The Times goes on to report that "the clear majority of team managers" think that Mosley's refusal to resign is hurting the sport. According to the paper, the Monaco Royal Family have expressed similar concerns. Mosley was ordered by the Royal family of Bahrain not to attend their F1 round, didn't attend the Spanish Grand Prix for fear of embarrassing King Juan Carlos and the Turkish Prime Minister's office approached Bernie Ecclestone to ensure their boss wouldn't encounter the besieged FIA President.

FIA's general assembly will meet on June 3rd for a vote of no confidence in their President. [via The Times]

The chassis was an aircraft style spaceframe and all wheels where suspended by way of double wishbones, horizontal coil springs, and cockpit adjustable oil dampers. With the car complete, it was tested at Monza ahead of its entry in the Italian Grand Prix, but the 75/25 weight distribution meant the car understeered magnificently, so it never raced. The car currently resides the Museo dell'Automobile in Turin, but we would pay good money to see that thing do a burnout or try to take a corner. [ and AntsPhoto]

The 1986 Pontiac Grand Prix 2+2 Aerocoupe may have a lowly 305ci V8 connected to a 4-speed slushbox, but this isn't a car you buy for the running gear. It's all about those special aerodynamic tweaks. The aero nose, bubble rear glass and fiberglass trunk lid with integral spoiler were the parts specific to the '86-only Aerocoupe. The buy-it-now price of $11,875 isn't exactly cheap, but the Pontiac might just make you feel like Richard Petty.

Bowtie guys, this '87 Chevy Monte Carlo SS Aerocoupe is for you. Sure, the Montes were much more common that the Pontiacs, but that just means they're more affordable now. This one has a buy-it-now price of $7,900. The Monte Carlo Aerocoupe does have lots in common with the standard SS model, but that sloping rear glass sure will set you apart from the rest of the mullet crowd. Mechanically, the Chevy and Pontiac are the same, though this MC does have a few more miles on the clock than the GP.

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[eBay listings here and here]

We're going to talk about this 1964 Oldsmobile Cutlass convertible first, because the seller is only going to offer this deal for, and I quote, "a VERY LIMITED time!" Now, you might hesitate to call this, uh, deal a car, since in fact it is a big heap of Oldsmobile-themed parts. However, you can turn this heap of parts, plus some time and money- well, OK, a helluva lot of time and money- into a beautiful Cutlass convertible that will turn heads at any locale you deign to grace with your presence. It looks like you get neither engine nor trans, but maybe they're buried in the heap somewhere; anyway, you can always build up a lugnut-snapping 455, add Rock Crusher transmission, and drop 'er right in. Just so's you know, the seller does "NOT HAVE TIME FOR TIRE KICKERS AND LO-BALLERS," so you'll need to let your 15 Benjamins do all the talking right away when you show up.

That Cutlass is a nice "car," sure, but sometimes when you're shopping for a heap of parts you want a Pontiac heap, know what we mean? Of course you do. That's why we want to pull your coat about this heap of parts associated with a former 1967 Pontiac Grand Prix convertible, which you can obtain for an unbelievable 2,500 bucks! The best thing about this listing is that there are four photographs, one of which shows a very nice Grand Prix, but the seller states "The two pictures of 'whole' cars are for reference only, and not the one for sale," so it's impossible to tell what you would actually be buying! Talk about establishing negotiating leverage! One of the photos shows what appears to be a Pontiac engine; maybe it's included and maybe it's a Ram Air 455! Don't listen to your fears, though- listen to your heart! Your heart says you need a great big convertible from The General, doesn't it? Well, there ya go!

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What's it gonna be for your breakaway? A Firebird? A Grand Prix? Or even a Geeee Teeeee Ohhhhhhh? With a theme song performed by musicians that rock almost as hard as the Fifth Dimension, the '69 Pontiacs were clearly aimed at those who were, like, hep. And, just so you know, you could get the Grand Prix with a 428 ($105 extra) and a four-speed (another $185). – Murilee Martin

Related:
Spy Photos: Next-Gen Pontiac Grand Prix? [internal]

Paukert the Exclaimer's pal "Life O'" Reilly Brennan dug up this gem of a clip from John Frankenheimer's classic racing film, Grand Prix. Featuring Jim Rockford before he got put away for a crime he didn't commit and subsequently moved into a trailer in Malibu, trading in his F1 car for a gold Firebird, the sounds and cinematography in this eight-minute blast around the Spa-Francorchamps circuit are simply the cat's ass. – Davey G. Johnson

