builds. Motorcycles so neat, you would imagine the mechanic scrubbing up before working on it. The latest build from Jesse Bassett and The Gasbox is one such build. A BMW special the likes of which the world has never seen, it is born of German build quality paired with American styling cues. These two opposite ideals work together to create a machine that has been built with surgical precision, and comes out looking like something the BMW factory itself would have created, if it had been founded in Ohio instead of Munich that is.

Jesse Bassett is no stranger to the show scene. Looking a few years back, a testament to his skills was his Indian Scout build taking second place to Shinya Kimura in The Quail Motorcycle Gathering. Like Shinya Kimura, Jesse has produced his own style. Although it’s hard to pin a category to place his bikes in, except as customs, Jesse’s bikes are still appealing to the eye and to the heart.

Taking the engine from a 1983 BMW R80, Jesse fabricated a hardtail frame of proportions to suit the boxer engine. The ability to manufacture componentry for the bike inhouse at The Gasbox was a benefit in the build, allowing to Jesse to produce the parts as he saw them in his head. To give that low slung look, the frame neck was manufactured to take a Harley Springer front end. The extra rake, along with the design of the rear frame, allows for the bike to have that low slung look. This is even while riding on fat Firestone 18 inch tyres.

To ensure the smooth flow of the lines of the bike, he took it upon himself to produce some of the major componentry himself. The handlebars, sitting low on the Springer fork, are mounted with a mix of Panhead and Gasbox handcontrols. The fuel tank follows the lines of the frame nicely, with the sides scalloped to give that bobber style riding position. The seat pan is an Aluminium Gasbox special, trimmed by Union Speed & Style, the whole setup sprung from the centre upright to allow some reprieve for the rider’s kidneys.

The engine utilised on the build is standard BMW R80, matched to a five speed from a later BMW R100R. A sweet touch is the Weber side draught carburetor used in the build, it’s angular appearance fitting in with the slab sided aesthetic of the engine. Custom manifolds make up the intake and exhaust systems for the engine, with Jesse ensuring the lines of the bike were kept neat by kicking up the silencers at the rear to follow the frame up towards the rear hub.

The quality in this build shows in the fitment of the wiring harness, as you can’t see in the photos. A custom frame allowed for a custom harness, hidden way where it won’t take away from the viewing pleasure of the machine. At the front end sits a GasBox Foglamp, at the rear a Greeves tail light unit. The more you look, the more you can see how much effort Jesse put into the bike, like the production of the footpegs and foot controls just for this build.

Taking a thirty year old engine, and cloaking it in a frame of his own devising, Jesse and The Gasbox have produced one of the cleanest bikes out on the show scene. Don’t be mistaken though, this bike is ridden, and ridden hard. As Jesse himself says: The bike sounds like an F1 racecar, it goes and handles terrific. In fact, on my first ride I actually scared myself with how fast it was’. With no real style category to place it in, the bike’s look is timeless. It would just as much be at home in 1954 as it does today, it is a bike for the ages.

[Thanks to Iron & Air magazine for the find. For $10 off a subscription, simply type 'PIPEBURN' in the promo code at the checkout of their store.]

from PIPEBURN

BMW R NINET CUSTOM BY UCC

After building bikes for nigh on 20 years, Unique Custom Cycles has a reputation most builders would die for. The Swedish company is known for its traditional chopper and drag racing builds, but its latest project—nicknamed The Stockholm Syndrome—is very different.

UCC’s Ronna Norén and Gordon Roth like a challenge, and a few weeks ago BMW Motorrad dropped one right into their laps. They were given just five weeks to revamp a BMW R nineT, to enter into the famous Norrtälje Custom Bike Show.

For 35 days, Norén and Roth barely slept. But as you can see, the result was worth it. ‘Stockholm Syndrome’ is a clean and rakish roadster, the naked cousin of Roland Sands’ faired Concept 90 bike. And despite the tight timeframe, this R nineT is rammed with high-end Swedish engineering.

