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Friday 29 May 2015

2015 Ford Focus 1.0L EcoBoost Sedan Tested: Three’s (Not Enough) Company

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2015 Ford Focus SE 1.0L EcoBoost Sedan – Instrumented Test

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No Stranger Ranger: The Wildest Ford Pickup on eBay Right Now

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1991 Ford SkyRanger

The Ford Ranger is one of the most mass-produced pickups ever, and so it may surprise many to know that there’s actually a version of the little truck that was made in very, very limited numbers: the Ford SkyRanger, and one of them is on eBay right now.

These trucks started life as 4.0-liter, four-wheel drive, extended-cab Rangers that were transformed into weird convertible/targa mini trucks by ASC (American Sunroof Company), the same outfit that convinced Dodge to let them build the Dakota convertible. Unfortunately for ASC, Ford scrapped the project after only producing 17-19 examples (reports vary), which makes this quite an uncommon find.

1991 Ford SkyRanger

The seller claims that this truck only has 7200 miles on it and runs and drives like new. The buy-it-now price of $39,999 seems like a lot compared to other Rangers, but then who can put a price on exclusivity? And we must admit, there would be something epic about putting down the top and turning up the Vanilla Ice in this thing.

1991 Ford SkyRanger

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No Stranger Ranger: The Wildest Ford Pickup on eBay Right Now

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Fire Up the PS3 in Anticipation of This SRT Tomahawk Vision Gran Turismo

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SRT Tomahawk Vision Gran Turismo is coming to your PS3

SRT teased its wild-looking addition to the Vision Gran Turismo collection of sci-fi concept cars for Gran Turismo 6.

SRT Tomahawk Vision Gran Turismo is coming to your PS3

SRT made sure to keep some family resemblance in this concept—the thin headlights resemble the LED accent lighting on the Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT, and that hood scoop has a very Viper-esque design.

SRT Tomahawk Vision Gran Turismo is coming to your PS3

Of course, when you’re only dealing with digital pixels, you can get wild: This baby is apparently all carbon fiber. Note the subtle American flag. These colors don’t run.

SRT Tomahawk Vision Gran Turismo is coming to your PS3

The concept, which SRT describes as a “single-seat hybrid powertrain concept vehicle,” apparently has excellent laser aerodynamics. Laserdynamics?

[embedded content]

SRT also released this teaser video, which apparently shows that the car is meant to be driven by a Master Chief-style driver. But don’t get too excited: As The Detroit News dutifully reports, SRT didn’t produce a full-scale model of the vehicle, and “would not comment on if Fiat Chrysler is looking to produce a vehicle like the SRT Tomahawk Vision Gran Turismo.”

This story originally appeared on roadandtrack.com.

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Nissan’s Le Mans Livery Is Inspired by a 1990 Record-Breaker

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Nissan GT-R LM NISMO retro livery

Nissan has big plans for its crazy unconventional Le Mans prototype—a hybrid, mostly front-wheel-drive endurance racer that’s about as out-of-the-box as it gets. But the Nissan team hasn’t lost sight of its past, revealing a livery for the No. 21 Le Mans racer that commemorates the 25th anniversary of one of the most astonishing pole-position laps ever turned at Le Mans.

The retro red-white-and-blue livery takes its inspiration from the Nissan R90CK driven by Mark Blundell at Le Mans in 1990, at the height of the Group C era. Blundell drove the V-8, twin-turbo, 1100-hp monster to a blistering 3:27.020 qualifying lap, putting more than six seconds between him and his nearest competitor and earning the 24-year old the distinction of being the youngest driver to nab pole position at the 24-hour endurance race.

Blundell described that lap as one of pure reflex. “[T]hings were coming at me everywhere I looked. For about 50 percent of the lap I felt like I was on the verge of a massive accident.” See for yourself with this in-car footage of that pole position performance:

[embedded content]

In addition to the throwback livery on the GT-R LM NISMO, Nissan will bring the actual R90CK racer that Blundell drove back to the Circuit de la Sarthe. Blundell will have the chance to drive the storied racer in a parade lap around the circuit—though he probably won’t hit the 227-mph mark as he did 25 years ago.

1990 Nissan R90CK

As for the current-day GT-R LM NISMO lineup, the retro-liveried No. 21 will be the third vehicle in Nissan’s team at the Circuit de la Sarthe, driven by current Super GT Champion Tsugio Matsuda, and GT Academy winners Lucas Ordóńez and Mark Shulzhitskiy. The three-car team begins practice this Sunday, in preparation for the big race on June 13-14.

