Marcos Mantis XP 1968

When the Marcos Mantis XP debuted in the 1968 Spa 24 Hours race in Belgium it must have been like the Batmobile showing up. With the more normal and curvy looking Fords, Porsches and Ferraris of the late 60s this very angular racer represented the hopes of a very small British manufacturer who was fighting for a place in the performance car market.  The Mantis XP DNFd the Spa race due to electrical problems, and has been mothballed ever since then until its recent resurrection by a careful restoration in California.  The 1968 Marcos Mantis XP is literally a one-of-a-kind, not only as far as how many were made, but also in terms of its looks which even nowadays is unique...let alone in 1968!

Some would say the late 1960s represented a high water mark in the automotive world. This was the era of the Ford GT40, Ferrari Dino, Lamborghini Miura, and many other cars whos curves still fascinate today, not to mention all the extremely futuristic prototypes of the era. The Marcos Mantis XP simply brought its futuristic design to the world championship racing circuit.  It was powered by a mid-mounted BRM-Repco V8 Formula 1 engine, whose cylinders rose into the clear-covered engine compartment in the rear of the vehicle.  This engine gave it a pace which was enough to compete with the world’s top race cars until the electrical problems which sidelined it at the Spa 1000km.

thankfully even though Marcos is no longer in business, the Marcos Mantis XP is seeing new life on the vintage exhibition circuit giving everyone a look at what the future might have looked like circa 1968.

Lancia HIT concept by Pininfarina 1988

Many times I come across or recall cars that I cant find much information on and usually tend not to post those as I would like this blog to be as much for information as for just looking at nice pictures. Since there are many cars that I havent posted due to this I am going to start doing so so as to have them even if it is for aesthetics sake.

So, this is the Lancia HIT designed by Pininfarina in 1988. It is based on a Lancia Delta. The HIT was shown to the public at the 1988 Turin Motorshow. The name 'HIT' was formed from 'High Italian Technology, an indication that this car was a technology demonstrator. the technology that it demonstrated was not so much the drive train which used the mechanicals of the Delta HF Integrale, but the chassis which was created using carbon fiber. The composite materials gave an overall weight of just 980 kg. when a stock Delta HF weighed in at 1215 kg.

Considering what an awesome car the Delta HF was, this would have been amazing with 235 Kg. less!

Aston Martin Lagonda Vignale Prototype 1993

Back when this car came out I thought it was the most awesome thing ever! It just looked so incredibly futuristic to me, plus back then concept cars were still very heavy on the colorful, rounded plastic interior details and this was all machined metal and high tech looking. Looking at it now it looks like one of those fat car sculptures...how things change. Guess it was never bound to be one of those timeless designs.

This is definitively one of those cars that made full use of the synergies available to Aston Martin at the time. In the early nineties they were owned by Ford and were having a tough time selling cars or even knowing what KIND of cars to make. At the same time Ford also owned Ghia, the Italian Carrozzeria purchased by them in 1970. With Ford money a plan was hatched to see what Aston could build to get more sales. Eventually Moray Callum was enlisted to design a saloon to revive the defunct Lagonda brand. In a twist of serendipity Moray’s older brother Ian was simultaneously designing the DB7.
These being Ford projects they decided to have some platform sharing to build the new DB7 and Lagonda. The DB7 used the Jaguar XJS chassis, and the Lagonda concept was based on another car within Ford, the 1990 Lincoln Town Car. The Lagonda’s bulbous, art deco styled bodywork sat on a extended Town Car chassis, and also borrowed the suspension and four-speed gearbox, as well as the Ford 4.6-litre DOHC V8 which only made 190bhp. The Ford engine was only to be used in the prototype, and once the car reached production it was planned that it would use the 5.9-litre V12 (which incidentallyI work on now).

The Lagonda Vignale was first shown at the 1993 Geneva Motor Show. Its rounded organic shape hid its enormous dimensions – it was wider and had a longer wheelbase than the Silver Spirit of the same era. The lack of a corporate styling in past Lagondas basically gave Moray Callum a chance to design whatever he liked. “We pretty much did what we wanted to do,” he recalls. “There wasn’t much DNA to hold onto… we just tried to reproduce a flamboyance about the car.” Callum’s unusual design, for the time in a  saloon, of making the overhangs short (a practice common now) together with its large wheelbase and size gave lots of room in the interior.

In the end the Lagonda Vignale’s design wasn’t enough to help it go into production together, or even instead of, the DB7 in Aston Martin’s production plans. Despite it being well received, Ford considered the Lagonda brand too expensive to revive, given its obscurity outside the UK, and the DB7 fitted in with the Aston Martin brand heritage because of its DB predecessors.

Luckily there were two cars made and sold. One of course one was sold to the Sultan of Brunei for £1.3m in 1995. This car had several design changes including slightly smaller dimensions (it used a different Ford chassis), different headlights and redesigned grille, burgundy paintwork and an upgrade to V12 power. A second car in Sorrento Blue car was kept by Ford until 2002 and then sold by Christie’s for $403,500. Unfortunately a third the gray car was destroyed once its worthiness as a publicity tool had expired.