Video: Spa-Francorchamps Section from Grand Prix [Winding Road]

Related:
Grand Prix! Movie Clip from 1966 Monza [Internal]

Although you're probably more interested in the "grid girls" — Team Germany's Nico Hulkenberg took the double win in Taupo, New Zealand, running in first place from start to finish in both the morning Sprint race as well as the afternoon Feature race. The win times two puts Hulkenberg's highly precise team firmly in the top spot in the "World Cup of Motorsport" standings. The nation of Bruce now has 65 points going into the next race in Sydney, Australia on February 4th, firming up the lead over new-to-second-place France with 46 points and the new-to-third-place hometown boys from New Zealand with 43 points. Coincidentally, that's also how the three nations finished the Feature race, allowing the 80,000 and some-odd crowd to bear witness to the first A1 Team — New Zealand's Jonny Reid, obvs — to place a driver on the podium in front of their home crowd. Still, the comment of the day's got to go to Germany's Hulkenberg, who told us everything we could ever want to know about the steak sauce man-love as he described the race:

"I got into my rhythm, I was able to find my pace and I could make a little gap between us. My manager was a little bit sick this week and I think I have caught something off him but I am all right."

Related:
In The Grip Of Steak Sauce Grand Prix Man-Love: Kiwi Reid Wins From Pole To Second Checker Flag At Sentul; Nevermind The Neutrality In Sepang: Swiss Steal Pole Position From New Zealand And Germany [internal]

We've been hearing for months about the new rear-drive GM cars on the horizon. You know the ones: the Australian-built, Zeta-such platform models set to give the US car-buying public a B12 shot, beginning with the 2009 Camaro. But aside from the pony cars, the Holden VE Commodore will donate its more sedate shape to a new Pontiac sedan, possibly dubbed G8. That car, which spies say will get new sheetmetal, will replace the current, front-drive Grand Prix. Reports earlier this year indicated the new model could debut at the Chicago show this Feburary in concept form, though the final product won't likely surface until 2008. As Bob Lutz said, "All will be revealed in Chicago." Hopefully he wasn't talking about the hot dogs. – Mike Spinelli

SPY PHOTOS: Pontiac Grand Prix(G8) [World Car Fans]

Related:
First Holden-Built Pontiac Could Be Unveiled in Chicago [internal]

A1GP Sepang International Circuit, Sepang, Malaysia [A1GP]

Related:
Lola 'Surprised' by Champ Car Panoz Choice [internal]

There's no question the late-60s Grand Prix cars were the sexiest in that series' history; there's plenty of old TV footage to back that up. But there's almost no way for we modern F1 watchers to get anything close to the kind of jeeblies they must have gotten from seeing a live GP race on the Green Hell of the N rburgring, back when the F1 was held on the Nordschleife and S dschleife. Then there are the names: Graham Hill, Jackie Stewart, Bruce McLaren, Dan Gurney, Jacky Ickx, and on. In this clip, Stewart narrates a brief tour of the 'ring during a practice session (presumably not while driving). And we even get a quick shot of "the jump." We never had it so good in history class.

And don't even think of not clicking through for TV coverage of the original 1967 Formula 1 Grand Prix of Germany. – Mike Spinelli

Related:
Like Every Hell But Kind of Green: The '56 German GP; Nissan Skyline Z-Tune on the Nurburgring; Flying the RUF Porsche 911 Yellow Bird on the Nurburgring [internal]

Stock up on Bordeaux, kids; the town of Speedway, Indiana will see another European invasion in 2007. The George- Hulme bunch has inked a one-year extension of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway's F1 contract, bringing the Grand Prix back to the track, likely in June. The one-year extension was as much of a commitment as track CEO Tony George would make, according to the Indianapolis Star, considering F1's footing, of which he said, "There are too many unanswered questions to commit any longer than that." George went on to say that he expects at least six drivers not to pull out of the race next year and that any disgruntled fan caught throwing Jug's fried chicken onto the track will be forced to peel the "F Michelin" stickers off the seat backs. [Thanks to Andy for the tip.]

