#i WILL say extreme sports in the usa not limited to the snow.

[moonshynecybin]

marc and alex give me like snow. like poconos northeast skiing snowboarding type of men, like upper class dad is a member to a 25k ski resort . for some reason. mostly bc i live here and every snow sports person is batshit crazy

nobody can agree on the marquez bros OR pecco’s americansona this is so funny. anyways

[lubbuthedigitalnomad]

A PERFECT PLACE

Happy Bob Marley BD (it was Feb. 6), Tibetan New Year (Feb. 12) and Valentine’s Day week! I hope you and yours are happy and healthy. Communications from America say that things are a little less crazy now that the election is over. That’s good. Even the most pro-American Asians were thinking we went a little wacky!

With any luck, folks in the USA will continue to take deep breaths and calm down. With a little effort, things will become less hateful and more loving as both the reds and blues start to realize that working together is the only way things will ever work at all. With that sentiment in mind, this week’s 1000 words are from the Fearless Puppy On American Road book, and about a time and place that remembers the more beautiful part of the American experience.

Once something changes, it can never go all the way back to what it was. In many ways, that is a good thing. We can preserve some better parts of the life we already had while allowing room for new and improved ideas. Insisting that both those new ideas, and the parts preserved from the old, are employed as actual improvements that benefit the vast majority of us has become the non-negotiable, essential responsibility of each and every citizen. Like it or not, it seems we will have to stay actively, consciously, and intelligently involved in order to insure success.

Please be well & stay well. Love, Tenzin and the Nepali Crew

FEARLESS PUPPY WEBSITE BLOG

FEARLESS PUPPY ON AMERICAN ROAD/AMAZON PAGE

REINCARNATION THROUGH COMMON SENSE/AMAZON PAGE

FEARLESS PUPPY ON AMERICAN ROAD WEBSITE

Rural Vermont

Helpfulness. Tribalism at its best. Everyone works together on everything. Lives depend upon each other in temperatures well below zero.

Hitchhiking is no longer just getting from here to there while barely knowing my host. Nearly every ride establishes or increases a friendship.

More cows per square mile than people, more open space than cows, and more forest than open space. Pronounced seasons and cycles. Cold, white winters. Muddy springs. Vibrant green summers pulsating with life that knows it only has a few months to do what needs to get done. Rainbow autumnal foliage so brilliant that guests come from continents away to view it. Streams clean enough to drink from.

Eggs come from happy chickens — not from the cruelty of large “animal production” warehouses.

Everyone waves hello to anyone driving by.

There’s always time to speak with whomever you meet at the General Store or Post Office. There’s always time. No hurry. Life comes first. Being is more important than doing (once the doing gets done).

The only store in town is the size of five closets but has everything — food, hardware, videos, clothing, beer, and more. A giant empty cable spool acts as a table around which to enjoy coffee, home- made donuts, and the company of neighbors. A best friend makes maple syrup. Everyone grows incredible gardens.

I have spent a lot of time with four other people and five beers staring into the open hood of a pickup truck that was not in need of repair.

Wood keeps you warm three times — once when you chop it, again when you carry it in, and the third time when you burn it. Overflowing abundance lives here. Some folks want more. Few need more.

Theater groups that produce professional-quality plays thrive in the forests of nearby vest-pocket towns.

The purity and clarity of omnipresent Nature rubs off on its human inhabitants. Crime, violence, and assorted hatreds appear only in newspapers and on TV stations. No one here has seen those things in person.

The Town Treasurer has a sign on his office explaining, “It’s very hard to get away with anything in a town this small.” Live and let live. If it hurts no one, it’s legal.

Resourcefulness is a way of life. Anything you need can be built from left over parts of things that you don’t need anymore. If you don’t know how, someone will show you. They’ll be happy to help — even happier if you bring a beer to say hello and thank you.

Deer hunters and trout fishermen deny slaughterhouses and corporate supermarket chains their abuses and profits. Unprocessed foods, hard exercise, low stress, clean air, and clean water deny the medical industry their profits from unnecessary surgery and drugs.

Awe inspiring natural beauty excludes land developers and their profit-over-people motivation. Their concrete and steel are not welcome here. The industrial decay that would lead to profits for a large assortment of unethical folks in fancy suits is denied entry by the conscious decisions of simple, intelligent farmers in overalls.

There will never be a Wal-Mart or a crack house here. There are many guns. They are never used for anything but hunting food. People are constantly helping each other to build a barn or house, dig out snow and mud, care for the children, cook, clean, weed the garden, and feed the animals. Anything that can be done at all is usually done by a group, even if it’s actually a one-person job. Folks enjoy each other’s company. Except in the most extreme circumstances, everyone deserves inclusion.

Parties get thrown together instantly for no other reason than that someone feels like being the host.

On a Tuesday, my friend Mike told me that he was having a party at his house on the following Saturday.

“What’s the occasion, Mike?”

“The occasion is that I just came up with the bright idea of having a party. I’ll get out a side of venison and buy a keg of beer. Tell everyone you see to tell everyone they see. If anyone wants to bring more food and drink, that’s good. If not, we’ll be fine with what we’ve got, I figure.”

“OK, Mike. I’ll get everyone but the assholes informed.”

“Inform the assholes too, buddy! Who knows? Maybe if they got invited to more parties, they’d figure out how to act better and wouldn’t be such assholes.”

It was hard to argue with Mike’s logic, but then again it is hard to argue with much of anything in a clean, friendly village.

During those years of having a home community and base station, a lot of work got done elsewhere. Rest time there made hitchhiking across nearly every inch of road in Northeastern America possible. I probably hitchhiked as many miles regionally during this period as the number of miles that were traveled in all the previous cross-country trips. Each full month of whistle stops working for environmental groups and charities included many towns and cities. It included talking to independent business folks all day about various causes, sleeping wherever possible, and celebrating whenever plausible. At the end of road tours like that, staring at mountains in between long naps was more of a necessity than an option. It is a lot easier to burn yourself up on the road when you know that a perfect place to revive is waiting for you.

The focal points of the road binges included Greenpeace, Citizen’s Awareness Network, and self-organized efforts to help support a Mexican orphanage, raise awareness and funding for American homeless folks, and help the victims of a very severe African famine. The results varied. My little part as a team member in the environmental efforts worked consistently for over a decade at each. The orphanage and homeless projects I organized worked minimally. The famine relief effort worked very well. It involved a governor, two senators, labor unions, school systems, businesses, major league sports teams, rock bands, and more. Thousands of people in the Northeastern section of America gave massive help.

This is a short chapter, but it covers a long period of years. Eventually, my good friend who allowed me this cabin in paradise had to liquidate his properties. This put me back out on the street at age fifty. But for a while, my life was as close to normal as it had ever been. It included long term friends and neighbors.

Those years seem to have gone by very quickly.​

About the Author

Doug “Ten” Rose may be the biggest smartass as well as one of the most entertaining survivors of the hitchhiking adventurers that used to cover America’s highways. He is the author of the books Fearless Puppy on American Road and Reincarnation Through Common Sense, has survived heroin addiction and death, and is a graduate of over a hundred thousand miles of travel without ever driving a car, owning a phone, or having a bank account.

Ten Rose and his work are a vibrant part of the present and future as well as an essential remnant of a vanishing breed.

Follow him on Facebook, Doug Ten Rose

Travel Adventure Books can be an excellent gift to your friends and family, buy from Amazon.com

#traveladventurebooks #keepreading #kindlebooks

The books Fearless Puppy On American Road and Reincarnation Through Common Sense by this same author are also available through Amazon or the Fearless Puppy website, where there are sample chapters from those books. Entertaining TV/radio interviews with and newspaper articles about the author are also available there. There is no charge for anything but the complete books! All author profits from book sales will be donated to help sponsor an increase in the number of wisdom professionals on Earth, beginning with but certainly not limited to Buddhist monks and nuns.

If you missed the Introduction to the new book that will be titled Temple Dog Soldier, or would like to see several chapters of it that are available for free online, go to the Puppy website Blog section. This is a book in progress. You will be reading it as it is being created! Just like you, I don’t know what the next chapter is going to be about until it is written. As the Intro will tell you, this is a totally true story — and probably the only book ever written by and about a corpse journeying completely around the world!

