Category Archives: Classics

Classic Car Roadtrip: 1968 Renault 8 Gordini – Lisbon To Algarve In Portugal

January 22, 2021 boomersdaily Leave a comment

In the late 1960s, Portuguese racing driver Heitor de Moraes took his Renault 8 Gordini from Corsica to Poland, rallying all across Europe. Now, the ocean blue car has found a new owner and a new sportive duty – carrying surfboards in style from Lisbon to the Algarve.

The year was 1968: six years before the so-called ‘Carnation Revolution’. Life in Portugal at that time could be tough. Not for Heitor de Moraes, though: this was the year he became the first owner of a pretty special blue car. Fast-forward to 2020, and another chapter of the car’s history was written, with its third owner also driving it along the curving roads of southern Portugal. Only this time, with surfboards on the roof.

The car was purchased from Timeless Garage in Lisbon (which had carried out a full restoration) and that’s why the story you see in the pictures starts there. A few days later, after some small mechanical corrections and a surfboard roof rack installation, the real mission began: the blue car hit the curves of the Algarve once again. It quickly became clear that even after more than 50 years, Amédée Gordini’s great engineering talent still shines through.

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Auto Racing, Automobiles, Classics, Profiles

Classic Cars: Restoring The ‘Finest Jaguars’ At CKL Developments In Engand

January 8, 2021 boomersdaily Leave a comment

“It’s a privilege to work with these fantastic cars,” enthuses James “and we benefit from incredible craftsmen and Chris’ vast experience. These are important cars, looked after sympathetically. When we restore cars, we’re careful and fastidious in retaining the soul, but we also understand that cars evolve”.

In keeping with the colour British Racing Green, CKL Developments prides itself on being understated, not flashy. Inside a pristine brace of high-roofed, modern industrial units near Hastings, in Britain’s East Sussex countryside, you’ll find cars that are maintained to be enjoyed, driven and raced.

CKL is not, the team is at pains to point out, a museum. It’s the absolute authority on Jaguar-engined sports cars of the ’50s and ’60s and looks after some of the most historic and important British cars of that era, sympathetically restored, preserved of soul and performing at their zenith. The team can service, restore, repair, prepare, race, build, sell, store and transport your pride and joy as required.

2021 Public Domain: F. SCOTT FITZGERALD’s ‘The Great Gatsby’ (Podcast)

Audio January 2, 2021 boomersdaily 1 Comment

NPR’s Scott Simon reflects on the legacy of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. The literary classic’s copyright expired on the first day of 2021.

The copyright on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby expired on the first stroke of 2021 and the book entered the public domain.

The classic 1925 novel of love foiled, ambitions foisted, class and betrayal sold fewer than 25,000 copies before Fitzgerald died. It has since sold nearly 30 million. I gave our daughter the copy I had in high school when she read it last year. The Great Gatsby has been turned into stage productions, an opera, five film versions, a Taylor Swift song and inspired innumerable prequels, spinoffs and variations.

In the public domain, Gatsby may now become even more familiar. Two new editions are about to come out and who knows what kind of projects — a Gatsby rom-com? Gatsby joins The Avengers? — might now get a green light, which recalls the imperishably eloquent last passage of the book: “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us.”

Gatsby’s Jazz Age Long Island may not look like a microcosm of contemporary America. Neither does Don Quixote, The Scarlet Letter, Macbeth or Their Eyes Were Watching God. We want young readers to be able to see themselves in stories; but literature can also show us that people we don’t think are much like us at all turn out to have some of the same heart, blood and dreams. That can be the power of empathy in art.

Automobiles, Classics, Collections, Profiles, Videos

Collections: The Amazing Classic Cars Of Germany’s Michael Fröhlich (Video)

Video January 2, 2021 boomersdaily Leave a comment

From 0 to 100 km/h in 2.4 seconds – that’s how fast the Elektrus can accelerate, making it one of the fastest electric cars in the world. It’s just one of the many exceptional cars in Michael Fröhlich’s collection. The German multi-millionaire collects and designs cars of all types; from vintage vehicles to curious custom-builds that more resemble works of art. He even owns one of the Queen’s old Rolls Royces, but he’s deliberately letting that fall apart…

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Automobiles, Classics, Transportation, Videos

Classic Cars: The ‘1955 Chevrolet Bel Air’ (Video)

Video December 25, 2020 boomersdaily Leave a comment

The 1955 Chevrolet (sometimes referred to as ‘55 Chevy) is an automobile which was introduced by Chevrolet in Autumn 1954 for the 1955 model year. It is considered a huge turning point for the manufacturer and a major success. It was available in three models: the 150, 210, and Bel Air.

The ’55’s top trim offering was the Bel-Air, which had more chrome than the 150 or 210. The Bel-Air, 210 and 150 model could be bought as a four-door, or could be bought as a two door with a post between the front and rear passenger windows, known as the two-door sedan.

The Bel-Air or 210 model could also be had as a two door with no post between the side windows. This was known as the sport coupe, or better known by collectors as “the two door hardtop”. Since this model had no post between the two side windows, it had a shorter roof and longer rear deck than the two door sedan had. Chevy also offered a convertible, with the same shorter roof and longer rear deck as the sport coupe, and it was offered in Bel-Air trim only.

1955 also saw the introduction of the Bel Air Nomad, a sporty two-door station wagon which featured frameless door glass and elongated side windows. The unique roof design of the Nomad came directly from the 1954 Corvette Nomad, a “dream car” designed to be shown at auto shows as a concept sport wagon. Although regarded as one of the most beautiful station wagon designs of Fifties, the Nomad sold poorly, partly due to its price tag (one of the most expensive models in the Bel Air lineup) as well as its lack of four doors. Also the Nomad’s two-piece tailgate design was prone to let excess rainwater leak through to the interior.

