Pod Rods: a look at the Great Race 2016 as Jacksonville preps for next year's; a wild Rolls-Royce; and a new book

This weekend's Pod Rods checks out the Great Race classic car rally action kicking off this weekend in California, but scheduled to start its 2017 event right here in Jacksonville in a year. We've got a friend out there who is scoping out the action as he prepares for next year.

-- The 33rd annual Hemmings Motor News Great Race kicks off early Saturday morning in San Mateo, Calif., and ends 2,500 miles later in Moline, Ill. Among the 137 participants is Jacksonville driver Kevin Jacobs and his 1971 Datsun 240Z with co-driver Gordon Garland. The pair are raising money for Broward County's Down syndrome program. Here's our story on them.

Historic Main Street Cruise founder John Wells traveled to California to partake in pre-race festivities and the start as he plans next year's Jacksonville event. He shot some photos of the Great Race tech inspection.

One shot shows Chad and Jennie Caldwell's bright green 1931 Auburn Boattail Speedster, which came through Jacksonville when the Great Race made the Historic Main Street Cruise and The Jacksonville Landing its second-to-last stop on the 2014 route.

One of the wildest rides on this year's route is Todd Turner and Jeff Cote's modified 1972 Kenworth W-900 truck. Wells also grabbed a row of competitors - Roger Kramer and Vinc Simon's 1930 Ford Speedster, Lehel Garami and Michael Johnson's 1932 Dodge Indy Tribute, and Dennis O'Connell and Stephen Herbert's "Green Machine" - a 1966 Dodge Coronet.

Wells said he attended the team meeting on Friday, where Great Race director Jeff Stumb introduced him, saying that the reception the classic car rally got when it joined the Main Street Cruise "was the reason why they are coming to Jacksonville to start in 2017."

"Everyone who found out who we are has told us that the 2014 reception was the best they've ever seen," Wells said.

Wells and the Main Street Cruise group also met up with the Jacksonville Great Race team, and sent along a photo to prove it.

Wells also ran into two Great Race veterans of another kind - the cars designed, built and used in the 1966 film, "The Great Race," with Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon. The two movie cars, the Leslie Special and Hannibal 8, were displayed outside a special screening of the film, shown by collector Ted Stahl.

FYI - Daily 33rd annual Hemmings Motor News Great Race updates will be posted at greatrace.com. Meanwhile, Kevin Jacobs, Gordon Garland and their 1971 Datsun 240Z will post updates from June 18 to 26 at: facebook.com/321drive4downsyndrome/?fref=nf.

-- Lego is known for the basic building block toys that kids everywhere play with, as well as some pretty cool Star Wars kits. It also has some cool car stuff like a Ferrari F40, Mini Cooper, Volkswagen Camper and the Porsche 911 GT3 RS we showed readers a few month's ago. But now its twanging some hippie heartstrings with a classic 1960's Volkswagen Beetle that even has a surboard and cooler on its roof rack. This isn't a kit for little kids - it has 1,167 pieces and is priced at $99.99. But when the master modeler in you finishes it, the result is 11.4-inch-long and done in a color that was officially called Gulf Blue because that's the color that Porsches of the period ran in under John Wyer's team.

-- Speaking of Ford GT40's and Legos, Ford announced that Taking three weeks, 40,000 bricks, and a whole lot of patience - it's the LEGO version of the Ford GT race car that will be raced at the Le Mans 24 Hours. A third the size of the real thing, the LEGO version will go on display at Circuit de la Sarthe, in France, on 18-19 June, alongside a model of the classic Ford GT40 - a reminder that it is 50 years since that car scored a historic 1-2-3 at the legendary race track. The LEGO Ford GT race car uses the #66 race number and details include the same green wing mirrors and screen top visor as the full-sized carIn 2016 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing is running two Ford GTs in the FIA World Endurance Championship and two more in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

For Le Mans, all four cars will come together to compete, in front of an expected 200,000 spectators. The two WEC Ford GTs will retain their #66 and #67 race numbers, while the IMSA cars become #68 and #69, celebrating Ford victories in 1966, 1967, 1968 and 1969. The Le Mans 24 Hours race is the world's oldest active sports car race in endurance racing, held annually since 1923. Since 2012, the Le Mans 24 Hours has been a part of the FIA World Endurance Championship and this year it will be the third race of the series. There's even a video of the Lego GT being built - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fel4TwrTsjs

-- There's a new book coming out in October that takes a close look at all things automotive in Cuba, and its written by award-winning "barn find" author Tom Cotter, with photographs from Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance foundr/chairman (and Road & Track magazine photographer) Bill Warner. Called "Cuba's Car Culture: Celebrating the Island's Automotive Love Affair," the new book will come out a year after trade sanctions were eased between the U.S. and Cuba. Those sanctions mean that there is nothing on Cuban roads newer than 1959. The book's forward is written by racing legend Stirling Moss.

--The BMW Group is celebrating its centenary under the motto "THE NEXT 100 YEARS," and it's been showing off some futuristic concepts. Founded in 1916, the BMW Group now encompasses the BMW, MINI, BMW Motorrad and Rolls-Royce brands, as well as a large number of mobility services and BMW Financial Services. For its 100th anniversary, it is focusing on looking to the future and sharing its vision of personal mobility two or three decades from now. And it is - interesting.

