The early 1970s were quite possibly the craziest years in Formula One and not only because of the mammoth sideburns. These were years of wild experiments in fields as apart as aerodynamics and sponsorship structures, and they produced fascinating evolutionary dead-ends like the Lotus 56, a turbine-powered, four-wheel…
STP returns to Nascar
STP, the iconic engine additive brand and logo, long known for its connections to Indy racing greats Andretti, Parnelli Jones, Gordon Johncock and some guy named Richard Petty, has been largely absent for 11 years in major American motorsports.
Fast And Furious Saleen Mustangs And Ford GT
If you watch the film you'll notice a lot of Saleen vehicles running around. Not only are these "extra cars" from the Saleen family of products, they're actually the Saleen family's personal vehicles. The white GT is Steve's personal vehicle. The orange Saleen S302 PJ, designed to pay homage to Parnelli Jones, is…
Silent Sam Turbine Livery Returns to Indy 500
In 1967 Parnelli Jones lead the Indianapolis 500 in an all-wheel drive entry built by Andy Granatelli - and powered by a jet turbine. With Jones at the wheel the turbine car almost won, but was felled by a spent bearing with but a few laps left in the race. "Silent Sam" was nonetheless a crowd favorite. Parnelli's son…
SEMA Show: Time Machine Huffs Sunoco, Churns Out Mustangs
At once both onward and backward into Trans Am racing are these two Ford Mustangs spotted at SEMA. The original was driven by none other than Parnelli Jones to multiple victories in the venerable American racing series that used relatively stock cars and both direction of turns. The 1969 1970 was originally built by…
Indy Retroness: The Lotus 56
Ray Harroun allegedly employed the first rear-view mirror in the 1911 Indianapolis 500. Fast forward 57 years to 1968, when Colin "Simplicate and Add AWD and Pratt & Whitney" Chapman entered three outrageous Lotus 56 turbine cars. Although they crashed and crapped out, they were enough of a threat that USAC legislated…
The Dirt, Scarcity and Emptiness of Current 909'd Offroading Kicked in…
We were just IM'ing with Scotto and got to listening to an old song by Jawbreaker that we used to cover when jamming with Bill Stroppe's grandson
The Parnelli Jones Saleen Mustang: Yeah, We've Got an East Bay Punk Ref …
Back in 1996, we were in a band with noted off-road guru (and Parnelli Jones' Baja co-winner) Bill Stroppe's grandson. Actually, it wasn't much of a band. It was just the two of us in a hallway in the performing arts building at Saint Mary's bashing out Jawbreaker cult classics and punk-kid mixtape staples like "Ache,"…
