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2010 Dana Point Concours: Don “The Snake” Prudhomme tribute
Posted by: | CommentsFiled under: Motorsports, Classics, Chevrolet, Dodge, Ford, Celebrities
The 28th Annual Dana Point Concours d’Elegance took place this past Sunday and once again found the Monarch Beach Golf Links at the St. Regis Resort to be a perfect venue. As beautiful as the resort is, though, we were a bit perplexed to hear visitors talking so openly and enthusiastically about all of the snakes they had been seeing there.
“Did you see The Snake? There are four snakes up on the hill! The Snake was riding around in a golf cart a few minutes ago, make sure you go see him.”
The well-traveled Reptilia was none other than Don “The Snake” Prudhomme, the honorary chairman of this year’s concours. “The Snake” didn’t come empty-handed to this party either. No, he brought with him a quartet of his funky funny cars from the 1970s, including the sole remaining Mattel Hot Wheels 1970 Plymouth Barracuda Funny Car that became famous during the “Snake vs. Mongoose” match races between Prudhomme and Tom “The Mongoose” McEwen. Back in the day, these two warriors famously squared off in match races across the country while also making countless appearances at toy stores, retail outlets and other locations.
The Barracuda was parked atop the same 1967 Dodge D-700 crew cab Hot Wheels Ramp Truck that was used to transport the race car on that promotional tour. The gorgeous yellow duo emerged from frame-off restorations just in time for SEMA last year, and seeing it there instantly transported us back to our youths, when our Hot Wheels checklist included not only this screaming yellow Plymouth, but Prudhomme’s red, white and blue Hot Wheels and ARMY cars as well. Imagine our delight, then, when we saw some of those cars parked right alongside the Baracuda and transport in Dana Point on Sunday.
Front and center sat the white 1972 Hot Wheels sponsored Plymouth ‘Cuda funny car, to its left the 1974 Army sponsored Chevrolet Vega funny car and to the right the 1978 Army Plymouth Arrow funny car which proudly carries the “Number 1,” reflecting Prudhomme’s fourth consecutive NHRA World Championship season. The Snake himself was also part of the attraction on Sunday, recounting old racing tales and signing autographs for the masses. He even took a few minutes to visit with the Cagahys, a couple who happened to bring their own Prudhomme car to the event – a 2009 Shelby Mustang Prudhomme Edition. We took lots of pics, which you can check out in the gallery below.
Photos by Frank Filipponio/ Copyright (C)2010 Weblogs, Inc.
2010 Dana Point Concours: Don “The Snake” Prudhomme tribute originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 28 Jun 2010 18:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Ford Focus RS500 already sold out?
Posted by: | CommentsFiled under: Car Buying, Performance, Hatchback, Ford, Racing
Well, that didn’t take long, did it? We knew the new 2011 Ford Focus RS500 would move fast, but not quite this fast. Powered by a 2.5-liter five-cylinder that produces 345 horsepower and 339 pound-feet of torque, Ford’s hottest hatch one-ups even the already bonkers Focus RS with its piddly 305 horsepower and 325 lb-ft. Considering that the RS is capable of a 0-62 mile per hour sprint of under six seconds and a top speed of 163 mph, the RS500 should clock in around 5.6 seconds.
What we didn’t expect was the fact that the RS500 would sell so quickly. With their matte black paint, 19-inch wheels and all that performance on tap, we certainly expected them to be a hot commodity, but if Autocar is to be believed, the whole run of 500 units has already sold out – some 12 hours after the reveal. Sales will be spread out over 20 European markets, with the UK getting 101 units, Germany getting 55 cars, France receiving 50 and Belgium scoring 50 units, with Denmark, the Czech Republic and Greece getting five units each, while Ireland receives three.
The best part of the story is the fact that all 500 units are already spoken for, even before prices have been announced. Ford is said to be sorting through the letters of intent from customers to figure out dealer allocations. And don’t forget, the order books don’t formally open until May. With the regular RS trading above sticker on the used car market, we’re guessing there will be more than a few flippers in the initial owner group.
