Don’t Look Behind!

Don’t Look Behind!:

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“Putnam Park proved to be a feeding frenzy for the high-horsepower sharks.

These highly experienced carnivores were relentlessly attacking at every corner… sometimes 3 at a time. We were in their waters with no refuge in sight. With Maggie only having 25-50% of the amount of horsepower/torque of 98% of the field, an ingenious solution was needed. Here’s a little smoke screen to keep the pesky Porsches at bay, and me from joining the blood bath…”

Frank V.

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Fuelfed Now Offers Brad Penn Motor Oil for Vintage Vehicles

Fuelfed Now Offers Brad Penn Motor Oil for Vintage Vehicles:

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We’ve been busy at the Fuelfed Garage inking a deal with Brad Penn oil for us to be a Chicagoland dealer.

Why Brad Penn? We’ve been using it for 16 years in our race cars and daily classics. We feel it out-performs the more heavily marketed brands. If you drive an air-cooled or manually adjusted valve train vehicle or motorcycle, you need zinc and phosphorus in the oil to protect against cam wear. The EPA has banned their use in consumer oil since 2003 because it will (in theory) ruin modern catalysts and O2 sensors.

With out going into a chemistry lesson, Brad Penn is mined in PA, OH & NY and refined in Bradford, PA from #9 cut USA crude oil. Hence the green color with natural zinc & phos. We like the fact that Brad Penn is 100% American made. Amsoil, Motul etc. use #5 cut crude from non-American sources and add esters in the distillation process to make up the difference.

Yes there are zinc additives that you can put into your oil, but you need the exact balance of 1550 parts per million (ppm) of zinc and 1350 ppm of phosphorus. Adding your own is like adding hops to your Miller Lite and calling it a craft beer. You can also risk sludging with the wrong measurements.

Read more here http://www.penngrade1.com/

Currently you can get Brad Penn at very limited locations, select Porsche repair facilities if you request it, or online. Add shipping and it’s very expensive. Most resellers are sitting on stock they purchased last summer when oil was at $79 per barrel. Today, oil is at $107 and going up. So don’t be deceived with out-dated pricing if you shop Brad Penn online.

Currently Fuelfed is offering Brad Penn 20w50 Synthetic Blend (sorry we are stocking only 20w50 for now) at $75 for a case of 12 quarts, tax included. If you’re on the North Shore or buy 5 or cases we can deliver with in the metro Chicago area.

We’re working on an eCommerce site to order online but until that’s up, we’ll take PayPal.

Contact us here with your inquiries.

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A “Guy” and His Jag

A “Guy” and His Jag:

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We are blessed to have a real Fuelfed enthusiast of the lofty automotive stature of Bo Danenberger share a piece of his history with our community. Please note that the photos in this post were shot by Bo in 1957 with a color SLR and not developed until 2012. Incredible.

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“I met Guy Carlton in the early ‘50’s. He had this beautiful 1953 Jaguar XK 120 roadster……..wonderful gray paint with dazzling red leather. Guy was a car guy. His drivers were always neat cars…..his collector pieces even neater. I was at Guy’s house every Sunday in the summer that I could be there. He would be there polishing and cleaning every little nook and cranny. I’ll never forget the day he said “take her for a spin!”

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I didn’t back down but the drive lasted about 10 blocks and I turned around and went back way too soon.  I was scared to death that something would happen. In 1958 Guy decided he’d fancy an Alfa Romeo spyder. I was in college and he offered it to me for $1800.00 which was too rich for my blood. I did however get to go with him to pickup up the Alfa at Fox Valley imports in Aurora, Illinois.

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Guy and his wife Edith went to Elkhart Lake from the very beginning when it ran through the town with their Jag and later the Alfa and often toured the country in their Jaguar and Alfa at a time when it took some real moxy to take off in a car that most likely no one could repair if they had a problem.  I’m sure everyone has similar memories of the pioneers of this great hobby……..chime right in!”

Bo Danenberger, Danvers, Illinois for enjoyment of Fuelfed and Coffee & Classics fans.

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We’d bet that all of us got our start as car junkies from that evil pusher with the cool car down the block in our formative years just as Bo did.

We can’t even begin to touch the surface of some the cool car cred that Bo and his sons have earned. But here’s a small sampling.

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Coffee & Classics Impromptu This Sunday

Coffee & Classics Impromptu This Sunday:

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The weather in Chicago has been absolutely incredible for the month of March. Sunny and temps in the high seventies everyday for a week. This has prompted many a Fuelfed driver to break out the classic weeks earlier than normal. So after much prodding by several enthusiasts, we’re going to have an impromptu Pre Coffee & Classics this Sunday, March 18th at the usual gathering place in Winnetka (see map here) from 9:00am to 11:00am. This is not an officially sanctioned C&C, (the first being April 29th) but merely a gathering to celebrate the very early arrival of Spring 2012.

There are rumors that a certain Fuelfed driver (;$)  will be buying coffee at Café Aroma for first 20 classic enthusiasts that show up. And no, it’s not the cutie in the hat.

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Napoleon Still Lives in Monaco

Napoleon Still Lives in Monaco:

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Here’s an interesting shot taken in downtown Monaco during the summer of 2011 by Amaury Laparra. Laparra is one of the directors of Asphalt Heritage, our brother Fuelfed fraternity over the pond in France. The shot was taken in a parking garage near the F1 circuit. Other than the obvious Napoleon complex exhibited by the Mini Cooper, check out the nicely done Mercedes grill and headlights.

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Metropolitan II Cityscape Installation…Watch the Film!

Metropolitan II Cityscape Installation…Watch the Film!:

We just ran across an article in Autoweek about performance artist Chris Burden’s brilliant piece “Metropolis II”. This kinetic cityscape took four years to build and is now permanently housed at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
As the piece was nearing completion, a wonderful short film was done on the installation. It is well worth the time spent watching it. Metropolitan II is simultaneously hypnotic and revealing and captivating, like all good art should be.