F-1 racing will return to Speedway in 2007 [Indianapolis Star]

Related:
I Am Indy [internal]

It's been established John Frankenheimer's "Grand Prix" was recently released on DVD, joining Steve Lee Katzin's (and Steve McQueen's labor of love), "LeMans" on the world's store shelves and mail-rental sleeves. But which one is better? We've got our choice, but what's yours? Take the poll after the jump. Note: There's a write-in category, on which commenters can elaborate below. Hit us up for an invite at tips@jalopnik.com.

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A YouTube misanthrope called MisanthropeMojo has slapped up some clips from the 1966 John Frankenheimer movie Grand Prix, which may still be the greatest auto-racing movie ever filmed, or ever will be filmed. It's finally coming to DVD, really soon, and the shorts are just about the only commercial the DVD needs. (We've already got it on order for the Jalopnik library). Get 'em while you can.

Related:
More Movie Cars [internal]

Looks like Brooklyn, NY (old motto: "Don't make me crack your friggin' skull"; new motto: "Who's up for a ginger rub?") won't be hosting a Grand Prix any time soon. Our dahling sister site, Gawker, reports on how Paul Newman's effort to bring civilized racing to Mr. Kotter's stomping grounds has been thwarted by grass-protecting Federal hippies. Next stop, across the Verrazano Bridge to Staten Island (motto: "Don't ever come here") for possible Nascar action.

A Prix Grows Not in Brooklyn [Gawker]

Related:
Yo, Johnny, Make a Left at the Wall: Nascar Comes to NYC [internal]

The Race

History got a nod at historic Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Conn. on the first of July. The all-conquering Audi R8 raced in the spotlight — and won — one final time before being sent to pasture in favor of the new, Le Mans winning R10. Roger Penske's Porsche RS Spyders either lead or bit at the heels of the mighty R8 the entire race, coming up just short, but proving Team Penske is as dangerous as a Playmate with herpes in any race series in which they choose to compete — despite being in a lower, less powerful class than the Audis.

In The American Le Mans Series, four classes howl around the track at the same time in any race on the calendar: two prototype classes and two production-based Grand Touring classes. That means spectators watch four races happen simultaneously. At Lime Rock this year, paying crowds saw a heavyweight fight reminiscent of Ali/Frasier's Thriller in Manila, between the Corvette C6-Rs and the Aston Martin DBR9s. The two cars traded places throughout the race — the 'Vette's seven-liter V8 roaring deeply in counterpoint to the skull-shredding wail of the Astons' V12 — as they streaked down the front straight. In the end, the race was decided by 0.033 seconds — the closest finish ever in the history of the series.

One of the 'Vettes had been rudely shoved off the track by a prototype at the end of Lime Rock's esses, and now a lone C-6R was all that stood in the way of an Aston Martin 1-2 sweep in the final four minutes of a two-hour and forty-five-minute race — and it was well over a half mile behind the V12 banshees. During the next three minutes, the Corvette carved the competition on the narrow track like Billy Madison in a game of dodgeball. The crowd was screaming for America's sports car, and each time it passed it ate huge chunks of the Aston Martin lead. The cars were almost two wide as they launched into the dangerous downhill sweeper that lead to the front straight and the win. The Corvette had a run on and slid past the Aston Martin just after the finish line. The Aston had won it by a bumper after nearly three hours of action. The crowd kept cheering out of appreciation for a great race, no matter where their loyalties lay.

The Lot Scene and the Paddock

One of the most beautiful things about Lime Rock is that race fans get a show as soon as they pull into the parking lot. The cars spectators drive to watch the race are absolutely arresting. Parked two spots over from me was a British racer from another era, and probably a million-dollar car, in this Bentley.

Close by, on the other side, sat a red Lotus Europa.

Walking through the grass parking lots inside and outside the track I saw, within feet of one another two Ferrari 512TR Testarossas and a pair of sparkling new V10 BMW M5s.

Must be nice, right? One the other end of the sports car spectrum, but a short walk away, was this Lotus Elise — practically a matchbox car next to a Cadillac and an F-250.

Included in the price of your ticket is the privilege to enter the racers' paddock and get drool-on-the-tires close to the cars. You may also drool on the Pirelli girls, but the cars don't slap your face and call you a creep.

