Autoblog

Those of us who live in the Snow Belt know what it's like to have Mother Nature not let go of your vehicle. There's just no dislodging a car under its own power when the tires dig in and make ruts in the white stuff. Although snow isn't a problem for drivers in Florida, the sands at Daytona Beach are causing headaches for a large number of Floridians. On Sunday, there were nearly 100 vehicles stuck on the beach, and officers suggest that these conditions will not be improving any time soon. According to Daytona Beach patrol Captain Tim Cunningham, "I have not seen it this bad in my lifetime. Right now, the sand is like powder. It is just months and months of no rain." The worst time to drive on the beach is just before high tide. We don't imagine that you want your car stuck in the sand with high tide approaching. With this in mind, may we politely suggest parking a bit further away and walking? Thanks for the tip, everyone!

[Source: Tampa Bay News 10]

Juan Pablo Montoya has been a busy boy since leaving F1. After working his way up the American stock-car racing ladder – and winning the NEXTEL Cup Rookie of the Year award for his troubles – the Colombian driver is still planning on making a return to Daytona to defend his title in the Rolex 24.

Montoya made his Grand Am debut behind the wheel of a Daytona Prototype at the event last year, taking the checkered flag to become the first driver in the history of motorsport to win the Monaco Grand Prix, the Indy 500 and the 24 Hours of Daytona. At the next race in January, Montoya will be sharing driving duties in the #1 Chip Ganassi Racing car along with his NASCAR team-mate Dario Francitti, as well as Scott Pruett (with whom he shared victory last year) and Memo Rojas.

This year at Daytona, Ganassi will be fielding two cars. The second Daytona Prototype will be driven by Salvador Duran (who shared victory with Montoya and Pruett last year), IRL IndyCar champions Dan Wheldon and Scott Dixon, and Indy Pro Series champ Alex Lloyd.

Altogether Ganassi is heading to Daytona in January with a star-studded line-up of drivers in pursuit of their third consecutive win at the famous race.

[Source: Autosport]

If Cobras don't do it for you on track days, you can now make the same choice that was available in the '60s. While Caroll Shelby was stuffing FE Fords into mild-mannered AC Aces, Bill Thomas Race Cars was developing a competitor called the Cheetah that could run with the fire breathing Cobras, as well as keep pace with Ferrari's 250. The original cars used a 377 cubic inch V8 to speed their way to 11 SCCA victories in 1964. While Bill Thomas had friends at the General, Chevrolet backed out well before the 100 necessary for homologation were built, putting the first nail in the car's coffin. A shop fire finally killed the Cheetah effort. Before disaster struck, Thomas was able to produce only about 16-23 Cheetahs.

One of those original cars was used to help Arizona's BTM whip up a continuation series, along with the original drawings. Thomas has granted BTM the rights to build a new Cheetah, which differs from the original in details, but retains the spirit. There are some vintage Chevy pieces in the new Cheetahs, but the engine is now a ZZ4 350 with aluminum heads. Not underwhelming by any stretch, and it's only got 1,780 pounds to yank around anyway, so acceleration will be brisk. Before you dream of untwisting your favorite road with this thing, take note that it's not street legal. No matter, it's still cool to see something other than a Cobra. While the Cobra is capable, we've seen so much of them in pictures and replicas that we're desensitized. The Cheetah, on the other hand, would stick out more than a Cobra Daytona, and could offer your trackmates serious hell at a vintage racing event.

[Source: Inside Line]

GoWheel brings you an electric motorbike that's going to cost you some money, but it looks and goes just like the real thing. Almost. Starting with a Triumph Daytona, the folks at Go replace the inline DOHC 3-cylinder with a li-ion battery pack that adds 100-190 pounds depending on how many batteries you want. The bike still gets to 60 in 2.9 seconds, and will cruise at 93 mph for 143 highway miles or 49 miles of hard street use. As this whole electric thing gathers steam -- no pun intended -- it's nice to see more and more rides that look like their fire-powered equivalents. But for now, there are always caveats: the bike isn't DOT approved, and it sports an enormous Plexiglas fairing to improve aero efficiency that looks more like a giant shield. And one more thing -- if the bike ever gets made, it will cost you $77,000 to ride in silence.

[Source: Motorbiker via Engadget]

Hot on the heels of last year's unique Ferrari P4/5, built for James Glickenhaus, comes this year's Specially Built Ferrari for a North American Customer. The above is a rendering of what will eventually be dubbed the Ferrari 600 GTO. There has never been a car for which the letters 'GTO' signified anything other than automotive happiness. When those letters follow anything with a Ferrari badge, they are all the sweeter. The 600 GTO will keep its mod-cons inside, but wear nothing other than carbon fiber outside. In addition to the 285 kg in lost weight, it also gets a lowered suspension, aero modifications, and almost 25% more downforce front and rear at 200 kph. Hope Rumor has it that the person behind the commission wants to revive the Ferrari North American Race Team (NART). Founded by Ferrari dealer Luigi Chinetti in 1958, the team raced until 1982 with some of the finest Ferraris and drivers the world has known.

