The life of a race car driver can be so hard sometimes. Last week, Townsend Bell helped pilot the Alex Job Racing Porsche GT3 to class victory at the 12 hours of Sebring. Just two weeks earlier, he had the chance to drive the ultimate canyon carving street car.
I do admit I am a bit jealous. However, the owner of this monster, Frank Profera, has offered me a ride I will never forget.
I will definitely take him up on that offer and I will shoot a proper video for you Speedhunters out there to enjoy.
I can promise you that I will also sit in the driver seat making engine noises while going through the gears.
Larry Chen
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A interview with frank and info 'bout the car: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmscSzFurwg&
dat thing is fukin nuts
1st and 3rd picture are unreal. Can't wait for the video.
Larry's Chen! You rock!
You Guys,
Larry Chen, i'm your new fan !
Amazing photos,
Exige its quite violent car
Seeyaa.
That shifter assembly is absolutely beautiful, the whole car looks insane. Love it!
WOW. I absolutley love this car. everything about it is perfect
sweeet!!!
thanks for the pictures larry! looking forward to the video....
Considering this thing runs slicks on the road, sorry, not impressed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cabS4ANGp8o
Oh, and his whole spiel about not crossing the double yellows ever, full of crap as well
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQxdhLNs79Q
In addition to being reckless, dangerous on the road, and an utterly ego-centric control freak. I'm not impressed Speedhunters that you support a person like this by giving such attention. Honestly, he deserves to be in jail with his car crushed. There is driving for fun slightly pushing the law, and there's completely disregarding it. This is the latter
Awesome car, but driven on the wrong surface I say. Not set up for public roads/drivers. More of a novelty build since the owner is so anti-track use. So anti-track in fact, it actually borders strange and humorous.
If the car/driver was able to compete, it would be on the track. I don't think the car/driver could hang with comparable cars on track. The owner really seems like a cool guy, but he is not very mature or rational in his thought process. Even if you really enjoy the car, saying ANYTHING in question of the car or him, makes him very angry and quick to insult.
Lets read about some real track cars, built to take on the track. Street driving appeals to me, but not in this form.
First Exige/Elise interior i like! Great car.
Alex, you whine like my mother...lol. Nice video. I saw nothing but calculated cornering and moderation on a canyon road with low traffic. It's not like he was drifting his car through traffic or anything... And for the record, "pushing the law" is still breaking the law no matter how you look at it. Just sayin.
Found a video of this crazy thing on dpc cars. A brief interview with the builder/owner as well.
http://www.dpccars.com/car-videos-12/03-20-12page-The-Worlds-Fastest-Lotus.htm
sorry just realized someone already beat me to posting it.
Luke, there's a difference between going 5-10 mph over the speed limit and going 40-50 mph over the speed limit. Yes? I ride on this route almost every day and I see this idiot fly by me at 100 mph. If one of those motorcyclists went down in the beginning, would he have safely been able to stop and not run him over? No. There's a reason why no one else runs on the street like this, it's simply idiotic. There are blind corners EVERYWHERE. And that Elise is wide enough that if there is anything on the shoulder of the road, AKA me, he's going to hit me.
This is so nice!
Too scared to track it?
or...
Too slow to track it?
Is this you ? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJiarW3x1C8
or is this you ? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36R8nL2x0D4
Alex everyday and seriously 100 mph ?
You have no idea from the video how far back I am from those motorcyclists [my friends] and if you've ever rode you would know that if you go down you slide in the direction of travel until you hit something to stop your forward momentum, by the way they left me in the dust..
All of my video are CG there is no way any car can do what you say it can do sorry..
Isn't there a little girls bicycle channel you should be posting on since this is called "SPEEDHUNTERS" ?
Nice car, but the ultimate canyon car? Hardly. This car has way too much power to be used on these roads. I'm speaking from years of experience.
V710s aren't an efficient tire to run on a mountain road where there are loads of dust that tend to accumulate in certain parts of the road (local knowledge).
It's annoying to have spent over 15 years on these roads in a family of people who have driven this road for over 50 years only to see people who know nothing about being fast on these roads calling this over hyped lotus "the ultimate canyon carver."
Tell you what speed hunters...have him take you for a ride and ill take you in a stock engine car. We'll go faster and you can write a report about what you thought about the two cars.
At the end of teh day these roads are about having a decently setup car and huge balls. A super fast 700hp lotus isn't going to be any faster than a 300whp BMW with a driver behind the wheel who has nuts made of steal...
Hey Eeeen!
Frank blocked me from his youtube age after I put in my .02 cents about his car. What an immature driver. Take it to the track Frank and lets see how "fast" you really are.
Come on...the sports car community is calling you out. Give us a good laugh.
Yup you are right the car suks and you are the worlds best canyon driver...
Boys and girls all hail this "ZERO" ....
Yes it's true I have no driving skills and you are right and the car suks.
You are the worlds fastest street racer and a god among all men, women fall at your feet, birds never crap on your car and now only "a Zero" is worthy of your challenge...