Gallery: 2011 Ford Focus RS500 (Europe)
[Source: Autocar.co.uk]
Ford Focus RS500 already sold out? originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 06 Apr 2010 16:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Block Rockin’ Beat: 100 Acre Woods rally results
Posted by: | CommentsFiled under: Motorsports, Performance, Hatchback, Ford, Subaru, Off-Road, Racing
He did it. Ken Block made it five-in-a-row at the 100 Acre Wood Rally, showing that his new Ford Fiesta is doing just as good for him as his old Subaru. Block and Alex Gelsomino were the overall winners of the Open Class in their Monster World Rally Team Ford Fiesta, but it wasn’t easy for them. Block started the second leg more than a minute behind Subaru Rally Team USA’s Travis Pastrana after having a bit of trouble on stage one. Although the Ford was pretty quick, Pastrana was quicker, as was Antoine L’Estage, the Rockstar Mitsubishi Evo driver who now leads the Rally America championship race with 34 points.
Pastrana was leading until he broke his left rear control arm on the Super Special Stage in Potosi. That put Block into the lead with L’Estage barreling down on him – that is until L’Estage also hit some bad luck, getting a flat on the second stage and battling low visibility conditions at a water crossing. Block charged on and never looked back, crossing the finish some 20 seconds ahead of the Evo. Privateer Bill Bacon grabbed the last step on the podium in his last-gen 2006 Mitsubishi Evo IX. Despite some difficulties this year, Bacon has at least been consistent, and finds himself in second place in the championship standings with 28 points. Dave Mirra nabbed 4th, his best finish yet in Subaru Rally Team USA’s 2010 STi.
Next up for Rally America will be the Olympus Rally in Olympia, Washington on April 24-25. Full results in the official press release after the jump. Hat tip to Jason!
[Source: Rally America]
Continue reading Block Rockin’ Beat: 100 Acre Woods rally results
Block Rockin’ Beat: 100 Acre Woods rally results originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 01 Mar 2010 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Video: New Matech Ford GT for GT1 racing looks and sounds gloriously evil
Posted by: | CommentsFiled under: Motorsports, Coupe, Europe, Videos, Ford, Racing
It wasn’t that long ago that Ford was selling a genuine supercar, one that made no excuses as it took on the world’s best. The Ford GT had one foot in the past and one foot in the present, with its ’60s GT40 good looks and somewhat more modern 5.4-liter supercharged V8. Altogether, some 4,000 or so GTs were built during its production run. Sadly that program ground to a halt in 2006 and nothing has come along from the Blue Oval to replace it. Still, the GT lived on as a great platform for tuners and racers.
One race team that has grown particularly fond of the GT is Matech Competition, and the Swiss team has already raced it to championships in FIA GT3 racing in Europe. The retro roadcar was never intended for racing, but like its forebearer, it is once again hunting Ferrari and Porsche racers on Europe’s most famous tracks. After successes in GT3, the GT has shown it might be ready to move up in class. While the small independent Robertson Racing has run a GT in the GT2 class of ALMS for a few seasons with mixed results, it’s Matech once again that will take on the next challenge – GT1.
For 2010, Matech has developed their GT1 version of the car that builds on lessons learned during the 2009 campaign when the team ran a prototype in the same class. Although similar in overall looks, Matech tells us that the two cars share no parts whatsoever. With an all-new formula for 2010, that’s not very surprising, but 2009 was a development year for the teams. After the jump you can read the press release regarding the car’s initial outing, and better yet, there’s a video of it in action. The clip is painfully short but will give you goosebumps when the car sprints away. Besides its wonderfully melodic tone, the car looks plain badass, definitely up to the challenge being brought by GT1 competitors like the Nissan GT-R, Reiter’s Murcielagos, Aston Martin DBR9s, Maserati MC12s, and our local boys the Chevrolet Corvettes. No wonder the clip is titled “Matech Symphony No.1.” Top tip, Johannes!
[Source: Matech Competition]
Continue reading Video: New Matech Ford GT for GT1 racing looks and sounds gloriously evil
Video: New Matech Ford GT for GT1 racing looks and sounds gloriously evil originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 08 Feb 2010 14:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.