Car FYI

Photo Credit: Lotus Cars USA untitled Though often spoken after brand names such as Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche or even McLaren, Lotus Cars still stimulates the rise of adrenaline with lightweight, well-handling machines. A sports car name spawned by a legendary Formula 1 team owner and engineer Colin Chapman, Lotus has survived the loss of their founder back in 1982, the turbulence of multiple ownership arrangements and the change of the overall automotive sector before accounting for the British sports car marque’s largely modest existence in the flashy vehicle segment. Wanting to do more than just simply survive in the modern industry, Lotus wants to define itself in a personality-heavily high-performance sports car marketplace. The all-electric Evija brought eyes onto Lotus in 2019 with a limited production run of 130 vehicles recently commencing. Sending a message for the future, the car builder’s present focus in reshaping their brand’s lineup ...

Photo Credit: Logan Riely/Getty Images   NASCAR Cup Series: Road Warrior Chase Adds Road America as Conquered While his father’s legacy in the Cup series was defined by performances on superspeedway including logging the fastest-ever NASCAR qualifying time at Talladega, Chase Elliott’s career is currently being cemented by the rapid tallying of wins on road courses. This weekend, the driver of the Hendrick Motorsports’ #9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 won the NASCAR Cup Series’ first modern era visit to the 4.048-mile (6.515-kilometer) Road America. Starting deep in the field in 34 th place, Chase Elliott made his victorious move for the lead on lap 46 of the 62-lap Jockey Made in America 250 presented by Kwik Trip on the road course. Prior to the #9 car’s presence at the front of the field, pole sitter William Byron, Kyle Busch, Tyler Reddick and Matt DiBenedetto spent multiple laps in the lead. Leading two laps early in the e...

untitled Photo Credit: Clive Rose/Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool At the beginning of the 2021 Formula 1 season, it was hoped upon by many parties that Red Bull Racing would mount a consistently competitive battle with the juggernaut that is the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team. Although that seemed to have been the case in the earlier grand prix events in 2021, the races since the Monaco Grand Prix has instead shown Red Bull Racing potentially rediscovering their pre-2014 form while displacing the long dominant German factory team. Ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix, the squad fielding drivers Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez has been on a four-race win streak. Claiming three of the victories in Red Bull Racing’s recent tear is Verstappen who entered the second race of the season at the 4.318-kilometer Red Bull Ring course winner of the previous week’s Styrian Grand Prix . Though Mercedes-AMG showed the potential of matching their Honda-powered rival on pace th...

Photo Credit: Unnamed photographer/Pirelli The 2021 Formula 1 tour arrived in Austria this past weekend for the first of two events held on the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg. A grand prix created last year as a result of the disrupted Formula 1 calender caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Styrian Grand Prix has made a return for the 2021 season after the cancellation of the Canadian Grand Prix that was to be run on June 13 th due to COVID-19 related restrictions. A 71-lap event on the 10-turn, 4.318-kilometer Austrian circuit features many elevation changes and some of the shortest lap times on the grand prix schedule. In Saturday qualifying at the Red Bull Ring Max Verstappen secured home track advantage. After registering fastest times in both Friday practice sessions, the #33 Red Bull Racing RB16B driven by the Dutch pilot took pole with a 1-minute, 3.841-second lap time in the Q3 session. Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team driver Valtteri Bottas recorded the second-fastes...

Sterling Moss' #1 Lotus 19 at the 1961 Player's 200 (Photo Credit: Unknown Photographer) untitled Sixty years ago on this day (June 24th), motorsports in Canada officially christened a grand, new stage for racing. The roaring engines, peeling rubber and the sight of the era’s most sensational pieces of high-speed machinery being handled by brave competitors became a fixture constructed close to Bowmanville, Ontario. Mosport Park or now known as Canadian Tire Motorsport Park opened in 1961 with its first major event held on June 24 th on windy, overcast early summer weekend. Estimated to cost between $600,000 and $650,000 (roughly between $5,250,000 and $5,687,500 in 2021) Mosport Park raceway opened as a much-needed permanent, purpose-built home for sports car and major motorsports in Ontario as well as Canada. In 1961, the only other significant race track operating was Westwood Racing Circuit in British Columbia. Westwood opened in 1959 but would close afte...

Photo Credit: Zak Mauger/LAT Images/Pirelli untitled An event first held back in 1906 and reinstated on the Formula 1 calendar in 2018, the French Grand Prix has been dominated by Lewis Hamilton and the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team in the previous two outings. However, the 2021 edition of the race on the Circuit Paul Ricard served as another outing in this current season where Mercedes and Hamilton would be challenged by Red Bull Racing led by the sports’ young superstar Max Verstappen. A rivalry presently living up to hopes a true race-after-race battle, the two top drivers in Formula 1 exchanged their advantages throughout the grand prix weekend in France. After almost certain victory at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix was foiled by a sudden tire failure while leading on the Baku City Circuit, Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen appears regrouped for Formula 1's seventh round at the Circuit Paul Ricard. At the top of the lap time chart during the latter two...

Photo Credit: Porsche AG untitled Towards the end of May, an online auction was held for a legitimate one-of-a-kind piece of automotive and Hollywood memorabilia. After 10 days and 42 bids, the listing ended with a sum of $382,000 in American money (about $465,000 Canadian) for the transaxle that once resided in a rare Porsche 550 Spyder sports car owned by iconic 1950s actor James Dean and linked to his tragic fatality. Described in length in an article published last month on this website , a four-speed manual transaxle viewed as one of the few documented components connected to the Porsche Dean lost his life driving on September 30 th of 1955 was listed on the vehicle-centered Bring a Trailer. According to the auction listing, the component was stored in a wooden crate for decades and eventually made its way to Massachusetts. Featuring a serial number of 10 046, transaxle was mounted into a steel display stand for exhibition. The seller of the Porsche 550 S...