Autoblog

Cars of the 2012 London Olympics Closing Ceremonies

John Neff — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 13:28:00 EST

Filed under: Etc., UK

There may not be an Olympic sport involving automobiles (yet), but cars were featured prominently in the closing ceremonies of the 30th Olympic games in London last night. The event was more of a rock concert than a ceremony, with musical performances by everyone from chart-topping boy band One Direction to pop veteran George Michael to The Who. The stage on which the first batch of artists performed, however, was set with small scale versions of London's architectural landmarks, and to make the mini city look and feel more like the real thing, organizers filled the empty spaces in between with enough cars, lorries and mopeds to recreate one of London's infamous traffic jams.

The vehicles began the show wrapped in what appeared to be newspaper clippings, but when the cameras zoomed in, the paper turned out to be printed with passages from famous English literary figures. As the show went on, the wrappings were ripped off to reveal a motley mix of automobiles including Britain's most iconic machines from Mini, MG, Austin-Healey, Lotus and even a three-wheeled Reliant Robin, as well as Italian and German metal and an even a classic American car or two. The Spice Girls even reunited on the tops of five British black taxis.

Later on, a trio of Rolls-Royce Phantom Series II Drophead Coupes drove British pop artists Jessie J, Tinie Tempah and Taio Cruz around the Olympic stadium like Mustangs in a parade. More interesting (to us, at least) than the performers in their backseats, these Rollers were each decked out with various trim pieces that commemorate the games in London, including a specially designed badge on their grilles that features the brand's iconic Spirit of Ecstasy flowing into the home country's flag. R-R claims this is the first time its cars have sported a new badge in the company's 108-year history.

Unfortunately, unless you DVR'd the ceremonies, there's no way to rewatch them quite yet until NBC and the International Olympic Committee say it's OK, so we've assembled a gallery of images above that you can peruse to see how cars played a part in the closing ceremonies of the 30th Olympiad.

Cars of the 2012 London Olympics Closing Ceremonies originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 13 Aug 2012 13:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Seinfeld's CiCGC series lands Ricky Gervais in an Austin-Healey 3000

George Kennedy — Fri, 03 Aug 2012 19:22:00 EST

Filed under: Convertible, Videos, Humor

In the second installment of Jerry Seinfeld's new web series Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee, Jerry scares the bejezus out of Ricky Gervais. Hilarity ensues.

Seinfeld picks up the British funnyman in a 1967 Austin-Healey 3000, which Jerry claims is a car that says "Damnit I love British sports cars and I will go down with that ship if I have to." Upon arrival Gervais admits that he did not know the Austin was a British-built car.

On the the way to get coffee, outside of Manhattan, they ponder why the homeless have such wonderful hair and the morality of the death penalty - oh, and Gervais is scared stupid by riding in the tiny British roadster.

Click below to see the video, find out how what Jerry finds so funny in this screen grab, and if Gervais eventually suffers from a nervous breakdown in a sports car built in his native land.

Continue reading Seinfeld's CiCGC series lands Ricky Gervais in an Austin-Healey 3000

Seinfeld's CiCGC series lands Ricky Gervais in an Austin-Healey 3000 originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 03 Aug 2012 19:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Infamous Le Mans 1955 Austin-Healey 100S Prototype sold for $1.3 million [w/video]

Zach Bowman — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 18:33:00 EST

Filed under: Motorsports, Classics, Auctions, Etc., Europe, Videos, UK

Motorsports has had plenty of dark days in its history, but few compare to the 1955 24 Hours of Le Mans. That race saw Lance Macklin enter this Austin-Healey 100 S Prototype in the legendary European 24-hour race in his name. The vehicle packed a 140-horsepower inline four-cylinder engine with a massive cam and dual carbs, and while Macklin was able to keep the vehicle in decent standing throughout the first racing stint, he eventually found himself being lapped by the substantially quicker sports-prototype vehicles from Jaguar and Mercedes-Benz. As the Austin-Healey came barreling past the pits, a Jaguar D-Type slowed abruptly as it came in for fuel, forcing to Macklin to swerve out of the way.

That's when the Austin-Healey was struck from the rear by a Mercedes-Benz 300SLR on the rear quarter. The Mercedes-Benz catapulted into a retaining bank and disintegrated, spraying the crowd with flaming debris, including the vehicle's engine. A total of 84 individuals died as a result of the crash, including Pierre Levegh, the driver of the 300SLR. A further 120 people sustained injuries of varying severity, and the crash prompted an international revision of safety precautions at race tracks.

