After early forays into building single-seater for Formula Junior and Formula 2, Alejandro de Tomaso joined the ranks of Italian sports car builders back in 1963. The first offering was the mid-engined Vallelunga which used a backbone chassis to which was bolted a 1600 cc Ford Cortina engine; this took all the rear suspension loads via arms on the transaxle bell housing. The theme was extended at the 1965 Turin Show with a sports racing car using a bigger backbone which carried a 271 bhp Ford Mustang engine; never raced, this formed the basis of the Mangusta using body styling by Giugiaro while he was working at Ghia.

Production started in 1967, the year that de Tomaso acquired Ghia – Ghia built the bodies in Turin and de Tomaso fitted the power train in Modena. The same year saw Ghia in production with the Giugiaro designed Maserati Ghibli. Meanwhile, Ford of America, having tried to buy Ferrari in the early ‘sixties, were still on the look-out for an Italian supercar to add to the Lincoln range.

(more…)

One of California’s largest car shows starts today in Sacramento California. Once again the Sacramento Autorama (the 2nd longest running indoor car show) looks like it’s going to be a great show! Last year the show attracted hundreds of the finest classic, vintage and modified cars in the US.

Check out our Car Show calendar for more shows

These shows have more than just great cars, last years show also included guest appearances by stars like “Debbie Dunning”, Candy Clark, and “Jo Young”, Bo Hopkins, from “American Graffiti”, Super Model Sandra Taylor, and Catherine Bach as Daisy Duke. (more…)

The Viper sets out to be an anachronism. It is modern technology applied to an old fashioned concept of enjoyable open motoring; raw fun on four wheels. There are other cars with some of the same retro appeal, like the TVR Griffith, but the Viper has more in common with a 1965 Shelby Cobra than with Blackpool’s best. What sets it apart from this decade is the big, lazy engine, an 8 liter V-10 and the studied lack of creature comforts; you didn’t expect a quiet ride in a Cobra, or a snug fitting roof, but you did expect raucous high performance in any gear, just like the Viper. Against the Cobra it is 7 inches wider and 5 inches lower, a Cobra with a modern stance.

The common denominator is indeed Carroll Shelby, Shelby who put Ford V-8s into AC’s very British sports car and won a World Championship, the same Shelby who then worked over Chrysler saloons to transform their performance. And Shelby has been in the background of the Viper development. But the concept was Chrysler’s spurred on by President Bob Lutz, and arch enthusiast for the sheer fun of driving anything that challenges the driver.

(more…)

A hybrid vehicle is that type of vehicle that uses two or more different types of power sources to move or drive it. In most cases people refer to them as the hybrid electric vehicles or the HEVs which are actually a combination of internal combustion engine and one or even more electric motors.

The powers sources for hybrid vehicles include use of onboard or out board rechargeable energy storage system that is abbreviated as RESS. The vehicle also uses gasoline or diesel fuel as well as hydrogen, compressed air, wind, electricity, wind and liquid nitrogen. The hybrid vehicles use as many sources of energy and power as possible.

The engine types also vary with the types of hybrid electric- petroleum vehicles. These are internal combustion engines using gasoline or diesel engines that re powered by variety of fuels and electric batteries to power motors. Hybrid vehicles are grouped into these classes that include the parallel, mild and power split hybrid series hybrid and so on.

(more…)