The forks and triple trees are new, built in collaboration with Tolle Engineering. The brake system was designed with the help of ISR, and features radial 6-piston calipers grabbing 320 mm fully-floating disks. The ABS sensors are retained, and on the custom handlebars is an adjustable ISR master cylinder. Öhlins got into the act as well, providing a custom shock and steering damper that we’ll probably see in production soon.

The bike is also a showcase for UCC’s own fabrication skills. The frame has been cut and raked a few degrees, and fitted with inserts from Perka Nyström of Plebs Choppers—the legendary Swedish motorcycle club that includes BMW Motorrad head designer Ola Stenegärd amongst its members.

The super-sano tank is a cut and modified R nineT original, matched to a custom seat from Stitch Sweden and a hand-made rear subframe. The exhaust system is newly fabricated from stainless steel, hooked up to a Burns muffler, and even the oil cooler is a UCC custom part.

Despite the clean, classic looks and extensive modifications, all the R nineT electronics are retained. Norén and Roth spend a lot of time working with modern Harleys, so they are comfortable negotiating their way around ECUs and wiring looms.

‘Stockholm Syndrome’ was entered into the Custom Class of the Norrtälje show, which meant it had to be ridden to the event. “We had 96 km of tiny country roads to ride, and there were no incidents at all,” the UCC boys report. “The Custom Class is one of the biggest classes, so we were up against 45 to 50 bikes—mostly Harleys. We didn’t think we had a chance because of the Harley domination in that class, and some of the experienced Harley builders were judges. That’s how it works at this show, and we thought the judges would not see what we’d put into this build.”

UCC did not take the outright trophy, but came in second. Which for a modern-style café racer in a sea of choppers, is a win all the same. And the build got a tick from Ola Stenegärd too. “Very clean, very Swedish somehow. Beautiful proportions with a lot of trick trademark UCC details and technical solutions. The wheel combo and overall stance is one of the best I have seen.”

“At the show, we had nothing but positive reactions,” says UCC’s Ronna Norén. “The one comment we heard most was ‘I can imagine having one of these’.”

We could imagine that too.

Images © Jenny Jurnelius. Head over to the UCC website or Facebook page to keep track of new builds from Ronna Norén and Gordon Roth.

via BIKEexif

Rally Poland: Une envie de pierogi / a yearning for pierogi

Au nord de la Pologne, Mikolajki et la région des Grand Lacs de Mazurie accueillent le Rally Poland, qui réintègre le Championnat du monde des Rallyes WRC après cinq d’absence, en remplacement du mythique Rallye de l’Acropole.

Une fois n’est pas coutume, je tenais à parler de mon attachement pour ce pays, la Pologne, que je découvre enfin à 40 ans passés. A l’entre-deux-guerres, mon arrière-grand-mère Senia, son mari et leurs deux filles avaient quitté Cracovie, à pied, en quête d’une vie meilleure, une vie de mineur, à l’Ouest.

Le charbon français l’a rendue veuve, mais elle n’a jamais voulu quitter cette cité minière devenue glauque après la fermeture de la mine. A 90 ans, Senia était encore une femme joyeuse et pétillante, qui nous parlait de la Pologne en préparant despierogi. Sa fille, Marie, a aujourd’hui le même âge et les ravioles polonaises régalent encore toute la famille…

Après Varsovie, la route 61 traverse un pays sans relief, de cultures, d’élevage et de forêts. Les villages, au nom que seule Senia aurait pu prononcer, se succèdent au fil de cette route monotone qui mène à la Mazurie, au nord de la Pologne, la région des Grands Lacs.

A 250 kilomètres de la capitale, c’est la destination-nature des varsoviens, amateurs de pêche, de voile, de randonnées, de cueillette…. Ici, quelque 60 lacs sont reliés entre eux par des rivières et canaux. Mikolajki se situe sur l’un de ces bras reliant le lac Talty au lac Sniardwy, le plus grand, 113 km².

Avec son port de plaisance et ses innombrables campings, hôtels et luxueux resorts, Mikolajki est un village de vacances. Le parc d’assistance et le HQ du Rally Poland se trouvent à un kilomètre du centre-ville, dans un immense complexe hôtelier de près de 700 chambres comprenant un parc aquatique, un centre équestre, un casino, une patinoire et son propre port de plaisance !

