Life Snapshots

SPA 6H 2010 winner

2010-10-25T21:15:00.003+02:00

Hello,

I am sorry for the long term silence. Busy life over the week and many WE activities...The winter time should help to get back to some more posts.

Here is a quick one, with a picture of the winning car this year at the Spa 6H endurance race :

the E-Type from J.Minshaw & M.Stretton (UK), winning in front of two Ford GT40 !

Well done :-)

Four seasons...

2010-09-22T21:13:00.005+02:00

I started to picture this three in December 2009, when the winter season started and
after this at each new season start, sequencing the four seasons for this three.
The Fall is here, with leaves changing their colours, mushrooms coming out of the ground, some birds starting their migration. The three is now ready for the winter and as nights will become colder soon, and wind will blow... it will loose its leaves before the winter comes...

The Musical Box : " Here comes the flood."

2010-07-01T23:21:00.002+02:00

I discoverd him when he just left Genesis and made his first LP with several unforgettable songs. One of these is "Here comes the flood. I saw him many times on stage and always enjoyed it very much. His unique voice and personnality along with the great song bringing so much intensity and emotion.
A recent version (2003) and a almost period version (1979)-sarting after 30 seconds intro- , hope you like it also...

NB: ho yes, he also was singing "The Musical Box" when he was the lead singer of Genesis.

Food for thoughts...

2010-06-29T21:11:00.003+02:00

About to leave you for a couple of weeks and go discovering another part of the world...
In the mean time, here is a quote I like :

"Live as if you were to die tomorrow.
Learn as if you were to live forever."

Mohandas Gandhi

Summertime...

2010-06-22T18:05:00.005+02:00

Winter, Spring
& Summer sequence.

The Summer has come ,
the three is green with a blue sky in this morning picture.

Reims 12h races in the 50's...

2010-06-15T23:03:00.009+02:00

On the 2 photos below you can recognize the "Restaurant La Garenne" from the previous post , near the "Thillois" turn on the Circuit de Reims, France.

On the left is the winner of the 1956 "12h de Reims" race: Duncan Hamilton.
On the rigth is the second for the same race : Paul Frère. (photos found on internet)
Below, I pictured the 1956 winning car at Goodwood XK60 event in 2008.

The period map below is showing the 1956 circuit : 3 straights, 3 turns . Very basic, very fast.

Jaguar cars did perfom very well on this circuit during the 50's as you can see from below results :
1953
1st Moss - Whitehead (Jaguar C)
2nd Rosier - Giraud Cabantous (Talbot T26 GS)
3rd Cunningham - Johnston (Cunningham C4 R)

1954
1st Wharton - Whitehead (Jaguar D)
2nd Rolt - Hamilton (Jaguar D)
3rd Laurent - Swaters (Jaguar C)

1956 (Course Sport + 1500 cm3)
1st Bueb - Hamilton (Jaguar D)
2nd Hawthorn - Frère (Jaguar D)
3rd Fairman - Titterington (Jaguar D)

NB: rhe race was cancelled in 1955 after the Le Mans tragedy.

In 2008 , the Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust erected a plate to commemorate the Jaguar victories in Reims.

I made these pictures in Januari 2009 ,when I went to attend the start of Monte Carlo Historic rally and see the Mini Cooper of the Mad Dog Racing team, John Morrow and Bill Richards.
They will be back in 2011 , along with Chuck Goolsbee and I will join them for the start :-)

Can you recognize the place ?

2010-06-12T23:15:00.002+02:00

Different type of question, it is not a car to identify this time but a place... any idea ?

Peru discovery, part 6 and final

2010-06-06T16:28:00.018+02:00

Machu Pichu : day 10...

we took the "Peru Rail" train to reach Aqua Calientes ("cold water") , the city located below the Machu-Pichu site . A early wake up call to reach the Machu Pichu site at 7.00 am and see the sun giving its light to the magic city ! We had a guided tour to help us discover this prestigious site and then walked along the Inca trail to reach 2720m high "Intipuntu".

at 2720 m, the view is different and you see the Inca city within its natural environment.

Gorgeous !

After picturing the Condor (see part 3) , I was happy to be able to picture the humming bird (colibri in french), quite a challenge as he was not taking the pose...

Day 11-12-13-14 : Lima, Ica, Paracas, Ballestas Islands, Lima

The day after we went back to Cusco, did some city visit and took a fligth to Lima.

A short night to take an early bus for a 6h drive to Ica (was devastated by an earthquake in 2007). A dramatic change of landscape : a desertic area where we enjoyed some sand boarding in the dunes, seeing an oasis, and being driven in a powerfull "buggy" in the dunes untill the sun went down.

Another early wake up call to be driven to Paracas , a small port on the sea where we took a boat that would bring us to the Ballestas islands, a natural island with wild nature and millions of birds producing guano collected and exported over the world !

again, below is just a small selection of photos (taken by my son Pierre) showing some of the animals seen there. It is really worth to make this tour and see this wild nature (well, if you like this of course ; we did !)

The Paracas natural reserve gives you the opportunity to se amazing landscapes with red sand beaches, in a desertic environment.

The bus brougth us back safely to Lima, driving on the Panamericana highway.

We had an evening dinner in a famous restaurant on the see ("Rosa Nautica),
our hotel being near Miraflores.

A city tour of Lima onour last morning before taking the fligth to Europe...

And a picture of the Lima favellas, full of colours !

The national emblem and one famous Peruvian drink recipe...

A wonderfull country, full of contrast, rich by its nature,culture, people and the sun !

This trip was last summer in July, and we are still charmed by what we saw, discovered , experienced and the people we met.

If you can, go to Peru !

NB: it was time for me to finish this trip snapshot report, the next one is coming soon !

Alpine M63B, 24H Le Mans 64 & 65

2010-06-06T14:53:00.006+02:00

Spécialement pour les visiteurs français de ce blog (en les remerciant), voici quelques photos que j'ai prises en 2006 à Spa-Francorchamps à l'occasion du Week-End RMU Classic en mai : il s'agit de photos de l'Alpine M63B, chassis n°1708, qui présente l'historique suivant en courses :

26/04/64, Targa Florio, Bianchi-Bianchi, 15°, 2° cat.
31/05/64, Nurburgring, Grandsire- Vinatier.
20/06/64, Le Mans, Masson-Zeccoli, 20°, 5° à l'Indice de Performances, 2° r.é.
05/07/64, 12 h de Reims, Maglia-Vidal, abandon, moteur cassé.
11/10/64, 1000 Km Paris, Zeccoli-Cheinisse, abandon.
19/06/65, Le Mans, Bouharde-Monneret, abandon à la 16° heure, panne moteur.
04/07/65, 12 h de Reims, Bouharde-Monneret.
La voiture est immatriculée 670 PR 75 .

Elle porte ici le N°61 comme lors des 24 du Mans 1965.

FYEO: for your eyes only...

2010-06-02T19:37:00.002+02:00

racing cars competing on "le raidillon" at Spa-Francorchamps

Ferrari 250 GTO...

2010-05-24T21:47:00.005+02:00

A wondeful car, higly desirable and rare ! I never saw one so far, but one day, I am sure, I will !

Here is a clip and Stephen Mitchell narrates footage shot by Peter Helm of Stephen's GTO at Willow Springs Raceway and in the canyons of Los Angeles. Just imagine, you drive and see a Ferrari 250 GTO passing by...

Belgian win in GP2 at Monaco

2010-05-15T20:19:00.004+02:00

"D’Ambrosio on top in sprint race
Jerome d’Ambrosio has taken his maiden GP2 victory in the streets of Monaco, defying intense, race long pressure from behind to win today’s sprint race ahead of Giedo van der Garde and Jules Bianchi."

text quote and photo below from www.gp2series.com

As announced on this blog on January 31 2010, Jérome d'Ambrosio is test pilot for the F1 Renault team while still competing in GP2 Series. Today was his first win !
In race 1 yesterday he finished 8th, allowing him to get the pole position today and keep the place for the race and win , congratulations !
Below you can see him with the F1 car during a demonstration at the World Series by Renault at Spa-Francorchamps during the WE of May 1-2 2010

video source : www.renault-f1.fr

The musical box : Highway Star...

