Trivia: Why red is Italy's racing color, and why green is Britain's

An interesting little story: Prince Scipione’s Itala, painted bright red for the race, fell into the harbour when it was being unloaded for the big event! To prevent rust, the car was repainted battleship grey…the only paint the harbour-workers had on hand at the time. If you’ve ever wondered why Italian race-cars are red today, it’s because after the Prince won the race all the way back in 1907, Italy adopted red as its official racing-colour and red remains that color to this day.
http://scheong.wordpress.com/2010/02/25/peking-to-paris-the-original-amazing-race/

This reminded me of the reason why green is the official racing color or British carshttp://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2006/11/british-racing-green.html
from 1903 when the British wouldn't allow the Gordon Bennett race to be held in Britain. Ireland was asked to hold the race on their roads, as a compliment to the Irish, all the English cars were painted a dark green.

Link roundup

1. Johnny Depp has apparently made $350 million from the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.

2. The Netherlands is apparently the world's third largest agricultural exporter, despite having little land, thanks to hydroponic agriculture that uses computer-controlled feeding of high-quality chemicals. (Presumably such techniques could be applied elsewhere if there was a serious danger of food shortages.)

3. For Los Angeles residents, if there's a police helicopter hovering over your house, you can call 213-485-2600 to find out why. (I had need of this today.) Via.

Link roundup

1. Is this why they're called honeymoons?

In many parts of Europe it was traditional to supply a newly married couple with enough mead for a month, ensuring happiness and fertility. From this practice we get honeymoon or, as the French say, lune de miel [lit. "moon of honey"].

2. This is the kind of place that could star in American Gods (I wonder which god would be in charge?):

The secretive business havens of Cyprus and the Cayman Islands face a potent rival: Cheyenne, Wyoming.

At a single address in this sleepy city of 60,000 people, more than 2,000 companies are registered. The building, 2710 Thomes Avenue, isn't a shimmering skyscraper filled with A-list corporations. It's a 1,700-square-foot brick house with a manicured lawn, a few blocks from the State Capitol.

Via.

3. T-shirts are 17.76% off at Zazzle with the code LANDOFTHETEE. Might I recommend Adam Koford's store.

Power in reserve

This is the gauge in the 8 yr old Rolls that moves counterclockwise from 100 to 0, the percent of what is left is the flip side of the RPM.

learned while watching Top Gear Season 2 Episode 2

Barracuda trivia stats, for the most desireable optioned ones, shaker hood, convertible, billboard stripes, 4 speed stick shift

in 1970 there were 29 convertibles with the 440 six pack, and 8 had the shaker hoodscoop
in 1971 there were 11 Hemi Cuda convertibles, and 5 had 4 speeds

least known way to score a Ferrari engine

Buy a Lancia Stratos. It had a 2.4 liter V6 Ferrari engine. Bertone coachbuilt the bodies.

It won the World Rally Championship 3 times.

They only made 500 for public sale

The Lancia 037 won the World Rally Championship, beating the Audi Quattro, and was the last 2 wheel drive to win the championship

The Lancia Fima 8.32 had the Ferrari V8 from the Ferrari Mondail and 308 . It was a 3.0 liter though, and he body was by PininFarina

Or if someone should stumble over a lost ASA 1000 Gt. Not going to happen, they were very very rare and were only built from 1963 to 1966. They cost 40% more than the nearest competitive car, the Alfa Giulia Sprint

334 manufacturers once made cars in New York

Nothing else to say about that. It's remarkable though.
http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2010/12/20/just-another-garage-in-gotham

Finland

More rally champs (7) than any other country

more Formula One champions per capita than any other country
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2008/mar/10/formulaone17 and Top Gear Episode 74

same number of champions as Brazil, which has a population 40 times bigger. Even the UK, with eight champions, is four times less successful than Finland given its size