Taking Estoque of things.

I'm posting this photo. Just because.

Monday Morning Moment of Zen

Porsches awaiting completion. DUMBO, Brooklyn

Video of the Week: Brass Balls at Bathurst

I've seen a lot of great in-car videos, but this one really takes my breath away. Watch as Ozzie auto journalist Dean Evans cuts through traffic in this single-make Lotus Elise race at Australia's Mount Panorama Circuit. It's remarkable how tightly packed the cars are, yet nobody seems to touch, even at 4 abreast into a corner!  Evans manages to knife his way through the dense and frenzied traffic from mid-pack to the lead --in less than one lap! 

Check out the epic triple-overtake under braking, on the outside of one of circuit's hairiest corners at 1:42. Truly brass balls.

Steve Jobs - The Last Apostle of Creative Business Leadership?

This may be the first ever non-automotive post on Automobiliac, but the passing of Steve Jobs is an occasion for much reflection. Although I don't own any Apple products (I may be the only industrial designer on Earth who can claim this), I always had the deepest respect for the creative vision that Steve Jobs wrought, and the way he interwove technical innovation with artistry in the tradition of the great thinkers of the 20th century like Ettore Bugatti, or even Frank Lloyd Wright. To me, he belongs in the same Pantheon of visionary innovators, who realized that beauty is a complete symbiosis between form and function, between performance and aesthetics. And that quality, finish, materiality, and presentation matter just as much as concept, novelty, or profitability. Jobs was not an engineer per se, nor was he a designer, but he had an inherent sympathy for both disclipines, allied with a charismatic and compelling persona and astute business mind. In short, he embodied my ideal of what a well-rounded creative business leader should be--the type of person so sorely missing from the American business landscape of today.

"Innovation" and "design thinking" have become hollow buzzwords bandied about a lot by business types and peddled by B-Schools trying to attract students, but in today's age of process-dictated, profit-obsessed business thinking, it makes me wonder if America will ever again have an individualistic standard-bearer like Steve Jobs to be proud of.  In this era of social media and crowd sourcing, creativity is abdicated to the reactionary spasms of the interlinked masses, and wealth is created by the Zuckerbergs of the world, who figure out how to harness and control new platforms of information transfer while creating nothing that is real, lasting, or true themselves.  Jobs seemed to be the last businessman to embody the idea that true innovation is special work for special people, to crafted by artists and visionaries and then shared, in promethian manner, with an appreciative audience for the betterment of their lives. With Jobs' passing I wonder if we have witnessed the end of the last great 20th century American innovator.

New Shoes

Anyone who is a regular reader of this site knows I beat the hell out of my tires this season. Over 2,000 intense miles of backroad driving on my Tail of the Dragon trip, plus a Lime Rock track day and a few thousand more miles of pleasure driving took their toll, and I was down past the wear bars on my front tires.  In the rain, the car was getting downright scary, trying to wander around on the highway.  On my drive up to Lime Rock for the vintage races, I braked late for a right turn on damp pavement and skidded clean past the intersection.  At that point I knew it was time for new shoes.I considered the BF Goodrich G-Force Sport tires I had enjoyed on my Skip Barber Formula car, but finding them out of stock I opted for the Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 Wide Oval tires, which promised good value and high performance in the summer months.  I don't drive my car in the winter, so I decided to ditch my Goodyear all-weathers for something sportier. As you can see, they were pretty much bald near the sidewalls.I have only driven on them for one day, but I can already say that power delivery feels a heck of a lot more positive off the line, and there isn't even a hint of chirping in the corners anymore. But I have many miles of fun ahead this fall in which to wear them in.  A quick plug for anyone in the NYC area: Epic Auto Care in Jersey City did a great job installing the tires for me. Their crew was friendly, professional, and the facility was super clean and well-run. The fees were also reasonable compared to shops in Brooklyn. Definitely recommended for anyone needing tires fitted in the area. Plus you get a free car wash! The guys had a lot of fun inspecting the Alfa's inboard brakes, too.