It’s interesting how overtly mainstream brands are now pushing their performance divisions, emphasising their sporting credentials more than ever. You have M Power for BMW, Audi’s quattro GmbH, Nissan’s NISMO and of course Mercedes’ AMG. But unlike most of the other examples, AMG started off as a completely separate company, becoming renowned a Mercedes-Benz stylist [...]
By now I think that most Speedhunters readers are aware of Japan’s – for lack of a better word – “awesome” car culture. Regular followers will also know that Japan’s love for the automobile spreads far beyond just its own domestic vehicles. From ultra-rare European exotics to hot rods and customs that could rival the [...]
Before I close out the coverage of my visit to the Yokota Museum, I want to share a few photos of one the most interesting displays in the entire place. I’m gonna go ahead and guess that most of you guys are familiar with Initial D, the Japanese manga and anime series which is set [...]
In yesterday’s post I took you guys on a little trip through the M. Yokota Museum in Gunma, Japan. Today I’d like to follow that up with a more detailed look at the vintage automobile collection, which is one of the museum’s biggest drawcards. From rare sports cars and competition vehicles to more family-friendly vehicles [...]
Nestled in the hills of Japan’s scenic Gunma Prefecture lies a car museum unlike any other I’ve ever seen. Actually, to even call this place a “car museum” is to understate just what you’ll find here. A visit to the M. Yokota Museum is like taking a trip back to a different era, and the [...]
Take examples of almost 75 years’ worth of the classiest, most exotic, fastest and just generally most drop-dead beautiful Mercedes that have been built, and you have the Mercedes-Benz World collection at Brooklands in the UK. Putting age as well as beauty first, I’ll start off in true VIP style with the epitome of chic: [...]
I still walk into main dealerships with apprehension. It’s that feeling of the salespeople looking at you as though you don’t deserve to be there: how could you – you – possibly buy one of my precious cars? The idea of wandering in to simply have a look round, and be welcomed by the staff to [...]
The name gives it away. After all, you don’t name your company after two-time Formula 1 World Champion Alberto Ascari for nothing. Soon after producing their first exotic supercar in 1998, the company was bought out by Dutch millionaire and passionate racer Klaas Zwart. This was a man who wasn’t satisfied by just racing other [...]
The Brooklands oval in the UK was home to the fastest cars on earth for the 32 years it was open, and the modern Brooklands Museum celebrates this fact with an impressive collection of cars from both the track’s glory period and the post-war years following the circuit’s closure. This means the chance to see [...]
Car culture enthusiasts from all walks of life have largely the same mentality: they pay tribute to the automobile in some way or another. What do you guys do? Of course you visit Speedhunters and read about the cars you love, but what else? Buy posters and plaster them on your walls? I personally collect miniatures scale models [...]
Bored out of my mind waiting for my university admission exam (or HSC for those of you who live in NSW, Australia) results, wanting fresh contents for my new-found blog EIGHTEENTWELVE and to have a crack at the #IAMTHESPEEDHUNTER program, I decided to take a three-hour road trip from South Sydney to visit the National [...]
Roughly ten years ago I had an accountant who called me in to his office and asked, did I know how much money I spent on cars each year? I told him yes (which was quite clearly a lie) and he informed me rather incredulously that I could run a brand new (E46 at the [...]
Your local racing circuit is a special place, yet one that is often overlooked – unless you happen to live next door to the Nordschleife. I guess it’s a case of the grass always being greener on the other side, but rarely do we give enough credit to our home circuits. I’ve shot more events at Mondello Park than I care to remember, and as such have pretty much taken the place for granted. With all the doom and gloom – financially speaking – surrounding the world of motorsport these days, it has made me looking at things differently and forced me to appreciate things more. Rather than taking Mondello for granted, I want to show you why it’s one of my favourite racing circuits anywhere in the world.
Last week during my time in Reno for Hot August Nights, I took a break from the car shows and overall craziness of HAN to visit Reno’s own National Automobile Museum. The city may not be known as a beacon of car culture, but the National Auto Museum is considered by many to one of the best museums of its type in the United States.
In the days before Formula D New Jersey Vaughn Gittin JR was nice enough to let me into his Maryland home for a night, and being the nosy Speedhunter that I am, I decided to do a little piece on his house. As soon as I arrived at JR’s, I found this beat up Suby. [...]
