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britsyankswheels24 · 8 months ago

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🇺🇲 Step back in time and experience the roar of the iconic AMC Javelin, a true legend of American muscle cars! Introduced in 1967 by American Motors Corporation (AMC), the Javelin was a front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, two-door hardtop automobile manufactured across two generations, spanning from 1968 through 1970 and then from 1971 through 1974 model years. It was designed to compete in the pony car market segment against rivals like the Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Camaro.

🚗💨 The AMC Javelin burst onto the scene in 1968, showcasing a sleek design and powerful engines. Styled by Dick Teague, the Javelin offered a range of trim and engine levels, from economical pony car variants to high-performance muscle car models. Its distinctive appearance, featuring a long hood and aggressive stance, turned heads on the streets and racetracks alike.

🏭 Besides being manufactured in Kenosha, Wisconsin, Javelins were also assembled under license in Germany, Mexico, the Philippines, Venezuela, and Australia, showcasing its global reach. American Motors even offered discounts to U.S. military personnel, leading to many Javelins being exported overseas.

🛞 Under the hood, the Javelin packed serious power. It was available with inline-six engines or potent V8s, delivering thrilling acceleration and speed. The AMX variant, equipped with a 6.4-liter V8, boasted over 300 horsepower!

🏆 The AMC Javelin wasn't just about looks—it excelled on the track too. It competed in Trans-Am racing, demonstrating its speed and agility. In fact, the second-generation AMX variant was the first pony car used as a standard vehicle for highway police car duties by an American law enforcement agency. Today, the Javelin's unique style and racing heritage make it a sought-after classic among collectors.

💔 By 1974, the automobile landscape had shifted. While other manufacturers downsized engines in response to changing market demands and fuel shortages, the Javelin's big engine option continued until production ceased in November 1974 amidst the Arab oil embargo and declining interest in high-performance vehicles.

🦅 The AMC Javelin embodies the spirit of American muscle cars, blending style, performance, and affordability. It's a timeless classic that continues to capture the hearts of car enthusiasts everywhere. Get ready to hit the road and experience the thrill of the AMC Javelin!

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coimbrabertone · 5 months ago

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A Formula One Race Winner Has Come Out as Gay

There have been gay, lesbian, bisexual, pansexual, transgender racing drivers, drivers of various sexualities and sexual identities. That being said, very few have the luxury of being open about it. Motorsports is expensive, elite, and exclusive, thus the demographics tend to be overwhelmingly conservative. Furthermore, when your overalls are plastered with a lot of companies paying your team a lot of money, you don't want to appear controversial.

You don't want to rock the boat.

Thus, in the past, LGBTQ+ individuals in motorsport have largely been closeted within the sport, and have come out afterwards. See Hurley Haywood, who won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1977, 1983, and 1994, along with the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1973, 1975, 1977, 1979, and 1991. Hurley raced from 1971 to 2012, however, he did not come out as gay until he published his autobiography in 2018.

See also Mike Beuttler, a British F1 driver from the early 1970s who was closeted, albeit his sexuality has been described by Ian Philips as an open secret in the paddock. Beuttler would race privateer March cars in 1971, 1972, and 1973, but would not score any points under the top six points system. That being said, under the current points scheme, he would've scored 5 points in '72 courtesy of an 8th and a 10th placed finish, and 12 points in '73 courtesy of two 10th placed finishes, a 7th, and an 8th.

Beuttler had to bring a woman with him to the race track to pose as his girlfriend, and he would die of AIDS in Los Angeles in 1988. He never had the chance to live as an openly gay man.

Likewise, Michelle Duff and Caitlyn Jenner transitioned well after their racing days were over with. Duff took two 250cc Grand Prix Motorcycling wins with Yamaha (Belgium 1964 and Finland 1965) as well a single 125cc win (Netherlands 1965).

Jenner, at that time better known as an Olympic track and field runner, took a class win at Sebring in 1986, codriving the #7 7-Eleven Ford Mustang for Roush Racing along with Scott Pruett. Jenner would, as a woman, then make a return to the racing world in 2022 when she owned the W Series team of Jamie Chadwick and Chloe Chambers. Unfortunately, W Series would fold midseason that same year.

Speaking of W Series, much like Women's Football (Soccer), homosexuality is more common among racing women than their male counterparts. Abbie Eaton and girlfriend Jessica Hawkins, along with Sarah Moore, all raced in W Series.

That also brings us to the person who was, hitherto, the most successful queer person in Formula One, Italian lesbian Lella Lombardi. Lella race only a few years after Beuttler and, like him, would spend her career in privateer cars. Four times in a Brabham, making the race once, once in a Williams when she made the race but did not start, and most often in a March.

It was in a Lavazza sponsored March 751 where Lella Lombardi would survive the treacherous 1975 Spanish Grand Prix to finish sixth, albeit with the race being called after just 29 laps, she only received half points. That 0.5 of a point was all that us queer Formula One fans had to hold onto.

Until now.

Ralf Schumacher, the younger brother of Michael, had his breakthrough year in the junior series just as Michael won his second championship in 1995. In this year, Ralf would finish second in the German Formula 3 Championship, second in the Formula 3 Monaco Grand Prix, second in the Masters of Formula 3 race at Zandvoort, and would win the illustrious Macau Grand Prix.

Ralf would follow up this Far Eastern success by winning the 1996 Formula Nippon Championship, nowadays better known as Super Formula. Furthermore, he would finish second in the All-Japan Grand Touring Championship (Super Formula), only beaten out by the duo of sports car ace David Brabham and John Nielsen.

This success would be enough to land Ralf a Formula One seat at Jordan, the same team that his brother started out with in the 1991 Belgian Grand Prix. Unlike in 1991 though, but 1997, Jordan was becoming a proper force.

