The $500 Craigslist rally car returns to Mexico Bill Caswell made history a year ago when his old, thrown-together $500 Craigslist BMW triumphed over $400K race cars to make the podium at the WRC Rally Mexico. For Caswell, our story about his exploits changed his life and made him a semi-star. A year later, Caswell returned to Rally Mexico a celebrity with an equally slapdash machine. Our original story was titled "How a $500 Craigslist car beat $400K rally racers." This year Caswell and his co-driver didn't podium, but somehow had a better time. So perhaps it's best to call this version "How a $500 Craigslist team got robbed, laid, drunk, and fast while being beaten by $400K rally racers." In the style set forth by our original telling of the story, I'm just going to insert bits from Caswell's retelling with comments in between. But let me preface it this way: Bill Caswell is insane. The emails he sends are full of the kind of myopic energy few, other than perhaps coked-up cheerleaders, posses. And now, to the story� Getting robbed by Mexican cops The trip started out a lot like last year. I picked up Ron at his house in Missouri which is where I picked up Slocum last year and first met Ron Erickson. Ron is my kind of codriver. More of driver and mechanic than a codriver, someone who asks if its ok for him to go dancing with a hot Mexican girl Saturday night while I finish up the car. Sure man, just make it back to the service park by morning. You dont need to read notes just strap in. Get back to the service park by any means necessary. He was home by 430 or so. Nice Job Ron! He is someone who picks up the welder asks no questions and just starts making repairs. My kind of guy. I met him a year ago when I picked up Slocum at his house on the way to WRC Mexico 2010. He had his entire VW GTI in pieces on the floor and I was like wow that's a big project. His response, "it better not be, I am driving this to work in the morning." Hmmmm you need to stay in touch. He came and crewed at STPR, so I offered him the Pikes Peak codrive as a thank you and it turns out he's pretty good. His grandfather actually raced there in the 1970's. Anyway, here is Ron and I rocking thru Mexico at night while I make pacenotes from last year's video. In the end we didn't get through all the stages so we borrowed some notes from a fellow driver Yuji Otsuki who used Japanese characters here and there. Its actually pretty cool as it looks like you could have one symbol to describe a lot of stuff, but was very different from the notes we borrowed last year which were in Portuguese. I wonder if I can get my notes in Finnish or something cool for next year. We drove thru the night to the border. Swapped vans for one with Mexico paperwork just like last year and continued on our way. We were almost out of the Monterrey area when we missed and exit. Next thing we know we were crossing a speed bump at 65 mph and if you saw it from the outside it might have looked like a jump. We get pulled over where we are told we will be spending the night in jail and seeing the judge in the morning. I've heard the stories and know its BS and say ok, do I follow you? He gets on his radio and another officer who speaks English shows up and explains we have to pay there on the spot. I explain that I only have $46 (I hid all my other cash knowing these things can happen). They ask about Ron, but turns out on of the other cops already reached in and took all the cash in his wallet � maybe $100 or so, but didn't tell the others. So after a ton of back and forth, I'm finally like lets just to go this jail and we can explain all this to the judge in the morning. The guy realizes I get it and is like give us $100 and you can go. But I point to their friend, and explain he already took $100 from my friends wallet just didn't share with you guys and its all the money we have. They insist on my $46 but I say no way, I need it for gas, so they start digging through the van as the guy asks if we have any TVs or stereos. I just start laughing. Right as they are about to uncover our portable radio which we need for our service stops to crank music I offer up this skibag I got for free a while back but here's the kicker: They all took a Caswell motorsport t-shirt as they left . One guy actually asked if he could exchange his for different size. I really wish I had a picture of the three guys holding my shirts up to their chest. If you see three cops in Mexico with Caswell shirts, RUN. Keep in mind the organizers provided safe travel from Texas but that meant having the car done early and transporting it down in advance and working from a small set of tools, spares, and supplies which wasn't an option for me. Also, the Mexican road trip is one of my favorite