Thor Thorson
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1961 Chaparral 1
There’s something romantic about cars that signify the end of an era, the last and greatest of their kind, yet doomed by the coming revolution {vsig}2005-4_1835{/vsig} The year was 1961. Jim Hall was an ambitious young man from Midland, TX, who had done well in oil and was determined to do even better in pro…
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1998 Dodge Viper Race Car
Your 16-year-old son would probably be happy lighting incense in front of it and inviting his friends over to worship {vsig}2005-3_1828{/vsig} Few cars in the history of the American automobile have captured the imagination of car enthusiasts like the Dodge Viper. What started as an outrageous concept car at the 1989 Detroit auto show led…
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1966 Shelby 427 Competition Cobra
In the late ’60s there just wasn’t anything badder than a 427 Cobra, and the fact that they were rumored to kill an abnormally high percentage of people who dared to drive them only increased the reputation Although the 289 Cobra was well proven in competition by the mid-1960s, it was becoming clear that something…
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1929 Mercedes-Benz Type 38/250 Model SSK
In the hands of drivers like Rudolph Caracciola, the SSK was the dominant race car of its era, and came to symbolize all that was wonderful and scary about racing during the “Roaring Twenties” {vsig}2005-1_1809{/vsig} Known in period as simply, “the mighty Mercedes,” advertisements for the SSK justifiably screamed, “the fastest sports car in the…
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1968 McLaren M6B Can-Am Race Car
If you can hustle one of these babies around the track, nobody will ever question your manhood {vsig}2005-1_1810{/vsig} The Can-Am Series for unlimited sports cars began in 1966, and a year later Bruce McLaren won his first championship, driving a car bearing his own name. Teammate Denny Hulme was second, and for the next four…
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1962 MGB Sebring
The U.S. MG distributors were hoping to put a gleam in the eye of the dentist from Columbus, who might imagine his car out there running with the Ferraris and Porsches {vsig}2004-12_1541{/vsig} Sebring in 1964 was one of the world’s top-tier endurance races, part of the FIA’s Challenge Mondiale and Prototypes Trophy, along with the…
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1969 Chevron B16
Chevron B16s are just about the coolest, most beautiful, fastest little fantasy of a race car that you can get your hands on {vsig}2004-11_1475{/vsig} Only 23 Chevron B16s were built and today they are universally praised by their drivers for handling, performance, and-most elusive of all-an exceptionally graceful design. Indeed, the Chevron B16 is among…
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1960 Austin-Healey 3000 Sports Works Rally Car
Few race cars have made such a serious strike for female equality-Pat Moss and Ann Wisdom took an overall victory in the most difficult rally of the time in this Healey {vsig}2004-10_1447{/vsig} British Motor Corporation’s Austin-Healey marque introduced the new 3000 model in 1959 as an improved version of the 100-Six, with the well-proven, pushrod…
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1966 Ferrari 275 GTB/C
This immensely desirable and highly usable Ferrari 275 GTB/C is the third of only 12 such Berlinetta Competizione models produced by the world-famous Maranello factory, and is absolutely not to be confused with the normal, standard production GTB models. Here was a purebred endurance-racing competition car whose fundamental bodyshape and basic technical specification were almost…
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2000 F1/2000 Race Car
Of course, there is no experience like driving an F1 car: The sound, the incredible horsepower, the ridiculous braking ability, and the sheer competence of the chassis combine into sensory overload of the best sort {vsig}2004-9_1211{/vsig} When Jody Scheckter won the Formula 1 drivers’ championship in 1979, few enthusiasts, and even fewer among the management…