Thursday 21 November 2013

GASSED Futuristic GT


B
ack in 2006, pimp my ride fans (myself included) were introduced to a new company by the name of GAS short for Galpin Auto Sports, a southern California car restoration and customizing company with an extensive portfolio. Now ,After installing snake cages ,building ice cream trucks and creating the modern KITT for Knight Rider ,GAS embarked on a whole new project that will not only enlarge their global automotive footprint but will revolutionaries the norm behind super car manufacturing. What your witnessing below is nothing new for the company, which originally started out as a ford dealership and later expanded into modifying  cars according to client requirements or better yet , Galpinizing .
The founder, Bert Boeckmann built a 6 decade relationship with Ford not only as a distributor but as a concept and limited production mustang designer. The GTR1 project headed by chief designer beau his son, is a continuation the family owned whip conglomerate envisioned for the blue oval auto giant. They decided to head for the hyper car league, one in which your pony count has to be in excess of 700 or you aren't even part of the conversation. , In which GAS surpassed the red tape at an immense pace,with  a 1000 prancing  horses plus 24 and 1002 N.m of torque. 
Utilizing a 5.4 litre V8, the GAS team threw in a couple of turbos into the carbon fibre housed engine, placing the GTR1 to 100 kilometers per hour in 3 seconds with a top speed of 225 mph (375kph)



Price wise? A Million dollars flat, placing the gtr1 in the same range as the McLaren P1, Porsche 918 and the Pagani Huayra. Here’s a couple of ways you can look at it ,would you pick a ford over a European masterpiece that will drop jaws effortlessly ,or will you purchase an understated hyper car that will make automobiles above its price tag try to play catch up with it.


Words:Toby T-bag Mashale
Images:galpinautosports.com

Monday 18 November 2013

Johannesburg International Motor Show 2013

JIMS 2013 RECAP<<<<<


Scores of auto heads from around the continent flooded the Nasrec expo center for the bi-annual Johannesburg international motor show to check out what global motoring giants had to offer at their stands. While this year’s show emphasized green tech , exhibitors weren't shy about putting  out their greatest executions for Africa to salivate onto but four auto makers  ,in particular Audi ,Mercedes Benz ,BMW and jaguar had tongues wagging and most  crowds drawn to them like Hansel and Gretel to the ginger bread house. Enough with the wordplay, here are the highlights from this year’s candy expo (auto head perception).


You know you've brought out something special when you have 10 people in SA fighting for the remaining two models, despite their 1.5 million rand price tag.

Infiniti QX70 Sebastian Vettel edition.
Weight: 300kg lighter (through various carbon fibre components)
Motor: 5 litre V8 producing 309 KW
Top Speed: 300 kph
0-100: Under 5 seconds



If this is BMW’s way of getting humans to save the world, then sheikhs of the Middle East should start scouring greater avenues to maintain their large oil income stream.
Collectibles.

Audi was taking no prisoners at their stand with the RS versions of their 4,6 and 7 models aside from their pride and joy ,the monstrous R8 V10. To up the ante on their awe-inspiring site ,If you wanted your land yacht’s interior to match the one you left at your beach front home ,no worries ,Audi exclusives’ got you covered. 






Bumble bee’s dark side manifested its true form, a convertible top and a 580hp power plant.

Sometimes it doesn't take much to make your ride stand out, like this G6 from Giovanna wheels on 19 inch Dalar 5v wheels and tint.


Heavy traffic solution.

Two things to consider: the slightest scratch would require a shipment to the Far East factory and only three of these made it into SA ,fetching 5.5 million rands.

 So really you can’t frown upon the owner for requesting that all doors of his LFA stay locked from prying attendees and that Lexus’ rep should ensure that admirers let their eyes do the looking ,not their hands.

How you wake up your neighborhood.

Mercedes’ SLS decided to go out with bang in order to make way for the next era with the black series on a carbon fiber overdose , which we aren't complain about.







Ford F150 Raptor



This 2013 worthersee Amarok scrapes the idea of ruble collection and piling up construction tools at the back ,perhaps a Jacuzzi in the truck bed and a pop up grill on the tail gate would make more sense huh?






Oh you spin a 325is? that's cute.



Something to look out for in the closer future ,new generation Honda NSX
Words: Toby T-bag Mashale
Images:Toby T-bag Mashale

Thursday 7 November 2013

Flexing new muscle


Spotting this 2007 6.1litre SRT8, 480 Horsepower dodge charger was certainly an awe-inspiring moment considering the rarity of new school muscle cars on this side of the pond.  Now ,second generation chargers are made in left hand drive and mainly for the north American market and with a 450k (Rands) price tag.Someone here seems to have pockets deep enough to not only place one in their garage but to have it in right hand drive as well.

Wednesday 6 November 2013

SEMA 2013 Stinger


While we’re still recovering from the effects of the Johannesburg International motorshow, American auto heads are pouring into the Las Vegas convention centre for the annual SEMA show. One exhibitor there Octavio Villafana, internationally known as Topo of Ts designs is known for his widebody creations on various makes of cars from Dodge chargers to Bentley GTs. This year he collaborated with Forgiato wheels to create this light blue jaw dropping corvette C7 stingray sitting on 21inch (front) and 22 inch (rear) Forgiato Maglia wheels.apart from the striking paint job Ts designs added hand fabricated , carbon fiber front and rear diffusers. Nicely done!