192 BHP in a MINI Cooper Not Enough Thrill?

MINI has released the John Cooper Works edition of the MINI Cooper S. Packing 192 BHP and all manner of go-faster goodies, the little car is an adrenaline rush on wheels. MINI has produced a video to try to convey the sense of acceleration. Yes, it's mostly in German but the only place on earth that MINIs are built (for now) is Oxford, UK. Enjoy the clip and check out www.miniusa.com for details on the MINI Cooper S JCW.

A Great Movie

SABCC member and all-around good guy Don Pritchett loaned me his copy of a 2005 film titled The World's Fastest Indian a few days ago. I finally got the chance to watch it and I loved it.
This true story is about New Zealander Burt Munro and his efforts to set a world land speed record on a 1920 Indian Scout motorcycle (or "motorsickle" in Kiwi parlance). Munro battled bureaucracy, a tiny budget and health issues to make his attempt at the world record at the Bonneville Salt Flats near Salt Lake City, Utah in 1962.
Anthony Hopkins plays the part of Burt Munro and does a fine job of it. Go out and find this film!

Lola Featured at Goodwood Festival of Speed

2008 marks the 50th anniversary of the founding of Lola Cars by Eric Broadley. In honor of this milestone, the Goodwood Festival of Speed is featuring the cars made by this famous car constructor.

This year's Festival of Speed is July 11-13 on the estate of Lord March in West Sussex and, no, I won't be attending.

The Goodwood festival has invited such racing luminaries as Damon Hill, John Surtees, Carl Haas,
Brian Redman, Paul Tracy and Sebastien Bourdais.

Lola has produced competition cars for nearly all
forms of motorsport including prototype sports cars
and open wheel cars. Lola has also work behind the scenes, more or less, on many well known modern prototypes such as Nissan's R90 and MG's EX 257 LeMans cars. The legendary Ford GT40 is based on Eric Broadley's Lola Mk 6 - also known as the Lola GT.

I wonder if SPEED TV commentator David Hobbs is on the guest list? He had the dubious distinction of
destroying the only Lola Mk 6 in the 1963 edition of
the 24 hour LeMans race. It was reported that Eric
Broadley was close to tears upon hearing the news.