Autosport International Racing Show
This past week the famous Autosport International Racing Show was once again held in the United Kingdom showcasing some of the most impressive current and past motorsport history in the world.
The four day show kicked off with a show for motorsport business similar to our SEMA show here in the US before opening its doors to the public for the weekend with a massive array of sights and even live sounds in the motorsport arena.
Below is just some of what was seen at the show. From sports cars, to bikes, rally cars, F1, you name it. It was all there both past and present.
Thanks to one of our Flickr contacts Dennis Goodwin who was generous enough to share his photos with us!
The most impressive car in Formula One isn’t made by an exotic car company. It’s the Red Bull RB6 powered by Renault. The Adrian Newey creation led Sebastian Vettel to his first world championship in 2010.
Both past and present F1 cars were displayed.
It may not look as extreme as the McLaren F1, but the new McLaren MP4-12C does not lack in the performance department. The car is powered by a 3.8 liter twin turbocharged V8, an extremely lightweight chassis, and extremely advanced handling characteristics to make a truly magnificent handling machine for both the street and track.
The McLaren F1 may be retired, but it is still a sight to look at, especially with it’s center seating position. This particular car won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1995.
This looks like an F1 car, but it isn’t. In fact, it’s a track day car for fairly wealthy individuals looking for F1 speed with a little more reliability. The Lotus 125 was unvieled at the Pebble Beach show a few months back. It is powered by a 640HP Cosworth V8 engine turning over 10,000RPM and weighs just a tad under 1500lbs. Fast? Yes. Expensive? Even more. The Lotus 125 is all yours for $950,000.
The highly missed Colin McRae’s Ford Focus WRC car was on display at the event. The famous rally driver lost his life in a helicopter crash in 2007. McRae was a iconic figure for modern rallying with over four hundred stage wins.
The Jaguar XJ220 was a beautiful car but it wasn’t exactly a peaceful release. Early designs promised a powerful V12 engine and all wheel drive while the actual release had rear wheel drive and a V6. It’s not all negative though, that V6 was twin turbocharged and put out more than the planned V12.
First customers were angry at the changes to the cars original design plus an increase in final prices didn’t exactly fix that problem. Many customers even threatened to sue Jaguar.
The car was built by Tom Walkinshaw of TWR (Tom Walkinshaw Racing) who passed away this past December.
Group B rallying was the most brutal and extreme type of rallying ever created. In fact, the cars were eventually labeled “too fast to race” and banned. This is the Ford RS200. Powered by a 1.8liter four cylinder, the little Ford was extremely quick as it produced over 400HP in racing trim, but according to many drivers very difficult to drive to the short wheelbase and sudden burst of power.
Due to FIA homologation rules, Ford built a number of RS200 street cars, many of which still exist to this day.
Ford also built an evolution model of the RS200 with a 2.1 liter four cylinder producing anywhere from 500-800HP but as Group B came to an end the RS200 faded off into the distance, many being used as rallycross cars.
The new Lotus Renault F1 car not only looks beautiful, it brings back memories for all F1 enthusiasts.
Another Group B icon sits quietly.
This little guy is a MG Metro 6R4 which was built by Williams for Group B competition. It shares virtually nothing with a regular MG Metro. This model has a 400+HP six cylinder stuffed into the rear with four wheel drive.
PHOTOS BY: DENNIS GOODWIN.COM
Posts like this set this blog out from the rest! Nice work!