I have got the perfect gift for my Jewish friends.
The Jew in the Lotus @ Amazon
Not as good as the other Jew in the Lotus but pretty good nonetheless 
Archive for January, 2007
The Jew in the Lotus [Orig posted: 18/12/2006]
Saturday, January 20th, 2007A year in pictures [Orig posted: 23/10/2006]
Saturday, January 20th, 2007My Elise just turned 1 – I have a had a great time and have met some really cool people. Here is to another fun year.
6-Dec-2005: Take Delivery at SVAG
10-Dec-2005: Break-in: drove from SF to LA down Highway 1 
11-Dec-2005: LA Sunday Drive
24-Dec-2005: Lotus Section of Crystal Cove
31-Dec-2005: Spend New Years Eve watching the sunset at the 17 mile drive
1-Jan-06: Celebrate the new year with my very first track day at Laguna Seca(see how far I am from the apex 
9-Jan-06: A long line of Elises at the GGLC/Club111 drive
14-Jan-06: Standoff
5-Feb-06: 6000 miles in 60 days
20-Feb-06: Tackling the Corkscrew at the GGLC track day (actually hitting the apex this time). Photo courtesy Nithya Selvaraj
3-Mar-06: Meet Randy at my very first autocross – the Evo School in San Diego
22-Apr-06: First GGLC autocross of the year
10-Jun-06: Santanna Row meet
17-Jun-06: Club 111 Autocross at El Toro (photo courtesy Lukasz Swistun)
10-Sep-06: Palo Alto British Car Meet
9-Nov-06: Elisetalk lunch
25-Nov-06: Celebrating my Track Days
6-Dec-06: 1 year and 19,200 miles later
Goodbye Michael!!! [Orig posted: 23/10/2006]
Saturday, January 20th, 2007Last Sunday was the end of an era in F1 when Michael Schumacher finally hung up his boots. He may not have won his final race but he gave some moments of intense action that will not be forgotten soon. Here are some of the overtaking moves he made in his final race.
Overtaking Fisichella in the first few laps – I’m amazed he was able to catch that slide.
Overtaking Fisichella once again – he pressured Fisi in the final few laps until the Italian finally just cracked.
And finally a true balls to the wall maneuver down the inside of Kimi Raikkonen going into turn one. Its fitting that he ends his career passing the man who will be replacing him at Ferrari next year.
Edit: I had to add this bonus video from Belgium 1995 which was in my mind at least the defining moment of Michaels career. After starting in 16th place Michael went on to win the race by almost a full minute over his championship rival Damon Jill who had started in 8th. This video is of 2 laps in the pouring rain when Michael was on slicks and was still able to hold of Damon who was on full wets. It is a trully stunning exhibition of defensive driving.
Best Top Gear Tribute/Parody Ever [Orig posted: 19/10/2006]
Saturday, January 20th, 2007Imagine Jeremey Clarkson in machinima – thats exactly what the Sir Community have created using Battlfied 2 to recreate the Top Gear test of the Range Rover Sport.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-494190851614785518
All your Top Gear are belong to them.
Tesla Roadster & the Palo Alto British Car Meet [Orig posted: 13/09/2006]
Saturday, January 20th, 2007
Tesla Motors displayed a prototype roadster at the 29th Annual Palo Alto British Car Meet last sunday. Looked to be a very polished prototype and I believe they actually drove it to the event. Dimensions are exactly the same as the Elise though the coke bottle shape of the Elise has been replaced by something more traditional with a large aero vent under the doors. While it does look sporty I am not sure if it is distinctive enough to make it stand out in a crowd – looks more like an MR2 body kit than a revolutionary new roadcar.
In terms of practicality the boot was much wider but the shape is still too odd for hard luggage. The door sills are about 2 inches lower than the Elise which should make entry/exit a little easier but it will still need plenty of practice. It has a GPS nav system built into the place where the Elise has its lighting controls and the rest of the controls seem to be well places. The seats are a repadded version of the Elise seats though they mentioned that they would be using wider seats for the production market (Its an American audience after all 
).
The car is currently undergoing crash testing and they hope to have deliveries begin early next year.
The rest of the meet was good fun and I got to see a lot of very cool cars. The highlights for me were
- Lotus 41C (belongs to Kiyoshi)
- A couple of the original Elites (Type 14)
- 1928 Bentley 6.5 L
- The original Shelby prototype of the Sunbeam Tiger
- Jensen FF (the worlds first 4 wheel drive sports car)
My favourite story of the event though was of the ’64 Austin Healy Frogeye Sprite than won the Best Healy award. The owner bought it new in 1964 and gave her licence test in the car – she has kept the car for 42 years and has no plans of ever giving it up.
More pictures from the meet are at
http://flickr.com/photos/rnair/sets/72157594279009379/
Pictures of just the Tesla are at
http://flickr.com/photos/rnair/sets/72157594279770811/