AUGUST 7, 2024

The original - and still our favorite - Autoextremist logo. 

The AE Quote of the Century: Everybody loves The High-Octane Truth. Until they don't. -WG 

(Honda)

Honda is celebrating 60 years since its first entry into Formula One competition this summer with its first race-winning F1 machine, the Honda RA272, attending global special events including the 2024 Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on August 14-17. Renowned for its innovative engineering, the Honda RA272 shocked the world in November 1965, as the first race car of a Japanese automaker to win a Formula 1 Grand Prix, proving Honda engine and chassis technologies were world-class. Powered by a transverse-mounted 1.5-liter V12 engine capable of 13,000 rpm, the legendary Honda RA272 will perform exhibition laps around Laguna Seca with Honda heritage test driver Hikaru Miyagi behind the wheel. The RA272 ran most recently at the Goodwood Festival of Speed 2024 (July 11-14), piloted by Miyagi-san and current F1 race driver Yuki Tsunoda.

Over the decades, Honda engines have powered four drivers to a combined eight Formula One Drivers' Championships. Engines created by Honda have twice set F1 records for the most race wins in a season, including a historic 2023 season, with Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez winning all but one race in dominant fashion. This beat the previous win-rate record set by McLaren Honda in 1988 with drivers Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost.

The mid-engine Honda RA272 won the 1965 Mexico Grand Prix with Los Angeles born driver Richie Ginther at the wheel. The victory came barely a year after the Honda team's debut at the German Grand Prix in August 1964, with the V12-powered RA271.

In 2026, Honda will enter into a works partnership to supply power units to the Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One® Team. The new Honda power units will be compliant with the 2026 F1 power unit regulations, which will triple the electrical power provided by the hybrid system. Honda will hone its e-motor and battery technologies through new F1 challenges and feed the information learned in competition back to mass production.

(Corvette Images)

Editor-in-Chief's Note: Chevrolet pulled the wraps off of the 2025 Corvette ZR1 last Thursday night, and, as predicted, it is a monster. The High Hard Ones: Starting with the the most power ever from a factory Corvette and the most powerful V8 ever produced in America from an auto manufacturer, the Twin-Turbocharged, 5.5-liter DOHC flat-plane crank LT7 V8 produces 1,064HP at 7,000 RPM (redline is 8,000 RPM) and 828 lb.-ft. of Torque (at 6,000 RPM) coupled to an 8-speed dual clutch gearbox. Corvette engineers say that the Corvette ZR1 boasts an estimated top speed of over 215 mph on the racetrack and will turn the quarter mile with a GM-estimated sub-10-second time. Myriad aero tweaks, including wide side air inlets, carbon-fiber elements, and a multitude of airflow and cooling features giving the ZR1 1200 pounds of downforce, the highest downforce of any production Corvette. The new intercooler with flow-through hood and spoiler helps cool turbo-charged air to extract airflow; The front splitter, paired with an underwing and smooth underbody helps generate suction under the vehicle to maximize downforce and reduce drag; Available ZR1 Carbon Fiber Aero Package, including a carbon-fiber wing, underbody strakes and carbon-fiber dive planes work together to produce the highest downforce of any production Corvette in history; Split rear window and hatch intakes enhance ventilation and a louvered spine increases engine bay cooling; this is paired with new carbon-fiber hatch intakes to draw in colder air for improved engine performance; The flat-top and -bottom heated, leather-wrapped steering wheel with carbon-fiber accents is standard and features unique ZR1 badging; A sueded microfiber-wrapped steering wheel is only available on the 3LZ trim, and as always, much, much more. All of the performance numbers are still being finalized, but the initial figures are indeed impressive. Needless to say, this will be a much-anticipated Corvette when it arrives. "There is an insatiable thirst in the sports car world for the ultimate in performance. And the ZR1 is certainly that in the Corvette lineup. It's at the very top," said Josh Holder, Corvette Chief Engineer. Watch the video here. Amen. And be forewarned, the Corvette lineup will expand exponentially - as I suggested and then predicted years ago - over the next three years. It's gonna be good. -PMD

 

(motorsportcollector.com)

