Killboy's British Roadsters

Shortly after I discovered Killboy's remarkable images, I searched his archives for cars and shots that I really liked, and came up with about 60 pictures.  Since then, I've added 2-3 pix from each week's highlights.  Every month or so, I cull the herd.  Sometimes a better image of an existing make/model shows up; sometimes I decide an image isn't as much of a keeper as I first thought it was.  The point is to use My Killboy picture file as a rolling screen-saver.

What makes his images so great?  One obvious answer is good equipment and a photographer's eye.  Beyond that, the background draws your eye back to the car: the Dragon is scenic, but neutral.  Most of all (I believe) it is because the cars are real, doing what they do, occupied by people having fun.  Just think back to the images you've seen of iconic cars parked on a putting green with an ocean behind them.  Or parked in front of a mansion.  The main reason Killboy's pictures work so well is that they bring the cars to life and give you a feel for what they're like to drive.

My collection is broad-ranging: old and new, supercars and and not-so.  Just images that I like.  It includes lots of makes and models, foreign and domestic.  And some bikes and hot rods.  A few  images were saved just because Killboy's captions were hilarious.  A couple of art shots were saved to remind me of what a great experience the Dragon is.

As an example of what I'm trying to say, here is a class of cars I know reasonably well.  I would not want to own an old British roadster, but they are huge fun to drive.  These pictures are a reminder of just how good Killboy's work is.

MG TC: prettiest and slowest of the postwar MG's.  They always look like they are going faster than they are.

Austin Healey 100: once again, Killboy slays the image.

Austin Healey 100-6 or 3000 (not sure which): what the 100-4 became when it grew up, or made too many concessions to creature comfort, depending on your viewpoint.  The charm of this car was its torquey in-line 6.

MGA: faster than a TC/TD/TF, the first "modern" MG.  But you still had to reach inside and pull a cable to open the door. 

Lotus 7: beginning of the legend.

Triumph TR-3: the car for someone who wanted something faster than an MGA: 2 liters of torque instead of 1.6.  But you had to stoop to reach the exterior door handle.  Roadsters were hard-core.

XK-E: without occupants, they look bigger in pictures than they really are.  This car was a sensation when it came out in 1961: almost as fast as a Ferrari 250 GT for half the money.  And (some say) better-looking.

Austin Healey Sprite: countless road racers got their starts in this car.  This one appears to be a Dragon regular: blue stickers on the windshield.

Triumph TR-4: do these people look like they're having fun?  Love the (non-standard) Minilite wheels.

THAT'S What I'm Talkin' About! (250 Testa Rossa)

No particular reason to post this link, other than that the video has been one of my faves for years.  The important part is obviously not the video quality, but the audio.  It appears to have been shot in Tuscany--what better place to blow the cobwebs out of a 250 TR?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hFPPOZ6vBY

1958 Ferrari 250 TR.  If you weren't driving one in international sports car racing 1958-1961, you were pedaling faster to keep up.  The '58 Scaglietti-bodied 250 TR was the iconic one, but they came in more normal-looking editions later.  American Phil Hill cemented his reputation as an endurance sports car racer with wins in these cars before he went on to become World Champion in the Ferrari 156 GP car in 1961. 

Birdcage Maserati Video Walk-Around

This is a good video tour (although the image quality is so-so) of a car I've posted about before.  Adam Carolla plays the fool;  he knows vintage cars very well and races his own Datsun 510.

Gaston Andrey was the driver in this particular car's winning season.  He was a Swiss immigre (thus the color scheme and emblem on the car) who owned an imported car store in Framingham, MA.  He won the SCCA C-Modified championship.  Roger Penske won the class a year later using two cars:  another Birdcage and his Cooper Formula 1-based "Zerex Special."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhz0FlDXuxU

Scale model of the Tipo 60/61 Maserati Birdcage frame.

Jump On In, Version 2.0

Well, P.A. members, I'm out of interesting things to post about until something comes up.  (Some may say the 'interesting" point was passed a while ago!)  Possibly not until October 8, or later.  The blog is not going dark, but P.A. may go silent for a bit.

