Tuesday, June 10, 2014

911 Martini outfit for Le Mans comeback by Porsche


Stuttgart. Porsche Exclusive is issuing the "Martini Racing Edition" of the 911 Carrera S to coincide with this year’s 24 hours of Le Mans race. Marking the return of Porsche to endurance motorsport is a limited edition 911 in traditional Martini racing design, which reflects the styling of Porsche race cars of the 1970s. The 911 Carrera S pays tribute to the successes of the legendary Porsche Le Mans race cars such as the 917 and the 935 “Moby Dick”. The special edition is limited to 80 units and will be exclusively sold in select markets of Europe, in China, Japan and in Latin America. For select 911 models, Porsche Tequipment will be selling the exclusive Martini decal set as an aftermarket kit in Germany and other markets.

The "Martini Racing Edition" of the 911 Carrera S is available in the monochrome body colours white and black. The boot lid, roof section, rear wing and vehicle's sides are accentuated by the "Martini Racing Design" decor set with the characteristic blue-red Martini colour pattern. The special front apron of the Aerokit Cup has an optimised spoiler lip which gives the vehicle an even more distinctive appearance. The aerodynamic counterpart is the fixed rear spoiler of the Aerokit Cup, which rounds out the car's sporty look.

When entering the car, the stainless steel door sill panels with the red illuminated "911 Carrera S – Martini Racing Edition" badge already identify this car as an exclusive limited edition. The interior package includes dashboard accents in body colour with the "Martini Racing Edition" badge. The Martini Porsche also has a sport design steering wheel and the Sport Chrono package as standard. The extensive standard equipment is complemented by such features as Porsche Communication Management (PCM) with navigation module, a Bose sound system, tachometer with black gauge dial and all-electric sport seats in black leather.

The heart that beats in the Martini Porsche is a 3.8-litre flat six-cylinder engine with 400 hp. This 911 matches the level of dynamic performance of the regular 911 Carrera S: The car accelerates to 100 km/h in 4.1 seconds with a PDK gearbox and activated Sport Plus button. Its combined fuel consumption, on the other hand, is familiarly moderate at 8.7 litres per 100 km (CO2 emissions: 202 g/km).

Starting in June 2014, the Porsche 911 Carrera S “Martini Racing Edition” will launch in the European markets of Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Poland, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Cyprus, Finland and Great Britain. Starting in August 2014, the special edition will also be available in China, and from October 2014 in Japan and in Latin America.


911 Carrera S Martini Racing: Fuel consumption: urban 12.1 l/100 km; extra-urban 6.7l/100 km; combined 8.7l/100 km; CO2 emissions 202 g/km; efficiency class: G**

World's longest burning lightbulb


IN his continuing search for the more weird, wacky and wondrous in the world of travel, David Ellis says that one of the world's strangest tourist attractions is a simple electric light bulb in a California fire station – because it was first switched on in June 1901, and is still burning today, nearly 113 years later.

Firemen at the Livermore Fire Department's Station 6 on the southern edge of the San Francisco Bay area welcome visitors to view and photograph the 24hr "night light," even having a sign saying that if the front door is closed, to go around the back and bang on the door there to get their attention.

And the local City Council has installed CCTV to monitor the light, that's been recognised by the Guinness Book of Records, Ripley's Believe-It-Or-Not and even in a citation from the President of the USA as the world's oldest-known working light bulb.

The bulb was installed in the original Livermore Fire Hose Cart-house in 1901, briefly switched off when that station moved to another site in 1903, and turned off for a week during renovations in 1937. It was moved to its current location in 1976 and has only been off once since – when power to the station failed for 9.5hrs in May last year.

Its authenticity has been verified from newspaper records and by engineers from the General Electric Company.