The Rolls-Royce VISION NEXT 100 epitomizes automotive luxury and the first purely visionary vehicle in the 112-year history of the marque, R-R said. It sees this concept as a "Personal Vision; a "Grand Sanctuary" and an "Effortless Journey," guided by "Eleanor", the passenger's virtual computerized assistant. Passengers are surrounded by warm tone Macassar wood, a carpet of hand-twisted silk and more silk on the two seats. The car would be fully autonomous, a steering wheel and instruments superfluous. The digital assistant, named after Eleanor Thornton, the model who inspired sculptor Charles Robert Sykes' iconic Rolls-Royce bonnet ornament, she learns about the passenger's interests and needs, drives the concept up to get them, then its roof and coach door open to reveal the interior of the vehicle as passengers simply stand up and gracefully step out. The BMW VISION NEXT 100 will remain driver-focused despite its autonomous systems, with a Boost mode, in which the driver is at the controls, and Ease mode, in which the driver can sit back and let the vehicle take over.

Then there is the MINI VISION NEXT 100, with the classic shape, obvious headlights and silver skin, customizable with projections adapted to the driver in terms of color, graphics and content to create a personalised package of on-board information. Inside, a single-section bench seat and a full-width footwell, uninterrupted by a center console. Park the car in a tight spot, and the doors automatically open as wide as possible within the restricted confines.

-- Automobili Lamborghini and some VIP clients got a private viewing of the company's newest one-off supercar last week at the Petersen Automotive Museum - the Centenario. This was the first time that the Centenario was on display to U.S. clients since its debut at the 2016 Geneva Motor Show.

"This car is the ultimate expression of Automobili Lamborghini," said Lamborghini Ameica COO Alessandro Farmeschi. "The Centenario marks what would have been the 100th birthday of Ferruccio Lamborghini and is a fitting tribute to our company's founder. Its cutting design showcases the latest technologies that give our super sports cars such a competitive edge."

The Centenario features an all-carbon-fiber body available in either exposed or painted finish. A total of 20 coupes and 20 roadsters will be delivered to clients. This is the first Lamborghini to use all-wheel steering to enhance agility at low speeds and offer improved stability at high speeds. For the first time ever, the touch screen - mounted in the center console - brings Internet connectivity to the world of Lamborghini. It has an adjustable rear wing that actively adapts to vehicle speed in order to provide optimal downforce as conditions demand. Its dry weight is only 3,351 lbs, yet it houses a 6.5-liter naturally aspirated V12 with 770 horsepower capable of 217 mph.

-- Mercedes-Benz will sell what it calls its "most capable" off-roader ever early next year - the G550 4x4², with new portal axles, three locking differentials, a ground clearance of 17 inches-plus and a 4-liter Biturbo V-8. The G-Class is the latest version of the 1972 Gelaendewagen, a military-turned-passenger vehicle hand-built in Graz, Austria. The chunky G550 4x4² joins a G-Class lineup that offers the 416 hp G550; 563 hp AMG G63 and the 621 hp AMG G65. The fully off road-realized G550 4x4² follows in the footsteps of the wild 6-wheel-drive AMG G63 6x6 not available in the U.S. No price has been announced yet for the G550 4x4², while the rest of the G-Class lineup goes for $119,900 to $217,900.

Hot town, summer in the city, means some car events this and next weekend:

Car shows:

¦ 17th annual Vettes at the Village - 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturdayat World Golf Village Walk of Champions. Exit 323 off Interstate 95 in St. Augustine. Free for spectators and $40 for Corvette-only display vehicles. All proceeds donated to the Wolfson Children's Hospital.

¦ Track Attack - 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at the Florida International Rally and Motorsport Park, 7266 Airport Road in Starke. Drive your car on The FIRM's 1.6-mile road course. Prices: track driver: $199 plus tax, with riders $25 per and spectators $10 each. Driver and passengers required to have an SA2005 or newer helmet. On-line registration ends at 11 p.m. Friday, June 17 - go to MotorsportReg.com. Information: gorally.com.

Green Cove Dragway - Run What Ya Brung and Test 'n Tune at 1010 Worthington Ave. off Florida 16 in the Reynolds Industrial Park. Gates open at 5 p.m. Saturday Racer's combination entry fee is $50; Test 'n Tune is $25; spectators are $12. Then comes Friday Night Under The Lights racing, with gates opening at 6 p.m. Friday, June 24. More information and full schedule at http://greencovedragway.com.

¦ Callahan Boy Scout Show - 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, June 25, at O'Reilly Auto Parts, 450076 Florida 200 in Callahan. Free to spectators and $20 per show vehicle, proceeds to the Boy Scouts.

¦ Team LoeRider Lights Out II - 4 to 9:30 p.m. Saturday, June 25, at Jones (J-Tech) Technical Institute at 8813 Western Way in Jacksonville. Free for spectators, $15 for display motorcycles and $20 for show cars.

Cruise-ins:

¦ Informal cruise-in - 7 to 9 a.m. every Saturday at Krispy Kreme, located at 11117 San Jose Blvd. in Mandarin.

¦ Clay County Cruzers - 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday at Taps Bar and Grill, 1605 County Road 220 in Fleming Island.

¦ Amelia Cruizers - 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday at Dicks Wings at 474313 Florida 200 in Fernandina Beach

¦ St. Augustine Cruisers - 5 to 8 p.m. on Saturday at Hobby Lobby at 200 Florida 312 in St. Augustine.

¦ Callahan Cruisers - 5 to 8 p.m. on Saturday at Kmart, 1501 Normandy Village Parkway in Jacksonville.

¦ Jax Beaches Cars and Coffee - Classic Car Cruise from 5 to 8 p.m. every third Tuesday at the Sea Walk Pavilion and Latham Plaza between 1st and 2nd Street. Information - www.betterjaxbeach.com.

¦ Aw Shucks Cruise-in - 4 p.m. every Friday at the restaurant at 9743 Old St. Augustine Road.

Send information on automotive and motorcycle events to dan.scanlan@jacksonville.com or Dan Scanlan, Florida Times-Union, 1 Riverside Ave., Jacksonville FL 32202.