The Ferrari 212

The Ferrari 212 Inter was produced from 1951 through 1953. About 80 cars were built during this time period. Typical of early cars, the factory designed and built a chassis with full engine and running gears and the buyer was able to commission a different company to build the body. This is why many early Ferrari cars carry the same model number but do not look alike.

Typical for Ferrari the 212 designated the cubic centimeters of one cylinder of the engine. So the V12 engine for this automobile was 212cc x 12 or around 2,544 cc. The actual value was 2,562 cc as values for model numbers were rounded up or down at the factory's discretion.

The basic engine was the same design as the earlier 166 Inter, however it had been bored out to increase the horsepower to 150 with two carburetors. Cars towards the end of the series received three carburetors and were rated at about 170bph. As in earlier cars the Inter models were not designed for racing, but raced they were. If you wanted one specifically for racing you chose the 212 Export model.

These cars were bodied in coupe, cabriolet and spider designs by some of the leading companies such as, Vignale, Ghia and Pinin Farina (who changed their name to Pininfarina years later). The chassis was tubular steel, a practice that you could see on cars produced through the 1980's. The transmission was a five speed manual, again a design that lasted until 1994 when a six speed manual was introduced.

Are these models very valuable? Well at a December 2008 auction a Ferrari 212 Export (remember the model designed for racing) was bid up to $1,946,000 and not sold as the reserve had not been met.

Dennis Dater has been interested in cars since he learned to drive in a 1952 MG TD. He has two unique web sites that offer Honda Accord aftermarket parts. Visit him and see the products or read more articles.

http://www.accordmania.com for Accord performance products
http://www.accordtopia.com for Accord appearance products

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The Volvo P1800

The company was founded in 1994 by Christian von Koenigsegg. Its profiles is world class super cars. Their first car - Koenigsegg CC prototype - was first publicized in 1996. It took them four years to present the full production prototype. It was shown at the 2000 Paris Motor Show.

After that it took two years to make a delivery. So in 2002 at the Geneva Auto Show first customer received his CC8S. In 2006 Koenigsegg introduced the CCX, but in 2007 - first green super car in the world - the CCXR, which is a bioflexfuel version of the CCX.

In the company works Swedish auto engineer Mattias Vöcks. His day job is also his hobby. He unbelievably loves these orange asphalt carnivorous. But there are something that he loves even a little more - the classical Volvo cars. Fortunately to Mattias, Koenigsegg management has authorized him in his free time to play with his hobbies. He creates old Volvo into quick and breathtaking super car.

First time when the world heard about Mattias Vöcks was in 2006. In time when he presented the classic 1967 Volvo Amazon, which looked like a hotrod and had 600 horsepower engine.

Now Mattias Vöcks has told that he is preparing a new Volvo explosive, which will be built on the basis of 1961 Volvo P1800 coupe. Now on public has came some of design studio Vizualtech made images so it is possible to see what Koenigsegg engineering masterpiece will look like.

The author of the project has noted that he had to changed classical P1800 proportions to achieve the desired power, aerodynamics and manageability. The car front end has had to extend about 70mm to mount 4.4-liter V8 engine with a turbine and it will reach around 600 horsepower.

Article by Raivis

http://theautomotivenews.blogspot.com/

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The Ferrari 250GT

Have you seen the movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off? If you have, I'll bet you remember the red Ferrari that went off a driveway and crashed at the base of a hill. Well that was a replica of a 1961 Ferrari 250GT California. Ferris and his friend Cameron looked rather stunned when they watched this car become airborne. As did all Ferrari lovers. Why was a replica used? It could have been because only 55 of these cars were made, and it is considered one of the most beautiful examples of the car maker's art.

There are really two different 250GT California cars. The first one produced from 1957 to 1960 was based on the Ferrari 250GT Tour De France, which had its top removed, and a coupe became a convertible. Pinin Farina designed these spiders and they were built by Scaglietti built them. The initial request came from Ferrari's North American importer. This run of 49 cars are now referred to as the LWB or long wheel base models.

The Ferrari 250GT SWB (Short Wheel Base) California was built from 1960 to 1963. It is considered one of the most desirable and beautiful cars ever made. How desirable? At the RM auction on May 18, 2008 a 1961 model sold for $10,894,900, setting a new record. The car had been owned by actor James Coburn, which may have helped a little in the final price.

From a mechanical standpoint the 250GT SWB was powered by a V12, rated at 280bph. Top speed was about 145mph. A little unusual was a four speed manual gearbox rather than the five speed. These particular cars now had disc brakes front and rear. The purchaser had a choice of either an aluminum or steel body.

While the 250GT series of cars set international racing records throughout the early 1960's most of the competition was done in the coupes rather than the California models.

When the average non Ferrari owner thinks of a Ferrari, chances are this is one that comes to mind, or perhaps the 308GTS shown in the Mannix TV show.

Dennis Dater has been involved with cars for over 50 years. His first love was sports cars when he drove a 1952 MG to high school. He has produced over 40 articles for EzineArticles on cars, and almost a hundred on his web sites. His two web sites are designed for Honda Accord aftermarket accessories.

Please visit him at:

http://www.accordmania.com

http://www.accordtopia.com

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DOE Cutting Hydrodgen Car Funding

Obama's Department Of Energy Secretray Stephen Chu announced that the DOE is cutting funds for research into hydrogen powered cars.  From the budget rollout presentatio (here)

FY 2010 budget cuts less effective programs so we can invest in our economic future.  For example:

Cutting funding for deep-water and unconventional oil and gas research that industry can and does fund on its own. 

