Avon Bellamy
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NEWSWORTHY> Fatal Lexus LF-A Crash At Nurburgring
Just in case you guys haven’t heard the sad news from Nurburgring yet… while test driving a Lexus LFA Nurburgring Edition on the 410 highway just outside Nurburg, Germany, Toyota’s chief test driver died in a head-on collision with two other drivers test driving a new BMW.
Both BMW drivers survived the crash (but are hospitalized in critical condition), but unfortunately, Toyota’s driver (who Autoblog speculates is Hiromu Naruse – the personal driver of Toyota head honcho Akio Toyoda, and a highly esteemed driver who is known within the Toyota organization as the Godfather of the LFA) didn’t survive the crash.
For more information and photos, follow this link to Autoblog.
:: Avon Bellamy
NEWSWORTHY> Peace to the Guru
If you don’t live in the Batcave or two miles under the surface of the Earth, then you are already aware that GURU of Gangstarr (Keith Elam) succumbed to his year long battle with cancer on April 19th. This post is not about the details of his life – it is more about the impact of his life. We realize that Motor Mavens is primarily an automotive site but we just couldn’t ignore the passing of a pioneer in an artform that has become such an integral part of American history – especially since we have so many Mavens on staff who appreciate true Hip Hop.
The first time I heard Guru was in 1989. I was a teenager and my cousin and I had formed a rap group in hopes of becoming respected MCs. I was picking him up to go record a song on the album we were working on and I was late so I was rushing to get him and then get to the studio on time. All of the rushing stopped when I got to his house.
My cousin had this nasty, complex track playing that I thought he’d put together until someone started rhyming over it. The MC’s voice was different from any other MC I had ever heard. Remember, this is back in 1989 when you had a very wide variety of different sounding MCs with completely different styles all co-existing in the world of Hip Hop; Rakim, KRS ONE, LL Cool J, Kool Moe Dee, Ice T, MC Shan, JUST-ICE, Fresh Prince, NWA – gangsta, party, conscious, lyrical, even silly – it was all there and all respected for the skills more than the sales. So, in a huge group of distinctive voices, this MC’s voice was completely different – plus the dude had mad lyrical skills. That MC, of course, was Guru and the song I heard that day, as an introduction to one of the truly pioneering Hip Hop artists, was Manifest. Needless to say, we were a little late to the studio that day.
The first thing Guru brought to Hip Hop was Jazz. It seems like a given now, but then you were more likely to hear Funkadelic or Soul fusions in Hip Hop. Jazz was a much more complex musical language – more cerebral. It would take Guru and Premier to incorporate it so seamlessly and take it mainstream Hip Hop.
But far more than just Jazz, Guru brought a certain musical fearlessness and freedom to Hip Hop. The first time I ever heard anyone rhyme in another language (successfully) was MC Solaar on Le Bien Le Mal – Guru gave us all the opportunity to experience that. I don’t think any other MC could have pulled off the things that Guru did while completely managing to avoid commercialism and corniness.
For me, Guru was a pioneer. He opened my eyes to Jazz in a new way which allowed me to truly appreciate my Pop’s old Miles Davis and John Coltrane albums. I think that Guru did something for the music of Hip Hop that many of the lyricists (including himself) had already done lyrically – he allowed us all to dig a little deeper. And that’s Universal. Peace god.
:: Avon Bellamy
NEWSWORTHY> Grunewald Camaro SS Test at Laguna Seca
If you remember, back in September of 2009, MotorMavens was the first to break news of Conrad Grunewald‘s brand new, Hankook Tire sponsored, Chevrolet Camaro SS entering the Formula D Championship. At the time, it was still only a concept and was still being built by Luke Lonberger at BLU808. All we had were a few mid-build photos and renderings, but they still had all of the Motor Mavens readers salivating!
Well, she’s come a long way since then! She’s up and running and looking HOT. While we were checking Facebook this morning, we spotted this video of her first drift runs at Laguna Seca during some “cone course tuning.” Can you say BEAST?! Running 305 wide tires and lighting ‘em up in third gear from 1500 rpm all the way to the redline with no problem, they can definitely check “power” off the to do list. I heard some people on Facebook saying that this car had 2300 HORSEPOWER?! Is that really true?! Twenty three hundred?!?!?!
