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Video: 60 Minutes takes on Lamborghini, circa 1987

Aaron Richardson — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 20:02:00 EST

Filed under: Classics, Coupe, Performance, Europe, Videos, Lamborghini

1987 Lamborghini Countach - Click above for video after the jump.

Cars have come a long way since 1987, when 60 Minutes sent its dour, gray-suit-clad crew from New York to Italy to have an extended look at the Lamborghini Countach. If nothing else, we've become jaded to how much car the Countach actually was, distracted by the fact that its brakes could have been sharper, its road manners more civil and its huge V12 less temperamental.

Yes, this video has made the rounds in years past, but it's time to revisit it again. We love that Morely Safer gets squired around by a young-looking Valentino Balboni, who takes him to 180 mph on Italian public roads around Sant'Agata. We love that David E. Davis, Jr., then of Automobile Magazine fame, still looks much the same as he does today, waxed mustache and all. The video is strictly non-P.C., and that's what makes it so good.

From Lamborghini factory drivers terrorizing public roads (they didn't even have a test track), to its head of marketing breathlessly comparing the Countach to a "beautiful virgin," the 60 Minutes feature reminds us what Lamborghini should be. If, like some of us, you remember watching this the night it originally aired, clicking past the jump will make for a welcome trip back in time.

[Source: CBS]

Continue reading Video: 60 Minutes takes on Lamborghini, circa 1987

Video: 60 Minutes takes on Lamborghini, circa 1987 originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 12 Mar 2011 20:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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"How about we alienate our fans?" - Ford takes a page from the RIAA playbook

Dan Roth — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 10:29:00 EST

Filed under: Classics, Etc., Ford, Jaguar

The internet has made it incredibly easy for groups of enthusiasts to communicate and collaborate. Gearheads benefit a lot from this. It's easy to share pictures of our beloved rides, and with services like CafePress, you can even get some cool merchandise made up. Just like the record business is going after people who allegedly stole a whole bunch of music (how about the record company contracts, which are often a detailing of how the label will pillage an artist, cloaked in the fig leaf of legalese?), Ford has decided that it didn't like a bunch of Jaguar fans making up calendars and selling them to a small group of like-minded people. The idea that there'd be enthusiasts so enamored with one of its PAG properties that they'd go through all that effort was so abhorrent to Ford that the automaker shot off a trademark infringement lawsuit to put an end to the Leaper Love Fest. Maybe Jag's next owner will embrace the fans rather than alienate them.

Thanks for the tip, Chuck

[Source: XKE Data via Goolsbee.org]

"How about we alienate our fans?" - Ford takes a page from the RIAA playbook originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 12 Oct 2007 10:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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eBay find of the day: RX-7-based Jaguar E-type replica

Dan Roth — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 14:02:00 EST

Filed under: Classics, Auctions, Etc., Jaguar, Mazda

click the pic above to see a gallery of 17 shots

Double sacrilege, or sincere tribute? We sincerely love Mazda's RX-7, yet we've also got a place in our hearts for E-Type Jaguars. We're a little sad to see that a 1985 RX-7 was sacrificed to create this very convincing E-Type replica, but maybe we can console ourselves by thinking back to Mazda's own Wankel-powered pseudo E. The pictures really are quite convincing, and unless you parked it next to a real Jaguar, only the engine note would give it away. On the plus side, you could double-dip on enthusiast events, Jaguar and Mazda fans alike would embrace this car. The replica sold for $16,000 on eBay recently, and we hope the new owner is out enjoying the raspy whine of the 13B and the way light clings to the curvy hood panel as you motor about town, turning heads.

[Source: eBay via Carscoop]

Gallery: RX7 E-Type replica

eBay find of the day: RX-7-based Jaguar E-type replica originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 07 Aug 2007 14:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Vintage Tech: The Granddaddy of EFI

Dan Roth — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 13:05:00 EST

Every car on the road now has fuel injection. There was no real battle royale between electronic systems and mechanical, though both flavors saw plenty of development. Rochester's Ramjet system was effective and quite slick, contained in a special intake manifold. Bosch had K-Jetronic which was a mechanically metered system that later gained some feedback electronics, becoming the very first FI system to utilize an exhaust gas oxygen sensor for fine mixture control. Fuel injection systems have now gone the way of all-encompassing powertrain management setups, controlling ignition and fuel; as well as talking to the transmission, anti-lock braking system and stability control. Electronic systems all owe something to the first successful electronic fuel injection rig to be mass-produced: Bosch D-Jetronic. DJet, in turn, has its own piper to pay.

More after the jump

Continue reading Vintage Tech: The Granddaddy of EFI

Vintage Tech: The Granddaddy of EFI originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 06 Feb 2007 13:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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