Before landmark films American Graffiti and Star Wars, George Lucas was just another film student at the University of Southern California. During his time at USC, Lucas and 13 other film students put together an eight-minute-long film called 1:42:08. The title contains no words, and the film has no dialog. What does appear on the screen is racing legend Peter Brock as he speeds through Willow Springs Raceway near LA. The movie's sound track? The sound of a Lotus 23 race car at full throttle. Hit the jump to see Lucas' 1966 short film for yourself. It's no Empire Strikes Back, but it's damn good cinematography. If you aren't a big Lucas fan, there's still Peter Brock and a Lotus 23. It's a win-win.
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With most of the attention at the LA Auto Show given to the Mustang, you'd think Ford would ride that wave of publicity as long as it could. However, it appears that Ford will be making more Mustang news before the 2010s even hit the showroom floors. At the live unveiling of the 2010 Ford Mustang last week, we thought we caught Mark Fields hinting at the possibility of more Mustang news coming out of the Detroit Auto Show this January. Sure enough, we watched the unveiling again on Speed TV and listened carefully for any mention of a new Mustang for Detroit. Sure enough, Fields says that Ford "will reveal yet another chapter in the Mustang story" at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show.
We've thought through what this new Mustang could be, and we're down to two possibilities. The first is the next generation Shelby GT500. Spy photographs have been snapping prototypes running around Detroit since early summer, and if Ford keeps the same powertrain setup as the GT and V6, then it would simply be be a matter of making the cosmetic changes. The second possibility is an all-new variant of the Mustang, most likely a concept that would later hint at a production version. Since we are purely speculating, we're going to go ahead and say what we'd like to see: Boss Mustang, 5.0-liters, 400 hp and a six-speed manual tranny. A Mustang commemorating Parnelli Jones' 1970 Trans-Am win would be perfect except that Saleen already did it two years ago. Mark Field's wording seems to hint at something all new, but the possibility of a new motor could have potential buyers waiting another year to make a purchase. It looks like we'll just have to wait until January to find out.
When we initially caught wind that Hyundai had tapped a handful of tuners and magazines to customize the Genesis sedan for SEMA, we were prepared for some ungainly and wholly ridiculous offerings. Thankfully, the trio of coupes look promising, and even though the teased and spied RKSport sedan appears to take the Genesis to its illogical extreme, we've got two more to go before show time and one comes courtesy of the crew at RIDES. Looking to build off the Genesis sedan's strong points, the RIDES team has created a roving office with all the technological amenities your 21st century man-on-the-move would need. Three Macs are installed inside – two Mac Minis and a one MacBook Air – allowing back-seat slaves to the interwebs (that would be us) to troll the 'Net through a pair of tray-mounted wireless keyboards, 8.4-inch VGA headrest monitors and a WiFi connection. Included inside is an iPhone 3G and iPod touch, along with a Farenheit DVD player, Genesis amps, Morel Hybrid Ovation speakers and two 12-inch sub-woofers. In the unlikely event that you're stranded on the roadside, pop the trunk and you're greeted by a 20-inch Apple Cinema Display with keyboard and mouse mounted on a motorized tray. If the tech isn't enough, the back seats are swathed in suede upholstery, while the exterior benefits from custom 22-inch MHT three-piece wheels, an Extreme Dimensions body kit, custom bumper, lowered suspension, smoked taillights and quad-tip exhaust.
HUMMER's presence at this year's SEMA show will be typified by a trio of tuned H3s, ranging from a mildly modded Alpha to an H3T ready to traverse the desert surrounding Sin City. The most sedate of the three is the warmed-over H3 X Alpha concept, which features new 18-inch wheels shod in 35-inch all-terrain tires, black chrome trim, body-colored bumper extensions and clear turn signal housings. The exterior is coated in Canyon Metallic, while inside, the leather seats, armrests and shift knob all receive contrasting orange stitching along with matching piping and a HUMMER Accessories DVD headrest system. Far more impressive is the H3T Weekend Warrior concept (above), which capitalizes on HUMMER's off-road cred with a series of engine and suspension mods. Output of the 5.3-liter V8 has been increased by around 70 hp through the use of an LS2 cylinder head, high-lift cam and custom 3.5-inch exhaust. Rolling stock is comprised of HUMMER Accessories' 20-inch wheels wrapped in BFGoodrich Baja T/A rubber, suspended by a Light Racing Jounce Shocks and Rod Hall Racing piggyback performance reservoirs, with brakes provided by DBA. Finally, Four Wheeler magazine got its own H3 Alpha to play with, and began by "de-glossing" the Victory Red paint scheme with a PPG flattening agent mixed with clear to give it an incredibly cool satin appearance. The only engine mod is a MagnaFlow cat-back exhaust, but what Four Wheeler didn't spend on motivation it made up for with suspension components. Nitrogen-charged, two-inch Rod Hall Racing performance shocks and Light Racing Jounce Shocks compliment the flat-black 16-inch Simulock wheels coated in BFG Mud-Terrain T/A tires.
