Episode 79 – Running Up That Hill
Welcome to the auto podcast that loves a good hill climb.
On this episode of Throwin’ Wrenches…
- We talk old and new cars running up those hills.
- Elon and Zuck down for a steel cage match
- Three more amazing contributions to the Cars of the Weak garage.
- And Gabe Casey is here.
All that and more on Throwin’ Wrenches.
Sponsors
Fort’s Toyota of Pekin |
Patreon |
Projects
Eric
- Camper for rent?
- Treehugger 1.0 comes out.
- 1982 Landcruiser
- Got my real ID… No thanks to the Roanoke DMV!
- Throwin’ Wrenches crew showing up for a rained-out Cars and Coffee.
Daryl
- Plymouth Fury stuff. Being lazy on brakes. Being lazy all around. I’m fat and old.
- Bought a Hustler Raptor XL which will be the nicest thing in my garage by far. Overkill is good.
- Helped my friend Mike get his Dad’s ’76 Stingray going again. Hope to see it on the road. Cool cars, everyone should own a Corvette for a period of time.
Gabe
- Mini skid fun thanks to Jake at German-Bliss
- The garage is dead, long live the garage
- Being outbid on classics by $100 is my new thing
- FJ Cruiser heat shield “fix”
- John Deere tire – Tires suck
Historical Headline
1969 What’s the significance of the Oldsmobile Delmont 88?
1969 What’s the significance of the Oldsmobile Delmont 88?The answer is in this week’s show.
News
Lordstown Motors files for bankruptcy, sues Foxconn
U.S. electric truck manufacturer Lordstown Motors (RIDE.O) filed for bankruptcy protection on Tuesday and put itself up for sale after failing to resolve a dispute over a promised investment from Taiwan’s Foxconn (2354.TW).
Shares of Lordstown tumbled 35% in trading on the Nasdaq. The company’s bankruptcy is not the first among the crop of EV startups that went public during the pandemic-era SPAC boom. But Lordstown was a high-profile member of that class because it was challenging the core of the legacy Detroit automakers’ business of high-margin pickup trucks, and because of its location.
Volkswagen CEO Schaefer to Managers: ‘The Roof Is on Fire’
Source: WardsAuto
Volkswagen CEO Thomas Schaefer is warning of tough times, suggesting “all is at stake” in a fiery address during an internal managers’ meeting held this week. In the hour-long meeting, Schaefer laid out the breadth and severity of problems facing VW as it seeks to become a leading manufacturer of electric vehicles while continuing to serve global markets with traditional internal-combustion-engine models, telling more than 2,000 senior managers, “The roof is on fire.”
Rimac Nevera Sets the Production Car Hill Record at 2023 Goodwood Festival of Speed
Source: Hypebeast
The Rimac Nevera, already the fastest accelerating production car in the world and the production EV with the highest verified top speed, is now also the fastest electric production car to have ever taken on the famous Goodwood Festival of Speed hillclimb, as well as the fastest overall production car this year. In the Supercar Shootout on the final day of the event, the Nevera set a time of 49.32 seconds.
The car – fitted with Pirelli Pilot Sport 4S tires – was driven throughout the weekend by Bugatti Rimac Chief Test and Development Driver, Miroslav Zrnčević, who famously spent most of his time on the hill in Nevera during 2022 sideways, in smoky drifts through every corner. But for 2023, the focus wasn’t just on putting on a show, it was on setting a record.
Miroslav Zrnčević, Rimac Chief Test and Development Driver, said: “Taking on the narrow hillclimb at Goodwood, with its tight corners and off-camber sections, is actually one of the scariest places to drive a car quickly. But this is the record-setting year for the Nevera, and Goodwood hillclimb was yet another challenge to conquer. With tens of thousands watching on-site and millions more online, there’s a fine-line between glory and a trip into the hay bales, but I’m so happy to have showcased the incredible work of the design and engineering teams with another verified record for this revolutionary car.”
Throughout the Festival, Rimac Automobili hosted VIPs and customers at its track-side hospitality pavilion, and welcomed guests to join Miro in the car for the hill runs, able to experience for themselves the blistering speed and ability of a car that has been named Top Gear’s Best Electric Performance car, won a Robb Report Best of the Best Award and a GQ Hypercar of the Year.
Key to the Nevera’s speed is its advanced battery system, powertrain and software, all developed in-house at the Rimac Group. The front and rear powertrains – each composed of two individual motors – provide power to each wheel individually. At the rear, a 1MW dual inverter enables 900Nm and 470kW per motor, while an entirely bespoke front powertrain is designed to deliver optimum power and control. All systems are overseen by a complex web of in-house developed electronic control units, working in conjunction with an NVIDIA Pegasus-based supercomputer to calculate and send output to the four powertrain systems 100 times a second. The combination of all these systems, and the software that controls them, is known as Rimac All-Wheel Torque Vectoring 2.
The Rimac Nevera is limited to 150 examples and it is currently being built on the outskirts of Zagreb, with deliveries ongoing to customers all over the world.
Radford Attends 30th annual Goodwood Festival of Speed, Showcasing New Pikes Peak Edition
Source: Radford
Pikes Peak Exhibition Class Winner, the Radford Type 62-2 Pikes Peak Edition, was showcased at this year’s Festival of Speed
Concept and engineering inspired by the Pikes Peak project will allow customers the chance to experience the ultimate performance that Radford can offer
Limited run of up to 12 track car models will be available
18 July 2023. California, USA – After a successful dynamic debut of the Type 62-2 in last year’s supercar paddock, Radford chose the 2023 Goodwood Festival of Speed to showcase their new limited series Track Edition of the Type 62-2.
