Blog Archives

DeLoreans Back in Production in Texas

1/27/2016

The DeLorean is back.

A recent change in federal law allows a facility in Humble, Texas, to start making the vehicle for the first time in three decades,
The sleek, silver cars were made famous by the 1985 movie Back to the Future, but founder John DeLorean was arrested on drug charges, and his company went bankrupt.

There haven't been any new DeLorean cars made since. At DeLorean Motors in Humble, they have been renovating old DeLoreans for years, but now comes a big change.

"It's fantastic! It is a game changer for us. We've been wanting this to happen," said Stephen Wynne, CEO of DeLorean Motors.

The company will build new DeLoreans with authentic parts that have been warehoused all these years.

"There's no need to change the appearance of the car," Wynne said.

Wynne estimates they have enough supplies in stock to build about 300 cars. He hopes to go from building one a month to one a week.

A refurbished DeLorean sells for about $50,000, and a new one will cost just under $100,000.

A BMW i8 Procar racer would look quite wonderful

1/20/2016

Every now and then we like to delve into the unreal world of car renders. The cars may never see the light of day, but that doesn’t mean we can’t salivate over them anyway, right?

Meet the BMW i8 Procar. It is the work of talented electronic crayon-wielder Khyzyl Saleem, who has previously gifted us the absurd world of cyberpunk supercars.

This is a mash-up between the BMW i8 - the hybrid sports car which took TG Car of the Year honours in 2014 - and the BMW M1 Procar, one of the best looking and most jaw-flooringly loud racecars ever.

We suspect an i8 Procar wouldn’t be as glorious to listen to, given its part-electric drivetrain, but it’s nearly as arresting to look at it. Which is surely all that matters in the aesthetically biased world of Photoshop specials.

All the M1 Procar cues are there: big rear wing, dramatically dished wheels, and a ground smothering body kit. The M1’s most famous colour scheme - white with the red, navy and blue BMW M Division tricolours - is also present and exceedingly correct.

It’s not real, but we’re smitten nonetheless. It even has ‘Piquet’ emblazoned across the windscreen. In the M1’s case, this would refer to Nelson Piquet, who won the final M1 Procar championship in 1980. In the i8’s case, it could be his son, current Formula E champion Nelson Piquet Junior, racing in a modern-day equivalent.

This US soldier ‘found alive’ in Vietnam 44 years after being left behind

1/17/2016

A NEW DOCUMENTARY called Unclaimed claims to introduce the world to former Army Sergeant John Robertson, lost over Vietnam in 1968 and left behind for over four decades.

The Toronto Star reports Edmonton filmmaker Michael Jorgenson found Robertson, 76, living in a rural Vietnam village stooped with age, unable to speak English, remember his birthday, or names of the children he left behind in the U.S.

It’s a story difficult to understand considering the US military places such a priority on bringing every service member home, whenever possible.

Jorgenson told the Toronto Star that he was also skeptical when Vietnam vet Tom Faunce came to him and explained a man he’d found in Vietnam was a former “Army brother” listed as killed in action and forgotten. He says he became convinced only after going to Vietnam and meeting Robertson himself.

What he found was revealed to filmgoers in an invitation only screening of “Unclaimed” at a Toronto theatre earlier this month.

There is physical proof of Robertson’s birthplace, collected in dramatic fashion onscreen; a tearful meeting in Vietnam with a soldier who was trained by Robertson in 1960 and said he knew him on sight; and a heart-wrenching reunion with his only surviving sister — 80-year-old Jean Robertson-Holly — in Edmonton in December 2012 that left the audience at the Toronto screening wiping away tears.
Jorgenson encountered so much resistance from the US military making his film that he says he’s convinced one “high-placed government source” was telling the truth when he said, “It’s not that the Vietnamese won’t let him (Robertson) go; it’s that our government doesn’t want him.”

Wringing out the details and talking to Robertson’s American family seems to have been a gut-wrenching affair. The children whose names he couldn’t recall declined DNA testing at the last minute with no explanation.

None of that mattered to Roberston who says he fulfilled his wish of coming to America and seeing his kids one more time before he dies.

Robertson’s now back in Vietnam, with no desire to leave and Unclaimed opens in the USA on 12 May, at the G.I. Film Festival in Washington, DC.

100-Year-Old Negatives Discovered in Block of Ice in Antarctica

1/13/2016

For the past 100 years, a box of never-before-seen negatives has been preserved in a block of ice in Antarctica. Recently, Conservators of the New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust came across the 22 exposed, but unprocessed, cellulose nitrate negatives during an attempt to restore an old exploration hut.

The negatives are believed to be from Ernest Shackleton's 1914-1917 Ross Sea Party, a group that was stranded in the hut during a blizzard when their ship blew out to sea. They were eventually rescued, but the box remained buried until now.