 So...if you've made an interesting run, or want to talk about a favorite bike or car, or your own Dragon experiences, or get just something off your gearhead chest, jump on in.  A blog partly devoted to the Dragon should have rider voices.  Members can easily be set up to post.  Just give me a shout in any Comments box.

Dragon, Thy Name Is Notorious (And TPMS)

Took my Si to the Honda store to have the tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) "re-initiated."  This is necessary even if your wheel/tire upgrade is the same size as the o.e.m. stuff.  In Honda's arrangement, the TPMS dash lite comes on (not the "low pressure" lite) and the software switches on the VSA (vehicle stability assist) permanently.  You cannot switch VSA off until you take the car to the Honda store and get the TPMS re-initiated.  And (did you see this coming?) a dealer is the only one who can do it.

As my car was being finished up, I saw one mechanic pointing toward its cowl and explaining my Dragon logo to another one.  With enthusiasm.  My pal Larry says that, if it comes up in gearhead conversation that you have been to the Dragon, you will get one of two, and only two, reactions: 1) "What's that?"  2) "Jeez...," with a wistful stare into the middle-distance.  Any curve freak who's heard of the Dragon wants to go.  Any curve freak who's been wants to go back.

Maybe mechanics in Knoxville, Maryville, and Robbinsville are blase about the Tail of the Dragon.  But get a few hundred miles away, and they point and talk.

A Dragon sticker doesn't say who slayed whom, but it says that you at least strapped on your armor.

Tire Rack Customer Reviews

I read a couple of dozen customer reviews before making my purchase.  Was inclined to re-up (which I did), and was just grazing to see how my experience tallied with others', and what people had to say about a couple of possible alternatives.  The reviews were amusing--even hilarious--but not valuable in making a decision.  So of course I posted one of my own.  :-)

My review appears near another because they went up around the same time.  My tires had 30,000+ miles on them; his around 22,000.  I live in the upper Midwest; he lives outside San Francisco.  My self-reported driving style was "spirited."  His was "average."

I reported no issues with punctures, noise, or aquaplaning (other reviewers had).  He was bummed about wear and punctures.  I gave my o.e. tires an 8.50 average numerical score (out of a possible 10) in the "pick a number" multi-category rating section, and consider myself a hard grader.  His numerical score was 5.82.  You can find lots of 9+'s; it's hard to find a score lower than the low 5's.

San Francisco has more hills, and maybe more road hazards than my neighborhood.  But both cars are front-drivers from the same manufacturer.  He self-reports as a non-aggressive driver.  Could his tires really be worn 41% faster to a similar tread depth?  If they are, wouldn't he have an alignment issue?

This is just a snapshot of what I found again and again in the customer reviews.  Other things to ponder:  Who buys a performance-oriented car and expects to get 50-60,000 miles out of his high- performance tires?  Especially if he self-reports as a "spirited" driver?  How can the same tire be fine in monsoons for one driver but aquaplane "worst I've driven" for another?

The reviews are entertaining.  But the reader comes away asking "Are you guys talking about the same tire?"  You are much better off, in my opinion, comparing UTQG grades (even across manufacturers and between "summer only" and all-season, which Tire Rack cautions against), tread patterns, and weights, than in putting much stock in customer reviews.

THAT'S What I'm Talkin' About!!! (Porsche RSR Video)

The engine note, I mean.  "Turbo?  Turbo!?!  We don't need no steenkin' turbo..."  

A flat six Typ 901 racing engine should have a sharp, raspy growl, like this one.  It's sad to hear blatty-sounding ones at club events.  Cooling fan whistle on over-run is standard at no extra cost.  ;-)  The exhaust system in the video is not original: I guess they have noise-abatement racing in Europe now, too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T67GpXbViSg&feature=g-vrec

The iconic RSR in the States was Brumos Porsche's, which won Daytona outright in 1973 with Peter Gregg/ Hurley Haywood.