Second trailer for Formula 1 movie “Rush”
The second trailer, longer than the first, was released this week for Ron Howard’s new movie “Rush“.
The movie tells the story of the 1976 Formula 1 points championship battle between Kiki Lauda and James Hunt.
Will this film end up on our Top 5 list of the all-time great movies for car enthusiasts? It’s looking better for inclusion – we’ll let you know when the movie opens in North American on September 20th (and one week earlier in Britain).
Watch the trailer for Formula 1 movie “Rush”
Ron Howard’s labor of love opens September 20th in the United States, and a week earlier in Britain. The movie tells the story of the 1976 Formula 1 points championship battle between Kiki Lauda and James Hunt.
Shell Ferrari F1 Commercial “Circuit”
As we finally get close to the kickoff for this year’s F1 season, we are reminded yet again of the rich history of Formula 1 and Grand Prix. In this commercial, Shell takes us on a wonderful ride thru several venues and in several historic F1 racecars.
Turn up your volume, go full screen – enjoy!
Cars and Coffee Austin splits into two shows
The Cars and Coffee show in Austin TX has been so successful over the past three years that parking space has become an issue. Therefore the show has been split into two. From now on we are very lucky to have two big shows in the Austin area! The format of both remains the same: any type of car, bring what you run, and have a coffee or burger while viewing several dozens different types of cars.
The Leander Car show will be held on the same first Sunday of each month, 10 Am to 1 PM, in the same old downtown Leander spot.
The Cars and Coffee Austin show will now be held on the second Sunday of each month, 10 Am to 1 PM, at The Oasis on Lake Travis. In addition, on Formula 1 race weekends, a F1 watch party will be held from 1 to 3:30 PM.
Facebook pages have been setup for each show:
We’ve covered Cars and Coffee for the last three years, and have several hundred pictures on our site’s gallery of participants. See Events and Places in the dark gray menu bar at the top of this page for the images.
Cars and Coffee Austin TX meets despite cold & chilly January day
Cold and chilly in Central Texas in January means a high temperature of “only” 55F degrees. Nonetheless, a number of brave guests came out to show their cars despite the weather. Not as many as the usual attendees, but a good number nonetheless.
That Officer just moved here from Calgary and said he is enjoying the great weather in Texas. We’ll give him 6 months to see how he enjoys temperatures well over 100.
The Camaro club of Central Texas had its usual full showing, with a dozen cars and enthusiastic owners. 
With a show every month, rain or shine, and several dozen people showing everything from rat rods to race cars to military vehicles, Cars and Coffee offers something for everyone. And, as the name says, some owners come merely to show their car for a short period of time as they consume their morning coffee, and some stay longer. It’s up to you. Guests are very welcome too, and hundreds come out on a good day.
But not on a chilly day, as 55 degrees meant that most native Texas stayed home to keep warm. These are the people who can trace their ancestry to settlers arriving in covered wagons, braving the terrible weather, attacks, disease, and pestilence. No more, nowadays many Texans are a wimpy lot. We managed an hour, then retired to our warm car and home to edit these images.
Our January 6, 2013 Cars and Coffee Austin Image Gallery covers the most unusual cars of the show – mostly cars we hadn’t seen before rather than duplicate pictures of cars that regular attend. And as always there were a couple of standouts.
First was this 1986 Mustang SVO, in Jalapeno Red. SVOs are rare, and even in this show where we’ve seen unusual cars that we haven’t seen anywhere in the country, we’ve only ever seen one Mustang SVO in person. And we’ve attended every single show for three years. Beautiful, and in great shape (despite a couple of minor mods). Full pics in the Gallery!
Then there was this rat rod. Rat rods are a developing phenomena… we’ve seen very very few of these around town. This one we’ve seen before but development continues. The owner was there talking about possibly putting a coat of clear on top of the “paint” to keep it intact. And, BTW, note the radiator overflow bottle – it’s a bottle of “Daniels” (as Sinatra called it, “Jack” to the rest of us). Nice!
We also got a closeup look at this Buick Riviera, a car we’d seen before at the show but not with its hood up. Note the headlights – they rotate down and are vacuum operated. Only in a Riviera, back in the golden days when the car was truly unique and worth owning.
Our “Events & Places” menu bar at the top has links to three years of Cars and Coffees, including several hundred images.
It’s cold outside! Ford of Europe Snowkhana One
In a nod to Ken Block, Ford of Europe presents its own juiced-Fiesta rally car epic: Snowkhana One. Almost as entertaining, almost as creative, but at nowhere near the same kind of budget.
Sir Patrick Stewart: 1953 Vanwall better than the USS Enterprise
According to an article in The Sun this morning, Sir Stewart while filming the BBC2 documentary Racing Legends, stalled the 1953 Vanwall racecar which Sir Sterling drove to the win in the 1956 British Grand Prix. Sir Stirling was in attendance, and said “You don’t just jump into a Vanwall and go shopping. It’s quite a complicated thing”. The documentary will be shown on BBC tonight.
Nevertheless, Sir Stewart got it going for some high-speed laps and commented “It felt absolutely brilliant – this beats the Enterprise any day.” That statement will disappoint some people… apparently stationary to Warp 9.8 isn’t the visceral thrill most of the rest of us have assumed it would be!
To this speed:
Or in this? You decide which you’d like better!
The Drivers Edge to host first-ever HPDE event at Circuit of the Americas
The Drivers Edge, a very highly respected HPDE school (and the best one we’ve ever experienced in North America), will have the honor of hosting the very first HPDE event at the Circuit of the Americas Formula 1 racetrack on January 13 and 14, 2013. Keep on eye on their site over the next several days for final details and registration information.
