Straight Six webclips article from last month

Hello,
Welcome to webclips, let’s start with something that I thought wasn’t real!, This (very large) aeroplane is being lifted up by the wind. Now I know that this is exactly what makes them take off and stay in the air but this looks wrong: http://bit.ly/N6fBcj Bear in mind that this is a 747!!!

How good are you are you at parallel parking? Do you think you could do this? http://bit.ly/JXhs3D I doubt it, the world record is now less than 9 inches (22cm), that’s a gap that is just 22cm longer than the car you are parking in it, go on, you know you want to…

This next one is great, how many of us have fancied having a go at tailing a car and wondering if you have been spotted? It is said that these videos were produced by MI5 for the CIA back in the early 70’s, there’s quite a bit of extra explanation below the videos, video 1 is here: http://bit.ly/Lim3ZO and second one here: http://bit.ly/KlrwDl

OK, so who wants one of these? It’s got just under 840 bhp at the wheels and runs on normal petrol, it’s a Hennessey Venom GT Spyder, with a quick run on the dyno spitting flames. http://bit.ly/MjL6Re

How about one man’s journal of modifications to his Z4 M Coupe? It’s a great read and lots of tasty modifications: http://bit.ly/LVPRdk

Here’s a quick BMW video with that very dry commentary, I can’t understand why they use this guy, he should show some excitement when talking about the 3 series! http://bit.ly/JXkPrj

I haven’t found too many non-car videos this month so here’s an epic one, brilliant quality and fantastic flying from Kirby Chambliss, you will love this video! http://bit.ly/LVRc3E

If you ever need a fork list driver then look out for this guy, he either has a natural talent or has been practicing for weeks to be able to do this http://bit.ly/JXmfC2 and that’s not a small fork lift truck.

I love a bit of super slow motion, here are some stuff being smashed….doesn’t sound interesting? Watch the video, I think you’ll like it http://bit.ly/L8mjrW

And finally here’s one that Michael Johnson sent to me, it’s about the VW Phaeton factory in Germany, all looks very modern http://bit.ly/LbbZoT

To see all the webclips links on-line please visit the blog http://bmwccgb.blogspot.com/

I could really do with some help in finding interesting stuff on the internet so please do email me with your ideas for links I can include in future editions of WebClips.  We also have our own video channel here: http://www.youtube.com/user/BMWCCGB and our photos on flickr here: http://www.flickr.com/groups/bmwccgb/. Also, don’t forget that we now have a Facebook page here: http://on.fb.me/xIqqnq , Twitter account (@BMWCCGB) and a blog www.bmwccgb.blogspot.com please take a look and get involved!

Please send me links to any interesting items you find on your travels around the interwebs and I'll see if we can get it mentioned here in a future edition of the magazine.

Have fun and be safe on the interwebs!

WebClips - links to items on the interwebs

Welcome to webclips, let’s start with a few “blasts from the past”, here’s a Pistonheads thread with scans of a load of old 70’s and 80’s car brochures, how many do you remember, better still, how many did you own! http://bit.ly/J1KCcj

Here’s a build in photographs of a 1986 E38 with an S38B engine and gearbox plus uprated brakes etc, very nice build: http://bit.ly/Kn77b1

How about a glider that you can launch “on foot”? Must be the closest thing to flying naturally that there is, it’s amazing! http://bit.ly/JE5CG8

Back to motorised stuff now…a go kart that has a Yamaha R1 motorcycle engine in a Beisse Shifter chassis sporting around 180BHP!  It weighs in at about 220lbs, apparently the previous owner had it up to 181 mph before a tire blew out. http://bit.ly/IlnoAp

Here’s a great video for all you budding car photographers, Blair Bunting photographs and then Photoshop’s a Lamborghini Aventador, it’s very interesting http://bit.ly/JJHs0C

Great spin recovery from Jamie Whincup in an Australian race http://bit.ly/Kk09D4

OK, we’ve had the glider, now a Personal Air and Land Vehicle (PAL-V), it’s a car and a plane type thing (gyrocopter), and apparently it’s legal in the air and on the road http://bit.ly/IlsGhi

By now you know that I am a fan of drifting (when done well!), here are three motorcycle riders doing a great job of it on two wheels: http://bit.ly/IA2gpb

