INSIDE NASCAR

The two biggest racing series in the world, Formula 1 and NASCAR, don't have much in common. NASCAR's big, bulky stock cars pale in comparison to F1's open-wheel marvels of engineering precision, with the wind tunnel meaning just as much to a team's finish as the driver in the cockpit. With side-by-side racing difficult in F1, there are more lead changes in one stock car race than there are in one-third of an F1 season.

But off the track, the two series share a common bond of multi-car team organizations that threaten to dominate their sport. It's a hot-button issue in a tough economy, and NASCAR should take note of the tumult that swept F1 this month.

This week's agreement by FOTA and the FIA to come together for the 2010 season not only preserved the future of the open-wheel series but also allowed for an important measure: cost-cutting. For the first time, the series' biggest organizations -- Ferrari, McLaren and Toyota among them -- came together on a plan to curb spending. Sure, it wasn't exactly what FIA President Max Mosley had in mind -- he couldn't get everyone to commit to a hard cap of $60 million -- but there were still enough concessions to ensure the 2010 season will be a cheaper one.

Three new teams will still be entering the sport next year, and now the cost of staying involved will be low enough to keep the old ones from dipping in the red. That means while other series are struggling to attract new owners to the grid, the F1 series will actually expand next year by as many as half-a-dozen cars.

What does all that have to do with NASCAR? While series head Brian France has done his best to cut costs in recent years (see: no testing, the Car of Tomorrow), it hasn't been enough to attract successful new owners during this latest recession. As I documented two weeks ago, start and parkers continue to dominate the back end of the garage due to an inability to make money and remain competitive at the same time. The sport is struggling to fill its fields, and when it does, the cars that show up rarely have the cash flow and the intentions of running an entire race.

Solving the problem is difficult, but to make the playing field more cost-effective you have to find a way to make the big teams stop spending. A top-level Cup team these days has costs around $25 million per car, money not many people have when both manufacturer and sponsorship money is drying up. Yet when money is tight, the old saying rings true: "To the victors go the spoils." With the cost of competition going up each year, the bigger organizations can't stand pat with the sponsors they already have; rather, they're forced to add new ones in order to offset higher expenses.

Just look at the No. 17 of Matt Kenseth as an example. On one of the top-tier teams at Roush Fenway Racing, Kenseth used to only need money from longtime supporter DeWalt to run for the series title. But with costs increasing, the tool company can only give the team so much money, meaning Kenseth's list of backers has grown significantly. USG, R & L Carriers, and Carhartt are just some of the roughly half-a-dozen primary sponsors that will plaster the side of Kenseth's Ford this year, and that's still not enough. RFR announced recently DeWalt needs additional financial relief to keep sponsoring the car in 2010.

What's interesting about that example is two of the sponsors listed (USG and R & L Carriers) came into the sport supporting smaller organizations that no longer exist. As the balance of power shifted, these sponsors jumped ship and aligned themselves with surefire exposure -- the coverage that comes from the sport's top teams -- while leaving one less financial piece of the puzzle out there for new owners looking to develop into contenders.

Now, with the manufacturer cutbacks, that cycle of gobbling up the smaller sponsors is only going to get worse. Teams like Richard Childress Racing are set to lose as much as $10 million next season from GM's recent struggles, leaving them in desperate need of additional financial support. Rick Hendrick is in the same boat, and the sport's richest car owner announced recently the team may need additional backing for 2010 for Mark Martin's No. 5 car -- even if sponsors Kellogg's and CARQUEST stay on board.

Of course, both teams wouldn't need that money if the cost of competition went down by $10 million. But how does the cycle of spending stop?

NASCAR is looking at several options -- crate engines appear to be one likely solution -- but nothing that's a permanent answer. To solve this problem it may take a group effort the likes of which the sport has never seen before. NASCAR just had a town hall meeting with all of its participants -- perhaps it's time for a second one with just the sport's multi-car giants in the room. Roger Penske, Jack Roush, Rick Hendrick, Joe Gibbs Racing, Richard Childress and, yes, Michael Waltrip either own or supply chassis and engines to over half the Cup Series garage. Until these men can come to terms on a spending cap, they're going to keep finding ways to make the cost of competition increase: and in doing so, they'll risk pricing the sport they love right out of business.

Bowles Bits

Joey Logano may be running away with the Rookie of the Year chase, but he's only the third-best first-year driver on the circuit. Not only has Brad Keselowski won a race already (Talladega), but also Tasmanian Marcos Ambrose is having a more impressive full-time season. With two top-5 and four top-10 finishes -- including a third at Infineon -- he's up to 18th in points and has a slight chance to make the Chase. So why is Logano so far out in front? Keselowski never applied to run for this year's award, while Ambrose ran too many races last year (11) to be eligible. That's a little confusing to the casual fan, though, and you wonder if the rookie program won't get itself a revamp prior to 2010.

