Sports Car

To judge by appearances, sports cars would not seem to be the vehicle of choice in these parts. No, sir. In rural southern Virginia the pickup truck has the Ferrari beat by a mile. And why not? How many bales of tobacco would fit into one of those flashy two-seaters, anyway? Practicality aside, South Boston may be on the threshold of a new love affair with the sports car if Muhammad Ali has his way. The former world heavyweight champion, who has a farm a hundred or so miles north of here, in Afton, is planning to enter the automobile business with a sleek new car that bears his name - the Ali-3WC.

In addition to the usual run of fine furniture and colorful crafts, sales next week will offer auctiongoers a couple of glimpses into the odd worlds of Victorian vanity and sports-car nomenclature. The Victorian vanity is a contraption of velvet, wire and beveled glass that will go on the block Wednesday at the Concordville Inn at the intersection of Routes 1 and 322. It is part of a consignment sale being conducted by William H. Bunch. "It's supposed to be a pin cushion," Bunch said yesterday, but added the disclaimer: "They had to call it something.

Representing the turn of the century . . . the fabled 1904 Peerless. Roaring out of the Great Depression . . . the 1930 Aston Martin. Sleek and wild as the year it was born . . . the 1969 Jaguar XKE. Gentlemen, start your imaginations. You can see those classic cars, among 68 of the finest sports cars ever raced, at the Great Lehigh Valley Auto Fair in Allentown this weekend - replete with history, anecdotes, vintage clothes, videotape on the evolution of the sports car and a road rally that will feature dream races like the one above.

Karl Jacobson says he doesn't think of himself as a James Bond fanatic, just a fan. Still, he so admired the way that actor Roger Moore wore his suits on-screen that he pestered the production company for the Bond films to tell him who the tailor was. The answer was Cyril Castle, of London. Jacobson, 30, who lives in Center City, plans a trip to England to buy a suit, which will cost him $300 to $400. From such compulsive fandom is museum history made. Jacobson, a budding promoter, was simply convinced that the James Bond car would be a great exhibit for the Franklin Institute, even when the institute wasn't so sure.

A bright red, out-of-control Dodge Viper sports car shot across Woodhaven Road from the left lane to the right at 6 p.m. last night, police said, smashing into the concrete side rail of a bridge and flipping several times. When the car came to rest, its driver had a broken wrist, its 450-horsepower engine was lying a few feet away on the pavement, and a 26-year-old passenger from Richboro, Bucks County, was dead. Police identified the driver as Raymond Scalzo, of Bensalem.

The two young men became friends around 1980 when the younger man was a senior at Great Valley High School in Malvern and the other was his track coach. The friendship ended abruptly five years later when they left a party together in the former coach's sports car, sped down a two-lane road and smashed into a light standard at a darkened intersection in Phoenixville. Shawn Brown, 24, and Michael Clark, now 30, were thrown from the car as it flipped over several times and then crashed against the wall of a restaurant.

Acura, Honda's upscale alter-ego, is a luxury brand that has always had a number of sub-luxury offerings. These included the Integra, a Honda Civic after cosmetic surgery, and, until recently, the CL Series, which was a Honda Accord with a face and fanny lift. As a result, you would guess that when the company does come along with a marvelous new product with a genuine luxury price tag ($32,000), it would call it an Acura. Nope. The new S2000 sports car is a Honda. So what?

The 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT that will debut in showrooms in mid-April is a full-size SUV that weighs 21/2 tons and is capable of towing 31/2 tons. The idea that such a big beast of burden could acquire Corvette-like qualities might strike you as fodder for an automotive tale from the Brothers Grimm. You know, off-road frog turns into the prince of speed. But, in fact, the fun-loving mad scientists at Jeep have wrought something as Viperish as it is SUVish. "It feels and drives like a sports car, but it happens to be an SUV," says a smiling Dave Cottrell, the SRT's chief engineer.

The Porsche 356 Convertible D is an exceedingly rare car. There were only about 600 built, and they were made only during the 1959 model year. "That's why I really wanted this car," explained Susan Miller as she pulled the canvas wraps off the vintage two-seater she spends many of her evenings and weekends restoring. Actually, the old Porsche isn't nearly as rare as Susan Miller. The 27- year-old Porsche partisan is the owner of Rainbow Autowerks, a Pleasantville, N.J., shop that specializes in restoring old European sports cars, and doing less extensive body and mechanical work on more recent Old Country exotica.

Philadelphia police last night identified the driver of the Lamborghini sports car who lost control Friday in Southwest Philadelphia, killing himself and his passenger, as Adam Brown, 29, of Media. Brown, a former police officer in Brookhaven, was president of a home-health-care franchise based in Drexel Hill. The $450,000 Lamborghini was speeding south on Essington Avenue about 6:25 p.m. when it went into the northbound lanes in the 7700 block and struck a Plymouth Voyager, then was hit by a Subaru Outback, investigators said.

