Group buy?

Hi Chris, I guess I didn't miss much this weekend....dinner sounds good!
kei says Hi

Porsche Castle for sale
 

BERLIN — German luxury sportscar maker Porsche is putting up for sale a Bavarian castle snapped up for six million euros ($8 million) in 2006, a spokesman for the manufacturer of the iconic 911 car said on Sunday.

"We are parting company with this estate," the spokesman told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung (FAS), after the paper said Porsche was selling Schloss Bullachberg, near the famous Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria.

Porsche had purchased the castle five years ago, under previous boss Wendelin Wiedeking, hoping to transform the 180,000-square-metre (1.9-million-square-feet), building into a luxury hotel.

But the required renovation work never got going, the FAS wrote.

The carmaker has built up massive debts as it looked to seal a tie-up with Volkswagen, Europe's biggest car manufacturer.

However, in August, Porsche said it had booked a first-half net profit of 149 million euros, bouncing back from heavy losses.


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1318257761.jpg

Better known as the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Castle

Everyone has been staring at it thinking "where have I seen that Castle before"?

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1319172383.jpg

Mr. Banning,

I have read John Hall's book. I am wondering how your new book is coming along. Is there an estimated date of publication?

Update
 

The new book is near complete. It will be larger in size to properly accommodate many photos, graphs, maps, and charts (approx. 50).

All text done so far is completely edited without errors. Added text will be scrutinized for mistakes before printing. The added text consists of information gathered over the past few years combined with interviews done since the publication of The Mulholland Experience.

The interviews are not complete. I have completed half a dozen more but perhaps 8 more remain. These interviews needing completion are from modern day (like Derek), a couple from MRA members, two more from The CRE, and one other very significant person.

What is left is a "special" cover photo on Mulholland for the book (already planned), and finally all text and photos must be formatted to go to print.

I will get one copy to approve before printing is started.

This will take a little more time since I have other projects and responsibilities but it will be worth waiting for. I will not print this time until I am totally satisfied.

Just a note: this book has none of the extraneous info about Southern California, only a brief local history. This book is more like a documentary without deep personal histories. It chronicles Mulholland Racing quite accurately with fun pictures, time-lines, cool chapters, and super interesting stories. It will be good.

If anyone has any more comments or suggestions, now is the time. ;)

Street Legal Racecar
 

Something else I ran into I thought was interesting. A street-legal Racecar, cool.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1320789138.jpg


Here is an excerpt from Showing Off in the Show Car.

For more than five years Red Bull Racing Team has been building some of the most competitive high-performance cars in NASCAR and we've taken that love of moving parts and pieces to the street.

Enter Corey Timblin and the Street Legal Show Car.

With headlights wipers treaded tires and everything else added to meet all requirements for everyday driving Timblin's the captain of a car that goes from 0-60 mph in 3.4 seconds and covers a quarter mile in 11.7. But it's not about the muscle it's about the experience. And anyone that's sat shotgun with Timblin knows the experience is unforgettable.


Q: What are the highs and the lows of traveling with the Show Car program?

CT: The best part of the job is meeting new people across the country and the fact that you're getting paid to travel and experience all of the things that are out there away from your hometown. The worst part is driving 8-10 hours a day to get to some of the events. Another thing that can be pretty unbearable is when it's a really hot day and the car gets to 120 degrees and you're sitting in there for hours.

Q: What features or specs make our street-legal Show Car unique?

CT: The coolest feature of our car besides the fact that it's street legal is that we're the only NASCAR show car that can run on the streets and also has a race-ready engine inside the car. We have a TRD (Toyota Racing Development) race engine that's pushing out over 800 horsepower. We also have a windshield wiper motor that we had to put in for inspection purposes although we never run our car in the rain because of the type of tires we have to use. We have to run DOT tires that have tread because slicks aren't approved for highway use. Then we have taillights a license plate and a second seat in the passenger side to give rides.



Q: Any run-ins with the law?

CT: Did I put that as one of my favorite parts of the job (sarcasm)? The craziest thing ever to happen was in California. We had been doing events in California for about a week and in that week we'd been pulled over a lot. No big deal ... because we are street legal so we were allowed to be on the roads. The police would pull us over ask us what we were doing check our paperwork and away we'd go. However on this particular day there was a police officer who wasn't a fan of what we were doing. We were giving a ride to a VIP and we were on mall property which apparently wasn't allowed. The mall called the police on us and we got pulled over.

The officer that approached the Show Car was anything but calm - screaming and yelling is an understatement.
During that time one of the people I was working with approached the scene and was immediately handcuffed. We also got issued our first and only ticket ever. We ended up sorting everything out with the help of lawyers but that was one stressful day.

