The car & motorcycle thread

Robotribe said:

Motorcyclist and m43 user here. Some of my favorite subjects:

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That's a really fabulous picture. I find it's really hard to get good images at vehicle meets as I always seem to end up with the background looking messy and the back of someone's head somewhere in the image.

cosmicnode said:

sderdiarian said:

iancrowe said:

sderdiarian said:

Hard to believe the design goes back to 1964, just gets better with age

--
Sailin' Steve

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Actually not a genuine Ford GT40 which were manufactured from 1964-69, only 105 were produced and hence it is extremely rare to see a genuine article, but the modern Ford GT which is actually 3" taller at 43". Just over 2200 were sold by Ford as a homage to the original from 2004-06.

Ian

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Now if only Ford had released a street version in '66 in response to the Corvette, that would have been entertaining (well, more like a mugging)! Better late than never.

--
Sailin' Steve

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They did actually make a road version, not many were made it was more of a publicity decision than serious production ,there were adverts in major motering mags, something on the line of a "bespoke" car, You need to look for the GT40 mark lll, http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/car/2178/Ford-GT40-Mk-III.html

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Thanks for sharing the article, Mike.

$18,500 (almost 4x the price of a '67 Shelby GT500) was a fair chunk of change in 1967, but that didn't stop conductor Herbert von Karajan from buying one. Here's a Car & Driver review from 1967, a fun read (0-60 in 5.1 seconds, 13.8 second 1/4 mile, not bad for its vintage), but cut off before they get to what it was like to drive.

Clearly it did not translate well and deserved better (had a stock Shelby 350 engine), so you've brought my epiphany down to earth some. Still, what lines!

Here's the GT40 III review for those interested in a blast from the past:

http://phil-are-go.blogspot.com/2013/09/1967-ford-mk-iii-car-and-driver-review.html

and the upcoming remake of the Ford GT:

http://www.caranddriver.com/ford/gt

Sorry, unrepentant gear head with a bad case of cabin fever here ;-) . Back to photos...

--
Sailin' Steve

Especially loved this photo, Robert, but all excellent as usual!

--
Sailin' Steve

dinoSnake said:

Zephir 750 said:

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Ha ha! A Flying Brick! Good to see that someone still has them on the street and in such great shape. She's a beauty, all right, and I miss bikes like that, bikes that are "human-sized". The motorcycle industry is intent (thanks to the sickening wanna-be boy racers who write for all the mainstream motorcycle press) on selling us monsters that we can barely pick up off the sidestand or touch our toes down from whilst seated (and, as a rider of a sweetheart monster ride, I get to say that).

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Robotribe said:

Awesome stuff.

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Thanks; glad you liked.

Some moving cars ,a change from stationary.











































--
Olympus EM5, EM5mk2 my toys.
past toys. k100d, k10d,k7,fz5,fz150,500uz,canon G9.

No text

Hen3ry said:

I was very much taken with the 650 but me, my bank account, and the bike just never intersected at the right time.

My bike in the early '60s (my late teens and early 20s) was a 1956 AJS parallel twin 500cc which had a marvelous way of coming on song at about 70mph and kind of relaunching itself into the 80mph. You could hear it and feel it! The factory handbook offered a hot up kit of camshafts, twin SU carbies, tuned exhaust, and close(r) ratio gearbox.

It had a fatal flaw -- the generator, in front of the crankcase, was held on by a metal band around it and a long screw that was simply not strong enough and was always coming loose. I once rode 300 miles of rain soaked highway at night with oil streaming out of crankcase where the generator wouldn't seal. Wearing rubber boots! Stopping every 70 miles or so to top up the oil! Pretty exciting!

In my 40s (the '80s) I had a 350cc Suzuki two stroke twin that was so peaky a loss of about 2rpm (am I exaggerating?) which could happen in freeway traffic was enough to mean deceleration in the face of a headwind. But fun!

Then I had a Yamaha 500cc single road bike on which I put a higher tooth count gear on the drive side for more pleasant cruising and toured the countryside. That was in the mid-80s; the bike was dangerous because there were then too many high powered cars on the road that could outperform it so if some clown wanted to pay silly games with you, you couldn't get away. The petrol tank was also too small for touring comfort in Australia.

But that Beemer…

Oh well.

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I know what you mean. With respect I'm glad I'm not old enough to had to have to deal with the miserable bike tech of the 50's to the 70's, where it was a miracle that you got where you were going if that were more than, say, 45 miles away. Keeping a "labor of love" original Ninja 900 alive for the mileage I prefer doing was more than enough work, thanks.

I don't look back at the past with rose-colored glasses, I'm absolutely thrilled to have the honor and luxury of owning fuel injected, computer controlled, if-4-wheeled airbag-equipped / safety caged and padded / ABS, modern vehicles. I count my blessings that I can, with normal scheduled maintenance, push a button, ride 400 miles a day and know that I'll be home that evening.

We live with modern miracles. We should never forget the luxuries and blessings that we have when so many others have nothing in this world. Sometimes I know not what I did to deserve the safe life that I have, but I'm thankful.

Boar electric fat bike - my main transportation. Fun!



--
"Knowledge is good." Emil Faber

Stuff here, nowhere near as exotic or interesting as the other cars on this thread,





E36




E34




RS3, or so i think it is




3000GT




Megane RS




evo




Mostly seen parked around hotels, this model




S204, only 30 kicking about here apparently.

Corkcampbell said:

Boar electric fat bike - my main transportation. Fun!