parts of both years. The cops weren't really dangerous, it just one of those things. Shit Happens. And the Mexican countryside and food is the best. I love it. Yes, he just ended a story about getting robbed by saying "I love it." Also worth noting that Bill is a gearhead's gearhead and spend a lot of time — usually at the last minute — getting his car together. If you call him he's likely to be in his mom's garage outside Chicago welding his car. Preparing for the race We arrive right before tech and are told by the other teams that we are in trouble as none of the cars passed tech the first day due to cage issues and this is a last chance tech session. (I heard later the Focus was ok, but had some other issue). I knew we were ok because we had passed last year and well, I welded my cage myself and personally know that every joint is welded properly. Sure enough the car passed but my old pair of shoes I was loaning Ron had a minor hole. I promised we would have new shoes by the start or wouldn't run. Next stop, Ken Block. "Um Ken, any chance you have a spare pair of shoes? We'll pay for them, whatever it takes." It must be nice to be real team that even carries spare driver safety gear. Ken had to ask the team manager which I also thought was kind of cool. I tried to get his card but he declined. I think he knew I would send him emails every week asking for a test in one of the Ford WRC cars. And he's right I would! I chatted with Rhys Millen a few months back and he now gets a text every month asking when I can test one of his cars. Someday, someone will give in. Note, right after re-re-reading this I noticed an e-mail from Bill making more ridiculous requests. So, yeah, sorry Rhys. It happens. Opening ceremony On the way to opening ceremonies the car misfires so badly we can hardly maintain 40 mph and pull over. We play with a ton of stuff, call a friend Ben in Chicago, and eventually decide to disconnect the AFM and keep going in limp mode. We were stopped at various points in the street with fans everywhere so you get out and sign autographs, well I had hundreds of Caswell stickers and when I started to hand them out the crowd went nuts so I quietly got on the roof and started throwing the stickers over Ron's head at the crowd who immediately went nuts, pushed past the cops and rammed Ron into the car as they fought for stickers. I couldn't stop laughing and just kept throwing stickers from the safety of the roof. Here is a video of another section where the crowd was more contained. I heard Monster nearly started a riot handing out team gear at the jump El Brinco with a crowd of 20,000 or so. I guess we were the only team that jumped on our roof at the opening ceremonies and they shot off some confetti, it was pretty awesome. They interviewed me about the police chase from 2010 that never shared with anyone after Mexico. As usual, buy me a beer and I'll tell you the story. It was pretty wild. Something about the highest speed ever recorded on a WRC stage, but it happened like miles off the stage according to the GPS. You know computers, they fail all the time. We're going to eventually going to get Bill drunk enough to tell that story on camera. Whether he knows it or not. A big leap Anyway, I wanted to do well, I wanted to improve upon my finish from last year. But I went down there with a car that wouldn't run, had no brakes, and hasn't been driven since a legitimate crash in Maine at the end of the summer. I kind of got it sorted out by the start and started pushing hard on the first stage where we caught the dust of the car ahead of us even with the 3 minute intervals. Then we came to a jump that didn't seem so bad. There was a nice VIP tent sitting next to it with a DJ and some people watching so I hit it fast in 5th gear. Easily 100MPH. Best part, the jump wasn't in our notes because it was so obvious coming down the hill but Ron was still reading and not looking up. So I said into the mic, "Dude, are you ready to fly?" You have to listen carefully but you can hear it. The moment we landed the car seemed to explode and dart to the right faster than any car can turn on its own. I was scared. We were headed off the road at good speed, and at a large enough angle that the roll was going to be bad. I focused on the road and where I wanted to go and steered out of it, but the car was clearly broken. We did our best to measure the distance afterwards and believe we cleared 40-50 ft. The spectators told us someone could have stood in the road and we would have cleared them - I sort of doubt that, but we did fly. We landed in a huge nose dive(the fisheye lens takes away some angle but you can pause it and see the slope of the hood) and smashed the oil pan into pieces. We also ripped the motor