Sometimes love fades, and as with any break-up, I still have feelings for her. However, time has come to say goodbye to my beloved Polackette, Katarzyna. She has served me well and catered to my every need however impossible the outlook may have been. The reason for the dumping is the clutch; it needs changing and I simply can’t be bothered. If you want to take over this, otherwise perfectly running, little machine, you’re more than welcome to come with an offer. Please note that this is pick up only as she’s temporarily stationary.

Here you can find the entire story of the Katarzyna adventure: http://www.thecartorialist.com/?m=200911

Facts:
Engine: 650 cc, 2 cylinder
Power: 23 bhp (new, probably 20 left)
She has a brand new exhaust system and oil cap. She was completely serviced some 3000 kms ago with new battery and all the brakes checked out. No oil leaks what so ever.
The odometer is a little shy of 170,000 kms, but let me tell you, never once has she acted up. Read this and you’ll understand: http://www.thecartorialist.com/?p=5248

Send me an email if you’re interested: jens @ thecartorialist.com (remove the spaces around the @)

Behold the cover of the first issue of The Motorist, the client magazine of reknowned auto dealer Callisma. It’s all me! Except for the layout part, production of the magazine is all me. So proud.

The feel is heavy and it smells expensive. This is worth having framed just for the cover art.

In it you’ll find an interview with creative genious Christian von Koenigsegg, a first drive of the Aston Martin Rapide, the Bentley Mulsanne and Koenigsegg Agera, plus some other goodies.
Distributed to Callisma’s clients and selected people around Sweden, The Motorist , can not be found in stores. Want to get your hands on a copy? Let me know in the comments and I’ll see if I can work some magic.

EDIT: The Motorist comes in Swedish only. Still want one?

EDIT #2: Thank you for your enthusiasm. As I’m out of copies, you whom have already expressed interest will get a copy. For the rest of you, stay tuned for #2. It’ll feature my trip to Le Mans and the Bentley Brooklands in Paris and all the Koenigseggs since the beginning.

I am about to realise one of my current dream projects! Aston Martin just confirmed a DBS for me to use getting to and fro Le Mans for this years iteration of the 24 Heures du Mans. I’ll try not to go Bond style (getting shot at by a secret international conspiracy of criminals) but rather enjoy that big V12 and the glorious road trip with plenty of sideways action to please the eyes of my fellow motorists!

Yes, I am doing social media now. That’ll make up for me only posting here once a fortnight.

Enjoy!

http://twitter.com/TheCartorialist

We’re finally at the hotel, which is only half a step up from a Formule 1 mind you, and exhausted. The rain started some 20 kms outside Berlin and kept on pouring. Slowly we have learned to trust Katarzyna and she’s treating us well so far. Our initial fears  were unfounded and we will be stepping on it hard tomorrow. Others have had problems with batteries, fuel pumps and cam shafts. We can’t even hear a sputtering sound at full throttle which some others seem to. All in all, Katarzyna is perfect, apart from some cosmetic blemishes but that just makes us like her even more.

It’s well cramped.

Here’s a link to a video from the track Tor Poznan, filmed from Katarzyna featuring the entire field of contestants. Click here.

Some fellow Norwegians from Team Race Universe didn’t have windscreen wipers so they did 110km/h in pouring rain on pure faith! Them’s got mucho cojones!

We have basically given up on winning. We got to Stadt Wittstock in 12th place after having run around the town looking for the bloody thing for about 10 full minutes. We could’ve been in the top 5 had we just followed our gut, damnit! Back to the winning thing. It will come down to who sacrifices the most and some seem to think that overtaking lorries on the right and tailgating is fine in order to win, we don’t. We’ll be observing caution but will also make sure to keep the pedal welded to the metal as Katarzyna obiously can handle it. I am guessing that the car with the most structural integrity will be the final winner, not the most daring driver.

If you know Swedish and want to follow the Auto Motor & Sport blog, click here

10:30 – The breakfast of champions! This could make or break our efforts.

Actually, this could make or break our efforts:

Some of our competition mounting two 20 litre jerrycans in the backseat of his car for longer fuel range. Due to lack of regulations in the rally, some have taken it upon themselves to modify their cars beyond recognition. I am hoping this guy will be slapped with a penalty of some sorts. At least he’s going to be nauseasted by the smell of petrol fumes coming from his contraption.

Closing down operations here to get to the garage and Tor Poznan. More updates to come in a few hours.

