CELEBRITY TATTOO CAKYUDZ

Friday, February 19, 2010

SAVILLE ROW AT PALAZZO PITTI

Em Janeiro de 2007 tomou lugar durante um mês esta importante e estratégica exposição de vários alfaiates de Saville Row. Esta união táctica pretendia demonstrar ao mundo de que o "Bespoke Cut" Londrino, continuava a ser a referência sartorial, agora e no futuro.

Audi A1 design influences

Inspired by this?

Vorsprung durch Pluriel.

Here is Audi’s very smartly dressed Head of Design talking about the A1, although he doesn’t seem to mention Citroen once.

Villeneuve back in F1?

Four new teams were due to join the grid for the 2010 F1 season. So far, however, only two - Virgin Racing and Lotus F1 - have got their cars unveiled and running.

There remain strong doubts about whether the others - Campos Meta and US F1 - will be ready for the first race in Bahrain on 14 March. Bernie Ecclestone certainly doesn’t think that they’ll be there.

It was reported that Jean Todt, FIA President, had indicated that new teams could skip the first three races. Apparently his comments were misinterpreted by some journalists though, and a follow up statement by the FIA has now made it clear that all entrants are expected to turn up to the Bahrain event.

Waiting in the wings for an empty grid slot is Stefan Grand Prix, headed by Serbian Zoran Stefanovic. Even without a confirmed entry, it has continued work on its car, even going as far as sending a container load of equipment to Bahrain just in case.

It’s true to say that Serbia doesn’t have much of a history of developing F1 cars, but the team has had a major head start: its car is the one that Toyota had already designed for the 2010 season, before the Japanese manufacturer pulled the plug on its F1 activities. Interestingly, virtually all of the subsequent development work has continued to take place at Toyota’s Cologne factory.

As if resurrecting a car wasn’t enough, it seems that Stefan Grand Prix may also be reviving the F1 driving career of Jacques Villeneuve. The Canadian was seen at a few races in 2009, perhaps checking out the possibilities for a return to F1. If he is contracted he’ll be joining ex-Williams driver Kazuki Nakajima, who has already been signed up.

The prospect of Villeneuve joining Schumacher, Alonso, Hamilton and Button as a fifth world champion on the grid should be something to look forward to, provided of course that his car can show more consistency than last year’s Toyota.

VANITY FAIR INTERLUDE JOCKEY

VANITY FAIR INTERLUDE POLO

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Jaguar XKR gets Speed Pack

Buyers of the Jaguar XKR will now be able to specify a £3,500 Speed Pack that ditches the electronic speed limiter, raising the top speed from 155 mph (250 kph) to 174 mph (280 kph). Power from the 5.0 litre supercharged V8 is unchanged at 503 bhp, but a recalibrated engine and transmission make the increase possible.

OK, traffic and speed limits probably make that academic in most places, but the pack also includes some useful additions. The revised front splitter, larger rear spoiler and modified Active Differential Control are all designed to increase stability at high speed. Visual enhancements comprise body-coloured side sills and rear diffuser, together with chrome around the windows, on both grilles and on the side vents.

For an extra £500, the Black Pack can be specified. As the name implies, order this and the window surrounds, grilles and wheels are black instead, and the interior is charcoal leather. Thankfully, the slightly dodgy-looking side stripes are a dealer-fit accessory, so they can be left off.

In the UK the XKR Coupe costs £78,455 with the Speed Pack. That’s rather good value compared to £86,790 for the (155 mph limited) BMW M6, or £88,995 for the only slightly faster Aston Martin V8 Vantage.

SLOANE MANIA

Já aqui me referi ao carácter único do ambiente da casa de Sir John Soane em Londres, um verdadeiro microcosmos, construído como "décor" para a sua impressionante e vasta colecção de "plaster casts" da Antiguidade Clássica ...