Three 600 GTO's were commissioned nine months ago. Its coming out party will be at the Frankfurt Auto Show on September 12. Fingers. Crossed. Now.

Thanks for the tip, Serge!

[Source: StreetFire]

There are Ferraris, there are rare Ferraris, and then there are the exceptionally rare Ferraris, the likes of which collectors and enthusiasts wait to hit the auction block with bated breath. At last month's RM auction of vintage motor cars at the Amelia Island Concours D'Elegance, one such special Prancing Horse hit the auction block, selling at a price significantly lower than its estimated value.

The Ferrari 365 GTS/4 was the convertible version of the car nicknamed the Daytona, although officially it never received that nameplate. Only 121 such Daytona Spyders were built by the factory; the rest were chop-jobs performed on Daytona coupes by Carrozziere. Serial number 16467 was the 71st authentic 365 GTS/4 built by Maranello, and had a rather eventful history. The car was originally sold in the Reno, Nevada to an American customer named Mr. Greer. In 1975 it appeared in the Warner Bros. movie "A Star is Born" starring Kris Kristofferson and Barbara Streisand, and was severely damaged in the production. (Why they didn't use a mock-up like in the original Miami Vice series or at least a chopped-roof Daytona coupe is beyond reasoning.) The bashed-up car was sold to a Mr. Luigi Chinetti, who commissioned the coachbuilder Giovanni Michelotti (not to be confused with the Ferrari racing specialists Michelotto) to rebuild the damaged roadster into the one-of-a-kind special you see here. It would be among the last Michelotti would ever design.

Since being displayed at the Turin motor show in 1980, the Ferrari 365 GTS/4 Michelotti NART Spyder has changed ownership only a few times. Although its value prior to the auction was estimated between five and $700,000, the Spyder sold for only $385,000. It just goes to show that an item is only worth as much as someone's willing to pay for it, but this is one example that's bound to appreciate in value over the coming years.

[Source: RM Auctions]

Six years ago today, Dale Earnhardt died in a 150-mph crash on the last lap of the Daytona 500. To commemorate the date (and the release of "Dale: The Movie"), General Motors has dedicated "The Power of 3" Web site to the memory of Dale Earnhardt.

Visitors to the site can submit their memories of the Intimidator as well as find out when the movie will be coming to their town.

Read the full press release from GM after the jump.

The Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione is clearly an object of desire, but what if it lived up to its literal name by breeding a competition automobile? Picchio has come up with the answer in the form of its new Daytona prototype.

The car is being created by Europe's only Grand Am-certified manufacturer in order to fill an anticipated demand emerging from new regulations in the race series, which allow for a race car's body to be adapted to match an engine supplier's styling. In other words, if it's running an Alfa powerplant, it can and should look like an Alfa.

In anticipation of Alfa Romeo homologating its new V8 engine for racing, Picchio redesigned its DP2 racing chassis to accommodate the engine and adapted the bodywork to mirror the styling of the roadgoing 8C Competition coupe. The result is a beautiful concept that we hope to see on the race track in the near future. As with Alfa Romeo's own impending re-emergence into the US market, until then this car will just have to keep our hearts racing.

[Source: Picchio via Car Body Design]

After Jeff Gordon won Thursday's second qualifying race in Daytona, his car failed a post-race inspection for riding too low. While NASCAR officials are not accusing Gordon or his team of cheating, it will cost him. Instead of starting Saturday's race in 4th position, Gordon will fight his way through 41 other cars if he wants to take the lead.

Autoweek quotes NASCAR vice-president of competition Robin Pemberton as saying, "The bolt on the shock fastener and the shock bracket itself were misaligned. It was unintentional because it would have been unsafe to intentionally build it like that. Give or take, it was about an inch too low. My experience through the years tells me this was unintentional. It would have taken different parts and pieces to do it intentionally."

Inspectors also found that the cars of Jimmie Johnson and, uh oh, Michael Waltrip measured lower than the allowed height after the race, but officials chalked up their infractions to damage suffered during the event.

At the end of Autoweek's article, they have some fun with this week's Daytona scandals, joking that the newest NASCAR official is Judge Judy and NASCAR's theme song is now "Your Cheating Part."

Sunday's race begins at 2 p.m.

[Source: Autoweek]

Tony George is a looming figure in American motorsports. He's the owner of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, founder of the IRL and host of the US Grand Prix. But that didn't stop him from crashing at Daytona on Friday.

George hadn't driven a race car since 2001, but decided to enter the 24 Hours of Daytona this year in a Crawford-Porsche acquired from Eddie Cheever, entered through his Vision Racing IRL team. Driving alongside the 47-year-old motorsport mogul at the endurance competition are racing scions Tomas Scheckter, Anthony Foyt and George's stepson Ed Carpenter.

Tony was testing on Friday when he reportedly lost control of the car and crashed, but fortunately walked away unharmed. Maybe he'd be better off sticking to running his Indy empire and leaving the driving to others.

[Source: GrandPrix.com]