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With Kevin Harvick enduring the worst Cup season of his career, there's been talk he would bolt RCR and start his own team next year under the Kevin Harvick, Inc. banner. But with GM cutbacks to both the Nationwide and Truck Series, that's far less likely as Harvick's cars were among the hardest hit. How can you fund a Cup team when you need to scramble to save your lower-tier programs instead?

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With all due respect to Tony Stewart, through 16 races Jimmie Johnson remains the clear favorite to win his fourth straight title. He's scored more points at this stage (2,207) than in two of the past three years he took home the trophy, and he's shown no signs of vulnerability heading into the sport's summer stretch.

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Mazda Cosmo: Car of the Week

The Mazda RX-7, RX-8 and MX-5 are modern Mazda icons, but they owe their existence to the Mazda Cosmo Sport 110.

Designed at a time of great optimism in Japan, it is everything you would expect from a culture and company embarking on a plan to break onto the world stage. Without its own design heritage to draw on, Mazda looked to both the European and American styles of the period when developing their new showpiece car.

The Cosmo successfully blended two very different design languages into one cohesive package and introduced a new unique style for upcoming Japanese designers to reference.

With the front, Cosmo designer Heiji Kobayashi clearly looked to Ferrari and Jaguar for influence. The headlights are very similar to the E-Type Jag, while the bonnet and front fenders take cues from the Pinnifarina-designed Ferrari Superfast range that was the height of luxury and style in the sixties. The rear clearly used the America concept showcar styles and in particular the Ford Thunderbird.

Mazda in the early 1960s was embarking on a transformation, and commencing a drive into the international market. Their philosophy was to differentiate themselves from the other emerging Japanese carmakers and they chose to do this by focusing on development of the Wankel rotary engine and affordable small performance cars,

First introduced as a prototype at the 1964 Toyko Motorshow, a year before Toyota were to introduce their 2000GT, the Cosmo was unlike anything ever built by a Japanese car company. Mazda went on to build 80 pre-production prototypes for testing by Mazda engineers and dealers.

The Cosmo was a halo car … it was not designed or built for the mass market.  With just 1519 hand-built between May 1967 and September 1972 -- at a rate of one a day -- the Cosmo Sport 110 is now a very rare and highly desirable collector’s car.

The body is small and very low, and while the cockpit is tiny, the cabin’s large proportion of glass means it feels light and airy. At the time of its introduction it was very high-tech engineering, with the Wankel rotary redlining at 7000rpm -- motorcycle engine territory at the time. The underpinnings featured front disc brakes and De-dion rear suspension.

While at its launch Mazda was not yet exporting cars to Europe (that move began in 1968) or America (commenced in 1970), two Series 1 and six Series 11 did make it to America as new cars, an unknown number to Europe and at least one came to Australia via a Japanese diplomat.

American talk-show host and noted car collector and columnist, Jay Leno recognised the importance and styling uniqueness of the Cosmo and purchased one for his collection. It was his first Japanese car. In obtaining the car Leno beat Mazda USA to the punch as at the same time they were looking to purchase an example for marketing their heritage. Mazda USA eventually managed to obtain one and now use it for test drives by motoring journalists.

While the chance of seeing one on the road is highly unlikely, the DNA of the Cosmo can clearly be seen in the current RX-8.

And 45 years later, Mazda’s philosophy of differentiating themselves from other Japanese brands with iconic sportcars can only be deemed as a definite success. Unlike Toyota and Honda, Mazda’s current cars still reference their heritage and maintain a strong design language.

Cosmo Sports Specifications

Series 1          
May 30, 1967 - July 1968
Type designation - L10A 
Engine Type - 0810
343 made

Series 2          
July 13, 1968 - September 1972
Type designation - L10B
Engine Type - 0813
1176 made

Price at introduction   
1.48 million yen (=$US4100) 1968

Engine 
Wankel rotary configuration
Alloy rotor housings
Alloy side housings
Side intake ports (2 per rotor)
Peripheral exhaust port
Intake   Zenith-Stromberg 4 barrel
Twin Distributor
Two spark plugs per rotor
Twin coils
Capacity           491cc x 2 rotor

Length - 4140

Width - 1595

Height - 1165 mm

Wheelbase - 2200mm

Top speed         200 km/h
0-100 km/h        8.8 seconds

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Formula one, IRL race cars thrill fans

Dale Jessup of Bridgestone Motorsports cleans up Michael Schumacher’s Formula One car, which secured him the 2003 drivers’ championships. The car, along with a Team Chip Ganassi IRL race car, will be on display again today at Workers Co-op garage on Foundry Street, off Assomption Boulevard, along with a racing simulator as part of a tour by Bridgestone Tires.

