Video of the week: How to drive an F1 car at speed on public roads

It's always cool to see historic racing cars run at speed on public roads, but what if those racing cars aren't so historic, as in the case of this 1992 Jordan F1 car - ex Eddie Irvine - being hustled up a hill on the Isle of Man? With classic cars, these videos serve as sort of a timewarp to a bygone past, but with a relatively modern F1 car (gosh it makes me feel old to think of a nearly 20-year-old F1 car as "modern") racing through closed public roads with no barriers, it certainly makes a thrilling yet incongruous sight! Is it just me, or could you easily mistake this road for Spa Francorchamps, circa 1967?

Let's see that again! In the rain!

Mangusta Racecars: All kinds of hotness...

As many readers know, only a paltry sum of 402 De Tomaso Mangustas were ever produced, so that makes racing Mangustas even more hyper-rare -- especially when compared to their more populous Pantera brethren who raced in various forms for many years. In fact I would wager that the 4 racing Mangustas in this article might just be the only ones ever to turn a wheel in anger. (Please correct me if I'm wrong!).  What a pity they are so scarce, because these race-prepped Mangustas are some of the meanest, hairiest looking racecars I have ever seen. Click the pics to link to the full gallery!

Photos via: conceptcarz.net, alfabb, Flickr user CJCAM

VW's new XL1: The arrival of the future we were promised?

The new Volkswagen XL1 prototype really got me excited. I'm a total sucker for streamlined cars with faired-in rear wheels. But I really love this promotional image of the car speeding along an empty highway towards a futuristic city that is actually the real location of Doha, Qatar!  The fact that this vehicle is a driveable reality, and that this glittering city is a real place is enough to make even a cynic stop and think, wow, 2011 is more like 2011 than I ever thought!

The XL1 is the lastest in a string of "1-Liter of fuel per 100km" car concepts done by VW in the past few years, but this is the first one to look and feel like a real, viable passenger car rather than a one-off curiosity.

Another thought that crossed my mind was how this remarkable new vehicle hearkens back to the VW Type 64 (below), from 1939. What I love about the XL1 is that it doesn't make a single direct reference to the Type 64, but it feels like the same car, as if it evolved through time, incorporating styling trends and new aerodynamic discoveries along the way. My hat is off to the designers at VW. I think this car is a very exciting view of the present.  See all the promotional renderings here.

Below are the previous "1-Liter" VW Concepts

Elf Scan 4: Matra MS 650

The Matra MS 650, piloted through the night at La Sarthe by Jean-Pierre Beltoise and Piers Courage to a creditable 4th place - Le Mans 1969. The back of this info card has some really cool drawings, so I couldn't resist sharing that as well!

Stirling Moss and his Slot Car track

I never knew Stirling was a fan of slot cars and models in general. This video shows him at home enjoying some friendly racing with the misses.  Also some fun shots of him working on a model kit toward the end! Plus there is a great cameo with Stirling's father as well.

Sorry about the watermark in the middle of the screen.