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• Get Excited: Longer U.S. Trailer for Rush Brings the Awesome [Video]

  In Fast Forward / By Tom Anderson / 12 April 2013

  

  On Monday the international trailer for Ron Howard’s Formula 1 historical docudrama Rush burst onto the internet, and boy howdy, does it make the flick look good. The cars, the costumes, the special effects…it all looks amazing. Of course, with Ron Howard as skipper, you would expect that, wouldn’t you?

  Now a second, longer trailer aimed at U.S. moviegoers is out. And you know what? It’s even more amazing. Example: Check out how well the VFX team managed to replicate the Nürburgring’s old parallel front and back straights and pit complex, all of which were bulldozed in the early ‘80s when the modern Grand Prix circuit was constructed. Plus it does a markedly better job of fleshing out the backstory (kind of a necessity, since so few Americans are familiar with Formula 1 past or present) and, oh yes, more Olivia Wilde. Did we mention September 20^th can’t come soon enough? Because it can’t.

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• Opie’s Open-Wheel Opus: Rush Trailer Hits the Web [Video]

  In Fast Forward / By Tom Anderson / 8 April 2013

  

  When we first got wind that Ron Howard would be making a movie called Rush chronicling the 1976 Formula 1 season – specifically, the rivalry between that season’s top title contenders, Niki Lauda of Ferrari and James Hunt of McLaren – we positively squeed with glee. Yes, pretty much every non-documentary racing movie made after Le Mans has been an over-(and/or under-)acted, Newtonian-physics-flaunting-crash-filled farce, but this project was being helmed by Ron Bleeping Howard. You know, the ginger-maned (or what’s left of it) artist behind such masterworks as Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind, The Da Vinci Code, and Frost/Nixon. So we had hope.

  Now it looks like our hope was well-placed. After watching the above video, the first international trailer for Rush, we can now say we are officially stoked. The cars, the venues, the fashion…it all looks dead on and lifted straight out of one of F1’s most glamorous (and dangerous) epochs. Even the tobacco sponsor logos on the cars and trackside signage are present and accounted for (though we’re sure they will be blurred out in France, Canada and other revisionist history countries). With this movie and the drag racing epic Snake and Mongoose both set for release in September, we reckon this autumn will be a most bountiful one for motorsports history geeks like us.

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• Totally Radical Racing: Formula 1 and Rally in the 1980s [Video]

  In Fast Forward / By Tom Anderson / 4 April 2013

  

  Although most motorsports historians like to wax poetic (or not-so-poetic) about the barnstorming between-the-World-Wars era, or the glamorous 1950s, the 1980s was a damn good period for racing in its own right. Advancements in design and engineering led to major advances in speed and safety, and increased manufacturer and sponsor involvement – not to mention improved and expanded TV coverage – increased awareness of the sport exponentially. Oh, and the fact that rule makers still gave manufacturers and constructors a long leash with regard to creativity certainly didn’t hurt.

  With this in mind, Finnish YouTuber Antti Kalhola made this video tribute to this remarkable decade. Yes, we wish there were clips from series besides Formula 1 and the World Rally Championship (namely Indy car and IMSA/Group C sports cars), but we’re guessing F1 and WRC were the only two series from which Antti had suitable footage to work. Besides, no one can begrudge him choosing a track from Jan Hammer (Specifically “Crockett’s Theme” from Miami Vice.). No one!

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• Black Diamond Banzai: McLaren MP4-12C Spider Hits the Slopes

  In Fast Forward / By Tom Anderson / 1 April 2013

  

  The McLaren MP4-12C is one of the sweetest – if not the sweetest – mid-engine convertibles ever created. The twin-turbo 3.8L V8 is powerful yet economical, the carbon fiber passenger compartment (a.k.a. tub) is light but rigid, and the power folding hardtop makes it a true four-season super roadster. Don’t believe that last claim? Check out the video above.

  Professional hoon Rhys Millen pairs up with former Winter X-Games snowboarding medalist (and serious cutie) Chanelle Sladics for a friendly race down Colorado’s harrowing Loveland Pass. As it turns out, a 616hp McLaren is more than a match for gravity. Who says there’s nothing educational on YouTube?

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• Vorsteiner McLaren MP4-12C is a Subtle but Sublime Revision

  In Tuning / By Tom Anderson / 19 March 2013

  

  Now that the McLaren P1 has been revealed to the public, the company’s “entry level” offering, the MP4-12C, is old news, right? Sure, it’s quite fast (just not P1 fast), and it’s available as a hardtop convertible, but it’s destined to live under the P1’s massive shadow. That’s just the lot in life of cars that aren’t their makers’ flagships.