"I always hated Ferrari," William LeBlanc admitted while viewing one of the top automotive engineering marvels in history.

"But you have to give that team credit. It's win at all costs for Ferrari; checkers or wreckers."

The F2003, along with Team Chip Ganassi's 2005 IRL Honda, is on display today at the Workers Co-op Auto Centre at 7 Foundry Street, off Assomption Boulevard. The cars spent yesterday being ogled and drooled over by open-wheel race fans at the Bridgestone Tire Centre on Coverdale Road in Riverview.

It's all part of a Bridgestone Tire promotional tour, which allows fans an up-close-and-personal look at a car that, at that time, was the pinnacle of automotive excellence, and offers the chance to sit in a realistic F1 simulator and show your stuff behind the wheel.

LeBlanc has been an F1 fan since the 1980s and knows the sport well. He counts himself lucky to have attended two Grand Prix, both in Montreal. He marvelled at the sleek lines of the big red machine that won five F1 races that season and secured Schumacher's crown as the world's fastest man for yet another year, though only by a slim margin, which was a rarity for Schumacher who has won more races than anyone.

LeBlanc couldn't help but note that, in the elite world of F1 racing, rarely if ever will a fan get to see a race car so closely.

"It's great to have this in Moncton," he said.

"It falls in line with the fact that Moncton is a real car town."

LeBlanc was referring to the Atlantic Nationals Automotive Extravaganza, taking place July 9 to 12 in Moncton, which is the nation's largest car show and draws dozens of thousands of car fans and about 2,000 custom cars from all over North America.

IRL fan John Steeves was surprised to see Team Chip Ganassi's Honda powered Panos sitting there as he drove by, and he just had to turn his car around for a better look.

"It's nice that they bring something like this to Moncton," he said.

Steeves always attends the downtown "Cruise In" at the Atlantic Nationals, where more than 1,000 restored or customized cars and trucks gather on and around Main Street on the Friday of the weekend event. Seeing the two sleek race cars has him excited for this year's Nationals.

"Anyone who hasn't taken in the Nationals really doesn't know what they're missing," he said.

"I'm not that much of a 'car guy,' but it's really something to see, even if you wouldn't know the difference between a Dollara and a Daewoo."

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And the rest is history...

And the rest is history... Published: 26/06/2009 at 12:00 AM Newspaper section: Motoring

Already a successful tractor maker, Ferruccio Lamborghini branched out into car making in 1963, the company being based at SantAgata Bolognese in Italy.

Ferrari’s racing origins led to 250 GTO.

The company went bankrupt in 1978 and was run by the Mimran brothers for a few years before being bought out by Chrysler in 1987.

In 1994 Lamborghini was sold to Megatech, an Indonesian firm controlled by Tommy Suharto, son of then-president of Indonesia. It was run by Lotus chief Mike Kimberley. In 1997 it was bought by Audi as part of the VW Group's expansion.

Lamborghini has been hit by the economic downturn; sales this year are likely to fall by 30% to 1,700 units.

Scuderia Ferrari was founded in Maranello in 1928 by Enzo Ferrari, effectively as a race team and manufacturer of racing cars. It didn't build its first road car until 1947.

Lambo went from tractors to V12 Miura.

Fiat took control of Ferrari's road car division in 1968 after serious interest from Henry Ford. Ford's failure to buy the Italian company led directly to the creation of the Ford GT40 race car.

Under Fiat SpA ownership (rather than Fiat Auto), Ferrari has just under 3,000 employees and says it will cap output at 6,500 cars.

Despite the financial meltdown, Ferrari says its sales in 2009 will be only 6% behind the unexpectedly strong 6,587 units in 2008.

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Ferrari trio to appear at Goodwood

599 GTB Fiorano gallery

The Ferrari Scuderia Spider 16M was launched to commemorate Ferrari's 16th F1 Constructors' Title in 2008 and is limited to an exclusive 499 examples worldwide. The Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano with HGTE package features a revised front grille, new wheel design, exhaust tips and a bespoke interior with HGTE stitching on the seats.

Other Ferraris appearing at the Festival include: 1956 Ferrari 166 MM Barchetta (Legends of Le Mans), 1961 Ferrari 196 SP Dino (Classic Endurance Racers), 1967 Ferrari 312/68 (Classic Grand Prix Cars), 1969 Ferrari 312 P (International Sports Cars), 1969 Ferrari 512 S (International Sports Cars), 1969 Ferrari 365 GTS4 'Daytona' (Cartier Style et Luxe), 1978 Ferrari 312 T3, (Evolution of the F1 Car), 1980 Ferrari 512 BBLM (International Sports Cars), 2003 Ferrari 550 Maranello GTS (Contemporary GT racers),2008 Ferrari F2008 (Current F1 Cars).

