September 1st, 2008 by Robert
Click here to see a LOT more photos
I thought this would be the year that I finally made it to Speed Week at the Bonneville Salt Flats, but managing our first run of Rever T-shirt designs kept me in Vegas. Fortunately, we still had people go to check it out and take pictures. So, no clever commentary, but lots of great shots of things that go fast on salty surfaces. Next year HAS to be the year I make it to Speed Week.
As an incentive, a friend has announced 2009 is the year he goes over 200 miles per hour on a motorcycle. Hopefully, we will start working on that project soon. A turbo ‘Busa should have no problem going that fast, but will it go 250 miles per hour? We will see—it might take a few years.
For those not familiar with Bonneville… It is a 159-square-mile salt flat in northwest Utah. W.D. Rishel recognized it as a perfect speed-testing ground in 1896, and it became famous when Malcolm Campbell set several speed records there in the 1930s. Cars now go over 600 mph. The salt keeps anything from growing, and every rainfall cleans the surface and keeps the densely packed salt very flat. Trivia: The huge beach scene in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End was shot there because it is large enough for the curve of the Earth to make the salt seam endless.
A few days ago (September 5, 2008), Cliff Gullett was killed going 239 mph on his motorcycle. His family said he died doing what he loved.
Category: Road Trip, Speed |
Comments Off
August 30th, 2008 by Robert
Those of you familiar with my Pantera know of its distaste for pump gas. Anything less than 100 octane makes for grumpy driving, and embarrassing dieseling at shut-off. When the price went up to six bucks a gallon I started wondering if driving a car that only gets 8.5 mpg was a good idea.
In the end, I decided the cost of fuel doesn’t matter. With the price of video games at $60, I think my car still delivers a good entertainment value. But sometimes I envy you that have turbo fours and sixes.
Here is what I don’t understand… How come the price of gas has dropped considerably and I’M STILL PAYING SIX BUCKS A GALLON?
Category: Quick Thoughts |
Comments Off
August 23rd, 2008 by Robert
Click photo for larger, funnier version.
Many of us own shirts and bumper stickers that make fun of cops, and their alleged love of donuts. Is your bumper sticker on your tool box or on your car? Do you have the guts to wear the t-shirt? My friend wears his, and it was only a matter of time before he got pulled over while wearing it.
Coming back from Mt. Charleston in the yellow Lamborghini Diablo—pictures of the car can be found elsewhere on FlyingPistons.com and ReverClothing.com. He passed a slow-moving truck as a police cruiser came around the curve. Memories get a little hazy as to whether a solid yellow line was crossed.
The officer was polite, and our hero did his best to cover his chest while explaining that he only sped up to pass a truck that was holding up traffic. All of a sudden the cop asks, “What does your shirt say?” Figuring honesty was the best policy, my friend answers “What speeding tickets pay for…” while twisting so the officer can see the illustration of cops eating donuts. He now knows it will be a few seconds before he knows whether his day just got worse. The officer will either think it is funny, or things are about to get expensive.
As you can tell by the photo, things turned out OK. You might think it was me shooting this photo of Chris in front of the cop car… It wasn’t. It was the cop, who was a great sport. He even let our fearless friend off with a warning.
We at Rever Clothing have thought about doing funny cop t-shirts since this happened. But we probably won’t, for the same reason we don’t have the courage to put “Bad cop… No donut” bumper stickers on our cars. Truth be known, we love the police and associate with many of them. We’ll keep those T-shirt ideas in the drawer.
So, what should you wear to a traffic stop? Are you kidding? We’re in the T-shirt business. The answer is a Rever T-shirt. We recommend you check out Flying Pistons, Turbo or Treadburst. Get some shirts for car lovers!
Category: Police, Speed |
Comments Off
August 13th, 2008 by Robert
Lamborghini Las Vegas sponsored a track day at Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch in Pahrump it’s just over the hill from Rever’s T-shirt central command . We were excited to have a free track day, but we ran into problems on our way out of town.
Four of us were cruising—we had a Ferrari 575, Ferrari 308, my Pantera and a Lamborghini Diablo—and passed a BLM park ranger going the other way. He lit up the gumballs, turned around and came screaming past me (wasn’t worried - I wasn’t speeding) to pull over the 308. The rest of the group kept going—sorry unnamed friend.
The 308 was for sale and belonged to the driver’s employee. Our friend was driving it to the track as a favor… Give the car a little exposure and maybe attract a buyer. As it turns out, there was no proof of insurance in the car, and the our friend had to explain to the ranger why the car wasn’t even registered to him. The ranger was understanding and didn’t write a ticket for the lack of insurance, but he did give the driver a ticket for doing 75 in a 65. Fair enough.
Read the rest of this entry »
Category: Police, Road Trip |
2 Comments »
August 12th, 2008 by Dan
Category: Back Story |
2 Comments »
July 21st, 2008 by Robert
Click here to see more photos
What would you do if you were on a road trip, and one of the four cars developed a problem after a few hundred miles? Leave the guy on the side of the road to fend for himself, or blow the weekend’s plans and roll the dice? What if it was two cars that had problems? Or three?
