Street Muscle Action

Hemmings.com just posted a very interesting story about Henry Ford’s early devotion to an electric car. It seems to come from Ford’s great friendship with Thomas Edison, himself a great proponent of all things electrical. There’s even an interesting quote from Ford himself:

“I believe that ultimately the electric motor will be universally used for trucking in all large cities, and that the electric automobile will be the family carriage of the future. All trucking must come to electricity. I am convinced that it will not be long before all the trucking in New York City will be electric.”

This story is definitely an interesting read, especially given the recent push toward hybrid and all-electric cars. We definitely recommend investing a few minutes in it.

You can read the complete article here.

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OK, so gymkhana has been around for a bit, but always on the fringe. But now, Ken Block, who has put gymkhana–literally “car rodeo”–on the map with his incredible videos, plans to make it a competitive sport.

Gymkhana Grid is what Block is calling his version of the motorsport, and the first event will be held December 3 and 4, 2010 at Irwindale (CA) Speedway. Block calls it “the first ever stadium style spectator Gymkhana racing event in North America.”  If you think this sounds interesting, the best part is everyday racers will have the opportunity to compete against Block at the event. Of course, just how fair it will be to compete against Block on the course he designed is largely irrelevant compared to the cool factor of this whole deal. To get in on the action, check out Gymkhana Grid’s website.

And if you have now idea what all this is about, you really owe it to yourself to check out the videos after the break. You won’t be sorry.

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We’re on a bit of a Le Mans jag with the race this weekend, but this video is worth it. Corvette is celebrating its 50 anniversary of racing at Le Mans this year, and this video takes a look at how far the car has come. Some great looks at the old cars on the track.

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Audi is apparently very excited about racing its R15 in the upcoming 24 Hours of Le Mans. It is hyped for the event so much is just released a video featuring is R15 race car. Watch and enjoy.

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Spotted this video on YouTube while looking for something else. I guess this is some spec racing series in Europe, but see if you can spot the design flaw in racing a bunch Fiats (is that what they are?) on a twisty road course.

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Hennessey Performance has made its name as a tuner producing some of the most powerful cars anywhere. But now it is on the verge of creating and selling its own car–the Venom GT.

The Venom is powered by a twin turbo LS9, and in the video after the break Hennessey claims it produces an astounding 933 horsepower at the rear wheels to go with 874 lb/ft of torque on 93 octane. Considering that this is going into a chassis that weighs approximately 2,700 pounds. Watch the video after the break.

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Mentos and Coke Zero will save the day. Wonder what the going price for a barrell of Coke goes for these days?

This unbelievable video is from the last lap of the Indy 500 won by Dario Franchitti. Driver Mike Conway clipped the car of Ryan Hunter-Reay and all kinds of mayhem ensues. And the best part is nobody was seriously injured.

Petty Enterprises moved out of it’s Level Cross, NC, shops a few years ago in a move to Mooresville, NC, that was supposed to help the NASCAR Sprint Cup racing organization be more competitive. The team has since merged with Gillette/Evernham Motorsports and again with Yates Racing and besides the number 43, there’s really not much left of the old Petty Enterprises.

But the Level Cross shops have been busy, and they’ve just released the fruits of their labor for the public to see. Now known as Petty’s Garage, the Petty Shops are building custom Dodge Challengers for public consumption. Only 43 will be built per year (get it?), and currently, (more…)

Here’s a follow-up to yesterday’s post about F1 racing making a return to US shores in 2012. This time around it’s a video and the title says it all. Not sure what’s going on here but it’s definitely surreal. Anybody got a clue?

Read more in The News.