In our hemisphere the Holden VF Commodore is better known as the Chevrolet SS.  As part of the roll out for this new Chevy, the very similar Holden will race the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas next month.  The Australian V8 Supercar challenge will hit the Lone Star State on May 19th for the Austin 400.  So with these Aussies bringing their race series over here, the tank stunt may have been for more than just the home audience.

Now we’re happy to report that Race2Recovery has become the first team of disabled drivers to ever complete this off-road feat of strength.

As Top Gear showed, prepping for Dakar presented its own unique challenges:

Since gaining fame on the world’s most popular motoring program, Land Rover stepped in to provide more support for their Defender-based QT Wildcat.  Extra financial and vehicle donations from other sources has helped the team grow from one Freelander and a handful of members to 28 people with four Wildcat race vehicles and fleet of support trucks — all in the span of 18 months.  This level of sponsorship allowed the team to spend their time focusing on tackling the 5,325-mile event.

All four Race2Recovery vehicles started the Dakar Rally, but by the end of the 15-day event, only one remained.  “Joy” earned its nickname after the Peter Harrison Foundation donated the Wildcat, and the car was christened in honor of the founder’s late wife.  Joy’s drivers Major Matt O’Hare and Cpl Phillip Gillespie crossed the finish line yesterday in Santiago, Chile.  They came in 91 out of 91 vehicles in their category, but this is quite an accomplishment considering 160 cars started the event.

Plus, this was the first major rally for Race2Recovery.  These soldiers have set an impressive benchmark, and we know they will hurdle over it in the near future.

Marc Dürscheidt had always wanted a BMW M1.  Unfortunately, with less than 500 made in both racing and street versions, they are all priced well outside of the 28-year-old’s budget.  But that didn’t mean he couldn’t dream.  So one day while searching eBay for M1 scale models, he came across an interesting ad for an entire car body.

He met the owner at a storage garage.  While there was no complete car anywhere to be seen, tucked behind a washing machine were clearly parts to a racing M1.  Dürscheidt didn’t hesitate to pay €2,000 and took the pieces home.

Turning the pile of parts back into a car was not going to be an easy task.  All that was left was the front and rear outer panels, mid-section, and doors.  It would need to have everything from the monocoque to the engine sourced or rebuilt.  But Dürscheidt finally owned his dream, and so the mechanic was going to restore this M1 as accurately as possible.

As he sanded away layers of the paint, Dürscheidt began to see an interesting story develop.  He found markings of a car entered in the 1980 24 Hours at Le Mans.  This was not a BMW Works car, but instead Dürscheidt’s car was prepared by the British firm March Engineering.

The #82 M1 was far from a contender in that race.  It retired after 38 laps after suffering multiple flat tires and a crash.  In fact, the BWMs were so unsuccessful for March Engineering that they abandoned the project soon after the race.

This history did not deter Dürscheidt’s desire for a proper rebuild of his M1, but the fact that March has been out of business for two decades did mean he would need to find other sources for help.  BMW came to his rescue by allowing him access to BMW Classic’s archive on the March M1.  This gave Dürscheidt accurate pictures and measurements to restore his car.

He’s taken the time to build and assemble down to the original standard, but there was still one piece missing: the engine.  The 3.5-liter M88 motor that ran at Le Mans is expensive and near-impossible to find.  Dürscheidt instead is instead using the 280 hp motor out of a M-powered 635 CSi.  It is not quit the same as the 470 hp that March utilized, but Dürscheidt will work on his engine until it get close to the same power.

The car is nearly completed, and Dürscheidt will undoubtedly be smitten when his labor of love can finally be on the track again.  This is one of those stories we are happy to share because most of us are still searching every corner of the internet for our dream car at a reasonable price.  Even if some assembly may be required.

story and photo source: Spiegel (German language)

GM released today pictures of the new Chevrolet SS NASCAR that will be hitting the circuit during the 2013 season.  From what we can see in its stock car racing body, the Chevy SS seems to be a mix of the new styling language found on cars like the upcoming Impala with some of the leftover Pontiac G8 elements.

