Styletto EV Concept Surprisingly Lacking In Style

Designer Cornelis Steenstra of design firm ForeSee is passing around these renderings of the Styletto EV — a 200 MPH+ all-electric supercar with a design straight out of 1999. More »

2011 Infiniti M Foam Model Drives Through Pebble Beach

Using a foam model and some serious projection technology, the 2011 Infiniti M appeared to drive out of its Pebble Beach debut. It's a truly amazing effect, shaming the typical fake smoke-and-cloth-drop reveal.

2011 Infiniti M Revealed At Pebble Beach

Apparently Nissan didn't get the message all the cool stuff was happening at the Woodward Dream Cruise today and they went ahead and revealed the 2011 Infiniti M at the stinky old Pebble Beach Concours. More »

2011 Infiniti M Teaser Sketch Previews Virtual Pebble Beach Unveil

Nissan's released this teaser of the 2011 Infiniti M, set to debut August 14th at the Pebble Beach Concours, kinda. It's actually going to be digitally revealed, projected onto a blank foam model. Weird. More »

Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Number One Auctions For $2.9 Million

The Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport debuted at the Pebble Beach Concours last weekend, and chassis number one was promptly auctioned off the following day by Gooding & Company for the obnoxious sum of $2.9 million. "Standard" pricing for the ultra-exclusive convertible is set at €1.4 million, or about $2 million, so a paltry $900,000 for the privilege of owning the first one is totally worth it. Thanks to the magic of the internet you can watch the entire sales process below the fold. It certainly is a whole different world. More »

What Do You Drive To The Monterey Historics? Leave The Camry At Home!

As soon as you arrive at the Monterey Historics and park your car, something becomes very clear: this isn't your typical bunch of parked cars! More late-model Porsches, Ferraris, and Corvettes than you can shake a briefcase full of nonsequentially-numbered $20 bills at, of course, but also dozens of funky old imports that drove to the event under their own seemingly miraculous power. I shot a handful of the cars I encountered on the walk between my parking space and the track. You can take the whole vintage-ride-to-vintage-race thing a big step further- if you're really serious- and do what the driver of a certain Trans Am Ford Falcon did: drive your race car to the track! More »

Engine Pr0n From The 2008 Monterey Historics

We saw a whole bunch of engine shots from the '07 Monterey Historics, so let's make it a tradition and check out some of the vintage go-fast hardware that roared into Steinbeck country this weekend. You get a pretty interesting mix of engines at this event, with exposed-valvetrain mills in horseless carriages, big Detroit V8s stuffed into tiny European machines, and all manner of high-strung Italian iron with camshafts and carbs all over the place. Make the jump for three big galleries. More »

Pininfarina Hyperion Unveiled At Pebble Beach

While we're all at the greatest single day car event in the world, we hear some people decided there's something going on on our nation's left coast. Whatever. The Pininfarina Hyperion — a Rolls Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe with a coachbuilt body — has been unveiled at the Pebble Beach Concours. Its owner, Roland Hall, for whom the regular $412,000 car wasn’t exclusive enough, has dedicated the Hyperion to the late Andrea Pininfarina, who designed the custom carbon fiber body. Aside from the swoopy lines, the main difference appears to be the swooptastic windscreen, which is moved back 400mm creating room for wooden gun lockers between it and the engine bay. That material is carried over to the rear yacht-like deck and the doors, which are solid wood. Also included is a custom Girard-Perregaux timepiece, which can be detached from the dash and worn on a wristband. Click through for full details. More »

Lincoln MKT Crossover Confirmed, To Get EcoBoost

Ford today officially confirmed that it would be producing the Lincoln MKT and equipping it with the EcoBoost 3.5-liter V-6 engine, good for an estimated 340 horsepower and 340 lb.-ft. of twist, in place of a V8. Unlike the MKT Concept, the production crossover will get three rows and probably fewer Saworvski crystals. A "fuel-efficient" six speed will be the transmission of choice for both the EcoBoost V6 and the standard issue, normally aspirated 3.7-liter V6. The new 7-passenger CUV, which will debut at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show, will feature technologies such as SYNC, blind spot monitoring and cross-traffic alert. Full details in the press release below the jump. More »

