Welcome to Must Read, where we single out the best stories from around the automotive universe and beyond. Today we have reports from Speedhunters, NYC Aviation and Hemmings.
Meeting Your Heroes: Inside a Group B Legend – Speedhunters
Never mind that it's relatively tiny, the Ford RS200 is a monster. Here's a very inside look at this impressive machine.
There remain a lot of misconceptions about the Group B cars. As the years have gone on since the class was banned, the cars appear to have gained more horsepower and become faster year after year. It's fair enough that we like to look back at the era with a certain amount of fondness, but it does make it difficult to uncover the facts.
Don't You Believe It: Choosing Your Aviation News Source – NYC Aviation
A site with checking out, now with a good breakdown of how wrong some outlets are getting the coverage of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.
Now we see it again with Malaysia Airlines flight 370. Several mainstream media outlets hunt for facts and have been reporting speculation. Some report what they can and then call in some more reliable folks for the nitty gritty portions, which is how it should be done. Some websites hold back and would rather report that there is nothing new to report instead of just adding rumor and conjecture. It is sometimes better to remain silent than to add to the loud, confusing mess that is public debate.
Down the Gasoline Trail with Jam Handy – Hemmings
A "Must Watch," it's a rather exuberant explainer about the workings of a gas-powered engine. Hey, a car was still kind of a new thing 79 years ago.
Drivers in the prewar years were quite a bit more curious as to how automobiles functioned, and filmmaker Jam Handy seemed perpetually ready to demystify its internals for the American driving public. In 1935, Chevrolet sponsored a Jam Handy film entitled Down the Gasoline Trail, which traced the path of a gasoline droplet (in cartoon form) from the gas tank, through the fuel system, through the combustion process and out the exhaust.
Photo: Getty Images