2010-05-14T23:44:00.002+02:00

I received my tickets to attend a concert of Deep Purple (on Nov.3rd 2010...) in Belgium, in
the concert hall nearby where I live. I could not miss the opportunity. I grew up in my teenager years with the "Made in Japan" double LP amongst many other LP's I still have.

To keep the music in tune with cars, I found a clip of a 1972 live performance of "Highway Star".
I really look forward to see them on stage . Three members of the period group are still there : singer Ian Gillan, bass player Roger Glover and drummer Ian Paice. A great rythm section !!

FYEO : for your eyes only...

2010-05-09T17:40:00.002+02:00

Pictures last year during the Spa 6H WE end of September.
Can you recognize the car?

Driving on the beach...

2010-05-08T09:36:00.002+02:00

Probably the last scene I will publish about the film "Un homme et une femme" from Claude Lelouch: this one is showing Jean-Louis Trintignant and his Ford on a Normandie beach with the famous soundtrack of the film and nice images for a W-E break...

Le Mans start...1964

2010-04-30T07:56:00.005+02:00

I could not resist to share this short clip showing the atmosphere of the Le mans 24H race, in 1964, featuring some of the greatest cars of the period : AC Cobra, Ford GT 40, Porsche 904, Ferrari 275P, Ferrari 330P, Shelby Cobra Daytona, Ferrari 250GTO, Ferrari 250LM, Alpine, ... and Jaguar E-Types Low drag.

You can learn more about this race here.

Big Mini

2010-04-27T21:06:00.003+02:00

Spotted on the ring of Utrecht (Netherlands) last Friday, this "Mini' was enjoying the spring sun and the open roof was probably creating a significant cooling effect for the driver. Nice result :-)

Ford GT40 at Montlhéry...

2010-04-19T22:59:00.004+02:00

Another scene of the Film "Un homme et une femme" from Claude Lelouch.
Jean-Louis Trintignant is testing cars on the famous Circuit of Monthléry, near Paris.
Amongst these he is enjoying testing a Ford GT40 ... Nice engine music !

Car mascots...

2010-04-17T09:32:00.003+02:00

another car mascot, the period is indicated in the background and the logo may help our U.S. readers... up to you now :-) This time, just naming the brand will enough, no model needed.

British....

2010-04-08T00:25:00.002+02:00

British... two legend cars created and produced in England ...racing in Belgium,
Spa-Francorchamps September 2009. I am sure you can recognize the cars...

The Musical Box : "Born to be Wild..."

2010-04-06T21:17:00.002+02:00

Spring is there, the sun is shining, the sly is blue...take you bike or car out and enjoy the ride !!

FYEO : for your eyes only...

2010-03-30T18:39:00.002+02:00

Here we go again... a very nice E-Type cornering at "La Source" at Spa-Francorchamps.
Pictured during the 6H endurance race WE in September 2009. "Gotcha !"

Pfff, I thought everything was gone....

2010-03-29T21:18:00.002+02:00

I wanted to post a FYEO photo and it did not work, then I realised previous posts were not showing photos anymore. Was it time to restart everything...? oh no !

I checked further and found this message :

Blogger Status
Monday, March 29, 2010

Our image backend is experiencing problems which may affect the display and/or uploading of photos. We are working to resolve this and will update this post when we have more information

Hope it will work soon again and be fixed without further troubles, be patient ...

Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique 2011

2010-03-25T20:44:00.004+01:00

I know it is soon to write about it, but I wanted to relay the info as two of the most active followers of this blog will be working as a team in next year's edition of the famous Rallye. It has been announced on Chuck Goolsbee's blog very recently that he will join John Morrow (alias Mad Dog) and Bill Richards to bring their mini to win in their class next year. I had the chance to briefly meet John and Bill in Reims in 2009 at the start of the RMC and look forward to next year to meet them again with Chuck in Reims . I wish them all the best for the preparation and of course for the Rallye to come !

To illustrate the RMC, here is a short clip from the 1966 film "Un homme et une femme" from Claude Lelouch, showing the actor Jean-Louis Trintignant (son of the famous french racer Maurice Trintignant) with a Ford Mustang, with some night driving scenes of the RMC.

100th post, wild horses singing ...

2010-03-24T08:03:00.004+01:00

Well, this is already the 100th post on this blog.
Time flies. Many thanks for those coming over regularly to watch and to give to some very well appreciated comments. Hope you will keep doing so. Here is a video compilation with some great cars and nice engine music, enjoy .

Spring is coming...

2010-03-21T15:45:00.004+01:00

I went back today to picture the tree I posted on Dec.20th 2009. Altough it was not a sunny day, the nature is waking up, the birds are singing , the temperature is rising (we had 19°C this week) and the moles started to work as you can see on the ground...

FYEO : for your eyes only...

2010-03-20T17:52:00.002+01:00

The beauty of the WE, the one and only Jaguar XJ13 !
(picture taken at Le Mans in 2006)

Cars mascots...

2010-03-13T10:53:00.007+01:00

Another car's mascot : this time from a pre-war car, ... any idea ?

UPDATE MARCH 16 : first indication, it is from a Belgian Car brand...
UPDATE MARCH 17 : second indication, it has the name of a Roman goddess...

UPDATE MARCH 19 : correct answer from John ! It is a Minerva from 1921. This car was the Family car of the Belgian King Albert 1. Accompanied by Queen Elizabeth and their children, they often drove from Brussels to La Panne to have time at their seaside royal residence.

FYEO : for your eyes only...

2010-03-12T21:41:00.003+01:00

A Cobra in action ...

Musical Box : Plant & Page

2010-03-07T20:29:00.003+01:00

1994, two great musicians and artists get together for a live performance for the album "No Quarter" and play several "cult" songs from Led Zeppelin. This special version is truely a must for the Led Zep fans ... Enjoy !

Lotus in F1 again ...

2010-03-06T10:46:00.005+01:00

In previous posts about the Lotus F1 cars, I shared photos about the Lotus 49 (from the sixties) , the Lotus 72 -and 76- (from the seventies) and recently Lotus revealed the 2010 F1 Lotus car. I found some profile drawings of the three models showing the profile evolution over the years; As we can see the big step was made between the 49 and 72 cars already. All nice cars, the 49 and 72 with strong success stories, so let's wish in 2010 and beyond that Lotus F1 brings a new winning car.

What car is it ?...

2010-03-05T20:45:00.003+01:00

I made the picture of the car below in the Automobile Museum in Brussels. I remember seing one frequently when I was around 10-15 years old and living in Brussels. Any idea on the model and year ? ...

Peru discovery, part 5

2010-03-02T19:28:00.014+01:00

DAYS 7,8,9 around Cuzco...

Several weeks already since last post about our 2009 trip to Peru.
So let's get back to the part of the travel near Cuzco : the city of the Inca. A very rich area to visit with a lot of Inca sites, nice villages and wonderful nature. We enjoyed horse riding, walking and rafting in the area while visiting the sites, and the city. Again, this is just a snapshot as there is so much to tell and to show (we made more than 2500 photos during our trip). Here are some views of the places we saw in this area.

Here is a view taken from the road between Cuzco and Pisac : "the Sacred Valley"

Pisac Inca site

Sacsahuaman , Inca site above Cuzco

Puca-Pucara, Inca site

Tambo Machay, Inca site

Cuzco , the Inca capital

Chinchero market

Salinas de Maras

and finaly Ollantaytambo, the Inca fortress city. This is the place where we took the train to reach Aquas Callientes, the city from where you climb to discover the famous Machu Pichu...

The Incas were really nature architects, being able to build their cities and fortresses in the mountain, with stones, without cement and in a constant perfect integration with the elements : the water, the earth and the sky . "Mother Nature" is very important in their culture .

Just realize these buildings survived more than 500 years and one of the most sensible areas for earthquakes.

FYEO : for your eyes only...

2010-02-27T11:25:00.003+01:00

Beauty of the Week-End :-)

Three wheelers ...

2010-02-22T22:15:00.005+01:00

Something different today. I pictured these three wheelers and just liked the look and sporty driving when I saw these in Spa-Francorchamps. All around 1100-1300 cc and up to 160 km/h !

Darmont Special 1927 (1084 cc)

Morgan Super Aero 1928 (1260cc)

Morgan Flat Sides Aero 1924 (1206cc)

Elegant driver ...

