Ferrari: Race to Immortality Faces Danger & Tragedy With Style & Grace

I have a theory that 99.9 percent of all car movies are terrible; barely watchable dreck that only offers brief glimpses of something cool and car-related, let alone offering true insight into the automotive world, let alone the human condition. This movie, however, Ferrari: Race to Immortality, is most definitely not one of those movies.

Studios & Garages

I should preface this with the fact that I worked in movie and TV production for decades. Seeing a movie with me (and any of my production team friends) is usually bogged down with post-viewing conversations about bad edits, bad directing decisions, commenting on lens choices and stuff like that before we get into the meat of the movie; i.e. the plot, the narrative, and the acting.

On top of that, there’s the gearhead side of me that has to be seen to. We, the gearhead movie-goers, all seem to have this nagging trait. We know cars intimately, and when something is technically wrong, it grates on us, and usually to a disproportional level. Tire squeals on gravel, seven upshifts in a five-speed car, driving off a cliff = explosion. It bugs us, I get it. Shoot, it bugs me all the time.

That said, I can unequivocally say that Ferrari: Race to Immortality is one of the best documentaries I’ve seen. Not racing documentaries, mind you; one of the best documentaries period.

At The Limit & Over The Edge

Essentially, Ferrari: Race to Immortality is a film version of Mon Ami Mate by author Chris Nixon. The movie revolves around the lives, racing and otherwise, of Mike Hawthorn and Peter Collins, two British racers from the 1950s. The 1950s were a particularly violent and reckless time for auto racing. Spread across the decade, top line drivers from all disciplines (Grand Prix, Indy, sports cars etc.) were dying at the rate of one every other week.

Around 28 per year, every year, for a decade.

The movie starts with the infamous Le Mans crash of 1955 that saw the Mercedes 300 SLR of Pierre Levegh catapult into the main grandstands, on fire, and take more than 80 people with him. That, more or less, sets the tone for the entire movie to follow. “I keep death in my hip pocket,” Enzo Ferrari once said, and this movie shows you the meaning of those words.

Mike Hawthorn. Photo: The Cahier Archive.

Human Conditions

Hawthorn was involved in that crash (some alleged was the cause of the crash) but won Le Mans that year. Indeed, he became the first Englishman to win the World Driving Championship. In a lot of ways, Hawthorn was right out of central casting: tall, good looking, butter-colored wavy hair, always raced wearing a bow tie, just the sort of thing the British fans and press would eat up.

Peter Collins, on the other hand, was more ruggedly featured, and say what you want about the two of them, looks-wise, but they sure had a string of girlfriends. The movie just doesn’t point this out, it actually has interviews with the various ladies involved with these racers.

All of the interviews and sound bites, with fellow racers, the aforementioned lady-friends, journalists, Enzo himself, and historians are all delivered via voice over and it works fantastically. No talking heads to distract with boring visuals. And what is said is just dynamite stuff. Not just from a gearhead perspective, but, very importantly, from a human perspective.

Hawthorn was interviewed extensively back in the day, and his stuff is rather “right off the rack” in what is said, and some of it I had heard before. Collins is friendly, joking; seems like a real good bloke. Enzo is Enzo: political, cunning, measured, Machiavellian. The real meat here is what is said by the girlfriends and the historians. There’s none of this “I’m just the steady backing on the home-front” BS that we have sadly come to expect.

At one point, Louise King, Collins’ wife said, in response to a question about the danger involved, “One time, Peter did try to bring it up, and I stopped him. ‘Don’t’, I said, ‘Just don’t.’ And we never spoke of it again.”

Sweet Jesus.

Visual Treasures

All the interviews come across like a rich vein of gold willingly mined. There are extensive interviews with Alfonso de Portago, the brilliantly talented yet doomed Spaniard. Until last night, I had never heard him speak. Other drivers, writers, girlfriends, and such all chime in, but none of the interviews are fluff, none of it is filler. Every word adds to and enriches what is being shown on screen.

And oh what they show on screen.

The visual end of things is nearly flawless. All of the archive materials used are flat out fantastic. Yes, I had seen much of this footage before, but a remarkable amount of it was unknown to me. All of the older footage was re-graded and level-matched, most of the grain and such taken out. None of it was colorized.

There is tons of footage from back in the day of these guys hanging out, waiting to drive, smoking cigarettes, goofing off at hotel pools, getting out of cars covered in grease and dirt and grime, levering themselves out looking as physically spent as a human can, but beaming; beaming bright satisfied smiles.

Time Machines

And mixed in with all this are drop-dead-gorgeous shots of various vintage Ferraris (246s, 555 Squalos and such) shot in the present day. It would seem the producers got ahold of some far too lucky rich guys that own these old beasts, dressed them up, and turned them lose on old race tracks to get more footage. And the new stuff is seamlessly integrated with the old stuff. And I do mean seamlessly.

