Tennis stars and their cars
Can you imagine Victoria’s Secret selling a new range of lingerie by showing you a cropped close-up of Miranda Kerr’s ankle (as lovely an ankle as it is)?
It’s an absurd idea, but not too silly for a car company like Jaguar, which has decided to promote its truly awesome-sounding new super sedan, the XFR-S.
This BMW M5-bashing beast seems, on paper at least, to resemble a kind of bionic James Bond, but sadly we can’t tell you how suave it looks, because the above teaser pic is the only one the company has issued.
With the M5 and Benz’s E63 bi-turbo V8s squarely in its crosshairs, the alluringly British midsizer is said to pack a modified version of the slinky XKR-S’ supercharged 5.0-litre V8 bazooka.
Bellowing out about 400kW of power and 680Nm of torque through a fat pair of boots out back, we’re guessing a low-to-mid four-second time for the 0-100km/h blast, so we’re talking about a blisteringly quick five-seater.
Indeed, it should be the fastest Jaguar sedan of all time. So stay tuned, and keep your eyes peeled for bigger, better pictures.
It’s entirely possible that the new Lamborghini Aventador LP 700-4 Roadster revealed today will displace Miranda Kerr on bedroom walls around Australia.
Packing the same thundering 515kW V12 as its coupe sibling, the Roadster blasts from 0-100km/h in 3.0 seconds flat, and can hit a top speed of 350km/h.
To celebrate the coming release of the 23rd James Bond film, Skyfall, we’ve pulled together a list of ten movie cars that we’d really, really love to drive. Ten great machines that stole the show from their overpaid and overpampered human co-stars. Cars that took over the big-screen and filled our dreams for months afterwards. Cars we’d sell our mothers for. Maybe.
Aston Martin Vanquish V12 in Die Another Day Forget the invisibility cloaking device and all those missile launchers and countermeasures, we just want to drive a 355kW Aston Martin V12 on a massive frozen lake in Iceland. This was the third Bond film to feature cars on ice after The Spy Who Loved Me (1969) and The Living Daylights (1987). Unfornatulately, there is no V12 under this particular Aston’s bonnet, and neither is it rear-drive. The production team replaced the car’s running gear with a Ford-sourced V8 and a gearbox and all-wheel drive from a Ford Explorer. Youtube link
Lotus Esprit in The Spy Who Loved Me What kid hasn’t wanted a car that doubles as a submarine? Not sure we’d have chosen a Lotus for this role, especially not one from an era when they were known as much for electrical gremlins and unreliability as their speed and driving excitement. The movie car was in reality a compressed-air propelled fibreglass shell replica that was designed to operate full of water with two occupants in full scuba gear — a far cry from the dapper, tuxedo-wearing James Bond portrayed in the film. Youtube link
Ferrari 250GT Spider California in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off A hero to 1980s school boys everywhere, Matthew Broderick’s super-cool truant had the gorgeous girlfriend and the cool car. Okay, the Ferrari 250 GT Spider California wasn’t his, but convincing his hypochondriac best mate to take dad’s prized possession out for the day is the highlight. Or maybe it’s the two dodgy garage attendants who grab their own taste of Ferrari heaven. Or the Star Wars tribute scene. Sadly, this was another movie car that wasn’t. It was actually an MG — or was it a Corvette? — with a fibreglass replica shell. Youtube link
BMW i8 concept in Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol Despite Tom Cruise’s questionable religious fervour, we can’t deny he makes a kick-arse Ethan Hunt in the Mission Impossible franchise. The BMW i8 electric sports car makes an impressive film debut, and unlike numerous other movie cars in this list, actually is what it is. BMW supplied an actual prototype of its 2013 plug-in hybrid for filming. Youtube link
The Peterbilt truck in Duel Steven Spielberg’s first feature film was written by I Am Legend author Richard Matheson, and shot in 15 days on a budget that wouldn’t cover DiCaprio’s M&Ms rider today. Dennis Weaver’s travelling salesman character somehow gets on the wrong side of a truck driver, who then chases him across half of California before one of them goes all Thelma and Louise over a cliff. It’s not Weaver’s red Plymouth Valiant we want to drive, but the rusted-to-Hell 1961 Peterbilt 281 semi-trailer, which Spielberg chose over the more popular flat-nose trucks of the day because it looked more sinister. Duel’s filming techniques influenced Hollywood chase scenes for years to come. Youtube link
Lamborghini Countach LP400S in Cannonball Run If the title doesn’t give away this 1981 movie’s focus, then the first three minutes will. A sinister black Lamborghini Countach screaming through the Nevada desert. Cops give chase, only to be chased, only to give chase… hilarity ensues, in what is arguably Burt Reynold’s greatest flick this side of Boogie Nights. The formula was so successful they did it all again in the 1984 sequel, right down to the opening chase sequence. Thoughtfully, producers used a white Lambo this time. One for the trivia buffs: this is the only film in which Roger Moore drives an Aston Martin. Youtube link
Lincoln Continental convertible in Kalifornia Brad Pitt, David Duchovny, Juliette Lewis in a movie about a journalist couple who go on a tour with two friends, unaware one of them is a serial killer. The automotive star is a long and low black 1963 Lincoln Continental convertible. Love the look, love those suicide back doors. Youtube link
Challenger in Vanishing Point Self-billed as the ultimate car chase movie, it’s hard to argue when the film consists of pretty much nothing else. Story goes a bloke has to deliver a 1970 Dodge Challenger V8 from Colorado to San Francisco: 1200 miles across four states in 15 hours. He has a few run-ins with the cops, who launch an all-out pursuit. Our hero’s only assistance comes from Super Soul, a radio DJ with a police scanner. Some of the Challenger V8’s engine sounds on the movie’s soundtrack were actually of the Mustang in Steve McQueen’s Bullitt, further enhancing this movie’s automotive cachet. Youtube link
Chevy Camaro in Better off Dead This is vintage John Cusack before John Hughes made him really famous alongside Molly Ringwald in all those 1980s teen angst movies, which in turn gave him the clout to do even better movies like Grosse Point Blank and High Fidelity, before he plunged to the depths of Hot Tub Time Machine. This one’s about a high school senior who gets dumped by his superficial girlfriend, and decides that death is the only way out. Oh yeah, the car is a 1967 Chevrolet Camaro. Youtube link
DeLorean DMC in Back to the Future No movie cars we’d really, really like to drive list would be complete without Doc Brown’s time-travelling De Lorean. Who hasn’t dreamed of going back to 1986 and buying 100 Microsoft shares at $21 a-piece that would today be worth more than $750,000. Or ducking back to 2003 and inventing Facebook, or going to next week to find out tomorrow’s lotto numbers. Sadly, Michael J Fox’s character is not smart enough to see the obvious benefits here, and it falls to Biff in the sequel to use this fabulous machine for the reason it so obviously was designed. One side effect of the movie was that it put De Lorean cars on the map, though sadly the company had folded by then.