2010-02-18T22:56:00.004+01:00

While you try to find the mascot (posted Feb 13 ) here is a photo I found on a car forum (no author mentionned neither name of the driver) but I like this photo very much. The wild sporty car driven by an elegant sporty girl... if anyone knows who it is, just let me know.

Car mascots...

2010-02-13T23:42:00.004+01:00

Another car mascot to identify ... good luck :-)
NB: should not be too difficult this time...

UPDATE /Thursday 18 Feb. : OK, no one dares to make a guess? here is a clue : just have
a close look to photos from previous posts. Now it becomes really easy !

Bugatti Royale...

2010-02-13T23:22:00.005+01:00

After the recent post about the Royal Bugatti... here is one about the Buagtti Royale. (T41)
I could not make a side picture , this car has a length of 6,4 m (252 in.) !
Produced in 1931 (in total there were 6 cars produced between 1927-1933), with a 8 cyl engine, 12760 cc, 300 hp, speed of 200 km/h, and weight of 3250 kg !
BIG ! Below you see the car pictured from stairs (with the Veyron in the background) and the second photo shows the Royale dashboard and wheel . Oh, have a look at these MINI headlights !

Musical Box : John Lennon and...

2010-02-11T21:33:00.004+01:00

After the intro where Mick and John are talking with each other, a nice version of a Beatles song "Yer Blues" with Mitch Mitchell (drummer of Jimy Hendrix), Eric Clapton and Keith Richards.
And for those watching carefully, nice bass guitar play by Keith .
A nice band !!
Enjoy !

Vintage racing : Spa 6H 2004 Start

2010-02-09T20:22:00.007+01:00

Spa-Francorchamps again,...
Browsing through some photo archives, I came across a short film I made from the start
of the Spa 6H race in September 2004 : some nice cars in the 10 leading cars, can you name these?...

I look forward to the next event, I miss the sound of these cars, the smell of oil, rubber etc...

Car mascots...

2010-02-06T09:06:00.004+01:00

In a previous post I asked "what car is it from?"
This time I will ask can you recognise the mascot and the car it is from?

Mascots were very popular on cars in the past and were distinctive from the brand .
For safety reason, they had to disapear and so the magic of seeing them is almost gone also...

OK, can you recognize the one below?

UPDATE FEB 08 2010 :

John identified the car. It is an 1929 AUSTIN 7 SWALLOW SALOON , one of the cars produced in his early days career by Sir William Lyons, before his company became Jaguar.

Royal Bugatti !

2010-02-05T21:48:00.003+01:00

Back to the "Bugatti Centenaire" : no, I am not writing here today about the Bugatti Royale...
but about a Royal Bugatti ! The Belgian King Leopold III was owner of a very nice T59 Bugatti and had a "toy" model for his son: you can see here below a period photo of the cars and below the two cars still existing and presented in excellent condition during the exhibition.
Good taste : 3257 cc, 250 HP and 250 km/h...

FYEO : for your eyes only...

2010-02-02T23:12:00.003+01:00

An Italian car in good company...

A Belgian driver in F1 in 2010 !...

2010-01-31T22:47:00.005+01:00

Jérôme d'Ambrosio has been officially announced today as being the 3rd pilot for the Renault F1
Team in 2010. This is a big step for the 24 years old driver, after two seasons in GP2 ! He will still compete in GP2 but will build experience in F1. Best wishes to him !!

FYEO : for your eyes only...

2010-01-27T00:12:00.002+01:00

Do you like it ?...

Musical Box : Won't get fooled again ...

2010-01-24T16:35:00.003+01:00

Another version of a famous song, acoustic version...by Pete Townshend from The Who !

I'll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I'll get on my knees and pray
We don't get fooled again ...

Bugatti T251, Reims 1956

2010-01-22T23:36:00.008+01:00

A different period, style and exercice !

Giaocchino Colombo (Alfa Romeo 158, the first post-war V12 Ferrari) was commissioned to design the new car. The design was unconventional by any standard, for it featured a straight-eight engine mounted transversely at the rear of the chassis. It was supposed to develop 275 bhp at 9500 rpm, but the true output was much lower, around 230 h, with a quoted maximum speed of 260 km/h. The car was entered for the F1 Fench GP of 1956 at Reims : Maurice Trintignant qualified 18th (on a 20-car grid) and retiring after 18 laps (1/3 of the race) with a broken throttle pedal.

Here is the car seen in Brussels during the "Bugatti Centenaire" exhibition.

And some action photos from the Bugatti during the F1 GP 1956 at Reims

(sourced from www.forum-auto.com )

And finally, jump back in time to view and listen to a summary of this GP showing the Bugatti but also the period Ferraris, Maseratis ,Vanwall ... and famous drivers like Peter Collins (winner), Fangio, Moss, Hawthorn,...

Formula 1 - 1956 Reims

Bugatti Centenaire...

2010-01-19T22:06:00.007+01:00

1909-2009 : 100 years of Bugatti. To finish this year in beauty, Bugatti organized an exhibition from Mid-December 2009 to Mid-January 2010 in Brussels. I could not resist and enjoyed a lot watching the more than 35 cars displayed from the first model to the Veyron. What a line-up !

Bugatti developped a dedicated website to tell the brand and models story .

In the next weeks , I will certainly share more photos. Here is a first impression with photos from a Type 35 and the recent Veyron...

The vintage racer was the one featured in my previous post. At the end of this message you will see a photo of the very same car in action.

The action photo was taken during "HistoryCar" event at Chimay (Belgium) in 2007

NB: yes, Chimay, where they make the famous beer ...

Attraction...

2010-01-17T09:31:00.004+01:00

Look at the paint : this is not a shiny, fresh painted car.. it is clearly a car that has been driven, in the rain, under the sun, at speed ...
Look at the leather : it is not new from the factory... it has been used as it should be and has acuqired this unique patina from age and drivers using the car for what it was made for.
Look at the steering wheel : the driver/owner has customized it for its handling and enjoy the car at speed, in turns...

This is a driver, a racer, ... don't you feel the attraction to sit in it, put your googles, gloves, start the engine and go for a ride ??

FYEO : for your eyes only...

2010-01-16T10:55:00.002+01:00

New tag for photos I will post "for your eyes only", photos of cars of nature of ...
I like to share for what they are . Comments welcome as usual.

Spotted at Spa-Francorchamps, September 2009

What car is it...?

2010-01-12T19:42:00.006+01:00

Not a frequently seen car : spotted at Spa-Francorchamps, September 2009
Up to you now !

added on Saturday 16 January :

even with the indication given in the comment, a big silence...

so here is the answer : it was a LISTER LE MANS

It was available in Coupé or Convertible. Very few cars produced

A 200 mph car , the 7 l V12 Jaguar engine producing 512 bhp ...

Musical box : Echoes ...

2010-01-10T16:07:00.002+01:00

I shared previously some music clips of songs I like and will go on in 2010, trying to find either original versions or ... special versions of great music.

I start with a lice acoustic version in the Abbey Roads studios of "Echoes" by David Gilmour.
I always enjoy listening to the full version (around 23 minutes) but found this one so special...

Echoes (Waters, Wright, Mason, Gilmour)1971 from the album "Meddle"

"....
Almost everyday you fall
Upon my waking eyes,
Inviting and inciting me
To rise.
And through the window in the wall
Come streaming in on sunlight wings
A million bright ambassadors of morning.

And no one sings me lullabyes
And no one makes me close my eyes
So I throw the windows wide
And call to you across the sky...."

Spa-Francorchamps, 1966

2010-01-09T11:21:00.003+01:00

To add the final touch to the sequence of posts related to Sixties F1 cars, I just woudl liek to remember a previosu post of January 2009 about Dan Gurney and his Eagle Westlake back at Spa-Francorchamps and meeting famous belgian driver Paul Frère.

it featured also some info about the car and the period Film "Grand Prix" from which I cannot resist to show again the Spa-Francorchamps sequence . Enjoy...

F1 cars, 1965 , BRM

2010-01-09T10:44:00.007+01:00

In a comment from a previous post I mentionned I do prefer the sixties F1 cars to the ones that came in the seventies. Their look, pure lines, sporty appeal etc... but I realised there was more.
When I was younger (born in 61...) , in mye early years Santa brougth me a nice gift at Christmas : a slot circuit with two racing cars , a red Ferrari and a racing green BRM. Guess what ! I still have it and made a picture this morning of those two cars I kept (with the circuit ), not to mention my two boys (now 20 and almost 17 ) also played with these and other cars I acquired later (like the Chaparal :-))

The catalogue included in the box described other period cars available and
I must say when I saw it this morning I thought something certainly got into my brain when I was a little boy that still is there and explains partially why I go to Classic cars races and events: just have a look tot the car models offered then...

