1964 Porsche 901 Prototype Classic Drive

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1964 Porsche 901 Prototype Classic Drive

Your browser, , is out of date and not supported by www.motortrend.com. It may not display all features of our site properly and could have potential security flaws. Please update your browser to the most upated version. Update Now Home  >  Classic  >  1964 Porsche 901 Prototype Classic Drive Our number seven (#13 327) went into suspension testing service in February 1964 with the nickname Barbarossa ("red beard" in Italian -- the nickname of Frederick I, duke of Swabia, later king of Germany and Holy Roman Emperor). It also spent time in the wind tunnel at an automotive research institute in Untertuerkheim. Frequently updated with production-intent parts, Barbarossa helped sort many suspension, braking, aerodynamic, and heating/ventilation problems uncovered during those early test runs. After completing almost 44,000 kilometers, Barbarossa was still in presentable shape, so the somewhat cash-pressed company sold the prototype to a "friend of the family," Porsche race driver and automotive journalist Richard von Frankenberg. Perhaps best known for surviving a horrific somersaulting crash at Avus in Berlin while racing a 550A, he ultimately perished in a road accident in 1973, after which Barbarossa's ownership history gets murky until it surfaced in December 1984 as a derelict hulk for sale to settle a mechanic's lien in New York City. Don Meluzio got his first taste of Porsche's rear-engine magic during his Army service in Germany by riding shotgun in his 1st Sergeant's 911 to watch the races at Hockenheim and the Nuerburgring (his lieutenant drove a 356C). After returning stateside, he started autocrossing a 911 in 1980 and graduated to road racing in '85. He eventually found his way into a 924 D-production ex-works car. It was these deep roots in the Porsche collector and racing communities that helped him identify the battered rusting hulk with the strange forward-sliding vent sunroof, the crashed front corner and the mechanic's lien as the oldest known surviving prototype of the venerable 911. Obtaining proof from the factory wasn't easy. Meluzio mounted an expedition to Zuffenhausen in 1985 to consult with a cadre of engineers armed with photos of all the design peculiarities of his "garage find," things like the torsion-bar struts that support the luggage-compartment lid, the coil-springs that hold the engine lid open, the circular (instead of oval) fuel-filler door, missing trim strips below the doors, the 356 steering wheel attached to a column with an ignition switch mounted to it, and the two large gauge clusters instead of five. Barbarossa's fuel filler lid is indeed circular, not oval. The ignition/steering lock is on the steering column. Then there's the wacky hand-cranked sunroof that retracts only partway forward, but incorporates drain tubes positioned within the structure -- hardly a hot-rod shop job. Oh, and of course there's the serial plate with five digits --13 327. After a call to a retiree from Porsche's body shop who recalled the peculiar sunroof, the car's provenance was confirmed. As Don and expert Porsche restorer Denny Frick set about their extensive research into how to return the vehicle to its original factory-prototype condition, they gradually discovered that very few 911 parts interchange with this handbuilt 901. Dimensionally it's 2 inches shorter and a half-inch narrower than a '64 911.

