Good motorsports films don’t come up terribly often, but now and again, we get lucky. In 2011, we were graced with the very fine Senna documentary, and it appears there’s another period Formula One racing piece that could be worth watching on the silver screen soon: Rush.

We’ve known for some time that this project, which chronicles the 1976 F1 season-long battle between Austria’s Niki Lauda and Britain’s James Hunt, was in the cards, and we also knew that Ron Howard had signed on as producer. Howard, you may recall, is the Academy Award-winning force responsible for such films as A Beautiful Mind, Apollo 13 and Frost/Nixon. But we hadn’t heard much about filming getting underway – until now.

Thanks to these new photos taken at Germany’s Nürburgring by our friends at PistonSpy, we now see that work on the film has begun. We have to say, James Hunt’s Marlboro-liveried McLaren looks particularly fetching in these photos, and it must be a thrill to see and hear these vintage F1 cars lapping the legendary Nordschleife.

We’re already cringing in advance for Howard’s recreation of Lauda’s massive crackup at the German Grand Prix, a crash that saw him sever his right ear and suffer facial burns (you can see in-period video footage of the fiery crash after the jump). Lauda would return after missing just two races and storm back into the points chase in pursuit of James Hunt and his McLaren. Hunt would eventually win the World Championship by a single point. For dozens of additional images, be sure to check out PistonSpy at the link below.

Continue reading Ron Howard’s Rush caught filming at ‘Ring

Ron Howard’s Rush caught filming at ‘Ring originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 17 Jan 2012 12:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You may conjure up visions of luxury sedans and boulevard cruisers when you think of Jaguar, but the Leaping Cat marque has also made some wickedly fast sports cars over the years.

Foremost among them is surely the XJ220, the all-out, world-conquering supercar Coventry produced in the early ’90s. A Jaguar XJ220 set the Nürburgring lap record in 1992 when John Nielsen recorded a 7:46 lap – a record that held until it was finally unseated at the turn of the millennium.

The question is, could Jaguar’s latest production model match the aging Super Cat for pace around the Norschleife? To find out, Evo‘s Chris Harris took the new XKR-S down to Eifel and brought along the XJ220… piloted by the same John Nielsen, no less. Follow the jump to see how it went down.

Continue reading EVO pits 2012 Jaguar XKR-S vs. XJ220 at the ‘Ring

EVO pits 2012 Jaguar XKR-S vs. XJ220 at the ‘Ring originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 07 Dec 2011 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Every year at SEMA we enjoy seeing the latest creations from the talented Ring Brothers. Last year they debuted an incredible 1970 Mustang, and their latest project is this 1970 Camaro nicknamed “Diversion.”

Ring Brothers specializes in producing unique cars, and “Diversion” is no exception. The Camaro sits on a custom-built chassis with a specially fabricated body featuring extended rockers painted with BASF Mineral Gray paint. We’re always impressed with the unique billet details of their cars, and this Camaro has them in spades – hood hinges, door handles, taillight bezels and more. The car also features custom Forgeline three-piece wheels, Baer brakes and Flowmaster 44 Series mufflers. Under he hood is a GM LS7 massaged to over 650 horsepower running through a Tremec TKO-600 five-speed transmission.

You can see the Ring Brothers 1970 Camaro “Diversion” in detail in the high-res gallery above.

Ring Brothers 1970 Chevrolet Camaro “Diversion” originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 04 Nov 2011 08:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sometimes, the key to a good lap time is to drive in such a way as to not lose the hard-fought momentum you’ve already gained. Such is the case when you don’t have a lot of power underhood and you’ve got more road-holding grip than horsepower.

For an excellent demonstration of this technique, we turn to Achim Korden, owner of the so-called Ringmini. This 1971 Mini Clubman Estate is powered by a 1.6-liter Honda four-cylinder engine from a fourth-generation Civic ED7. Suffice it to say, it’s a revver that likes to spin as fast as you’re willing to push it.

Click past the break to see what one Honda-powered Mini Clubman, piloted by a driver who knows his way around the Nurburgring, can do around what appears to be a somewhat slippery and damp track. Pay special attention to how much time the little Mini-that-could spends at top speed.

Continue reading Take a trip around the ‘Ring in a Honda-powered Mini Clubman

Take a trip around the ‘Ring in a Honda-powered Mini Clubman originally appeared on Autoblog 5.0 on Thu, 11 Aug 2011 19:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Porsche 911 South Africa Test Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mSjtFcIk24
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