Baldie has an eye for stance. This 2005V-8 powered E500 Benz fill those wheel wells just right. This beast is hung and oh so low.
SOME PEOPLE are just lucky. You know? Tuesday night, I was in Chris Baldie's Kolors and Concepts. Just bench racin', you know how we do, right? Talkin' among a mess of cars, all in various stages of repair. These weren't ordinary cars, either. We were in the company of an '05 E500 Mercedes, a 2001 V8 M5, that kind of iron.
We were discussing Chris Baldie's upcoming event, the '08 rendition of Hot Wheels, right? Mega stuff. Gates open at the NHT Car Park on 14th December. Nuff said!
Now across the way - on the other side of the E500 Merc - was a really unassuming gentleman who was just a fly on the wall to our conversation. Look like him cyan mash ants, you know? Anyway, me and Baldie, we rollin' for a long time, yes? Ever since Hot Wheels III in '05. We talkin' about some really hot iron - the Nissan GTR, Bugattis, and assorted Detroit Iron. And inevitably the talk turned to top speeds. The RB26DETT Nissan motor is a strong motor. With engine management and boost calibration, 800 horse power ain't no problem. Which is about what one would need to get up to that kind of go. My contention was though, at that level will that harried, blown six have the stamina to spin up to the 7500-8000 rpm needed with stock gearing and stay together? Speed demon Two bills ain't no bwoy speed. At that level of quick, road centre lines stroboscope and appear to go backward. To put all of this in perspective, the stock Ferrari F40, weighing in at almost 1,000 lb lighter than the R33, with two-wheel drive and 478 hp, could only manage 198 mph. At this point the fly spoke. That aformentioned M5? It's his, and it is being two toned up in time for Baldie's show, right? He claimed that he got the electronic limiter removed (BMWs are governed to 155 mph) and before he got the car out here, he cruised the Nevada State Silver Challenge (a flat-out race in Nevada, near Vegas) to the tune of a buck 85. Am I missing something? Did I step through a time warp? At this time Baldie said something really special's parked out side. Said he, "It is one of the highlights of the show." What could be more impressive than a seven-year-old 185 mph BMW M5? So I came out of the shop and make for the parking lot, and there shinin' up a storm - all meguire'd up is a 2008 Ford Focus SI. Loaded to the gills and reeking of new-car smell, you know? So like he dared me to take it for a spin. I was seated before he could finish the sentence. Mumbled something about "the blue badge is back!" and not to return without an ear-to-ear grin. Four gears and some seriously depreciated Pirelli's later, I noticed I have cured my nearsightedness cuz the acceleration has squashed my eyes. If I were grinning any harder my big head would be flopping around the back of my neck. This is a serious, serious car. I see why the Gary Gregg's and Geoffrey Panton's of this world all want this car. Like Goldilocks said, it is just right. Baldie's Topless talents still exist ... he just beheaded an Integra, which he said would be finished in time for the show. And the place was littered with his signature paint jobs. Trust me, this show should be something to remember.