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Search Results for: 80's

Visual History: Can-Am Racing

Posted by Rory

Starting in 1966, Can-Am was an idealistic series conceived by the SCCA and its Canadian counterpart, CASC. Running under FIA Group 7 rules, it was as open as a series could get, essentially a formula libre format with the chassis weight and horsepower being, for all intents and purposes, unlimited. If the the tires weren’t exposed and it had 2 seats, you could race it. It was popular among drivers and enthusiasts, the likes of Keke Rosberg, Gilles Villeneuve, and even Paul Newman being regulars at the meets.

While this format led to some interesting technological developments and some truly oddball designs, it also opened the door to the inevitable: 1,000+HP engines bolted to cars that proved to be as unsafe as they were powerful. Lola & McLaren dominated the front 9 of the first era, the latter half saw the introduction and subsequent perfection of the Porsche 917, which nearly spelled the end of the series as they were unbeatable by non-works sponsored teams.

Some notable offspring of the early Can-Am years included heavy experimentation with aerodynamics and downforce, particularly Jim Hall’s Chaparral cars. The 2J, or “sucker car” [seen above in b&w bearing the number 66] used a series of skirts and a small 2 stroke engine which powered 2 fans aft of the vehicle. This combination of parts cobbled together [on what I feel is one of the ugliest race cars ever produced] created a unique type of ground effect, one which didn’t require moving air over the car, meaning that downforce in excess of 1.5g could be accomplished at any speed. When it was actually working, it qualified 2 seconds faster than the closest car, and was quickly banned.

The late 1970’s saw the waning series combined with then thriving Formula 5000 category, allowing teams to convert single-seat, open wheeled tubs into closed-wheel sports cars. While less popular in the long run, it encouraged many more teams to compete and led to a truly unique chapter of motorsport, as well as some really good looking cars. This modest resurgence continued until the dominance IMSA/Camel & CART took over as the format of choice in the 80’s.

Daphni+Future Unlimited+Trago+Poolside

Posted by Jakub



Daphni seems to be taking the front seat ever since Caribou got of the tour curcuit, the organic sample based material seems to be turning into darker bangers at higher tempos, i’m really into but i’m not sure how others are feeling, the listeners that expect precious Caribou sugariness.

Its like digging thru my old disco house records, Bob Sinclair jazzercise samples with full on disco strings, the tambourine has never been mixed louder with that the release cut out completely, Tom Trago I hope you know your history though, good dance floor cut.

Nashville is quickly releasing a handful of 80’s flashback artists, i’ve found 3 good ones in the past couple months, I don’t know if it was the Drive Soundtrack or Cut Copy just reached Middle America, I really adore this one from Future Unlimited.

NPR just stamped this on LA’s Daytime Disco duo Poolside with: “one of the most played albums at the station for almost a month now”

Liveries: John Player Special

Posted by Rory

Here we are, probably my favorite livery from the heyday of Formula 1: John Player Special. As Lotus’s title sponsor for much of the 70’s and 80’s, these beautiful black and gold machines spent alot of time in the winners circle. Emerson Fittipaldi, Jochen Rindt, Mario Andretti, and Ayrton Senna, to name a few, all drove JPS sponsored Lotus machines.

JPS was also active in touring cars and motorcycle racing, the black & gold scheme so iconic that many manufacturer’s road-going variants usually had a complimentary paint option – albiet without the lucrative cigarette advertisements.

The colors have proved so nostalgic that Lotus has donned them once again (without any association to the extinct cigarette brand) in their Formula 1 and Le Mans prototype cars, and I must say that it’s a hero’s return for most.

What I’m really looking forward to is checking out the Historic GP at this year’s inaugural F1 race in Austin, a little birdie told me that Mario’s old Lotus 79 will be buzzing around the new track.

FIAT/Abarth 131

Posted by Rory

Fiat (Italian Automobile Factory of Turin) released the 131 to little fanfare in 1974. It was aimed at the family demographic, offering sedan, avant, and coupe layout. They were modestly powered and featured nothing truly ground breaking. So why bother featuring it? In all honesty, I think the 131 was one of the better looking economy cars of the day. It nearly stole the 3-series’ thunder, with a very evolved and elegant design for a mid-seventies car. Its proportions are pleasing, it has geometric, minimal shapes between the pillars, and anything with fog lights framed in a boxy fascia, I’m a fanb0i of.

While a lot of the cars I feature in my posts have some sort of tie-in with rally racing, I’m more a fan of european car design from the 70’s and 80’s in general, and in those days the WRC was a cost effective way for carmakers to achieve a global presence in motorsport. BMW has M Sport, Mercedes-Daimlers has AMG, Nissan has NISMO; Fiat’s tuning division was called Abarth. And in 1976, Abarth turned this mellow grocery-getter into one of the last great carbureted, rear-wheel driven rally cars. It took the World Rally Championship 3 times in ’77, ’78, and after a 2 year drought again in 1980, with a total of 18 victories over 5 years.

As good as the road-going model was, the Abarth 131 is truly a work of purpose-built art, everything from the bespoke brake ducts and flared wheel wells to the subtle spoiler lip added to the boot lid puts this particular variant in my top 10 list of best looking cars ever produced. Whenever I look at an E30 M3, I can’t help but think it looks a little sterile compared to the Abarth.

Osborne+Loscil+Roberts+Dreamscape

Posted by Jakub



I see some of you wanted to know a little more about Superstructure, he’s also Osborne( aka Soundmurderer, Starski&Clutch, TNT, and probably many others) and he probably doesn’t remember selling me my first Aphex Twin vinyl or that I think he’s an ACTUAL magician and a real honest hard worker, this song above is probably my favorite song he ever did and this video below gives you more of a personal contact with him.

I just took one of my socks off and threw it across my room in the middle of this new Loscil song, are you kidding me Scott Morgan! this is not from earth, you can’t just make music like THIS! its… its just too good, I can’t even relax, I sit still and grin and feel perfect.

If you want to hear “experimental” music and don’t want to be disappointed then just wait for more John Roberts, queue it up on Beatport or search for it weekly on Rdio because this guy has some special ideas that aren’t different to be different, its just simply well thought out.

Some of us can’t let go of the beauty of the late 80’s and I would never deny anyone the right because damn it that sound was the pinnacle, i’m glad Kranky helps these bands like Dreamscape find a home.

Bertone Design

Originally an Italian coach builder and manufacturer, Gruppo Bertone ultimately became renowned for their progressive automotive design. Starting with the legendary Lamborghini Miura in the late 1960’s, Bertone’s designers were commissioned by many Italian carmakers of the day for both concept and production based cars. The late 70’s and early 80’s brought critical success and some of what I feel were their best designs, known for their distinct wedge profile and futuristic accents. Pictured above are some examples of work they did for Lancia, Fiat, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Volvo, Alfa Romeo, Maserati, and BMW.

-Rory