[anycontentposter]

Here are the winners for Red Bull Illume’s Image Quest 2019 competition

Red Bull Illume Image Quest 2019 Winners

At the beginning of this month, 260 semi-finalists were selected out of nearly 60,000 entries for Red Bull Illume's photography and videography contest. The 5 finalists for each category attended the Winner Award Ceremony hosted at the LUMEN - Museum of Mountain Photography on November 20th. The Overall Winner, 11 Category Winners, and Top 60 finalist images were revealed at the ceremony hosted by Italian sports journalist Zoran Filicic.

Ben Thouard was this year's Overall Winner.

This year’s Overall Winner is Ben Thouard for his underwater image of surfer Ace Buchan riding a massive wave in Teahupo’o, Tahiti. Here is Thouard's story behind his winning image: ‘I‘ve dedicated the last few years to shooting underwater, looking for new angles and a new way to shoot surfing and waves. Shooting surfing from underwater is a whole new world and I love it! Tahiti has some of the clearest water in the world so it was easy for me to take advantage of it and explore it as much as I could. This photo was shot during a freesurf session right before the WCT event in Teahupo‘o. This is Ace Buchan kicking out from the barrel through the wave, a technique to escape a close-out wave.’

He continues, 'luckily I was right below, breathless with my waiting for this moment and I was able to capture the whole sequence of it; this frame from the beginning of the sequence is the most powerful one because of the water around his face and body.' Thouard was a Red Bull Illume semi-finalist in 2013 and a finalist in 2016 before becoming the Overall Winner this year.

60 finalist images were on display outside the LUMEN.

Once all the winners and finalists were announced, attendees were able to view the 60 finalist photos illuminated with 2mx2m lightboxes outside the LUMEN. The winners for each category are:

Overall Winner 2019: Ben Thouard, French Polynesia

Category Winners 2019

Best of Instagram by SanDisk: Baptiste Fauchille, France Creative by Skylum: Denis Klero, Russia Emerging by Red Bull Photography: JB Liautard, France Energy: Ben Thouard, French Polynesia Innovation by Sony: Laurence Crossman-Emms, United Kingdom Lifestyle: Alexander Wick, Germany Masterpiece by EyeEm: Lorenz Holder, Germany Moving Image: Rupert Walker, Canada Playground: Lorenz Holder, Germany RAW: Noah Wetzel, USA Wings: Philip Platzer, Austria Best Mountain Sports Image by Salewa: Kamil Sustiak, Australia SanDisk Extreme Award: Philip Platzer, Austria

For those interested, a Limited Edition Red Bull Illume Photobook featuring 260 semi-finalist action and adventure sports images submitted to the competition is now available to order. 4,000 copies were made, each individually numbered and stamped, and they come with a SanDisk Ultra SD Memory Card containing the Moving Image Category videos plus the full Luminar 4: Creative Photo Editor suite from Skylum.

Energy & Overall Winner: Ben Thouard, France

About this photo: As the quotes in the introduction to this series illustrate, Thouard was in the right place at the right time, underwater, when he captured athlete Ace Buchan kicking out from the barrel through the wave in Teahupo’o, Tahiti.

Category Winner, Best of Instagram by SanDisk: Baptiste Fauchille, France

About this photo: This is a shot from a buddies trip with a business goal showing biker Alex Bibollet’s shadow in the bowl of Fillinges, France. In Fauchille's words, 'We were a team of riders, photographers, and videographers, leaving for the very first trip of the new BMX clothing brand linked to the BMX: ‘Unicorn, we are legends’. We travelled for 5 days in the middle of summer, through different spots in different cities; it was a buddies trip with a business goal.

This photo was taken at the bowl of Fillinges. I remember the heat was insane like it rarely had been in the Alps. When I arrived on the spot the first thought I had in mind was to make a top- shot video with the drone: a fixed plan with a rider who makes his line with the intention of creating a loop. Then I realized that the bowl was really clean: no tags, no dust. I was able to have the rider and his shadow to come out well. I asked Alex Bibollet — one of the riders — to do what he did best, and I immortalized this moment!'

Category Winner, Creative by Skylum: Denis Klero, Russia

About this photo: In Klero's own words,'last year‘s trend reports have shown that as soon as the first snow starts falling the social media community bursts in excitement and instantly shares videos and photos showing the first flakes of the year. I didn‘t want to miss out on the trend and started working on a concept to show the change of seasons. To attract the attention of the social media world it had to be something that would make one stop and stare. Consequently, I developed an idea of a series of three main pictures with some supporting detail shots, which had to be visually strong and inherent to the world of Red Bull. This picture with Pavel (Alekhin, the athlete in this photo) is one of those.'

Category winner, Emerging by Red Bull Photography: Jean-Baptiste Liautard, France

About this photo: 'Two things that I love when it comes to photography are silhouettes and reflections and I wanted to use both in a single frame for a long time. After a lot of drawings, I knew what I wanted but it took me six months to get the perfect conditions and final ideas. Jeremy‘s trail is a piece of art and this jump is definitely a highlight. I knew I wanted to shoot it from the side and get that reflection but it was really dry at this time of the year and of course there was no water around,' says Liautard.

'When I saw a wheelbarrow hanging around by the jumps, I had the idea to fill it up with water to create a mirror. We didn‘t have any water hose that day, so I had to do round trips with water cans to a little ditch by the road. After spending a lot of time adjusting the wheelbarrow and cleaning the water in the afternoon, my mirror was finally ready for the evening shoot.'

We were lucky enough to have a few friends helping us with the fire that night and adjusting the smoke just as we needed. The hardest job was Jeremy‘s as he had to ride the trail almost blind. Riding bikes at night is so scary and I can‘t thank the athletes enough when they are in these kinds of conditions. After a few attempts, we got this one, just as I imagined it at the very beginning, and it was a great feeling to finally see the image I had in my head for months, displayed on the back of my camera.

Category Winner, Innovation by Sony: Laurence Crossman-Emms, United Kingdom

About this photo: In Laurence's own words, 'Blaenau Ffestiniog was once described as the wettest place in Wales, this is no lie. Even when the sun shines, the puddles are plentiful. I’ve always been attracted to their animations when struck by a bicycle at full steep. The tyres of Katy Winton making the perfect parting of this muddy sea. The combination of dynamic action and the silk-like curtains made me try each time more determined. There are always challenges when shooting bikes and water close up … don’t get run over and don’t get wet.

This concept had always been in the back of my mind but finding the perfect location and it aligning with both the weather and sufficient puddle depth was tough. This breathless day at Antur Stiniog with Katy proved ideal. You can never guess how water reacts when you hit it with force, sometimes the results exceed your expectations … this was one of those times.'

Category Winner, Lifestyle: Alexander Wick, Germany

About this photo: In Wick's words, 'Together with my boys Phil and Chris I went on a US West-Coast climbing trip. Obviously Yosemite is a must and so we tested our very humble European crack climbing skills right away on El Capitan‘s Salathé Wall. A climb I‘ve been dreaming of for quite a while.

The first Ascent of this line was a master piece way ahead of its time. Climber and photographer Tom Frost was part of the three man team back then. His photography of the same climb is just breathtaking. The picture of Royal Robbins napping on a rock atop El Cap Spire with loads of exposure is one of my favorites, so of course I planned on getting a tribute shot to the old masters once we reached the spot. As we got stuck behind another climbing party just up on El Cap spire I used the moment, aided my way up the next pitch and took the shot as the boys and our new friend Luke actually took a nap.

No old hemp ropes and linen haul bags like in 1961 but modern nylon and Dyneema this time. No uncharted terrain but a well known and established route. Having a rest amidst a sea of granite: probably almost as amazing as back in the days.'

Category Winner, Masterpiece by EyeEm: Lorenz Holder, Germany

About this photo: 'The first time I saw this location was when I was watching Game of Thrones and I was blown away by the pure magic this road generated in me. First, I thought that it‘s of course a CGI composition, but after a little research I found out that this place is actually real and located in Northern Ireland. A year later I was actually standing there with Senad Grosic and trying to get a bunny-hop-tailwhip on camera.

It was early in the morning with the first sun rays hitting the road and we managed to get a pretty cool shot, but somehow I knew that there was pure potential in the spot. So, we decided to stay a couple days longer and waited for some kind of rain, fog or other particles in the air, so I could use one flash from behind and create a white background to make Senad stand out a bit more and get the focus a bit more on the action. The rain came on our last day and I still remember the goose-bumps I had when I saw the image appearing on the screen of the camera. That‘s when I felt the same magical feeling I got when I watched Game of Thrones for the first time.'