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2015 Porsche Boxster GTS PDK Tested: Made to Order

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2015 Porsche Boxster GTS PDK – Instrumented Test

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Watch Nine Classic Jaguars on the Mille Miglia

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Jaguar-Mille-Miglia-D-type-2

Driving the Mille Miglia is not quite the five-star Italian vacation it appears in Jaguar’s video below. The route is befuddling, the traffic dense, and on top of it all, you’re expected to weave your rare vintage sports car around even rarer vintage sports cars while dealing with a back ache, a sore bum, and melted shoe rubber. We can’t speak to that latter part, however, since we ran the entire route in a 2016 F-type R Coupe—along with our tour in a 2015 Bentley Continental GT—cocooned behind real windshields in air-conditioned comfort.

One in every dozen cars at the start in Brescia was a Jaguar, and of those 37, nine were entered by Jaguar’s factory-run Heritage Racing team. All of its meticulously prepared cars—three C-types, three D-types, two XK120s, and an XK140—finished the 1000-mile loop without trouble, although one of the XK120s we were supposed to drive suffered gasket problems the team couldn’t quite fix. Considering a fifth of the Mille’s 456 drivers ended with a DNF (including four non-Heritage Jags), that’s a mighty impressive stat for old England.

The Jag video can’t do the Mille Miglia justice, with the delicious sights and stenches of these one-of-a-kind cars roaring through their unsynchronized gears, but it’s worth watching to at least get a taste. Jaguar’s afterparty was a hoot—we’re thankful there are no public videos of that occasion—but for the company’s celebrity drivers, including LeMans-winner Derek Bell, it was their first five-star blowout all week. Just this once, you could honestly pity them.

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Second Pace: J-Pace to Join F-Pace As Jaguar’s Second SUV

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Jaguar C-X17 concept

After years of leaving the SUV business to the Land Rover/Range Rover side of the house, Jaguar announced a while back that it would field its own luxury 4×4, the F-Pace. Previewed by the C-X17 concept [pictured above], the F-Pace is due to arrive in the fall of 2016. Now comes a report from Georg Kacher in Britain’s Car Magazine that says the company is planning to follow up that model with a second SUV offering: the J-Pace.As in its passenger-car lineup, where the XJ sits above the XF, the J-Pace would be a larger and more expensive sibling to the F-Pace. Word is that the big-boy J-Pace will be based on the aluminum architecture of the standard Range Rover, and be offered in both standard- and long-wheelbase variants. Jaguar is said to be striving to give its entry sportier proportions than the stately Rover, as well as its own distinct look inside and out. We’ll see how successful they are when the J-Pace makes its debut in 2019.

In an era when Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi, and Lexus all field multiple SUV offerings, a second Jaguar crossover seems all but inevitable. We might find this news more exciting, however, had the J-Pace not beaten out some far more enticing proposed Jags, including an XJ coupe, convertible, and shooting brake. Those sound like Jaguars to drool over.

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2016 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid and Plug-In Hybrid Driven: Making It Easier To Be Green

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2016 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid and Plug-In Hybrid – First Drive Review

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Takata Be Kidding Me: Chrysler and Ford Recall 2.1 Million More Cars For Defective Airbags

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2014 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500

A week after Takata doubled its airbag recall, the 10 affected automakers have just begun to identify the 17 million additional models that can shoot shrapnel at drivers and passengers in a crash. Of those already documented on our Takata page, Chrysler and Ford have added 2.1 million more cars, most of them later model years, to their recalls.

The 2009–2010 Chrysler 300, 2008–2010 Dodge Charger, 2009–2011 Dodge Dakota, 2005–2010 Dodge Magnum (no Magnums were previously recalled for this problem), 2009 Ram 2500 and 3500, 2009–2010 Ram 4500 and 5500, and 2008–2010 Mitsubishi Raider (built by Chrysler as a rebadged Dakota) are now included. All told, there are about 4.75 million Chrysler models in the U.S. with the defective Takata airbag inflators.

Ford has added the 2009–2014 Mustang and 2006 Ranger to its list, whereas before only the 2005–2008 Mustang, 2004–2005 Ranger and 2005–2006 GT were included. These vehicles now total 1.38 million Fords in the U.S.