The Benson & Hedges sponsorship with the iconic yellow and black color scheme, plus the upcoming switch from Peugeot power in 1997 to Mugen-Honda power in 1998 would turn Jordan into a legitimate championship contender by 1999...unfortunately, Ralf would not make it that far.

At the 1998 Belgian Grand Prix, complete chaos resulted in the Jordans of Damon Hill and Ralf Schumacher running 1-2. Ralf was catching Damon, however, with the team's first win on the line, Jordan ordered the drivers to hold position and protect the 1-2. Jordan would get the perfect finish, however, it would result in a falling out between Michael Schumacher and Eddie Jordan.

Michael would buy Ralf out of his Jordan contract, and Ralf would sign for Williams instead.

Initially, Williams brought a beauty of a 1999 car with its red, white, yellow, and blue Winfield colors, but the aesthetics could not make up for the outdated Supertec badged Renault engines. Nevertheless, Ralf's three podiums and fifth-placed points finish was enough for Williams to finish fifth in the constructors' championship, despite the fact that teammate Zanardi failed to score a point.

The new millennium would bring changes to Williams, as gone was the tobacco sponsorship and in came BMW engines and a host of tech sponsorships, particularly Compaq and Allianz. Ralf was now the German driver for a team running German engines, and with his teammate being the then-youngest rookie in F1 history in the form of Jenson Button, Ralf was expected to be the team leader.

Well, he scored 24 of the team's 36 points and they would finish 3rd in the constructors' championship. It wasn't a bad season, but it would certainly fail to live up to the high expectations of BMW. They would go back to the drawing board for 2001.

And they came loaded for fucking bear.

Ralf Schumacher in one car, 1999 CART champion and 2000 Indianapolis 500 winner Juan Pablo Montoya in the other. An 880 horsepower hand grenade of a BMW V10, and not a goddamn lick of downforce to slow that motherfucker down.

It was glorious.

Ralf would have his breakout year in this car, winning at San Marino, Canada, and the German Grand Prix at the Hockenheimring, while Montoya would claim the Cathedral of Speed with his win at Monza. 49 points for Ralf in P4 and 31 points for JPM in P6 marked a resurgence for a team as well. They were still 3rd in the constructors, but now they were doing it with style.

Shame Ferrari decided to eviscerate everyone else in 2002.

Still, Ralf won the Malaysian Grand Prix, finished fourth in the standings, and with Montoya in third, Williams overtook McLaren for second in the constructors.

That did mark a bit of a shift in the team though, because Juan Pablo Montoya had adapted to Formula One, and he would lead the team in 2003. JPM would win Monaco and Germany to finish third in the standings, just nine points off of Michael, while Ralf would be down in fifth.

Nevertheless, he went back-to-back in Europe and France, leading Williams 1-2 finishes at the Nürburgring and Magny-Cours. These are, to this day, the most recent 1-2 finishes for the Williams team.

Ralf would fail to win in 2004 and his season would be defined by a horror crash at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course for the United States Grand Prix. Marc Gene and then Anthony Pizzonia would replace him for the next three months, and this would effectively see out Ralf's contract with Williams.

His Toyota stint would start well enough in 2005, taking two podiums and finishing just ahead of teammate Jarno Trulli in the standings, however he would again crash at the USGP, this time in practice. His second crash there in as many years would signal a major issue with the Michelin tyres, eventually leading to a massive controversy where only six Bridgestone-clad cars raced, handing the win to Michael Schumacher of Ferrari.

After this though, Ralf's career would fade. Down to 10th in the standings in 2006, and just 16th in 2007. At the end of that year, he would leave Formula One to compete for Mercedes in DTM, without much success.

Ralf's career ended with somewhat of a whimper, and he would go on to become a bit of a controversial pundit in the following years. His criticism of Lewis Hamilton in 2020 particularly stood as a black eye for many fans. That being said, this is a man with six Grand Prix wins, a man who went toe-to-toe with the likes of Michael Schumacher, Kimi Raikkonen, and Juan Pablo Montoya.

At the 2001 Canadian Grand Prix, Ralf would get the honor of not only winning, but finishing 1-2 with his brother, for the first sibling 1-2 in Formula One history.

All of this has led for me to maintain that Ralf Schumacher was a good driver who did a lot with a Williams that was strong in a straightline but lacked the aerodynamic grunt of Ferrari and McLaren.

Then, on June 14th, 2024, Ralf posted a pic of him with his arm around a man talking about how good it is to have a loving partner. Ralf's friend Carmen Geiss then elaborated, congratulating Ralf on his bravery for coming out, and specifying that he is gay. We now have our first gay Formula One race winner.

This is huge. In a day, we've gone from zero Grand Prix wins for a gay driver to six. In a time where very few male athletes have come out as gay, Formula One has a gay driver who is still a pundit, still involved in the sport in some way.

As scary as it is to be an LGBTQ+ individual in a socially conservative paddock that races in openly homophobic countries like Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Qatar, and see some of the hooliganism and vitriol coming from the Orange Army of Max Verstappen fans, those gay, bi, trans, lesbian, etc, etc people are no longer alone.

That is big.

There is still work to be done - I've gone through some old forum posts and found out that in 2003, Ralf was harassed by British and German tabloids who claimed that one: he was a partner in a gay nightclub, and two: his then-wife Cora was cheating on him with another man. These are destructive, invasive rumors that could make anyone want to hide their sexuality for as long as possible.

Now, nearly twenty years after his Formula One career, Ralf has finally felt safe enough to reveal this.

#motorsports #racing #f1 #formula 1 #formula one #ralf schumacher

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