mounts(I use these cool ones from AKG Motorsport where the studs are chained together inside the mount which prevented the damage from being way worse), pulled the transmission brace clean from the car, tore the driver's side rear subframe out of the unibody, ripped the skid plate off, punctured a 6" hole in the oil pan, and ran the motor for 40+ seconds before seeing the oil light (I know, I know, I will make the light larger next time). Still reading? Good, me too. We normally wouldn't print something this long. It's much, much longer than anything we regularly publish. But what can you do? It's Mexico. Someone in the comments is going to write "TL:DR" and, you know what. FUCK YOU. Stickers, stickers, and more stickers I thought our motor was done so we caught a ride on an ATV back up to the jump where there was a VIP bar with DJ under a tent. We sat out in the sun and crushed beers all afternoon as we watched the real rally cars come through. I got to ride around on a horse which was cool and a local cop rocked my stickers on his hat. You can even see me in the tv replay wearing my firesuit and cheering a few feet from the car as they hit the jump. We tried to hold up our hood so our sponsors would make the broadcast but the camera guys FREAKED out. We were smart to bring our hood with us (we took our carbon hood with us so it wouldn't get taken, — not stolen, taken — for the stickers and to hang on their wall. The sight of three people on an ATV with two in fire suits carrying a hood over their heads seemed to amuse people. ) as our mirrors had been torn off the car when we got back. They had Caswell stickers on them. I was sort of honored, I mean no one tries to take part of your car with you in the US. Ken tried to hoonigan Mexico but I had him beat. I covered every WRC service vehicle and both tow trucks that took us home as well as a cop, AND Henning Solberg's WRC car! I went up to Henning before the rally and was like good to see you again, I am the BMW pilot. He smiled and seemed to remember it all and I was like 'I am not doing more shots this year at the party, you and your brother messed me up last year' and he laughed and took the stickers. Well the next time his car pulled out he had them on both doors!!!!! And he kept them on for the weekend! SEE DOOR OF ORANGE WRC CAR IN THE PICTURES. Well Henning loses his power steering (which I don't run as its one more thing I can break) and is forced to change it after the stage and completes the repair in the mechanics typical service time. It's cool to see a pro rally driver wrench on his car - I like to think the Caswell stickers helped him repair the car on the side of the road. Rock on Henning! We got back to the service park and I was too drunk to fix the car. So we went to the superspecial and cheered everyone on while sobering up on free Monster energy drink thanks to Mr. Block and his sponsors. Finally we return to the service park to work on the car. I start cutting pieces of our skid plate out to use as patches for the oil pan. I had 5 things of 5 minute JB weld. I wish they sold it in a chicken bucket sized container but 5 was all I had, that and a bunch of RTV. So I made a 3 dimensional patch and glued it all together. We also had to deal with the transmission mount that was torn clean from the car's sheet metal. So once again I borrowed a random generator (I had to trade the sweet generator Miller gave me to finish the baja project and they didn't feel like replacing it) and tried to weld the car back together. I simply jacked the trans as close the blown out unibody as possible and just welded it straight to the car, the slots for the bolts were effectively gone. If you've skipped this entire thing now would be the time to start reading again. There are girls. Or, at least one girl a few times. I'm looking through the photos trying to determine just how many there are. Also, given Bill's engagement (is that still on?) they're all Ron's. Go Ron. The Girls of Mexico Unfortunately, I missed that the rear subframe ripped out of the car and on the second stage or so on Saturday, the car's rear suspension fell out. So once again we spent a day in hanging out on the side of a mountain in the Mexican sun drinking beers. Every pickup in Mexico seems to have a cooler full of beer in it so when we ran out we would just leave our tree and go down to the road for more beers or sandwiches if the WRC vans were coming by � they carry these awesome ham and cheese croissants with spicy mayo that are amazing. At one point a couple of cars showed up yelling Bill ? Bill? When we didn't make the next stage they backtracked looking for us. I have friends who do that when Block or Pastrana crashes out here in the U.S. I thought it was cool. But next