Latest news with #EddieIrvine
The Sun
22-05-2025
- Automotive
- The Sun
Major sports car brand ‘could revive weirdest model' 40 years being discontinued – and it would leave drivers ‘tripping'
A MAJOR sports car could be set to revive its "weirdest model" some 40 years after it was discontinued. This iconic 1980s model could be a massive hit with car enthusiasts who would be "tripping over themselves" to get their hands on one. 3 3 3 The incredible Porsche Flachbau was sold throughout the 80s with just 58 first generation cars constructed, reports Motor 1. Translated to "slant nose" in English, the 911 model is recognised for its flat nose instead of the car's trademark raised fenders and frog-eyed lights. Although having only produced a few of the vehicles, the car company did revive the option for the 964 Turbo S, with exposed 928-style pop-up lights. This isn't the first vintage vehicle to have a reboot. The 911 Targa 4S Heritage Design Edition was inspired by the 1950s, while the 911 Sport Classic referenced models from the 60s. Last year, the Porsche 959 made a reappearance some 37 years after it was first released. The supercar is an icon of the 1980s and, at the time of its debut, was the world's fastest street-legal car with a top speed of 197 mph. The incredible Porsche 959 was sold between 1986 and 1993, and just 292 units were built - according to Porsche themselves. Among the car's famous owners included Bill Gates, the billionaire owner of Microsoft, comedian and Porsche aficionado Jerry Seinfeld, and even former Ferrari F1 driver Eddie Irvine. However, 959-ownership might be about to get a tiny bit easier for Porsche fans... if you're happy to sit behind the wheel of a high-class knock off. Porsche Cayenne fitted with brainy 'matrix headlights' that change nighttime driving forever That's because engineering firm Kalmar Automotive from Estonia have revealed their own take on the iconic 959 - called the 9X9. Set to be available in standard, Sport and 'Leichtbau' forms, just nine examples of this extra special motor will be created as a tribute to one of history's most famous fast cars. The top-spec of these features a bonkers 3.8-litre twin-turbo engine capable of delivering an eye-watering 930 bhp to all four of its wheels. If that isn't enough, the experts at Kalmar have tweaked the car's bodywork to generate a claimed 1,450kg of downforce. Possibly to keep things retro, the 9X9's interior combines digital displays with analogue dials, with both the navigation system and radio removed - although Bluetooth remains to allow for phone calls and media playback. The company says each one will be coach-built to be totally unique, and that buyers can expect to take delivery of their one-of-a-kind 9X9 in July 2025. Jan Kalmar, the founder of Kalmar Automotive, said: 'The 9X9 is Kalmar Automotive's tribute to one of the greatest road-going sports cars of the millennia, enhanced to the highest possible degree that technology today allows. 'The result is our creation of a brand-new class of vehicle, retro-hyper-car.'
BBC News
20-03-2025
- Automotive
- BBC News
Eddie Jordan - pictures in the life of a Formula 1 icon
Ex-Formula 1 team owner Eddie Jordan passed away on Thursday in Cape Town aged 76 after a battle with cancer.A former racer, the Irishman went on to become the owner of one of Formula 1's plucky helped launch the careers of many racers, including Eddie Irvine and, of course, Michael of the sport's most colourful and flamboyant characters, here is Jordan's life in pictures. Jordan was a keen racer and competed in Formula 3 before he broke a leg in an accident at Mallory Park in a brief return behind the wheel, he set up his own race team after hanging up his helmet, and gave a platform for drivers such as Martin Brundle and Johnny Herbert in the junior categories such as Formula 3. Jordan stepped up to the big leagues in Formula 1 in the 1991 season, in an iconic Irish green hired Andrea de Cesaris and Bertrand Gachot as his drivers for his debut campaign, but one of those drivers would not see out the season... In perhaps his most famous move, Jordan handed a Formula 1 debut to a promising, yet unknown rookie called Michael Schumacher after Gachot was sent to prison for an altercation with a taxi driver in London only competed in one race for Jordan, at the 1991 Belgian Grand Prix, before Benetton swooped for the young driver, but the Irishman had played a pivotal role for the German who would go on to become a seven-time world champion. Jordan Grand Prix signed Northern Ireland's Eddie Irvine and talented Brazilian Rubens Barrichello for claimed the team's first Formula 1 podium at the Pacific Grand Prix, but was lucky to escape with his life after an accident at the San Marino Grand Prix - a day before the deaths of Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna in one of the darkest weekends in the sport's Barrichello and Irvine picked up podiums the following year as the team continued to rise. Jordan's first Grand Prix victory came at the 1998 Belgian Grand Prix, where his team not only secured the win but a one-two finish in a chaotic a rain-hit Spa-Francorchamps, in a race punctuated by crashes and a red flag, Damon Hill led home team-mate Ralf Schumacher for one of the most memorable victories of the decade. After their first win, Formula 1's plucky underdogs became unlikely title challengers in Frentzen scored two podiums in the opening two races to spark a season to remember for in France and Italy, along with podiums in Germany and Belgium, put the German driver in title contention before he fell away in the closing three races of the finished third in the drivers' championship, and Jordan were third in the constructors' standings - their best ever result. As well as a big player in Formula 1, Jordan was a keen musician and played drums in a would often be more than happy to put on a show at Formula 1 events, and he was perfectly on brand here with his Jordan colours in 2002. Jordan's fourth and final Grand Prix victory came at the 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix with Giancarlo Fisichella. It was another memorable win in the team's 200th Grand Prix, but they would not stand on the top step a drop off in results in 2004, Jordan sold his team to Midland and their final season under the Jordan Grand Prix banner was in 2005. His team evolved from Jordan to Midland, Spyker and then Force India, which eventually become Racing Point and Aston Martin today. Jordan was as colourful and outspoken as a TV pundit as he was a team integral role of the BBC's Formula 1 coverage, he was taken for a plunge by Sebastian Vettel at the 2011 Monaco Grand would later have a stint presenting Top Gear on the BBC, where his Irish charm brought him to a whole new audience. Jordan was still a presence in the Formula 1 paddock after hanging up the TV mic. He played an influential role as legendary F1 designer Adrian Newey left Red Bull for the ambitious project at Aston Martin - formerly Jordan's F1 1 will never witness a character quite like Jordan ever again.