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Walter Röhrl makes Porsche's wicked 911 GT3 RS look easy

Walter Röhrl is a racing legend. The 68-year-old has turned more lightning-fast laps and wickedly quick rally stages combined than perhaps any single human on earth.

Which means that driving a street car is simple work for the two-time WRC champ and Porsche test driver, even if that car is the new 911 GT3 RS, a 500-horse, rear-wheel-drive ballistic missile/road-legal track beast. Just check out this video of Röhrl laying down hot laps at Bilster Berg—a course he helped design—in the GT3 RS. He makes driving the rawest current Porsche look positively effortless.

And we can’t help but notice how Röhrl uses his middle finger to pull the upshift paddle on the Porsche’s PDK transmission. Is this a subtle jab at Porsche’s having launched the GT3 RS without a proper manual transmission? Assuredly not, but we like to think it is.

[embedded content]

This story originally appeared on roadandtrack.com via Jalopnik.

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Buick’s New 1SV Trim Level Lowers the Base Prices of the 2015 Verano, Regal, and LaCrosse

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Buick's New 1SV Trim Level Lowers the Base Prices of the 2015 Verano, Regal, and LaCrosse

Wanna spur demand for your product? Lower its price! This age-old economic tactic has been quietly deployed by Buick to drive interest in the 2015 LaCrosse, Regal, and Verano sedans, which all get a new “1SV” entry-level trim that significantly reduces the cars’ base prices. First reported by Carsdirect.com and confirmed by Buick to Car and Driver, the 1SV models aren’t expected to make up more than a minor percentage of LaCrosse, Regal, or Verano sales, but they may entice buyers looking for a deal.

What kind of prices are we talking about? In the case of the compact Verano, the 1SV will start at $21,990, a full $2315 less than the previously base-model Verano 1SD. Opting for the Verano 1SV does involve sacrifice: You’ll forgo the 7-inch Intellilink touch-screen infotainment display, Bluetooth, Sirius XM radio, a leather-wrapped steering wheel and shift knob, remote engine starting, and a backup camera. Oh, and there aren’t any options. Still, the Verano isn’t exactly a stripper, retaining GM’s built-in 4G LTE data connection and hot spot, dual-zone automatic climate control, 17-inch aluminum wheels, and a six-speed automatic transmission.

The $27,990 Regal 1SV sacrifices a bit more relative to its next-level-up sibling, the $2925-dearer Regal Turbo. What does it give up? A turbo, for starters. In place of the previous base-model Regal Turbo’s 259-hp turbocharged 2.0-liter four, the 1SV gets a 2.4-liter four-cylinder with 182 horsepower. The naturally aspirated four is actually a no-cost option on the up-level Regals, but there it’s bolstered by Buick’s eAssist brake-energy recovery and engine stop-start system. The engine appears to be the only major downgrade for the 1SV, which still comes with Intellilink, Bluetooth, leather seats, and 18-inch wheels.

Buick's New 1SV Trim Level Lowers the Base Prices of the 2015 Verano, Regal, and LaCrosse

Most intriguing among Buick’s 1SV models is the LaCrosse, which comes standard with a 304-hp V-6 engine and nearly all of the $2570-more-expensive LaCrosse base model’s standard equipment. The only difference? The base LaCrosse comes standard with Buick’s eAssisted 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine and offers buyers a few options, whereas the 1SV only lets buyers pick the color. Bizarrely, the 1SV’s V-6 engine is offered as a no-cost option on the pricier base LaCrosse; given the utter lack of equipment differences between these models aside from the latter’s standard cargo net, that means it’s technically possible to either spend $31,990 on a V-6-powered LaCrosse with GM’s 4G LTE data connection, Intellilink touch-screen infotainment, a leather-wrapped steering wheel, a backup camera, remote engine starting, 17-inch aluminum wheels, and dual-zone climate control, or $34,560 for the same exact car . . . with a cargo net and a few additional wheel options. We’ll say it now: If you’re shopping for an entry-level LaCrosse and you want the V-6, grab the 1SV and save a few thousand bucks.

Is Buick worried that the 1SVs will detract from higher-profit trim levels’ sales? Not at all. A Buick representative told us that the LaCrosse 1SV, which has been available since January, has only accounted for about 1 percent of that model’s sales so far this year. Although something between a ploy to generate showroom traffic and a clever move to open Buick ownership to a wider base, the 1SV is nonetheless a compelling option. That it slides the base prices of the Verano and Regal even farther below those of, say, Acura’s ILX and TLX is merely a bonus.

