90s Nostalgia at its Peak: 1998-2005 Shelby Series 1

Pretty much anyone who knows anything about cars has heard the Shelby name before.  Ever since Carroll Shelby joined up with Ford and AC to make the AC/Shelby Cobra, one of the greatest, maybe the greatest, American car of all time, his name has been treated with immense respect, and for good reason.  From the very start, Carroll was a car expert.  But even after having a hand building so many awesome cars, like the Shelby Cobra, Ford GT40, Shelby GT500, Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe, and even more obscure cars, such as the Dodge Omni GLH-S by Shelby, he wanted to do more.  So, in 1998, he surprised the world by unveiling the Shelby Series 1 supercar.
         It was, and still is, the only car Shelby ever designed and built all by itself from the ground up.  It had a really, really strong and light chassis, due to an all-aluminum construction, a strength of 52 hertz in fact, to be exact.  It was equipped with cabin niceties such as an AM/FM/CD player, air conditioning, and power windows.  For all this though, it used a V8 engine from the humble Oldsmobile Aurora.    In the base specification, it was naturally aspirated and produced 320hp and 290 lb-ft of torque, resulting in a 0-60mph time of just 4.4 seconds, and a quarter-mile time of 12.8 seconds @ 112mph.  This was accomplished in part thanks to a low weight of 2,650lbs.  Top speed was capped at a respectable 170mph. The top-of-the-line spec is even more impressive, even by modern supercar standards.  The sprint from 0-60 is accomplished in just 3.2 seconds, due to excessive amounts of power, specifically 600hp and 530 lb-ft of torque.  It had its problems though, just like any car.
        First of all, Shelby promised 500 units to be made, but in the end, just around 250 units were manufactured, from 1998-2005.  This caused many customers and dealerships alike to be rather unhappy, causing Shelby to loose potential customers.  Then there were also a lot of lawsuits and hard feelings against it, at least according to what I can find.  And there was Series II planned, which was going to be an updated and more powerful version of the Series 1, but never made it beyond the prototype stage.  So, yeah, it had its share of troubles, just like all of us.
       But if you stop looking at details, and look at the car as a whole, you see that it was a brilliant supercar, and a future classic, just like everything else Carroll Shelby ever had a hand in.  Yes, even the Dodge Omni.  More on that later.  But yes, the Series 1 was, and still is, a great supercar, no matter what those hate-commenters on the web will tell you.  And so I say: Long live the Shelby Series 1!

Cool Car Award -- Pontiac Tojan

What? You say.  Pontiac Tojan?  Never heard of that.  Well, neither had I until about a year ago, and I just had to share it with you guys.  So, here we go.
          During the late 1980's and early 1990's, Ferrari was the leader in supercars.  Think Testarossa, 308, or F40, and you get the picture.  No one except Lamborghini and Vector came even close to dethroning Ferrari.  Well, that's not quite true.  There was the Pontiac Tojan.
          The Tojan was an experimental car made by Pontiac from 1985 to 1991, and it was pretty cool.  It had a supercharged 5.7L V8 engine with 800hp, and a top speed of 206mph.  As far as we know, anywhere from 150 to 300 of these cars were built.  One was even featured in the movie Collision Course with Jay Leno and Pat Morita.  That car later sold for just $16,500.

Interesting features of the Pontiac Tojan

1.  The prototype car had a supercharged boat engine with 900hp.
2.   The most expensive Tojan ever sold was the Collision Course movie car, which sold for $65,000 in 1986, equivalent to $150,000 now.
3.  When Carfection did a video featuring the prototype a while back, they said that the suspension was too soft, and the steering was too vague.  Too bad Pontiac couldn't fix that before they put the Tojan into production.

 

Cool Car Award -- Vector W8!

The Vector W8 is a rare car.  In fact, only 17 of them were ever made.  But the W8 was also an incredible car.  It had a Corvette-sourced V8, fitted with twin Garrett turbochargers that together produced 1,100hp, at least on racing fuel, 0-60 in 4.2 seconds, and a top speed of 218mph.  Incredible, especially for it's day.  In fact, it held the (unofficial) record for the most powerful car for almost 16 years, finally being dethroned by the Bugatti Veyron 16.4.  The Vector company almost went down in 1994, but they survived, and as far as I know, they are still technically active, though they haven't actually done anything ever since they ceased production of the W8 in 1993.  So, don't quote me on that.