A Wellington photography conservator carefully processed the negatives in order to reveal the historic mysteries on each frame. Though slightly damaged, the incredible images give us a rare glimpse of adventurers from the past. AHT Executive Director Nigel Watson says, “It’s the first example that I’m aware of, of undeveloped negatives from a century ago from the Antarctic heroic era. There’s a paucity of images from that expedition.”

Pentagon Spends $10 Million On Powerball Tickets With Hopes Of Bolstering F-35 Program

1/13/2016

THE PENTAGON — The Department of Defense announced today that it has purchased five million Powerball tickets at a cost of $2 per ticket, with an aim of providing a funding windfall to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program.

“This is a minor fiscal gamble, but the Pentagon is always willing to lay out a few extra bucks in order to ensure we continue to have the most advanced military in the world,” said Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter, flashing a giddy smile. “Daddy needs a new pair of shoes, and a dozen new F-35s for the Navy’s Pacific Fleet.”

The F-35 program has been beleaguered by cost overruns, with a projected lifetime program cost of at least $1.5 trillion. The estimated $1.5 billion dollar Powerball jackpot would amount to only one-tenth of one percent of the total program cost, but it’s an important step in the Pentagon’s search for additional sources of revenue in the face of Congressional questions about the program. With the odds of winning the Powerball jackpot standing at 1-in-292,000,000, the five million tickets give the Pentagon a 1-in-58 chance of winning the jackpot.

A reporter brought to Carter’s attention that the jackpot only totals $1.5 billion dollar jackpot if the Pentagon elects to take the annuity paid out over 29 years, and the alternative lump sum payment would amount to less than $900 million.

“Well, shit,” said Carter. “There’s no sense in taking a 29-year annuity when the F-35 will be obsolete by that time and on the auction block to Iran and Saudi Arabia. But the lump sum payment would still buy three or four F-35s today, I believe.”

The reporter then pointed out the IRS would take almost half of the lump sum payout, leaving the Pentagon with around $500 million. They also noted the Navy’s F-35C variant costs $337 million per unit, leaving the Pentagon able to buy less than two F-35s for the Navy.

“I don’t understand why you guys would even question this,” said a visibly frustrated Carter. “That would still be two more F-35s than we had previously, with a capital expenditure of only ten million dollars in Powerball tickets. That’s a steal.”

Some reporters were critical of the Pentagon gambling taxpayer money in a lottery, leading Carter to become more defensive.

“Look, we’ve already wast—er, expended an extraordinary amount of taxpayer money on this program, so a paltry $10 million is a drop in the bucket,” said a defiant Carter. “No one would have ever noticed this program accruing an extra $10 million in costs if we hadn’t announced it. That’s a damn rounding error.”

As reporters vied to ask the next question, Carter complained, “Gee, I thought you guys would have been more excited about this announcement,” before throwing his hands in the air in exasperation and walking away from the podium.

UPDATE: Duffel Blog has learned that due to a clerical error the Pentagon submitted only five combinations of numbers, with each combination submitted a million times. This has reduced the Pentagon’s chances of winning the Powerball jackpot from 1-in-58 to 1-in-58,000,000. Despite the setback, Carter remains optimistic the Pentagon will now be holding a million winning Powerball tickets.

360* Degree Video of an LMP racing at Daytona is awesome!

1/11/2016

This takes the cake for the coolest video of the week! No words, just watch and drag your mouse around to check out the view!

Vista del Mar & de Boulle's Nick Boulle First Night Laps
Vista Del Mar's & De Boulle Motorsports LMPC entry is going strong. These are my first laps around Daytona International Speedway at night at the ROAR Before the 2016 ROLEX 24 Hours of Daytona.
Posted by Nick Boulle on Sunday, January 10, 2016

Watch this 4 year old ride a dirtbike better than most adults can

1/11/2016

This kid has a passion and that is to ride. And at age 4 he's already pushing the envelope faster than most adults will. Kudo's to this little man.

David Bowie Dies: Rock And Fashion Icon Was 69

1/11/2016

David Bowie, the legendary rock singer-songwriter and fashion icon who also acted on the side, has died. He was 69. His official Facebook page posted the news tonight: “David Bowie died peacefully today surrounded by his family after a courageous 18 month battle with cancer. While many of you will share in this loss, we ask that you respect the family’s privacy during their time of grief.”

Viloent motorcycle crash at Dakar, an then the unthinkable happens

1/11/2016

One of the worst dakar crashes caught on video, the rider was clearly ejected at near triple digit speeds. Most would instantly be on the injured list yet he simply gets up, picks his bike up and starts riding again. That shows true determination to win. Kudos to this guy.