The ’55 offered a wide array of colors. One solid color, which was standard for the 150, could be had for the 210 or Bel Air…or nineteen different two-tone color combinations were also available.

Automobiles, Classics, Transportation, Videos

Top Short Film: ‘Gullwing’ – Story Of ‘Most Iconic Car Of All-Time’ (Video)

Video December 18, 2020 boomersdaily Leave a comment

Animated and Directed by: João Elias

Have you ever seen a car spreading its wings? Now you do.

This is a full cgi shortfilm featuring the most iconic car of all time, the Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing, at least in my opinion…
I always loved this car, and when I first started this project, I didn’t just wanna make a car rolling by in the desert, I knew there was a bigger story to make, it had to fly. Following its name legacy, I dived deep in this crazy rollercoaster of assembling car parts, raging though the desert of Bonneville salt flats, in order to build a full chassis so the flying body kit could land. After this, the rest is music. A symphony of a few animated shots of this beauty gloriously riding through the desert, creating clouds of smoke through the landscape while hearing that amazing engine roaring.

This is “Gullwing”.

Music: Evan Macdonald.
Sound design: João Elias

The Mercedes-Benz 300 SL (chassis code W 198) is a two-seat sports car that was produced by Mercedes-Benz as a gullwinged coupe (1954–1957) and roadster (1957–1963). It was based on the company’s 1952 racer, the W194, with mechanical direct fuel-injection which boosted power almost 50% on its 3-litre overhead camshaft straight-6 engine. Capable of reaching a top speed of up to 263 km/h (163 mph), it was both a sports car racing champion^[4] and the fastest production car of its time.

Max Hoffman, Mercedes-Benz’s authorized United States importer at the time, inspired the 300 SL and correctly perceived an American market for such a car. The company introduced the 300 SL in February 1954 at the International Motor Sports Show in New York City instead of in Europe to get it into U.S. buyers’ hands sooner.

SL is the short form for “super-light” in German, Mercedes’ first use of the designation, referring to the car’s racing-bred light tubular frame construction.

The 300 SL was voted the “sports car of the century” in 1999.

Auto Racing, Automobiles, Classics, Travel, Videos

Classic Car Racing: ‘Inside The 2020 Mille Miglia’, Italy

Video December 13, 2020 boomersdaily Leave a comment

This year, the race had its own challenges, as the pandemic ripped across the world. The Mille Miglia usually takes place in May, but was postponed until October this time round — and many had feared it might be cancelled altogether. But the show must go on — and the sight of more than 400 stunning classic cars glinting in the autumn sun is one I will remember for a very long time.

The first Miglia Mille took place in 1927, founded by a group of car enthusiasts in the town of Brescia, Northern Italy — the race was their response to the region’s loss of the Italian Grand Prix to Monza, seven years earlier. A 1,000 mile loop around Northern Italy (hence the name), the race took place every year for three decades, save for a break during the Second World War. But the perilous, do-or-die nature of the contest led to many crashes and more than ten fatalities, and the final chequered flag fell in 1957. In the 1970s, the Mille Miglia was reborn as we know it today — more of a grand tour than a hotly-contested, breakneck race (although some drivers, even now, forget this from
time to time.)

Auto Racing, Automobiles, Classics, History, Videos

Classic Cars: The ‘1929 Bentley Blower’ (Video)

Video December 10, 2020 boomersdaily Leave a comment

One of the most iconic cars from Bentley’s history – Sir Tim Birkin’s 1929 supercharged 4½-litre “Blower” – is to be reborn with a new build of 12 matching cars, each individually handcrafted by a team of specialists from Bentley’s bespoking and coachwork division, Mulliner. Together, the new cars will form the world’s first pre-war race car continuation series.

Only four original ‘Team Blowers’ were built for racing by Birkin, in the late 1920s. All were campaigned on the racetracks of Europe, with the most famous car – Birkin’s own Team Car No. 2, registration UU 5872 – racing at Le Mans and playing a pivotal role in the factory Bentley Speed Six victory in 1930.

Now, using a combination of generations of handcraftsmanship skills and the very latest digital technology, the 1929 Team Blower will be the master example for 12 continuations – one for each race that the original fleet of four Team Blowers competed in.

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Automobiles, Classics, Technology, Transportation, Videos

Automobile Tech: ‘Zero Labs’ Offers New Electric Platform For Classic Cars

Video December 7, 2020 boomersdaily Leave a comment

After more than 5 years of engineering and testing and use in all 2020/2021 full vehicle rebuilds, we are now proud to offer electric platforms which are designed to transform four gasoline and diesel vehicle formats each with numerous makes, models and size configurations. Final specifications and full list of available model sizes will be available prior to manufacturing.

Auto Racing, Automobiles, Classics, Videos

British Cars: ‘1959 Austin Healey 3000’ (Video)

Video November 20, 2020 boomersdaily Leave a comment

Perfectly patinated, period competition success, a legendary rally-driver owner and a super fan who kept the car for 51 years. This is probably the best-preserved example of a ‘works’ Big Healey.

The original 100 was named as a nod to its top speed, while the 3000 – released in 1959 – was named for its larger engine capacity. Straight away, the more powerful car was successful, with Pat Moss (Stirling’s sister) winning the challenging Liege-Rome-Liege rally in 1960.

This ‘Works’ Big Healey, now available with Henderson Fellowes, was prepared by the BMC Competition Department for the 1961 season and made its debut on the legendary and gruelling Acropolis Rally in Greece, where Peter Riley and Tony Ambrose steered the car to first in class and third overall.

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