Alright, I saw this in the related videos for that Making of Bullitt video I posted before, and I just had to put it up here. Richard Hammond, that little guy from Top Gear, test drives a 1968 Dodge Charger R/T. I didn’t even realize Top Gear still did tests of older cars, no less a huge American muscle car. This is a great quality video with really nice sound so you can hear that engine roar.
I just came across this 10 minute long video that shows some of the making of Bullitt, one of my favorite movies of all time. There’s lots of good car footage here, and you can see how committed Steve McQueen was to making the chase scene look authentic. He and Bill Hickman spent a lot of time getting to know their respective cars so they’d look like pro drivers when the cameras started rolling (actually, McQueen really was a pro racecar driver).
Here’s a nice tune for the holidays. It’s a 2010 Dodge Challenger SMS 570X (tuned by Saleen) idling.
I really want to avoid getting labeled a “drifting blog”, but I couldn’t pass up posting this video. This tire-shredding drift is so perfect the rear of the car actually enters the turn before the front, and the driver maintains control.
For BMW enthusiasts, there has been only one true modern BMW roadster. That, of course, would be the BMW Z8. These cars had the style, the handling, and of course the power to make them a true sports car. In fact, these were more than sports cars, they were supercars. The Z8 was designed to run with the big boys from the likes of Porsche. Here’s a video of a Car & Driver road test from 2000:
Featuring straight line performance and plenty of power, the Buick Grand National GNX might have been the only true muscle car of the 1980’s. Most of you Grand National fans probably already know that Buick had to stop making these cars because GM didn’t like the fact that it was outperforming the Corvette, which was supposed to be the top performing car in the GM family. Here’s a Motor Trend American Classics video featuring the GNX:
I found this great video of a BMW Z4 demonstration at last year’s Detroit Auto Show. These cars are loaded with features but can be found for a much lower price than many other luxury BMW’s. The one drawback is that these cars are a bit underpowered. I guess they should be considered more of a convertible cruiser than a true sports roadster. They’re still better than a Mazda Miata or whatever that thing is that Saturn is (or was) selling.
I found this video of a bright red 1987 Bentley Turbo R 6.8. This car is being sold in Europe for the equivalent of about $14,000. That’s not bad for a Bentley that appears to be in very good shape for a 20+ year old car other than the major accident damage on the driver’s side. Of course, it is a Bentley, so it’s not like the original owner was likely to abuse it… other than that one time they decided they were “good to drive” and ended up running off the road in the middle of the night while fooling around with the new office intern. Oh wait, I’m thinking of my best friend’s wonderful adventures again.
The BMW Z3 is a controversial car for BMW enthusiasts. On the one hand, it’s an entry level sports model with some zip. On the other hand, it’s a cheap car that lowers the brand and lacks the performance of an M3 or even higher end BMW roadsters. The Z3 was created to compete with the Mazda Miata, but at a higher price range. It’s a roadster for people who want a little more than a little Mazda.
Here’s a great video of a walk around and a test drive of a 1970 Buick Gran Sport 455. These cars were a true beast of the muscle car era, with a nice throaty exhaust that you’d expect from such a massive engine. It’s not every day that you see one of these cars driving down the road.
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