Malgré la pluie et les 12°C, il flotte donc comme un parfum de vacances sur ce rallye…

This week’s Rally Poland takes teams to Mikolajki and the Masurian Lake District in the north of the country. After a five-year absence from the world championship, it has replaced Greece’s Acropolis Rally on the 2014 calendar.

I have a strong family link with Poland which I am visiting for the first time this week as a 40-something-year old. Between the two World Wars, my great grandmother Senia, her husband and their daughters left Krakow, by foot, in a bid to find a better life – that of a miner – in the west.

French coal made her a widow but she never wanted to leave the now gloomy mining town that became her new home. At the age of 90, she was still as perky as ever and her eyes always lit up whenever she talked about Poland while making pierogi. Today, her daughter Marie has the same age and the delicious dumplings she continues to make remain a family favourite.

Highway 61 heads north out of Warsaw across an expanse of flat land given over to farms and forests. The villages have names that only Senia could have pronounced and follow on from each other with monotonous regularity along this road which eventually leads to Masuria and the region’s famous lake district, around 250km from the capital.

It is a favoured spot for fans of fishing, sailing and hiking and boasts some 60 lakes which are linked by rivers and canals. Mikolajki sits on one of these waterways which runs from Lake Talty to the biggest of them all, Lake Sniardwy (113 square kilometres).

Mikolajki is a booming tourist attraction with a harbour and countless campsites, hotels and luxury holiday resorts. Rally Poland’s service park and HQ are located about a kilometre from the centre in a huge hotel complex which boasts almost 700 rooms, a water theme park, riding stables, a casino, a skating rink and its own harbour!

It’s raining and the temperature is just 12°C, but there’s a distinct holiday air about this rally.

Goodwood Festival: Alister McRae to drive official Toyota Hilux at Goodwood

Former British rally champion Alister McRae will drive an official Toyota Imperial Rally Team Hilux with support from Overdrive Racing at the "Goodwood Festival of Speed" on June 26-29.

The Scot, who now lives in Australia, will drive one of the South African-built cars on the Goodwood Rally Stage, where he lines up alongside a glittering entry of rallying legends from the present and yesteryear to drive a wide range of legendary and modern rallying machinery.

Alister, 44, is the son of five-time British rally champion Jimmy McRae and the brother of the late 1995 WRC champion Colin McRae. After cutting his rallying teeth in Scottish club and national events, he went on to become an integral part of the British rallying scene and won the BRC title in 1995 with a Nissan Sunny.

His WRC debut came at the 1992 RAC Rally and he went on to represent the Subaru, Hyundai and Mitsubishi works teams at the highest level on 78 occasions, winning five special stages. Alister has recently competed in the FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship with the Proton team and has also had a couple of forays into the gruelling Dakar Rally.

"Alister has been working at the top level of rallying since the early 1990s and we are delighted that he will be driving one of our Toyotas at Goodwood," said Overdrive team director Jean-Marc Fortin. "The Toyota Hilux has become a potent force in the FIA World Cup this season and we have already notched up three outright victories in Russia, Italy and Egypt.

énergetique

Shakedown - 2014WRC Rally Poland

Le Rally Poland a débuté ce matin avec le Shakedown remporté par Jari-Matti Latvala (VW/Michelin) devant les Norvégiens Mads Ostberg et Andreas Mikkelsen. La cérémonie de départ est programmée à 15h30 sur les rives du lac Mikolajki avant les trois premières spéciales du rallye.

Après trois jours de reconnaissances pour les concurrents, le rallye a commencé ce matin avec le Shakedown tracé tout près du parc d’assistance de Mikolajki. Les 4,3 km de cette spéciale-test seront également à parcourir dans l’autre sens lors de la Power Stage (14,90 km) dimanche à midi.