Ghia Barchetta based on a Ford Fiesta XR2 1983

So many "What if..." cars out there that could have really changed the way things turned out. Take this Ghia Barchetta based on a Ford Fiesta XR2 platform. It predates the Miata for quite some time, and Ford might just have been started a new roadster renaissance rather than Mazda! The front end looks quite sleek I think, although the rear end is definitively a product of 80s styling. Its always hard to tell by pictures how large a car is but unless the guys standing next to this one was 6' 6" it does look quite tiny, the windshield top is barely higher than his waist! That mighty have been its downfall had it ever seen production...but who knows, maybe not. 

Audi A3 2013

Well today I got  a new Audi A3! I haven't really gotten to drive it much yet, but I did spend quite some time playing with the interior. The dash is quite different from the norm, there is only a strip across the middle with AC controls and a few other buttons like the hazard light switch. Otherwise there is no screen. When you do need the screen for the radio or to change the car settings it pops up from the top of the dash. There's a round knob/toggle that you control everything with, very much like the BMWs but much simpler to use.

For the moment I only have pictures in low light as that's when I had it delivered, Ill post some more in the sun when the opportunity rises as this low light doesn't do the pearl/metallic white any justice.

This car will also serve as a showcase for a new style of Hydyne Motorsport wheels! For the moment all I will say is that they will be 18 inch 2 piece wheels and will most likely be battleship gray, or maybe Ill go with a nice bright color. Stay tuned...

Hydyne Motorsport 19" 3 piece Mustang wheel

Well I just received a shipment with Hydyne Motorsports new 19in. 3 piece Star wheel! Looks damn good if I do say so myself with that gold center and brushed lip. This wheel is a one off destined for a 2013 mustang. As soon as its mounted Ill post some more pics...

BMW Z13 concept 1993

Maybe its just me but it seems that the concept cars that were made during the late 80s and early 90s were much more adventurous than the ones now. Sure there are some beautiful styli9ng exercises done now and sometimes a lot of what goes to shows ends up being mass produced but in those cases it either becomes something impossibly impractical, or in the later case something too "normal".

In the early 90s BMW made a series of concept cars dubbed Zxx. The Z stood for Zukunft or future in German. Ill start with the Z13 and show some other ones later on.

If I were in the market for a small city car right now I would take this bar none! No Fiat 500 or Mini Cooper for me...this little thing just looks hot! The wide arches manage to make it look like a proper sports car not a city run about. Plus it was a three seater, had a half glass roof AND was rear engined! I mean...how many quirky things did they want to cram into one car!?

There were two cars built, both the blue and red ones used K series motorcycle engines but the blue one used a CVT transmission and the red one a standard 5 speed. The original designer of the Z13, Robert Powell, actually drove the red one around as a regular daily driver as it was a fully functioning car.

Sadly when BMW bought Rover, and along with it Mini, they deemed that this project was no longer useful since they had the rights to the Mini brand. The Mini of course went on to be a huge success...but I would much rather have preferred this!

Epsilon Euskadi EE1 LMP1 with JUDD V10 2008

The Epsilon Euskadi was an extremely ambitious project which had as an ultimate goal to create a high tech motorsport center in the northern Spain Basque region. It was run by former McLaren, Ferrari and Benetton mechanic/manager Juan Villadelprat. Epsilon Euskadi first entered various one-make racing series, and in 2005 Polish driver Robert Kubica won the World Series by Renault in an Epsilon Euskadi entered machine, which leapfrogged him into Formula 1.

Unfortunately even though the design for the car was started by former Lola designer John Travis, and finished by Sergio Rinland after John Travis left for Ferrari, it never had much success. A lack of budget meant that there was very little testing done before races. At its first Le Mans series race the weight distribution was so far off the rear tires would get chewed up before the front ones would heat up.

Eventually the team folded its Le Mans ambitions but continued to race in World Series by Renault.

ULF Sensor 2005

There is very little information on the ULF Sensor, but judging from the pictures available it looks like it was a dream car that never got past the stage of being a mock up. The completely black windows make me suspect as much.

In any case it has a nice design. Not overly burdened with the usual super car add-ons, but still sporty looking. Looks like it would have made a very nice sportscar in the vein of the inexpensive ones coming out of Japan in the 90s such as the MR-2 or Supra

BAC Mono 2011

 This is one of the latest track day cars from the UK...its absolutely gorgeous! It only has a 2.3 liter 280 hp 4 cylinder, but it weighs only 1190 lbs (540 kg.)! So it does an awesome 0-60 in 2.8 seconds. The fact that it has an F3 gearbox with paddle shifter also helps greatly. Fpr me the coolest featuire is that it only has one centraly located seat. Even though it is road legal it doesnt pretend to be able to take a passenger to the grocery store or make a long trip. Its purely a track day tool!