Ferrari’s XX playground at Monza yesterday. Do you like the sound of screaming V12s? Then you’ll love this!

I love that there is some insanity left in the world. If someone invented the motorcycle today, it would never have been allowed to go past the concept stage. The Morgan 3Wheeler is something of a similar sort. How can they allow this? But I love that they do, because the car is bloody fantastic! It’s uncomfortable, it vibrates, it’s windy, it’s LOUD, but it’s utterly involving and… So. Much. Fun.

If I lived in a place where it didn’t rain and the mercury never dropped below 15°C, I’d get a Morgan 3Wheeler. In a heartbeat. Spend your days tooling around drawing black snakes on the asphalt. Second gear and some throttle – tyre squeal and you’ve left your mark. Shift to third and the same thing happens. Are you having fun yet? Hell yes! That stupid grin tells the tale of childish whoopdeedo in the simplest ways.

Corner hard and you literally have to lean out of the car to stabilise yourself. Holding on to its leather clad side. Stand too close to the exhaust pipe and get marked for life. I now have a Morgan tattoo on my shin. Skinny tyres and monstrous amounts of torque. Driving a car with little grip is eons more fun than driving something with a USP of defying gravity. Slip is entertaining.

While the industry is aiming for 20″ wheels and 295’s at the rear, I’m running as fast as I can in the opposite direction. Nowadays you can’t even take the latest Renaultsport Clio to the limits without a racetrack present. The Morgan 3Wheeler let’s you have more fun at speeds under 100 km/h than you can ever have in anything else, bar a motorcycle. And therein lie its appeal – in its bonkersness it is still a car, not some ridiculous CanAm roadster.

My biggest want right now. So right it’s wrong, or if it’s the other way around.

From: the Internet.

– Excuse me, Señor. You are a member of the club?

– No, I’m not, I’m with the Underhills.

– They already left, Señor.

– It’s all right, they’ll be back. He went out for his urinalysis.

– Would you like some drinks, Señor, while you wait? I will put it on the Underhills’ bill.

– Yes, very good. I’ll have a Bloody Mary and a steak sandwich and… a steak sandwich, please.

Check out this fantastic video of turbo era Formula One produced by Elf.

Via Automobiliac.

I am starting to re-evaluate my relationship with Opel. And you know you’re smitten when looking to find a nice example for yourself to cruise around in on Sundays. Yes, I am seriously contemplating going from the king of German motoring, Mercedes, to its countryman that’s never even been good enough to be a jest at the court.

I am naturally talking about Mercedes in the years before the nineties rolled around. When they were actually worth the money.

Except for brilliant exceptions like the Lotus Omega and the Opel Manta 400, I have mostly had a loathe affair with the marque. But it’s starting to change. The new Corsa Nürburgring edition anyone?

Technology can be so beautiful!

Via Valli-Khan.

The stance, the proportions, the purposeness. No motorbike has ever been so superior in anything, anywhere. The Honda XR600R is probably the coolest motorbike ever built.

How about an angry polar bear with a dull circle saw trying to cut up a vibrating plywood board? Well, skip ahead to 50 seconds and you’ll get my point.

I might as well just re-blog half of what the ambitious souls behind Axis of Oversteer publish. Here, six time Italian rally champion Paolo Andreussi faces his navigator Anna Andreussi on the slopes of Mount Zoncolan.

From Axis of Oversteer.

Via Sideblog

Via Le Container

See what I mean?

Via This isn’t happiness.

Racing is the most fun you can have without doing drugs… I imagine. At least that is what I have gathered from reading Hunter S. Thompson. Anyhow, last weekend (March 3-4) saw the Swedish endurance racing series SLC culminate with its annual 24-hour race, Winterhell, at Mantorp Park. I was one of the drivers.

Despite having massive amounts bad luck the Butterfly Racing team showed extraordinary heart throughout the whole experience. Car #1 was running for the overall championship title and was doing so very well. Until two conrods blew holes in the block two hours in. At that time, my car hadn’t even arrived due to an overnight engine swap.

Once ready for action, car #2 managed three laps before the frost plug decided to vacate its position and spill coolant all over the Paris complex. The operation of removing the frost plug from #1 and inserting it into #2 took probably around four hours at which time the darkness had already descended upon Mantorp.

My first run, in a car I had never driven before, on a track I last drove on three years ago, was therefore made in complete darkness. A rack of four 200W lights on the roof made my headway a little less dramatic however, finding the braking points, turn in points and apex in those conditions are less than easy. After a few laps I managed to feel a bit more comfortable and was making pretty good laptimes.

The night progressed well and without glitches but knowing you’re over 100 laps down doesn’t really do wonders for your competitive spirit. Well, I was just a gun for hire. The team really gave it their all trying to keep the cars running and in three days they probably only slept around six hours total. Amazing.

My last stint was right before dawn, from 06:00. The first five laps were in darkness but then as light slowly came around, I could finally turn off the extra lights and give it all while being able to see where to brake and turn. Right then, right there I was in heaven. The car was running perfectly and the immense joy of having such a precision instrument to work with is a great feeling. I can only imagine what it would be like racing a factory Porsche.