Need to see this

If I had a whole bunch of money, I’d buy a Lamborghini and give everyone the finger as I drove by. That’s the extent of my interest in cars. While I do appreciate cars and design, I just see them as a method of getting from point A to point B and couldn’t be arsed with working on or restoring them.

What I do enjoy though, is nicely put together pieces on just about anything. I recently came across this Depth Of Speed web series that I really got into. The series basically covers car enthusiasts from all over the country talking about their vehicle. Simple, but very enjoyable.

Go HERE for the Depth Of Speed site and HERE to check out all the videos.

Easy On The Extras is a new image blog that you should bookmark ASAP. Brought to you by good friend and Defgrip contributor, Mike Ardelean, you’ll find a great mix of cars, clothes, and other awesome stuff… with a focus on the cars. Spending time on the site is making me want a car again so bad… I haven’t been paying much attention to cars since I’ve been living in New York for the past few years… Just wishing I had a brownstone in the West Village with a secrete garage that could house a collection of vintage Porches… One day… hahah… For now, check out Easy On The Extras!

A great trailer from Audi for their new R18 e-tron Quattro. My first car was a Audi 4000 Quatro CS and even though it’s been years since I had it, I still think about it on a regular basis. Such a rad car!

Great film from eGarage about Icon 4×4′s Derelicts… Also ACL had a great post about Icon 4×4 that you can check out here.

Continue reading Icon Derelicts →

Defgrip reader Reed Avery tipped us off to this amazing interview with Carroll Shelby. In all honesty I’m an auto enthusiast but have never been extremely bowled over by any Shelby automobile, as fast and notable as they are, they just seemed lacking in personality and class when compared to European cars. Not that I haven’t been impressed by them; I’ve just never worked them into my future budget the way I would a, say, Mercedes 300SL Gullwing or even a Ferrari 400i.

One thing Carroll Shelby is not lacking, I came to find, is personality and class. Whether you’re a Shelby fan or have never heard of him, I guarantee that if you watch this interview you will be blown away by the heart and soul that Carroll Shelby has put into his career, as well as the standards by which he lives his life and runs his business.

It’s an overdose of one-liners and inspiration and wise words to live by, from a dude that is days away from being 88 years old, and is still at the top of his game. Click here for the interview.

Even though Jay Leno is almost the exact opposite of funny, he’s got great taste in cars and a true appreciation for their finer points. Here he navigates us through one of the many hidden racetracks in the hills of Los Angeles from behind the wheel of a Mercedes SLS AMG (spawned by the original 300SL from the 1950s).

This reminds me of a funny quote from Scotty Cranmer a while back where he said he wasn’t feeling California because there are no good back roads for driving.

Click below to see the video.

Continue reading Jay Leno – The Fast and the Famous →

Our boy Jason Eichhorst has revived his Merit Compatibles website with a new focus on original content. For one of his first features he was kind enough to do a feature on my old bike and car, a sort of throwback to three Summers ago when we did the exact same thing for the same site (different bike, different car).  There’s also a cool feature on photographer Jeff Brown and a long-term product test/review of the IPath Gall shoe.

Fast Company has a year-end feature rounding up the 14 biggest moments in design from the past decade. While I’m not sure I agree with all of the choices, it’s pretty crazy to think back to the first time you saw an iPod, or the fact that Design With In Reach wasn’t around and everyone was driving huge SUV’s. You can also read a more in-depth feature on Good.is.

Continue reading The Decade’s 14 Biggest Design Moments →

Check out this  article on one of my new favorite websites about a couple who drove their Land Rover Safari Defender from London to South Africa. Part luxe (high-end stereo, water filter, built-in beer refrigerator between the rear seats), mostly utilitarian (built in snorkel for river crossings, sand ladders, protective underbody steel plates), this badass truck took them 14,000 miles for charity.

Click here to read the article.

Benedict Redgrove is a photographer with a very minimalistic style who shoots for huge clients like Ferrari, Bently, Audi, BMW, Volvo, Swiss Air, Renault F1, and so many more. Keep reading for some of his work and spend some time on his extensive portfolio, there’s so many great photos in there.

Continue reading Benedict Redgrove →

Judging by the response to most automotive-themed posts here on Defgrip, it seems a lot of our readers are car enthusiasts.  Below are a few really good automotive sites which feature (usually) the sort of cars that I love, and that most of you seem to love too… Listed in order of the frequency with which I visit them. American Muscle, German performance, Exotics, slightly modified, over-modified, classy, seen around town, professionally photographed, for sale, commentary, videos, specs… it’s all there.

