Videos

Le Mans 1955 – CG animation

The French “Le Mans 1955”, directed by Quentin Baillieux , is a CG animation was released last year. This year it won a few awards and was nominated for quite a bunch more.

The film, about the 1955 Le Mans crash is narrated from the perspective of John Finch, Pierre Levegh’s co-driver. Though the film takes a lot of artistic liberty in terms of historical facts, it shows a view that I for one never had of the accident. The animation style is quite dramatic, but I think it works well to show the tragic event.

FORD v FERRARI, the motion picture

Released as Le Mans 1966 in Europe, I watched it last Friday. I was looking forward to seeing it, but I confess I didn’t have great expectations. However, I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. Both Christian Bale and Matt Damon work fantastically, and the really important part (= cars & races, of course) was very well recreated. In terms of historical accuracy there are some few things wrong as expected, but nothing that gets my panties in a (tight) bunch.

The only part that was a bit off in my eyes was Damon’s Shelby. I really doubt Hollywood would portrait him differently, but from what I know of him, in the film he’s too-much-adorable.

Still, even with these small issues, I had a very enjoyable two hours in the cinema. And yes, I need a Miles’ car now.

When station wagons are cool

Admittedly, I’m a sedan/coupe kind of guy. Or perhaps, also a sedan kind of guy. And I abhor SUVs and the likes. If you don’t have to haul a whole bunch of people, you don’t need a small bus. So basically, for me a proper car is a coupe or sedan (or maybe a fastback/hatchback). Station wagons, on the other hand, are kind of a gray zone. I don’t dislike them, but I’m not a great fan either. However, I would be open to an Audi RS4 (or a Volvo 850), without the need for much persuasion.

Audi just released the new RS6 Advant, and the thing is phenomenal. And to launch the car they made a very nice commercial showing a bit of the car’s pedigree.

I would also accept that one too, thank you.

PS: If you’re wondering, the soundtrack is “Run Boy Run” by Woodkid.

The story behind Ferrari’s last win at Le Mans

VINWiki brings up another cool car story. After their piece on the Whittington brother’s win in 1979 (as told by John Ficarra), I’m always stopping by their YouTube channel. This time John tells the tale about the 1965 Le Mans race. I’ve read about this story before, but he provides a LOT more detail on the whys and hows. Trust me, if you’re a Le Mans nut it will be a very well spent 20 minutes.

The bad part is that I don’t have the 1965 250 LM #21 in the W-143 Garage.
And now I need it.
Bad…

The Bloodhound is getting faster!

The Bloodhound LSR is undergoing test runs at the Hakskeenpan desert track in South Africa. Yesterday it reached 537 km/h for the first time – it went from from 80 km/h to 480 km/h in 13 seconds! The testing has to be done incrementally, so it will take a while for the Bloodhound to get to it’s top speed. And since the current LSR is at 760 km/h, it still has a way to go before it becomes the new King of Speed.

If you want to read more, head to the Bloodhound LSR page. They’re always updating with news of the project.

When a 356 meets a Carrera RSR…

Rod Emory, founder and owner of Emory Motorsports, has a new car to show. Though his “restomods” are not always universally approved (specially by the Porsche purists), I find some of his cars really cool. The 356 RSR is quite unique – you can easily see the 356 part and at the same time the Carrera RSR part. Okay, maybe not for everyone, but interesting nonetheless. And as always, a very nice car video from Petrolicious.

Plus, you can also see part of Emory’s model car collection – looks like he collects 1:18 and 1:43 alike.

Typ 64: the first Porsche that’s not a Porsche

Recently went on auction, and thanks to a blunder by the auctioneer, it didn’t sell. But though nobody actually said it is the first Porsche, it was kind of implied. However, neither Porsche nor the Porsche Museum recognize it as the first Porsche. It was though Ferry Porsche’s personal drive for many years.

Still a terrific piece of history. And as always, Chris Harris presents a very nice car video that’s worth the watch.

2020: Hypercars at Le Mans

It started out as a rumor early this year but some time before Le Mans both ACO and FIA confirmed. We’re really going to have hypercars at La Sarthe and other WEC races! So from 2020 onward, we won’t have LMP1 as the top WEC class. The video above succinctly explains what this new class is about.

I’m really excited about this because this new category kind of reminds me of the glorious Group 5 (“silhouette racing”) era and all the g-o-r-g-e-o-u-s cars that we had.