Back to the BRM, I could picture one when I was in Reims (2007) at the first " WE of Automobile Excellence".

It is a car that was driven by Graham Hill in 1965 . The photos below show Graham Hill behind J.Stewart at the Nurburgring in 1965 (no identified source) found and leading at the start of the Belgian GP in 1965. (found on www.ausmotive.com)

More on the Lotus 49, 1967

2010-01-09T10:30:00.003+01:00

Still busy in my head with these Sixties F1 cars...
Here is more on the Lotus 49 driven by Graham Hill and Jim Clark with
a video showing the "First Time out " of the car at the Zandvoort Grand Prix (The Netherlands) in 1967.
Nice one...

Jacky Ickx, F1 driver, Lotus

2010-01-06T20:54:00.007+01:00

A 1967 F1 Lotus 49 was featured in the previous post. In the same museum of Stavelot, there was another F1 Lotus car : a model driven by Jacky Ickx and Ronnie Peterson in 1974. According to the identification plate from the Museum : F1 Lotus Type 76 from 1974, 480 HP.
I read in the J.Ickx tribute site that he drove the car in 1974 at the GP of South Africa, Spain, Belgium, Italy and Austria. (DNF or accident due to troubles with brake/engine). Otherwise they were driving the Lotus Type 72 with better results.

I had the chance to picture a similar car at Spa-Francorchamps in 2008, identified as being a R.Peterson car. It was impressive to see the leg room and poor protection the drivers had, and the front brakes cooling in open air...

The 2993 cc V8 Cosworth engine ...ready to sing his symphony.

The car being pushed to the start of a classic F1 cars race

What an evolution when comparing the 1967 car to the 1974 car !

Soon we will discover the 2010 F1 Lotus car !

Jim Clark, F1 driver, Lotus,

2010-01-05T22:04:00.008+01:00

Following previous post on his Jaguar D-Type, I thougth it was fair to add some info about Jim Clark .

If you ever come to Spa-Francorchamps and you have time, take the opportunity to go and visit the Circuit Museum in Stavelot. There is a nice collection of racing cars and the circuit history is well presented. I could picture for example the Lotus 49 below. It was driven in 1967 by Jim Clark and Graham Hill in the Formula 1 Grand Prix .

"Jim (or Jimmy) Clark OBE (4 March 1936 – 7 April 1968) was a British Formula One racing driver from Scotland. He was the dominant driver of his era, winning two World Championships, in 1963 and 1965. At the time of his death, he had won more Grand Prix races (25) and achieved more Grand Prix pole positions (33) than any other driver. He also competed in the Indianapolis 500 five times, and won it once, in 1965." source Wikipedia

The photos below show the car racing at Silverstone and the two drivers together looking at their engine.

(NB :images below found on a forumwith no clear defined source)

Jim Clark's D-Type at Spa-Francorchamps

2010-01-01T10:38:00.007+01:00

Jaguar D-Type XKD 517 at the “Spa RAC Woodcote trophy “ September 2009...

The Royal Automobile Club Woodcote Trophy race, organized by Motor Racing Legends, saw a fantastic turnout of pre-1956 sport cars, with 40 starters ranging from Jaguar D-Type and C-Type, through Ferrari 750 Monza to the little red Osca of Sir Stirling Moss. The qualifying session resulted in a starting grid with XKD133 (207 RW, owned by B. Eastick, UK) D-Type leading the last year winner Maserati 250SI driven by Belgian pilot M.Devis. Another interesting entry was XKD 517 (TKF 9, driven by Gary Pearson and Carlos Monteverde). This car is nothing else than the D-Type previously owned and raced by Jim Clark. This car, recently purchased by Monteverde was virtually untested prior to the race and was a last-minute replacement for Monteverde’s Ferrari Testa Rossa (damaged at Donington)… and pulled off an outstanding result. 207 RW has been leading the Maserati until lap 9 (of 19 in total) , when a long pit stop resulted in a more than 1 min 40 secs. gap between the cars, the D-Type being 5th in the race . Nevertheless, B. Eastwick came back second to finish the race 21 seconds behind the Maserati.
The ex-Jim Clark D-Type was fourth on the starting grid and finished in third position. Again a very nice podium with 2 D-Types and a Belgian driver winning the race with its Maserati 250 SI (as he did last year, also with 2 D-Types on the podium). Another D-Type, XKD 535 (XSV 493, owned by S.Ziegler) finished in 8th position. Sir Stirling Moss in his Osca FS372 (now painted red) with co-driver Roger Earl, finished 29th , 2nd in his class, affected by gearbox problems

This photo has been selected to appear in the "Coventry Racers" 2010 calendar from the http://www.xkedata.com/ site. Still time for you to order one maybe? you can do it here ...

According to the info available on the car page , "in 1958 the car passed into the hands of Jock McBain and the Border Rivers team. Its principal driver during that year was rising star Jim Clark. In his talented hands it finished all 20 races for which it was entered and notched up 12 outright victories " A real part of history...

Peru Discovery, part 4

2009-12-30T09:23:00.010+01:00

DAYS 4, 5 & 6 : Puno & lake Titicaca

Our original plan was to stay two nights in Puno, near the Lake Titicaca, but du to a transporters strike, the city was closed and no way to get it or get out, so we stayed 3 nights, 3 days in this city at 3815 m altitude, and very cold at night. The first day was spend in walking down to the port to view the Lake, see the markets in the main streets and walk around watching /avoiding the demonstrations (with police all around). We also visited a museum with very old statues and mummies from the Silustani site. Being at above 3800 m high, is an "experience" for your body and just walking the stairs to the second level to reach our rooms was a little challenge in the beginning.

The small port with Puno in the back The Cathedral

This stay in Puno helped us for the rest of the trip as we travelled down in altitude and the efforts became much more easier.

Day two in Puno was one of the highlights of our trip : a one day excursion on Lake Titicaca .We embarqued on a small boat with 4 other people and our guide to visit the Uros islands and the Taquile island.

The Uros Islands or the Floating Islands are man made islands out of reeds. The reeds grow naturally on the banks of the lake. The islands (there are over 40 of them), are populated by hard living people, who survive by fishing and nowadays because of the increasing tourism. Their handcrafts are wonderful, and the people are very hospitable.

View of floating Islands A group of houses on a island One of their typical boats

The Taquile Island is located at 35km from Puno and is 6 km large. The Taquile people/community is very friendly and lives in a peacefull and very quiet environment (no cars, no bikes and... no dogs (to avoid barking noise ), with an view on the lake, the sky and and at the horizon the vulcanos and mountains from Bolivia or Peru.

The Taquile island Our guide with two local people A nice view on the Lake

to be continued...

Car noses again... Ecurie Ecosse

2009-12-28T10:28:00.006+01:00

August 2008, Goodwood, UK.
A great display of Ecurie Ecosse cars....

Can you recognize the different cars ?

Jacky Ickx and the Ford GT40 : driver and gentleman

2009-12-27T17:06:00.006+01:00

I took the photo above at Spa in April 2005. It is featuring a nice replica of a famous car : the Ford GT40 from Jacky Ickx , the famous belgian driver that won Le Mans 24h 6 times !

June, 14th 1969... 4.00 PM, the drivers are running to their cars to start 24 hours of racing to win the famous Le mans 24H ! All but one... Jacky Ickx is walking to his car and will start as last car . He did this to raise attention to the fact that this kind of start was outdated and dangerous : the cars were so powerfull and the risk of accident at the start was high , some drivers were not even taking the time to put their safety belt on... This was the last year for the typical LeMans start....

Photo from this site

This would be the first victory from Jacky Ickx at Le Mans, with only 120 m or 2 seconds win against the Porsche 908 from Hans Hermann. He was driving the car with J.Oliver. It would be the last victory of the Ford GT40 at Le Mans...

Photo from this site

Jacky Ickx would win Le Mans 6 times : 1969,1975,1976,1977,1981 and 1982.