Moving away from funding vehicular hydrogen fuel cells to technologies with more immediate promise

I think, on this one, Chu (and Obama) are correct.  H2 is very far away from being practical, mostly because of the massive task that a hydrogen fuelling infrastructure would be.  There would be much greater short term benefits from research into better batteries.

The Ferrari Dino 206

Perhaps one of the prettiest cars to ever come out of the Ferrari factory was the Dino 206 and 246. Introduced in 1967 and produced until 1974 the car sold over 3,900 units which was a new record for the company for one model. This was the first mid engine road card using a V6 engine. The name came from Enzo Ferrari's son Dino, who had helped talk his father into building a V6 for the road. This introduced a new line of cars which did not carry the Ferrari brand or badges. The initial V6 engine was 1,986 cc's or about 2.0 liters and the 206 designation represented both the capacity of the engine (2.0) and the 6 was for 6 cylinders. It had a rated horsepower of 180 at 8,000 rpm which was almost unheard of for a corresponding American car.

Only 152 cars were produced until the engine was enlarged to 2,418 cc which lead to the model change called the 246GT in 1969. In 1972 a spider or open top car was introduced and called the 246 GTS. The 246 models produced 195 bph and gave the car a top speed of 151 miles per hour. These cars are still known today as being outstanding in road holding and have been compared to race cars. Initially the Dino brand did not take off as well as the Ferrari brand. Many of the early cars were mistreated and left outside, which caused a lot of rust damage. Early cars had heavy depreciation and were not a particularly sought after collector car.

Today in the marketplace this is now a desirable car and can fetch over $180,000 for an excellent example. They are a relatively small car, with a noisy engine and great fun to drive, whether on the road, on the track or part of a rally. At Ferrari car shows the Dino always attracts a lot of attention, and special class awards have been made just for this model. From what was once considered a step child of the company has now come into its own.

Dennis Dater has been involved with cars for over 50 years. He is now in the process of opening a web site which will sell only Honda Accord aftermarket automobile parts. Please visit him.
http://www.accordmania.com

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The Ferrari 308GTBi

In March of 1980 the Ferrari 308 received a major change from the exotic sports car introduced in 1975. The American legislation, along with other countries, began to restrict what could and could not be done with an engine by way of emission control standards. Up to this point the Ferrari 308 had four double choke Webber carburetors. However, the carburetor approach did not allow the cars to pass the new emission control standards. Ferrari's answer was to drop the carburetor approach and install a fuel injection system Bosch.

This almost killed the 308 line. The rated horsepower for the American model dropped from a factory number of 255 bph to one of 205 bph. Stock American street cars could outperform the 308. The car had come in two body styles, the 308 GTB or coupe and the 308 GTS or spider, which had an open top, rather than a full convertible top. The fuel injected models added the letter i for injection so the models become the 308 GTBi and the GTSi. Of all of the used 308 models available these became the least desirable, because of the decrease in horsepower.

For Ferrari they still sold a lot of the injected cars. Around 494 GTBi and 1743 GTSi models were produced in a two year time span.

While the power was way down, the car was still a mid engine sports car. A mid engine means that the majority of the engine is located between the front and the rear axle. Front engine cars have most of the engine weight in front of the front axle and rear engine cars, like the VW, have most of the engine behind the rear axle. By using a race proven design of a mid engine the 308s were still very nimble cars on a twisty road or on the track. They made up for the lost horsepower by their exceptional handling.

While the 308's came in the two unique body styles there were many other differences in the cars that Ferrari was producing. The cars designed for the American market had to meet certain safety standards that the rest of the world did not impose. So the American version weighed more, had different gearing and some features like side markers were different. The European versions had a top speed of 147 miles per hour, and the U.S. models under 140 miles per hours.

Dennis Dater has been interested in cars since he learned to drive in a 1952 MG TD. He is opening two unique web sites to offer Honda Accord aftermarket parts. Visit him and see the products or read more articles.
http://www.accordmania.com for Accord performance products.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dennis_Dater

Republicans and Hybrids

Over at the WSJ, the question is asked, "Where are the Republican hybrid buyers?".

The answer, is that most people (not just Republicans) won't buy a hybrid until the economics work out, and until the cars available will be a minimal sacrifice in handling, room, and performance.

For example, the closest to a no-compromises mid-size hybrid that I have seen to date from a Detroit automaker is a Ford Fusion hybrid. But it costs around $30,000! An I4 Fusion can be bought for much closer to $20,000.

The author makes the argument that some conservatives will be attracted to the national security aspects of hybrids. I agree with this personally, and if hybrids become affordable, I would consider one even at a modest premium to a gasoline vehicle.

Without a clear cost advantage, hybrid sales have to rely primarily on the segment willing to pay more for green -- a segment that has been hard-hit by the financial crisis yet still seems to be growing. But if we really want to expand the number of buyers, we should develop new arguments that appeal to the Republicans who have been holding back. To look at it another way, every hybrid car reduces not just greenhouse gases but reduces our dependence on foreign oil -- especially the new plug-in hybrids under development. And that means that buying a hybrid is not just good for the environment, but good for our energy independence and national security.

Obama is doing his part to promote hybrids in many ways. One way that isn't as frequently mentioned is that his administration is not as friendly to oil drilling as Bush's was. Obama's policy will restrict the supply of new oil, which will drive the price up (and, of course profits to OPEC). This will cause people to consider hybrids, as gas goes back to $3/gal over the long term.

Even Republicans understand $3 gas.