Category Winner, Moving Image: Rupert Walker, Canada

About this photo: This is a still from Walker's award-winning video. Here's his explanation for getting all the key shots: 'It was particularly challenging because it required extreme precision from the FPV drone pilot, Jonny Durst, and during this shoot, we experienced very heavy rains, which caused the track to be nearly unrideable. From the moisture, the track was riding much slower than anticipated and caused the athletes to struggle at performing their best. The dig crew was all hands-on deck with tiger torches and shovels to dry up any wet spots and dig out any soft spots. With hard work from all, a solid shot plan, and great coordination between the drone pilot and the athletes, the shot was accomplished.'

Category Winner, Playground: Lorenz Holder, Germany

About this photo: Lorenz Holder's reputation as a stellar location scout continues (he was a winner in this year's Masterpiece by EyeEm category). Holder talks about his latest find: 'The Ouse Valley Viaduct is pretty cool old railway bridge in the South of England. When you approach it from the side, you can‘t really see the secret this bridge has to offer, but once you get underneath of one of the arches you can‘t believe your eyes. You are caught in a place that could easily be in the movie Inception. The arches create a very surreal visual effect – when you are taking a picture, you don‘t understand if you are looking down into something or at least you get very confused about what you‘re actually seeing. I was blown away by this fact, but also blown away that this looked like a pretty good spot for skateboarding.

When I showed Vladic an image of the viaduct, he was on fire to try it out. To be honest it was super hard to ride and Vladic‘s quote that got stuck in my mind was: “This is so hard, when my brain is going down in the transition, my body is already going up again – this will be difficult to get something done here.“ A couple of hours later, when his brain and body came together, he landed this kickflip while the sun was just at the perfect angle as well.'

Category Winner, RAW: Noah Wetzel, USA

About this photo: 'After weeks of preparation and creative conception, I loaded my Subaru and headed North to Wyoming for the Total Solar Eclipse in August of 2017. Arriving a couple days before the eclipse, I linked up with athletes Chris Brule, Evan Grott, and Blake Sommer. The imagery goal was to capture the Eclipse and showcase mountain biking utilizing an in-camera double exposure – a very complex process.

The morning of, we loaded our packs well before sunrise with light stands, powerful flashes, extra camera gear, and two magnum bottles of champagne to celebrate. After capturing the first image successfully during two minutes of totality, all we had to do was endure the midday sun, waiting for twilight and the attempt at the second frame.

Unfortunately, I was unaware I had damaged the hot shoe connection on my camera four weeks prior while shooting fly fishing, preventing me from triggering my flashes. Our only option required athlete Chris Brule to hit the feature in near darkness at 9pm, allowing me to set the camera to a 2.5 second exposure, manually firing the flashes and freezing Chris mid-air. Nearly escaping complete failure, we hiked out in darkness while sipping on champagne, truly in awe of the total solar eclipse and thankful we were able to capture something special.'

Category Winner, Wings: Philip Platzer, Austria

About this photo: Here is how Platzer captured athlete Marco Fürst flying hot air balloon swing in Austria: 'Together with the Red Bull Skydive Team, I did this crazy Project called Megaswing back in 2016. After my assignment I already knew this had to be a tricky one: Two hot air balloons, one with a long rope attached and the other one to jump out with the swing, and of course the skydiver with his parachute.

After the first couple of jumps I realized that I wouldn’t get the perfect shot by simply shooting from the inside of the basket they where jumping out of. Lucky me, I had my monopod in the car as well as a pair of radio-triggers. My solution to get the right angle was to hold the camera, that I had attached to my monopod, as deep under the basket and just hope to get the perfect framing.

Another thing, I asked the athlete Marco Fürst to turn a little bit towards my direction to avoid getting an ass-shot and to get this playful mood in the image. In the end it was the very last try which gave us the moneyshot.'

Read more about this at dpreview.com

https://bestcamaccessories.com/here-are-the-winners-for-red-bull-illumes-image-quest-2019-competition/

[bestautochicago]

Automobile’s 2017 Holiday Gift Guide

Picture a Range Rover, ready to show up anywhere dressed to kill, and you will have a pretty good idea of what Aether is all about. The Los Angeles-based company specializes in reshaping utilitarian outerwear into casually sophisticated clothing. Aether’s take on the classic waxed cotton jacket is a perfect example of its ethos. The ornamentation is gone. The contrasting brass zippers and buttons, the floppy and impractical belts all disposed of. What’s left is a jacket stripped to its essentials.

Simplicity of line, thoughtful engineering, a nod to history. It’s not surprising that Aether cofounder Jonah Smith would be a Porsche guy. Smith and longtime business partner Palmer West traded one savage racket for another. As producers, the two have credits in major films, including “Requiem for a Dream,” “A Scanner Darkly,” and Bill Maher’s “Religulous.” Not content whipping on films, the two plunged into apparel as a way to indulge outdoors inclinations: skiing, motorcycle adventures, and driving cars.

Smith’s black on black Porsche 964 is as understated as you can make the thing. Up on Mulholland Drive in the hills above Malibu, he’s gentle on it. Revving it out, applying clutch, giving the gearbox plenty of time to settle before picking up the next gear and letting the clutch take up again. It’s easygoing, methodical, and appreciative—the driving of a man who cares about a classic.

There is a similar steady pragmatism to Aether’s design, the knowledge that most of us don’t need the bright colors and ice-axe-swing-friendly cut of mountaineering jackets. That a complementary fit shouldn’t be sacrificed to sealed seams and insulation. That those fancy mountaineering jackets mostly get used in town or on early morning drives.

Aether’s L.A. outpost is all dark wood and enabling. Casual outerwear shares floor space with the technical stuff, waterproof jackets and pants for snow sports and hardcore armored adventure gear for motorcycling. It all slots neatly into a careful, tidy color palate. Lots of black and gray, dusty reds, greens, and blues.

Custom-built Ducatis and Timbersleds and composite kayaks are placed around the shop. Broad tables feature things that encourage adventure, such as Butler’s maps of twisty roads and the occasional camp tool. Most impressively, in the middle is a large walk-in freezer, an advantage when selling outerwear in L.A.’s sunny weather.

South La Brea Avenue is all fancy bistros and vintage denim shops, the curbs kept clean by valet stands. It might have a clean storefront similar to its neighbors, but Aether’s curb is often awash in dirt-spattered adventure bikes and road-worn sports cars—rides owned by the Hollywood elite and the hoi polloi alike. It’s inevitable that Aether’s clean take on classic looks will filter into movies and onto a new generation of idols. But for now, wear that updated waxed cotton jacket with your old Porsche. If experience has shown us anything, it’s that a classic is always cool.—Chris Cantle

Bee Line Coffee

$16-$20, beelinecoffee.com

You already know how well cars and coffee go together, but you might not know Bee Line. This automotive-themed brand makes truly delicious joe. Some of our favorites:

Flat Track: Colombian coffee from La Union farm in a direct-trade arrangement that pays farmers more of what their coffee is worth. Streamliner: Uses a special drying technique that results in more sweetness as well as a richer flavor. Classic Blend: Combination of African and West Pacific beans.

Pocket Squares

$21-$90, cyberoptix.com

Detroit-based Cyberoptix Tie Lab offers the coolest handmade, graphic screen-printed car-themed ties, scarves, and pocket squares. Choose from a Packard Motors logo scarf, an automotive leather necktie, British racing green to Martini Racing stripes, engine “rosettes,” spark plugs, exhaust patterns, or six-speed manual gearshift knobs. Be sure to check out the Cargyle ties. You’ll recognize the argyle pattern as connecting images of the original Ford Mustang.

Blipshift, 710 and The World Is Flat Mugs

$15, blipshift.com

If you like your coffee like some of us do, you can turn the 710 mug upside down without spilling a drop—and in doing so, you’ll be in on the joke.

Aether Apparel Hudson Jacket

$350, aetherapparel.com

One of our favorite Aether offerings is this Hudson Jacket, a wool-nylon piece that functions best in the chillier seasons in the city. Think less about an ascent up a frostbound mountain and more about a slushy slog down to the metro station. That’s not to say it wouldn’t keep you warm if you decide to take it upstate. Deep pockets and a midweight design mean you’ll still be toasty for a quick walk around a frozen park. Get it now online or at one of brand’s shops in L.A., San Francisco, Aspen, and New York.

