There was once a time in motorsports when race tracks were not hermetically sealed 3.5 mile circles. Many of them were run on complex strings of open roads including the likes of Spa, the Targa Florio, Le Mans, & Hockenheim. The word “run off area” hadn’t been invented yet, the cars were insanely powerful, had very little grip, crashed often (usually going 150+mph) and drivers died frequently along with spectators.
For over 50 years, the pinnacle of viewing this ludicrous display of carnage was a track hidden away in Germany called the Nurburgring Nordschleife. It is a 14 mile, 160 turn beast of a road built as a test track in the late 20’s by German auto manufacturers in order to test the extremes of their vehicles. And oddly enough, it’s open to the public.
Trying to describe the experience is fairly pointless, to drive around it quickly is to wrestle for your life at every corner. Most of the turns are blind, off camber, and the radius decreases as you get further in, with all three of these characteristics having uphill and downhill variants on constantly changing surfaces. The track is so large that it is often raining on one sector and completely dry on the rest, making tire choice that much more of a gamble. Most drivers who have set lap records seem to agree: it was the scariest 7-10 minutes of their lives.
Two particular sectors within the circuit [pictured above] used to produce a fair amount of drama, Quiddlebacher Hohe and Pflanzgarten. The first is a short downhill/uphill straightaway that used to crest so abruptly, most cars would get all 4 wheels off of the ground (especially in qualifying) in an effort to maintain speed through the long sweepers ahead. The latter is a truly frightening downhill heart-stopper with a steep dip that drops the car about 6 feet in less than a second, if you’re not careful you’ll damage your suspension and body work. Both were gradually leveled off over the years, and since Formula 1 moved across the fence it has been less of an issue. Needless to say, I still laid up the rental a bit approaching both.
Stumbled upon this great Tumblr called Geometry Daily by German designer Tilman. Really enjoying how he’s chosen to display these creations. Plus, who doesn’t need a daily dose of geometry and minimal design?
Also, I’m currently revamping the Weekend Inspiration Posts. I’ll have one ready soon. Any ideas for subjects or topics, feel free to leave them in the comments below.
Both spawned from the “New Class”, the 2002 and E9/CSL models were critical to establishing BMW as not only an international brand, but as a serious contender in automotive racing. The styling of these two cars are as good as it gets for me, on both ends of the spectrum: The 2002 is minimal, sleek, and small- while the 3.0 CSL employed much more radical styling, especially the race-bred models, making extensive use of garish aerodynamic bodywork. Both were hugely influential and paved the way for the best selling BMW in history: the ubiquitous 3-Series.
I’ve never had the priveledge of driving a CSL, but my grandmother had an imported 2002tii in lime green when I was a kid, I have awesome memories of drives through Dutchess County in that baseball glove leather interior.
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As I keep my eye on 2 screens, 1 being the UEFA Euro 2012 game and the other on scavenging soundcloud, I keep the soccer sounds off and let these cuts from to ride over and over. My roommate probably hates me being I like to listen to songs over and over that i’m going to post here.
This Mushrooms Project is close to Balearic perfection, almost a 12 minute piece of melting sky over your Blade Runner themed yacht party that only serves tall glasses of Arnold Palmers on a sweat soaked dancefloor thats been occupied to capacity for over 14 hrs now, daybreaks and you don’t even blink twice about the thought that you haven’t had an urge to rest your head.
Park your floating darkstar back onto the moon and connect with this crawling heavy hitter from Om Unit, a fusion of disco, techno and UK’s ever evolving beat scene, this cut just keeps going and fades off like an eclipse on the horizon.
A defining good song in this sea of indie rock that denies The Smiths as a big influence because its just not hip to name drop them anymore. I can’t ever hate Twee, it just has too much honest emotion in it, cuts deeper than any pop song ever could and makes any moment feel more important then it is 10 fold. On a side note, I love this song.
I don’t understand why this record is on Slumberland, it should put a flame under some asses of the whole girl vocal roster on there. These girls are good, I just hope they don’t go the whole NYLON meets Best Coast marketing route with a goth twist, that horse has been beaten, dragged, cut open, photographed and posted all over tumblr and retumbled more times than the word “like” is said at an employee meeting at Urban Outfitters.
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HIGHLY RECOMMENDED: I’ve been waiting for a glimpse of the debut Holy Other LP, it has this perfect shuffling and sway to it, really easy to get lost in it in a quick amount of time.
An oldie from Daso, let the melody come in, reminds me of the good old days when Tech House was about beauty.
More from 6th Borough Project, this was just released on a 3xLP, the compilation is full of solid edit, each and every single one is perfect. This is how great disco vocals are done, don’t overdue it, no gospel or overpowering divas, let it sit with the rest of the song.
Probably the rowdiest song i’ve ever posted on ISO50, feels classic though, just popped on shuffle and put a smile on my face.
Until the semi-recent ban of alcohol & tobacco advertising in motorsports, cigarette manufacturers spent heavily in racing sponsorships. Marlboro was no exception, in fact they probably spent more than every other brand combined.
They are probably best known for their involvement in Formula 1, starting with BRM in the early 70’s, moving to Mclaren in the 80’s, and finding an eventual home with Ferrari, whom they still sponsor today (some say subliminally…). Phillip Morris is a hugely profitable company and it is no coincidence that their endorsement of a team has historically resulted in a winning car.
Their bold red, white, and black branding is visually synonymous with many iconic race cars, and as evidenced in the pictures, they had their hands in nearly every reach of the sport. I understand the need to limit mass advertising of a deadly product, but I do miss their colors in racing. I’ve always loved the Marlboro logo, the type is perfectly balanced with the simple geometry above it and it always looks great on the front of a badass car.
drsmoothdeath – Such a good feed, it all looks like this, just older parked cars, give it a chance, you won’t be bummed out.
mollielw – consistent silver-ish haze thru the whole feed, makes you feel like you woke up from a daytime nap out in the country.
crivacriva – minimal architecture and solid color schemes are pretty common on Instagram but this feed keeps me interested still, maybe because its not too simplified.
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