year Im backing shorts, a t-shirt and flip flops in the trunk, Maybe also some margarita mix. That night Ron welded the subframe back in while I worked the generator for more power and then was like "um Bill, the girl that came by earlier is coming to pick me up to go dancing or something and I was hoping that was ok?" Right on! At first I was like 'man here we go again,' but on the other hand If I were single I would have made the same call in his shoes. I told him no matter what happens, get back to the service park by our time out. Leave all your gear here just in case. Sunday! Sunday! Sunday! With the motor finally running right and the subframe welded back into the car, we are ready for the first stage of the day when it gets canceled for safety or something. But only one of us got an alternate route book so we all followed that car who proceeded to drive like a madman so everyone could check in on time. The time interval between cars is a good idea, a pack of rally cars in traffic, trying to make up time is never a good thing. One of the cars has video of it which I really need to see. We all made our time in and we finally were able to run a stage at full speed again. We slowed for the jumps but not enough for one of them and we still caught air and knocked the car enough to jar the pan and start a serious leak of oil thru my patch job. We finished the stage and knew we only had one to go but then we find out there is a 30 minute regrouping control and we cant work on the car during the 30 minutes, nor can we open the hood to pour more oil in before we start. I don't have much to say other than I made an obnoxious snorting noise when I read the next bit. Super High Quality Dirty Oil I ran into the local stores and bought all their oil but it was only 3 quarts, so I gave 700 pesos to a guy in the crowd and sent him to locate as much oil as possible before we entered the control. He came back with a lot of oil and even a half used quart with grime all over it � hell, I would have filled it with vegetable oil at that point. So I super-filled the engine with oil and it barely ran as I drove it into the holding area there was so much oil in the sump. Initially we rolled the car onto some huge rocks to put the crack higher and allow us to collect the oil leaking out and draining across the sandy skidplate. We didn't have a lot of options or a lot of oil and we were pretty far from the service park. When the time came to leave I ran the bucket of used oil over to the end of the time control. I decided to just start the car rather than push it after looking at how much oil the bucket had collected plus the puddle on the ground, and sure enough. No oil light, we were good to go. So we enter the time control and start our transit where I drive 5 feet past the control and stop to fill the car with the nasty sandy oil. But it was super high quality dirty oil. Build, Race, Party We started the last stage and drove as fast as we could. The subframe tore out about three quarters of the way through the stage but we decided to keep going till the car wouldn't run anymore as it was the last stage. We made it through and were substantially faster than our Rally America competition who were taking it easy to ensure a finish, but the top cars were still running flat out for final points awarded to the fastest times on the last stage. We were only 4-5 seconds a kilometer slower than some real cars including Jourdain Jr and we were in a 20-year-old rear wheel drive, naturally aspirated car. I am ok with that but wish I could try a real car and see how it stacks up. Some day. We finish the stage and drop in our last quart or two but its not quite enough to get it to the fill mark so we start making time back to town as we need to go back to the service park, survive another 30 minute regrouping, and then get to the awards ceremony and back. We stop at the first gas station and buy all their oil, like 12 quarts worth. We fill the motor with 4 or so to top it off and head on our way. Somewhere there is a picture of this that I need to see because a rally car in a gas station with its hood up and two guys yelling for oil causes quite a scene in Mexico. There must have been a crowd of 20 or 30 yelling something like hurry up I think. Once we get to the regrouping at the service park, we again super fill it and drop it into the holding control where it leaks oil every where for 30 minutes. But there was still some left in the engine, so once again we started the car and made it to the awards ceremony. As we did at the opening, we jumped up on the roof, happy to finish, all while holding a Valvoline flag in honor of this special oil they sent us just prior to the rally that save our engine. We managed a 4th place finish