Instagram story viewer> @ohboy.auto> Posts

oh boy

@ohboy.auto

630

followers

1365

following

Automotive Research & Development Group📁

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

Carroll Shelby🗣️
.
.
.
#ford #ferrari #fordvsferrari #fordmustang #fordgt #shelby #shlelbycobra #shelbygt500 #shelbymustang #carrollshelby #scuderiaferrari by @ohboy.auto

314

3

3 years ago

Nissan had been taking the R33 GT-R to Le Mans in 1995 and 1996, but it was becoming pretty clear that a production-based car had its limits. For 1997, they decided to build something specifically for the job. Nissan teamed up with Tom Walkinshaw Racing, brought in Tony Southgate, who had designed the Le Mans-winning Jaguar XJR-9, and had Ian Callum design the body. Underneath was a carbon-fiber chassis and a 3.5L twin-turbo V8 making around 650 hp. At roughly 1,000 kg, the R390 had an insane power-to-weight ratio (.50-.55 hp per kilo) for the time.

The V8 also had some serious Nissan racing history behind it. The R390’s VRH35L came from the same engine family as the 3.5L V8 used in Nissan’s Group C R89C and R90C. Those cars were making more than 800 hp in their day, so the R390 wasn’t starting from zero. Nissan was taking what it had learned from some of its wildest prototype racers and adapting it to a GT car that could actually survive 24 hours.

The road car was mostly there because the rules required it. GT1 regulations called for a road-going version, so Nissan built an R390 with the same basic V8 and sequential gearbox, detuned to around 350 hp. It was never actually marketed for sale. The race car was the priority. The first year was rough too. Two of the three R390s retired at Le Mans in 1997, while the remaining car finished 12th. Nissan came back in 1998 with an updated car and all four entries finished in the top ten. One finished 3rd overall, Nissan’s best Le Mans result, and the other three came home 5th, 6th and 10th.

In 1999 they moved on to the R391, a purpose-built prototype aimed at the overall win. It retired at Le Mans, but later won the Le Mans-Fuji 1000km. Nissan’s financial problems then forced NISMO to cancel its Le Mans program for 2000. The R390 never won Le Mans, but it sits in an interesting spot in Nissan’s history.

Slide 2 - courtesy of Car&Vintage
Additional imagery sourced from archival collections and historical record by @ohboy.auto

6

3

18 days ago

On September 18, 2013, Porsche started building the 918 Spyder. The date wasn’t an accident. 9/18, for the 918. Only 918 cars were going to be made, and Porsche was building them by hand in a small 4,000-square-meter area inside its Zuffenhausen factory. Before the first production car was assembled, a team of just 25 people had already built 25 prototypes and eight pilot cars.

The 918 was a pretty strange idea at the time. It combined a 4.6-liter V8 with two electric motors to make 887 hp, while still being able to drive around quietly on electric power. A few days before production started, a Weissach Package car had also gone around the Nürburgring in 6:57 — the first production car to break the seven-minute mark. Porsche wasn’t just adding electric motors for better fuel economy. They were using them as another performance tool.

Production lasted 21 months, with exactly 918 cars leaving the factory. Looking back, the 918 feels like a turning point. It arrived when hybrid technology was still mostly associated with saving fuel, then showed what happened when Porsche decided to use it to make a supercar faster. A decade later, hybrids are everywhere. The 918 was one of the cars that made that idea feel a lot less abnormal. While working at Porsche in trade school I had the opportunity to work up close on a 918 Spyder, it was an experience I will truly always remember and appreciate. by @ohboy.auto

8

0

a month ago

by @ohboy.auto

10

1

a month ago

Lexus spent 15 years developing this color (Structural Blue) for the LC 500, taking inspiration from the wings of the Morpho butterfly. The strange part is that there is no blue pigment in the paint. The color comes from the way the material is structured and reflects light. The result is that really deep blue you see on the LC 500 that almost looks like it is glowing. Lexus introduced it on the 2018 LC 500 Inspiration Series, which was limited to just 100 cars in the U.S.

And the paint shop couldn’t exactly rush the process. Lexus said only two Structural Blue LCs could be painted each day. The color was so involved that the paint itself became part of the car’s story rather than just another option on the order sheet. It’s a pretty good example of how far manufacturers are willing to go when they have the chance to make something special.

