Greatest Sculpture Ever
In just a decade, England's Goodwood Festival of Speed has established itself as one of the can't-miss events in the automotive world. With an open invitation to everything from vintage Funny Cars to brand-new Formula 1 rockets, Goodwood attracts an astounding variety of delectable machinery from all over the globe. But this year, they were all nearly upstaged by a sculpture.
This radical piece of art, erected to celebrate Ford's centennial, featured reproductions of the GT40 Mark IIs that finished one-two-three at the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans (the black and white photo is the actual finish) in the order they finished and in about the same weather too. That's right, it was raining at Le Mans when they won, so this sculpture makes its own rain and the cars have functional windshield wipers to fight the spray.
Where did this sculpture go after the festival? We don't know, but we're looking for it to surface on eBay.
Musclecar Of The Month
'70 Buick GS 455 Stage 1
Of course the Buick Grand National is an icon of '80s high-tech performance, but the big grunt in the division's performance history comes from the '70 Gran Sport 455 with Stage 1 performance equipment.
The Gran Sport name had been used on midsize Skylark (A-body) models since 1966, but GM's decision to put engines with displacements greater the 400 ci in that size car during the '70 model year created a car with a lead-hammer punch in silk-purse sheetmetal. The GS 455 engine itself was underrated by GM at 350 hp during 1970, and to that was added Stage 1 stuff, including a high-lift cam, bigger carburetor, and a free-flowing dual exhaust. Supposedly those changes only lifted output to 360 hp, but it was generally acknowledged that the engine was making at least 400 hp with enough torque to pull San Francisco's famed Cow Palace right off its foundation. When the Stage 1 was ordered, "Stage 1" badges replaced those that normally said merely "455"
The Stage 1 equipment was also part of the famed GSX package, which became available midway through the model year. A package of Stage 2 equipment-including an even hotter cam, higher-compression pistons, an Edelbrock manifold, Holley carb, headers, and deep 4.78:1 gears-was also offered.
Quick Facts
Production total: 10,148 (8,732 coupes, 1,416 convertibles)
Engine: 455 ci, V-8, 350 hp (Std.); 455 ci, OHV V-8. 360hp (Stage 1 Opt.)
Transmission: Four-speed manual (Std.), three-speed automatic (opt.).
Base Price: $3,685 (coupe), $3,871 (convertible)
Taste O' Trivia
* The Corvette's first appearance in competition with factory backing was at Daytona Speedweeks in February 1956. Among those hired to drive the Corvettes was Betty Skelton who piloted her '56 Corvette to a 137.773 mph trap speed.
* This '55 Lincoln Futura concept vehicle would be rebuilt as TV's Batmobile in 1966.
* On September 3, 2003, Zippo made its 400 millionth lighter since starting production in 1933.
* Chevrolet first used its famed "SS" model designation with this '57 Corvette SS concept car. However, there has never been a Corvette SS production vehicle.
* The '76 Thunderbird, at 225.7 inches, is tied with the '78 LTD station wagon as the longest car ever sold by the Ford Motor Division.
* 2004 is the 20th anniversary of the Chrysler minivan. Celebrate accordingly.
* There's no good piece of trivia to go with this, but this photo of the legendary Jim Clark skipping a Lotus Cortina around a racetrack in the early '60s is just wicked sick.
Racecar Of The Month
Shelby Cobra Daytona CoupeYou've heard of Carroll Shelby. Now here's the car that made Shelby someone worth hearing about.