Bob is on a mission- you can tell by the serious set of his Harry Callahan-esque shades, or from his eagerness to endanger the lives of schoolgirls, truck drivers, in fact entire towns with his batshit driving style. But mostly you can tell by looking at his car: the Fiat 131. This 1970s ad, targeted at French-speaking African countries, shows how good the 131 is at roaring sideways down dirt roads, narrowly missing pedestrians, jumping creeks, and even allowing Bob to nod off at the wheel at high speed with no ill effects (and damn if the 131 doesn't sound sweet doing said hoonage- I'm ready to start looking for one myself). As the voiceover says: 'Que veux-tu faire, Bob? Tu n'es pas devenu fou, non?' ('What are you going to do, Bob? You haven't gone crazy, have you?') Of course he has! And so can you, in a 131! – Murilee Martin

Fiat 131 [Wikipedia]

Related:
No Dickering! [internal]

Seeing as it's already Day 4 of the Dakar Rally and we've been lax in posting about the goings on over on the Portugal-Senegal run, we thought we'd toss out a link to Hog Wild Racing's blog. Scott Whitney and Duane McDowell are a couple of Southern California sidecar racers who have put together something that's a bit more than a KTM or a Beemer with a sidehack strapped to it. Their machine, which has won at Pikes Peak, is powered by a water-cooled Harley motor out of V-Rod. Which sounds Andy Dick-nuts, but it apparently works. [Thanks to Denis for the tip.]

Hog Wild News

Related:
Dakar Rally to Start from Lisbon, Feature Speed Limits [Internal]

Forget fireworks and champagne-goggling subpar members of the opposite sex this New Year's. Instead, why not spend it bombing across Europe and North Africa in the Paris-Dakar Rally? The race, which begins New Year's Eve and continues through January 15th starts in Lisbon, Portugal this year for the first time. Also new on the docket are rules limiting GPS-related navigational tactics and a 150 kph speed limit for bikes and tricks, imposed after two motorcyclists died last year. 508 teams will make the intercontinental run this year, which we feel is criminally underreported here in the US. After all, wouldn't you rather watch off-season NASCAR coverage?

Dakar Rally to start from Lisbon for first time [Reuters]

Related:
Dakar Rally: The Most Dangerous Sporting Event in the World [Internal]