I can tell you what WE did… Used three tow trucks, brought in a replacement car from Vegas, drove through the night, left a Ferrari in Reno, and took part in a story worth more than any tow bill (or three).
Five of us headed to Tahoe on a Friday morning with high hopes, three Italian cars (Ferrari 355, Ferrari 550, Lambo Countach)and one German (BMW Z8). I was riding shotgun in the 355 as my Pantera is too loud, stiff and thirsty for an 1,100 mile trip.
Read the rest of this entry »
Category: Break Down, Road Trip |
Comments Off
July 14th, 2008 by Robert
OK, so it isn’t the world’s fastest car. That would be some jet fighter without wings, but I’m talking about the world’s fastest production car. It has officially gone faster than the Bugatti Veyron—257mph.
It is called the SSC Ultimate Aero TT. 1180ish horsepower and modestly priced at around $600,000. This isn’t a concept car…you can actually buy one.
A small group of us took our cars out to Red Rock Canyon, on the outskirts of Las Vegas, with the designer/owner and a film crew. They were shooting for Newsweek.
Point of interest: Tires are the weak link when going over 250mph. Shelby’s tire partner had scientists and engineers at the top speed run (held in 2007) to help. No tire was allowed to stay on for more than 30 miles as the tires can’t stand up to that much punishment for long, and tire failure at those speeds causes a fatal crash, period. It doesn’t matter what kind of safety equipment is in the car.
Need wide tires with 29 miles on them?
Category: Road Trip, Speed |
Comments Off
May 17th, 2008 by Robert
Some of my favorite Ferrari Club events are really Viper Club events… That we crash.
I love driving, and the Viper guys drive pretty hard. When I heard they were making a run to Hoover Dam, I called my friends and told them when and where to invade the Viper drive. To my amazement, LOTS of folks showed up.
The drive turned out to be pretty uneventful as it is often one lane (each way), and construction further slowed our pace. But it was still fun to eat breakfast with fellow drivers, make a few friends, and see the dam.
Despite our recollection of constantly driving BELOW the speed limit, one of our gang still managed to get pulled over. Correction: I originally thought her ticket was for speeding, but it turns out there are no speeding tickets in the National Park; she got a “wasting a finite resource” fine.
Wasting a finite resource? Anyone that knows my Pantera knows I should get that ticket when I pull out of the driveway every morning. 8.5 mpg my friends! But I was practically “going green” that day by driving my wife’s car. It is the silver Porsche in the pictures, and it probably gets twice the mileage my car does. And it is pretty.
BTW: Hoover Dam is a must-do morning or afternoon road trip when you come to Vegas. Beware in the summer. If your car no likey the heat, then you may want to check with the weatherman; temperatures break 120 degrees in the canyon during the summer, and you’re going to spend a lot of time idling. Aside from the heat, it’s a spectacle even if you’re not into non-automobile engineering wonders. Put on your favorite T-shirt and enjoy your dam drive.
Category: Police, Road Trip |
Comments Off
May 9th, 2008 by Robert
Our guy at Lamborghini Las Vegas called to say the Reventon had arrived. We wanted to see it before it was prepped and sent out to the buyer. The only camera I had was the iPhone, but I did what I could. Above are a few decent pics.
I’m sure there are official photos on the interweb, but you can never have too many photos of a car so rare. You may never see one of these cars. Anywhere. Ever.
The car seemed ugly online and in print. But the car is completely different on the showroom floor. It is huge (which I should have expected as it is a Murci underneath that Batmobile shell) and intimidating. The paint is beautiful, and all the elements that appeared over-designed in photos felt right in person. Make sure you see this car if you get the chance. You won’t be disappointed, even if you didn’t like what you saw in the magazines.
Category: Cool Car |
Comments Off
May 5th, 2008 by Robert
I had been waiting for the group to make a run to Death Valley for months, but some of the exotics (including mine) couldn’t go until the weather was cool. A few months ago, we teamed up with a group of Audi and VW drivers for a lunch run.
I spent most of my time driving, so I didn’t get many pictures. Some of these photos were taken by Angie (lovely wife) from her car…in case you are wondering how I took photos of the Pantera from another car.
I found out a few important things on this trip:
1. I got my car up to 150mph at Spring Mountain race track. I heard rumors that a previous owner put a taller final gear in the transaxle- it could be true, or maybe it is the 550 pounds of torque. Regardless, this is pretty good for a car that went 130mph in stock form and only has a five speed.
2. The blowing sand is hard on paint. My front air dam looks like it has been sandblasted in some places…and, technically, I suppose it has been.
3. There is water in Death Valley. At least there is when it isn’t the middle of summer.
4. Tourists will walk up and down a wooden pier, that doesn’t go anywhere, in the middle of the desert. Why?
5. Audi and Volkswagen drivers have a different driving style than sports car and exotic drivers. They make up for it by being a very polite and likable bunch. I would love to hook up with them again if they will have us.
Category: Road Trip, Speed |
Comments Off
Flying Pistons