but only because 4 cars out of 12 actually finished. We were last I guess. So if you just went down and drove at the minimum speed you placed and got a trophy. Oh well, I have a hard time racing with that approach. So did others. The carnage started on the first night when a Subaru struck a wall on the night stage which ran through the cobblestone tunnels under the streets of downtown GTO. The next day, car after car arrived by wrecker. A few teams hit poles or trees after jumps and the neon of Wong and Yuji rolled in a very legit manner. It was even shown on the WRC broadcast. I feel like by the time the cars came through in the afternoon there were only 4 cars left in the race and that a finish would mean a strong result.. Stupid jump and oil pan. There's always next year. On of my highlights was being called one of the "Last Warriors of Rally:" he builds, he drives, he parties with everyone else. I thought it was pretty cool. I think I'm putting Build, Race, Party on the side of my helmet! If you haven't noticed so far, whenever Bill casually mentions "Ken" he's talking about Internet celebrity/WRC driver/Him-khana himself Ken Block. Now just "Party" Talked with Ken for a while. I am so jealous, he is living the dream. 5 years from his first rally to WRC. Some day I'll have a real WRC ride but until then Ken's the man I'm cheering for. He told me his guys on the stages said I looked good, crazy sideways, but good. And I was like right on, sweet, and then Ken's like "and slow" What? Yeah they said you were slow, awesome sideways and pushing hard, but slow. I was a little heartbroken and maybe Ken could tell but he was like they just watched AWD turbo WRC cars come thru and then here's you in a little rear wheel drive car. Not your fault, your car is just slow. Well, at least they took enough notice to comment. I then caught up with Henning, Petter, and Mads. Three of my favorite drivers. Absolute madmen both in the car and at the bar. We carried buckets of Coronas around and had a great time. I thought at one point that I had been left behind (you know like I was tagging along) but Mads came back and was like "Where are you? We are getting more beer! Come with!" Hell yeah Mads. You my friend, are awesome. I kept talking about his drive in Sweden and one of the Solbergs was like "he was last, I would be that fast if I was last." I know what it means, he had clean roads which is key but did anyone see him drive with a loose light pod on the final stage? The kid is fast. I also asked them if they were ever afraid getting in the car. "If you are not afraid, you are not going fast enough" Ok well that's good I guess. I still threw up every morning putting the suit on. I am ok once in the car but for those 5 minutes as we gear up it gets to me. I don't really have the problem here in the States too much, but the drop-offs in Mexico are legit and everywhere. You pretty much just tune them out and drive, buy you know they're there. I challenged Petter to a cab race on the way home but he was like you are crazy, no way. Oh speaking of crazy, I talked a bit with the Paris Dakar winner Nassar Al-Attiyah and showed him my Baja BMW project and he was like "Man you are crazy! 14 days?" Yeah man 14 days. "How far did you get?" 185 miles. "hey man that's not bad for 14 days!" I thought that was pretty cool. The Way Home The rest is all pretty uneventful, except for these ridiculous tacos outside the hotel on this town square that are the best I have ever tasted. Ron had to fly home to take a final exam for college so I towed back solo. Stayed at this cool hotel in Matehuala with this awesome restaurant recommended by Ponce who was a fellow competitor from 2010. I kept texting him and he would be like "get gas here because they have great food then take the turnoff 2km later and�." It was great, made it so much easier to get there and back. I did get a trailer flat tire in the middle of the cartel zone on the way to the border but I let the tire destroy itself while I located a hole to use to change the wheel in so I wouldn't need a jack. From noticing the flat tire to pulling away with a fresh one on the trailer took me less than 12 minutes. There was a quick phone call to Ron the moment I saw the flat. When he answered, all I said was "Where is the electric impact wrench?" He answered and I hung up. I called back later to explain. I also stopped by Dave Carapetyan's and then saw Ken Stouffer testing his car in Dallas and realized I need to run Pikes Peak again(I am now paid and registered for 2011). Not bad for a two-week road trip adventure. At the end of June I return to Pikes Peak. There is always beer in the service van(except during the rally itself) so look for a rental van covered in Caswell stickers.