  Or is it? While the OEMs are understandably reluctant to build hotter versions of their junior models for fear of undermining the senior models’ sales and cachet, tuners are subject to no such encumbrances. With that in mind, Vorsteiner presents the MP4-12V.

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• 2013 Geneva Motor Show: The Top 20 Debuts

  In Featured / By Tom Anderson / 5 March 2013

  

  More than a few people think supercars are an endangered species. All the concerns about flaunting wealth inequality and using lots of gas are just some of the forces conspiring to make these most athletic of automobiles less and less desirable for both builders and buyers. So we can look forward to a future with fewer tarmac-melting monsters and more plug-in kumbaya cracker boxes, right?

  Not so fast, kemosabe. If the lineup of world debuts at this year’s Geneva Motor Show is any indication, we may be entering a new golden age of 200+ mph hypercars. The difference this time around is many of them are a bit more responsible, with overdrive (and occasionally double overdrive) 7-speed transmissions and hybrid assist. Of course, these aren’t the only automotive stars in the lakeside Swiss municipality. Here are the 20 premieres that really stir our hot chocolate.

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• The McLaren P1: Redefining the Million Dollar Hypercar

  In Auto News / By Freddy Chen / 26 February 2013

  

  In the automotive world, patience is truly a virtue. Toyota spent their sweet time teasing the release of the FR-S/GT86/BRZ and even took nine years to deliver the LFA to us, after they decided to swap the aluminum body panels for carbon fiber. Lamborghini spent over a combined half a century on the four V12 predecessors (Miura, Countach, Diablo, and Murcielago) to the Aventador. So it would seem to be that the longer a car takes to release, the more awesome it will be as a result.

  The company that one Bruce McLaren founded is no stranger to the waiting game. After release of the F1 back in 1992, it took them over two decades to follow it up with it’s successor, the P1 you see before you on these pages. We’re glad to see that the car hasn’t changed too much from the concept released at last year’s Paris Motor Show and now that we’ve got some information on the numbers, we’re really excited to see it premiere at the upcoming Geneva Motor Show. Welcome to the 2013 McLaren P1.

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• Chill out with Formula 1 Legends and Fresh Moods’ “My Face” [Video]

  In Fast Forward / By Tom Anderson / 8 February 2013

  

  Considering the name and nature of chill out music (the relaxed, almost ethereal subgenre of electronica), it seems counterintuitive to pair a song that fits that category with footage from what was arguably the most glamorous – and dangerous – period in the history of Formula 1 racing. Yet that’s exactly what the folks behind Fresh Moods, a limited edition reissue of a chill out compilation LP of the same name, did. The gentle, meandering rhythms and gentle (compared to more aggressive electronic music subgenres like dubstep and trance) “instrumentals” and “vocals” actually mesh with the sinewy, largely uncluttered F1 cars of the late-‘60s and early-‘70s. And the kaleidoscope of vibrant colors doesn’t hurt, either.

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• Courage – Celebrating 50 Years of Bruce McLaren’s Automotive Vision

  In Fast Forward / By Freddy Chen / 2 February 2013

  

  In 1952, at the age of 14, he raced in his first hill climb event in a car his father had just restored. By the time he was 22, he had won his first Grand Prix. Just a few months after he turned 26, he founded his own racing team and two months before his 33rd birthday, he died when the Can-Am car he was testing crashed into a marshal’s post at over 100MPH. More than any of us today, Bruce McLaren lived and loved the fast life.

  2013 marks the 50th anniversary of The McLaren Group, a team of some 2000+ people all following in Bruce McLaren’s footsteps working towards making his vision an everyday reality. To commemorate the occasion and remember their founder, McLaren has released a video by the title of “Courage“, providing enthusiasts the world over with a glimpse of one of the most dedicated men in racing that ever lived.

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• FAB Design Terso McLaren MP4-12C Spider is an Apricot Harlot

  In Tuning / By Tom Anderson / 30 January 2013

  

  If we were in a position to buy a new supercar (and wanted to do so, rather than spending that money on a herd of cheap but fun and/or interesting old cars), it’s extremely likely we’d choose the McLaren MP4-12C Spider. It’s basically just as stiff as its coupe sibling, and has the same peppy yet relatively economical engine and chassis dynamics that you could live with every day. The only real difference is a folding hardtop for getting the most out of a sunny (but not scorching hot) day here in SoCal.

  Unfortunately, that folding hardtop (and all of the factory-installed color combinations and options) can only allow for so much differentiation from other droptop McLarens. Thank Denny Hulme’s burly, balding ghost, then, that FAB Design has concocted an upgrade package for this carbon-tubbed cabrio called Terso.

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