D’ici là, il devrait s’en passer des choses sur ce parcours très rapide et, il faut le dire, un peu dangereux, du Rally Poland. « Ce n’est pas seulement super-rapide, c’est aussi technique et étroit avec des arbres ou des poteaux très près de la piste. Certains sont protégés par des ballots de paille, mais la plupart ne le sont pas », expliquait Kris Meeke entre deux runs au Shakedown. « Nous étions limités à 70 km/h en reconnaissances, et on va passer à 200 km/h en course. La prise de notes sera déterminante. »

Sur ce terrain ultra-rapide, les pilotes nordiques pointent déjà aux avant-postes. Jari-Matti Latvala a réalisé le meilleur chrono du Shakedown (1min59s3) devant Mads Ostberg (1min59s8) et Andreas Mikkelsen (1min59s9). Sébastien Ogier n’a effectué que deux passages pour signer un 2min00s1. Leader du championnat, il va ouvrir la piste cet après-midi et demain, en Lituanie, où la spéciale n°5/7 a été raccourcie de 26,60 à 12,92 km après les pluies récemment tombées sur la région.

Kris Meeke a signé le 5^e chrono (2min00s7) devant Robert Kubica et Thierry Neuville, ex-aequo (2min01s5). La Hyundai i20 WRC de Juho Hanninen a connu un petit souci de direction assistée lors de son 1^er run.

La cérémonie de départ est prévue à 15h30 sur le port de plaisance de Mikolajki. Ensuite, les concurrents disputeront deux spéciales, Milki (14,54 km) et Kruklanki (17,24) avant le retour à Mikolajki pour la Superspéciale tracée près du parc d’assistance. Le ciel est nuageux et les températures relativement fraîches (14°C) aujourd’hui en Mazurie. Le temps devrait se gâter demain.

Rally Poland action started with this morning’s shakedown which was won by Jari-Matti Latvala (VW/Michelin), ahead of Norwegians Mads Ostberg and Andreas Mikkelsen. The start ceremony follows at 3:30pm on the shores of Lake Mikolajki before the event’s first three stages later in the day.

After three days of recce, the rally programme proper kicked off this morning with the shakedown very near to the service park in Mikolajki. The 4.3km test will also feature on Sunday, in the opposite direction, as part of the Power Stage (14.90km).

Between now and then, we are likely to be treated to a great show on the rally’s ultra-fast, awesome stages. “Not only are they very fast but they are also narrow and lined by trees and posts. Some are protected by straw bales, but not all of them,” noted Kris Meeke between two attempts at the Shakedown. “We couldn’t go any faster than 70kph during recce, but we will reach 200kph during the event in places. The quality of the pace notes could be decisive.”

The Nordics gravitated to the top of the order on shakedown, with the best time going to Jari-Matti Latvala (1m59.3s), ahead of Mads Ostberg (1m59.8s) and Andreas Mikkelsen (1m59.9s). Sébastien Ogier, who only did two runs (2m0.1s), will be first on the road this afternoon and in Lithuania, where SS5/7 has been shortened from 26.60km to 12.92km as a result of recent heavy rain in the region.

Kris Meeke was fifth (2m0.7s), ahead of Robert Kubica and Thierry Neuville (equal on 2m1.5s). The Hyundai i20 WRC of Juho Hanninen had a power steering problem on his first attempt.

The start ceremony starts later at 3:30pm on the harbour side in Mikolajki. After that, competitors face two stages (Milki, 14.54km / Kruklanki, 17.24km) before returning to Mikolajki for the super-special near the service park. The weather is cloudy and quite cold (14°C) and is expected to worsen tomorrow.

Moto GP : Aleix Espargaró démarre fort à Assen / NGM Forward’s Espargaro delighted with Assen lap time

Le pilote du team NGM Forward Racing a signé le meilleur temps du jeudi à Assen et a battu le record du circuit qu’avait établi Casey Stoner en 2012.

Aleix Espargaró avait impressionné dès jeudi matin puisqu’il avait terminé la première séance d’essais en seconde position, à 0.189s de son frère cadet Pol (Monster Yamaha Tech3).

