Thursday, February 10th, 2011
Disclaimer: This article was written for a touristy publication but was dropped due to space restrictions. It’s a bit wanky and not my usual style. Don’t judge me. But there’s tonnes of useful information which I thought I should publish in order to help you experience dune driving in Cape Town.
Cape Town is home to many tourist attractions famous around the world and one doesn’t have to search far to find them. I would happily guess that you’ve already conquered Table Mountain, visited the boutiques of the Waterfront or perhaps even come face to face with a formidable Great White.
But just 40km/h outside of the city, towards the town of Atlantis, and hidden just out of view from the road that winds lazily up the West Coast of Africa, is the Atlantis Dune bank, one of the largest dune banks in the world not situated on the sea.
The dune bank holds fantastic memories for me, having taken the new Hummer H3, the Mistubishi Triton, the new Suzuki Vitara and the new Ford Everest through their paces on the rolling hills of the dunes. Obviously the dunes are also great for sandboarding, but that requires way too much running for my liking. It is quite simply an unearthly experience; when you are in the middle of the dunes the sand seems to stretch for eternity in any direction, evoking feelings of adventure and maybe just a hint of trepidation. After all, there are no markings to help you find your way out.
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Monday, April 26th, 2010
In flight entertainment, yesterday.
Gavin and I have often threatened to watch Nascar. It’s a form of motorsport that has so far failed to really pull us in beyond the grandeur of the opening ceremony. And what an opening ceremony it is. This is a spectacle you simply have to see to believe.
Picture, if you will, a racetrack facility roughly the size of Bloemfontein. Thousands of winnebagos dot the landscape, spewing over 100 000 drunken sunburnt fans into an arena of noise and product placement. The commentators are getting excited now, peppering their delivery with metaphors that make absolutely no sense. And then all is quiet. Over the gargantuan PA system, a voice rings out: “Let us pray.” A portly man with an awful comb-over holds command over his congregation, ending the prayer with the words: “and we pray for our armed forces, Amen”. Surreal, but we’re only just getting started.
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Tags: america, drafting, insane, large, madness, nascar, scale, v8
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Friday, April 23rd, 2010
While our love for Formula One knows few bounds, we can’t help but ignore the pangs of jealousy when we peruse the line up of the Indy Car series over in the States. They’ve had Danica Patrick kicking ass for a while now; that fiery brunette who was rumoured for a turn in F1 two years ago. But step aside, you sharp-tongued wielder of steering wheels, here comes Milka Duno.
Apparently she’s as sweet as Jelly Tots delivery truck, and has masters degrees in Organizational Development, Naval Architecture, Maritime Business, and Marine Biology, with work experience as a naval engineer. Her race debut came at the age of 24, which is practically unheard of across all motorsport; young Hamilton was reportedly still sporting Huggies when he got started. Duno is now 38 and still kicking it hard obviously, she holds the record for the highest placed female driver in the 24 hours of Daytona. Nice.
Follow this handy link for more on the lovely Milka Duno.
Tags: car, duno, indy, lovely, milka, motorgirl
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Monday, March 22nd, 2010
Hey, what's happening? Come here, I want to tell you about this car's torque curve.
Seoul. Apparently they have amazing internet connections there. And a car show every now and then. I really like this first car attendant. She’s just got something about her. Imagine she was selling you a car; you’d order more extras than the director of Ben Hur.
One more lovely Seoul motor show girl after the jump.
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Tags: girl, lovely, monday, motor, oriental, seoul, show
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Thursday, March 11th, 2010
This is what happens when you allow Lebanese Australians imaginations to run wild. According to Wikipedia Bufori actually (and appropriately) doesn’t mean anything and was started by the Khouri brothers in Sydney in the 80s. Here’s their latest from the Geneva Show:
Looks like that headache you get from white wine and fudge.
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Tags: aussie, bufori IS td2000, expired shrimp, gold, malaysia, silly, tasteless, white wine headache
Posted in Knews, So the Other Day | 1 Comment »
Monday, March 1st, 2010
How things change. ABS brakes, traction control, cars that start every time. Mini skirts, less-awful hairstyles and daring fashion. Obviously one thing that doesn’t change is our fascination with motors, our interest in the opposite sex, and, when possible, those two things combined.
Two more pics await you for just clicking here: (more…)
Tags: girl, monday, motor
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Monday, February 22nd, 2010
If you’ve never visited a motor show in South Africa you haven’t missed terribly much. Oh don’t get us wrong, it’s a party if you’re a journalist, but if you’re a paying member of the public, it’s awful. You won’t even see the vehicles amongst the hordes of onlookers, nevermind actually get into one. You will have to endure an endless stream of twats trying desperately to chat-up the motorshow girls and you will never find a bathroom. Ever. But, if you find yourself overseas while a motor show is on the go, be sure to pop in. It is the next level. This lovely Fiat and it’s minder hail from Geneva.
One or two more pics after the jump: (more…)
Tags: abarth, car, fiat, girl, hot, monday, motor, show
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Friday, February 12th, 2010
A rare Marcos GTC. By rare we mean the company only lasted long enough to build four of them.
The British car industry has existed only in name for about the last three decades. The only glimmer of hope in that time has been a noble effort, ironically, by a chap called Lee Noble, who showed the world that Brits could still build well-sorted cars, even if they did look and feel a bit like an upturned jacuzzi.
You’d think that sort of history would convince would be investors and engineers to burn their money elsewhere, but it’s a bit of a running joke in the UK these days as to who’s going to have a go at building the next great British supercar. A wonderful website called sniffpetrol.com developed a standardised press release for such companies, which you’ll find after the jump. This is laugh-out-loud material. (more…)
Tags: british, car, great, industry, next, press, release, rubbish, supercar
Posted in So the Other Day | 6 Comments »
Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010
I hate beginning articles with a rhetorical question but I feel maybe this is unavoidable. Have you ever noticed that the only place, in the whole of South Africa where motorists stop for pedestrians crossing at a pedestrian/zebra crossing is in the V&A Waterfront? Now that’s just plain weird.
I’ve road tripped most of South Africa (a few times) and I’m basing this entirely on sound personal experience, but I don’ t think I’m wrong. It’s just that overseas, the UK in particular, a motorist will get the ABS involved to stop for a pedestrian waiting to cross. I think that down here we just don’t respect pedestrians enough.
So what is it then? (more…)
Tags: cape, cape town, haven, pedestrian, safe, town, v&a, waterfront
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