|Reader’s Submission| John Pattison strikes again at JapFest 2013!

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Is that a StartingGrid sticker in the rear window? I do believe that it is!

We love getting submissions to |StartingGrid|, especially from our international readers.  John Pattison has always been particularly awesome, sharing pictures of his Starlet V with us either here on the blog our on our Facebook page.

(I think the fact that he got some stickers from us helps with the motivation. jk ;) )

John was down at Japfest2013 recently, and snapped some pictures to share here with everyone on the blog. Click on the bump below to get a sight of what was shown in the UK.

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Ferrari Friday: 1949 166 MM Touring Barchetta

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Ferrari 166 MM Touring Barchetta
This week’s Ferrari Friday subject is a car I saw and photographed at the 2007 Northwest Historics. This is a 1949 166 MM Touring Barchetta and is one of the very first Ferraris built. Enzo Ferrari starting producing cars under his own name in 1947, following a long career with Alfa Romeo (I’ll feature a Scuderia Ferrari Alfa racer in coming weeks). The very first Ferraris were the two 125S cars and single 159S produced in 1947. These were followed by the run of 39 166S cars in 1948 and 1949 which produced the car featured here.

Jon Shirley owns this 166 MM and drove it at the 2007 Northwest Historics as well as in rally events. This car is no stranger to racing, having won the 1949 24 Hours of Spa with Luigi Chinetti behind the wheel.
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Ferrari Friday: 1960 246 S Dino Fantuzzi High Tail Spyder

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It’s Friday and my thoughts are of doing what this person is doing, grabbing a handful of opposite lock as I slide through a turn. I might have to do just that in the Healey, if the weather gods permit.

This car is probably very often mistaken for a v12 engined beast since it looks more than a bit like a 250 Testa Rossa. This car is powered by a 2.4 liter v6, the Dino v6. This engine was named after Enzo’s son Afredo (“Dino” comes from “Alfredino”, which is how a person name Alfredo’s parents or friends would call him, it means “little Alfredo”). In the mid 50s, Alfredo Ferrari lead the development of the v6 for use in Formula 2, and later Forumla 1. Sadly Alfredo died before he ever got to see his engine (actually designed by Ferrari engineer Vittorio Jano) race.

More information and pictures of this car, chassis 0784, can be found at Ultimate Car Page’s very thorough article about this car.

If anyone can identify the photographer who captured this excellent image, please let me know so I can give proper credit.

|Video| Lewis Hamilton explains his driving position #F1

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As most of us know, driving position is massively critical when it comes to providing a solid performance in any car or kart.

Although none of us are driving Formula 1 cars, take a look at this video and think about what your own racing position is like. Can it be more comfortable? Your body remembers a lot of the feedback that you’re getting from the seat. So the more comfortable you are, the better your performance will be.

* I’ve always loved Mercedes’ Formula 1 videos, as they explain a lot of the inner details about driving a Formula 1 car. As an added highlight, I really like seeing Lewis Hamilton in these videos now. He seems much more relaxed than during his time at Mclaren, which shows in this video and also in his driving.

Fine Art Friday: Artistic Car Photos of Neil Enns

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Photo credit: Neil Enns | Dane Creek Photography

Photo credit: Neil Enns | Dane Creek Photography

Photographer Neil Enns recently visited Canepa Motorsports in Scotts Valley, California and made a couple great photos of a 57 Corvette and 34 Ford Bonneville racer. The splash of color above is the taillight of a 1957 Corvette Canepa currently has for sale.

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