When you think of 104 year-old automobiles, you generally don’t imagine engines that sound like this:

[vimeo 113158655]

This is a refurbished Fiat S76 from 1910/1911. Back in the day it generated 300 horsepower and a tops speed of 116 miles per hour. While I expect the current owners won’t be tryign to top that record, I’m just pleased they turned the thing on. imagine if, once a year, the Strategic Air & Space Museum in Nebraska or the USAF Museum in Ohio cranked up all six Pratt & Whitney R-4630’s. That’d be worth seeing.

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And on a vaguely related note, a McLaren P1 crashed in Texas a few days ago, the  first McLaren supercar to crash in the US. Now, y’all  know I’m not a 1%-hatin’ leftie, but I must admit to getting a chuckle out of somebody with way more money than sense discovering that enthusiasm is not a valid replacement for a proper understanding of and respect for the laws of physics. What makes the story about a $1.15 *million* car getting trashed even funnier are the two little factoids in the article title:

27-Year-Old That Crashed McLaren P1 Had Car For Less Than 24 Hours

A 27-year-old owns a car that cost more than most people will make in their entire lifetimes. Why do I have the feeling that Daddy actually bought it? Hopefully Junior’s next car will be a used 1977 Volvo. Maybe my first car (a used 1977 Volvo) is still floating around out there somewhere…