You learn something new... - Cars you didn't know existed, until now!

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

Yea that was it really wasn't it, some nice relaxed engine regs allowed for the variation, something sadly missing from modern F1. Plus, again as you mentioned @LMSCorvetteGT2 the FIA set the 3.5 N/A Formula so one could cross from WSC to F1, plus it was probably/definitely done to curb the rise in popularity WSC was beginning to have over F1 at the time.

You could take the F1 1.6t to WEC, problem is making it last and work with fuel tank size.

 

[Michelin Man]

You could take the F1 1.6t to WEC, problem is making it last and work with fuel tank size.

Good point actually, you probably could, would just be a lot of work/money/development to a). get it last and perform reliably and powerfully, and b). manage fuel as you mention.

Would just have to make sure it's not a Honda unit though .

 

[kikie]

Zenos. I never heard of this British sportscar until today when I read an article about the Zenos E10R in the Top Gear magazine.

 

[Heldenzeit]

2003 Ford Focus RS8 Concept

While this may look just like the Focus RS hot hatch that debuted in 2002, this is actually one of the greatest sleeper cars out there. Replacing the turbo 4 from the normal RS is a monstrous 5.0 V8 "Cammer" crate engine producing over 420 HP (more than the 2003 Corvette Z06). Obviously, it would've been pointless to put that engine in a Focus and keep it front wheel drive, so this RS8 has been converted to rear wheel drive. The RS8 also has a brand new suspension system to handle the power.

If I recall, you could order all the parts to make this from Ford Performance at the time. RS fenders even.

 

[kikie]

Two cars in one day.

Praga.

 

[Michelin Man]

If there's one class of racing sure to spring a few unique machines it's Super GT/JGTC, especially in the GT300 class. And this car is one such case; a Porsche 968 GT300 machine.

Known as the Arktech Endless Advan GT4, this one got me interested, as whilst there have been plenty of Porsche's racing in the GT300 class, they've mostly been 911's, so to see that a 968 had been used, was quite interesting to say the least.

From what I can gather, it seems it only competed in one season; 2004, and seemed to be quite competitive, or at least at a the same level of it's 911 brethren. Spec wise, it used a heavily tweaked version of the standard 3.0 Litre 4-cylinder Turbo unit, with 380bhp, but had the potential to exceed 500bhp. Which considering how light GT300 machines were, and still are; roughly 1165kg in this case, means there's no doubting it could shift. However, despite this, it wasn't as rapid in a straight line as perhaps expected, at least not as fast as the leading 911's in GT300 at the time. Reportedly is was as much as "30kmh" or so slower than the leading 911's.

Read quite an interesting article on this site, which detailed some intriguing info about the whole thing. Sadly however, the company responsible for creating the Advan GT4 968; Arktech Motorsports Inc. seemed to have vanished since. However with that said, guy in the article emailed Rennlist; a big Porsche enthusiast site/company, where managed to email an Arktech Motorsports spokesman; Hiroya Iijima. He gave quite an in-depth, "inside" amount of, mentioning how the Arktech 968 managed to qualify 2nd at SUGO. Though not sure whether he meant second in GT300, or 2nd amongst the other Porsche machines, as "best of the rest", due to the way he worded it. He also mentioned how the 968 was capable of over 500ps/hp without it's ristrictor, but 30km/h slower than the fastest Porsche, as I mentioned above.

What's even more intriguing, is that a guy in the article emailed another Arktech spokesperson about the kit used on the GT300 machine. Basically it seems that was initial plans to sell FRP copies of the wide-body kit used on the actual racer, but it never really happened, due to it being hard to fabricate, difficult to install, especially on a standard 968, and presumably costly.

However, the email then goes on to say how one customer has actually specially bought a copy of the kit for themselves in the U.S., for their own creation. Plus it would seem they are (or at least were) still open to special offers of one-off orders of the kit. All in all, it's a really neat to think they there was plans to create somewhat mass-produced copies of the Arktech kit, for customers to use for themselves on their own 968's; similar to whole RWB setup with 911's, as the article points out .

Either way, details of the car's whereabouts after 2004, are scarce from what I could see, so I'm not 100% whether it's still in action today. However, it did get me thinking, as it'd have been a perfect candidate as a hill-climb machine, like so many retired race cars are often converted too. Even more so with something like a GT300 machine I'd have thought, with the low-weight, and good power and aero...

 

[Niku Driver HC]

Well... it was already rare and unexpected to hear about a 968 serving as a Super GT/JGTC car, but the entire bodykit story just adds countless layers of mystery upon its history. It just goes to show you how rules in SGT could make old cars run at a pace similar to the pace run by cutting-edge machinery.

It's a shame that its road-going bodykit brother never came to fruition, but I do have a different idea for the racing car itself should it ever resurface; time attack racing. Picture it; light car, plenty of power which can easily be augmented (968 engines are perfectly capable of such), and almost all the aerodynamics are there. Couple all that with the car's balanced handling (often forgotten by Porsche "purists" who firmly believe in the "hurr durr 911 bestest Porsche durr" philosophy), and you'd have a time attack legend in the making...