A lot of the work I did was as an editor, and more than once I was caught off guard, only noticing two or three cuts later that they had dropped in modern footage with the old. The last time I failed to notice editing like that was watching Schindler’s List.

Yeah, this movie is that well done.

Ferrari: Race to Immortality at Brands Hatch.

Ideal Balance

Ferrari: Race to Immortality seemingly covers it all, but never gets bogged down in technical details or soap opera subplots, neither becoming too maudlin over the constant drum-beat of fatalities nor exulting in the sacrifice. The rivalry between Eugenio Castellotti and Luigi Musso. Collins’ ultimate sporting gesture with Juan Manuel Fangio. Enzo’s belief that more pressure equaled more wins. Meditations on the nature of danger and mortality by Stirling Moss. The sublime joy of sliding your race car just so through and out an entire turn.

But more than anything else, what is made abundantly clear, moment after moment, frame after frame, is that everyone involved loved this life.

Tony Borroz has spent his entire life racing antique and sports cars. He is the author of Bricks & Bones: The Endearing Legacy and Nitty-Gritty Phenomenon of The Indy 500, available in paperback or Kindle format. His forthcoming new book The Future In Front of Me, The Past Behind Me will be available soon. Follow his work on Twitter: @TonyBorroz

Ferrari: Race to Immortality

Synopsis: The 1950s saw the rise of Scuderia Ferrari in the Formula One World Championship in the deadliest decade in motor racing history. Ferrari: Race to Immortality tells the story of the loves and losses, triumphs and tragedy of Ferrari‘s most decorated drivers in an era where it was la dolce vita during the week and a coin toss of whether they lived or died on the weekend.

Director: Daryl Goodrich 

Starring: Peter Collins, Mike Hawthorn, Enzo Ferrari 

Run Time: 1hr 31m

Availability: Via Amazon Prime, official trailer here.

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Not Forgotten: The Sportster ‘XX Tracker’ from Gasoline

Harley-Davidson owned the internet yesterday. Unless you live under a solid aggregate of minerals, you’ll know that the Motor Co. teased its upcoming model range—including the productionized Livewire, a streetfighter, and an adventure tourer called the ‘Pan America.’

But did you notice there was no mention of the Sportster? Could this finally be the end of the road for the venerable roadster? Fear not. There will always be killer Sportster builds to keep the massive second-hand market alive—like this rowdy flat tracker from Australia’s Gasoline Motor Co.

The Gasoline crew developed a taste for flat track racing after blasting round their local track at Appin, an hour’s drive out of Sydney. At first they used a KTM 450 shod with Dunlop DT3s, but founder Jason Leppa realized it was soon time to move on to more appropriate machinery.

“Learning the ropes of sliding at high speed on the dirt soon turned into a need to practice on a heavier Harley XR1200X,” he tells us.

At first glance, this V-twin street tracker looks like a no-fuss hooligan racer. But it’s primed to tear up asphalt as well as the dirt—and has enough of the right bits to make it street legal.

A 2000-model Harley-Davidson Sportster was the starting point for what became the ‘XX Tracker.’ Gasoline stripped it down, then threw away anything they could to save as much weight as possible.

A monochrome palette was on the cards from the word go, so the engine was removed and painted black, while the frame was refinished in white.

Gasoline kept the Sporty’s stock oil tank, but tossed the fuel tank, seat and fenders. In their place are a fiberglass tank and tail, hand made by Phil Little Racing in the classic American flat track style. The livery is simple and tasteful: gloss black, with a few custom decals.

As per normal flat track spec, the XX Tracker rolls on a pair of 19” hoops—in this case, lifted from an early model Sportster and powder coated black before being wrapped in Maxxis dirt track rubber. Roger at Retroline added a super-subtle touch: white pinstripes on each rim.

Custom-machined triple clamps were installed to get the front wheel to fit, and spacers ensure the sprockets line up at the rear.

The forks were fitted with new 11-1130 springs from Progressive Suspension, and shaved of any unused mount tabs. And a set of custom-tuned Nitron shocks was installed out back, dialed in to the rider’s weight.

Gasoline have also added a chain conversion kit, with an oversized 60-tooth rear sprocket for maximum pull-away out on the track.

As for the motor, it’s stock inside. On the outside there’s an S&S Cycles Super E carburetor, and a high flow Slant air filter from Roland Sands Design. And, of course, a massive, in-your-face twin exhaust system that provides max airflow and sounds magnificent.

It’s the work of Niko at Hi-Tech Mufflers, who built it up piece by piece from stainless steel. The Gasoline crew then whipped up a big ol’ heat shield in-house, to cap it off.

