…and after all that turkey & red wine, please do not be like Del Griffith no matter how nice a man he is…
Happy Thanksgiving and safe home to you and yours from all of us at MFL.
Category Archives: Cars
What we’re watching – C’était un Rendezvous
I thought today I’d dedicate a few lines to my favourite short film of all-time, Claude Lelouche‘s 1976 high-speed masterpiece, C’était un Rendezvous. The film is only 8 minutes and 38 seconds long, but if you love cars like I love cars, it’s one for the best films out there.
The premise of the film is simple. A camera is mounted to the front of a car and the audience is given a front row, drivers point of view as an unknown man takes to the streets of Paris just before dawn, and drives fast (and I mean really fast), through the city streets just as Paris is beginning to stir, to finally reach a street in Montmartre where we find a lovely blond woman waiting for him. Hence the title, “It was a date.” Of course what makes the film exciting isn’t the plot, it’s watching the streets of Paris whiz by at breakneck speed as the anonymous driver handles the car beautifully through every dangerous curve he encounters. It’s 8 and a half minutes of adrenaline, screaming engine, squealing tires, great driving, and beautiful scenery. Here’s a clip, showing the last 2 minutes of the film…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAg9fg_523k
After seeing this movie for the first time, I had all the questions one would expect. Who was driving that car?! What kind of a car was it? Did they block the streets or did they really just go for it, outlaw style? Now we know all of the answers. Continue reading
Looks like a good time–Monterey Festival
Here’s a fine article in the New York Times on the auto-related festivities at Monterey and Pebble Beach this year. I have never been–I missed out when my in-laws moved away from the area before I could attend–but I hear good things. And really, since some of these events do not require big money tickets, how can you beat the history…and the cars?
Alfa-Romeo 8C (pic sourced from autoworldnotes.blogspot.com)
Some excerpts:
Monterey’s Festival, Rich in Tradition
Genesis, in this instance, was a small sports-car meeting, advertised as “European road races,” that took place on a 1.8-mile makeshift circuit in the Del Monte Forest, admission $1. More or less as an afterthought, a car show, given the French title of concours d’élégance to maintain the European theme, attracted 32 entries, most of them new models owned by Forest residents, was added. Admission was free.
A college dropout from Santa Monica with ambitions to be a racing driver won the main event in a Jaguar XK120, despite an uncooperative clutch. In later years he would win at Pebble again and also win the concours’ Best of Show award with a 1931 Pierce-Arrow that he and his brother had restored. The erstwhile student was Phil Hill, who would ascend to the title of World Driving Champion in 1961.
Most of the action happens during the third week of this month, with the climax being the 63rd Pebble Beach Concours d’Élégance, which can lay claim to being the world’s most important, on Sunday, Aug. 18. Over the years, activity has spread from the Del Monte Forest to 16 locations in the Monterey area, including Carmel’s main thoroughfare, Ocean Avenue, where more than 200 cars are expected at the seventh annual Concours on the Avenue on Aug. 13.
Shall we pack our bags?
Website of the day: Gearpatrol.com
If you’ve got a hankering for adventure and the finer things in life, a wide range of experiences and interests, Gear Patrol is for you (http://gearpatrol.com/). Designed to appeal to your inner James Bond/triathelete/race car driver, etc, Gear Patrol is packed with adventure vacations, fine spirits and awesome gadgets.
As a really good example of what these guy’s are doing (and at the risk of stepping on Graham’s turf), check out this fantastic mini-documentary on the iconic Porsche 917 prototype: Faster. Farther. Porsche 917 (Click it, man. You’ll thank me later.)
These are definitely our kind of guys. In fact, I’ve just added them to our links page. But be forewarned: the site is huge with a ton of cool stuff. You could get lost in there for days so it can definitely cut into your productivity. But what a way to while away the hours until your next adventure.
Cars we want–2014 Corvette C7 Stingray
The Stingray’s back and coming soon to GM showrooms near you:
And we want one (euro snobs need not read on).
C7 Stingray: 6.2L direct injected small block V8. 0-60 in under 4 secs. 26mpg (believe it when I see it). MSRP $56.5k loaded. Aluminum and carbon fiber up the yin yang and magnetic ride suspension. Sounds like a bargain and I have a feeling it’ll be hard to come by without a wait.
Check out the official site: 2014 Corvette Stingray
And an excellent photo gallery and rundown from the boys at autoevolution.com
Place your orders, muscle car fans. And can we please have some of these in the new United Sports Car Racing series?