Buick's New 1SV Trim Level Lowers the Base Prices of the 2015 Verano, Regal, and LaCrosse

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Buick’s New 1SV Trim Level Lowers the Base Prices of the 2015 Verano, Regal, and LaCrosse

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Ford Offers to License Its Hybrid and Electric Vehicle Patents to Other Automakers

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Ford Fusion Energi plug-in hybrid

Calling all Chinese brands, Fiat-Chrysler, and other automakers without a developed electric-vehicle strategy: Ford’s got you covered. Starting now, Dearborn will license more than 1650 of its patented and patent-pending EV technologies to other manufacturers.

The goal, according to Ford, is to “accelerate the growth of electrified vehicle technology and deliver even better products to customers.” But unlike Toyota, which in January offered up 5680 fuel-cell patents under royalty-free contracts, and Tesla, which last summer said it wouldn’t sue anyone who copied its EV patents, Ford is all about that money. (Presumably because hydrogen needs all the help it can get, and unlike Tesla, Ford makes a profit.)

In 2014, Ford filed more than 2000 patents with about 400 of them directly related to EV and hybrid systems. The patents will be available for sale through the nonprofit AutoHarvest Foundation, which Ford co-founded in 2012 as a broker for tech-swapping deals between automakers and suppliers, or straight from the Blue Oval if you write Bill Coughlin, who oversees Ford’s intellectual property.

It’s a potentially lucrative reversal for Ford, which just a decade earlier had to license patents from Toyota when it developed the first Escape hybrid. Ford’s hybrid and plug-in powertrains, whether stuffed in the Fusion, C-Max, Focus, or Lincoln MKZ, are excellent, even if they don’t achieve the EPA-rated fuel economy of some applications of Toyota’s Hybrid Synergy Drive or deliver the Chevrolet Volt‘s electric range.

With zero-emission vehicle requirements tightening in the eight states following ZEV mandates and Tesla creating a sizable market for upper-class EVs, we’re sure a few companies will sign up with Ford, perhaps after they’re done combing through Tesla and Toyota patents at no charge.

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Chrysler Reduces 2016 Powertrain Warranties by 40,000 Miles

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FCA US

Fiat Chrysler just announced that, beginning with the 2016 model year, its 5-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty will become a 5-year/60,000-mile powertrain warranty in the U.S. market, Automotive News reports. The decision affects Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge and RAM vehicles with gasoline engines, while the automaker’s 3-year/36,000-mile bumper-to-bumper warranty coverage stays unchanged.

The decision follows a trend: Back in March, GM announced an identical powertrain warranty reduction on Chevrolet and GMC vehicles. GM’s semi-circuitous reasoning, as explained to Chevy and GMC dealers, was that warranty coverage just doesn’t matter as much to customers. And in this week’s announcement, Fiat Chrysler seems to be tagging along with GM’s justification. “Following changes already made by competitors, FCA US is adjusting powertrain warranty coverage for 2016 model year vehicles to be more consistent with industry practices,” FCA told Automotive News.

The decision does not affect FCA’s Fiat and Alfa Romeo offerings in the U.S., which still carry a 4-year/50,000-mile powertrain warranty. Diesel-powered FCA products also continue their 5-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty, unchanged from the 2015 model year.

It wasn’t so long ago that Chrysler offered a much, much better drivetrain warranty: The automaker tried to lure customers with a “lifetime” powertrain warranty introduced in mid-2007. The warranty was only available to the first registered vehicle owner, required a dealership powertrain inspection once every 5 years, and wasn’t applicable to SRT, diesel, hybrid, or commercial vehicles; it was replaced by a 5-year/100,000-mile warranty after the company emerged from bankruptcy in 2009.

For comparison, here’s a breakdown of non-hybrid/non-EV powertrain warranty coverage among major automakers in the U.S. market:

4 years/50,000 miles: Audi, BMW, Fiat, Jaguar, Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz, Mini,Porsche, Volvo
5 years/60,000 miles: Ford, Dodge, Chrysler, Jeep, Honda, Mazda, Nissan, Ram, Volkswagen* (except Touareg)
5 years/70,000 miles: Infiniti
5 years/100,000 miles: Cadillac
6 years/60,000 miles: Toyota
6 years/70,000 miles: Acura, Lexus, Lincoln
10 years/100,000 miles: Hyundai, Kia, Mitsubishi, Volkswagen Touareg

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Apple Exec Says Cars Are “The Ultimate Mobile Device”

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Apple's Jeff Williams

Tech news outlet Re/code is hosting The Code Conference this week, a gathering of important tech people talking about important tech things. GM CEO Mary Barra was there, touting Chevy’s biggest-in-the-industry-so-far commitment to both Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. Apple Senior VP Jeff Williams was there, too—and while he didn’t outright say that the tech giant is heading into the auto industry, he dropped about as big a hint as a high-level exec could ever utter in public.