While both the NASCAR version and the street-going Chevrolet SS will be V8-powered driven though the rear wheels, we expect the pedestrian model to be a bit more sophisticated and less powerful.  The SS you can have in your driveway will likely be powered by the same 3.6-liter V6 and 6.0-liter V8 that is available in its bigger brother, the Holden Caprice/Chevrolet Caprice Police Patrol Vehicle.

Plenty more details to come when the Chevrolet SS gets closer to its debut next year.

Those who attend the U.K. event know that it is not just vintage racing.  The Goodwood Revival is about recreating the entire atmosphere from the heyday of post-WWII competition.  Attendees are strongly encouraged to dress in period-correct clothing as they are surrounded by everything from fairgrounds to aircraft that are a time capsule of the 1950s and 60s.  While we already have some events like the Monterey Motorsports Reunion and The Hawk that provide quality vintage racing, these are missing the feeling that comes with the pageantry and planes.

To pull this off in the USA, the event is looking to take place late in the fall when Europe has buttoned up for the season and will be happy to come over here.  Warner has strong ties to Fernandina Beach with the Amelia Island Concours, and the city council has thrown some support behind the Goodwood-style idea.  The northern Florida beach town seems like an ideal area to hold the race event as the lightly used municipal airport has multiple runways where a racecourse can be mapped out while still leaving one runway open to vintage aircraft.  Also, this facility meets another requirement as its close proximity to luxury resorts can accommodate the well-heeled participants.  Even with this much going for the area, there are rumors that other warmer Florida venues such as Daytona or Palm Beach have not been ruled out.

There are still plenty of hurdles to get over before this event can take place next fall (i.e. the FAA needs to give this one its standard proctological exam before approval.)  Plus, part of the allure of the Goodwood Revival is connecting with the facility’s history of motorsport, something the Fernandina Beach Airport is lacking.

Regardless of the concerns, this vintage race has our support.  Not only will it bring some much needed Goodwood magic to vintage racing over here, but also it will finally give north Florida a proper sister event for Gatornationals (those from the area can laugh now.)

Laguna Seca comes to life with everything from American Trans AM muscle like Mustangs and Camaros to the foreign the foreign juggernauts of Ferrari Daytona and Porsche 917 (the full action can be seen in the photo gallery.)  One of the most extraordinary participants was a 1907 Renault Grand Prix Vanderbilt Cup racer that had the honor of the oldest car running this year.

There is something mesmerizing about watching a century-old car take to a racecourse that only moments ago hosted vehicles that easily broke 100 mph.  The Renault’s driver, Alan Travis, could only run at a snail’s pace compared to other race classes, but he was in good company as his group had a few other pre-WWI racers.  It was this slower field that gave a lasting link to a generation of racing that was older than anyone attending the event.

Celebrating bygone heroes unintentionally became a theme to this year’s race.  A special class celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Shelby Cobra was announced well in advance, but unfortunately with Shelby passing three months before the race, it was turned into an event also commemorating the car’s creator.

A unique engine calibration and optimized cooling system allows the 3.8-liter twin turbo V8 to put out 630 hp — 13 hp more than the current MP4 12C and the most power this engine has ever produced.  Also, taking out many of the creature comforts makes the Can-Am about 440 lbs lighter than the road car.

There is also a optimized aerodynamic package that includes a carbon fiber front splitter, carbon fiber dive planes, and a carbon fiber rear wing.  The result is a 30 percent gain in downforce.  Akebono developed the braking system.

Inside, the 12C Can-Am seats already come with full six-point harnesses as well as a full race-specification rollcage. The steering wheel is carried over from the 12C GT3, with the shape and grip derived from that of Lewis Hamilton’s MP4-24 Formula 1 car.  One of the more curious pieces is an integrated air conditioning system.  Racing is all about getting rid of frivolous weight, but it seems to be something racers are looking for these days.