 

[Michelin Man]

Well... it was already rare and unexpected to hear about a 968 serving as a Super GT/JGTC car, but the entire bodykit story just adds countless layers of mystery upon its history. It just goes to show you how rules in SGT could make old cars run at a pace similar to the pace run by cutting-edge machinery.

It's a shame that its road-going bodykit brother never came to fruition, but I do have a different idea for the racing car itself should it ever resurface; time attack racing. Picture it; light car, plenty of power which can easily be augmented (968 engines are perfectly capable of such), and almost all the aerodynamics are there. Couple all that with the car's balanced handling (often forgotten by Porsche "purists" who firmly believe in the "hurr durr 911 bestest Porsche durr" philosophy), and you'd have a time attack legend in the making...

I know right, I think the fact there was plans to produce copies of the GT300 spec body-kit is really intriguing. It seems, from what I gathered, that there was initial plans to produce exact copies of the race machines wide body-kit, for customers to use on their own race-cars, with the potential to even offer it up as a kit for the street spec 968. But the difficult nature to fabricate such a specialist kit, coupled with cost, ultimately halted that idea, to just one-off requests. I'd guess part of that being, that Arktech Motorsports is a relatively small and independent company, with limited man-power and money etc. Still, the thought of seeing that kit on a road-going 968 would be something to behold, would be better than a RWB 911 IMO .

But going back the race car itself, that's another really interesting idea. Something like a GT300 machine, would be a perfect base for a Time-Attack beast, and that ultra-wide body on the Arktech beast, would lend itself nicely, to a myriad of aerodynamic aids that Time-Attack cars have 💡.

 

[MatskiMonk]

He gave quite an in-depth, "inside" amount of, mentioning how the Arktech 968 managed to qualify 2nd at SUGO. Though not sure whether he meant second in GT300, or 2nd amongst the other Porsche machines, as "best of the rest", due to the way he worded it

JGTC Sugo '04 GT300 Qualifying saw the 968 17th in class, one place behind the highest qualifying Porsche.

Either way, details of the car's whereabouts after 2004, are scarce from what I could see

From Wikipedia it looks like it raced in SGT GT300 in 2005 also, which I think was entered as "Arktech with Team LeyJun" 968 GT4

edit:

Looks like it never scored a class point in either year.

 

[Michelin Man]

JGTC Sugo '04 GT300 Qualifying saw the 968 17th in class, one place behind the highest qualifying Porsche.

From Wikipedia it looks like it raced in SGT GT300 in 2005 also, which I think was entered as "Arktech with Team LeyJun" 968 GT4

Ahh, that's interesting to note, cheers. Yea, after reading Hiroya Iijima's email from the article a few more times, I sort of gathered that he meant 2nd from the best Porsche in class, so whilst no front-runner in GT300, it shows how good it was (and the regs to be honest), that a relatively old Porsche; even by then, was able to go at it, hammer and tongs, with it's modern brethren.

And must admit, Wiki is the one place I didn't check about it, but it's interesting to see it was more than a one season affair.

 

[Niku Driver HC]

But going back the race car itself, that's another really interesting idea. Something like a GT300 machine, would be a perfect base for a Time-Attack beast, and that ultra-wide body on the Arktech beast, would lend itself nicely, to a myriad of aerodynamic aids that Time-Attack cars have 💡.

Yes, it's something I bet would be possible with most (if not all) retired GT300 machines. They're already lightweight and relatively powerful, so why not amp up both portions for time attacking? I will say this, though; the front end of the kit looks a bit too similar to RE Amemiya's famous Super GReddy RX-7 bodykit;

In the sense that they're both a bit too close to being a 911 front end, that is.

 

[MatskiMonk]

Ahh, that's interesting to note, cheers. Yea, after reading Hiroya Iijima's email from the article a few more times, I sort of gathered that he meant 2nd from the best Porsche in class, so whilst no front-runner in GT300, it shows how good it was (and the regs to be honest), that a relatively old Porsche; even by then, was able to go at it, hammer and tongs, with it's modern brethren.

And must admit, Wiki is the one place I didn't check about it, but it's interesting to see it was more than a one season affair.

It also raced at the Suzuka 1000km in 2003, before that was a championship race, where it got Class Pole... in the Open Class... of which there were no other entrants... it did not classify in the race where it finished 59 laps down out of 173.

After the '05 season I can't find anything.

 

[Turbo]

1986 Mazda RX7-S Group S Prototype



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[AudiMan2011]

Fiat Fullback

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Apparently it's based on the Mitsubishi L200.

 

[ToyGTone]

Chevrolet Omega Fittipaldi Edition

Never knew Holden also exported to South America
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Honda Civic Tourer

That looks interesting...why Honda never sold it here?

 

[Tornado]

1986 Mazda RX7-S Group S Prototype



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Those are definitely the doors of an RX-7, yep.