He is certainly the most talentuous Belgian racer with an impressive career :

Jacky Ickx was born in Brussels (Belgium) on 1st January 1945.
He started his career in car racing in 1964. By 1967, he is European Formula 2 Champion. His first race in Formula one was at the Nurburgring in 1967. He won 8 Formula One Grand Prix : France in 1968, Germany and Canada in 1969, Austria, Canada and Mexico in 1970, Holland in 1971 and finally Germany in 1972. he was twice World vice-Champion of Drivers, in 1969 and in 1970.

His list of victories in endurance racing is even more impressive. Two World Championship titles, in 1982 and 1983. Six victories at the French classic, the 24 hours of Le Mans. The list below shows how good he was at endurance racing !

He has been winner at :
•24 hours of Francorchamps (1966)
•1000 km of Spa (1967, 1968, 1974, 1982 and 1983)
•Cups of Spa (1969 and 1973)
•1000 km of Monthléry (1967)
•6 hours of Watkins Glen (1968, 1972 and 1977)
•12 hours of Sebring (1969 and 1972)
•1000 km of Monza (1972, 1973 and 1976)
•1000 km of Austria (1972)
•1000 km of Nurburgring (1973 and 1983)
•1000 km of Imola (1976)
•6 hours of Mugello (1976 and 1985)
•6 hours of Vallelunga (1976)
•6 hours of Silverstone (1977 and 1978)
•6 hours of Daytona (1972)
•9 hours of Kyalami (1967, 1968, 1970 and 1982)
•500 miles of Brands Hatch (1968)
•1000 km of Brands Hatch (1972, 1977 and 1982)
•Race of Champions at Brands Hatch (1974).
•Jacky Ickx was also the USA's Champion in Can Am in 1979.
In the '80s, he participated in the African safari rallies. His best result was a victory in the 1983 Paris-Dakar rally.

Between 1967 and 1979, Jacky Ickx was 11 times winner of the Belgium Drivers Championship. He received, in 1968, the national trophy of the sport's award.

He is still appearing at selected events like Goodwood and.. Le Mans.

A great driver and a real Gentleman !

NB: infos and some photos courtesy from a great tribute site

Merry Christmas and best wishes !

2009-12-23T18:07:00.005+01:00

Like the three below, the time has come for a winter break and enjoy Family time.
I wish you a Merry Christmas and a very Happy & Healthy 2010, full of good surprises and
nice moments of life & passion (safe and spirited driving).

NB : He looks quiet in the cold, but just saving his energy for a new start in 2010 :-)

Who's driving what ?

2009-12-22T18:40:00.005+01:00

A red car seen at Spa-Francorchamps in September 2009.
Can you guess who is driving ? and what car is it?

A tip : look in both rear-view mirrors, you may recognize him :-)

Update on 23 December 2009 :

Chuck identified the car and driver, well done ! So here is another photo to get a better /different view. If you look in the "famous drivers" section or search Stirling Moss on the top of the page, you will find the post from January 13 with more info on the car. Note the car was not painted yet when he drove last year in Spa.

We will never forget...

2009-12-20T20:57:00.006+01:00

I live in the South of Belgium, at the start of the "Ardennes" region. Today I went for a walk
as we had snow for the last two days and the nature took its white coat (around 5 to 10 cm of pure snow and yesterday we had -15 °C). It is a very peaceful area. The nature is just wonderful . The photo below is taken from the top of a little hill and looking to a village called Marenne. Very close to Verdenne...

100 m behind me stands a big stone with a text asking the people passing by to remember that in December 1944, more than 2000 men died here in a few days. Mainly US soldiers from the 84 th. Inf.Div. and Germans from the 116 Panzer Div., and local people.

Everyone knows about Bastogne (around 40-45 km from here) but all the region was involved in what is known as the Battle of the Bulge. Here it was more specifically the Battle before the Meuse. A line where the Germans were stopped. The battle at Verdenne, called the pocket Verdenne is described here.

All our regions has places and monuments to remember the figths and courageous, heroic actions and sacrifice of the young man that came from the USA, England, Scotland, Canada, Wales, etc... to figth for the freedom . A complete and regularly updated list is to be found on this site .

Some examples below:
a Panther tank from the 2nd SS Division near Manhay

Near La-Roche-en-Ardennes, an Achilles tank, in honour and tribute to the 1st Northamptonshire Yeomanry, then attached to the 51st Highland Division.

and when walking in the woods near Verdenne, a fox hole. There are still many of these.

We will never forget !

Thank you !

Look where you go ...

2009-12-05T21:11:00.008+01:00

One of the essential driving techniques is to keep your eyes looking where you go, as your hands
will naturally follow the direction.

" When driving along a winding road, eye movements and steering are tightly linked; the driver looks across to the inside kerb of an approaching bend some time before turning the steering wheel. With the eyes leading, the oculomotor controller assists the neural centres controlling steering; prevention of any eye movements correlated with steering impairs driving, so the coordination is crucial for safety."
M. Chattington & al.

I selected in my pictures archives some photos showing this behaviour from drivers arriving at La Source hairpin at Spa-Francorchamps... if speed and braking are correct, they will indeed make it right .

"Where the eyes go, the car follows."

Enzo (Garth Stein in "The Art of Racing in the Rain" )

Gorgeous...

2009-11-22T19:31:00.003+01:00

Cool break ...

Gorgeous was the theme of a recent media campaign from Jaguar for the new car models.
Back in 1992 another campaign was made by the brand Golden Lady and featuring a gorgeous lady and a gorgeous car :

Kim Basinger in a Jaguar E-Type V-12 ...
Well, for the real car enthusiasts...what is the year of is this E-Type model ?

About car noses...

2009-11-15T20:17:00.004+01:00

Ecurie Ecosse, a famous racing team, with Jaguar D-Type 1st and 2nd at Le Mans 24h race in 1957 ! A true moment of glory for Jaguar and for the Team.
OK, back to the noses comparisons.
Below are two photos I made in Augut 2008 at the Goodwood XK60 event.
The first one shows the long nose version and the second one show the short nose.
Clear difference .

Initially, a small frontal area was high at the Jaguar priority list. This was to allow for high top speeds at the long Le Mans straights. To ensure stability at speeds of over 150 mph, the D-Type was equipped with a big fin behind the pilot's headrest. Works cars built in 1955 were equipped with a longer nose for even higher top speeds.

Berlin,...the wall

2009-11-08T10:20:00.010+01:00

Tomorrow, November 9, 2009 will be the celebration of a symbolic and magic moment :
the day when when the wall cam down. I remember very well when I was in my car listening to
the radio when I heard the news : I could not believe it and I still remember the emotion I felt then. A big change was happening by the disparition of this symbol.

"Take me to the magic of the moment
On a glory night
Where the children of tomorrow dream away
In the wind of change "

The Scorpions (1989)

The wall of Berlin was more than a symbol of the cold war.
You may think humanity would have learned from it,... still there are other walls in the world, some being builded as you read this. Here is is the Berlin Wall online site if you want to learn more about it.

Back in 1993, I had the opportunity to be in Berlin for a Congress and took some
time to visit and view the "Eastern" side. I went back in 2003 and was futher impressed by the changes made .

Here as some views from 1993 :

Check-Point Charlie

The famous DDR car produced between 1957 and 1991 (3.096.099 produced) : the TRABANT

2010 Calendars...

2009-11-04T23:43:00.004+01:00

Time for the 2010 calendars !

As previous years Roger Los, creator of www.xkedata.com is making 2010 calendars made from selected photos from his website. I was very happy when he contacted me to ask if he could use some photos for the calendars and immediatly agreed to support his initiative.

He is making three calendars: Coventry Racers, XKE data and XK data
you can preview these and order here : http://xkedata.com/store/calendars/

It is a fundraising initiative to support his site.
I am sure you will find a place at your home/office/garage to hang one... or more !
I will order the XKE and Coventry Racers calendars for sure !

I was even more happy when I saw that my car was cover girl of the XKE data calendar and a photo I made was cover photo for the Coventry Racers calendar

One year ....

2009-11-02T20:58:00.004+01:00

November 01, 2008, was the date of my first post. I was then asking to identify a car wheel...no one found it so far ;-)

54 posts , so around one per week, with 1074 different visitors and a few readers
giving some very well appreciated live to the blog with comments . THANK YOU !