Velomacchi Hybrid Duffle Pack and Tool Roll

$400/$75, velomacchi.com

Still using a backpack for overnight adventures? You’re better than that. With 50 liters of storage space and watertight construction, this duffle-shoulder-backpack is the best of both worlds. The rugged materials mean you won’t worry if it’s caught in the rain. Make sure you also pick up the Velomacchi Speedway toolroll, compact enough to strap to your bike even when filled.

Goodwood Road Racing Club Mechanic Overalls

$120, goodwood.com

It’s not easy to get an invite to run at the Goodwood Festival of Speed or the Revival, but with the Goodwood Road Racing Club mechanic overalls, you can pretend you did. Available in white or khaki, these overalls are best worn while trapped in the dark engine bay of a Triumph TR6, in the fuselage of a Spitfire, or changing the tire of a Lotus in the Silverstone pits. Or add a leather belt, a flat cap, and a scarf, and you’re ready for teatime at the Revival.

Hot Wheels Car Culture: Modern Classics

$4, hotwheels.com

You never truly outgrow Hot Wheels. While the regular blue-card Hot Wheels are as rare as rocks, these mini models are part of the brand’s popular Car Culture premium series. The design team behind the cars is hard at work yanking influence from past and present automotive trends, resulting in some seriously cool diecasts. With detailed paint schemes, metal bases, and rubber Real Riders wheels, these are collector darlings. This series features some of the greatest hits from the 1980s and ’90s, including a 1985 Honda CRX variant.

Hoodoo GT40 Victory Series Guitar

$6,000, gt40.com

Garage art can be a tricky thing, especially when the line between tacky and tasteful is so blurry. For the Americana enthusiast, check out Safir GT40 Spares and Hoodoo Guitar’s take on what a GT40 looks like in guitar form. Like the racing prototype that rocked the world more than a half century ago, this limited-edition axe features headlight and hood slot cutouts, along with special GT40 badging, VIN designation, and historical livery. If you’d rather strum than let it gather dust on the wall next to your car, it’s actually a very sharp-sounding piece, thanks to the craftsmen at Hoodoo’s shop in Calgary, Canada. They’ll make only 100 of each of four different liveries.

Nuna Rava Convertible Car Seat

$450, nuna.eu/usa

The Rava works as both a rear- and forward-facing seat, so take comfort in the safety of that tiny poop monster just home from the hospital all the way up to the 4-foot, 65-pounder who won’t stop asking, “Why, mommy and daddy? Why?” The Rava comes in a variety of colors from charcoal to berry, so it’ll match the interior of most of daddy’s cars.

“Josef, The IndyCar Driver” and “The Spectale: Celebrating the History of the Indianapolis 500”

$16-$40, apexlegends.com

Chris Workman’s children’s motorsports books are perfect for introducing a new generation of potential race fans to America’s open-wheel circuit and its most famous track, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. While intended for kids, the books will inform and refresh even the sport’s full-sized veteran observers.

Carrera Digital 132 ’80s Flashback Slot Car Set

$400, carrera-toys.com

Carrera is one of biggest names in the slot-car business, and the German company offers an astounding number of tracks, cars, and configurations. We distracted ourselves with the new Digital 132 ’80s Flashback set, pitting a 1:32 scale 1979 BMW M1 Procar against a Zakspeed Ford Capri Turbo. Joining these two old-timers were incredibly detailed models of the No. 68 Ford GT race car and the No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R.

Vulcan Innova Winder

$25,000, vulcaninnova.com

“When an engine block is engineered, its shape is pure function for maximum performance and no regard for beauty. As a result, it made for an extremely intriguing aesthetic, one that I wanted to celebrate,” says Vulcan Innova’s Sean Cheng, who has produced his bespoke watch winders from salvaged BMW M52 straight-six engines since 2015. Design, engineering, production, and assembly are all done in-house. The Vulcan Innova is plain bananas: Lock the watches in place in winding mode, insert and turn the key, and the watches will rise forth from the winder’s pistons. Custom paint and leather are available to match the winder to your E36 M3.

Vintage Kart Company Italiano

$6,975, vintage-kart-company.myshopify.com

Looking very much like the great monoposto grand prix racers from the 1920s and ’30s, this pint-sized blue bullet is the product of Vintage Kart Company, an Arizona-based outfit that offers karts as kits or turnkey toys. For about $7,000, DIY-ers can assemble a bare matte aluminum kart, replete with Gatsby appeal and charm. Power comes from a Honda GX-200 one-cylinder four-stroke, pumping out a healthy 6.5 hp at full chat. Considering the Kart weighs around 300 pounds, this is plenty. Once you complete the build, slap on some period-correct racing graphics and sign up for the annual Grand Prix of Scottsdale, Arizona, to compete with other Vintage karts.

Land Rover Experience Heritage Program

$1,200-$1,500, landroverusa.com

If you’ve always had a taste for British bricks, the backwoods, and a bit of trail-bashing, this program is just the ticket. Spend either a half or full day of guided driving in the Defender 90 and other Range Rover and Land Rover models. Off-road courses include mud, water pits, and terrain so challenging you won’t believe you made it through, but you will. Locations in California, Vermont, North Carolina, and Quebec, Canada, mean you’re no more than a short flight from the off-road experience of your dreams.

“Crashed and Byrned”

$45, crashorbyrne.com

“There were lots of things Tommy Byrne didn’t know. He didn’t know tomorrow had a limit, that he wasn’t just going to keep on surfing this beautiful wave forever. … He also didn’t know what on Earth Ayrton Senna was talking about in early 1982 when he burst into the Van Diemen office, ranting and raving, calling Tommy a ‘f——- thief.’” This excerpt is from Chapter 6 of the autobiography of perhaps one of the greatest race-car drivers you’ve never heard of. If you enjoy tales of human experience, triumph, failure, and dark humor—and learning the ins and outs of professional motorsports—you need this in your library.

“Uncommon Carriers”

$9, amazon.com

If you know of John McPhee, you know this is going to be a great read. If you don’t know McPhee, go buy everything he’s ever written, starting with “Uncommon Carriers.” As much as it’s about transportation by plane, train, and truck, it’s also a sketchbook of the characters who pilot these machines. Through their eyes we see the world not as it should be or even as it really is, but exactly as it looks from the long end of a career devoted to getting people and things to the right places at the right times. It truly is, as the book’s dust jacket states, a classic work.

“A Man and His Watch”

$35, amazon.com

With his new book, Matthew Hranek has created the style bible for any watch collector. Hranek masterfully weaves the stories of 70 unique timepieces from the men who’ve owned them. He also uncovers examples of deep historical significance such as Steve McQueen’s Heuer Monaco and astronaut Wally Schirra’s Omega Speedmaster. “For me,” Hranek says, “it wasn’t just about the watches, it was about the stories behind them that made them so interesting.”

“Stars & Cars: Mythical Pairings”

$31, amazon.com

Author Jacques Braunstein shares our passion not only for cars and entertainment but also for the cultural impact automobiles have achieved through their appearances in some of Hollywood’s most memorable movies and television programs. His latest book includes actors who have raced—from Dean to McQueen to Newman—and car-entwined characters such as James Bond, Mad Max, and the Blues Brothers, not to mention specific films and shows and the cars they helped to make famous. You’ll find plenty here to satisfy your automotive cravings.

Richard Mille RM 50-03 Tourbillon McLaren F1

$1,000,000, richardmille.com

If you have a cool million sitting around—yes, we know—and are looking for the proper timepiece to match the McLaren BP23 you’ve ordered, you’re in luck. Richard Mille has created the wrist cleavage of your dreams. The RM 50-03 is made from Graph TPT, a composite created by injecting graphene-containing resins into layers of carbon fiber and weighs in at 1.4 ounces, including the strap. No one ever said that channeling the bleeding-edge nature of F1 and distilling it into a timepiece this flawless is for the masses.