Editor-in-Chief's Note: I wanted to take this opportunity to mention George Levy's fantastic new book, Texas Legend - Jim Hall and his Chaparrals. This Official Biography of Jim Hall is simply one of the finest biographies I have ever read, and it stands as the definitive work chronicling the life and achievements of Jim Hall. Full disclosure, Jim Hall is and has been one of my all-time favorites, and Levy's book does Jim justice like no book before it. It is filled with details and anecdotes never revealed until now. I highly recommend this book for enthusiasts and non-enthusiasts alike. It is a superb effort and well worth the read. -PMD 

The AE Song of the Week:

People try to put us d-down (talkin' 'bout my generation)
Just because we get around (talkin' 'bout my generation)
Things they do look awful c-c-cold (talkin' 'bout my generation)
I hope I die before I get old (talkin' 'bout my generation)

This is my generation
This is my generation, baby

Why don't you all f-fade away (talkin' 'bout my generation)
Don't try to dig what we all s-s-s-say (talkin' 'bout my generation)
I'm not trying to 'cause a big s-s-sensation (talkin' 'bout my generation)
I'm just talkin' 'bout my g-g-g-generation (talkin' 'bout my generation)

My generation
This is my generation, baby

Why don't you all f-fade away (talkin' 'bout my generation)
And don't try to d-dig what we all s-s-say (talkin' 'bout my generation)
I'm not trying to 'cause a b-big s-s-sensation (talkin' 'bout my generation)
I'm just talkin' 'bout my g-g-generation (talkin' 'bout my generation)

This is my generation
This is my generation, baby
My my my generation

People try to put us d-down (talkin' 'bout my generation)
Just because we g-g-get around (talkin' 'bout my generation)
Things they do look awful c-c-cold (talkin' 'bout my generation)
Yeah, I hope I die before I get old (talkin' 'bout my generation)

This is my generation
This is my generation, baby
My my my generation

(Talkin' 'bout my generation)
(Talkin' 'bout my generation)
(Talkin' 'bout my generation)
(Talkin' 'bout my generation)
(Talkin' 'bout my generation) this is my generation
(Talkin' 'bout my generation) this is my generation
(Talkin' 'bout my generation) this is my generation
(Talkin' 'bout my generation) this is my generation
(Talkin' 'bout my generation) this is my generation
(Talkin' 'bout my generation) this is my generation
(Talkin' 'bout my generation) this is my generation

"My Generation" by The Who, from the album "My Generation" (1965).* Written by Peter Townshend. Publisher: Songtrust Ave. Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind. Listen (and watch) the Original Version here. 

*Roger Daltrey sang the lead vocals with a stutter, which was very unusual. After recording two takes of the song normally, The Who's manager, Kit Lambert, suggested to Daltrey that he stutter to sound like a British kid on speed. Daltrey recalled to Uncut magazine October 2001: "I have got a stutter. I control it much better now but not in those days. When we were in the studio doing 'My Generation', Kit Lambert came up to me and said 'STUTTER!' I said 'What?' He said 'Stutter the words – it makes it sound like you're pilled' And I said, 'Oh… like I am!' And that's how it happened. It was always in there; it was always suggested with the 'f-f-fade' but the rest of it was improvised." Pete Townshend wrote this on a train ride from London to Southampton on May 19, 1965 - his 20th birthday. In a 1987 Rolling Stone magazine interview, Townshend explained: "'My Generation' was very much about trying to find a place in society. I was very, very lost. The band was young then. It was believed that its career would be incredibly brief." Townshend wrote this for rebellious British youths known as "mods." It expressed their feeling that older people just don't get it. Back in 1967, Pete Townshend called this song, "The only really successful social comment I've ever made." Talking about the meaning, he explained it as "some pilled-up mod dancing around, trying to explain to you why he's such a groovy guy, but he can't because he's so stoned he can hardly talk." The song contains the famous line, "I hope I die before I get old." The Who drummer Keith Moon did, dying of a drug overdose in 1978 at age 32. The rest of the band found themselves still playing the song 50 years later, giving that line more than a hint of irony. (Knowledge courtesy of Songfacts.com)

Editor's Note: You can access previous issues of AE by clicking on "Next 1 Entries" below. - WG