Nick Hogan's Rolls Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe At Pebble Beach

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2009 Mercedes SL65 AMG Black Series Back-End At Pebble Beach

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Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Drives Pebble Beach In Its Bloomers

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Spyker C8 Aileron To Debut At Pebble Beach, Dilute Show Even More

We've just heard the Spyker C8 Aileron will make its North American debut at this weekend's Pebble Beach Concours D'Elegance. We've already seen the Aileron make it's worldwide debut at the 2008 Geneva Motor Show, so color us jaded if we're not terribly excited by this news. In fact, we're beginning to get a bit annoyed with automakers treating Pebble Beach like the Detroit Auto Show. At the current count, debuting this year is the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport, the Pininfarina Hyperion, and one other (much more interesting) car we can't tell you about 'till tomorrow morning. Sure would be nice to have, you know, old cars at the show too.


[WCF]

Pininfarina Hyperion: Andrea's Last Hurrah Coming To Pebble Beach

Based on the Rolls Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe (plus a pile of collector money), the Pininfarina Hyperion represents the last coachbuilt automobile completed under the watchful eye of Andrea Pininfarina. Set to debut at the Pebble Beach Concours D'Elegance, the Hyperion will have to share the spotlight with the pop-top Veyron but we suspect it'll garner more attention considering the recent untimely death of Mr. Pininfarina. If we're honest about it, they may have whiffed the design a bit based on this first image, but it's probably pretty spectacular in person. [Carscoop]

Careful, Don't Dent The Espada With The Kia's Door!

After getting a Lamborghini Espada for yesterday's Project Car Hell, I remembered this Espada we photographed in the parking lot at the Monterey Historics last summer. We were driving a plush Sorento, provided by the nice folks at Kia, and look what rumbled up and parked next to us! More »

What Was That Mystery Car? 1954 Fiat 8V

We finally had a Mystery Car contest that lasted more than a few hours, with pauln correctly identifying the car as a 1954 Fiat 8V coupe. As promised, here are the photos of the whole car. See, it's actually in pretty good shape, despite the somewhat battered hood scoop. More »

Fifty Years of Kerouac's "On The Road"

Fourteen years before the United States mandated exit numbers on Dwight Eisenhower's brainchild of a road system, a Lowell, Mass native of French-Canadian extraction named Jean-Louis Lebris de Kerouac published a novel that would change countless lives; a mash note to an already-dead America living under the weight of what Igor Kurchatov and J. Robert Oppenheimer had wrought. More »

Bobby Unser's 1972 Torino

It was great seeing all the vintage race cars at Laguna Seca a couple weekends back, but what struck us about most of them was how small they really are in person. Then we saw this monster: it's the NASCAR '72 Torino driven by Bobby Unser to a fourth-place finish at Riverside in 1973, and it made the Lotus 11s parked nearby look like mechanic's creepers. Dig that 625-horsepower Boss 429! Now we can see why all 70s Torino owners need to go out this very minute and chop about 5" off their cars' ride height. We were very, very disappointed that this car wasn't let out onto the track with a bunch of high-strung Italian race cars. 3800 pounds of Detroit iron coming through!

Rolling Nirvana

Imperfect perfection as a child is rarely equaled as an adult. Why do we remember games of "I'll show you mine if you show me yours" more fondly than some random hookup with a hottie picked up in a bar? Adult perfection is just more complicated. Spouses, jobs, locales, children of our own that we want to stuff so full of perfect moments that they can't possibly fail in life. And hopefully don't go around picking up STD's in bars. More »

Earlier today we spoke of the Napier-Railton setting a 1939 speed record at the Brooklands Motor Course outer circuit. Sections of the British race track are still intact, or as the photographer who took these pictures writes - lying derelict, broken into by Gallaghers. [Brooklands Race Track]

