American muscle. Italian design. Cadillac Allanté notwithstanding, that right there is a recipe for success. And few were ever as capable of straddling that divide with one foot in each of the best of both worlds as De Tomaso. Like modern-day Pagani, De Tomaso was founded by an Argentinean based in Modena, and the small automaker created some of the most exotic machinery of its day. Chief among them was the Mangusta – its Italian name means 'mongoose,' which might not seem as ferocious an animal to name a sportscar after as, say, a jaguar, viper or stingray, until you realize that the little rodents are known for eating cobras. Then the Mangusta's mission statement becomes a little clearer.
Like the later revival (which was subsequently sold under Qvale and then MG badges), to say nothing of its prey, the original Mangusta packed Ford V8 power: From 1967 through 1971, 400 Mangustas rolled out of the De Tomaso factory with 289s or 302s installed, out of which fewer than 200 are believed to still be around.
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It gets lonely in a semi cab, long hours of doing little more than light bouncing and trying to stay in your lane. But on the bright side, it does provide a lot of "me time," and with a little background music and the urge to shake it, the cab could be a great place to... dance! One truck driver, a Romanian Happy Feet, did just that. Then he filmed it and shared his passion with the world. Predictably, police aren't as amused, and they are seeking to have a few words with the twinkle-toes trucker, distributing the video across Europe in order to catch the offender.
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With every major city and race track around the globe seemingly eager to host a Formula One race, it's been a while since we've kept up with all the rumors and conjecture. But reports persist on the prospect of a street race in Rome, punctuated this week by news that prolific track architect Herman Tilke is in the Italian capital planning layouts. The idea is being proposed by superbike promoter and former F2 driver Maurizio Flammini, and he reportedly has the support of Rome's city hall. The proposed street circuit would run through the city's southwest EUR district and would cost some €50 million ($64 million USD) to execute if it joined the calendar for 2010 or 2011.
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Besides Julia Roberts' boots and Richard Gere's state-of-the-period-art brick cellphone, one of the most memorable props from "Pretty Woman" had to be the Lotus Esprit that Gere borrows from Jason Alexander to get away from a party when his limo is buried in the parking lot. He stops to ask a hooker for directions and she hops in to show him "personal." After futzing with the British exotic's transmission, Gere turns over the reins and lets Julia drive the Esprit. While uttering phrases like "standard H-pattern" and "it corners like it's on rails," gearheads by the thousands fell for the blond-wigged prostitute with a heart of gold.
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This little gem in Muscat, Oman represents what you do when you have bodacious sums of money and time. Now we're all for having a little fun, but we're talking about an Enzo, which, while not the prettiest of Ferraris, still doesn't deserve to endure the eighth-level of Maaco paint-shop Hell. Whoever did this gets points for authenticity, even including the roof signage. If nothing else, we'd certainly go for a ride: as passenger to get anywhere in seven seconds, as driver, so we could say, imitating the voice of Blofeld, "That'll be one hundred million dollars."
A new study in the UK confirms that women like fast cars, but apparently it's not the sexy curves of a Lamborghini, Maserati or Ferrari that turns them on. Researchers discovered that it's actually the loud sound of their engines revving that gets a woman's motor to hum. The study was conducted with 40 participants that included both men and women who were played recordings of a Maserati, Lamborghini, Ferrari and Volkswagen Polo engine. Afterwards they got their saliva swabbed and analyzed for the presence of testosterone. A higher level of the hormone in their spit indicated that the subjects were more aroused, and the results revealed that 100% of the female participants experienced a big jump in testosterone levels after listening to the Maserati. Chances are the Maserati engine was actually sourced from Ferrari, but we don't know if the results after listening to the Maranello mill were identical. And what happened after participants heard the Polo's wheezy motor? Testosterone levels fell across the board.
Unwilling to recognize when genug is enough, Max Mosley is forging ahead with more lawsuits. After being awarded a £60,000 judgment (plus an additional estimated £1 million in expenses) against News of the World, the tabloid that broke the story of the FIA president's alleged sexual activities, Mosley is now launching a second lawsuit against the publishers. Whereas the previous lawsuit was on the grounds of invasion of privacy, the second action is for libel.
In addition to the follow-up suit against News of the World, Mosley will also be pursuing compensatory damages from German newspaper Bild, which Mosley claims repeated the story unchecked. The suit against Bild petitions for one million euros, plus an addition half-million from its online edition. The prostitute, known only as Woman E, who originally claimed the episode had a Nazi theme, has since recanted and revised her statement to the exclusion of any such connection.
If you've been dying to see animated versions of Click and Clack -- aliases Tom and Ray Magliozzi -- then you'll want to tune into your local PBS station tonight. Their new series, As the Wrench Turns, starts off with their presidential campaign, with one of the platforms being "America needs a lube job!" We're all for it. Big Bird and the Cookie Monster will also make a cameo, though we're not sure if it's tonight. Check your PBS site for local times, or check out the show's site for a preview of the mechanical mayhem.
Score another one for women! Less than a week after Danica Patrick recorded her first IRL win, pro drag racer Ashley Force made history this weekend by becoming the first woman to win a Funny Car national event at the Southern Nationals in Atlanta. Not only is the 25-year-old Force red hot in her second season in the Funny Car division, having been to the finals in each of her last three races and currently leading the Funny Car point standings, but she also knows how to make a headline. Standing in the way of her and history this weekend was her own father, legendary drag racer John Force, who she beat in the finals with a run of 4.837 seconds at 320.36 mph. She also reportedly wrestled her Ford Mustang off the wall in spectacular fashion during the semifinals to beat Jim Head. What could make a poppa prouder, eh? Father Force himself suffered a bad crash last September that broke a few bones, but we're sure his return to the sport is all that much sweeter with his offspring currently holding court in the division. It's kind of like when you finally beat your dad in basketball for the first time, except this isn't basketball and you're using 1,000+horsepower drag racers.
Single-engine jet-powered dragster seeking female companion for thrilling adventure across salt flats. Petite build. Background in motorsports or aviation. With sponsors. Interested parties please contact Eric Ahlstrom (eahlstrom@pyramid.net), program manager, Steve Fossett World Land Speed Racing Team.
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