I will try to keep up the pace, and enjoy sharing some snapshots of my life, and will continue to appreciate and welcome comments.
NB: below is another view of my favourite car... still no idea?

Peru Discovery, part 3

2009-11-02T19:20:00.019+01:00

DAY 3 : The Canyon of Colca, the condors, the Altiplano, Silustani ...

Because of the transporters strike announced, we had to modify our planning and do in one day what was supposed to be done in two days. The aim was to arrive at Puno, near the Lake Titicaca, before the night, as transporters would close all road access to the cities for three days after that...

Wake up call very early to leave Arequipa around 4.00 AM. Our driver drove us at night to the Canyon of Colca. For about 3 hours we drove at night on deserted roads, climbing up to 4915 m of altitude. It was a very cold night but watching the nature waking up and the sun rising was a rich moment with beautiful lights.

The Volcano pass, around 6.00 AM, freezing temperature, 4915m altitude...

We passed Chivay to reach Yanque at 7.00 AM. A small village with an old Spanish church, full of rich and glossy statues, and outside children dancing with colourfull clothes and lot of joy...

The lamas crossing the roads . All tissues are done with natural colours, from Alpaga, Baby Alpaga, and Lamas. We then drove along the Canyon of Colca. Fantastic landscape !!

Our driver stopped at 8.00 AM at the "Cruz del Condor" He told us you have one hour to enjoy... and we did. We did spot a condor waiting for the temperature to rise with the sun, to take his fligth with ascending air waves. It was an emotional moment to see the condor take the air. I have seen many birds in my life, but never saw such a fligth control and such an easyness to fly and move in this big nature. At some stage they were 6 to fly around and challenges our cameras to make nice pictures. Just a few below... selected from more than 300.

9.00 AM , back in the car. We drove back near the Canyon of Colca (see photo below)

We passed with daylight through the "reserve of Aguada Blanca" where "Vicunas"

are now protected from hunters.

The road to Puno is a long , long ,... long road and many miles

of huge landscape with lamas, alpagas and some times dogs crossing the road.

Unusual road sign with warning for lamas crossing, ... and altitude 4.450m

and Flamingos... you get to be surprised in Peru !

Some Flamingos on a blue water under a blue sky ...pure air , pure colors .

We arrived at 5.00 PM at Sillustani , place near Puno, where the Incas nation

had tombs for their Inca . They were burried as mummy in foetal position, in towers

up to 6m high.

Climbing the pathway up to the tumbs (remember we are at more then 4000m)

started to be challenging ! The night was falling when we arrived at Puno, surrounded by trucks and buses that were going to close all access in and out of Puno for three days... we were going to have to be patient and enjoy the air and sun while building new red cells helping us to better capture oxygen and adapt to the altitude :-)

to be continued...

July 2009, Peru discovery part 2

2009-10-24T22:24:00.005+02:00

When preparing our trip we learned that Peru is one of the most sismic places in the world.

The sign above was present in most of the hotels we went and evacuations instructions were available in case of sismic alarm.

As shown by the illustration below coming from a peruvian website tracking and reporting daily sismic activity , you can see the plaques interaction and located above, the volcano chains...

Just having a look at the recent activity will show you how sensible the area is. We travelled to Ica (later in the trip )who was severely destroyed in August 2007 by an earthquake of a magnitude of 8... very impressive .

Here is another view (from the other side of the volcano) of Misti

What car is this from ?

2009-10-21T19:26:00.007+02:00

Back to some game on cars...
What car is this from ?

NB: it should not be too difficult, the answer is almost in the picture ;-)

UPDATE 30 OCTOBER 2009 :

4 horses = 4 chevaux =4CV

original emblem on a Renault 4CV in the Gordini style.

Here is a bonus : the famous "Touring Secours" model that was used for helping drivers on the side of the road when they had a trouble with their cars . Between 1960 and 1967, up to 140 Renault 4CV Touring Secours were on the Belgian roads to help. Thye were then replaced by the

Renault 4L .

July 2009 Peru discovery part 1

2009-10-18T19:54:00.015+02:00

Well, to start the short story with some highlights of the Peru trip I made with my family last summer, here is a map of Peru with identified in yellow the places where we went.

DAY 1: Our two weeks trip started in Brussels : we took the airplane to Amsterdam and from there a 12 hours flight would bring us to Lima. We arrived in Lima at night and reached our hotel in the area of Miraflores. A quick evening dinner and we went to sleep for an early wake up to take the next fligth that would bring us to AREQUIPA for our day 2 in Peru.

DAY 2 : AREQUIPA

this very nice city of aroud 900.000 people is at an altitude of 2380 m (7800 feet) above sea level and was founded in 1540. There is something magical about this city, surrounded by chains of volcanos, and with a typical spanish architecture (similar from the one you can see in Andalusia). We arrived at the airport around 10.30 AM and after checking in the hotel, we went for a walk in the city, had a guided tour of the city and visited the Santa Catalina Monastery, the Jesuit Church and the Cathedral and made some shopping (Alpaga clothes are at a very good price there).

Obviously there is more to see and discover in the area and there are opportunities to go for a treck on the volcanos... but in two weeks you cannot see everyting in Peru, so choices have to be made. Here are some views of the city and the volcanos :

The city main place with the cathedral

The majestuous volcano MISTI

The Volcano chain CHACHANI

Inside the Monastery

The volcano PICHU PICHU

The map below is showing the Arequipa region and how high the volcanos are.

You can already see the road highlighted in yellow... this is for day 3, ... to be continued

Peru,...nice roads...

2009-10-10T23:13:00.006+02:00

During the sumer holidays, I had the chance to travel to Peru with my wife and two boys (16 and 20). A wonderful country with incredible variations in landscapes and a stunning nature, very friendly people, proud of their country and cultural heritage, very rich in their harts and mind .
Back from this travel, I cannot say anything else that it brougth me a lot of energy, issued from the nature itself and from the values people are living and experiencing. I will probably post more about this country to share pictures with you, hope you like these.
Here are some to sart with :

Early morning , the sun rising after two hours drive, we are at around 4800m high , between Arequipa and Chivay , looking at a chain of volcanos ... going to see the condors ! (if you insist, you wil see them also...;-)

In the Altiplano, above 4000m high, driving to Puno (Lake Titicaca)

to be continued...

Flame !

2009-10-10T22:53:00.002+02:00

Hello,
sorry for the long absence. Summertime, holidays, family time and time flying by...
Here is a picture from a Bentley taken at Spa-Francorchamps 2 weeks ago, "La source" hairpin.

Each time the driver was engaging the next gear, he produced a big flame , very impressive !

I am sure winter time will allow me to get more time to get back to more presence,
stay tuned...

24 H du Mans 2009

2009-06-13T21:03:00.002+02:00

Probably the biggest race event of the year is ongoing now: The 24H du Mans !

This morning, a Jaguar E-Type was leading the start of the Le Mans Legend.
The Race was won by a Ferrari LM 250

Now the race is a big figth between the Peugeot, Audi and Lola-Aston Martin

you can follow the results on the official LM 24H website. Enjoy !

What car is it from?

2009-06-13T20:48:00.004+02:00

Sorry for the long absence...
work took me away from home for many days, and the time available was used for family.

Last WE of May I went to the Ciney Retromoteur event in Belgium (big classic car event, with spares, automobilia and cars for sale.

I spotted a car with a nice "statue ", see above.
Can you recognize the car?

----------------------------------------------------

UPDATE ON OCT.11, 2009

The car was a LEA-FRANCIS, not sure the lady was original, but it looked nice on the car.

The brand emblem is showing a Licorn.

I agree it was not easy at all, but that was part of the game :-) Here are some more photos :

Space travel... and music (3) Dark Side of The Moon

2009-05-12T20:52:00.007+02:00

It deserved a specific post again. Some migth remember a previous post about music and racing
and the chance I had to see the 4 members of Pink Floyd in two different concerts in two different places. One of these was when Roger Waters performed the full Dark Side of The Moon with Nick Mason in Magny-Cours , France.

This LP, from 1973, is a piece of art , and with more than 34 millions copies sold worldwide and so many years in the charts, it did not leave anyone of us untouched.