The 1933 Napier-Railton Special

Our favorite part of going to events like the Monterey Historics or the Pebble Beach Concours is seeing cars not only spit shined for static display, but also barreling around a race course. The 1933 Napier-Railton Special was built exclusively to run the Brooklands Motor Course high-banked oval at maximum velocity. In 1939 John Cobb pushed the 24-liter Napier Lion aircraft engine powered Special to a speed of 143.44 mph. This Brooklands outer circuit record stands unbroken today. The Napier-Railton wasn't moving at record speeds when the Brooklands Museum director wrestled the two-ton monster through the corkscrew at Laguna Seca. Then again, the car was never designed to turn right. [Motoring Exhibits via the Brooklands Museum]

Because One Can Never Have Too Much Can-Am

We've already yammered at length about the glory of Can-Am. It's one thing that Los Jalops can all agree on. Detroit brawn, Euro-sportiness, Texan ingenuity and enough sheer gobsmackery to make the most jaded automobile fan remember why he or she fell in love with cars in the first place. Little in this world is more awesome than even the most pedestrian Can-Am car. We had the action gallery the other day. Here're some shots from the paddock at Laguna Seca on Sunday. Go forth and drool, minons. Then drool some more.

1957 Elva Mark IIa at Monterey

We love us some British race cars around these parts, and this '57 Elva stopped us dead in our tracks at Laguna Seca. Powered by the venerable Coventry Climax engine, this thing was just itchin' to hit the track and beat some of those cars from the other side of the water.

1955 Aston Martin DB3S at Monterey

As much ass as 50s Italian race cars may kick, there's something about the British racing machinery of of the era that really hypnotizes us. Fortunately, we were able to function sufficiently in the presence of this '55 DB3S (see worship page here) to haul out the cameras. Our only regret is that we didn't get a chance to see this beast run.

Monterey Historics Can-Am Action Gallery

The 1966-1974 salad days of Can-Am racing were a result of the Sports Car Club of America and the Canadian Automobile Sports Club joining forces. The adoption of Group 7 FIA rules spawned a North American racing class with no restrictions on engine size or boost pressure. Tire size was wide open. Weight was optional. While there were no rules on construction materials, Can-Am cars had to have an open cockpit, two seats, and two doors. Unlimited rules encouraged innovative thinking. The Jim Hall Chaparral 2J featured not one but two engines. A snowmobile mill spun a set of rear-mounted fans that generated over 1000 pounds of downforce without need for drag-inducing wings. We didn't see the 2J or driver Jackie Stewart at the Monterey Historics, but we did catch Chris MacAllister of Indianapolis, Indiana drive his number 5 1971 McLaren M8F to the checkered flag.[Can-Am History via Vintage RPM]

Arrh, Matey! Thames Freighter Drops Anchor At Laguna Seca!

It's telling that each one of the three Jalopniks did a separate double-take and quick "Whoa- what's that thing?" as we encountered this Thames Freighter 800 van at Laguna Seca last weekend, a reaction that puzzled onlookers clustered around an Enzo a few yards away- here are these guys with press passes totally ignoring the Ferrari in favor of a van! It looked Econoline-ish from a distance (and, in fact, it is a Ford), but up close we realized that the Thames is even cooler. This van was sold in Britain as the Thames 400E (and here's a worship site that will explain more of its story), but fortunately they made an export version with left-hand drive. Judging by the black-on-yellow license plate, we assume this is one of the late-50s models. Check out the great nose vents, placed so as to direct air and bugs directly into the driver's crotch!

Jalopnik Choice Award: 1959 Fiat Abarth Zagato 750

With the old fashioneds well emptied and the hoopla surrounding the Pebble Beach Concours moving into forgotten, it is now time to present the never prestigious Jalopnik Choice Award. This 1959 Fiat 600-based Abarth Zagato 750 is part of the San Diego Collection, and on the block for a 125K. The Karl "Carlo" Abarth worked 750cc engine kicks out 57 horsepower, which propels the double bubble top coupe to a top speed of 112 mph! Fun to drive invariably comes as part of car's 1200-pound curb weight. Style is courtesy of Zagato. The final bid on this as-yet-unsold car was 88K. We're hoping to find the 500-dollar restorable version hidden underneath seventy three boxes of old Sunset magazines at a Burbank garage sale. [Fiat Zagato via the San Diego Collection]

