The BMW is one of the pride and joy of the German auto industry, the brand is well known around the world for stylish cars and cutting edge technology applied to them, but before becoming one of the most desirable automobiles in the market, BMW had its fair share of bumpy roads. The origin. TheContinue reading “BMW. The Rough Beginning.”
Author Archives: Rubens Junior
McLaren Mustang
The Ford Mustang needs no introduction, after all, the car has been around since 1965; in the sports car universe, only the Chevrolet Corvette (1953), and the Porsche 911 (1963) can rival the Mustang in longevity. Words like icon, and legend, have been loosely thrown around to better describe the “Old Horse” and we allContinue reading “McLaren Mustang”
VW Beetle, and how we raced it.
The year is 1985 and Brazil is facing terrible times, the mismanagement of the economy by the military government brought an imaginable inflation rate, something around 250% a year. As one can imagine, racing wasn’t exactly a priority in this kind of scenario; only those categories backed by the automakers were surviving, like the BrazilianContinue reading “VW Beetle, and how we raced it.”
The Runaway Drone
Nowadays, flying drones are such a common sight, from the harmless ones we use to shoot videos of our vacations to the deadly ones used by the military. Drones are pretty much part of our daily lives. The drone technology was born in the military and later on was granted to us, the civilians. TheContinue reading “The Runaway Drone”
Monte Carlo Rally.
As I started to write this post, right after Christmas day, 2020, the teams and drivers were getting ready for the kick start of the 2021 season of the World Rally Championship, or simply “WRC”. As it has happened since 1973, the opening round will be the most traditional and important race of the calendar:Continue reading “Monte Carlo Rally.”
Triumph Motorcycles; and a little story about passion and brotherhood.
Special thanks to Paul Niedermeyer, (Curbside Classics) for the awesome pictures. During the year 2014, I had the opportunity to work for a big restoration shop in Brazil. Among many different activities we performed there, one of them was selling used “premium” motorcycles. This little story happened on a hot summer afternoon. I was almostContinue reading “Triumph Motorcycles; and a little story about passion and brotherhood.”
The American V8. Part Four: The Chrysler HEMI.
For all those gearheads who, in one way or another, have been involved with American V8s, the world HEMI means something special: the one engine that stands apart from the crowd; the “king” of the pack. But what makes this engine so special? Well, great ideas are, generally speaking, simple ideas, and the “HEMI” engineContinue reading “The American V8. Part Four: The Chrysler HEMI.”
The American V8. Part Three: The Chevy Small Block.
The popularity of the Oldsmobile 88 and the “OHV” V8, helped to push General Motors as the number one name in performance in the USA, but that wasn’t enough, GM had broader plans for those engines. The idea was to maximize the profits as much as possible, making the V8 even more affordable. GM quicklyContinue reading “The American V8. Part Three: The Chevy Small Block.”
The American V8. Part Two: Oldsmobile Rocket.
It took 17 years for General Motors to come up with an answer to the Ford Flathead V8. Right after WW II, two different brands from GM: Cadillac and Oldsmobile, were developing the next generation of the American V8: The “Over Head Valve” or simply OHV. In this configuration, the engine valves (intake and exhaust)Continue reading “The American V8. Part Two: Oldsmobile Rocket.”
The American V8. Part One: Ford Flathead
The economic prosperity that blessed the USA in the decades after the WWII, helped to consolidated the American cars as the standard for the automotive industry, they were big, elegant, powerful, reliable and above all, affordable. The engine of choice for the American automakers, at that time, was the V8, the only machine capable provideContinue reading “The American V8. Part One: Ford Flathead”
The Bike of The Century
The history of the Honda CB 750, the machine that revolutionized the whole motorcycle industry. Please check out the video version of this post: At the end of World War II, the defeated nations started a slow and painful reconstruction process. Both Germany and Japan had their major cities wiped out by the relentlessly AlliedContinue reading “The Bike of The Century”
“Wings of a Dream”
A quick look at the World’s biggest private collection of vintage airplanes. Brazil might be well known for some things like soccer and carnival but not a lot of people know the connections the country has with aviation; from the pioneers like Santos Dumont to a thriving domestic aerospace industry, we are crazy about aircraft.Continue reading ““Wings of a Dream””
Porsche celebrates the 50th anniversary of its first victory at Le Mans.
June 14, 1970, on this day, for the first time in History, a Porsche received the checkered flag in front of everybody else in Le Mans. The brand debuted at this legendary race track with a class-victory (1,100 cc) in 1951, but it took almost 20 years for the team to achieve an overall victory.Continue reading “Porsche celebrates the 50th anniversary of its first victory at Le Mans.”
The History of the Jeep. Part Two-Civilian Life.
(Top photo by gearjunkie.com) When Willys unveiled the “CJ”, in 1944, it was basically the same car the company was producing to fight in WW II. Only small changes were adopted, the most visible ones were: the tail-gate, which created the necessity to move the spare tire to the quarter-panel, the ” Sealed-Beam” headlights whichContinue reading “The History of the Jeep. Part Two-Civilian Life.”
The History of the Jeep. Part One-The Military Years.
December 2018, Jeep releases the sales numbers of its most successful year in history. In total, Jeep sold 973,227 vehicles. By the end of that year, the Wrangler became the brand’s best-selling model, with 240,032 units delivered to the customers, outselling even the Jeep Cherokee. Jeep is, nowadays, one of the most lucrative brands amongContinue reading “The History of the Jeep. Part One-The Military Years.”
The Most Popular Airplane
September 2nd, 1945, the Japanese foreign affairs minister Mamoru Shigemitsu, signs the Instrument of Japanese Surrender, aboard the American warship USS Missouri, formalizing the end of the World War II. Among many different kinds of weapons employed by the Allies, the airplane played a pivotal role to win the war. Together, United States, Canada, UnitedContinue reading “The Most Popular Airplane”
Collector’s Day
In July 2015, my wife and I moved from our hometown in Brazil to Winnipeg, Canada and one of the first things we noticed was the number of classic cars on the streets on any given day. Perhaps because the cars are kept in storage for the whole winter, which here is extremely harsh andContinue reading “Collector’s Day”
The Classic Machines 