If you’re even remotely interested in cars, the first two will blow you away (if you’re not already familiar). Enjoy.

Bulgogi Brothers
Loudpop Voyager
Man on the Move
Cars I Have Seen
Jalopnik
Bring a Trailer
Wynn Ruji Photography
World’s Fastest Sedans

Above photo by M. Burroughs, from honorable mention Stanceworks.

Remote camera angles are cool and I’m always stoked on seeing the process behind them. Cruising around some photography forums today I stumbled came across the site for Automotive Rigs – a company selling car-mount rigs designed specifically for automotive photographers. Check out some shots from their website and more rig photos after the jump.

Continue reading Automotive Rigs →

My old roommate and good buddy Kevin McAvoy hipped me to these new Porsche commercials. They appear to be an attempt at preemptively addressing the critics who say it’s not a true Porsche… by closely associating the 4-door with the older rawer rear-engined 2-doors and their race heritage, rather than distancing it from them as most purists and critics seem to be doing.

Regardless of how you feel about the Panamera, these commercials are so good. It must have been a fun few days in the desert.

Continue reading Panamera →

Dave Mavro came through with a second batch of photos from the Frankfurt Auto Show. Click below to see them all.

Continue reading Frankfurt Auto Show part 2 →

Photographer André Paul Pinces shot a rad photo series called Dashed Dreams for Know?Mag. The series is great, although I’m not sure who’s driving a Porsche with dice in the mirror on the platform of the 18th street station… haha. Check out some of the photos after the jump. (via iconology)

Continue reading Dashed Dreams →

Ever since Mike posted the article about the Maserati garage contest the other day, I’ve been spending a bit of time googling old sports cars. The Ferrari 512 BBi that was parked in the garage got me going and after googling around for some images of a 1950 Abarth 205 Vignale Berlinetta, I came across an amazing photo of the 205 on a site called The Chicane which had a post featuring an episode of Top Gear about the Lamborghini Miura.

My level of car knowledge is pretty low compared to some people I know, but I love cars and really appreciate the design and engineering aspect that goes into them. What sparked this post was the design history of the Miura that was covered in the Top Gear episode. Apparently the Miura, which was designed in 1966 is credited to be the beginning of the modern super car and Marcello Gandini, who designed the body, was only 22! The engineers who worked on the car were also in their 20′s… I love hearing stories about people who at such young ages create defining pieces of design and it gets me thinking what would happen if more young people were given creative freedom on high profile projects. It also gets me thinking about how many young people have designed very innovative projects and we just don’t know about their age…

Check out the full segment of Top Gear after the jump – Continue reading Lamborghini Miura →

We posted on it before, so we might as well post the newest video from Ken Block and DC. This one is a bit more theatrical, but if you watch it on YouTube in HQ, the slow motion shots of the car sidling while the wheels are spinning is soooo good. Especially in that turn where he’s right on the edge of the dock…

Check out some rad bike related design work from UK designer Ben Wilson including this pedal powered Lambo…

Continue reading Ben Wilson Design →

Since we started the day off with a car post, we might as well end the day with another car post. This time is a re-visit to an older post we had with a video of DC Shoes founder Ken Block going crazy driving a Subaru in an Air Field. Well I guess the whole concept has a name – Gymkana, and there’s a whole site dedicated to Ken Blocks video, car, products and more. To go along with the site, they have a new video of unseen footage from the first video. It starts out a bit slow, but it’s definitely worth a watch.

Check it out after the jump – Continue reading Ken Block Gymkhana →

Not a bad way to start your week out. (via Surfstation)

Wallpaper has an amazing photogallery and interactive floor plan on their site showcasing the Porsche museum in Stuttgart. Check out a bunch of cars and museum photos after the jump, and check out feature on Wallpaper here.

Continue reading Porsche Museum on Wallpaper →

I’ve been stoked on this blog called Private. It focuses on the more luxury things in life and they have some rad 70′s concept car posts that always get me inspired. Imagine if all the cars on the road looked like this or this. The world would be such a better place. haha!

Check out Private here.

Keeping on the subject of the world’s first, and baddest, automaker… a few weeks ago Selectism posted this short and sweet summary of Mercedes-Benz design history from Wallpaper* by Jonathan Bell. The article is great but the photos are even better.

Excerpt:

“Mercedes’ key reputation rests on its saloon cars, traditionally deemed to hide over-engineered excellence beneath sober surfaces and straitlaced proportions.” An excellent philosophy applicable to almost everything in life, in my opion.

View it here.