The 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT that will debut in showrooms in mid-April is a full-size SUV that weighs 21/2 tons and is capable of towing 31/2 tons. The idea that such a big beast of burden could acquire Corvette-like qualities might strike you as fodder for an automotive tale from the Brothers Grimm. You know, off-road frog turns into the prince of speed. But, in fact, the fun-loving mad scientists at Jeep have wrought something as Viperish as it is SUVish. "It feels and drives like a sports car, but it happens to be an SUV," says a smiling Dave Cottrell, the SRT's chief engineer.

NEW ORLEANS - The morning after, someone asked Joe Flacco whether he'd been shocked to be named the Most Valuable Player of Super Bowl XLVII. Flacco might be the most unpretentious MVP ever, but at this suggestion, he arched an eyebrow. "I don't know if I was shocked," said the Baltimore Ravens quarterback, who completed 22 of 33 passes for 287 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions and a 124.2 passer rating - a higher rating than ever achieved in a Super Bowl by Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, Eli or Peyton Manning, Brett Favre or Terry Bradshaw.

Bobby Womack has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer tells BBC music program host Gilles Peterson . "The doctor said, 'You have signs of Alzheimer's,' " Womack, 68, says. "He said it's not bad yet but it's going to get worse. " He adds, "How can I not remember songs that I wrote? That's frustrating. " Womack last summer made a big comeback with the critically acclaimed The Bravest Man in the Universe , his first studio album in nearly 20 years.

Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. president Yasuyuki Yoshinaga has become a market darling for something he failed to do: build a factory in China. The maker of Subaru cars, the only major Japanese auto brand without a plant in the world's largest vehicle market, has jumped 81 percent in Tokyo trading this year for the biggest gain on the Nikkei 225 stock average. Fuji Heavy's smaller presence in China has helped shield it from a consumer backlash triggered by a territorial dispute between Asia's two largest economies as its sales in the United States and Japan have surged.

YOU NEED a car, and more specifically, a sports car. You just watched "Homeland" and that spiffy Camaro that Mike the Marine drives looks like a winner. You need a car and you want a Camaro. You drive to your buddy's dealership and he has two Camaros on his lot. The first is a right-off-the-factory line ZL1 with a supercharged engine and an odometer filled with zeroes. He's asking $60,000. The second Camaro is a silver 1969 with a body that was restored several years ago. It has a lot of miles on it, but the engine purrs with a sound sweeter than any car you've ever heard.

Is it possible to live your life as an automotive Jekyll-and-Hyde? Can you pull up to the soccer field in a sedate station wagon, disgorge a mob of howling little David Beckhams, then slip off to a winding country road and do a convincing imitation of a Corvette ZR-1 in mid-scream? It is possible if you can dollar up for a Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG High Performance Wagon (base price $91,500) or a Cadillac CTS-V Sport Wagon ($63,215). These Benz and Caddy wagons have to be the ultimate wolves in sheep's clothing.

Sergio Pininfarina, 85, whose design firm created the rakish and elegant auto bodies of some of the most popular, and fastest, cars ever made by Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, Maserati, and Fiat, died Tuesday at his home in Turin, Italy. In 1961, Mr. Pininfarina took the reins of the family company from his father, Battista, who founded it under the name Carrozzeria Pinin Farina in 1930 and then rebuilt it virtually from scratch after Allied bombers destroyed its plant along with the rest of Italy's industrial base in World War II. The younger Pininfarina, who brought a flair for marketing as well as design to the family business, scored his first successes in collaboration with Ferrari, the race-car maker known for its lucrative business in rich men's toys.

If a car is available with either a four- or a six-cylinder engine, the six usually costs more, right? For example, the Toyota Camry four-banger starts at $22,055, while the V-6 model opens at $26,910. But in the case of the 2012 Ford Edge, the traditional bigger engine/bigger price tag syndrome has been reversed. A 3.5-liter, 285-horsepower V-6 is the standard motivation in this midsize crossover. If you want the new 2-liter, 240-horse four-cylinder mill, that's a $995 option.

GO AHEAD. Play the art. The University City District's new project, Heart & Soul, employed eight local artists to gussy-up pianos that will be placed around University City from Thursday-June 17. The project kicks off Wednesday with a party at The Porch at 30th Street Station, where pro key ticklers will try out the pianos before they get put on the streets. Although Philadelphia is no stranger to public art projects, both permanent and temporary, it's rare that they have a participatory element (aside from posing beside it and mugging for a photo, of course)

Three years ago, Inquirer reporter Michael Vitez wrote about Matt Miller, an aspiring young triathlete who survived a cycling crash that, but for an extraordinary stroke of luck, would have killed him. The stories drew an overwhelming response from readers. Vitez gives a full account of Matt's accident and his struggle to recover in a newly published book, "The Road Back: A Journey of Grace and Grit. " The following excerpt comes from the opening chapter. Mark Harris didn't know what caused the cyclist to spill over the double yellow line and fall into the path of the oncoming blue Porsche, but he saw it happen.