Those are the obvious changes—but there’s a ton of subtle tweaks on the XX Tracker that tie everything together. The stock mid-mount foot controls were converted to ‘low-mount’ controls, and upgraded with a grippier set of pegs.

Up top, the guys added a set of high-and-wide 1” bars, but trimmed off the cross brace that came with them. The levers are standard, but the throttle and grips are new—along with the mini switches and internal wiring.

The stock handlebar clamp was milled out to accept a tiny LED dash from Motogadget, plus a set of LED warning lights. The entire electronics package is discreet, with a trimmed harness running through Motogadget‘s popular m.unit control box, and activated by their keyless RFID ignition.

The ‘headlight’ is actually two powerful LEDs, mounted down low on a pair of custom-made engine crashbars. Out back is a floating license plate bracket, which also carries a thin LED taillight. Turn signals are present at both ends; small pin units flanking the tail, and wraparound LEDs on the forks.

Gasoline’s XX Tracker nails the Sportster tracker vibe flawlessly, tweaking the timeless recipe just enough to make it the perfect Harley for both road and track.

It’s uncomplicated, beastly, and a loud reminder that the Sportster’s going to be around for a long, long time.

Gasoline | Facebook | Instagram | Images by Rob Hamilton

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Dodge Challenger R/T Scat Pack 1320: Because Drag Racing

Yes, that’s the actual full name of the car: Challenger R/T Scat Pack 1320. Dodge says this latest Challenger variant is a “drag-oriented, street-legal muscle car designed with the grassroots drag racer in mind.” To which I can only say: Duh! Gee, why am I supposed to think it’s a drag-oriented, street-legal muscle car designed with the grassroots drag racer in mind?

Is it the Dodge part, the Challenger part, the R/T part, the Scat Pack part or the 1320 part?

Stripped Down

Guess what (and I’m not kidding here) it’s the 1320 part. No really. Dodge mentions “1320” and what it means seemingly 147 times in their press materials about this car. For those of you that, unlike me, did not spend an inordinate amount of time hanging out at drag strips with guys with named “Big” Ed and “Smitty” and “Slo-Poke” Ron and other grease-fingered, knuckle-banging speed-freak reprobates, you will be happy to know that a drag strip is (drum roll please) 1,320 feet long.

Now, it is important to note that the Scat Pack 1320 is not like a COPO Camaro or a Drag Pack Mustang. The Scat Pack 1320 is, unlike those very fine rides, completely street legal. This, of course, warms my heart. Selling race cars to any 18-year-old kid with a big enough wallet? Why, that’s as American as apple pie and phony wars, that’s what that is. Brings a tear to my eye, it truly does.

Anyhoo, what does this R/T 1320 get you? As with all bat-guano-crazy Mopar stuff, it gets you a lot. To the base Dodge SRT, you add a bunch of drag specific components and tech to seemingly shorten that asphalt quarter by ten feet or so. Dodge calls it a “street-to-strip value package,” which is easily my favorite marketing term of the week.

Dodge Challenger R/T Scat Pack 1320. Photo: FCA US LLC.

Old School Tech Tools

For starters, you get the TorqueFlite 8HP70 eight-speed automatic transmission. No ifs, ands or buts, this is the tranny you get with the Scat Pack 1320 package. The Dodge TransBrake is in there too to lock the output shaft before a standing start, like a modern version of an old school line lock. This gizmo called Torque Reserve works in combination with the TransBrake, managing fuel flow to cylinders and advancing or retracting the spark to balance engine rpm and torque for max power delivery and launch performance.

“Launch performance” is further boosted by the Nexen SUR4G Drag Spec 275/40R20 street-legal drag radials. The boss meats are all-new and were developed to deliver exceptional grip on the drag strip. Supposedly these Nexen tires give super-consistent run times with minimal burnout preparations, but what’s the fun in less burnouts guys?

The SRT three-mode Adaptive Damping Suspension has been electronically re-tuned for the Scat Pack 1320, and now includes a Drag Mode that optimizes weight transfer to the rear for optimal launch traction. The diff is a performance-tuned unit with an asymmetrical limited-slip set up and a 3.09 final drive. Thankfully, the rear axle half shafts are the extreme-duty, 41-spline pieces from the Challenger SRT Demon.

In drag strip testing compared with a Dodge Challenger R/T Scat Pack, the Challenger R/T Scat Pack 1320 shaves .3 seconds off the quarter-mile time to 11.7 seconds at 115 mph, and cuts .3 seconds off the 0 to 60 mph acceleration time to 3.8 seconds. Photo: FCA US LLC.

Launching & Braking

A Line Lock is there in addition to the TransBrake, locking the front brakes while the rear wheels are free for a burnout to heat up and clean the rear tires and look totally wicked. The Launch Assist uses wheel speed sensors to watch for any driveline damaging wheel hop when you let off all the binders. Launch Assist can, in milliseconds, modify the engine torque and regain full grip before you look like a total grommet.