Asked by an audience member, “are you guys going to do something with your $100 billion or are you just going to keep buying back shares,” Williams’s answer left plenty of room to read between the lines. “Well the car is the ultimate mobile device, isn’t it?”

That answer is, of course, immensely vague. Williams could be referring to CarPlay, Apple’s vision for the future of in-dash infotainment that puts a simplified, driver-optimized version of your iPhone’s screen on your car’s dashboard touchscreen. Much like Google’s competing Android Auto, CarPlay uses the iPhone’s familiar visuals, capable voice commands, and overall quick, responsive software to fix everything that’s slow, unintuitive, balky, and technologically outdated about current infotainment systems.

But Williams could also be hinting at the oft-reported, so-far-unconfirmed rumors that Apple wants to build a self-driving car of its own to compete with Google’s autonomous egg-mobile. The Cupertino tech company is always tight-lipped, virtually never commenting on rumors and speculation regarding upcoming products; Williams’s seeming hint at a future of Apple-branded vehicles is the most revealing thing we’ve heard from a company official regarding this possibility.

Of course, Apple has been seen hiring plenty of engineers and other experts with ties to the auto industry. Whether that means the company is working on a car, an in-car software, or something else entirely remains to be seen.

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Wednesday 27 May 2015

Video: A 1340-hp Koenigsegg One:1 Rips Around Suzuka Circuit

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May 27, 2015 at 5:24 pm by Robert Sorokanich | Photography by YouTube/KoenigseggSweden

Watch a Koenigsegg One:1 thunder around Suzuka Circuit

The Koenigsegg One:1 is astonishing.

Named for its one-to-one power-to-weight ratio—1340 horsepower moving an identical number of kilograms, no baloney—you know this thing is going to be a jaw-dropper. Hell, it’s got carbon fiber wheels that weight a mere 13 pounds, and it’ll blast to 220 mph in the space of an airport runway on the way to a 273.4 mph top speed.

But while it’s got plenty of straight-line speed, the Koenigsegg One:1 isn’t just about drag races. Koenigsegg built this beast with a target in mind: The Nürburgring production-car lap record. And company founder Christian von Koenigsegg made sure his mega-car could go around turns.

We’ve yet to see what the mighty ‘Segg can do around the Nürburgring—though competition from Lamborghini just blasted through the seven-minute barrier. But to whet your appetite, here’s Koenigsegg factory test driver Robert Serwanski hustling the mighty One:1 around Suzuka Circuit in Japan. The first lap is a warm-up, while the speed lap clocks in at 2:17.57—nearly a second faster than the record lap recorded by the Nissan GT-R.

Instrumented Test: 2013 Ram 1500 SLT V-6 8-Speed Aut
Instrumented Test: Ford F-150 SuperCrew 4×4 EcoBoost V-6
Photos and Info: 2013 Ram 1500

If that wasn’t evidence enough as to how fast the One:1 is, just watch the passenger’s head being thrown around by the g-forces. Our pal riding shotgun can’t even get a steady iPhone video.

[embedded content]

This story originally appeared on roadandtrack.com.

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Retro as Heck: Porsche Pilfers the Past For 2015 Le Mans Liveries

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Porsche 919 hybrid race car

Like many young men, recently deposed Volkswagen Group Supremo Ferdinand Piëch began his career at the family business. The difference between Piëch and other young men was that the family business happened to be Porsche. During his tenure in Zuffenhausen, he shepherded a program meant to finally bring the company an overall Le Mans victory by exploiting a loophole for 5-liter sports cars. The result was the all-conquering 917.

Porsche 917 KH race car

The 1969 version of the car was so terrifying as to be nigh-undrivable, but in 1970, after lopping off the rear bodywork to create the “Kurzheck” (short-tail) variant, the 917 fulfilled its promise, winning the 24-hour enduro outright. In Steve McQueen’s Le Mans, partially filmed during that running, a Gulf-liveried 197 takes the win. And though the powder-blue John Wyer cars did indeed compete, none of the three 4.9-liter 917Ks finished the race.

