It Is Perfectly Reasonable To Fear Death In A 1927 Bugatti
Welcome to Must Read, where we single out the best stories from around the automotive universe and beyond. Today we have reports from Petrolicious, Hooniverse and Grantland.
Fearing Death In A 1927 Bugatti Is Addicting — Petrolicious
Balls. Huge, brass balls.
It's the first day of Journées d'Automne 2013 rally (Days of Autumn) organized with the help of Veuve Clicquot and Chapal, and the car, a 1927 Bugatti Type 35B, wears the its signature French blue with a glorious patina. Powering this 750kg Grand Prix racer is a tiny 2.3-liter 8-cylinder engine putting out somewhere around 140 HP with the help of its supercharger. There are no seatbelts or roll-bars. A helmet and my ability to keep myself inside the car are the only safety devices available.
My First Track Day: I was Transformed in the Turns and my Soul was Saved on the Straightaways — Hooniverse
Writer Ann Morey takes her 2006 BMW Z4 M Coupe to a track for the first time and it changes her life. I know exactly how she feels.
All of a sudden, I'm finding apexes. I'm not turning into corners too early. And then, on one of the last laps of the run, IT CLICKS. I set M up for turns five and six perfectly, and she rewards me by speeding through the turns with complete control. It feels amazing! I scream. We have a moment and my heart swells with love for M.
Man Up — Grantland
If you don't read anything else today, read this Grantland piece on the Richie Incognito scandal in the NFL and its larger lessons about masculinity and "warrior culture" in sports. It will change your perspective.
I am here to hurt you, so I'll also say this: You're a warrior, cool. What the hell are you a warrior for? I'm sorry if this makes it sound like I have emotions other than anger — I assure you that I don't — but tell me this: What's the point of being strong if all you stand for is abusing a suffering teammate? Those guys who taught me that when you see a problem, you step up and solve it, all those anonymous sources foaming on about how to be a man — is that what they think "being a man" is? I mean, nothing about protecting someone who's struggling in your big gender equation, then? Nothing about, like, knowing right from wrong?
Photo credit dicktay2000