Le pilote espagnol a ensuite réalisé un superbe chrono d’1’33.653 l’après-midi et battait ainsi le record de Casey Stoner de six centièmes de seconde, grâce au pneu tendre de la catégorie Open mais aussi au travail réalisé à Barcelone lors du test post-GP.

« Je ne m’attendais pas à ça et à tourner dans les 1’33 dès le premier jour, ce qui est très rapide, » a affirmé Espargaró. « J’adore cette piste, c’est l’une de mes préférées sur le calendrier. J’ai déjà eu de bons résultats ici. »

« Nous sommes un peu perdus avec le pneu avant. Nous avons essayé les trois mais nous ne savons toujours pas dans quelle direction avancer. A l’arrière je peux être rapide avec les deux pneus mais c’est étrange parce que le pneu tendre baisse moins en performances que le dur. Peut-être que nous pourrons courir avec le tendre parce que j’étais troisième quand j’étais sur un pneu qui avait 15 tours. »

Concernant ses tests de châssis, Espargaró a ajouté : « Je cours avec le cadre Yamaha. Le cadre Forward est meilleur que ce à quoi je m’attendais mais nous avons besoin de passer plus de temps dessus. »

Aleix Espargaro topped the first day of practice at the Iveco Daily TT Assen, going under Casey Stoner’s 2012 lap record time at the historic Dutch venue.

FP1 saw NGM Forward Racing’s Espargaro come in second to younger brother Pol Espargaro (Monster Yamaha Tech 3).  The older of the brothers was one of the six riders in the 1’34s during the first session and he missed out on top spot by just 0.189s.

Later in FP2 a staggering 1’33.653 was 0.06s under Stoner’s record from 2012. The combination of a softer rear tyre and extra knowledge from the post-race Barcelona test allowed Espargaro to take over at the top on his penultimate lap.

Espargaro is continuing to use his original chassis for 2014 while teammate Colin Edwards has been running a new Forward-made version.

Regarding his record pace he said, “I was not expecting that. To go in the 1’33s on the first day is really fast. I love this track, it’s one of my favourite on the calendar. I’ve had good results here before.”

On his set-up challenges for the rest of the visit he added, “With the front tyre we are a little bit lost. We tried all three front tyres and we still don’t know which direction to go. With the rear I can be fast with both, but it’s strange, the soft tyre drops less than the hard. Maybe we can race with the soft as I was third with a 15-lap rear tyre.”

On his chassis choice Espargaro concluded, “I am racing the Yamaha frame. The Forward frame was better than I expected, but we need more time with it.”

DAUPHINE-LAMARCK TW125

Ever get that feeling you should never have sold something? Yup, thought so. I met FCL Motorcycles owners Phill and Graham at the BSMC Event III and it reminded me to ask what happened to my old TL125 I sold them years ago, for £80, ouch! Turns out it had a tuned motor with hot cam, bespoke frame a host of trick parts. I was young, and needed the money, I’m now old-ish and still need the money, damn it! (Bear with here, this tangent is relevant).

The welcome inundation that is the BSMC inbox offers flashes of images that inspire us to read particular build stories. A fleeting glimpse of the TL tank on Dauphone-Lamark’s TW125 got my pulse racing. There we go, got there, tenuously! Phil from Dauphine-Lamrack, Paris has continued his winning recipe of modding diminutive Japanese Trailies, Stepthroughs and Monkey-bikes, as seen previously in The Shed.  If the donor bike’s piston will fit into a glass of Pernod, he’ll be happy to build a bike around it.

Californian desert racers and BMXs from the 70s & 80s were the inspiration for this dual-breed creation, that and Phil’s penchant for no-fuss city hacks. Something that will never ever happen on a race circuit, Yamaha and Honda have been forcefully conjoined.

Once stripped right down, the Yamaha TW frame received the obligatory de-tabbing and weld grinding before the rear was adapted to accept the single piece Honda TL tank and seat unit. The fibreglass was reworked and given a proper period paint job and machined fuel cap. The seat pad looks to offer a touch more comfort than the original TL thats for sure

The Kitico parts catalogue was raided for understated indicators and lights, with most of the wiring requiring a tidy and hiding where possible. Apart from the HT lead and matching red fuel hoses.