Rolex Milgauss

$8,200, bobswatches.com

Similar to daily worn dive watches, the Omega Speedmaster’s NASA flight certification, the Breitling Navitimer’s slide-rule function, and true moonphase-equipped models, a great number of watches possess seemingly ridiculous capabilities that are entirely too specific for the average desk jockey. The colorful Rolex Milgauss is so-named for its resistance to up to 1,000 gauss of magnetic force. Before the advent of modern computers and digital watches, scientists working with magnetic fields needed timepieces designed to resist these forces. The Milgauss is one of the most recognizable of these scientist specials, sporting a lightning-bolt seconds hand.

VistaJet

$10,000, vistajet.com

There’s a reason the tarmac at Monterey Regional Airport is lousy with private jets during Monterey Car Week. Driving yourself—or even worse, flying coach into foggy and oft-delayed MRY—is a big drag. VistaJet, with its global fleet of branded Bombardier Global 5000 and Challenger 350 aircraft, takes the idea of the shared economy to the next logical and expensive level. Choose from either VistaJet’s on-demand or longer-term program, and you’ll never get stuck waiting for a connection again.

Döttling Colosimo Watch Safe

$33,000, doettling.com

Since 1919, Döttling has produced some of the finest safes in its factory in Sindelfingen, Germany. Named after legendary turn of the century gangster “Big Jim” Colosimo and inspired by bank vaults Big Jim would knock over during Prohibition, Döttling created a 1:13-sized vault replica. The Colosimo is an aesthetic gem we wholeheartedly endorse.

Montblanc StarWalker Spirit of Racing Doué Fineliner

$465, montblanc.com

If you appreciate fine watches, cars, and design, it doesn’t make sense to sign documents and letters with the 10-cent ballpoint you picked up from your insurance agent. The StarWalker collection is one of Montblanc’s more subtle product lines, offering subdued, dark designs accented primarily with platinum finish and a crystal endcap. Part of the Spirit of Racing line, the pen wears a rubber tread pattern wrapped around the resin barrel. This example uses the felt-tipped fineliner cartridge but can be had as a ballpoint or fountain pen.

Pagnol M1A Auto Jacket

$650, pagnol-motor.com

Pagnol, an established purveyor of high-end riding gear, looks to break into the four-wheeled sector with the fab M1A Auto Jacket. Just like the motorcycle jacket, the M1A features the same slim leather construction, retaining the accordion stretch panels at the center back, under arm, and above the elbows, and replacing the thick, bulky Kevlar abrasion guards with matte Lycra. Like any good riding jacket, it features zippered pockets, ventilation slots, and zippered sleeves.

The Balvenie Peat Week, 2002 Vintage

$99, us.thebalvenie.com

Ahh, peat. That rich, funky, decidedly Scottish stuff that makes whisky so magical. If you’re a peat lover, you’ll love The Balvenie’s Peat Week, the result of experiments undertaken in 2001. In 2002 and every year since, the Speyside distillery has set aside a week each year to using 100-percent Highland peat for barley drying. In the process, the malted barley absorbs the smoke. Highland peat imparts an earthier, woodier flavor. Look for hints of butterscotch and honey in the nose with citrus, smoke, and oak on the tongue and creamy vanilla on the finish.

Source: http://chicagoautohaus.com/automobiles-2017-holiday-gift-guide/

from Chicago Today https://chicagocarspot.wordpress.com/2017/12/15/automobiles-2017-holiday-gift-guide/

[jonathanbelloblog]

Automobile’s 2017 Holiday Gift Guide

Picture a Range Rover, ready to show up anywhere dressed to kill, and you will have a pretty good idea of what Aether is all about. The Los Angeles-based company specializes in reshaping utilitarian outerwear into casually sophisticated clothing. Aether’s take on the classic waxed cotton jacket is a perfect example of its ethos. The ornamentation is gone. The contrasting brass zippers and buttons, the floppy and impractical belts all disposed of. What’s left is a jacket stripped to its essentials.

Simplicity of line, thoughtful engineering, a nod to history. It’s not surprising that Aether cofounder Jonah Smith would be a Porsche guy. Smith and longtime business partner Palmer West traded one savage racket for another. As producers, the two have credits in major films, including “Requiem for a Dream,” “A Scanner Darkly,” and Bill Maher’s “Religulous.” Not content whipping on films, the two plunged into apparel as a way to indulge outdoors inclinations: skiing, motorcycle adventures, and driving cars.

Smith’s black on black Porsche 964 is as understated as you can make the thing. Up on Mulholland Drive in the hills above Malibu, he’s gentle on it. Revving it out, applying clutch, giving the gearbox plenty of time to settle before picking up the next gear and letting the clutch take up again. It’s easygoing, methodical, and appreciative—the driving of a man who cares about a classic.

There is a similar steady pragmatism to Aether’s design, the knowledge that most of us don’t need the bright colors and ice-axe-swing-friendly cut of mountaineering jackets. That a complementary fit shouldn’t be sacrificed to sealed seams and insulation. That those fancy mountaineering jackets mostly get used in town or on early morning drives.

Aether’s L.A. outpost is all dark wood and enabling. Casual outerwear shares floor space with the technical stuff, waterproof jackets and pants for snow sports and hardcore armored adventure gear for motorcycling. It all slots neatly into a careful, tidy color palate. Lots of black and gray, dusty reds, greens, and blues.

Custom-built Ducatis and Timbersleds and composite kayaks are placed around the shop. Broad tables feature things that encourage adventure, such as Butler’s maps of twisty roads and the occasional camp tool. Most impressively, in the middle is a large walk-in freezer, an advantage when selling outerwear in L.A.’s sunny weather.

South La Brea Avenue is all fancy bistros and vintage denim shops, the curbs kept clean by valet stands. It might have a clean storefront similar to its neighbors, but Aether’s curb is often awash in dirt-spattered adventure bikes and road-worn sports cars—rides owned by the Hollywood elite and the hoi polloi alike. It’s inevitable that Aether’s clean take on classic looks will filter into movies and onto a new generation of idols. But for now, wear that updated waxed cotton jacket with your old Porsche. If experience has shown us anything, it’s that a classic is always cool.—Chris Cantle

Bee Line Coffee

$16-$20, beelinecoffee.com

You already know how well cars and coffee go together, but you might not know Bee Line. This automotive-themed brand makes truly delicious joe. Some of our favorites:

Flat Track: Colombian coffee from La Union farm in a direct-trade arrangement that pays farmers more of what their coffee is worth. Streamliner: Uses a special drying technique that results in more sweetness as well as a richer flavor. Classic Blend: Combination of African and West Pacific beans.

Pocket Squares

$21-$90, cyberoptix.com

Detroit-based Cyberoptix Tie Lab offers the coolest handmade, graphic screen-printed car-themed ties, scarves, and pocket squares. Choose from a Packard Motors logo scarf, an automotive leather necktie, British racing green to Martini Racing stripes, engine “rosettes,” spark plugs, exhaust patterns, or six-speed manual gearshift knobs. Be sure to check out the Cargyle ties. You’ll recognize the argyle pattern as connecting images of the original Ford Mustang.

Blipshift, 710 and The World Is Flat Mugs

$15, blipshift.com

If you like your coffee like some of us do, you can turn the 710 mug upside down without spilling a drop—and in doing so, you’ll be in on the joke.

Aether Apparel Hudson Jacket

$350, aetherapparel.com

One of our favorite Aether offerings is this Hudson Jacket, a wool-nylon piece that functions best in the chillier seasons in the city. Think less about an ascent up a frostbound mountain and more about a slushy slog down to the metro station. That’s not to say it wouldn’t keep you warm if you decide to take it upstate. Deep pockets and a midweight design mean you’ll still be toasty for a quick walk around a frozen park. Get it now online or at one of brand’s shops in L.A., San Francisco, Aspen, and New York.

Velomacchi Hybrid Duffle Pack and Tool Roll

$400/$75, velomacchi.com

Still using a backpack for overnight adventures? You’re better than that. With 50 liters of storage space and watertight construction, this duffle-shoulder-backpack is the best of both worlds. The rugged materials mean you won’t worry if it’s caught in the rain. Make sure you also pick up the Velomacchi Speedway toolroll, compact enough to strap to your bike even when filled.

Goodwood Road Racing Club Mechanic Overalls

$120, goodwood.com

It’s not easy to get an invite to run at the Goodwood Festival of Speed or the Revival, but with the Goodwood Road Racing Club mechanic overalls, you can pretend you did. Available in white or khaki, these overalls are best worn while trapped in the dark engine bay of a Triumph TR6, in the fuselage of a Spitfire, or changing the tire of a Lotus in the Silverstone pits. Or add a leather belt, a flat cap, and a scarf, and you’re ready for teatime at the Revival.