There’s not really much more we can say about it that you can’t see and hear for yourself. Good Luck to CG Racing and BLU808 with this beautiful new competition Camaro SS! We can’t wait for the Pony Wars to get restarted at Formula Drift!
:: Avon Bellamy
WEBMINING> A Shakotan Odyssey
Here’s a video I got from my boy Travis that had me and some of my boys on the East Coast straight trippin. We just don’t see stuff like this over here too often – especially not when we have potholes as big as moon craters that suck up whole caravans of cars without so much as a burp. If this is how they roll in Japan, I’m sold – I’m completely down with citizenship.
I spent way too much time just watching it over and over with my mouth hanging open – it’s so short and when you see the camber and fitment on the Odyssey…INCREDIBLE! It’s the little things that mean so much. I mean, it’s one thing to slam a car and hard park it – but, driving it on the highway like these guys is another thing entirely. Whoever these guys are – they get mad love for KILLIN this Odyssey shakotan-style! And whatever that is running with the Odyssey – DOPE!
Take a second and snatch a peak. It’s like those chips – betcha can’t watch just once!
::Avon Bellamy
CARSPOTTING> Spyker's C8 Aileron Spyder
The Spyder is the latest offering from bespoke car-builder, Spyker Cars. It's Spyker's latest offering of hand-crafted quality and exclusivity - and it has a little "get up and go" too. Who doesn't like that? Apparently, not everyone. Read more...
CARSPOTTING> Introducing the Mazda 2
Sure, the 2 might seem like a let-down compared to supercars like the LFA and the SLS but, let's keep it real, how many of you have the solid-gold wheelbarrow filled with diamonds and rubies that they're asking as a down payment for one of those America's Next Top Model magnets? It's like buying a Picasso. You just can't nail it up on your living room wall (perish the thought!). No. Protocol requires that you buy a freakin' museum to display it. Do you have a museum? I didn't think so.
So, being the Motor Mavens that we are, we figured we'd throw in a "real" car to talk you guys in off the ledge. We believe (in the immortal words of the bard, R. Kelly) that you can fly - but we figured you might just want to drive first. Read more...
WEBMINING> Aggressive Offset Deja VW
WEBMINING> Zen Drift Master Orido
I was on a hunt for footage of one of my favorite cars – the JZZ30 Toyota Soarer (aka the Lexus SC300/SC400) and lo and behold, what should I find but Manabu Orido drifting Honjo Circuit in Japan.
Although in this video, Orido’s driving his Project Mu/Autotech JZS161 Toyota Aristo (Lexus GS300) and not a Soarer, I thought it was worth it to post this gem just to show the interior action shots. Look at how little he has to do to control the car – his economy of motion and technique is amazing.
I know that we’re not supposed to be envious…but I just can’t help it! Who wishes, like I do, that they could plug into The Matrix (I’m talking about the movie, not the FF Toyota) and download Orido’s drifting skills like Neo, waking up suddenly, saying… “I know drifting.”
::Avon Bellamy
WEBMINING> Ueo vs Nomuken – 3 Wheel Drift
I was on one of those endless YouTube “nature hikes” when I stumbled upon this D1 gem. The action is awesome but it’s really the characters and the commentary that make D1 so cool and fun. Check out the 3 wheel action as Ueo goes against Nomuken! Enjoy!
:: Avon Bellamy
CARSPOTTING> bB Squad on BBS in Sarasota
It was one of those perfect Florida days, with the tang of fresh salt water in the air and the sun seeming to just chill and hang out like an old friend – warm and breezy in a “no worries” sorta way. So, what does one do in Paradise? That’s right... check out the cars. We were in Florida to attend the Scion Exposed 6.0 event in Sarasota anyway, so we thought we'd do a little carspotting at the show. That’s where we saw our favorite car at the show - this clean, minimalist, emerald gem, owned by Nick Rico of the bB Squad. Read more...
