Almost six months before filming was set to begin on Fast and Furious 4, the movie’s picture car coordinator Dennis McCarthy was already running out of space to hold all the cars, trucks, semis and trailers being built for the production. This was way back in October 2007 and it was McCarthy’s job to bring together every vehicle that would be seen on-screen in the fourth in The Fast and the Furious series. Sound easy? It wasn’t; there were going to be more than 200 of them.
“Reading the script, it was obvious this was going to be bigger than Tokyo Drift,” said McCarthy…Â More info
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One recent Saturday night, when the Santa Ynez Valley YMCA held a father-daughter dance, one of the evening’s party-goers could have easily been excused for being too tired to cut a rug that night.
While Andy Grider of Los Olivos and his daughter Marley may have had fun at the soir/e, Grider’s already had more fun and excitement than some of his neighbors might see in a lifetime.
Grider has returned to the Central Coast after having spent most of January in South America as the navigator for Team Dakar USA in the 5,948-mile Dakar Rally, the world’s longest and most dangerous racing event.
He navigated while riding in a Hummer H3 driven by NASCAR owner-driver Robby Gordon.
It was a fruitful trip for Grider, whose wife Annie accompanied him on the trip for the two-week race (Jan. 3-17) through Argentina and Chile. He and Gordon took third place in the car category — the glamour division of the event — with a finishing time of 45 hours, five minutes and 50 seconds…. More info
The 2009 Zero X is so green that you can eat its battery. Luckily its performance is more appetizing; it’s the fastest electric dirt bike ever.
We teamed up with Fast Company, where you can read about the business and technology behind the bike, and Hell For Leather, for this review.Like the Quantya Strada Wes and I rode around his loft, the Zero X is powered by a Lithium Ion Battery. While they share a few common specs, the X is actually a very different bike. For starters, at 151 lb., the X is 44 lb. lighter, makes 23 HP with 50 lb-ft of torque (twice that of the Quantya) and does 0-to-30 in less than 2 seconds. That’s performance more akin to a 250cc two-stroke, but without the clouds of burnt Castrol R.Â
It’s pure power to weight. The 18 lb chassis uses thin-walled aluminum construction standard in auto-manufacturing, making it so light I can pick it up with my fingertips…Â More info
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The VESTAS SAILROCKET team have returned to the Walvis Bay ‘Speed-spot’ in Namibia for a second attempt at the Outright World Speed Sailing Record.
The WSSRC ratified world record attempt will commence on the 20th of February and will run for 28 days. The VESTAS SAILROCKET team are hungry to finish the journey to the top of the speed sailing mountain. As it stands they need to go a little over 3.2 knots (3.7 mph or 5.95 kmh) faster over the 500 meter course than their previous best record setting performance in order to beat the Kite-surfers. The Kite-surfers set the pace last year when Alex Caizergues did a run at 50.57 knots (93.66 kmh) in Luderitz.
The team have made a number of modifications to improve safety and prevent a re-enactment of their last high speed run where the whole 30’ craft took to the air and performed a spectacular half-loop… More info