Capricorn: it's not just a sexy, sexy sign for all you jive mamas out there. It's the automotive supplier from Dusseldorf that just bought the 'Ring and they make some cool shit.
Capricorn makes high-end parts including, and I quote from their about page, "primarily high-end crankshafts, cylinder liners, pistons, connecting rods and fibre-reinforced composite materials."
But whoa holy crap they make complete new Porsche 904 engines! Here's that shot of the exploded engine, which you can buy as individual parts or as full motors.
That's a brand-new, gear-driven, four-cam aircooled Carrera engine right there. It can slot into your 356, 550 Spyder, or 904 GTS you lucky bastard. Not that it's cheap — a complete motor is €120,000, or $157,000.
Ok, but what about the new new, high tech stuff. Well, if you google around you find some serious hardware. The pistons in the McLaren 12c? Capricorn. The cylinder internals in Red Bull's F1 cars? Capricorn. Crankshafts for Renault and Ferrari engines (at least circa 2010)? Capricorn. The carbon chassis for the Peugeot 908 LMP1 cars? Capricorn.
It's easy to believe Capricorn's success sheet - if you count cars that they have components in, they're associated with 10 F1 maufacturer's championships, 9 F1 driver's world championships, 10 WRC manufacturer championships, 3 NASCAR Sprint Cup wins, 7 overall Le Mans wins, 10 Dakar wins, and a MotoGP championship, too. And that's just the highlights.
And that's all I could find in a few minutes. Their website is rather modest when it comes to specifics, so I'm sure you can find more crazy crap they've made.
Photo Credit: Capricorn