We settled on Katarzyna after the previous owner because we found it unsettling to ride a Pjotr, Marek or Stanislav. As you can see she’s got number 4, not 17. The 17 was based on a misunderstanding from our side. And we did get a Wunderbaum, the entire car reeks of chem industry.

At the briefing some rather disturbing points were brought up. Apparently a head on collision with a Mercedes S500 will flatten the Fiat 126, whereas the Merc will only have €250 worth of bumper damage! Oh, and averyone in the Fiat will die!

A question was raised whether we had seen any “Maluchs” (”the small one” in Polish) coming in from the airport as the organisors has bought all the stock in the area. I saw two and was promptly asked if I had gotten the registration number as there were another 40 teams on the waiting list.
- It’s both wonderful and a little disconcerting to see all the interest, said Peter who’s organising the event.

I also found out that the fuel gauge is not to be trusted. It works in our car but in some others it doesn’t work at all. The range is supposed to be 200 kms no matter what the fuel gauge says or doesn’t say.

First thing tomorrow we’ll be doing some laps around Tor Poznan in our “Maluchs” and we’re advised not to try and cut any apex’ as the car will flip over. Hmm…. Good thing also we’ve got proper winter tyres, NOT! I am starting to dread Autobahn and the lorries that will be flying past us while we’re trying to hold the car steady.

The one thing that was repeated over and over again at the briefing was safety.
- If no one dies we’ll do this again next year, said Peter.

Upon arrival at the hotel, this yellow thing greeted us, complete with stickers and all. I naturally had to add my own The Cartorialist branding, albeit just for show here. My car is number 17 and I will have to wait until tonight or tomorrow morning to lay my hands on it.

The evening is full of anticipation. Theories afloat about everything from top speed to the route. I am choosing to keep quiet about my choice of route as I am worried by the mapped route that is the suggested one as it’s far too slow for my liking.

It is certainly as cramped as it looks with very offset pedals. The accelerator is the size of a credit card! My co-driver and I will be shoulder to shoulder, literally, the entire way. The radio has been removed to save weight! Hello iPhone! I wonder if my car will be equipped with a Wunderbaum as well? I’d like one for novelty purposes but I am not so sure about the smell.

More news to come after the briefing and dinner at 7pm.

On November 13 through 15, a strange looking convoy of about 30 Fiat Polski will be making its way from Poznan, Poland to Stockholm, Sweden in the first ever Gran Turismo Classico rally. As a lover of all things strange, I will naturally partake. Some people have already started to think about how to tune the cars so if any of you have a bullet proof tip on how to make a 650 cc, 2 cylinder engine developing a whopping 25 horsepower go any faster, then tell me A.S.A.P.

One of the most legendary tracks on the Formula 1 circuit has been slapped with a ban on motorsporting events for the next 17 years. Irate neighbours have complained and silly nervous politicians listened afraid to lose their cushy salaries provided by their constituency. Instead of looking at the culturally and historically significant value of keeping Spa Francorchamps open without fuss, they decided to sod it. You can stop this. A neighbouring group of supporters have started a petition to open the track again and regain its licence. By clicking the link below, you can do your part in keeping Spa Francorchamps open.

Click here to sign the petition.

Formula 1 cars have been competing at this most revered and challenging circuit in the Ardenne mountains a total of 42 times since 1950. With the hairiest curve on the F1 map, the Eau Rouge, and a total length of just over 7 kms (the longest in Grand Prix), Spa Francorchamps deserves to be preserved as a motorsport haven for the world. Think of it as one of the wonders for the world to see and the enthusiats to enjoy. It’s like banning Mona Lisa because she’s ugly or Coca Cola because it’s the colour of shit. You just don’t.

Villeneuve sideways through Eau Rouge

Picture courtesy of AndersK

The car belongs to world famous freeskier Jon Olsson.

How I love people that dare to step outside normal boundaries but still manage to retain the style vital to their persona. A matte black Murcielago isn’t really what most people would consider appropriate but I’d say it’s a hell of a lot better than this crap. I have long been a proponent of matte paint jobs as they differ from the norm without retorting to flames and trucker motifs, like naked ladies or fairytale figures (he must really love Zorro).