Another time we were in Los Angeles doing some promos for the Red Bull Soapbox Derby and we were driving around downtown L.A. I got pulled over by a motorcycle cop who also must have called for backup. The next thing I know I'm getting swarmed and cornered by six different police cars coming at me from all directions. They were even driving the wrong way down streets to get to me. They shut us down for the day so that was disappointing but it could have ended much worse.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1320789138.jpg

356 Project
 

In 1972 when was working in Santa Monica as a Porsche 356 Mechanic, there were deals on 356s all day long. Complete bodies without engines for $500 was not uncommon. Now it is a different story. 356 cars now are almost unreasonable.

Anyway when I saw this 1965 356 that needed a little restoration on ebay for $2500, I thought this may be a good chance to drive one again. I had a 1959 coupe in 1973 that I have always missed.

So here we go with another project. I could start another thread on it's restoration process in the on-topic discussions but we'll see.
Kevin actually saw the car before I did and decided to pass. He may be the smart one, but I seem to always be a sucker for a needy car. lol

These photos are from Texas where this New York car crashed in 1972.
It sat in a field getting picked over for almost 40 years poor thing.

But like Lazarus, it will rise from the dead to live again.
Already made some progress.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1320790560.jpg


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1320790617.jpg


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1320790710.jpg


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1320790760.jpg

Looking forward to the release!

356 Project Thread
 

Please do start a thread on your progress with her and link here when you do. Thanks for saving her.

Took a spin on the Race Course tonight. It's been awhile, but man is it fun.

Banning, is there anyway to still get your original book?

Signed copies of The Mulholland Experience are still available at Autobooks in Burbank, California. Located at 2900 W. Magnolia Blvd near the intersection of Catalina and Magnolia. Phone number 818-8450707. AutoBooks AeroBooks - Your automotive bookstore in Burbank since 1951
There are not many copies left. Thanks for asking.

Nah, that wasn't mine; this one was. The magazine was "Small Car Trends" and it was '79 (I still have that issue somewhere).
http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/7048/510g.jpg

http://img717.imageshack.us/img717/8879/510engine.jpg


And this was my 240-Z:
http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/700/79828745.jpg

http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/4695/zengine1.jpg

http://img64.imageshack.us/img64/396/zdisc.jpg

I somehow stumbled onto this thread tonight and it sure brings back some memories!!! Those were the days...

What's up Rob? I guess my 10% uncertainty brought you out to set me straight. Welcome back and thanks for joining us, its been a long time.

Jeff

Cool. Three things near and dear to my heart: Mulholland, 510s and 356s.
@ Parabolica- Thanks for the Datsun pics. Might have to track down a copy of that mag.
@ Banning- I thought I was bad, but you are a MAJOR glutton for punishment tackling that 356 basketcase! That will be quite a feat to make whole again, let alone pretty. Kudos for taking it on.
We pulled 50 lbs of bondo out of mine and recently hung a new nose. It's a labor of love:
http://tedmans356.shutterfly.com/

Glutton for punishment, lol, ain't it the truth!
 

Thanks for those comments, much appreciated.

Your 356 is a true labor of love since your dad drove it long ago and it's looking good. Congrats on your progress.

Thank you also for showing how shutterfly can be utilized as you have done.

Below is one more photo from the warehouse where I picked up the car in Texas.
Isn't she a beaut?

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1321032920.jpg

What if we just get it to run and drive and leave it a little rough... just joking.
Leaving it rough might get some looks at POC events though, lol

Jeff - Like I said, I just stumbled onto the thread while reminiscing via Google. As for me, I'm living in Calabasas now so hang out more out here (Stunt/Piuma/Mul). Next Saturday I'll be in the valley doing a little suspension work to the new ride; I think I'll have to check out the old stomping grounds while I'm there...

Don't you know, it's the in thing now: The brand-new $150,000 Camaro rat-rod


BTW, you guys might enjoy this. A close friend of my moms still has the 356 that she picked up at the factory in '63. She's put 340,000 miles on it!
http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/9926/35530307.png

http://img38.imageshack.us/img38/1646/41675432.png

original owner
 

Now that's cool!

I found this thread by accident and am slowly progressing through it, reading a a few pages a day.

WOW! It is truly inspiring!

I am a transplant from Detroit, having lived in SOCAL for 5 years. I have been a Miata owner for 10+ years as a supplement to other cars. I belong to a loose affiliation of local roaster owners who have a strong desire and interest in motorsports. This affiliation began as like-minded enthusiasts who ran the canyons of SOCAL at night. A lot of us have moved on to organized track events of varying success and notoriety. Sprints, autocross, gymkhana, drifting, time attack, enduros, and just general hooning fun.

I pointed some to this thread for the enjoyment, but also to inspire them to keep on with their passion for the sport.

Thank you for capturing these stories and history for the rest of us to perpetuate our motivation!