Here’s an interesting article on the BBC web site about “halo” cars, according to BMW (and others) they are very important to the brand: “It is very, very important for us," says BMW's Mr Cox. "It's seen as a brand shaper. People want to be part of that club." Which is great news for fans of high performance variants of what are otherwise normal everyday cars: http://bbc.in/IifKoS

Like thrills? Want to be scared? How about a very fast downhill ride on a bike? This is really scary stuff: http://bit.ly/Kk0PZc

This next one is titled “People ARE Amazing 2012” and I have to agree, what it is that drives some people to do some of this stuff bewilders me, but I applaud their efforts and long may they continue….otherwise we’d have nothing to put in this column! http://bit.ly/JSzUH9

To see all the webclips links on-line please visit the blog http://bmwccgb.blogspot.com/

I could really do with some help in finding interesting stuff on the internet so please do email me with your ideas for links I can include in future editions of WebClips.  We also have our own video channel here: http://www.youtube.com/user/BMWCCGB and our photos on flickr here: http://www.flickr.com/groups/bmwccgb/. Also, don’t forget that we now have a Facebook page here: http://on.fb.me/xIqqnq , Twitter account (@BMWCCGB) and a blog www.bmwccgb.blogspot.com please take a look and get involved!

Please send me links to any interesting items you find on your travels around the interwebs and I'll see if we can get it mentioned here in a future edition of the magazine.

Have fun and be safe on the interwebs!

BMW has worlds most valuable car brand

BMW has usurped Toyota as the world's most valuable car brand, according to an annual survey commissioned by communications services group WPP.

The BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands survey, which is conducted by research company Millward Brown Optimor and is now in its seventh year, identifies and ranks the world's most valuable brands by their dollar value, an analysis based on financial data, market intelligence and consumer measures of brand equity.

Toyota topped the car sector of the survey in 2011, but its brand value has fallen by ten per cent in the past 12 months, whereas BMW's has risen by the same amount.

The Bavarian manufacturer's rise was aided by record sales growth around the globe, as was fellow German marque Volkswagen, which enjoyed a 15 per cent increase in its brand value and moved into the overall Top 100 of BrandZ's Most Valuable Global Brands.

Hyundai continued its global rise by breaking into the top ten of the survey's car brand sector for the first time.

The report noted that luxury cars may have experienced a negative impact from the rise in car quality overall. Because of generally improved performance, attention to design and the availability of sophisticated technology, factors that usually define luxury were available more broadly and less expensively.

All of the car brands were dwarfed by technology firm Apple, which topped the survey for the second year in succession. Apple's worth was valued at $182.9 billion and technology and communications firms dominate the upper echelons of the list, whereas BMW came in at number 23.

BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Car Brands 2012

1 BMW $24,623m (brand value)

2 Toyota $21,779m

3 Mercedes-Benz $16,111m

4 Honda $12,647m

5 Nissan $9853m

6 Volkswagen $8519m

7 Ford $7025m

8 Audi $4703m

9 Hyundai $3598m

10 Lexus $3392m

WebClips - links to items on the interwebs

Welcome to webclips, I’m starting this edition with what is probably the world’s fastest Lotus, with a 50% better power to weight ration than a Bugatti Veyron….and all built in what looks like a home workshop! http://bit.ly/HA1DvK

And straight to a vehicle with perhaps the complete opposite (in terms of power), you know I like to watch free-running and trick motorbike stunts, watch this next clip and see if you can believe what this kid is doing on the bike (that’s bicycle not motorbike!) http://bit.ly/H7XLAe

And from one amazing piece of physics to another, the helicopter, this is the first in a series of videos explaining how helicopters work, but to start the operator does a bit of a demo….amazing…. http://bit.ly/H5wCjH

OK, back to cars for a minute, here’s a great thread on e30owners.com about the rebuild of a 1986 E30 M3 http://bit.ly/HuJbXE There is so much detail in this thread that it’s almost a “how to” article on rebuilding an M3!

