Friday, September 28, 2012

1987 Lotus 99T Satoru Nakajima 1:43 F1










From Wikipedia:
 The Lotus 99T is a Formula One car designed by Gérard Ducarouge for use by Lotus in the 1987 season.

After Renault pulled out of F1 at the end of 1986, Lotus signed a deal with Honda for use of their turbocharged 1.5-litre engine. Due to Honda's existing deal with Williams which allowed that team exclusive use of the 1987-spec RA167E unit, Lotus instead used the previous season's RA166E. As part of the deal, Lotus agreed to sign Honda's test driver Satoru Nakajima as teammate to Ayrton Senna.

Lotus also had a new title sponsor and livery, with the black and gold of John Player Special being replaced by the bright yellow and blue of Camel.

The 99T was the second Lotus chassis to be fitted with electronic active suspension after the team had experimented with the system on the Lotus 92 used in the first part of the 1983 season. The system's benefits of a consistent ride height with no pitch or roll in the chassis came at a cost, as the system added significant weight to the car (approx 25 kg or 55 lb), and also robbed the Honda turbo of approximately 5% of its power (the RA166E was rated at approximately 900 bhp (671 kW; 912 PS) with 1987s 4.0 Bar turbo-boost restriction). Ducarouge clawed as much performance back by spending many hours in the wind tunnel to compensate, although by the end of the season Senna was describing the car as nothing more than the previous year's 98T with a Honda engine instead of the Renault. The 99T was generally regarded as the bulkier of the cars that won a Grand Prix in 1987 with the Williams FW11B, McLaren MP4/3 and Ferrari F1/87 all regarded as better aerodynamically than the Lotus. Despite this, the 99T (especially in Senna's hands) was often among the fastest cars in a straight line.

Friday, September 21, 2012

1955 Buick Century Police 1:26 Maisto











From Wikipedia:

Buick Century is the model name that was used by Buick for a line of upscale full-size cars from 1936 to 1942 and 1954 to 1958, as well as from 1973 to 2005 for mid-size cars.

The first Buick Century debuted in 1936 as a shorter and lighter model featuring the same engine as the bigger Roadmaster and Limited series giving it more performance. The Century name was then used on six generations of cars of varying sizes as well as performance and trim levels.

In 1969, Buick developed a concept car known as the Century Cruiser.

Friday, September 14, 2012

1999 Honda S2000 Hot Wheels 1:64









From Fandom:
 Ryu Asada's favorite JDM of all time, the Honda S2000 first appeared as a 2011 New Model. The S2000 sports a customized look with a hardtop roof, roof air scoop, front splitter, rear wing and custom bonnet.

From the back of the 2011 card:
Born: 1999
Birthplace: Tochigi, Japan
Designer: Honda Motor Company
Specialty: Lighter than its predecessor, with even stiffer structure/suspension tune, stickier tires, special interior trim, and a bolt-on aluminum hardtop, this sleek roadster is ready to cruise.

Friday, September 7, 2012

1954 Austin-Healey Hot Wheels 1:64








From Fandom:
 The Austin-Healey is a Hot Wheels casting designed by Phil Riehlman based on a vehicle by the same name. The tool debuted in the 2000 First Editions. This casting is a replication of an Austin-Healey 100/4 from 1953 to 1956. The Austin-Healey is among the biggest icons of the British sports car heyday era, along with the Triumph TR6, with designs like this also spawning the Japanese Datsun Fairlady Sport in 1959.

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

1976 March 761 Ronnie Peterson 1:43 F1










From Wikipedia:
 Bengt Ronnie Peterson (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈrɔ̌nːɪ ˈpêtːɛˌʂɔn]; 14 February 1944 – 11 September 1978) was a Swedish racing driver. Known by the nickname 'SuperSwede', he was a two-time runner-up in the Formula One World Drivers' Championship.

Peterson began his motor racing career in kart racing, traditionally the discipline where the majority of race drivers begin their careers in open-wheel racing. After winning a number of karting titles, including two Swedish titles in 1963 and 1964, he moved on to Formula Three, where he won the Monaco Grand Prix Formula Three support race for the 1969 Grand Prix. Later that year he won the FIA European Formula 3 Championship and moved up into Formula One, racing for the March factory team. In his three-year spell with the team, he took six podiums, most of which were scored during the 1971 Formula One season in which he also finished as runner-up in the Drivers' Championship.

After seeing out his three-year contract at March, Peterson joined Colin Chapman's Team Lotus in the 1973 season, partnering defending champion Emerson Fittipaldi. During his first two seasons with Lotus, Peterson took seven victories, scoring a career-best 52 points in 1973. After a poor 1975 season, Peterson moved back to March and scored his final victory for the team at the 1976 Italian Grand Prix. After spending the 1977 season with Tyrrell, he moved back to Lotus for the 1978 season as number two driver to Mario Andretti. Peterson scored two wins, at the South African and Austrian Grand Prix races, and finished second in the Drivers' Championship standings despite his fatal first-lap accident at Monza during the Italian Grand Prix.

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

1968 Chevrolet Camaro SS 396 Convertible Maisto 1:24













From Wikipedia:
 The styling of the 1968 Camaro was very similar to the 1967 design. With the introduction of Astro Ventilation, a fresh-air-inlet system, the side vent windows were deleted. Side marker lights were added on the front and rear fenders which was a government requirement for all 1968 vehicles. It also had a more pointed front grille and divided rear taillights. The front running lights (on non-RS models) were also changed from circular to oval. The big block SS models received chrome hood inserts that imitated velocity stacks and low-gloss black rear tail light panel.

The rear shock absorber mounting was staggered to resolve wheel hop issues and higher performance models received multi-leaf rear springs instead of single-leaf units. A 396 cu in (6.5 L) producing 350 hp (261 kW) at 5200 rpm and 415 lb⋅ft (563 N⋅m) of torque at 3400 rpm big block engine was added as an option for the SS,[16] and the Z28 appeared in Camaro brochures. The 427 cu in (7.0 L) was not available as a Regular Production Option (RPO). Several dealers, such as Baldwin-Motion, Dana, and Yenko, offered the 427 as a dealer-installed replacement for the factory-supplied 396 cu in (6.5 L) engine.

Chevrolet's Special Production Division wanted to promote the Z28. They had to convince Chevrolet's General Manager Pete Estes, but the General Manager only drove convertible vehicles, and the Z/28 was never produced as a convertible. A Central Office Production Order (COPO) was placed for the only Z/28 convertible Camaro ever created.[17] The car was placed in the executive garage which Pete Estes had access to. Upon driving the vehicle, he promptly gave approval for promotion of the Z/28. A 1968 Z/28 famously competed in the 1971 British Saloon Car Championship at Crystal Palace[18] in a three-way battle for the lead, a race which was later featured in the BBC's “100 Greatest Sporting Moments”.