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Showing posts from March, 2015

Big Oly / The Iconic Off-Road Racer

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The car featured in this article is named " Big Oly ". Big Oly gained it's fame for it's performance during the 1970 Baja 1000 along with it's influence on this annual race as well as the Ford Bronco line of SUVs. The Ford Bronco was an SUV produced from 1966 through 1996 and won many off-road accolades.  Big Oly of course while resembling the Bronco had plenty of differences as described later in this article. Big Oly became an icon for off-road racing and gave the Ford Bronco line plenty of good advertising.   Big Oly   The Baja 1000 What would become a famous racing and endurance run down Mexico's Baja Peninsula began with American Honda. In 1962 , Honda developed it's CL72 Scrambler motorcycle and needed a way to prove it's durability.  American Honda approached Hollywood stuntman Bud Ekins for ideas. Ekins’s mentioned a  run down Mexico’s rugged Baja Peninsula, all the way from Tijuana to La Paz . This run would consist of 950 miles of so

A Very Rare 1960 Bizzarini P 538 Spyder / Photos, Specs

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In 1964, an engineer named Giotto Bizzarini started the automobile company, Società Prototipi Bizzarrini   and then a short time later,  Bizzarini S.p.A.   Several stylish automobiles were built by the company until 1969 when production ceased. Bizzarini's story is interesting. While he worked on designs and engineering for both Ferrari and Lamborghini, he never gained the stature that these companies attained. With this being said, Giotto Bizzarini is credited with several advanced design concepts. Bizzarini Spyder Giotto Bizzarini / Test Driver and Engineer A graduate of the University of Pisa and a member of a wealthy family from Tuscany, Giotto Bizzarini had a solid career with automobiles, being a test driver and then an automobile engineer. Bizzarini test drove for Alfa Romeo and later Ferrari and worked together with Iso and Lamborghini. This covered a big part of the Italian auto industry. With Ferrari, Giotto helped design the mid body engine car that moved the engine beh