Anyone remotely interested in scale cars and dioramas has seen Michael Paul Smith’s photos. He’s basically synonymous to scale car dioramas, and his models, dioramas and photography were absolutely gorgeous.
He passed away on November 19th, and many say he has finally moved to Elgin Park.
He will be missed.
Silodrome has a very nice write-up on the Shelby Daytona Coupe. The text also has some fantastic shots of chassis #CSX9110, so it’s well worth the visit.
A very interesting look (35 min) into part of the life of Lotus’ founder, Colin Chapman. Some very interesting late 60’s F1 pit lane footage to be seen.
Rudolf Uhlenhaut was the designer of the Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR. At the time, it was one of the most advanced cars of the era, and the only reason it didn’t win everywhere was because Mercedes pulled out of motorsports after the 1955 Le Mans tragedy. So after Mercedes was out of the racing business, there were a couple 300 SLR race cars gathering dust in some warehouse in Stuttgart.
You know that expression “street legal racing car”? Well, very probably this was the first one of them all. Being director of engineering at Mercedes-Benz had a few perks, so Uhlenhaut was allowed to use one of the 300 SLR as his company car. He adapted some mufflers for the car and made the cockpit less spartan, and transformed an almost-Le-Mans-winner into his personal company car.
A fast company car, that is.
Yesterday Petrolicious posted a very interesting interview with the great Jackie Ickx, where he talks a little about racing the 953 and 962. If you have 5 minutes to spare, check it out.
This is way too cool! Spare 34 minutes to watch this 
I just added the Automuseum Protyp Hamburg to my bucket list of places to visit in Germany. From their page:
Since 2008, Automuseum PROTOTYP presents on approx. 2,500 m² rare sports and racing cars from 70 years of automotive history. On display in the carefully modernized factory building are prototypes – well, but not only prototypes. Also, the museum looks at itself as a “prototype” for the concept of the exhibition which is experience-oriented, interactive and multimedia. To allow a sensitive look, the valuable cars are displayed without barrage.
The German term “Personen. Kraft. Wagen.” (English: Persons. Power. Cars.) is associated with the common German abbreviation “PKW” for a passenger car and thus creating the well chosen motto of the museum, as it not only presents seldom historic vehicles, but also gives an interesting insight into the lives of those Persons who made the automobile sport great. Another issue is the Power (in German “Kraft”), be it as the power of the engines, as the creativity of the designs or as the desire to win a race. The Cars (in German “Wagen”) on display – from self-built cars of the early post-war period to prototypes of modern Formula 1 cars – give an impression of the fascination of this subject in different facets.
More information HERE.
Il Maestro drives the Alfa Romeo 158/159 “Alfetta”, one of the most gorgeous vintage F1 cars. Honestly, if F1 cars nowadays looked as good as this I would watch a race or two… 
Without a doubt, I’m here today because of Steve McQueen’s “Le Mans”. I think I first watched it in 1976 or 77, and the film really marked me. It’s the sole reason why I love so much the 917K and why I like Porsches in general. And the same reason why Ferrari will never be my favorite brand – the 512S was not the “hero car” 
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Mostly filmed during the 1970 Le Mans race and released in 1971, you just can’t compare the quality of the film to something modern. But back then, Michael Delaney’s crash really impressed the kid that I was:
Now I know that my beloved 917K was not harmed, since they used a Lola T70 GT Mk. III disguised as Delaney’s Porsche. Seems like even back then a 917K was much more expensive then a T70. But that film was what got me interested in race cars and Le Mans in general.
Think I’ll have to watch it again
Not for the faint of heart, Il Maestro rips aboard a Maserati 250F! 