I guess most of you reading this must have owned a “British” car at some time? I certainly did, I had a Truimph 1500TC followed by a Dolomite 1850HL and an MG Metro, here’s a site dedicated to Austin Rover vehicles, some great nostalgia here: http://bit.ly/HbQ896 Speaking of Triumph, did you all see the rumours on the BMW CCA web site about BMW potentially resurrecting the Triumph name for a small sports car? http://bit.ly/Hco8XI

OK, back to more frivolous stuff…..trike drifting, looks like great fun but I think I’d be wearing some sturdy shoes! http://bit.ly/HzE2tX

I may have shown you all this one before but someone reminded me about it just recently, it’s a scale model of a Ferrari 312PB, http://bit.ly/HxrXEi The engine is similar to the one in this clip: http://bit.ly/HwGgr1

Here’s a great one that John Trist found, a couple of minutes of M1 ProCar’s at Monaco in 1979 http://bit.ly/H5jzeH fantastic!  And here’s a great video that Michael Johnson sent to me, it’s a “Drift Battle” between a car and a bike (there’s also a radio controlled car in the mix videoing it!) http://bit.ly/Hwu3HP

Now a couple of non car links, here are some fantastic panorama’s of cities from around the world: http://bit.ly/HHrT5j and finally (I thought that bit was clever as the next video is a BBC news clip…sort of) from “Cassetteboy” it’s a new take on the BBC news: http://bit.ly/HbR6lK

To see all the webclips links on-line please visit the blog http://bmwccgb.blogspot.com/

I could really do with some help in finding interesting stuff on the internet so please do email me with your ideas for links I can include in future editions of WebClips.  We also have our own video channel here: http://www.youtube.com/user/BMWCCGB and our photos on flickr here: http://www.flickr.com/groups/bmwccgb/. Also, don’t forget that we now have a Facebook page here: http://on.fb.me/xIqqnq , Twitter account (@BMWCCGB) and a blog www.bmwccgb.blogspot.com please take a look and get involved!

Please send me links to any interesting items you find on your travels around the interwebs and I'll see if we can get it mentioned here in a future edition of the magazine.

Have fun and be safe on the interwebs!

WebClips - links to items on the interwebs

Welcome to webclips, I thought I would start with a non-car item first, how about a bridge being blown up? It’s the Fort Steuben Bridge to be precise, no idea if it has any significance but it’s a great video! http://bit.ly/wLyi2A

How about Z1 style doors that disappear completely, it’s a prototype by Jaytech and surprisingly the video was made as recently as 2007, by looking at it you might be temped to say it was the 1980’s! http://bit.ly/wC3bpl   Right, back to normal now, a 700 BHP E90 M3!, sounds great and whilst it’s been developed and filmed in the USA the tuner sounds English: http://bit.ly/yQO75n

Chris Harris is now contributing to the YouTube “Drive” channel, his latest  musings are on living with the McLaren MP4-12C: http://bit.ly/yXoq5S I think he likes it! This next one is from John Castle, not sure if John is playing video games in his spare time but this is an classic 1971 3.0CSL being “spanked” around the Top Gear test track…in Forza 4, it’s amazing how good video games are these days… http://bit.ly/ws3YIR

This next one is worth a read; this chap in the USA has put 750,000 miles on his Honda Civic in just 5 years, It’s not hard to imagine that a car can do this sort of mileage given the right care and attention, however, I think most people would be dropping their car off into the main dealer about once a week at the rate this guy racks up the miles, and he does pretty much all the servicing himself on his driveway. http://jalo.ps/xkBDMg

Apparently, microwaves ruin everything: http://bit.ly/yZBOzD and with some weird looking organic fire retardant foam you can point a welding torch at your hand (7,500 degrees C)….don’t try any of these at home http://bit.ly/ylK046

There’e never enough coverage of Z4’s…..so here’s a nice little clip of one going flat out… http://bit.ly/wflATy oh, and it’s a GT3!

And finally, a bit of gratuitous “blowing things up”, don’t worry, it’s only an old MG Midget…but filmed at 1000 frames per second so you can see every little detail! http://bit.ly/x8gfLE

To see all the webclips links on-line please visit the blog http://bmwccgb.blogspot.com/

I could really do with some help in finding interesting stuff on the internet so please do email me with your ideas for links I can include in future editions of WebClips.  We also have our own video channel here: http://www.youtube.com/user/BMWCCGB and our photos on flickr here: http://www.flickr.com/groups/bmwccgb/. Also, don’t forget that we now have a Facebook page here: http://on.fb.me/xIqqnq , Twitter account (@BMWCCGB) and a blog www.bmwccgb.blogspot.com please take a look and get involved!

Please send me links to any interesting items you find on your travels around the interwebs and I'll see if we can get it mentioned here in a future edition of the magazine.

Have fun and be safe on the interwebs!