Here is your quote on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DD2XAs-871o
Zero's baby sister's quote:
[P.s. I? come from a line of people who have been driving this road since it was opened in the 1920s.
Your lines are shit. No matter which way you want to slice it you look like you just started driving these roads. You couldn't maximize 250hp let alone 600 you washed up old ####...]
Proof of driving skill:
[I went off a cliff in the Miata on Stunt? canyon doing 90mph and was caught by a tree...which I have photos of as well if you would like.
Nice to see someone who actually wants proof of something though. I'll see if I can get a go pro in the near future and mount it to whatever car I can get my hands on.]
Proof of driving skill, you hit the rock it didn't move :
[I would be happy to, but I sold it when I was 17 after it blew up going 90mph through one of the? faster turns on Mulholland. A rock hit the oil pan and oil dumped out onto the exhaust which caused the entire car to burst into flames.
If you'd like a photo of the oil pan I'll send it to you. I wish I still had my Volvo and my Miata because I would love to post a video of me running the same section so you can see how slow Ronin's pace is.]
Proof of driving skill and sharing the same seed sack of a ZERO:
[I went ahead and timed Ronin on a stretch of Mulholland highway and he averages about 51mph in the twisty stuff. Not very impressive? when you consider my volvo 850 on R-compounds, non adjustable shocks and sway bars could manage 50mph in the same section I timed him on.
Money can buy a nice car, but it can't buy skill (or class).
I said it once and I'll say it again Ronin...big power doesn't work on these roads. It's all about driver skill and testicle density.]
Don't argue with idiots...they will just bring you down to their level then beat you with experience!
I must remember..
Don't argue with idiots...they will just bring you down to their level then beat you with experience!
90mph on Mulholland in a flaming Swedish shoe box.........
90mph crash off the cliff in a Miata and lived.................Mommy the bad boy is eating my brain...
Im glad Takumi was able to chime in from Mt. Akina to tell us how great he is in slow cars.
So.. you are too scared to track it? Seriously?
Take turn fast = pro canyon driver. omg.
I find the track boring after a few sessions since I bought a canyon sports car not a track racer...
This car was and is still the fastest Exige on Big Willow with a 1:27 on worn A048" and only 290 whp four years ago..... I did a 1:17 in my RS200E back in 1995, so I've been there done that..
This is my car I built for myself not to impress anyone else...Seriously why go around the same 9 corners all day only to F up at the end of the day for what ?
I'm not gettin paid or laid to post a hot lap so why bother....
I enjoy the canyons and the hundreds of corners I will never see again until the next time I take the car out.....
This is not some slow ass car you need to push to get a rush, it a fast car that you mellow out in and learn that smooth is fast and you have all the power you could ever ask for at the tip of your right foot...
Read my French buddy's comment and then maybe you will get a better idea what this car is all about http://www.lotussport.org/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=4766
Have a look at my videos http://www.youtube.com/user/roninexige?feature=mhee
and you can see there is no drama, no corections to the steering mid corner and no squealing tires....
It's hard to show the sensation of the true speed on the video but I can only say everyone that has riden with me found religion as they kept sayin oh god over and over again...
Here is the unedited version of Townsend Bell in my car read his lips and listen to his comments at the end http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUmX_OPfr7g
as for the haters please read my plate...
Larry and I are going to do a little video togetherand then maybe we can get the sensation of speed on video..
Ronin-
I drive karts now. I'll quote the famous Mulholland Raceway group on going off: "If you don't go off every once in a while, you're not trying hard enough." I met the founding member of this group a short while ago, he had a lot more class than you and agreed with me when we were discussing what makes a car fast in the Santa Monicas.
Someone was kind enough to donate a car to me for a comparison video. Working out the details on when we're going to take some video, but when I do I'd be happy to post it.
In the mean time enter yourself in a NASA time attack or autocross event at California Speedway and post the results. I'm more than willing to do a video of me in the canyons, my guess is you're interested in saving your face / name and you don't have the balls to go run a timed event with some real competitors.
Everything you say to me from here on out is an excuse. Good luck out there Frank.
NEED NEW SHIT, come on speedhunters. what is going on same cars all the time. and you buter post this one fuckers.
@Comment hey there! how did you meet the founder of MR? He is my dream idol since I was a teen. He taught me everything about canyon driving and I was fortunate enough to live next to the santa monicas.
It's so unfortunate the site is closed off now. I used to read it fervently. If there is a way I could get in touch with him (e-mail or phone or something), please let me know! I appreciate it.
The only guy to ever be removed from Jay Leno's channel. Banning laughed him out of existence when he offered to "go for a cruise, just me and you without all the haters" on Mulholland. Refused multiple money bets to prove how badass his car is. The guy is a completely joke and a tool with a personality disorder. His legacy will be nothing and he will fade into oblivion without ever being remembered by the real hardcore racers of Mulholland...typical dumb ass with an over inflated ego and wallet.
The real tight knit group of underground Mulholland racers are laughing at this guy years later.