--
"Knowledge is good." Emil Faber

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Whats the distance you can travel on a charge ?

cheers don

--
Olympus EM5, EM5mk2 my toys.
past toys. k100d, k10d,k7,fz5,fz150,500uz,canon G9.

You still in China? Or back in the States riding around on that?

dinoSnake said:

Hen3ry said:

I was very much taken with the 650 but me, my bank account, and the bike just never intersected at the right time.

My bike in the early '60s (my late teens and early 20s) was a 1956 AJS parallel twin 500cc which had a marvelous way of coming on song at about 70mph and kind of relaunching itself into the 80mph. You could hear it and feel it! The factory handbook offered a hot up kit of camshafts, twin SU carbies, tuned exhaust, and close(r) ratio gearbox.

It had a fatal flaw -- the generator, in front of the crankcase, was held on by a metal band around it and a long screw that was simply not strong enough and was always coming loose. I once rode 300 miles of rain soaked highway at night with oil streaming out of crankcase where the generator wouldn't seal. Wearing rubber boots! Stopping every 70 miles or so to top up the oil! Pretty exciting!

In my 40s (the '80s) I had a 350cc Suzuki two stroke twin that was so peaky a loss of about 2rpm (am I exaggerating?) which could happen in freeway traffic was enough to mean deceleration in the face of a headwind. But fun!

Then I had a Yamaha 500cc single road bike on which I put a higher tooth count gear on the drive side for more pleasant cruising and toured the countryside. That was in the mid-80s; the bike was dangerous because there were then too many high powered cars on the road that could outperform it so if some clown wanted to pay silly games with you, you couldn't get away. The petrol tank was also too small for touring comfort in Australia.

But that Beemer…

Oh well.

Click to expand...

I know what you mean. With respect I'm glad I'm not old enough to had to have to deal with the miserable bike tech of the 50's to the 70's, where it was a miracle that you got where you were going if that were more than, say, 45 miles away. Keeping a "labor of love" original Ninja 900 alive for the mileage I prefer doing was more than enough work, thanks.

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My first car was a then 10 year old Austin Healy "Bugeyed" Sprite and a number of friends also drove a range of second and third hand Brit cars (Mini, Rover 2000 TC, Healy 3000, TR6...if only we still had them today!) and they all suffered from Lucas electrics, nicknamed "the prince of darkness". But when they ran, what a blast ;-) .

The British twins of the 60's-70's (BSA, Triumph, Norton, proud old marks) were all designed with crankcases split vertically, so all bled oil on the pavement when parked. Then along came Honda with the then brilliant Honda 750 that revolutionized performance bikes, bringing a new expectation of effortless speed, reliability and sophisticated engine design. I remember as a kid when we saw one after release just about bowing to the ground in honor.

Yet Harleys seem to rule the roads of the States today. Go figure.

dinoSnake said:

I don't look back at the past with rose-colored glasses, I'm absolutely thrilled to have the honor and luxury of owning fuel injected, computer controlled, if-4-wheeled airbag-equipped / safety caged and padded / ABS, modern vehicles. I count my blessings that I can, with normal scheduled maintenance, push a button, ride 400 miles a day and know that I'll be home that evening.

We live with modern miracles.

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Today there are so many great handling and very reliable cars and bikes we've become spoiled. Modern miracles indeed! I am, however, wary of self driving cars sucking the enthusiasm out; perhaps a few inevitable lawsuits against manufacturers will freeze them in their tracks. Nice idea for seniors who can no longer drive, but this Miata guy says they'll have to pry my steering wheel and gear shift out of my cold dead hands ;-) .

dinoSnake said:

We should never forget the luxuries and blessings that we have when so many others have nothing in this world. Sometimes I know not what I did to deserve the safe life that I have, but I'm thankful.

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I spent 6 months in South America in the 80's and was amazed to see what would in the States be considered antiques still plying the roads as everyday vehicles and in very good condition. A whole district of Santiago, Chile seemed devoted to machine shops advertising replacement parts, pretty cool. This, of course, was the result of much lower incomes and car prices being driven up 2 to 3 times by tariffs.

Yes, we're spoiled. It would be nice if rather than railing against immigrants and refugees, people could instead live for a stint in third world countries to "get it" .

Straying off course, apologies. Back to car photos, a worthy photographic topic I'm thoroughly enjoying (thanks OP!).

--
Sailin' Steve

Donald B said:

Some moving cars ,a change from stationary.







--.

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Love all your shots, Donald, but these three really stood out for me. Thanks for sharing.

--
Sailin' Steve

Thanks. I give credit to some patience and a lot of luck.

--
'I'm normally not a praying man, but if you're up there, please save me, Superman.' - H. Simpson

I did not take these. Can't remember where I got them.









































--
Dave

Donald B said:

Some moving cars ,a change from stationary.

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A few more, through the cones.


My son, Charlie, at his first autocross


Getting serious


Learning the course


The perfect autocross scalpel?


Blast from the past


Poor shot, but gets the point across


Corvettes struggle on a tight course, but fun just the same

Photos get few points for polish (taken with ancient FZ3 prior to mFT's), but a gold star for fun ;-) .

--
Sailin' Steve

KwhyChang said:

I did not take these. Can't remember where I got them.









--
Dave

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What great shots, whoever took them, Dave. The guy with the mirror is nuts (caused me to do a double take), and the last should be titled "It's a family affair" ;-) .

--
Sailin' Steve

One of the subjects I thoroughly enjoy shooting when in Northern China. Plenty of interesting subjects to shoot. Having only shot m4/3 for about a year, most of mine are from another format. Anyone opposed to including them? A couple to start anyway









This dude's already prepared