The winning machine, piloted by Hans Hermann and Richard Attwood, used the less-powerful but more robust 4.5-liter flat twelve, and raced under the Porsche Salzburg banner—otherwise known as “Piëch’s Mom’s Team.” The red car with white scallops was one of only seven cars to actually finish the race that year. Four of the other cars were also Porsches—ranging from the 2nd-place, 4.5-liter Langheck (longtail) 917 campaigned by Martini Racing and driven by Gérard Larrousse and Willi Kauhsen on down to the modest, can-do 914-6 GT driven by Claude Ballot-Lena and Guy Chasseuil.

Porsche 917 KH race car

A year later, the revised 4.9-liter Kurzheck cars prevailed at Circuit de la Sarthe. A Wyer/Gulf car finished second, while the white Martini car, driven by the Austrian/Dutch duo of Helmut Marko and Gijs van Lennep, won.

To celebrate the company’s first two Le Mans wins, two of Porsche’s LMP entrants in this year’s 24 Heures du Mans will be painted to honor the victorious 917s. The number 17 919 Hybrid, to be driven by Timo Bernhard, Brendon Hartley, and Mark Webber, is done up in Salzburg-grade red. The number 19 car is white—a tribute to both the 1971 car and last year’s return to top-level Le Mans competition. It’ll be campaigned by Earl Bamber, Nico Hülkenberg, and Nick Tandy.

The third car—number 18—will be driven by Marc Lieb, Romain Dumas, and Neel Jani. The black machine’s a nod to the black 918 Spyder hustled around the Nürburgring by Lieb, who posted a ridiculous, record-breaking 6:57 lap of the Nordschleife.

Porsche 356 SL race car

According to Porsche, red stands for tradition, black for technology, and white for “a return.” Perhaps next year, they’ll go shamelessly retro and break out the fan-favorite Hippie Car and Pink Pig paint jobs. Or maybe Zuffenhausen will wholly disappear into the deep, deep navel of the past and just paint a car silver with nothing in the way of sponsor decals. The 1951 356 SL 1100 [above] raced with a bare aluminum body to save weight and featured spatted front fenders that made it look like a 2/3-scale Group 5 Nash Ambassador—if Group 5 had existed in 1951. It won its class during Porsche’s first outing at Le Mans. 64 years later, Porsche is hoping its semi-historic liveries will help bring home further additions to the trophy case.

Retro as Heck: Porsche Pilfers the Past For 2015 Le Mans Liveries

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Retro as Heck: Porsche Pilfers the Past For 2015 Le Mans Liveries

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Rare Rally Master: Check out this Ford Escort RS Cosworth on eBay

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1992 Ford Escort Cosworth rally car

If you love rally racing, there’s a good chance that the Ford Escort RS Cosworth holds a special place in your heart. These things are very rare in North America (a small number of ’94 and ’95s were legally imported by Sun International), but there’s a 1992 model for sale in Ontario, Canada right now.

So what’s the deal? Due to U.S. federal regulations, a car must be at least 25-years old to be exempt from meeting U.S. safety and emissions standards. While one couldn’t legally buy this Escort and bring it into the U.S. today, it’s not outside the realm of possibility that the car could purchased and kept in Canada until 2017 when it will then become legal.

1992 Ford Escort Cosworth rally car

And while that might sound like a lot of work, the Escort RS Cosworth is a lot of car. Built by Ford as a replacement for the Sierra Cosworth, the RS Cosworth started life as a FIA homologation special designed to compete in WRC Group A rally racing. It was built in limited numbers from 1992 to 1996 with the early-model-year cars being closest to the WRC-spec versions and was generally considered very raw and rewarding to drive. Powered by a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine, the all-wheel-drive, road-going RS Cosworth made 225 horsepower and had fully functional and adjustable front and rear spoilers.

According to the seller, this car has a shade over 10K miles on the clock and was prepared for the Ford Motorsport Team, although details regarding what work was actually done to the car are vague. With a little more than a day left on the auction, we’re not surprised to see that bidding has pushed into the mid $20K range, and we won’t be surprised if to goes quite a bit higher.

1992 Ford Escort Cosworth rally car

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2016 Lamborghini Aventador LP750-4 SV Driven: Even Lambo Thinks It’s Crazy

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2016 Lamborghini Aventador LP750-4 SV – First Drive Review

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