Ken & Mary's Story.

Today we have an overview of the somewhat famous Ken and Mary ad campaign that ran in Japan for the 1972 Skyline. It's an interesting and, for its time, somewhat innovative series of commercials. There's limited voice over about the car's specifics, and most of the ad is a series of shots of Ken and Mary touring the countryside in their blue 1972 Skyline coupe (it magically morphs into a white sedan in some of the later spots as well as a 2000 GT-S). As such, it's an early example of a "lifestyle" ad, where the product is presented as fitting into a fantasy and becoming an integral part of that life.

Two things kind of irk me. One is that Mary becomes a different, more Japanese woman about half way through the series, the other is that not a single one of the 193 KPGC-110 GT-Rs make an appearance. All in all though it's an enjoyable little watch and the story is actually kind of romantic... it just would have been more romantic with a GT-R. Huh, am I right?

1958 Coup Des Alps, Thank You Shell.

It's a long one, (If you're watching at work, take care to at least look like you're getting something done). But I really would watch this, so sit back and take a moment. It's a film taken by Shell Oil for the 1958 Alpine Rally, and it's a great window into what rally driving used to be like. It's also some of the prettiest motor racing footage I've ever seen (Rallying was done almost entierly on public roads at the time), and features names like Paddy Hopkirk and eventual winner Bernard Consten, as well as enduring gearhead crush object Pat Moss. There's also super-rare in-period footage of a Denzel (an early Porsche rival) which unfortunately comes to grief on one of the Stelvio Pass' less forgiving walls. Of course there's lots of great engine noise, especially from Consten's Alfa SZ.

Really though, it's the footage of Europe in the 1950s that's so captivating. It's amazing how colorful and empty everything looks, a timely look back at a world now completely past.

Hitler Expresses My Views On The Nissan GTR.

Adolf my boy, I couldn't agree with you more... you know, on this one little thing. The whole " Final Solution and the Lebensraum, you're on your own with that stuff.

Aston DB-2 Makes For Sexiest Hill-Climb Special Ever.

Just the thing for a Thursday afternoon pick-me-up, a grainy, hand-held video of an Aston Martin DB-2 being hill-climbed at a rate of speed I still can't quite believe. This thing must have a full-on DB-3S motor in it. It sounds like hell breaking loose too. Enjoy!

Audi Make Gallardo Irrelevant... Again.

It's not as if anyone has ever been fooled by the platform sharing between the Lamborghini Gallardo and Audi's R8.The second the R8 hit the market, the Gallardo seemed obsolete, even the Superleggera (at a mere 100lb lighter Semi-leggera may be a better tag) version.
The Audi was slightly slower, but by all accounts, it was a much more finished product, sporting sublimely resolved dynamics, and a much nicer driving environment; it also cost a heap less than the Lambo.

So I was really happy when earlier this year Lamborghini released the Gallardo 560-4. Here was a Gallardo that would put clear water between Lamborghini and Audi. Sure the motor was closely related to the one in the Audi RS6, but at least it made the little Lambo supercar quick and rendered the R8 its lesser brother, at a price. The car has gotten great reviews as well, and did well enough at evo Car of the Year to come second behind Nissan's media darling GTR. So far the only negative comments have concerned the Gallardo's old bugbear, its cermaic/composite brakes; as usual, the brakes are full of power, but sudden, and lacking in feel. Still, it's a good update with lots of extra performance and new, sharper looks. Good job Lamborghini, well done, now let's have a true Superleggera version with sharper dynamics, at least 150-kilos knocked off, and rear-drive.

Not so fast. It seems Audi couldn't resist dumping the Gallardo's new motor into the middle of the R8 to create... the R8 5.2 V10. Oh yes they did! Of course they've made it a little less powerful, and heavier, and slower... and, well that's about it really. It's the same car in almost every respect. Aluminum body over Aluminum space-frame, check. 5.2-liter V10 with direct injection, check. Six-speed manual gearbox, check. And I don't think for a second that anyone is going to care about 2/100s of a horsepower per kilo, which is the power to weight difference, or the two-tenths of a second longer that the R8 takes to reach 60mph. I do however think that the Audi's more advanced DSG transmission may perk some ears, and that its electromagnetically adjustable suspension will garner some attention. Mostly though, I think it's going to be a matter of price; the Gallardo will be selling at a disadvantage of something like $40,000 when the R8 V10 arrives on these shores.

Audi seem to be trying to ram home the sameness of the R8/Gallardo ranges. The press releases for both cars read similarly, and feature studio shots of the car in white. As you can see in the pictures, the angles are strikingly similar as well. This strikes me as odd considering they may want to sell a few of both cars, and I can't help but think that Audi would do well to take a page from Detroit's pony-car book and attempt to emphasize the differences between the two cars in their advertising. Just a thought...

I wonder too where all this is going to go if and when Porsche succeed in taking over a majority stake in VAG. What will happen with Audi playing at Cool Germania, Porsche staying all Rennen Sport, Bugatti keeping its role as the Super-Dupercar manufacturer, and Lamborghin as... as what? What exactly is Lamborghini to do with all those bases covered?

As usual, I have the answer. All VAG has to do is let Lamborghini be Lamborghini. I'm not talking about letting them buy Fiat indicator-stalks or design their own electrical systems. I just think Audi should let them build their own car. Here's an example. When the replacement for the Gallardo/R8 range is released in a few years (if at all), both cars should use the same aluminum platform. But then, use your imagination when it comes to cost cutting. The engines can be from a modular family, but let Lamborghini have a 12 cylinder version with a higher-strung personality. Give the Lambo the purity of rear wheel drive, and a truly stunning interior (seriously, at this point the German car looks more Italian on the inside), and don't let a dutchman design it. In short, let Lamborghini be Italian. Ford actually had great success with this strategy with Aston Martin, taking a marque on the brink of extinction and turning it into one of the most fashionable names in the sports car world.

Rest assured, this situation will come to a head. If Lamborghini are to remain a prestige marque and have an answer to future Ferraris, it will need to be perceived as something other than a re-bodied Audi carrying a 25% price hike. Let's hope VAG come up with a real reason to own Lamborghini; it's be a shame if this marque ceased to be as relevant to enthusiasts now as it once was to ten year old boys with Countach posters on their walls.

9ff Answer The Question No One Asked.

Well, we've been seeing 9ff's new darling, the little GT9-R in photos for a while. Now though, a video has surfaced. It's not long, but it is the first time we've gotten to see the car in motion, or hear it run. The wail it will undoubtedly produce as it tears its way to 7000rpm will have to wait, what we get here are parking lot maneuvers and a lot of off-idle rumble. Still, it looks fab in its Veritech-ish paint job and bubble-top, and sounds suitably businesslike. Crucially, it also shows that 9ff have figured out how to keep the engine cool without all that exposed radiator nonsense that so uglied the rear of the earlier GT9 prototypes.



Business is exactly what this car is about. Essentially it's a Porsche 997 GT-3 that's been chopped in half just aft of the doors, and had its rear replaced with a braced sub-frame which is stiffer, lighter, and allows the engine to be carried amid-ships rather than slung out back. That engine is 9ff's own 4-liter version of Porsche's traditional flat-six producing a scarce believable 1120bhp in a car weighing at 70kg less than the original. If that sounds a lot like RUF's CTR-3, and Porsche's own 911-GT1, well, it is, but as this car is not bound by any racing regulations, it promises to be much faster than Zuffenhausen's 90s racer. Expect 0-60mph to take less than three seconds, top speed to be over 250mph, while the price is likely to be expressible only using higher maths.

In the mean time, here's a pretty picture.

Sigh...

Pretty, isn't it...