The engine is stock and was in perfectly good condition so didn’t need opening up. To cope with the open filter and handmade stubby exhaust the 24mm Kehin carb received a bigger main jet. Rolling burnouts might be off the cards but with such a stout rear Bridgestone wheelies should be possible.

Wide, laid-back bars, with old school grips look the business and will make filtering in the Parisien traffic a doddle, if not Phil could practice his bunny hops, or just pull over and admire his creation.

With Yamaha’s cheap pressed steal tank binned and this sleek one piece Honda unit taking centre stage the sand-spec tyres look purposeful rather than silly and would probably have the designers at Yamaha wishing this is how they’d designed their bike in the first place.

Thanks to Hugo Michaudel for the moody photography, really makes the red pop, as they say in Cali.

via The Bike Shed

Inside Andy Green's 1,000mph office

No one likes going to the office. There, I’ve said it. I’m on my fourth cup of coffee and the week has barely started… If I had Andy Green’s Bloodhound SSC seat though. I wouldn’t be complaining.

There are exceptions to every rule, and the same applies here. You see, when your office moves at a 1000 mph, you’d have to make a VERY compelling case not to go to work. Enter Wing Commander Andy Green. An RAF pilot by profession, he is better known for his extra-curricular activities. Like attempting to break the land speed record.

Everyone is fascinated by land speed records, especially due to the numerous attempts – sometimes successful – to push the boundaries of speeds that can be attained with all four wheels on the ground.

Green set the last record at Black Rock, Nevada in 1997 with the Thrust SSC, under the direction of Richard Noble, the previous record holder. Green managed to reach speeds of 763 mph, creating a new and yet unbeaten land speed record.

Thus, it is only fitting that Green should try to break his own record. With the attempt scheduled for late summer 2015, Green has just been shown his new ‘office’, the Bloodhound SSC. Rolex instrumentation, multiple computer systems and numerous fail-safes are part of the cockpit, which has been made, or molded rather, to Green’s exact dimensions.

So sit back and let Andy Green show you around his office, while I try and work out how to fit a jet engine to my swivel chair.

HOBIE’S GN400

28 year old ‘Hobie’ from Orange County, California, has a pretty ironic way of paying the bills. He makes prosthetic limbs, so predictably once a month he’ll be knocking up a leg or an arm for one of us lot. But this hasn’t deterred him from pursuing his life long love of riding and now building motorcycles. In fact, it doesn’t put the patients off either, most of them are keen to get back on two wheels as soon as possible – if it’s in the blood…

This Suzuki GN400 is his first custom build, and after getting some great feedback from friends in the industry and people on our forum, he decided to come out of the shadows and show the world his creation. We’re glad he did.

Being from Southern California, everything Hobie had built in the past revolved around off road desert racing, motocross and Baja style race cars, so he wanted to build something designed to stay clean for once. The bike started out as a non running, stock 1981 Suzuki GN400 found on craigslist, but after a simple carb clean and valve adjustment she was up and running. Hobie rode it stock for two weeks to get a feel for what he wanted (always a good idea) before then tearing into it.

He stripped the bike and cut the back half of the frame off. When rebuilding the subframe, he took some of the rake out of the rear shocks and detabbed the entire frame for a clean look. The rear was raised a few inches and the front forks were lowered 4 inches to get the right stance. Everything was then sent away for coating and paint.

After aesthetics came the engine. It was treated to a new top end and a valve job before being painted, polished and dropped back in. The stock rims were powdercoated and wrapped in Bridgestone Trail Wing TW40′s  (120/90r16)(130/80r17). A custom seat pan and seat were also done to finish off the bike, and all the electronics are tucked away between the seat pan and a vanity plate. The rear end has two small integrated brake lights and a small taillight. The battery was removed so it’s kickstart only – as if a bike like this should be started any other way!