Ol' good eye

posted by Raffa, Picster, Capuchin,....

Hey everyone!

At the moment painting is pure fun and relaxation to me... as i'm on a training for my soon to come business i'm really exhausted when coming home... it's nice to know that my girlfriend and roman are waiting for me every day :) aaaaaaand of course miniatures!

At the moment i'm working on the wonderful pirate bust from JMD.
I started painting him with oils, it's so much fun to work more intuitive with oils... :)
Right now i'm working on the final details with acrylics....

The photo is pretty bad... on the next one you see his tattoo... maybe you recognize it! :)

Other projects i'm working on is a simple Grey Knight:

Also i made a new base for my demon prince...

Aaaand last but not least something that will still take some time :)

I hope you like some of the stuff :)

Cheeerioooooooooooo,
Raffa

NEW 2011 SUBARU TRIBECA REVIEW

The new Subaru 2011 Tribeca is considered to be among the well-performing and affordable priced midsize SUV models released in 2011. However, this is just not enough for making an educated decision on whether this model is suitable for you or not. Use this Subaru review to figure out whether the model is for you.
The 2011 Subaru Tribeca has a standard four-wheel drive system. It has a 3.6-liter six-cylinder engine. The engine produces 256 horsepower. The five-speed automatic transmission can be shifted manually as well.The four-wheel drive system makes this new Subaru stand out among its SUV competitors. However, this system makes the car slightly less economic. This model can achieve 16/21 mpg city/highway, according to official data. As you can see, the fuel economy is good, but it could have been better.


In general, the engine has very good performance. The acceleration and transmission are considered to be the best features of this model. The 2011 Tribeca model is equipped with all standard controls. Some of the standard features worth pointing out include power driver's seat, heated side mirrors and a leather-wrapped steering wheel with audio controls. This new Subaru scores well in terms of control, but if you want more advanced high-tech features, you have to go for an upgraded base model.This model has two rows of seats plus a standard third-row seat. The new Subaru has 8.3 cubic feet of storage space. It will not be a mistake to say that the third-row seat is a bit tight while the storage space could have been bigger, especially given the class of the vehicle.


The 2011 Tribeca has a slightly conservative yet classic design. It scores better in terms of functionality than in terms of looks.The safety features of the new Subaru include side-curtain airbags for the front and rear row seats, front-side impact airbags, and Vehicle Dynamic Control, Traction Control System, Brake Assist and Electronic Brake-force distribution. The car got top scores from state authorities for occupant protection. It has good scores in front crash protection, rear and side crash protection and even in roof protection. Overall, it can be said that this new Subaru model offers a good level of safety to the driver and the passengers.Overall, this Subaru review concludes that the new 2011 Tribeca model offers good performance, convenient and reliable controls and high level of safety to the driver and passengers. The model could have been more fuel-efficient. It could have offered larger storage space.

Source : ezinearticles

Stylish blogger award

Now what is this about?
... was my first thought. Many thanks to Claus, not Santa as he did nominate MV and also to Dave G / N+++ for his nomination and i was thinking what to do with this nomination as there was no "you now have to do this or that - guide"... in fact i can quote Dave G / N+++ as he really points it out for me - it is about fun:

"I wasn't sure what to think about these awards floating around our community lately. I mean, on the surface they're basically a feel-good pyramid chain letter. But having received one, and giving it some thought, I decided that it IS a "feel-good" award. It's a nice thing to recognize people for the work that they do, not to mention spreading some good feelings around and do some networking and advertising. It's also fun to share something about yourself to the community that they might not know."

The Rules are simple:

1. Thank and link back to the person giving you the award
2. Share seven things about yourself
3. Select 10-15 blogs who you think deserve this award
4. Contact these bloggers and let them know about the award.
   

I might not be the best with rules but i can give it a try. 1st is done i guess, many thanks again guys. Seven things about myself, oha:

1. When i was about 8 years old my first pet were fishs and there was one with only one eye, he was the leader of all others and my star.
2. With Age five i loved to eat stones.
3. As a young youth i was totally scared by an Old Sindbad film where a giant cyclop ate all of Sindbads friends.
4. I really fear white sharks, in fact i never saw one but my older cousin made me see "The white Shark" too early.
5. With age 16 i again tried to eat stones once in a while and i finally realized that this is stupid.
6. I guess my grandpa is the reason of my miniature love. He had been a war veteran and fought in Russia. As a child i did not know all the circumstances of this war and i was just amazed by his stories, for example how he stole a bike and was cycling through all Europe to get back to his loved wife, my grandma. He was a true hero for me, i can remember being out in the forest and learning about plants and animals from him, listening to stories all day long and also building plane models in different scales together. May all who died, whom i love rest in peace, i see you later :)
7. Seven is my lucky number - i did wear it back in my good old basketball days on my jersey.