 

[Turbo]

Those are definitely the doors of an RX-7, yep.

Can't tell if sarcasm or not.

 

[Michelin Man]

Honda Civic Tourer

That looks interesting...why Honda never sold it here?

Yup, but not only that, it raced in the BTCC in 2014, and did pretty well, achieving 4 wins with Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden at the helm:

Was also the 1st estate car since the Volvo 850 in '94, and the 1st estate to achieve a podium and win in the BTCC. Mind you, it used a lot of bit's and bobs from the previous years Civic Type-R hatch.

 

[TheCracker]

1986 Mazda RX7-S Group S Prototype



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A Lego RS200?

 

[ToyGTone]

Veilside NSX

I'm always aware of the RX7 and the Supra but i never knew they did other cars as well.

 

[MedigoFlame]

Never heard of the Divergent Blade. Pretty wild looking in that color too. Though...I don't know how I feel about it.

 

[Aerocoupe]

Chevrolet 'Cor-Maro'.

This strange Frankenstein mule was built from a 1995 Camaro as a test bed for the upcoming C5 Corvette. It included a pre-production LS, modified body work, and a C5 chassis/structure. The Camaro shell was chosen in an effort to keep the next generation Corvette from being leaked before it's official debut.

 

[Turbo]

BMW Z1 Alpina


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[Ze Elephant]

Just found out about this sorta funky Celica on AutoTrader. The Celica Sunchaser Convertible:

Here's the autotrader ad with far worse pictures: https://classics.autotrader.com/classic-cars/1980/toyota/celica/100827560
I hope I'm not giving @ilikewaffles11 any ideas...

 

[Michelin Man]

Whilst watching the Goodwood Festival of Speed, saw something new to me

Arrinera Hussarya GT3

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Basically a Polish made, and developed super car-turned GT3 machine, where Arrinera have teamed up with Anthony Reid to act as test driver, and hopefully race it next year.

As far as specs go, don't seem to have any concrete info for now, but this being a GT3 machine, I'd imagine it'd have circa 600bhp and be between 1200-1300kg, otherwise, it's a supercharged LS3 that provides the grunt.

I'd do recognise it's initial concept car form though, but either way, this GT3 spec version is new to me, and it looks pretty damn good if you ask me in race form .

Whilst it isn't a homologated GT3 machine (but built to FIA standards and specs), yet, but it certainly seems to have plenty of potential after watching it at FOS, and with what Reid said about it, as they continue to develop it. Also, what's interesting to note, is that it's much cheaper than your "typical" GT3 machine, apparently costing half as much as one at $229,000 or £176,000 roughly, with the option of a $69,000/£53,000 spares package.

The initial 2012 Concept/Test car

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[ilikewaffles11]

Just found out about this sorta funky Celica on AutoTrader. The Celica Sunchaser Convertible:

Here's the autotrader ad with far worse pictures: https://classics.autotrader.com/classic-cars/1980/toyota/celica/100827560
I hope I'm not giving @ilikewaffles11 any ideas...

Actually know somebody who's selling one of these.. I'm tempted.

 

[ScottPuss20]

Veilside NSX

I'm always aware of the RX7 and the Supra but i never knew they did other cars as well.

This bodykit was available in Juiced 2.

 

[05XR8]

Whilst watching the Goodwood Festival of Speed, saw something new to me

Arrinera Hussarya GT3

View attachment 657361
​

Basically a Polish made, and developed super car-turned GT3 machine, where Arrinera have teamed up with Anthony Reid to act as test driver, and hopefully race it next year.

As far as specs go, don't seem to have any concrete info for now, but this being a GT3 machine, I'd imagine it'd have circa 600bhp and be between 1200-1300kg, otherwise, it's a supercharged LS3 that provides the grunt.

I'd do recognise it's initial concept car form though, but either way, this GT3 spec version is new to me, and it looks pretty damn good if you ask me in race form .

View attachment 657367

Whilst it isn't a homologated GT3 machine (but built to FIA standards and specs), yet, but it certainly seems to have plenty of potential after watching it at FOS, and with what Reid said about it, as they continue to develop it. Also, what's interesting to note, is that it's much cheaper than your "typical" GT3 machine, apparently costing half as much as one at $229,000 or £176,000 roughly, with the option of a $69,000/£53,000 spares package.

View attachment 657368
The initial 2012 Concept/Test car

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That name: It's like "Snaggletooth Alleyratus".
Sure that's not in GTA V?

 

[Michelin Man]

That name: It's like "Snaggletooth Alleyratus".
Sure that's not in GTA V?

I get what you mean, it does sound GTA-ish somewhat . Though the name "Hussarya", was derived from the Polish Hussar Cavalry, chosen because they displayed characteristics of "maneuverability, beauty and strength", traits of which Arrinera hope to "instill into their super car". Fancy stuff.

 

[TexRex]

it does sound GTA-ish

Looks GTA-ish as well--a combination of countless supercars. I'm half expecting to have to dodge the sticky bomb.