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F1 tech for next F430

Double pricing system in Thailand

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The Case Against Cash for Clunkers: Analysis

consumers trading in their older gas hogs will cash in, thanks to the soon-to-be-enacted Consumer Assistance to Recycle and Save Act, otherwise known as Cash for Clunkers. Under this program, car buyers can receive up to $4500 by scrapping a gas-guzzler and purchasing a more fuel-efficient new car or truck.

Pundits have applauded the fleet-modernization measure, but, as always, somebody has to lose. This time, it's the homegrown mechanic with a love for 1980s metal who may have to take the fall.

The rules explaining the program are here. The trade-in car must be less than 25 years old and must be rated for less than 18 mpg on the current EPA combined fuel-economy cycle (You can find out if your car qualifies here).

Your local car dealer does all the paperwork when you trade that clunker in for a new model. If your new car beats the old one by at least 10 mpg, you get $4500. If the difference is less than 10, but greater than four mpg, the payout is $3500. Trucks are divided into small and light categories with slightly different requirements, but the same 25-year-old or newer condition remains. Owners must present proof that they've registered and insured the trade-in for at least one year.

The surrendered cars must be scrapped, but parts can be salvaged. The exception is, of course, the engine. While it's questionable if many drivers of these older cars can afford to buy a new one, it's estimated that the program will remove about a million older cars from our roads. And if that's true, it could increase new-car sales this year by a tenth, a significant boost in these troubled times.

Sounds perfect, right? Not if you value cheap cars born in 1985 or later.

This law will lead to the destruction of some good cars that don't deserve to be scrapped. These rides are older and fully depreciated, but still interesting to many DIY auto enthusiasts. These are the cars we endlessly fantasize about buying. Who among us hasn't perused the classifieds and come across something like a 1986 Alfa Romeo Milano that's too cheap to pass up? For $1500, you're willing to take that leap simply because its got a howling, Ferrari-esque V6 and rear-drive chassis. But now that it's worth up to $4500, you'd have to really love that Alfa to give it a home.

My personal wish list of now cheap '80s cars constantly grows and shifts. The Chevy Camaro IROC-Z and the Ford Mustang GT are at the top of the list. Sure, a modern Honda Accord V6 makes more horsepower. And yes IROCs do bring back memories of tank tops, parachute pants and gold chains—but the tuned-port injected IROC-Z ruled the streets of the mid-1980s along with the Pontiac Trans Am GTA. And both the GM F-Bodies and Mustang reaffirmed domestic power in the 1980s after a miserable decade of emissions-choked performance. Plus, these ponycars can be coaxed to well over 300 hp with simple bolt-ons. And, yeah, they do wicked burnouts.

In a similar vein, the Buick Regal Type T speaks to me. It's missing the Darth Vader black paint job of the far dearer Grand National, but the turbo V6 remains. It embarrassed more than a few hot cars back in the day and seemed like a tasty, oddball car that somehow escaped from GM's skunkworks.

Who doesn't still pine for the Japanese version of the Porsche 944 turbo—the Mitsubishi Starion. Blistered fenders on the TSi model covered staggered tires on deep-dish wheels. And like its German twin, a turbocharged four-banger drove the rear wheels through a five-speed manual gearbox. Dodge sold a version called the Conquest TSi.

My list stretches for yards: The first RX-7 Turbo, the twin-turbo Nissan 300ZX, the full-size Ford Bronco, and even some mid-'80s Toyota pickups. That last one seems odd, yes, but I've wanted one ever since Michael J. Fox came back from the future and found one in his garage.

Another less obvious choice is the 1994 Buick Roadmaster wagon—the one with the LT-1 Corvette engine. An original, boxy Isuzu Trooper could be a great adventure wagon. Or how about a Mercedes-Benz 300E? The mid-1980s E-Class were some of the stoutest sedans Mercedes-Benz ever built.

All of these cars could face a premature death at the hands of the President's pen. Even if they're spared, you're unlikely to find one in the bargain-basement price range that inevitably starts the gearhead's brain spinning. What's really tough to stomach is that it's the truly junky mid-'80s cars that will be saved because they do, in fact, return good mileage. I can think of no reason why any Yugo or Hyundai Excel should avoid the executioner. What about the Ford Tempo? Or the Chevy Corsica? Or the Dodge Omni? It'd be fun to watch those in the shredder.

There is one ray of hope, however. The program ends on Nov. 1. So that means we just have to bide our time. With luck, the stock of precious metal won't be completely depleted.

In the meantime, what's on your list?

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