Hot Wheels Car Culture: Modern Classics

$4, hotwheels.com

You never truly outgrow Hot Wheels. While the regular blue-card Hot Wheels are as rare as rocks, these mini models are part of the brand’s popular Car Culture premium series. The design team behind the cars is hard at work yanking influence from past and present automotive trends, resulting in some seriously cool diecasts. With detailed paint schemes, metal bases, and rubber Real Riders wheels, these are collector darlings. This series features some of the greatest hits from the 1980s and ’90s, including a 1985 Honda CRX variant.

Hoodoo GT40 Victory Series Guitar

$6,000, gt40.com

Garage art can be a tricky thing, especially when the line between tacky and tasteful is so blurry. For the Americana enthusiast, check out Safir GT40 Spares and Hoodoo Guitar’s take on what a GT40 looks like in guitar form. Like the racing prototype that rocked the world more than a half century ago, this limited-edition axe features headlight and hood slot cutouts, along with special GT40 badging, VIN designation, and historical livery. If you’d rather strum than let it gather dust on the wall next to your car, it’s actually a very sharp-sounding piece, thanks to the craftsmen at Hoodoo’s shop in Calgary, Canada. They’ll make only 100 of each of four different liveries.

Nuna Rava Convertible Car Seat

$450, nuna.eu/usa

The Rava works as both a rear- and forward-facing seat, so take comfort in the safety of that tiny poop monster just home from the hospital all the way up to the 4-foot, 65-pounder who won’t stop asking, “Why, mommy and daddy? Why?” The Rava comes in a variety of colors from charcoal to berry, so it’ll match the interior of most of daddy’s cars.

“Josef, The IndyCar Driver” and “The Spectale: Celebrating the History of the Indianapolis 500”

$16-$40, apexlegends.com

Chris Workman’s children’s motorsports books are perfect for introducing a new generation of potential race fans to America’s open-wheel circuit and its most famous track, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. While intended for kids, the books will inform and refresh even the sport’s full-sized veteran observers.

Carrera Digital 132 ’80s Flashback Slot Car Set

$400, carrera-toys.com

Carrera is one of biggest names in the slot-car business, and the German company offers an astounding number of tracks, cars, and configurations. We distracted ourselves with the new Digital 132 ’80s Flashback set, pitting a 1:32 scale 1979 BMW M1 Procar against a Zakspeed Ford Capri Turbo. Joining these two old-timers were incredibly detailed models of the No. 68 Ford GT race car and the No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R.

Vulcan Innova Winder

$25,000, vulcaninnova.com

“When an engine block is engineered, its shape is pure function for maximum performance and no regard for beauty. As a result, it made for an extremely intriguing aesthetic, one that I wanted to celebrate,” says Vulcan Innova’s Sean Cheng, who has produced his bespoke watch winders from salvaged BMW M52 straight-six engines since 2015. Design, engineering, production, and assembly are all done in-house. The Vulcan Innova is plain bananas: Lock the watches in place in winding mode, insert and turn the key, and the watches will rise forth from the winder’s pistons. Custom paint and leather are available to match the winder to your E36 M3.

Vintage Kart Company Italiano

$6,975, vintage-kart-company.myshopify.com

Looking very much like the great monoposto grand prix racers from the 1920s and ’30s, this pint-sized blue bullet is the product of Vintage Kart Company, an Arizona-based outfit that offers karts as kits or turnkey toys. For about $7,000, DIY-ers can assemble a bare matte aluminum kart, replete with Gatsby appeal and charm. Power comes from a Honda GX-200 one-cylinder four-stroke, pumping out a healthy 6.5 hp at full chat. Considering the Kart weighs around 300 pounds, this is plenty. Once you complete the build, slap on some period-correct racing graphics and sign up for the annual Grand Prix of Scottsdale, Arizona, to compete with other Vintage karts.

Land Rover Experience Heritage Program

$1,200-$1,500, landroverusa.com

If you’ve always had a taste for British bricks, the backwoods, and a bit of trail-bashing, this program is just the ticket. Spend either a half or full day of guided driving in the Defender 90 and other Range Rover and Land Rover models. Off-road courses include mud, water pits, and terrain so challenging you won’t believe you made it through, but you will. Locations in California, Vermont, North Carolina, and Quebec, Canada, mean you’re no more than a short flight from the off-road experience of your dreams.

“Crashed and Byrned”

$45, crashorbyrne.com

“There were lots of things Tommy Byrne didn’t know. He didn’t know tomorrow had a limit, that he wasn’t just going to keep on surfing this beautiful wave forever. … He also didn’t know what on Earth Ayrton Senna was talking about in early 1982 when he burst into the Van D from Performance Junk Blogger Feed 4 http://ift.tt/2BpNB3l via IFTTT

[jesusvasser]

Automobile’s 2017 Holiday Gift Guide

Picture a Range Rover, ready to show up anywhere dressed to kill, and you will have a pretty good idea of what Aether is all about. The Los Angeles-based company specializes in reshaping utilitarian outerwear into casually sophisticated clothing. Aether’s take on the classic waxed cotton jacket is a perfect example of its ethos. The ornamentation is gone. The contrasting brass zippers and buttons, the floppy and impractical belts all disposed of. What’s left is a jacket stripped to its essentials.

Simplicity of line, thoughtful engineering, a nod to history. It’s not surprising that Aether cofounder Jonah Smith would be a Porsche guy. Smith and longtime business partner Palmer West traded one savage racket for another. As producers, the two have credits in major films, including “Requiem for a Dream,” “A Scanner Darkly,” and Bill Maher’s “Religulous.” Not content whipping on films, the two plunged into apparel as a way to indulge outdoors inclinations: skiing, motorcycle adventures, and driving cars.

Smith’s black on black Porsche 964 is as understated as you can make the thing. Up on Mulholland Drive in the hills above Malibu, he’s gentle on it. Revving it out, applying clutch, giving the gearbox plenty of time to settle before picking up the next gear and letting the clutch take up again. It’s easygoing, methodical, and appreciative—the driving of a man who cares about a classic.

There is a similar steady pragmatism to Aether’s design, the knowledge that most of us don’t need the bright colors and ice-axe-swing-friendly cut of mountaineering jackets. That a complementary fit shouldn’t be sacrificed to sealed seams and insulation. That those fancy mountaineering jackets mostly get used in town or on early morning drives.

Aether’s L.A. outpost is all dark wood and enabling. Casual outerwear shares floor space with the technical stuff, waterproof jackets and pants for snow sports and hardcore armored adventure gear for motorcycling. It all slots neatly into a careful, tidy color palate. Lots of black and gray, dusty reds, greens, and blues.

Custom-built Ducatis and Timbersleds and composite kayaks are placed around the shop. Broad tables feature things that encourage adventure, such as Butler’s maps of twisty roads and the occasional camp tool. Most impressively, in the middle is a large walk-in freezer, an advantage when selling outerwear in L.A.’s sunny weather.

South La Brea Avenue is all fancy bistros and vintage denim shops, the curbs kept clean by valet stands. It might have a clean storefront similar to its neighbors, but Aether’s curb is often awash in dirt-spattered adventure bikes and road-worn sports cars—rides owned by the Hollywood elite and the hoi polloi alike. It’s inevitable that Aether’s clean take on classic looks will filter into movies and onto a new generation of idols. But for now, wear that updated waxed cotton jacket with your old Porsche. If experience has shown us anything, it’s that a classic is always cool.—Chris Cantle

Bee Line Coffee

$16-$20, beelinecoffee.com

You already know how well cars and coffee go together, but you might not know Bee Line. This automotive-themed brand makes truly delicious joe. Some of our favorites:

Flat Track: Colombian coffee from La Union farm in a direct-trade arrangement that pays farmers more of what their coffee is worth. Streamliner: Uses a special drying technique that results in more sweetness as well as a richer flavor. Classic Blend: Combination of African and West Pacific beans.

Pocket Squares

$21-$90, cyberoptix.com

Detroit-based Cyberoptix Tie Lab offers the coolest handmade, graphic screen-printed car-themed ties, scarves, and pocket squares. Choose from a Packard Motors logo scarf, an automotive leather necktie, British racing green to Martini Racing stripes, engine “rosettes,” spark plugs, exhaust patterns, or six-speed manual gearshift knobs. Be sure to check out the Cargyle ties. You’ll recognize the argyle pattern as connecting images of the original Ford Mustang.