Here is a small clip of ECLIPSE

but what I wanted to share today is a clip I found recently showing Roger Waters in an acoustic version of Brain Damage. A song that took a very particular place in my ears /head 5 years ago when I lost my best friend, aged 43 , from a brain hemorrhage, with sudden onset and 1 week in the coma. He was there but was gone, maybe he was comfortably numb; but nowadays, he is still in my heart and thoughts as he is in for those who knew him so well.

This one is for you Patrick, wherever you are ...

Space travel... and music (2)

2009-05-12T20:19:00.005+02:00

With 2 days countdown to go for the launch of the Planck Satellite, here are other clips
with some famous songs having a link space travel :

Let's start with "I don't wana miss a thing"by Aerosmith, music from the film Armageddon (1998)

enjoy...

the next one is Elton John with Rocket Man (seen here in a 1976 concert)

and the final one for today is from Deep Purple with Space Truckin, seen here in a 1973 concert...

Space travel ...and music

2009-05-10T08:56:00.003+02:00

40 years ago, the first man walked on the moon. (that was in July, so we will get back to it later). However, as a result, several songs were created around the theme of space travel.

After posting the previous post on the countdown (4 days to go now) of the Planck satellite launch , I thougth it would be interesting to travel back in time searching another sound of music inspired by space.

We start with David Bowie "Space Oditty" and his first TV appearence end of 1969. Sit down, relax and be ready for the trip ...

8 days to go... countdown for a snapshot of the past !

2009-05-05T19:54:00.005+02:00

Artist impression of the Planck satellite from the ESA website.

The countdown has started to watch live the launch of this satellite with a unique mission :(text source from the ESA website)

"The mission Planck is Europe's first mission to study the cosmic microwave background, the relic radiation from the Big Bang, which occurred about 14 thousand million years ago. As the early universe expanded it cooled, and at a time called "recombination," it had cooled sufficiently for electrons and nuclei to form atoms. At this time the light that had been bouncing about within the plasma became free to travel through space (as if the universe had switched from being opaque to transparent). This freed light was initially energetic, but with the continued expansion of the universe, what was once a searing fireball of radiation has since cooled to become a background sea of microwaves.
Planck will measure the temperature variations across this microwave background with much better sensitivity, angular resolution and frequency range than any previous satellite, giving astronomers an unprecedented view of our Universe when it was extremely young, just 300 000 years old."

It will be launched by the Ariane launcher from Kourou in Guyane on May 14th and we will be able to see the launch live here .

NB: I will most probably miss it being travelling in the UK this day for my work but will think about it !

This will be a unique scientific experience, result of many years of preparation, and leading to a
incredible snapshot of the past ! Last summer, I had the chance to meet Larry (from Los Angeles area, USA) working on this project and discuss briefly with him about his contribution and involvment for many years in this project, while we were sharing time about our passion, driving an E-Type in a classic car event in Belgium.

I trust he must be very excited to see the end (or the start) getting nearer and start collecting the results ! Wish it all goes well ! Impressive work !

In a period where the human has been able to influence global warming in such a small slot of time, going back so far in time is just amazing ; let's hope our planet has many millions of years to go !

Lili of the Valley

2009-05-01T09:43:00.006+02:00

1st of May, in our countries there is a tradition of offering a specific flower : Lili of the Valley, Muguet in french . This is aimed to wish happiness to the people you give it to.

The ones above come from my garden.

As a song says : 'Don't worry, be Happy ! "

NB: a famous band created a song with this title, do you remember which band?

Porsche 917, 1970

2009-04-19T19:38:00.006+02:00

I saw this car yesterday in the Spa-Francorchamps circuit Museum in Stavelot. The Porsche 917 is a legend car from the Le Mans circuit, and was driven by Steve MacQueen .

Very impressive car, even at rest ! The long-tailed version was capable of a 0-62 mph (100 km/h) time of 2.5 seconds and a top speed of over 254 mph (409 km/h) ...

What car is it?

2009-04-19T17:35:00.005+02:00

Interior picture of a car, something should help you to identify the brand, but what about the model?

Update Sunday April 19, 7.30 PM

This is indeed a Lotus Europa, with the electric wndows ( Series 2), more info about the models can be found on Wikipedia. Here are some more photos taken yesterday near the entrance of the Spa-Francorchamps circuit.

and here is the Renault engine

Forever stoned...?

2009-04-07T20:04:00.005+02:00

photo from Woodstock

A piece of art !
If you know the original song from The Beatles, and do not know yet this version (could you ?), be ready to get a big surprise. This was filmed at Woodstock, 1969.

Joe Cocker in a unique performance singing "With a little help from my friends"
Great friends indeed that appeared to help him to make his first album : Steve Winwood, Jimmy Page, Matthew Fisher (organ) and B. J. Wilson (drums) were borrowed from Procol Harum and Henry McCullough (guitar) later joined Wings.

In 1970, he would perform live with his band Mad Dogs & Englishmen.(30 players on stage !)
NB: John, we now kwow where you were in 1970 ... ;-)

Forever stoned...

2009-04-07T19:22:00.004+02:00

These pictures were not made on Route 66...

No alignement of several cars, just one, but unusual sight in our region, also because it

is not European car. Anyone knows what car it is (I have no idea)?

It was taken near the University of Liège in Belgium.

It is there for many years already and does not seems to get rusty ...

Another V12 ...

2009-03-28T20:22:00.003+01:00

Here is a nice drive ,...
just enjoy the nice engine sound, the road, the view, (forget the end which is not ideal at all, or just stop before the end...) .

I can reassure you howver as the production budget couldn’t stretch to destroying a new ...(he,you need to identify the car !). Instead the team bought a new bodyshell and fitted it to an accident-damaged chassis with no engine. It was tipped over the edge of a cliff in the film, but no trace of it could be found when the crew went to recover the wreckage the following day.

So, by the way, do you know what car it is?

It is the intro of the Italian Job movie with many iconic cars like the Mini Cooper and the Jaguar E-Type ...

Going through the Death Valley...

2009-03-17T20:53:00.008+01:00

One of the most truly strange driving experience I had was the one I had while driving from Mammoth Lakes, California to Las Vegas, Nevada, through the Death Valley National Park (DV)!
We left Mammoth Lakes and drove to the 395. I had programmed our destination hotel in Las Vegas in the GPS and knew I had many miles to drive. We wanted to take the road through the DV. However many miles before the junction to the DV, I realized my GPS was showing much more miles than expected… In fact it did not want us to take the road through the DV ?! With my wife and 2 boys we agreed we would do it anyway, so we go on the 190.

Some warnings about blowing dust, temperature rising and there we are, at the top of a hill looking at the Valley with sand dunes on the horizon, being observed by the last living animal we saw in this area.

We went ahead going down to the sea level. We stopped in the middle of the plain to feel the heat,… amazing hot !

Well, here is the strange driving experience: first warning , there was a board advising to cut off air conditioning in the car to avoid overheating of the engine… second warning, 40 MPH : for a while it was OK to do so , but without Air Conditioning , … So I tried to bring the car up with some MPH (there was no other car on the horizon) but realized very very soon the car (Chrysler Voyager) could not cope above the speed limit as if it was not able to breathe, so I kept the speed limit. Third warning on the “way out “ of the DV, a plate was announcing there were water tanks for overheated engines within 5 miles… We finally made it without troubles and reached the Nevada taking the 95 to Las Vegas. Some “Vanishing point” pictures to illustrate the trip . Really worth the "detour".

How to ... ?

2009-03-14T17:11:00.006+01:00

No need to create another "How to" on avoiding speeding tickets.

Chuck G. wrote a complete and detailed one (+ read the disclaimers ).

However, there was maybe an option that was missing. Guess what ?
You will find it in watching the opening of the Convoy movie with Ali Mc Graw driving
a Jaguar E-Type V12 and racing with a truck driven by Kris Kristofferson.
He will let you find this extra option ...

What car is this?

2009-03-12T21:16:00.002+01:00

Not a frequent car again, but with your knowledge, you should be able to identify it...

Driving fun...Goodwood, UK

2009-03-10T20:59:00.008+01:00

Something different today,
a view from inside my E-Type while driving on the left hand side of the road in the UK.
Driving back from Goodwood to Belgium after attending the XK60 event at the Goodwood circuit in August 2008.

You can view a selection of 51 photos and 1 video I made during the event on this link.
A collection of very famous and unique cars, a true delight for the Jaguar enthusiast !

And today's question : who is driving the C-Type below ?