Not an easy task as there are so many blogs out there. I might seem lazy in typing but Dave G / N+++ again marks the spot for me, so here is a quote again:

Finally, I hate making lists of notable sites. The reason is if I'm following them, I think they're worth checking out. On top of that, there are plenty of other blogs out there worth recognition that I don't follow only because there are only so many hours in the day, and I can't use them up reading about aspects of the hobby I don't involve myself with. (gaming: lists, strategy, etc) Every site out there has the potential for useful or inspiring information - even undiscovered authors blogging for themselves and letting readers slowly trickle in. (Just be sure to index your information)

However, there are some sites that come to mind, who are awesome in their own right, but have a few things that make them stand out:

I will go search my own reading list now and want to say sorry to those who might be not mentioned. Somehow 15 is a big number and otherwise it is way to less. Select 10-15 blogs who you think deserve this award.

1. Pepa Saavedra
Miniature Painting in all its glory. Many thanks for so many paintjobs that inspire again and again.
2. Figure it out
Mister J paints on and on - Historical Miniature Painting Rock'n'Roll day in day out.
3. The Little people project
Nothing more to say - just follow the link.
4. Peter Szilagyi
Powerful sculpting work - power you can feel!
5. Roberto Chaudon
A very unique and wonderful sculpting style and such a nice and passionate person when it comes to art.
6. Simon M.
This guy is just freaking crazy.
7. Studio Gir?ldez
One of those painters who paint too much on a great level. Really adorable output and pieces!
8. ZEE's creative Weirdness
Creativity in all its glory.
9. SuperPunch
So many cool creative stuff there. I am really looking forward to the actual art contest entries.
10. Painting Mum
Ana's blog about her wonderful skills.
11. Cianty's Tabletop Wargames
A great blog to read and with many cool buildings and dark alleys.
12. Pony Cock
Inspiration collected with great skills and just my taste.
13. White Circles
Palak's temple of wisdom and truth :)
14. Yury Serebyakov
A true sculpting King.
15. Bestienmeister
Cthulluhh, baby!!

bye, bye,
Somehow this post made me go search a stone now :)
Keep on happy blogging and stay full of passion!
Best Regards
Roman

JOHNNY TIPLER TO DRIVE IN LA CARRERA PANAMERICANA 2011

Johnny Tipler, author of Veloce book La Carrera Panamericana � �The World�s Greatest Road Race!� will be competing in this year's race as part of the team Pan-Am Motorsports.
Johnny writes for top motoring publications, including Octane, Motor Sport, Classic Cars, and Autosport, with particular emphasis on Porsche magazines including Excellence, Porsche Post, Classic Porsche and 911 & Porsche World. He's passionate and deeply knowledgeable about the many facets of classic cars and races, and a Porsche addict. We wish him all the best in the race later this year!

Visit www.panammotorsports.com to find out more about the team.

Here is a video of Johnny talking about the 60th Anniversary of La Carrera Panamericana at Goodwood Festival of Speed 2010.



Special offer!
La Carrera Panamericana � �The World�s Greatest Road Race!�
By Johnny Tipler

The story of the legendary Mexican road race, which lasts for 7 days and covers 2000 miles of central Mexico.

Click here for more info about the book.

Rainbows and pots of gold

posted by roman, jarhead, kong

Thanks to Mo - this song really stunned me for 4:12 ... Morning Music:

MERCEDES-BENZ G-CLASS FINAL EDITION 2011

This SUV is available in 2 variants of the Mercedes-Benz G-Class Final Edition Ba3. First, the G 350 BlueTEC, which is equipped engine diesel -powered 6-cylinder 211 hp with 540 Nm of torque. The second model G 500 which carry the V8 engine with a capacity of five .5-liter-powered 388 hp with 530 Nm of torque. Both G-Class special edition Final Ba3, equipped with motion system of four-wheel-permanent with automatic transmission 7G-TRONIC 7-speed.

In addition, this special edition model to adopt electronic traction control system 4ETS, then applied to the ESP and three differential locks. Standard features such as the telephone system at the armrest, carpet, rubber floor of the compartment cover and there is also a host for storage. Price of G 350 BlueTEC Ba3 Final Edition is offered at a price 90.511 euros or USD 1.1 billion and than G 500 Ba3 FE started with price 100.685 euros or USD 1.2 billion.

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