Friday was amazing, I went to the CA Speedway, It was media day sponsored by Ferrari. I wasn’t sure what to expect but I knew I had to go. I walked freely through the pits, around the stalls where the cars are prepped, chatting with the owners, drivers, mechanics,…I talked with the owner of a 57 Maserati single seater race car while the owner/driver was doing final prep before taking it out. He said he had it for 20 years, truly beautiful. As we talked a golf cart pulled up with an elderly passenger, I looked at the gentleman and thought “that looks like Phil Hill” Phil Hill used to drive for Ferrari back in the 50’s and 60’s, he was the only american to drive for Mr Ferrari, and win, and win, and win, This guy was not only cool, he was kind and approachable, so I asked “Is that Phil Hill?” ..oh yeah, thats Phil,….. I introduced myself, we shook hands, the same hands that steered so many cars, in so many races, over so many memories, I thanked him for keeping racing alive, preserving such a precious time in racing, I told him about a magazine from 1962, Cavalier, a mens magazine, with him on the cover, he remembered it and smiled, I got a picture with him too, then his son came over, Derek Hill in his race suit, I got a great father son picture too!! For a few brief moments men my fathers age approached Phil with pictures of Ferrari’s they now own that Phil onced raced, they listened like children to every word, if you love cars then you know what I mean. I hope that maybe my images can make people feel the same way. Over the course of the day I saw him move all over the track in the heat of day. He is quite a hero. Check out my site for pics “http://www.evankleinfilms.com” So I was pretty excited after that, and started walking toward the track when I saw the Ferrari rep, He was excited to see me and asked if I was ready for my hot laps…Yeah, I’m ready, good, you’re next!!! So I got to ride at speed in a F430…at 140mph around the speedway, it was so fast, I got pics of the speedo doing 140, it was a little shakey, but holy crap, that was fast, we exited the pits onto the end of the straightaway into the oval, got right up to speed then braked hard for a sharp left into the infield, you felt the front end sqirm as we slowed, through a series of bends and turns, at this point I was hanging on, the driver turned 3 bends into one long straight, you really felt the sense of speed, the driver was using every inch of the track, I could hear the cones and barrels whiz by my open window, and a long drifting sweeper that exits back onto the track, and yes the sweeper was lined with barrels, yes more whizzing by, and onto the straight, somehow though I think he limited the run to 140 because there was room to go faster at the end of the straight, now I’m not complaining, 140 is really quite fun… and then we had lunch, grilled salmon with assorted vegetables and salads, I really felt special, then at lunch Matteo the rep ask’s if I would like to drive the new 559 Ferrari….uh yeah!!! so we went around the race tracks access roads…saw 100mph in a split second, that was cool!!! So how was my Friday…well I’m selling my Alfa Romeo Spider, its a 1978 in fantasic shape, color silver, fuel injection, on a scale from 1-10, its a 9. I know it may only be worth 7-8 grand, but I’m asking $160,000. Well….I gotta get a Ferrari somehow.

Ariel Atom at speed

This car is fast, we all say that, but, this car is scary fast. Touted as the fastest production car in the world, ok, so its got no doors, winshield, windows and just about anything else but it does have 300 hp in a car that weighs somewhere between 1200-1400 lbs give or take a few depending on what you had for lunch. I took the car to a plant facility in los angeles to emphasize the Atom/nuclear link, the 300hp remained docile the whole time, no overheating, no sputtering, really quite reliable. We shot all over the plant. Car to car, pan blurs, static shots, and a lot of mounts. I just saw the layout and it looks fantastic, so pics coming soon. After we shot I took the car around the block with my assistant Matt, and so I had to get on it just for a second, and it goes, this thing becomes electric when it accelerates, I have no other way of describing it, the 4 cylinder supercharged motor makes a bbbbrrrrrattttt sort of sound that you quickly ignore as you hang on…or is it control? this thing just lifts off from underneath you as it accelerates itself sideways as you mash the pedal, they say when you have an accident eveything slows down….now I’ve had a lot off accidents, and yeah things slow down as you spin off the road or doing whatever we shouldnt have, but as we accelerated the back end stepped out, I corrected and let off the gas, the car followed suit, we both looked at each other and took a breath, and at that point we were back at the beginning of the block, we unlocked out multi point harnesses and I looked at Matt..”You wanna try?”…”Sure!” , and that Bratttttttt noise filled the air again. Check out the pic on my website “http://www.evankleinfilms.com”