Ferrari 512 BB LMs at Monterey

While Porsche 935s are supremely awesome and the DeKon Monzas force us into shit-eating-grin mode, we also dig the few oddball machines that wind up in the IMSA ranks at Monterey. For example, we present to you the Ferrari 512 BB LM. While it wasn't a particularly successful race car, it's pretty close to as sexy as it gets. The above model was campaigned by Charles Wegener of West Chicago, Michigan. It placed sixteenth under the crushing weight of a 935-and-Monza sea. The #100 BB of Kurt Schultz finished 26th. Still, we love these Ferraris just for being there. We could stare through that rear Lexan for hours. And we would have, were there not a race going on. [HowStuffWorks]

Monterey Historics IMSA Racing Action Gallery

There is a rawness to vintage race cars sorely missing from their more modern counterparts. The IMSA cars that closed the 2007 Monterey Historics at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca sent this point home in ten laps. Turbocharged and naturally aspirated Porsches tossed it up with V8 Corvettes and Monzas. A BMW, Ferrari, and a Ford were on track for race fan sonic amusement. Chad Raynal of San Jose took the checkered flag in his 1975 DeKon Monza. The symphony of forced-induction compression theatrics and atmospheric RPM was a winning combination for all. Our personal favorite was the lone 1974 Ford Capri RS3100 piloted by John "Ten-Tenths" Norman, who took tenth place.

Happiness is a Hot Monza

In our estimation, the two finest cards of the day at the Monterey Historics fell on Sunday — the resurrection of the Canadian-American Challenge Cup and the retro IMSA class (aka Group 7b in Historics parlance) are the two wish-we'd-been-there, can't-miss events of the weekend. And since commenter jrhmobile requested pics of the DeKon Monzas, we're happy to oblige him, especially considering this particular car, driven by Chad Raynal of San Jose, decimated a field consisting of insanely-turbocharged Porsche 935s, a few RSRs and even a wound-out Ford Capri, whose driver John Norman was one of the ballsiest, hooniest men of the weekend. The three DeKons in the contest all ended up in the top ten, but here're a few photos of the winning Monza shot while we were entering a pleasant haze courtesy of eight internally-combusting cylinders and a heaping helping of race gas. Enjoy the pre-race gallery; on-track action shall follow.

Ah, Joe Lucas Humor

While crossing the bridge to the media center on Saturday at Laguna Seca, we ran across a fellow wearing the shirt at left, bearing the legend: "LUCAS, Prince of Darkness. 'A gentleman does not motor about after dark. - Joseph Lucas.'" When we stopped the man to compliment him, Murilee noted that there are all sorts of things on the web dedicated to Lucas-deriding humor. You can buy said shirt here and peruse selected humorous jabs at Intermittently-Joltin' Joe's expense here. Our favorite? "It's not true that Lucas, in 1947, tried to get Parliament to repeal Ohm's Law. They withdrew their efforts when they met too much resistance." Rimshot, please.

Vespamino!

We saw all sorts of little vehicles zipping around as folks prepped their vintage race cars, from Segways to golf carts, but this was by far the coolest (and most useful for hauling Whitworth socket sets, cases of $50-a-quart oil, etc). This Vespa-with-truck-bed looked to be in great shape... but what's up with the drip pan? More »

Lexus IS-F Carves Raceway Laguna Seca

We really haven't seen too much of the Lexus IS-F since the meanish blue beastie rolled onto the fog-filled set at the Detroit Auto Show. This past weekend we not only saw a sweet pearl white IS-F, but we witnessed that same IS-F setting the pace for the vintage Can-Am and IMSA racecars on top of shredding some tires between rounds. A couple of IS350 sedans were also on track during the event, which was presented by Toyota. The IS-F, powered by a 5.0-liter directed-injected V8 producing more than 400 horsepower and 350 lb-ft of torque, carved well ahead of its tires barking Lexus brethren, and sang a sweet V8 song through the quad-tipped exhaust. It really did sound that good. It's a fine appearance of a car we'll likely see in dealerships by early 2008. More »

Zagato!