Austin Cars and Coffee Dec. 2012: 1968 Mercury Cougar
The great thing about a Cars and Coffee event is the wide variety of cars you’ll see there. The show is “non-denominational” – meaning it’s not limited to exotic or muscle cars at all and you’ll find all kinds of cars (and even military vehicles) to suit every possible interest. In November 2012, for example, we found a fascinating example of a 60s French sports car in the Matra Bonnet Djet V S. Where else would you find one of these, much less one that was driven to and from the event?
One of the interesting cars we found in the December 2012 event was this 1968 Mercury Cougar. It’s one of several Cougars we’ve seen in the show over the years, including a 1970 Boss 302 Cougar Eliminator with a factory Boss 302 package. And just last month it was a 1970 Cougar XR-7 that closely resembled our own 1970 Cougar XR-7.
We liked this 1968 Cougar – a lot – and in fact if it had been for sale we would have bought it on the spot.
As our Ford fanatics readers know, the Cougar was built on a slightly elongated Mustang chassis with all-new (and very different) sheetmetal. Mechanical options were identical (although V-8 only), as was the front and side glass and the interior instruments (in a unique dashboard). But the intent of the Cougar was as an upmarket alternative to the Mustang. The emphasis was on personal luxury, although performance models were offered as well.
Sometimes derided as the “electric shaver grill”, the vertical bars and hide-away headlamps made the Cougar unique and distinctive. The lights are controlled by a vacuum tank, which is prone to rust but which can also be easily repaired. A similar system was used on the 1968 Ford Thunderbird.
1968 was the first year for the new “Windsor” iron black and head OHV 302 cubic inch (4.9 liter) engine that would serve duty in numerous Ford, Lincolns, and Mercurys up thru 2002 Australian Falcons. This engine family began in 1962 with a 221 cubic inch version, followed by 255, 260, and 289 cubic inch versions. By 1968, only the 302 remained in production, (although some 289s were left over in Mustangs). A taller deck height version of this engine stretched displacement to 351 cubic inches in 1969 and was found in many Ford Motor Company vehicles, culminating in the 1995 Mustang SVT Cobra R. The optional engine during 1967 and 1968 was a 390-cubic V-8, and a very limited number were built with 427 cubic inch V-8s.
Rust problems abound in early Cougars and Mustangs. One of the most nefarious issues, found in out own 1967 Mustang, was the inner fender liners rusting underneath the hood hinges. The force of the hood hinge springs would compound the problem. If you spot one of these cars with the trailing edge of the hood slight raised, this is a telltale sign. Fortunately, this Cougar had almost immaculate inner fenders and was very clearly well taken care of. The shock towers are also very clean.
Note the rare factory air conditioning. One option this Cougar doesn’t have unfortunately, is front disc brakes (drums were still standard). Our ’67 Mustang had both aircon and front disc brakes, as well as the very rare K-code engine. Our ’70 Cougar XR-7 had both aircon and disc brakes, along with a 351.
The interior is a stylish mix of Mustang parts (speedo to the left and aux gauges to the right), along with aircon vents and controls, steering wheel, shifter, and window cranks) and up-level trim in the unique dashboard and door panels.
Likewise, the seats were Mustang underneath but with much better trim and unique colors. In some later ’68s, not this example, headrests were introduced before they became Federally mandated the following year.
The rear end of the Cougar was also unique, and featured a vertical bar motif to match the front. However, the taillights were sequential. In turns the lights would start in the middle of the car and move outward in the direction of the turn. Unfortunately, the electronic module that controlled the sequencing was mounted in the lower left hand side of the trunk, behind the wheels, in an area prone to rust. In our own Cougar, this module because water-logged from water kicked up thru the rust holes at the bottom of the fenders. Our sequencing stopped working, causing us to fail inspection one year at a nearby Lincoln-Mercury dealer. When we simply unplugged the faulty module to make the lights work conventionally, the dealer denied us a pass anyway on the basis that the car didn’t come that way. Ridiculous – and we just went elsewhere to get a pass and kept the car like that until we located another module. Nowadays, hese are easily and routinely repaired.
Austin Cars and Coffee Dec. 2012: Military Vehicles
At the December 2, 2012 Cars and Coffee event in Austin Texas (complete gallery here), there were two unique examples of military vehicles present.
First up was this World War II Harley-Davidson Servi-Car, perfectly restored and complete. The Servi-Car was built from 1932 thru 1973, however all production was routed to military use during the war. After the war, most were found with police departments across the United States as parking enforcement vehicles. The flathead 750cc side-valve V-2 engine was used from 1937 to the end of production, as was the 3-speed + reverse constant-mesh transmission. The rear axle was solid with a small differential. The box was steel thru production until 1966, when it was replaced with fiberglass. From 1937 forward, a drum brake was found at each wheel (previously only 1 front and 1 rear). In the very last year of production, discs were substituted.
Next up is a military HMMWV, owned by the City of Leander Texas (the official host city of Cars and Coffee Austin). This is a surplus Operation Iraqi Freedom vehicle, part of a program to send such vehicles to Police Depts. across the country who can justify the request for special tactical purposes. While the turret no longer has the M240B or M249 SAW gun mount, it’s still present for use as needed (above an air conditioner unit built into the back wall of the passenger compartment), as is the armor plating on the doors. Message to perps: don’t try to pull anything in Leander TX. In fact, don’t mess with Texas period.