View the original article here

1964 Porsche 901 Prototype Classic Drive

Your browser, , is out of date and not supported by www.motortrend.com. It may not display all features of our site properly and could have potential security flaws. Please update your browser to the most upated version. Update Now Home  >  Classic  >  1964 Porsche 901 Prototype Classic Drive Our number seven (#13 327) went into suspension testing service in February 1964 with the nickname Barbarossa ("red beard" in Italian -- the nickname of Frederick I, duke of Swabia, later king of Germany and Holy Roman Emperor). It also spent time in the wind tunnel at an automotive research institute in Untertuerkheim. Frequently updated with production-intent parts, Barbarossa helped sort many suspension, braking, aerodynamic, and heating/ventilation problems uncovered during those early test runs. After completing almost 44,000 kilometers, Barbarossa was still in presentable shape, so the somewhat cash-pressed company sold the prototype to a "friend of the family," Porsche race driver and automotive journalist Richard von Frankenberg. Perhaps best known for surviving a horrific somersaulting crash at Avus in Berlin while racing a 550A, he ultimately perished in a road accident in 1973, after which Barbarossa's ownership history gets murky until it surfaced in December 1984 as a derelict hulk for sale to settle a mechanic's lien in New York City. Don Meluzio got his first taste of Porsche's rear-engine magic during his Army service in Germany by riding shotgun in his 1st Sergeant's 911 to watch the races at Hockenheim and the Nuerburgring (his lieutenant drove a 356C). After returning stateside, he started autocrossing a 911 in 1980 and graduated to road racing in '85. He eventually found his way into a 924 D-production ex-works car. It was these deep roots in the Porsche collector and racing communities that helped him identify the battered rusting hulk with the strange forward-sliding vent sunroof, the crashed front corner and the mechanic's lien as the oldest known surviving prototype of the venerable 911. Obtaining proof from the factory wasn't easy. Meluzio mounted an expedition to Zuffenhausen in 1985 to consult with a cadre of engineers armed with photos of all the design peculiarities of his "garage find," things like the torsion-bar struts that support the luggage-compartment lid, the coil-springs that hold the engine lid open, the circular (instead of oval) fuel-filler door, missing trim strips below the doors, the 356 steering wheel attached to a column with an ignition switch mounted to it, and the two large gauge clusters instead of five. Barbarossa's fuel filler lid is indeed circular, not oval. The ignition/steering lock is on the steering column. Then there's the wacky hand-cranked sunroof that retracts only partway forward, but incorporates drain tubes positioned within the structure -- hardly a hot-rod shop job. Oh, and of course there's the serial plate with five digits --13 327. After a call to a retiree from Porsche's body shop who recalled the peculiar sunroof, the car's provenance was confirmed. As Don and expert Porsche restorer Denny Frick set about their extensive research into how to return the vehicle to its original factory-prototype condition, they gradually discovered that very few 911 parts interchange with this handbuilt 901. Dimensionally it's 2 inches shorter and a half-inch narrower than a '64 911.

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Next-Gen Subaru WRX Prototype Revealed - Last Year

Your browser, , is out of date and not supported by www.motortrend.com. It may not display all features of our site properly and could have potential security flaws. Please update your browser to the most upated version. Update Now By Peter Lyon | Illustrations By Holiday Auto Magazine | May 17, 2012  |   The latest news to leak out of Subaru is as red hot as it is shocking. Remember how the international media called the silver Advanced Tourer Concept at last year's 2011 Tokyo Motor Show the next-generation Legacy? Looks like everyone got it wrong -- including us. We're going to make up for that here, however, since we have just learned that the Advanced Tourer was actually an early look at the next-generation Subaru WRX. That's right folks, the highly-anticipated WRX has already been revealed in prototype form,

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Next-Gen Subaru WRX Prototype Revealed - Last Year

Your browser, , is out of date and not supported by www.motortrend.com. It may not display all features of our site properly and could have potential security flaws. Please update your browser to the most upated version. Update Now By Peter Lyon | Illustrations By Holiday Auto Magazine | May 17, 2012  |   The latest news to leak out of Subaru is as red hot as it is shocking. Remember how the international media called the silver Advanced Tourer Concept at last year's 2011 Tokyo Motor Show the next-generation Legacy? Looks like everyone got it wrong -- including us. We're going to make up for that here, however, since we have just learned that the Advanced Tourer was actually an early look at the next-generation Subaru WRX. That's right folks, the highly-anticipated WRX has already been revealed in prototype form,

View the original article here

Next-Gen Subaru WRX Prototype Revealed - Last Year

Your browser, , is out of date and not supported by www.motortrend.com. It may not display all features of our site properly and could have potential security flaws. Please update your browser to the most upated version. Update Now By Peter Lyon | Illustrations By Holiday Auto Magazine | May 17, 2012  |   The latest news to leak out of Subaru is as red hot as it is shocking. Remember how the international media called the silver Advanced Tourer Concept at last year's 2011 Tokyo Motor Show the next-generation Legacy? Looks like everyone got it wrong -- including us. We're going to make up for that here, however, since we have just learned that the Advanced Tourer was actually an early look at the next-generation Subaru WRX. That's right folks, the highly-anticipated WRX has already been revealed in prototype form,

View the original article here

Next-Gen Subaru WRX Prototype Revealed - Last Year

Your browser, , is out of date and not supported by www.motortrend.com. It may not display all features of our site properly and could have potential security flaws. Please update your browser to the most upated version. Update Now By Peter Lyon | Illustrations By Holiday Auto Magazine | May 17, 2012  |   The latest news to leak out of Subaru is as red hot as it is shocking. Remember how the international media called the silver Advanced Tourer Concept at last year's 2011 Tokyo Motor Show the next-generation Legacy? Looks like everyone got it wrong -- including us. We're going to make up for that here, however, since we have just learned that the Advanced Tourer was actually an early look at the next-generation Subaru WRX. That's right folks, the highly-anticipated WRX has already been revealed in prototype form,