Blipshift, 710 and The World Is Flat Mugs

$15, blipshift.com

If you like your coffee like some of us do, you can turn the 710 mug upside down without spilling a drop—and in doing so, you’ll be in on the joke.

Aether Apparel Hudson Jacket

$350, aetherapparel.com

One of our favorite Aether offerings is this Hudson Jacket, a wool-nylon piece that functions best in the chillier seasons in the city. Think less about an ascent up a frostbound mountain and more about a slushy slog down to the metro station. That’s not to say it wouldn’t keep you warm if you decide to take it upstate. Deep pockets and a midweight design mean you’ll still be toasty for a quick walk around a frozen park. Get it now online or at one of brand’s shops in L.A., San Francisco, Aspen, and New York.

Velomacchi Hybrid Duffle Pack and Tool Roll

$400/$75, velomacchi.com

Still using a backpack for overnight adventures? You’re better than that. With 50 liters of storage space and watertight construction, this duffle-shoulder-backpack is the best of both worlds. The rugged materials mean you won’t worry if it’s caught in the rain. Make sure you also pick up the Velomacchi Speedway toolroll, compact enough to strap to your bike even when filled.

Goodwood Road Racing Club Mechanic Overalls

$120, goodwood.com

It’s not easy to get an invite to run at the Goodwood Festival of Speed or the Revival, but with the Goodwood Road Racing Club mechanic overalls, you can pretend you did. Available in white or khaki, these overalls are best worn while trapped in the dark engine bay of a Triumph TR6, in the fuselage of a Spitfire, or changing the tire of a Lotus in the Silverstone pits. Or add a leather belt, a flat cap, and a scarf, and you’re ready for teatime at the Revival.

Hot Wheels Car Culture: Modern Classics

$4, hotwheels.com

You never truly outgrow Hot Wheels. While the regular blue-card Hot Wheels are as rare as rocks, these mini models are part of the brand’s popular Car Culture premium series. The design team behind the cars is hard at work yanking influence from past and present automotive trends, resulting in some seriously cool diecasts. With detailed paint schemes, metal bases, and rubber Real Riders wheels, these are collector darlings. This series features some of the greatest hits from the 1980s and ’90s, including a 1985 Honda CRX variant.

Hoodoo GT40 Victory Series Guitar

$6,000, gt40.com

Garage art can be a tricky thing, especially when the line between tacky and tasteful is so blurry. For the Americana enthusiast, check out Safir GT40 Spares and Hoodoo Guitar’s take on what a GT40 looks like in guitar form. Like the racing prototype that rocked the world more than a half century ago, this limited-edition axe features headlight and hood slot cutouts, along with special GT40 badging, VIN designation, and historical livery. If you’d rather strum than let it gather dust on the wall next to your car, it’s actually a very sharp-sounding piece, thanks to the craftsmen at Hoodoo’s shop in Calgary, Canada. They’ll make only 100 of each of four different liveries.

Nuna Rava Convertible Car Seat

$450, nuna.eu/usa

The Rava works as both a rear- and forward-facing seat, so take comfort in the safety of that tiny poop monster just home from the hospital all the way up to the 4-foot, 65-pounder who won’t stop asking, “Why, mommy and daddy? Why?” The Rava comes in a variety of colors from charcoal to berry, so it’ll match the interior of most of daddy’s cars.

“Josef, The IndyCar Driver” and “The Spectale: Celebrating the History of the Indianapolis 500”

$16-$40, apexlegends.com

Chris Workman’s children’s motorsports books are perfect for introducing a new generation of potential race fans to America’s open-wheel circuit and its most famous track, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. While intended for kids, the books will inform and refresh even the sport’s full-sized veteran observers.

Carrera Digital 132 ’80s Flashback Slot Car Set

$400, carrera-toys.com

Carrera is one of biggest names in the slot-car business, and the German company offers an astounding number of tracks, cars, and configurations. We distracted ourselves with the new Digital 132 ’80s Flashback set, pitting a 1:32 scale 1979 BMW M1 Procar against a Zakspeed Ford Capri Turbo. Joining these two old-timers were incredibly detailed models of the No. 68 Ford GT race car and the No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R.

Vulcan Innova Winder

$25,000, vulcaninnova.com

“When an engine block is engineered, its shape is pure function for maximum performance and no regard for beauty. As a result, it made for an extremely intriguing aesthetic, one that I wanted to celebrate,” says Vulcan Innova’s Sean Cheng, who has produced his bespoke watch winders from salvaged BMW M52 straight-six engines since 2015. Design, engineering, production, and assembly are all done in-house. The Vulcan Innova is plain bananas: Lock the watches in place in winding mode, insert and turn the key, and the watches will rise forth from the winder’s pistons. Custom paint and leather are available to match the winder to your E36 M3.

Vintage Kart Company Italiano

$6,975, vintage-kart-company.myshopify.com

Looking very much like the great monoposto grand prix racers from the 1920s and ’30s, this pint-sized blue bullet is the product of Vintage Kart Company, an Arizona-based outfit that offers karts as kits or turnkey toys. For about $7,000, DIY-ers can assemble a bare matte aluminum kart, replete with Gatsby appeal and charm. Power comes from a Honda GX-200 one-cylinder four-stroke, pumping out a healthy 6.5 hp at full chat. Considering the Kart weighs around 300 pounds, this is plenty. Once you complete the build, slap on some period-correct racing graphics and sign up for the annual Grand Prix of Scottsdale, Arizona, to compete with other Vintage karts.

Land Rover Experience Heritage Program

$1,200-$1,500, landroverusa.com

If you’ve always had a taste for British bricks, the backwoods, and a bit of trail-bashing, this program is just the ticket. Spend either a half or full day of guided driving in the Defender 90 and other Range Rover and Land Rover models. Off-road courses include mud, water pits, and terrain so challenging you won’t believe you made it through, but you will. Locations in California, Vermont, North Carolina, and Quebec, Canada, mean you’re no more than a short flight from the off-road experience of your dreams.

“Crashed and Byrned”

$45, crashorbyrne.com

“There were lots of things Tommy Byrne didn’t know. He didn’t know tomorrow had a limit, that he wasn’t just going to keep on surfing this beautiful wave forever. … He also didn’t know what on Earth Ayrton Senna was talking about in early 1982 when he burst into the Van D from Performance Junk WP Feed 4 http://ift.tt/2BpNB3l via IFTTT

[eddiejpoplar]

Automobile’s 2017 Holiday Gift Guide

Picture a Range Rover, ready to show up anywhere dressed to kill, and you will have a pretty good idea of what Aether is all about. The Los Angeles-based company specializes in reshaping utilitarian outerwear into casually sophisticated clothing. Aether’s take on the classic waxed cotton jacket is a perfect example of its ethos. The ornamentation is gone. The contrasting brass zippers and buttons, the floppy and impractical belts all disposed of. What’s left is a jacket stripped to its essentials.

Simplicity of line, thoughtful engineering, a nod to history. It’s not surprising that Aether cofounder Jonah Smith would be a Porsche guy. Smith and longtime business partner Palmer West traded one savage racket for another. As producers, the two have credits in major films, including “Requiem for a Dream,” “A Scanner Darkly,” and Bill Maher’s “Religulous.” Not content whipping on films, the two plunged into apparel as a way to indulge outdoors inclinations: skiing, motorcycle adventures, and driving cars.

Smith’s black on black Porsche 964 is as understated as you can make the thing. Up on Mulholland Drive in the hills above Malibu, he’s gentle on it. Revving it out, applying clutch, giving the gearbox plenty of time to settle before picking up the next gear and letting the clutch take up again. It’s easygoing, methodical, and appreciative—the driving of a man who cares about a classic.

There is a similar steady pragmatism to Aether’s design, the knowledge that most of us don’t need the bright colors and ice-axe-swing-friendly cut of mountaineering jackets. That a complementary fit shouldn’t be sacrificed to sealed seams and insulation. That those fancy mountaineering jackets mostly get used in town or on early morning drives.