It’s also a reminder that some of the coolest automotive details aren’t always hiding under the hood. Sometimes they’re sitting right there on the surface. by @ohboy.auto

24

0

a month ago

In 1974, Pininfarina showed Ferrari something that looked like it came from the future. The CR25 was a four-seat Ferrari concept designed by Aldo Brovarone. But this wasn’t just a styling exercise. Pininfarina had opened a new full-size wind tunnel in 1972, and the CR25 was built to show what they could do with it. Its name came from its drag coefficient of 0.256, which was very impressive for 1974.

A lot of the car’s strange details were there for a reason. The front bumper worked as an aerodynamic spoiler. The wheels were designed to improve airflow. Small air-brakes were hidden behind the rear side windows and opened to help slow the car. Even the door handles were hidden and operated by touch. Inside, it had digital-style gauges and a very futuristic dashboard. Underneath it all was the basic shape of a Ferrari 365 GT4 2+2, but the CR25 was lower, wider and much more aerodynamic.

The CR25 never went into production, and it wasn’t even fitted with an engine. It was an experiment in what a Ferrari GT could become. Some of its ideas eventually appeared on later Ferraris, including the Mondial. Today, it is easy to look at the CR25 as a strange 1970s concept car. But that’s what makes it interesting. It was Pininfarina trying to figure out how much of a car’s shape could be dictated by the air around it. by @ohboy.auto

10

1

a month ago

35 years ago today, Bugatti came back from the dead. And naturally, they did it in a French Racing Blue, quad-turbo V12 supercar. Romano Artioli had spent years trying to bring the Bugatti name back, and apparently “let’s make a nice little sports car” was never really on the table. The EB110 had a carbon-fiber chassis, four-wheel drive, four turbochargers and a 3.5-liter V12 that could rev to 8,000 rpm. Basically, someone looked at the early ’90s supercar world and thought, “I think we can make this more complicated.”

Then came the unveiling in Paris on September 15, 1991 — chosen because it was Ettore Bugatti’s 110th birthday. Around 5,000 guests and journalists showed up, three EB110s drove down the Champs-Élysées, and Alain Delon was involved in the grand procession. The evening continued with a gala at Versailles. Meanwhile, back in Italy, Artioli had built an almost futuristic blue factory at Campogalliano just to produce this thing. It is difficult to imagine launching a new car today and thinking, “Right, first we’ll build the car, then the factory, then invite everyone to Versailles.”

The EB110 was genuinely spectacular, but the story has a slightly bittersweet ending. The company lasted only a few years and ultimately went bankrupt. Bugatti ended production in 1995 due to global economic crisis surrounding the Gulf War and overspending. Yet the car itself was anything but a joke — it was one of the most technically advanced supercars of its era and could exceed 340 km/h. So today, when we look at that little blue Bugatti, we’re not just looking at an ’80s/’90s supercar. We’re looking at one of the most wonderfully overambitious attempts to bring a legendary name back to life. And honestly, if you’re going to make a comeback, you might as well make it spectacular. by @ohboy.auto

25

3

a month ago

The Porsche 917/20 is remembered as the “Pink Pig,” but the color is probably the least interesting thing about it. Built for Le Mans in 1971, the 917/20 was Porsche’s attempt to solve an aerodynamic problem: the long-tail 917 LH was exceptionally efficient at high speed, while the shorter 917 K was more stable and easier to drive. Porsche and the French aerodynamic firm SERA tried to combine those characteristics into one car.

The result was unlike any other 917. The 917/20 had an unusually wide, rounded body, a short nose and deeply recessed wheels. It looked almost cartoonish because the engineers were chasing airflow rather than beauty. The project had serious technical intent, yet when designer Anatole Lapine was asked to finish the car, he gave it the pink paint and butcher-cut markings that made it famous.

And then the strange part: it was fast. Driven by Willi Kauhsen and Reinhold Joest, the 917/20 was the fastest car in qualifying for the 1971 24 Hours of Le Mans. It ultimately retired after an accident while running near the front, so it never proved that its unusual aerodynamic concept was superior to the 917 K or LH. by @ohboy.auto

10

0

a month ago

Kimi pack🧊
.
.
.
#kimi #kimiraikkonen #mclaren #ferarri #f1 by @ohboy.auto

8

1

9 months ago

🤹🏻‍♂️ by @ohboy.auto

17

2

9 months ago

Saab 900 turbo never fails by @ohboy.auto

9

0

10 months ago

People enjoying/admiring cars Pt.3🧟‍♂️ by @ohboy.auto

26

1

10 months ago