McLaren calls the 12C Can-Am Edition, “purely a concept at this stage,” but we know better.  A car company whose reputation is built around racing is not going to keep this one out of customer’s hands for too long.

Like most small-time carbuilders they went into the 1970s roaring, but came out limping.  The expense of regulation and technology would mean Chevron would go on the decline.

But the fortunes of Chevron started to change in 2010 with new management and a new car, the GR8.  This 2.0-liter racer has returned Chevron to its small capacity roots.  This is fine, but what is really exciting is a second car, the GT3.  The racer was introduced this year, and it has been showing up at historic racing events such as Goodwood and Shelsley Walsh (Chevron likes to tout how it has set speed records at these events, but remember, this classic name is using a modern car to go up against historic vehicles.)

The GT3 is basically the GR8 with a new 3.5-liter V6 engine as well as body and suspension modifications.  What really makes it interesting is the car’s name.  We can assume that a car labeled “GT3″ was built for GT3 racing.  Since the GT3 class is based on production cars, if this racer wants to enter the class it is named after, it will need to build road-going versions to meet homologation standards.

Chevron is already promoting a ‘coming soon’ road car called the B1 Mk2 (the first Chevron ever was the B1.)  The car doesn’t look like the GR8/GT3, but we don’t know the full specs on this one yet.  So is it close enough to the GT3 to allow it into racing, or will there be a second road model announced soon?

Of course given today’s economy, we might be waiting a while for any sort of answer.  Still, it is nice to see one of racing’s legendary car brands mounting a comeback.

We may pretend that we left our imaginations behind in childhood, but the competitors here can’t fool anyone.  Making the substantial investment in keeping pure track machines from Lola, Shadow, BRM, and others in race-ready condition is for the pure pleasure in living the fantasy of trying to recreate some of the greatest moments in classic racing.

While not all of us have the funds or the time to take vintage machines to the track, The Hawk still provides good spectator entertainment.  Wisconsin has a long tradition of accepting the low-volume carmakers, and that has led to a variety of small European and American brands showing up here for a few laps.  Cheetah, Matich, Huffaker, Turner, Unipower, and Ginetta all had cars running during this weekend.  Elva had its largest victory at Road America in 1963 at the SCCA’s US Road Racing Championship, and so the events here always have a few of those south England cars on the grid (a 1962 Courier even won the The Hawk’s Vintage Production class.)

Occasionally events like these are more about showing classic metal than actual racing, but The Hawk did not disappoint.  There was plenty of paint traded, blown engines, and of course, single vehicle crashes caused by driving a decades old car like a modern racer.  For those whose machines could survive the weekend, and lucky enough to make it to the podium, possibly the best reward may be asking Redman how he lasted so long.

Ferrari Racing Days held at the U.K.’s Silverstone Circuit on September 15th is attempting to double the record for largest parade of Ferraris.  The event previously set the record with 385 cars at Silverstone back in 2007, but that has since been beat by a gathering of 490 cars.  Hungry for revenge, Ferrari North Europe now says they have over 600 prancing horses registered for this year’s record attempt.  They will be keeping another 400 spaces open so that the Guinness World Record can be set at 1,000 Ferraris.

The event will feature new track-only classics like the FXX and 599XX.  Plus, like any good track day, there will also likely be a few pristine ultra-rate older customer cars running around Silverstone giving off that sweet exhaust note that comes when a Ferrari is driven at its limits.

Every Ferrari owner is entitled to two free tickets to Ferrari Racing Days, and for every car that participates in the record run, Ferrari will donate £5 to BEN — a U.K. automotive industry charity.  For those just observing, tickets are £15 per day or £20 for a two-day pass.

It would be hard to call Ferrari Racing Days a once in a lifetime opportunity.  There are plenty of track day events that feature similar cars (for example, the Cavallino Classic track day does an outstanding job in the U.S.) So this is not the kind of event to hop a plane just to attend, but for those already living in the U.K., this Silverstone-turned-Rosso-Corsa may make for an interesting weekend.