The nose section of the R8 was on display, showing off a special decal highlighting its eight overall series wins and its five wins in six years at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Here is your Penske Porsche Spyder RS team, about to storm to second and third place in class and overall.

The Corvette team was putting the finishing touches on their cars as I walked by, too bad this number three car was wadded into the wall after all that hard work.

The eventual race-winning 009 Aston Martin DBR9 showing a clean and organized engine bay. Not pictured is its teammate and eventual third place 007 car. Yes, like that 007.

This Dyson Lola's 3.6liter twin turbo V-8 is a little more complicated. Its driver, Butch Leitzinger, was on home turf at Lime Rock as a Connecticut native.

The winners in GT2 were Petersen Motorsports and their Porsche 911GT3 RSR. This was a brand new car, since their old RSR was annihilated in the eleventh hour at Le Mans two weeks earlier.

The drivers of the second place RSR of Team Flying Lizard, (and most other drivers in the series) wear shirts that pump cold water over their bodies to combat in-car heat that can top 150 degrees throughout the course of an hours-long stint behind the wheel. If that air were water, it would be hot enough to boil you alive.

BMW is back in ALMS racing this year with a strong showing out of a pair of E46 M3s. The duo finished third and fourth in class, and ninth and tenth overall, behind the RSRs.

The Risi Competizione Ferrari 430 GT Berlinetta is a beautiful thing. Or was. This one didn't finish the race after sliding off track at about 110mph on the downhill and hitting a prototype car which had wrecked in the same spot seconds earlier. The pictures came out great, though.

[by James Gribbon]

What? You've got a problem with our leading with a GM win in the latest JD Power quality survey? After all, the Japanese and Koreans (and a couple of Germans) absolutely wiped the floor with American carmakers. But this is a man-bites-octopus business we're in, dammit, and we're always looking for an angle. And here it is:

Large Car
1. Pontiac Grand Prix

There it is. Now go buy a couple, would you please?

Asians Dominate Quality Rankings [The Detroit News]

Related:
More on JD Power [internal]

Mattias, who is thankfully back to signing his comments (T-Blt, you need not worry anymore), dropped a link to a gallery of historic shots of the Silberfeile (Silver Arrows). It starts off totally awesome and gets really, really creepy. It's strange to think of all of the incredible engineering feats that came out of the Third Reich while watching a man incite so many to hatred, bloodshed and depravity. It's definitely worth a look.

Silberpfeile: Deutsche Rennwagen als Propaganda-Instrument [Der Spiegel]

Related:
The Full Awesomeness of the Auto-Union Type C [Internal]

What happens when you put Horch, DKW, Audi and Wanderer together, let Ferdinand Porsche design a crazy 32-valve, V16 pushrod motor that cranks out 520hp at five grand, and build one of the most aesthetically-badass bodies and chassis ever seen to put the thing in? You get the Auto-Union Type C. Put Bernd Rosemeyer in the cockpit, and you also walk away with the European Championship for 1936.

Auto Union Type C [Dennis David]

Related:
Renault's Espace F1 Matra: Racing's Minivan [Internal]

We simply must spend more time going over this new A1 Grand Prix racing business. Here's what we do know, so far. 1) Every car uses the same 3.4-liter V8, producing 520hp. Yes, good. We loves us some horsepower, and little V8s give us the tinglies. 2.) Every car uses the same carbon-fiber bodywork, the same aluminium honeycomb chassis, the same six-speed sequential tranny and the same 370/660R13s tires. Seems very democratic, no? No moneybags racing teams buying their way into pole position. Just pure, hot driver-on-driver action, just as Abraham Lincoln would have intended if he could have somehow known auto racing, or autos particularly, would someday exist.

But what may be the best detail about A1 racing is the steering-wheel-mounted PowerBoost system — a feature so latently obvious it'll have videogamers from Boston to Bangalore smacking their foreheads in disbelief. Each driver gets a limited amount of time to use the booster, which temporarily changes the engine's parameters to add 30hp — making near-constant changes in running order likely. For a quick commentary, we turn to one blogger at The Tri Force.

It s a videogame, legitimised, which could only be bettered by allowing some bored drivers to race around the track the wrong way, just to fuck everything up for everyone.

A1 Grand Prix

Related:
Porsche Festival Comes to Brands Hatch; Cosworth s 20,000rpm V8 [internal]