Smaller and a little more powerful than the flagship Testarossa, the 288 GTO was the fastest Ferrari is its day. It should have been, it was designed as a racer. GTO? Gran Turismo Omologato or, in somewhat less evocative terms, Homologated GT. Homologation is the process of certifying that a number of identical units have been made; road cars are homologated by transport, road based race cars are homologated for competition by the FIA, the ruling body of motor sport, once a specified number have been built.

Over 1959-61, Ferrari had been building the short wheelbase 250 GT for road and competition use; when the FIA announced a GT championship for 1962, Ferrari needed something lower and lighter. The rules of the day stated that 100 identical cars should be built in 12 consecutive months, but that special bodied versions could be made once the 100 had been completed; the 250 GT had already been accepted a GT car, so the new car was submitted for approval with the revised bodywork.

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Most of the Ferrari’s model names have been based on the capacity in cubic centimeters of a single cylinder, 12 of the 250 GT cylinders gave 3 liters; for cars specifically designed for the American market where cubic centimeters are unrecognized, the name became more important than the numbers. The 410 Super American was a very fast late fifties Gran Turismo powered by a 4.9 liter V12 engine with 360 bhp available for the third series, one of which produced these figures for Road and Track; 410 wasn’t far out, as its 4962 cc engine had 413.5 cc per cylinder. Like most of the road going Ferraris, the body was styled by Pininfarina.

Ferrari’s first recognition of the American market potential came very shortly after the company was set up in 1946; where the European market expected small efficient engines, the American wanted big horsepower figures from big capacity engines.

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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.

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In 2004 the General Motors introduced the world’s first full sized hybrid pickups which were the ½ ton Silverado /Sierra. These hybrids did not use electric energy for propulsion like the successive models by GM. Then in 2005 the Opel Astra which was a diesel hybrid concept vehicle was introduced. Then came 2006 and the introduction of Saturn Vue Line which was the first passenger vehicle from GM is also a mild design

Currently, the GM is offering two types of hybrid systems the first was used in the Saturn vue and Saturn astra which is called the BAS hybrid system which is a type of hybrid canceled in 2009. Then the GM together with BMW and Daimler AG co-developed a Two- Mode Hybrid which is currently used on the Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC’s Yukon

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The German factory has a long history of producing high speed coupes. In the thirties, the construction of the autobahns encouraged manufactures to create ever faster cars; the BMW 327/ 80 was an elegant streamlined coupe that would reach over 90 mph on its 80 bhp and its design was carried over to become the post war Bristol 400 with a style that was still modern ten years later.

In the ‘fifties BMW were struggling for an identity, making big V-8 powered saloons and little motorcycle powered Isettas with nothing in between. The 507 was the two seater sports coupe, using the running gear of the bigger saloons in a somewhat different style, the traditional twin intakes on a horizontal plane – very much a period classic.

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After a gap of 24 years, the DB 7 has continued the range of the numbers that David Brown set up when he took over the company in 1947. As Sir David Brown he had sold the company at the end of 1971 when the DBS was in production; the six cylinder DB6 MkII had stopped in November 1970. However Sir David was brought back into the fold as patron when new owners Ford, started the design of the small Aston; he was delighted to allow the use of his initials for the new car. In fact, the original DBS was nearly called a DB 7.

Throughout the ‘eighties, Aston’s previous owners, Victor Gauntlett and Peter Livanos, had recognized that the company needed an entry level Aston 2+2 to join the Porsche 928 and Mercedes SL market. Unfortunately there just wasn’t sufficient capital available to be able to embark upon the design and production of an entirely new car; to be possible it would have to borrow a number of parts from an existing higher volume manufacture.

When Ford took over in 1987 this began to look possible, but it wasn’t until Ford absorbed Jaguar in 1989, that the possibility moved to the probable; a combination of Ford engineering know how and Jaguar base would provide the appropriate background. While Jaguar had supplied some components for Aston Martin V8 and Lagonda models, they wasn’t keen to provide too much until Ford came along to define the markets for the two former rivals marques more precisely.

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Family sedans are one of the most sold products of a car manufacturer. And that has many reasons to it. And one of them being not every one has the love for sport cars or SUVs. Family cars are basically the best vehicles that a car manufacturer can offer. This is because they have to limit their selves from all the performance phase and really have to focus towards the interior of the car and the complete relaxation of the customer.

In a Family car or a basic sedan the customer has to be totally satisfied through the best suspension they can offer and along with that performance that can at least cross the high way limit. Most of the car market that is present all over the world is using sedans and that makes companies more focused on these than other products. One of the epic battles of the manufacturers is in the sedan phase.

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Virtual speed traps are the sneakiest of the bunch; they ticket you in an instant without the need for a police officer. No longer is it as easy as looking for the black and white at a predictable corner or turn. Today’s speed traps utilize machines to do the work for them. Red light cameras and speed cameras have enabled better speed controls on both city and highway roads and have made a positive overall change in people’s driving habits. For the driving enthusiast, however, one of these speed traps can be a real show stopper. That’s why radar detectors, specifically those with GPS-enabled technology, are so useful. Take a look at the features and benefits of these newest GPS detectors and see how they can benefit your overall driving experience. Here are the top 3 rated speed camera detectors.

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(Green Coloring Optional)

No, this isn’t some sort of play off St. Patrick’s Day or the punch line to some Red Neck joke. I’m talking about environmentally friendly automotive products. In this case the environment that we’re talking about being friendlier to is the local landfill (city dump).

Unfortunately we live in a disposable society. Use it once, throw it away, and it magically disappears never to be seen again (except for the Red Necks, I’ve heard they use them for Frisbees, but we won’t get into that). The problem with this is they really don’t “go away”, someone just digs a hole puts them (and a bunch of other stuff with them) in the hole and covers it with dirt to be worried about by the next generation.

It’s interesting that for as long as I’ve been working on my own equipment, lawn mowers and other small engines use a reusable air filter. Kind of a pain, but you clean the filter out with a little gas, pour some oil in the filter and squeeze out the excess and reinstall. Kind of a ritual you do every time you use your mower if you’re mowing a dusty area. However with cars the manufacturer seems to stick with the paper filters that need to be thrown away when dirty. A bit of a waste.

But sticking to the subjects us Motor heads are usually more interested in, getting the most out of our buck and will my car run better? The answer to both is Yes! (more…)

As tight end Delanie Walker comes driving up in his Mercedes-Benz AMG 6.3, have you ever wondered what his “Dream Car” would be? And what is the color ‘Delanie’ black?

Well, I wouldn’t want to spoil the surprise, you can read what he said in John Joss’ article on Delanie Walker and the 49ers Foundation at “BIG MAN, BIG ENTHUSIASMS“, but it’s sufficient to say that it is probably not what you would expect.

This self-confessed lover of ’70s muscle cars, has already restored a 1989 Camaro and is in the process of restoring a 1972 Skylark ES and has several other cars on his list of future buys. Find out what else is in store as John Joss the Master of Ceremonies for Hillsborough Concours d’Elegance talks with Delanie Walker.