Cool Car Award goes to.....The Brabham BT46B!

I'm a fan of cars.  I admit it.  And I'm also a fan of cars with fans.  I mean, every car has at least one fan (for cooling), so that means that I am a fan of all cars.  Which is what I said.  Oh, forget it.  But what I am talking about here is a car with a fan on the back.  No, the fan doesn't power the car, but it does something cooler; Creates downforce.  Downforce is very important when you're an F1 car, and that is what the BT46 was.  An F1 car.
          The BT46 was made in 1977 for the 1978 F1 season.  When first conceived, it had a few design problems, one of which was the cooling system.  The prototype car had flat panel heat exchangers in the bodywork of the car, to eliminate the need for a radiator.  However, the car had only 30% of the required cooling area, and had serious overheating problems, so the prototype project was abandoned.
          A modified version of the BT46 still raced in 1978, however, in the Swedish Grand Prix, and won, with the famed F1 driver Niki Lauda at the wheel (of course).  The use of downforce creating fans was outlawed in F1 racing later on, but it wasn't that year.  After the first race, however, Brabham withdrew the BT46B, never to race it again.

Interesting features of the Brabham BT46B
1.  It became known as 'the fan car'.
2.  It used an Alfa Romeo flat-crank V12 engine.
3.  It was designed by Gordon Murray, the same person who designed the incredible McLaren F1, and who is also working on the Gordon Murray T.50, set to be unveiled later this year.
4.  It was one of the first cars to use carbon in the brakes.
5.  The later modified version actually did have radiators, one in each nose piece, and eliminated the heat exchange panels.
6.  Brabham first claimed it's fan was for cooling, when in reality it was for creating a vacuum under the car to produce downforce.  Brabham tried to keep the fan a secret at first by covering it with a dustbin lid, but it was soon discovered, and the other race teams protested, saying that the fan flung debris on the other cars, although this was actually untrue.  The car was finally allowed to race after quite a bit of debate.
7.  The car was withdrawn in 1978 as a result of the head of Brabham, Bernie Ecclestone, was running for Formula One Constructors Association president, and while he did go on to win it and become president, that didn't change the fact that the BT46B never again saw a public race track, which isn't very fair.

Cool Car Award -- Venturi 400GT!

The Venturi 400 GT was an amazing car, and still is even today.  Why?  Because it was simply a race car in road-legal form.  It was derived from the 1993 400 Trophy, which was truly a beast in the form of a car.  When Venturi decided to make a road-legal version of the 400 Trophy, they were deciding to make one of the greatest cars ever.
          The Venturi had a V6 that was developed by Renault, which fact alone should make it respectable.  When you realize, however, that it was not only Renault, but also Peugeot and Volvo who helped develop the engine, it should make you want to run away.  But of course you wouldn't be able to.  The 400GT could do the 0-60mph run in a mere 4.7 seconds and go on to a top speed of 181mph, which rivals the Ferrari's of the day.  The 400GT was also the first production car ever to come with standard carbon brakes, which were still a novelty under construction back then.
          To this day, the Venturi 400GT is still the highest-performance French production car (unless you count the Bugatti as a French brand), which is really saying something, considering what the French are known for (i.e. hot hatches).  Wait, what?  Oh, never mind.  If you want the full performance specifications, then you should look at the chart below.

Venturi 400GT performance specs
Horsepower -- 402hp
Torque -- 383 lb-ft
Engine -- 3.0L V6
0-60mph -- 4.7 seconds
Top Speed -- 181mph
Weight -- 2,513lbs.
Units made -- Under 100, from 1994-1996
Price -- N/A

The Cool Car Award this week goes to....The 2015 Lamborghini Sesto Elemento!

What it is

A V10 powered supercar, weighing just 2,202lb (999kg), with 562hp and 398 lb.-ft.  It could do the 0-60mph run in a claimed 2.5 seconds, topping out at 217mph.  When new, it cost $2,920,000.

Interesting Features

1.  Each wheel was made almost completely from carbon fiber components,

and it took a man 730 hours on average to make just one.

2.  Just 20 cars were produced.
3.  It was, and still is, the lightest Lamborghini production car ever.

4.  The interior lacks such niceties as air conditioning and a stereo, and there are no seats; Just foam padding adhered directly to the carbon fiber chassis.

5.  The exhaust pipes are located right under the rear wing.

6.  It's name translates to 'Sixth Element' in English.

7.  It has a built-in parachute pack.