Another aspect of matte paint is that you can’t get pigeonholed like you would in a Range Rover Sport that Project Khan style-raped (drug dealer) or the preposterous Porsche (idiot), although you need to be careful with just what you colour in matte, or else the whole system will turn faster than King Midas’ ugly cousin turned things into crap, instead of gold. A matte sports car (Ferrari, Lamborghini, Koenigsegg), fine but steer clear of tarting up a Rolls Royce, Maybach or Bentley as that’s the equivalent of hair plugs – tragic.

The fact that he has also mounted a ski box, matching the car’s colour goes to show that creativity takes you a long way. Let me hear the grandfather, a survivor of the Great Depression, say that skiing is an honest job. Didn’t think so. Sure, an RS6 could’ve probably gotten the job done as well, or better, than a Murcielago, but that’s beside the point, in that Jon Olsson’s trademark is doing what no one has done before, be it big air jumps or fitting ski boxes to Lambos. Yes, I said Lambos, plural. He had (or still has, not sure,) a Gallardo also fitted with a ski box, and the whole sha-bang was painted in snow camouflage.

Just to let you how fantastic JamesList really is:

They are currently listing 35% of the world’s Lamborghini Reventón (7 out of 20),  33.3% of the Mansory Bugatti Veyron Vincerò (1 out of 3), 20% of the Pagani Zonda Cinque and I can make the list go on.

Have a look: JamesList

You kan find my blog posts at JamesList.com here for now. I’m sure I’ll get my own section in due time, and I am certain you can figure out which ones are mine.

From tomorrow, I will also be blogging for JamesList.com. I am hoping you will join me there.

JamesList.com is the world’s first truly transparent luxury marketplace and allows discerning buyers to find high-end cars, yachts, watches, helicopters, jets and motorcycles from dealers around the world. JamesList.com feature state of the art search technology to let buyers quickly find what they are looking for, even extremely rare cars such as the Koenigsegg CCX-R Edition , or yachts such as Trinity Yachts Perla Blu. The more than 350 dealers worldwide range from custom dealers such as Orange County Choppers to traditional dealers with exceptional inventory such as ExecuJet.

JamesList.com has offices in Stockholm, Sweden and Marbella, Spain and the site is available in English, Russian and German. The site focuses on attractive presentation as well as technical function ensuring that each product is presented in the right light. The design brings the best elements from glossy magazine presentation to a cutting edge web interface, giving both serious buyers the tools they need and casual browsers an enjoyable experience.

JamesList.com

Clarkson wrote a piece in 2003 that I think you should read, Classic Driver goes back in time with a 250 GTB SWB, Jalopnik has two special videos and, of course, Arash Farboud is reminiscing about when he bought a very special car, and CAR Magazine reveals the forty greatest cars in film.

Continue reading…

With all the visitors on this site, I find it rather depressing to know that only a handful of you rate the posts you’re reading. Would you mind clicking on the stars above so I will know what it is you like?

It is very fascinating to see how you rate the posts as a Dino 246 GT can get anything between 1 and 5 stars, whereas in my book, it can only be a 5! In order to have a monthly summary of the best and worst posts, you need to go ‘n click on them stars! Go on, do it!

I know it’s not YouTube Tuesday today but I just couldn’t resist. National Geographic have followed Nissan’s engineers during the four year long develoment process of the GT R and the result is a 47 minute long film. Would you like to see Carlos Ghosn motion sick from riding in the new GT R? Well, then you should definitely see watch this. The video can be seen after the jump.

Continue reading…

Since my Monday was way busier that expected, I never had the time to post what I intended. So, I am doing it now instead, because a promise is a promise.

Last week I read some Clarkson, CAR Magazine, Evo, Jalopnik and The Truth About Cars, and below you’ll find my best picks of what to read. Continue reading…

OK, based on your input, the new, weekly schedule for The Cartorialist goes something like this:

There will be a minimum of two posts every day; one regular posting – you know, the car on the street – and one “special” post.
Below you can see which day will have which “special” posting.

Monday – Links to the five best reads of the previous week. I read a lot and some of it is really good and I would like to share it with you.

Tuesday – YouTube Tuesday will show videos that I, for some reason, think you should see.

Wednesday – Regular posts, but two of them.

Thursday – Car of the week.

Friday – Brief recap of the week, I’ll also list the best comment of the week and the reason for it. In the future, the best comment will be worth a prize, so you may as well start practising now.

The last day of every month will also feature a recap of the best and worst rated stories that particular month so start rating.

This is an experimental process and I will be evaluating this strategy until the end of December 2008. If it’s deemed successful enough, and you like it, then we’ll continue.

Have a great weekend y’all!