Aether’s L.A. outpost is all dark wood and enabling. Casual outerwear shares floor space with the technical stuff, waterproof jackets and pants for snow sports and hardcore armored adventure gear for motorcycling. It all slots neatly into a careful, tidy color palate. Lots of black and gray, dusty reds, greens, and blues.

Custom-built Ducatis and Timbersleds and composite kayaks are placed around the shop. Broad tables feature things that encourage adventure, such as Butler’s maps of twisty roads and the occasional camp tool. Most impressively, in the middle is a large walk-in freezer, an advantage when selling outerwear in L.A.’s sunny weather.

South La Brea Avenue is all fancy bistros and vintage denim shops, the curbs kept clean by valet stands. It might have a clean storefront similar to its neighbors, but Aether’s curb is often awash in dirt-spattered adventure bikes and road-worn sports cars—rides owned by the Hollywood elite and the hoi polloi alike. It’s inevitable that Aether’s clean take on classic looks will filter into movies and onto a new generation of idols. But for now, wear that updated waxed cotton jacket with your old Porsche. If experience has shown us anything, it’s that a classic is always cool.—Chris Cantle

Bee Line Coffee

$16-$20, beelinecoffee.com

You already know how well cars and coffee go together, but you might not know Bee Line. This automotive-themed brand makes truly delicious joe. Some of our favorites:

Flat Track: Colombian coffee from La Union farm in a direct-trade arrangement that pays farmers more of what their coffee is worth. Streamliner: Uses a special drying technique that results in more sweetness as well as a richer flavor. Classic Blend: Combination of African and West Pacific beans.

Pocket Squares

$21-$90, cyberoptix.com

Detroit-based Cyberoptix Tie Lab offers the coolest handmade, graphic screen-printed car-themed ties, scarves, and pocket squares. Choose from a Packard Motors logo scarf, an automotive leather necktie, British racing green to Martini Racing stripes, engine “rosettes,” spark plugs, exhaust patterns, or six-speed manual gearshift knobs. Be sure to check out the Cargyle ties. You’ll recognize the argyle pattern as connecting images of the original Ford Mustang.

Blipshift, 710 and The World Is Flat Mugs

$15, blipshift.com

If you like your coffee like some of us do, you can turn the 710 mug upside down without spilling a drop—and in doing so, you’ll be in on the joke.

Aether Apparel Hudson Jacket

$350, aetherapparel.com

One of our favorite Aether offerings is this Hudson Jacket, a wool-nylon piece that functions best in the chillier seasons in the city. Think less about an ascent up a frostbound mountain and more about a slushy slog down to the metro station. That’s not to say it wouldn’t keep you warm if you decide to take it upstate. Deep pockets and a midweight design mean you’ll still be toasty for a quick walk around a frozen park. Get it now online or at one of brand’s shops in L.A., San Francisco, Aspen, and New York.

Velomacchi Hybrid Duffle Pack and Tool Roll

$400/$75, velomacchi.com

Still using a backpack for overnight adventures? You’re better than that. With 50 liters of storage space and watertight construction, this duffle-shoulder-backpack is the best of both worlds. The rugged materials mean you won’t worry if it’s caught in the rain. Make sure you also pick up the Velomacchi Speedway toolroll, compact enough to strap to your bike even when filled.

Goodwood Road Racing Club Mechanic Overalls

$120, goodwood.com

It’s not easy to get an invite to run at the Goodwood Festival of Speed or the Revival, but with the Goodwood Road Racing Club mechanic overalls, you can pretend you did. Available in white or khaki, these overalls are best worn while trapped in the dark engine bay of a Triumph TR6, in the fuselage of a Spitfire, or changing the tire of a Lotus in the Silverstone pits. Or add a leather belt, a flat cap, and a scarf, and you’re ready for teatime at the Revival.

Hot Wheels Car Culture: Modern Classics

$4, hotwheels.com

You never truly outgrow Hot Wheels. While the regular blue-card Hot Wheels are as rare as rocks, these mini models are part of the brand’s popular Car Culture premium series. The design team behind the cars is hard at work yanking influence from past and present automotive trends, resulting in some seriously cool diecasts. With detailed paint schemes, metal bases, and rubber Real Riders wheels, these are collector darlings. This series features some of the greatest hits from the 1980s and ’90s, including a 1985 Honda CRX variant.

Hoodoo GT40 Victory Series Guitar

$6,000, gt40.com

Garage art can be a tricky thing, especially when the line between tacky and tasteful is so blurry. For the Americana enthusiast, check out Safir GT40 Spares and Hoodoo Guitar’s take on what a GT40 looks like in guitar form. Like the racing prototype that rocked the world more than a half century ago, this limited-edition axe features headlight and hood slot cutouts, along with special GT40 badging, VIN designation, and historical livery. If you’d rather strum than let it gather dust on the wall next to your car, it’s actually a very sharp-sounding piece, thanks to the craftsmen at Hoodoo’s shop in Calgary, Canada. They’ll make only 100 of each of four different liveries.

Nuna Rava Convertible Car Seat

$450, nuna.eu/usa

The Rava works as both a rear- and forward-facing seat, so take comfort in the safety of that tiny poop monster just home from the hospital all the way up to the 4-foot, 65-pounder who won’t stop asking, “Why, mommy and daddy? Why?” The Rava comes in a variety of colors from charcoal to berry, so it’ll match the interior of most of daddy’s cars.

“Josef, The IndyCar Driver” and “The Spectale: Celebrating the History of the Indianapolis 500”

$16-$40, apexlegends.com

Chris Workman’s children’s motorsports books are perfect for introducing a new generation of potential race fans to America’s open-wheel circuit and its most famous track, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. While intended for kids, the books will inform and refresh even the sport’s full-sized veteran observers.

Carrera Digital 132 ’80s Flashback Slot Car Set

$400, carrera-toys.com

Carrera is one of biggest names in the slot-car business, and the German company offers an astounding number of tracks, cars, and configurations. We distracted ourselves with the new Digital 132 ’80s Flashback set, pitting a 1:32 scale 1979 BMW M1 Procar against a Zakspeed Ford Capri Turbo. Joining these two old-timers were incredibly detailed models of the No. 68 Ford GT race car and the No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R.

Vulcan Innova Winder

$25,000, vulcaninnova.com

“When an engine block is engineered, its shape is pure function for maximum performance and no regard for beauty. As a result, it made for an extremely intriguing aesthetic, one that I wanted to celebrate,” says Vulcan Innova’s Sean Cheng, who has produced his bespoke watch winders from salvaged BMW M52 straight-six engines since 2015. Design, engineering, production, and assembly are all done in-house. The Vulcan Innova is plain bananas: Lock the watches in place in winding mode, insert and turn the key, and the watches will rise forth from the winder’s pistons. Custom paint and leather are available to match the winder to your E36 M3.

Vintage Kart Company Italiano

$6,975, vintage-kart-company.myshopify.com

Looking very much like the great monoposto grand prix racers from the 1920s and ’30s, this pint-sized blue bullet is the product of Vintage Kart Company, an Arizona-based outfit that offers karts as kits or turnkey toys. For about $7,000, DIY-ers can assemble a bare matte aluminum kart, replete with Gatsby appeal and charm. Power comes from a Honda GX-200 one-cylinder four-stroke, pumping out a healthy 6.5 hp at full chat. Considering the Kart weighs around 300 pounds, this is plenty. Once you complete the build, slap on some period-correct racing graphics and sign up for the annual Grand Prix of Scottsdale, Arizona, to compete with other Vintage karts.

Land Rover Experience Heritage Program

$1,200-$1,500, landroverusa.com

If you’ve always had a taste for British bricks, the backwoods, and a bit of trail-bashing, this program is just the ticket. Spend either a half or full day of guided driving in the Defender 90 and other Range Rover and Land Rover models. Off-road courses include mud, water pits, and terrain so challenging you won’t believe you made it through, but you will. Locations in California, Vermont, North Carolina, and Quebec, Canada, mean you’re no more than a short flight from the off-road experience of your dreams.

“Crashed and Byrned”

$45, crashorbyrne.com

“There were lots of things Tommy Byrne didn’t know. He didn’t know tomorrow had a limit, that he wasn’t just going to keep on surfing this beautiful wave forever. … He also didn’t know what on Earth Ayrton Senna was talking about in early 1982 when he burst into the Van D from Performance Junk Blogger 6 http://ift.tt/2BpNB3l via IFTTT