Fresh Perspective

I spend a less than healthy amount of time on AutoBlog, Jalopnik, LeftLaneNews and any other website that flows a daily dose of Automotive news. It simply amazes me how fast these guys find stories and give great reporting on breaking models. That said I think some neat features are sometimes missed in an effort to be first to break the big car.

The new Pagani Zonda R captured my imagination not for its serious bad-assness (and yes, this is the Italian kick boxer of bad-assness), but the continuous innovation Pagani pushes in their designs. I mean seriously, who ever thought a race car would be a great place to debut some new styling features? Two of which caught my eye. …..And trust me I’m sure you’ll have these for your car by SEMA 2009.

First the tow hook

(See more photos after the Jump)

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Grinner rocks, which is why we gave him a channel on StreetFire, we just got this “Station Identification” video from him that quite frankly makes me want to rewatch all his old stuff. Cool, stuff, check out his channel.

the Moddin’ Art channel- Video.

Please somebody show this to my wife! I try to explain to her why I run race gas in my GT-R, and trust me it’s a much bigger difference in a GT-R than a 370Z…..especially since we can only get 91 Octane here in California.

XXX Race Gas gains 14whp on stock 370z- Video.

Had enough of winter yet???- Video.

Some Entertainment to help get you through Wednesday.

D2FORGED.com Z06 APS Twin Turbo / Porsche 997 TT C- Video.

I’m not sure how you did this, but the result was quite impressive.

Weird Accident Aftermath, Just Hang in there…- Video.

I might be offline for a little while so my apologies if I don’t update the blog much over the weekend.

The recent crash of a Private plane on Wednesday has really struck home for me.  My friend Martin Schaedel was on the plane and I’m not going to see him again, he didn’t make it and the world has grown a little dimmer for me because of his absence.

It’s hard to describe Martin, a young man with more life under his belt than anyone I know.  I knew him only briefly, less than a year, but he really gave me a new perspective on how the world works and what “home” means.  My wife Carlisle questioned Martin for hours one night trying to understand how he could not have a home and live in once city for a few days, then another for a week at a time.  I think he enjoyed seeing Carlisle’s inability to come to terms with it.  I guess now I understand he wasn’t homeless at all.  He lived everywhere.  The whole world was his home.  If home is where the heart is, he brought his heart everywhere which might explain why he made friends so easily.

Last weekend I got a message (by Twitter of course) he was going to be in town.  We got together at Le Petit Four, a common hang out for me.  We had dinner, talked about work and life.  He flirted with the waitress as he always does, and was fascinated by the magic tricks the guy next to us was doing trying to pick up the girls.

We spent hours there talking about his recent flight into Malibu on Sunday and how he pulled 2.5 G’s.  I haven’t seen him this animated since we took my car up into Angeles Crest Highway to shoot some video.

I didn’t know Martin well, but do I know anyone well?  I do know I feel sad right now because I am being selfish.  I was looking forward to a lifetime of friendship with Martin and now I only have this past year.  In life Martin taught me that you can do anything you set your mind to and to live life to the fullest.  In his absence I have screeched to a halt and realized I have to appreciate the people around me because I never know how fleeting our relationships with them may be.

Speed Safe Martin, you’ve impacted us all deeply.

Other people talking about Martin..

Martin’s Friends saying goodbye on Twitter
ALWAYS TELL THE POPLE YOU LOVE THAT YOU DO! MEGS WILL BE DOWN FOR A WEEK
MARTIN SCHAEDEL – ONE IN A BILLION
The Internet Says Goodbye to Martin Schaedel
MARTIN SCHAEDEL 23 HAS PASSED AWAY
@Martin RIP
Startup Advisor, Former VC Probable Plane Crash Victim
You Never Know
The Internet Says Farewell To A Friend, Martin Schaedel
Remembering Martin Schaedel
Goodbye Martin
The Internet Says Goodbye to Martin Schaedel by Peter Kafka

ButtonWillow

Twins Turbo Mazda RX-7 (FD3S) breaks Super Lap Bat- Video.

Buschur Racing 2008 Video Compilation- Video.

SPOON NSX-R GT MACAU GRAND PRIX – TAS 2009 PROMO- Video.