View the original article here

1964 Porsche 901 Prototype Classic Drive

Your browser, , is out of date and not supported by www.motortrend.com. It may not display all features of our site properly and could have potential security flaws. Please update your browser to the most upated version. Update Now Home  >  Classic  >  1964 Porsche 901 Prototype Classic Drive Our number seven (#13 327) went into suspension testing service in February 1964 with the nickname Barbarossa ("red beard" in Italian -- the nickname of Frederick I, duke of Swabia, later king of Germany and Holy Roman Emperor). It also spent time in the wind tunnel at an automotive research institute in Untertuerkheim. Frequently updated with production-intent parts, Barbarossa helped sort many suspension, braking, aerodynamic, and heating/ventilation problems uncovered during those early test runs. After completing almost 44,000 kilometers, Barbarossa was still in presentable shape, so the somewhat cash-pressed company sold the prototype to a "friend of the family," Porsche race driver and automotive journalist Richard von Frankenberg. Perhaps best known for surviving a horrific somersaulting crash at Avus in Berlin while racing a 550A, he ultimately perished in a road accident in 1973, after which Barbarossa's ownership history gets murky until it surfaced in December 1984 as a derelict hulk for sale to settle a mechanic's lien in New York City. Don Meluzio got his first taste of Porsche's rear-engine magic during his Army service in Germany by riding shotgun in his 1st Sergeant's 911 to watch the races at Hockenheim and the Nuerburgring (his lieutenant drove a 356C). After returning stateside, he started autocrossing a 911 in 1980 and graduated to road racing in '85. He eventually found his way into a 924 D-production ex-works car. It was these deep roots in the Porsche collector and racing communities that helped him identify the battered rusting hulk with the strange forward-sliding vent sunroof, the crashed front corner and the mechanic's lien as the oldest known surviving prototype of the venerable 911. Obtaining proof from the factory wasn't easy. Meluzio mounted an expedition to Zuffenhausen in 1985 to consult with a cadre of engineers armed with photos of all the design peculiarities of his "garage find," things like the torsion-bar struts that support the luggage-compartment lid, the coil-springs that hold the engine lid open, the circular (instead of oval) fuel-filler door, missing trim strips below the doors, the 356 steering wheel attached to a column with an ignition switch mounted to it, and the two large gauge clusters instead of five. Barbarossa's fuel filler lid is indeed circular, not oval. The ignition/steering lock is on the steering column. Then there's the wacky hand-cranked sunroof that retracts only partway forward, but incorporates drain tubes positioned within the structure -- hardly a hot-rod shop job. Oh, and of course there's the serial plate with five digits --13 327. After a call to a retiree from Porsche's body shop who recalled the peculiar sunroof, the car's provenance was confirmed. As Don and expert Porsche restorer Denny Frick set about their extensive research into how to return the vehicle to its original factory-prototype condition, they gradually discovered that very few 911 parts interchange with this handbuilt 901. Dimensionally it's 2 inches shorter and a half-inch narrower than a '64 911.

View the original article here

2014 Acura MDX Prototype First Look

Your browser, , is out of date and not supported by www.motortrend.com. It may not display all features of our site properly and could have potential security flaws. Please update your browser to the most upated version. Update Now SHOW FLOOR UPDATE: The 2014 Acura MDX prototype doesn't look much different from the current model, which isn't a bad thing for people who appreciate the MDX's conservative styling. The prototype is powered by a 3.5-liter V-6. Is a hybrid on the way? The Acura spokesman we chatted with said there are no plans yet, despite the brand's addition of hybrids in the RLX and upcoming NSX. View the original article here

Spy Shots: Lincoln MKC prototype spied out testing

As was the case with the Lincoln MKZ, it appears that Lincoln isn't wasting any time getting its newest model transformed from concept to production form. We just saw the MKC Concept earlier this year at the Detroit Auto Show, and based on these spy shots, it looks like the final touches are being put in place for the 2014 Lincoln MKC crossover.

Sharing its platform with the Ford Escape, we can definitely see some similarities between these two compact crossovers when it comes to the roofline and daylight opening, but through the heavy camouflage, Lincoln's signature split-wing grille can easily be seen and it looks like the concept's taillights will also make it to reality. On the disappointing side, it looks like the integrated exhaust outlets are being ditched for some round outlets, and we can't tell if the production version will keep the Audi-like clamshell rear liftgate.

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