Let’s Attend a Vintage Hill Climb!
- In the UK: https://www.vscc.co.uk/page/hill-climbs-and-sprints
- In the US: https://www.newporthillclimb.com/
Man Damages 2,500-Year-Old Tree By Driving Nissan Armada Through It
Source: Carscoops
Trips into nature often inspire and leave a lasting impression long after they’re over. For one ancient redwood in California, one Nissan driver’s actions recently left a mark that nature lovers would’ve rather seen avoided. In fact, the move might end up being one that the driver ends up regretting in more ways than one.
On July 3rd, a TikTok user, @oclaguna999, posted a short clip of a person in a Nissan Armada trying to squeeze their large SUV through the trunk of a Redwood tree named “The Shrine.” Technically, the driver succeeds in the clip but not before knocking off the passenger side mirror of the vehicle.
The Shrine is one of three “drive-through” Redwoods in the area and is estimated to be some 2,500 years old. That means that it was around at about the same time that Pythagoras died. Now some dude in an oversized Nissan just damaged it with his wing mirror.
Florida bill allowing radioactive roads made of potentially cancer-causing mining waste signed by DeSantis
Source: CBS News
Florida governor and presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis signed a bill Thursday that would allow for roads across Florida to be made with “radioactive” mining waste.
The measure, brought forward by the state House, adds phosphogypsum to a list of “recyclable materials” that state officials say can be used in road construction. The list already included ground rubber from car tires, ash residue from coal combustion byproducts, recycled mixed-plastic, glass and construction steel, which officials had previously determined are “part of the solid waste stream and that contribute to problems of declining space in landfills.”
But unlike most of those products, phosphogypsum is not a material that is aggregated in landfills. It’s the remains left behind from mining phosphate, which is described by the EPA as being a “radioactive material” because it contains “small amounts” of uranium and radium.
Phosphate rock is mined to create fertilizer, but the leftover material, known as phosphogypsum, had decaying remains of those elements that eventually produce radon. And because of that risk, phosphogypsum is federally required to be stored in gypstack systems – not landfills – in an attempt to prevent it from coming in contact with people and the environment.
Before it can be used, the state’s Department of Transportation will need to conduct a study to “evaluate the suitability” of its use, the bill says, and “may consider any prior or ongoing studies of phosphogypsum’s road suitability in the fulfillment of this duty.” That task must be completed by April 1, 2024.
This is like something out of China, which has managed to get rid of it’s incinerator waste and other questionable industrial byproducts by pouring them in with styrofoam or rubber products they export over here. What else is in materials we walk on, drive on and live in each day?
Jay Janssen and other lawyers are foaming at the mouth to get their hands on these future lawsuits. Do you have cancer? Did you work on the FDOT experimental nuclear highway project? You might be entitled to 50K while you perish.
Former Porsche U.S. Top Executive Said to Be Jumping to Rivian
Source: Benzinga/Automotive News
Porsche Cars North America’s former top executive, Kjell Gruner, is said to be headed to the U.S. electric vehicle upstart Rivian Automotive, sources have told Automotive News. Gruner’s role at Rivian is unknown, but the executive is not likely to replace founder RJ Scaringe as CEO.
Moment of Musk
Mark Zuckerberg looks ‘ripped’ in photo with UFC champs as Aussie tips ‘Zuck’ to beat Elon Musk
Watch out Elon, Zuck means business.
Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg is training the house down, judging by a photo of the tech guru with UFC champions Israel Adesanya and Alex Volkanovski.
On Wednesday, Adesanya posted photos of Zuckberg training with the two UFC teammates and it’s safe to say the Facebook boss is looking in great shape.
Adesanya wrote: “No fugazi with Mark. This is Serious Business‼️”
Zuckerberg commented on Instagram: “It’s an honor to train with you guys!”
It’s unclear when the photo was taken but Adesanya and Volkanovski were in Las Vegas last weekend as the Australian successfully defended his featherweight title against Yair Rodriguez.
Musk responds by calling him “Zuck the Cuck”
#Zuckthecuck LIVE#btc #eth #uniswap pic.twitter.com/mbnOqUIJqe
— ZUCK THE CUCK (@zuckthecuckETH) July 22, 2023
Cars of the Weak
Eric
Peel Trident – $40,000
Seller’s Description: This Trident with production equipment was bought from the factory at the Isle of Man in the middle of/late sixties The idea was to produce this vehicle here in Norway. This project failed, however.
This Trident was in some use in the sixties and seventies, but for the last 40 years, it has been standing in a dry barn without being run. The engine does not start now due to this long standstill.
There is a small crack in the body due to a tilt many years ago.
The vehicle is located in the south of Norway.
Daryl
1976 VW Beetle (90’s Showcar)
Source: FB Marketplace
Hideous is the new normal.
1976 VW, 100hp, 90s build, garage/trailer queen, runs and drives excellent, everything works as it should. Please call for details. Located in central Illinois.
Gabe
Gabe
1997 Toyota Toyoace – $13,499
Source: FB Marketplace
89k Miles, dually, quad cab, 3L diesel, 5 speed manual 2wd, dropside bed
As always, thank you for listening and sharing this show. We’re glad to have you with us.
Hit us up anytime at info@throwinwrenches.com with any feedback, and we’ll see you next time!
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