Doug Nye: Driving Ambition: The Official Inside Story of the McLaren F1
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I love the aesthetics of the diesel Peugeot 908 HDi FAP running (and leading) right now at Le Mans. The rear of the car is particularly militaristic in its aggressive simplicity.
It's also sporting a cool matte black finish over all but its beak. Matte continues to be the new black!
Okay, so it's not a stock minivan, but it looks like one... All hail the F1-powered Renault Espace minivan. Piloted by Alain Prost, no less.
When will manufacturers embrace us, the performance-loving-but-have-a-few-kids-and-too-many-strollers driving enthusiasts? A Honda Odyssey with around 300 horsepower, a dash more torque, a dual-clutch manumatic transmission, and a more sporting suspension would be just the ticket.
Wouldn't you like to ride around the Nurburgring with F1 ace Alonso? I would.
Watch these slightly nervous passengers get a hot lap as Alonso keeps a calm running commentary (in Spanish). It's amazing how easy he makes it all look, even as he tells us he's turned the A/C off to make the car go faster, or remarks that -- hey! -- there's a chick driving that other car.
It helps if you understand Spanish, but if you don't, the moaning tires and the body language make it clear that the front seat passenger is wishing for a brake pedal in his wheelwell.
Need four-wheel-drive off-road capabilities? Stick a second engine and transmission in the rear. Panoramic sunroof? A roll-back canvas roof will do.
Audacious. French. A way of thinking beyond the obvious that's gone missing from Citroen in the decades that passed since a gnarly old Sahara last roamed the rocky roads of southern Spain, but whose iconoclastic sensibilitly can still be found in the work of the crazies at Honda.
