Hey, thanks for choosing the Tramontana, Geisty! :) I figured you'd appreciate the strangeness of it.

Don't remind me. :'( I sorely miss the popups on my NC Miata. My spouse had a 240SX, and so shares this pain.

Perchance, can we get Brett Berk's opinion on this question?

Given that the R costs damned near half a million dollars, if I could afford it I'd be living squarely in the middle of the too-rich-to-give-a-shit bracket.

Near or about 7000 at the wheels. Estimates put crank power as high as 8500-10000HP, depending on configuration. It helps that the car doesn't have to deal with gearbox-related losses, just the clutch & diff.

Just a shade over 2300lbs, IIRC. As of 3/8/2011, it was 2320lbs. I don't know if the the current regs have changed that number, though.

From the land of the weird... the Tramontana R. 2777lbs (a shade heavier than an NC Miata), with 760HP and 811 lb/ft of torque in top trim.

The Weineck Cobra. Take a regular Cobra kit, add 1100 horsepower. Top with 1760Nm of torque. Serve with a side order of fiery death.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but everything I've ever heard people say about Mario Theissen (head of BMW motorsport, methinks) is how much of gentleman he is.

Oddly, although I love F1 and Le Mans above all else, I've always considered the original Paris-Dakar rally to be the top trophy. On the scale of pure difficulty, it's off the scale. High speed, rough roads, exhausting ultra-long endurance. Not to mention, the original African continent race always had the additional…

Well, that makes you the engineer, then! :)

Mercifully, I don't own any Toyotas. This wonderful story:

I am reminded of this story:

Exactly. The cheap half.

Sadly, repairing the heel-damage done to the wheel at a genuine Ferrari dealer will probably cost the owner about what I make in a year, or roughly 1/2 an evening with the lovely model.

In the case of NA Miatas, dead gigolo capacity isn't a concern, unless you only deal with midget whores.

*Miata waves, not wanting to be left out.*

So their exhaust sounds like Eeyore?

Actually, Alvin's hull is made of 1.9in thick titanium. But you're correct, the hull was indeed not pierced, merely the light outer skin.

Don't laugh — my Jalopnik account is linked to a Lycos email address. Better yet, it used to be linked to a Mailcity address.