It's not as if we haven't enjoyed the designs that have flowed from the pens that led to bucks that led to wonderfully-formed sheetmetal that all began with the illustrious hand of Ugo Zagato some 88 years ago. But one of those moments where it all just really comes together — the tenth listen when the record one thought was really, really good the first time one hears it becomes an indelible part of one's soul, for example — happened while we were up in Monterey. Like most of our readers, we don't live with Zagato-designed vehicles as a part of our daily landscape as we do with say, Giugiaro machines. But the Zagatos were underfoot like a cat with a lackluster sense of danger wherever we turned on the Peninsula. And just like we get with weird cats, we're in love, love, love. [Zagato flickr pool]

Engine Pr0n From The Monterey Historics

While the other camera-burdened folks at the Monterey Historics were throwing elbows trying to get in position to shoot entire cars, we Jalopsters were leaning as far into engine compartments as we could manage without actually having wrenches in our hands. There were some painfully beautiful engines there, and we should be forgiven for saying things like "Hey, that thing looks like it would fit great in a Vista Cruiser!" Actually, with our brains completely befuzzed with Unobtainable Engine Overload, we were mostly just groaning out stuff like "Oooh. Engine pretty. Engine good." So here's the first installment of 2007 Monterey Historics Engine Porn for y'all. We got us some Italian, some American, and some British stuff here. Enjoy, and stay tuned for more.

What Would You Have Driven to Pebble Beach, Woodward Dream Cruise?

This week will be featuring a series of "What would you drive?" style questions. For today: Bumbeck and Johnson just terrorized the steak tartare and Dom Pérignon set south of San Francisco by rolling up to the "Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance" in a Kia. (God only knows how they reacted to Davey's ubiquitous (and orange) Husker Du shirt.) Meanwhile, Wert stalked the streets of Detroit, for once not at all overdressed, stalking the one perfect slice of American metal among the 55,000 cruisers out for the Woodward Dream Cruise. All of that begs today's question. What would you have shown up in?

Farewell, Monterey. Hello Again, L.A.

For dirt-poor gearheads with a penchant for the unloved and inexpensive as well as a passion for history, craftsmanship, design and wonderful noises, scoring a chance to hit the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance and its attendant and ancillary events is like being handed a golden ticket to an automotive fantasyland where Ferraris scream in the distance as one falls asleep at night, while race day is populated with barking Offenhausers, thundering big-block V8s and spitting, yowling Coventry Climaxes. New cars appear and old cars reappear, sometimes weathered by the ravages of time, others restored to a high-gloss sheen that's likely better than the condition in which the vehicle first arrived in its original owner's hands. We'll go so far as to say that although it's presented in a high-buck format, you owe it to yourself to experience the Monterey weekend at least once in your life. It's that good. If you missed our reportage due to excessive sleep and/or family life, fear not — we've got a link to the insanity here. What's more, there's plenty of goodness left to share throughout the week. Break out the eye peeler.

"Mormon Meteor" Duesenberg SJ Special Takes Pebble Beach Best in Show

It set a 24-hour speed record in 1935, hitting 135.58 miles per hour. Sixty-nine years later, The Duesenberg SJ Special "Mormon Meteor" sold for $4.45 million at a Pebble Beach Auction held by Gooding and Company. Now owned by Harry Yeaggy of Cincinnati, it's won the approval of the seersucker'd set at Pebble, taking this year's Best in Show award. The SJ Special isn't the average Duesenberg, any of which are far from the bell curve's center. The supercharged stock engine had been replaced by Augie Duesenberg and salt racer (and eventual Salt Lake City Mayor) Ab Jenkins, who adapted a 1,650 cubic-inch Curtiss Conqueror V12 to the Special's Duesenberg chassis and body. It's since been returned to its more civilized, Deusy-powered iteration by Noted Duesy restorer Chris Charlton of Maine, replete with imposing chrome "DUESENBERG" deco type along the hood and a chrome "Ab Jenkins" script on the cowl. Raise a julep in its honor. [Mormon Meteor] More »