The Austin-Healey, meanwhile, spent a year in police impound before being repaired and sold to a private individual. It's spent the last 42 years owned by a single individual, with many of those in storage. The vehicle went up for auction on December 1 and brought a final bid of £843,000, or over $1.3 million. Hit the jump for the full press release as well as a video of the horrific crash. Head over to Bonhams for plenty of vintage photography of the vehicle.

Continue reading Infamous Le Mans 1955 Austin-Healey 100S Prototype sold for $1.3 million [w/video]

Infamous Le Mans 1955 Austin-Healey 100S Prototype sold for $1.3 million [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 01 Dec 2011 18:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Norster 600R is a Finnish designed, Chinese built, British Frogeye throwback

Zach Bowman — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 08:29:00 EST

Filed under: Convertible, Budget, China, Europe, Chery

Norster 600R - Click above for high-res image gallery

There were plenty of reasons to love the Austin-Healey Sprite. Besides being super affordable when they debuted, the Sprite was light and capable of out-handling high-dollar sports cars of the era, not to mention the plucky British styling that was unlike anything else on the road. That combination has helped make the Sprite Mk 1 a sought after collectible, but it hasn't inspired anyone to come up with a recreation of the car. Until now. Feast your eyes on the Norster 600R.

This, um, unique creation isn't actually billed as an automobile, slipping instead into the heavy quad classification in the European Union to beat pesky hang ups like crash test and emissions standards. Penned by designers in Finland and built in China, the Norster 600R uses a 580cc two-cylinder engine with a whopping 20 horsepower and 36.8 pound-feet of torque. You aren't going to be taking the checkers at Le Mans with the Chery-sourced powerplant, especially considering the 1,150-pound unladen weight. Of course, the upswing of such a tiny engine is that the Norster can happily put along at around 50 mpg U.S.

At least there's that.

If you've suffered an aneurism recently and find yourself smitten with this multinational mid-engine creation, you can hop over to the Norster site for more information. Thanks for the tip, Tomi!

Gallery: Norster 600R

[Source: Nordian Commerce]

Norster 600R is a Finnish designed, Chinese built, British Frogeye throwback originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 08:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Orphan Car Show '08: 1966 Austin Healey 3000 Mk III

Sam Abuelsamid — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 08:32:00 EST

Filed under: Classics, Convertible, Misc. Auto Shows

Click above for a high-res gallery of this pristine Austin-Healey

The annual Orphan Car Show took place in Ypsilanti, MI yesterday and Mother Nature provided absolutely perfect weather for the event. One of my personal favorites of the show was this sparkling pearl white 1966 Austin-Healey 3000 Mk III. As with many of the cars on display, this was in far better condition than any Austin-Healey that ever came out of the British factory. The finish on this car clearly had a lot of effort put into it and absolutely shimmered in the sunlight. According to the owner, he did the mechanical restoration while a professional shop handled the body work. The 3000s were built from 1959-67 in three series with this Mk III being one of the later cars. This is classic British motoring at its best. Click the gallery below to view more images of this awesome Austin-Healey and maybe we'll spotlight some more cars from the Orphan Car Show throughout the week.

Gallery: Orphan Car Show 08: 66 Austin Healey 3000

Orphan Car Show '08: 1966 Austin Healey 3000 Mk III originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 02 Jun 2008 08:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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2007 Barrett-Jackson: European Classics

Frank Filipponio — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 10:03:00 EST

Filed under: Auctions, Europe, Jaguar, Mercedes-Benz, Ferrari

Although Barrett-Jackson is now viewed as primarily a muscle car auction by most spectators, there was a time when European and American classics were their bread and butter lots. And if you scan the current catalog carefully you'll still see vestigial evidence of those days. In fact, several Euro classics are positioned in the featured tent, within spitting distance of the Mopars, Chevies, and Fords.

We found a pretty nice collection of Austin-Healeys, Jags and Ferraris arranged along one corner of the main tent annex. Beautiful cars in great condition, but sticking out like a sore thumb amongst the American iron. Our favorite of the bunch was the ex-A.J. Foyt Ferrari 512 BBi. Silver over black with a red interior, that classic Boxer shape still pulls at the proverbial heartstrings. There's a brief list of some of these classics after the jump and a full gallery of high res pics from Drew Phillips and Frank available by clicking on the pic above.

Gallery: 2007 Barrett-Jackson: European Classics

Continue reading 2007 Barrett-Jackson: European Classics

2007 Barrett-Jackson: European Classics originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 19 Jan 2007 10:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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