Hobie tried to keep the bike as light and simple as possible, as a result there really isn’t much to it, but what there is looks just right. He says this bike is also a right laugh to ride. In the two weeks since he finished it it, Hobie has been on several rides up and down the Pacific Coast Highway, he’s slid up some dirt roads in the Ortegas, and has even hit a few of his local bicycle jumps (see above). Hang on, thought you said this one was built to stay clean mate?

via The Bike Shed

SCORE Baja 500: New TT-truck from Brenthel Industries victorious at Baja 500

Development of the new Spec TT/6100 class truck design from "Brenthel Industries" continues to proceed with excellent results. In one of the toughest Tecate "SCORE Baja 500" in years, Jonathan Brenthel and co-driver Jordan Brenthel overcame brutal terrain and a tough field of competitors to take the win. Brothers Jonathan and Jordan drove the entire distance without relief from teammate Jamie Galles.

The truck performed perfectly during the race despite having over 1000 miles on the clock. The team’s prerunner was sidelined with a mechanical issue during the ever important course reconnaissance leaving them without a ride. They were forced to run the entire course in the race truck the week of the race.

"It was not the best thing to do but it was our only option," says Jonathan Brenthel, "The crew changed the 3rd member and replaced the air filter after the prerun, that’s all it needed after running 500 miles. During the race it was flawless."

Their Falken Tires made the win possible. Jonathan was forced to run one of the toughest sections of the course with no spare tire. While stopped on the course at one of the numerous bottlenecks that developed in the silt, vandals stole their spare tire off the back of the truck. "Not only did they steal the spare but they cut the strap costing us time to repair it when we reached the pits," said Jonathan.

Falken Tires are just one of the great sponsors chosen by Brenthel Industries for their great products but more importantly their strong customer support. "We are doing intense R&D on this truck," says Jonathan. "We rely on our sponsors to respond to our needs during development and Falken Tires, King Shocks, Rigid Industries, Method Race Wheels, CBM Motorsports, Rancho Performance Transmissions and Jamar Performance Products have all worked closely with us to improve the truck. Don at Jamar made two trips back to the shop for parts to increase our brake pressure before the 500 and has even more mods in mind build more pressure."

In only a few short months, this same Spec TT truck from Brenthel Industries has run over 3,000 race miles and was rolled a couple times with no significant damage, earning Jonathan the nickname of "Crash". Despite the accelerated pace of development it continues to get faster every race. They reached the podium at the Silver State 300 and have now taken a huge victory at the Baja 500. 
via marathonrally.com

1964 FERRARI 250 LM BY SCAGLIETTI

As far as I’m concerned, the Ferrari 250 LM by Scaglietti is the single most beautiful Ferrari of all time. Some will disagree with this, preferring Enzo’s front engined models but the mid-engined 250 LM was a precursor of Ferraris to come, as well as the last Ferrari to win at Le Mans.

Based on the Ferrari P (for “prototype”), the 250 LM was intended to be homologated as a GT car by the FIA, then raced in the GT class at Le Mans. A minimum of 100 units had to be built for homologation and Enzo was about 70% short of this target, as a result the FIA refused to homologate the model – forcing it to race in the much quicker “prototype” category.

The North American Racing Team (NART) bought, prepared and entered a Ferrari 250 LM in the 1965 24 Hours of Le Mans, it was driven by the dream team of  Jochen Rindt and Masten Gregory and despite being entered into the far more competitive Prototype Class, the men landed the mid-engined V12 on the top spot of the podium.

Ferrari clients could order a hand-built 250 LM and a small number did, the cars weren’t designed to be all that comfortable and Ferrari’s “official” GT cars were far more suitable for prolonged use on the road. As a result of this, only 32 250 LMs were built - making them rare and highly sought after by collectors, a recent auction saw one sell for $14.5 million USD.

The beautifully presented Ferrari 250 LM you see here is due to be offered at the Monterey Auction on the 15th of August 2014, it’s in immaculate condition throughout, so you can be your bottom dollar that it’ll sell for a price high enough to raise the eyebrow of even the most most wealthy of collectors.

Click here to read more via RM Auctions.

Photo Credits: Pawel Litwinski ©2014 Courtesy of RM Auctions via SILODROME