July 28, 2014
The Untold Story of Can Am’s Most Famous Car, Part V: The Turning Point
“Mark [Donohue] and the other people behind the Porsche are not lighthearted types. They take the whole thing very seriously.” – Pete Lyons, Road & Track
PART IV, THE EMBARRASSMENT – Penske’s L&M Porsche, the Untold Story of Can Am’s Most Famous Car
July 21, 2014
PART IV, THE EMBARRASSMENT - Penske's L&M Porsche, the Untold Story of Can Am's Most Famous Car
“I had a five-liter, normally aspirated nothing.” – George Follmer
Carroll Shelby’s Turbine: The Car That Was Supposed to Win Indy
The Botany 500 Shelby Turbine Indy Car is among auto racing's most famous near misses.
PART III, THE REPLACEMENT: Penske’s L&M Porsche, The Untold Story of Can Am’s Most Famous Car
June 23, 2014
PART III: The Replacement
"We drove by the seat of our pants. We had to muscle the car around the track. We did not have cool suits.” – George Follmer
PART II: Penske’s L&M Porsche, The Untold Story of Can Am’s Most Famous Car
PART II: The Accident
“A doctor specializing in football injuries told him, no, his sore left knee was really a knot of shredded ligaments. There was surgery and a 6 week plaster cast and a career grounded.” – Pete Lyons, Road & Track
Penske’s L&M Porsche: The Untold Story of Can Am’s Most Famous Car
Part I: The Beginning
“I loved those days. I loved those times. I loved the people. It wasn’t like now where everybody goes and hides in their motor homes. Everyone was there for each other.” – Marilyn Motschenbacher Halder
COLLECTOR CARS: My Very Own Barn Find
April 24, 2014
“Barn finds” really happen. In the mid-1990’s my dad was visiting an old high school buddy in southern Indiana. As they talked of the good old days, my father noticed a dirty, old car sitting inside his friend’s barn. It was a blue 1971 Ford Torino.
MUSCLE CAR BRAND LOYALTY: And Other Failed Ideas
April 7, 2014
I am a Ford fan. There. I said it. But I have little comprehension of brand loyalty; at least not the sort of fanatical allegiance so frequently seen among muscle car enthusiasts. I don’t even understand it. It is therefore eternally amusing to run across those typical chest-thumping car commandos who claim that every automobile not manufactured by their favorite company is a despicable pile of horse excrement.
AGAINST ALL ODDS: The Story of the Ultimate L88
March 10, 2014
The Stephen Cox Blog is presented by McGunegill Engine Performance
Stephen Cox's new book, "Against All Odds" tells the incredible story of a small race team so destitute that it had to drive its own L88 Corvette nearly 2,000 miles to compete in the 24 Hours of Daytona. Below is an excerpt from the first chapter. The entire book is free and available here.
The hands on both stopwatches were still in place after the final practice laps at Daytona International Speedway. Unexpectedly low temperatures had turned their stainless steel casings ice cold, but Jeri Gottlob had no gloves. She wouldn't have worn them anyway over her freshly painted red fingernails.
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THE GREAT STOLEN ENGINE CAPER: Tracking Down Carroll Shelby’s Missing V8
January 6, 2014
The Stephen Cox Blog is presented by McGunegill Engine Performance
A good Shelby-built 289 engine was a coveted item in the mid 1960’s. Many were stolen out of the legendary Hertz Shelby “Rent-a-racers.” They left the rental lot on Friday with a High Performance 270-horsepower 289-cubic-inch V8 and returned on Monday with a garden variety 289 that appeared nearly identical.