For this year's SEMA show, the crew at Hotchkis will unveil a pair of modified Dodge Challengers highlighting its focus on classic muscle and its modern-day counterpart. The two matching Challengers – a 1970 T/A 340 Six-Pack and a 2009 SRT8 – will share yellow paint schemes, graphics and wheels, along with a host of parts that should make the T/A stick as well as – if not better – than the 2009 model. The 1970 Challenger, known as E-MAX, was originally converted to 340 Six-Pack trim by the previous owner, and now features new fabricated steel upper A-arms bolted into relocated pickup points, strut rods with Heim joints, aluminum steering rods and a set of front and rear sway bars, along with a new set of springs that lower the Granddaddy Challenger by two inches. In addition to replacing the aging front suspension, Hotchkis set out to create a well-rounded classic, equipping the T/A with Stoptech brakes, a Flowmaster exhaust and Forgeline wheels wrapped in Yokohama tires. Hotchkis likes to point out that all its suspension parts can be removed and replaced with the factory units, allowing owners to keep things traditional for shows and swapped out when the time comes to drive.
Coach Builders Ltd. is known for its convertible conversions of the Chrysler 300C and Cadillac CTS, so after Dodge made the decision not to offer the Challenger in drop-top guise, it knew what it had to do. The Florida-based company will bring a customized soft-top Dodge Challenger SRT8 to SEMA, packing a Vortech supercharger good for 560 hp and 510 lb-ft of torque. In addition to the hydraulically powered acrylic polyester cloth roof (complete with sound and temperature insulation), the Challenger is dropped courtesy of a KW coil-over suspension over 22-inch Foose wheels coated in Nitto rubber. The cost of the conversion, which also includes a heated glass rear window, matching headliner and a rear strut bar to shore up the chassis, is a whopping $16,000, making for a $58,000 hair dryer when rolled into the $41,695 base price of an SRT8. We're not saying it's not worth it, but we could think of a few other mods we'd do to the Challenger before hacking the roof off.
BMW has finally unleashed some information and photos of the much anticipated MINI E set to debut next month at the LA Auto Show. For those who haven't been paying attention, late last spring BMW announced plans to build and lease a fleet of 500 battery powered MINIs starting sometime in 2009. The front wheels of the MINI E receive torque through a single speed gearbox from a 204 hp, 162 lb-ft electric motor. Those numbers are rather unusual for an electric drive system which usually has much more torque. Nonetheless, the MINI E can hustle to 62 mph in 8.5 seconds and, according to BMW, can cover about 150 miles on a full charge of its lithium ion battery pack. Anyone who has driven a MINI knows that the back seat is for small kids or occasional use only. For the purposes of this electric version, that is no longer an issue as that area has been completely consumed by the battery pack. The pack itself has a capacity of 35 kWh and judging by the description the company has used a similar set up to the Tesla Roadster. Instead of larger cells specifically designed for automotive applications, this pack uses 5,088 cells arranged in 48 modules. As always, charging time depends on the current and voltage of the outlet the car is plugged into. MINI will be supplying a high current charging station with the cars that can be installed in the driver's garage to facilitate quicker charges, providing a full charge in 2.5 hours. The regenerative braking system can provide three-quarters of the braking requirements when running in urban stop and go driving. Aside from the battery pack replacing the rear seat and the yellow trim, the main change inside is a battery meter that replaces the tachometer in front of the driver. BMW will be leasing the 500 cars to commercial and private customers in California, New York and New Jersey starting early next year. They may eventually expand the program to Europe as well.
One of our faithful readers was hanging out a gas station not far from our Detroit offices when he spotted what was clearly a new Hyundai Genesis sedan getting a fill up. Now seeing Genesis sedans and other Hyundais in various states of camouflage is not out of the ordinary in these parts over since the Hyundai-Kia America Technical Center Inc. (HATCI) is in the area. This particular Genesis is something a little different though. Notice those indentations in the hood and missing bits of trim? A little digging revealed that this is in fact the car that is being developed in cooperation with RKSport for the SEMA Show in Las Vegas this November. RKSport is working on body and suspension modifications for the car, while the engineers at HATCI are working on engine mods. We don't know which engine will be under the hood, although the words "powertrain boosting" were heard from a source. Judging from what looks like a pattern for cutouts in the hood, a turbocharged or supercharged engine seems a possibility. Our article mentions an enhanced version of the 4.6L Tau V8, however, a pressurized version of the 3.8L Lambda V6 isn't out of the question either. We'll find out soon enough.
Inside Line was given a thorough peek at and allowed to drive the coming Nissan 370Z, and appears to like what it has seen. Many of their findings have been previously guessed at based on spy photos of the car, but their viewing seems to prove that it all fits together well enough in person. Unfortunately, they were barred from commenting on the driving experience. The most controversial aspect is still the shortened rear of the car, which IL guesses has gone back to 99 inches. To look at the pictures, there really isn't room for much behind the driver's door but wheel arches and a taillight. Interestingly, IL also suggests that the car will be available with a 7-speed automatic, which brings to three the number of potential non-manual transmissions. The proof, as always, will be in the pudding, and the first serving will come on October 29 when the official photos are released.
Our never-ending interest in the upcoming U.S. Top Gear has us usually thinking of Tanner Foust as a television host, so we often forget that he has another day job sliding a Nissan 350Z around racetracks in the Formula Drift series. Tanner came into the final round this weekend at Irwindale Speedway at the top of the points race, and he needed to stay ahead of Sam Hubinette in his Dodge Viper and Rhys Millen in his Pontiac Solstice to capture his second straight championship. He did just that, finishing in second place behind Vaughn Gitten Jr., who captured his first win in the series in his Falken Tire Ford Mustang. The top 16 drivers from the event also qualified for the upcoming Red Bull Drifting World Championship next month in Long Beach.