What car is this ?...

2009-03-08T21:44:00.007+01:00

Here is another challenge... what car is this headligth set from ?

UPDATE MARCH 10 2009 :

Well, I know it was not easy and is again a very rare car...

It is an APAL horizon GT.
In 1968 & 1969, 10 copies were built of the Apal Horizon, a sporty two-seater with mid-engine (a BMW 2002 ti engine)

APAL stands for "Application polyester Armé de Liège", ( "applications of armed fiberglass in Liege". Liège is a city in Belgium. You can learn more on Wikipedia
I agree it is not the nicest car in the world but it deserved to be mentionned for its rarity.

Here are more photos :

Where are we ?...

2009-02-26T19:56:00.004+01:00

Just before the Week-End, a teaser and a question... where are we ?...

SATURDAY 28 Feb. UPDATE :

OK, it is the edge of the "La Source" turn on the circuit of Spa-Francorchamps .

A place where some cars leave tyre rubber as can be seen on the picture, ensuring the colours are covered by a black layer...

A nice place to be to make some action photos, here is a selection from pictures I made in September 2008 during the 6H Endurance WE.

Music ...and racing

2009-02-17T21:38:00.015+01:00

Flashback to the Summer of 2006,

A magic summer !

It sarted early July with Le Mans Classic 2006 where many , many historic cars were racing on the magic circuit of Le Mans 24H. A sunny WE, a warm atmosphere, the smell of fuel, oil, hot tyres, the sound of powerfull and well prepared engines...

One of these cars, in the pre-war category, a red car ... Aston Martin Ulster LM 21 (one of the 21 build by Aston-Martin) was racing driven by the girl of Nick Mason. Yes, himself, the drummer of Pink Floyd. He is owning a collection of historic and racing cars (more than 40) including the Aston Martin Ulster LM21, a Ferrari 250 GTO and a Jaguar D-Type. The car was raced by his girl during the WE. He was himself racing his Ferrari 512 BBLM !

I could picture him while being in the paddock, speaking before the start .

A magic summer...

One week later I went with my wife to Magny-Cours circuit in France, where Roger Waters (Bass player and singer of Pink Floyd) was doing a concert and was having a performance on stage where he would do the full "Dark Side of the Moon" with... Nick Mason playing as drummer.

Yes,... DSOM life with 2 musicians of Pink Floyd playing together !!!

If I was asked what LP (well MP3 now) I would take on a island, this one would come on the short list for sure ! It was a huge moment of emotion !

Below, Nick and his set and with Roger Waters on the other picture.

One of these days ...

One month later, I was with my Family in Florence, Italy where David Gilmour was performing live , on the Piazza Santa Crocce, with Rick Wright. The guitarist and singer with the keyboards player of Pink FLoyd. A hot summer night, outside listening to "Echoes", "Shine on you crazy diamond", "Wish you were here" etc...

Another snapshot in my life I will never forget.

Florence in Italy...
like Pompei where Pink FLoyd made a unique live performance back in 1972, in the ruins of the Roman City.

I found on YouTube the part called "One of these days"

Each of these moments of Summer 2006 where one of these, but still, so unique.

In this song, Nick Mason is acting with so much energy, bringing the band and the song
at full speed ! Hope you enjoy as much as I did.

What car is this wheel from ?

2009-02-14T16:36:00.005+01:00

OK, it is not easy but why not give it a try ?

UPDATE ON SATURDAY 21 FEB 2009 :
So, as no one could even guess what it was, here is the answer with 2 more photos.

PEUGEOT 1913 : BEBE TYPE BP 1

The year 1912 marked an important step in Peugeot's history. This year saw the construction of the factories in Sochaux and the Baby, the second vehicle to bear this name, caused a sensation at the Paris Motor Show. It was designed by Ettore Bugatti .The Baby's low prices and modern design took the market by surprise: it was a tiny, light vehicle weighing under 350 kilos - a real car at a low price
It was powered by a 4-cylinder 855 cc monobloc unit with a T-head cylinder. There were side valves fitted on both sides of the cylinders with two camshafts in the housing. The engine delivered 10 hp at 2000 rpm, enabling the Baby to reach a maximum speed of 60 km/h. It was quite wide, despite its relatively short length (2.62 metres) and could seat two people.The Baby participated in several races, notably in the Mont Ventoux race in 1913, where it won in its category. Its career was crowned with success. The car continued to be manufactured until 1916 and 3095 vehicles were produced in the factory at Beaulieu.

Can you identify this car...?

2009-02-12T23:18:00.005+01:00

I saw this car in Bastogne (Belgium), in July 2008 at the WE commemoration of the Circuit of Ardennes races. Never seen one before ... and indeed they are rare.
Can you recognize it?

UPDATE ON SATURDAY 14th Feb.2009

OK, Chuck was very close and no other proposal so far, so here is the answer :

it is a Peugeot 402 Darl'Mat Coupé, reminiscent of a body produced by the same coachbuilder ( Carosserie Pourtout) for Bugatti.

(NB: Info below sourced from Wikipedia)
For the 1937 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race, Carrosserie Pourtout collaborated with Emile Darl'Mat to create the bodies for three identical cars that utilized modified Peugeot 402 engines in modified 302 chassis. In the 1937 race The Darl'mat Roadsters placed 7th, 8th and 10th overall. They returned the folowing year and the entry driven by De Cortanze won the under-2 litre class.
In 1937 and 1938 Carrosserie Pourtout made a road-going version of the Le Mans cars, the Peugeot 402 Darl’Mat "Spécial Sport", which had a total production run of 106.

September 1936 to June 1939 : 54 Roadsters
September 1937 to June 1939 : 32 Cabriolet
June 1937 to August 1938 : 20 Coupé

Here are some more pictures :

The Cat wants to go out ...

2009-02-10T21:50:00.006+01:00

December 30th, 2008, sunny and dry Winter day (following several days of rain that washed away the salt that was on the roads for the Christmas time snow...

Since then, now chance to drive on the roads and bring the ultimate cat out to stretch its legs: snow, rain or salt ,...
The last 2 days, the rain has started to clean the roads but snow is not far (15-20 kms) and is again forecasted for the WE with t° below 0°C so the salt trucks will come back.

Well let's listen to the V12 symphony at idle... waiting to jump back on the roads soon !

Let the spring come...

2009-02-10T21:21:00.008+01:00

The picture above was taken in April 2006 in the South Cork area in Ireland, near Crookhaven.

A peacefull place where the earth, the sky and the sea get together mixing the unique green of Ireland nature and the pure blue colours .

Crookhaven is a very small place in a bay area where the sea is "captured" and is almost "turquoise". A heaven on Earth.

And there is this small pub, O'Sullivans with this unique Crab salad sandwich, and the Guiness...

Well,... time for spring , all these weeks of rain, snow and dirty salt on the roads...enough for this year !

P.S. :
Many thanks to Tim for advising me and my Family to come to this very nice part of the world :-)

Reims : start of the Monte Carlo Historic Rally 2009

2009-01-31T12:12:00.010+01:00

I drove yesterday afternoon to Reims to watch the start of the 2009 Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique. Sunny and cold day, good conditions for a start given at 7.00 PM from "la place de l'hôtel de ville" where a dedicated podium was installed.

124 cars would leave Reims from this podium for a nigth drive to Monte-Carlo for the concentration. Several very nice cars were present, including a Jaguar XK 140, a Lancia Stratos, several Renault Alpine, Austin Healey's etc...

I had a special attention to the many Belgian participating cars, and a very special one for the Minispares-Mad Dog Rallying team : the team will campaign John Morrow’s 1965 1293cc Morris Cooper S. The car is a very close replica of the fabulously successful vehicles built by BMC Competitions Department in the 1960s and which won the Monte Carlo outright on three separate occasions. Richards, who runs a well-known engineering and A-series engine tuning business in Kent, UK, prepared the car. John, is based in Seattle (USA) and came especially over to run the rallye. Their car has N° 328 as you can see from below picture taken yesterday

you can see below the inside of the Mini, very well prepared and ready for a succesfull rallye, aiming for class win !

best wishes to John and Bill for the rallye !!

I made some more pictures yesterday that you can find here .

The N°328 Mini Cooper results can be followed on the websites of John Morrow (co-driver), Bill Richards(driver) or the Monte-Carlo rallye for overall results.