Launch Control does even more of the same, controlling tire slip during that straight-line burst of acceleration.

The Brembo High-Performance Brake Package with four-piston calipers will be there for you at the end of the run, and the Low Gloss Black 20 x 9.5-inch aluminum-forged wheels with knurled bead seats minimize tire slip on the wheel and look boss while doing it.

Photo: FCA US LLC.

Single Shot

And my absolute favorite option: The standard interior has just the driver’s seat only. Goodbye 114 lbs., hello lower reaction times and ETs. Okay, okay, okay, if your honey and the rugrats got to come along, front passenger and rear seats are available, individually, as $1 options.

1320. Remember that number.

Tony Borroz has spent his entire life racing antique and sports cars. He is the author of Bricks & Bones: The Endearing Legacy and Nitty-Gritty Phenomenon of The Indy 500, available in paperback or Kindle format. His forthcoming new book The Future In Front of Me, The Past Behind Me will be available soon. Follow his work on Twitter: @TonyBorroz

Dodge Challenger R/T Scat Pack 1320 Gallery

Photos & Source: FCA US LLC.

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2019 Chevy Silverado 1500: I Like Big Beds & I Cannot Lie

Chevy is showcasing a new metric in the ongoing truck wars: bed space. According to the automaker, the 2019 Chevy Silverado has best-in-class cargo volume, box depth, and box length at floor. Chevy also says the Silverado’s 12 fixed tie-downs and power up/down tailgate make it the most functional bed of any pickup.

“The bed is the heart and soul of any pickup, so we made several improvements to the bed of the all-new Silverado to give our customers an even better hauling experience,” explained Tim Herrick, Executive Chief Engineer, Full-Size Trucks, General Motors. “We’ve added so many features and benefits that it deserves its own name – Durabed.”

Bed Science

Although different than the average suburban four poster at the furniture mart, Chevy’s Durabed does share some of that space-age magic often touted by mattresses of the late-night shopping network variety. For example, Durabed uses higher grades of steel, and the overall quality of the bed floor materials has improved from 340 megapascals to 500 megapascals. Chevy points out the strength difference here, noting that Ram’s bed is still 340 megapascals while the F-150 is made from aluminum.

Earlier this year, one of Silverado’s lead engineers explained Chevy’s “mixed material strategy” at length with us.

The 12 aforementioned fixed tie-downs have doubled in strength: from 250 lbs. to 500 lbs. of force before bending. An additional nine moveable tie-down points are available, along with in-bed LED lighting and a 110/120-volt power outlet.

Photo: Chevrolet.

Tailgate Tech

In order to access the bed, the 2019 Chevy Silverado comes with one of four tailgates: a standard, manual gate, a lockable “Lift Assist” gate, an automatic release/power lockable gate, and the power up/down tailgate. The latter, available on the LTZ and standard on High Country, raises or lowers using the key fob, gate touchpad, or button in the cabin.

Bigger Is Better

Every Silverado bed size has increased significantly in volume for the 2019. The short-box’s volume is up to 20 percent more than any competitor’s short-box, according to Chevy. Most of that increase was achieved by widening the maximum width of the bed floor nearly ten percent (seven inches), which is implemented across all three bed sizes. Below are charts provided to us by Chevy that show their dimensions versus the competition.

The 2019 Chevy Silverado goes on sale this fall.

Carl Anthony is Managing Editor of Automoblog and resides in Detroit, Michigan. He studies mechanical engineering at Wayne State University, serves on the Board of Directors for the Ally Jolie Baldwin Foundation, and is a loyal Detroit Lions fan.

By Comparison	Silverado Short Box	Silverado Standard Box	Silverado Long Box
2018 cargo box space	53 cubic feet	62 cubic feet	75 cubic feet
2019 cargo box space	63 cubic feet	72 cubic feet	89 cubic feet

 

Cargo Box Space	2019 Chevrolet Silverado	2019 Ford F-Series	2019 Ram 1500
Short box	63 cubic feet	53 cubic feet	54 cubic feet
Standard box	72 cubic feet	62 cubic feet	62 cubic feet
Long box	89 cubic feet	77 cubic feet	–

 

Cargo Box Depth	2019 Chevrolet Silverado	2019 Ford F-Series	2019 Ram 1500
Short box	22 in.	21 in.	21 in.
Standard box	22 in.	21 in.	22 in.
Long box	22 in.	21 in.	–

 

Cargo Box Length At Floor	2019 Chevrolet Silverado	2019 Ford F-Series	2019 Ram 1500
Short box	70 in.	67 in.	67 in.
Standard box	79 in.	79 in.	76 in.
Long box	98 in.	98 in.	–

Photos & Source: Chevrolet.

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