Five Race Cars That: Never Got Off the Ground

[@lenslr]

Pinned post for questions, clarifications, and corrections 😊

[@austinpeterson4898]

Correction! At around 9:54 you state the top speed as 278kph as equal to 178mph whereas 278kph is roughly 173mph

[@lenslr]

@austinpeterson4898 ah good catch, that's what I get for trusting someone else's conversion

[@grahambell4298]

@@lenslr I'll just point out that the photo at the start of the XJ13 section isn't the XJ13, it's a replica. And the real XJ13 certainly used to get taken out of the museum and given a run. Was at one of the 'Gaydon Gatherings' evening car shows there maybe 2 years back and they fired it up and drove it up and down in the museum grounds.

[@ZedNinetySix_]

Mercedes-Benz envies this title

[@lenslr]

@@ZedNinetySix_ heeheeheee

[@charlesblithfield6182]

Jag XJ13 is IMO one of the most beautiful car designs ever.

[@calummorris-astro]

Just back from the observatory, and I find this waiting for me, perfect for a wind down… thanks as always lenslr!

[@lenslr]

@@calummorris-astro my pleasure!

[@lenslr]

Also apparently the Casablanca scene is copyrighted as music and it had to be silenced 🙄 Typical. If anyone doesn't know the scene, comment here and I'll post a link

[@paulreilly3904]

When you started with the Peugeot you immediately had my attention. The 2011 Le mans is one of the great races and I so wanted to see Peugeot at the 2012 race.

[@lenslr]

@@paulreilly3904 I did have your previous request for a look at the diesel days in the back of my mind when I settled on the 908 as part of this video. It will happen, just need to get over to the Audi museum one of these days to take some photos, since we’re unlikely to see any of them properly on track again. Except perhaps at Goodwood?

[@paulreilly3904]

Goodwood will be the place to see them in the UK if they put in an appearance. And they've appeared at Laguna Seca I believe when Emanuelle Pirro and The great Tom Kristensen have been in attendance. But with Audi now trying to make a success of F1, perhaps the support won't be there from the manufacturer.

[@Cmin_Zaps]

I Remember that during the GT40 years there was actually another contender that never was... Abarth T140, a 6 Liter V12 powered race car that was supposed to be either in group 4 (as i think since it had a closed cockpit) or in group 6 (as Wikipedia states, tho I'm not sure). Sort of it is meant to be the Italian counterpart of the GT40, even by the design it seems kinda obvious since it actually looks like a modified GT40 with a 12 Cylinder engine instead of a V8. It never raced due to the regulation changed in 1967, so it was just a concept.

[@michaeldelaney7271]

I believe one of the driving forces behind the 3-liter displacement limit was the Europeans' fear of the Scarab sports cars powered by Chevy Small Block V-8's. The Scarabs were consistently beating the best Imported Sports Racing Cars here in the USA, such as the 4.9 Ferraris, 4.5 Maseratis plus the Jags and Aston-Martins. Reventlow had been considering taking his cars to Europe in 1958 but the new 3-liter rule put an end to that.

[@gchampi2]

As I understand things (from a source who was at Riverside on the day), Ken Miles most likely suffered a complete brake failure. SoCal is rather warm in August, and the brakes had been getting spongy on prior runs - remember, the brakes were built for Le Mans, a much longer circuit, where they got a lot more time to cool between large stops. While there was no "Official" answer, the chap I spoke to seemed pretty certain in what he told me, and as he was definitely at the track that fateful day (there are photo's of him & Ken at the track), I believe him. Oh, and if you're wondering why I'm not naming names, I was asked not to, for personal reasons.

[@lenslr]

Totally understad and appreciate the discretion - brakes would make more sense, I've heard some people say that it was a tire failure that was covered up to protect the relationship with Goodyear, which I've always had half of a raised eyebrow at as a reason. SoCal in August definitely warmer than Pays de la Loire in June - when I was at Le Mans Classic last year I had to go back to my hotel to get a jacket because it was like 40* in the early evening. Madness.

