Kanye West's Eastern Bloc Supercar

In case you missed it, rapper Kanye West premiered his new short film called "Runaway" on Sunday night on MTV.  The film might be the most self-indulgent, incomprehensible reel of trite eye candy since Matthew Barney's last movie. However, it opens with a very strange car rolling through the darkened countryside.  As most of you would have done, I immediately asked myself "What the hell is that car??" I thought it was perhaps a Koenigsegg or some other small volume supercar, but when I saw the badge on the trunk, I was deeply surprised. 

Apparently, it is a Tatra MTX V8 - a car so obscure it sent me scrambling for wikipedia. Now many of you might be familiar with the illustrious Czech automaker Tatra from its innovative prewar vehicles. But apprently during the communist period, there was a company called MTX that actually built sports cars in Czechoslovakia going back to the early 70s! And once communism ended, they produced only 4 examples of the MTX V8 using the Tatra badge, one of which is featured in Kanye's art film.  The lines are stock 90s supercar in the mold of the Acura NSX, but I must confess the parts-bin interior is sort of cool. It even seems to have a tape deck!

Click here for the full gallery of screen grabs.

Click here if you want to be subjected to 34 incomprehensible minutes of Kanye's "singular artistic genius." On the bright side there is a scantily clad hot bird-woman throughout most of this derivative, superficial ego trip.

Automobiliac Video of the Week: Alfa Romeo Montreal Tribute

This amateur video is surprisingly well done, and features some really cool sounds and camera angles. If only the driver would quit it with all the unnecessary short shifts and let the car have its head! Enjoy that sonorous small displacement V8, and Gandini-penned sheet metal!

Hat tip to Rob for the link!

Monday Morning Moment of Zen

What is it about fall drives?  There's nothing better than leaves scattering as a sports car whizzes past them is there? Click the pic for some more shots from this weekend's drive in the Catskills...

Matte Black SLS AMG Coolin' in Milano

Sometimes you need to run over to the drugstore in style...

The Slot Car Track to end all Slot Car Tracks

I saw this amazing setup via the New York Times, and had to share.  The attention to detail in this custom-made slot car track is phenominal, but what really sets this basement layout apart is the fact that its Michigan-based creator, James Harlan, designed the whole layout in 3D CAD, and had the track's undulating surfaces milled by CNC! He even mathematically defined realistic racing lines for the cars to follow.  I just love how he brought 21st Century technology to bear on what is really a mid-20th Century hobby that peaked in the late 1960's.  Check out Mr. Harlan's fascinating and richly-illustrated website here.

All images belong to James Harlan.   Hat tip to Matthew for the heads-up!