When things go awry in the bush, staying alive shouldn’t be a matter of luck or relying on half-remembered tips gleaned from TV shows
What kind of name is “Bear” anyway? Sounds to me like a bloke who desperately wants to be famous, not someone I’d entrust my life to in the wilderness. Bob, on the other hand, now that’s the name of a bloke I’d listen to when it all goes wrong in the great outdoors. Bob. Dependable. Learned. Trustworthy. Yes, Bob. But surely, you’re asking yourself, if this Bob is any good he’d have a TV show, wouldn’t he? Like Bear used to have?
Well, no, actually. Rather than schooling the TV-watching world, three cameramen, a sound bloke and a field producer in how to jump off a cliff into an unknown depth of water (Survival Rule #1: just don’t), this survival expert, Bob Cooper can usually be found teaching small groups how to avoid getting into trouble in the first place.
(Disclosure time: I’m caught in an ongoing ‘discussion’ with my father, who was my Scout leader for many years, about Bear Grylls. I reckon Grylls is a menace to outdoors society. Dad reckons the bloke is an outdoor oracle.)
So, I’ve set a challenge for my father: attend a survival course, led by a real expert.
West Australian-based Cooper is Australia’s foremost survival expert. Our military go to him for advice, big mining companies, whose employees work in remote areas, seek his counsel, people who have had close scrapes in the bush consult him, and those who don’t want to suffer close scrapes do as well.
There are many things in this world that seem to have little or no reason to exist; mosquitoes, Delta Goodrem, jazz, and BMW’s M6. Until you drive it, that is.
Some of the weirdest and wildest custom cars and bikes have been on display at this year’s SEMA show in Las Vegas.
Custom bike builder SK Concepts produced a quartet of radical machines, while Detroit’s ‘Big Three’ – Chrysler, Ford, and General Motors – showed off dramatic, high-performance versions of their most popular muscle cars.
As well, two custom versions of Dodge’s aptly named Power Truck, from 1949 and 1965, caused thousands of jaws to drop in the Las Vegas Convention Centre.
Ford also announced it is making complete steel bodies and panels available for its iconic 1940 Coupe, joining the 1967 Mustang Convertible in the spare parts catalogue.
Wheels’ admiration for the MX-5 is well-documented; you don’t win two COTY awards by fluke. But there’s very little substance in the latest update, and while the roadster’s sporting essence is still evident, its shine is definitely fading.
The ‘new-look’ MX-5, as Mazda calls it, brings Kodo design and minor mechanical tweaks. Really minor. We’re talking suspension modifications to reduce pitch and dive, and throttle and brake calibration changes to improve the car’s reactions.
There is no change to the 2.0-litre, four-cylinder engine, so power remains at 118kW and torque at 188Nm. Nor have the two six-speed transmissions on offer changed. Which in turn means the MX-5 still takes 7.8 seconds to reach 100km/h and carries an 8.1L/100km fuel economy rating.
Visually, the 2012 MX-5 looks tougher. The front air-intake is bigger and more Kodo-like (a-la CX-5 and next month’s Mazda6), and redesigned fog lamp surrounds give it more angular aggression. The only other visual changes are gunmetal grey alloy wheels on the base Roadster Coupe, and a polished black applique on the headrest rollover hoops.
Is it a touch ironic that the soft-top version (37kg lighter than the folding hard-top) has been dropped altogether from the Australian range? Mazda’s lightweight philosophy continues to be a strong marketing point; the company pointing out that 804grams had been shaved from the wiring harness and front bumper.
The fact remains that the MX-5 is a fun car to drive. The spirit is fading, yes, but is still willing. And I write this after having recently spent considerable time in the Toyota 86 and Subaru BRZ. Mazda doesn’t consider these coupes to be true MX-5 rivals, but there’s no denying the MX-5’s value equation has been tarnished by these two recent arrivals.
There’s also no denying the direct-injection ToyoBaru 2.0-litre makes the MX-5’s older unit feel lethargic and coarse. It revs willingly enough to its 7,500rpm limit, just takes its time getting there.
Overall, this update is a superficial one from a development team more completely focused on the next generation — as they should be.
The world’s biggest specialty auto trade event, the SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) show, opens this Tuesday … where else, but Las Vegas, Nevada.
Every year SEMA draws the wildest custom cars, and hottest product innovations to the Las Vegas Convention Center, providing attendees with educational seminars, product demos, and special events.
Everyone from the local hot rod shop, to the biggest automotive brands on the globe, are doing their best to out-bling and out-muscle each other in the name of publicity and sales.
The worst cars ever made