[@Donald.W.Rissler-ARTS]

A couple of my favorite unrealised race cars are: 1. Allard J2x-c GTP from 1992 . Was on a couple grids, but was only in testing. 2 Adams Escort Can Am from 1983. Did Race?, but was so underfunded it fell apart.

[@lenslr]

@@Donald.W.Rissler-ARTS good suggestions! the Allard is on a list for a future Five Cars That video just focused on Group C, so keep an eye out for that. Ill have to look more into the Adams, I’m not super familiar with the second generation of Can Am cars outside of Lolas

[@zounds13]

Thank you for this excellent video. One thing, though: "Tyrrell" is pronounced with the accent on the first syllable.

[@lenslr]

@@zounds13 yeah, one of those inevitable drawbacks of having learned most things through reading rather than having lived through it or watching old recordings. It took me years before I realized how one was actually supposed to pronounce cathedral, for instance. Childhood years, but...

[@zounds13]

@@lenslr LOL I had the same thing happen with the word rhetoric, embarrassingly in a college classroom. I'm still embarrassed about it.

[@wheelinnreelin8632]

Hi lenslr, great video! I just picked up a canon r50 and I am looking to noodle with motorsport photography at Daytona and Sebring. What would you say is the bare minimum soon for a lens for that application? Many thanks and keep it up!

[@lenslr]

@@wheelinnreelin8632 hi there! So, I shoot primarily Nikon and can’t make a concrete “you need this exact lens” recommendation, but my two main lenses are a Nikon 28-300mm that, while at the low end of the range doesn’t have much use for on-track shooting, is so fantastically versatile that I’ve carried one quite literally around the world twice (38 countries, countless drunken nights and four big, multi-day mountain range treks before it gave up the ghost) and the Tamron 150-600mm G2, which is available for Canon mount and is good for everything during daylight shooting, but struggles a bit more at night. TLDR; you’ll want to aim for something with the highest max focal length you can manage on your budget which, looking briefly at compatible lenses from Canon, would probably be either their RF55-210mm or RF100-400mm, but of course verify those are compatible before ordering. I am working on a couple of videos about shooting at Sebring and Daytona and where to get the best shots, so look out for those in the mid-future!

[@wheelinnreelin8632]

⁠​⁠@@lenslrthank you very much! I’ve been looking at a 600mm f11 lens that canon offers for my camera. Does a fixed zoom lens have a place in Motorsport photography? Looking forward to that photography video, are you going to the 24?

[@lenslr]

@wheelinnreelin8632 I would skip prime lenses just because every corner is different. I am unfortunately missing the 24, have a conference in Denver for my day job. Only IMSA race I'm likely to get to this year is Petit Le Mans.. Going to try to make it to Lone Star Le Mans as well but we'll see

[@NurburgringMascotThirstA-is6gl]

Haven't watched yet but I'm guessing the Mercedes CLR won't be on this list

[@lenslr]

@@NurburgringMascotThirstA-is6gl not last time I checked the flight clearance logs. Haha

[@Don.Eliciano.962]

That Porsche 962 from 1994 they didn't like that car at all.

[@lenslr]

@@Don.Eliciano.962 yeah but a win is a win, I mean…

[@marklangren3142]

962 got introduced in 1984 at daytona driven by the car destroying Andretti 's

[@mantasisganaitis2281]

XJ13 was such a failure that people doesn't even see a difference of original vs terrible replicas

[@billmcdonald4335]

The dreadful 1969 Cosworth 4WD. Proof that sometimes an engine supplier is better off sticking to making engines, not trying to make the chassis to put 'em in.

[@lenslr]

At the same time, can't really blame them for trying... sometimes our true competencies only come out as a result of a long-shot side project.

[@billmcdonald4335]

@@lenslr To engineers, there are successful failures. The Cossie 4WD wasn't one of these, tho'. ;)

[@richardmoore3397]

Most famous cars to ever get off the ground are the Porsche 911 GT1 and the Mercedes CLK GTR

[@R4M_Tommy]

No CLK racing in GT1 ever took flight, be it the GTR or LM

[@richardmoore3397]

Yes it did​! Le Mans 1997 Peter Dumbreck following the Toyota GT1 down the Mulsanne Straight, it's on KZbin