The Daimler double six


daimler is not so much mercedes benz as it is jaguar. the double six (a V12) is one of my favorites not to mention the later models that resembled the XJ6. daimler is one of britain’s oldest marques and has a history stretching back to the dawn of the automobile.

“their very first cars were built under license from gottlieb daimler and quickly became official transportation for british royalty. fit for kings, daimlers were well appointed, and this reputation was enhanced in 1909 with the adoption of sleeve valves. the double six is named after a taxable RAC rating of 50 hp, but the modern rating is somewhere between 130-150 bhp. less then 10 cars were ordered with the Double Six 50 engine. Despite offering numerous models and having royal support, daimler wanted to take an extra step after rolls-royce released their feature-rich phantom in 1925. to stay competitive, chief engineer laurence pomeroy decided to make the most of daimler’s engineering and adopt sleeve valves in a new seven liter ‘double six’ V12. to do so, he mated two existing 6-cylinder, 25/85 hp engines to a common aluminum crankcase and refined the sleeves to reduce oil consumption. the few cars released became collectors. for decades one of the few remaining models was retained by a single family which clung onto their prize possession. for a purchase price upwards up $5,000,000, RM restorations secured the car and finished an immaculate restoration for its next owner robert lee. lucky man he is”. by dd

anja rubik by Hedi Slimane the full story

this story with emmanuelle alt for french vogue back in 2010 was quite nice, despite different from what we all thought of hedi and his candid B&W. i was still glad to see that hedi, unlike karl, was no debutant and  actually has something to share. i tried to buy 3 images from trunk at some point last year but hedi was being a pain not happy with the usage although it was indirectly related to US vogue. i’m sure he doesn’t need the extra few dollars so at the end i appreciated that. in any case i finally managed to get the full story in one place and thought id share it. by dd

Wugazi: 13 chambers


wu-tang clan meets fugazi out of minneapolis. a labor of love by cecil otter & swiss andy. love the blurb promotion stating “a must listen for anyone who even looked at a skateboard in the 90’s”. not quite my cup of tea, i wasn’t even born in the 90’s but give a listen. you never know old boy. by dd

COS BY SCHELTENS & ABBENES

i always loved the then experimental still lifes by maurice scheltens, but collaborating with artist liesbeth abbenes (creating scheltens&abbens) seems to create a beautiful minimalist world. these images from the most recent cos lookbook are so great because they are simultaneously functional, industrial, direct, cerebral, mysterious and playful.   by kl

the Vignale Maserati Mexico: 1966 coupe tipo 112

here is another one of my favorites. the maserati mexico has a good story behind it; it was never meant to be a production car. the one of a kind body was originally designed in 1964 for an “important mexican client” to include 4 seats and a powerful V8 engine. the important mexican crashed the car soon after delivery, and sent it right back to italy along with its 5000GT chasis. it was referred to, at the factory, as the “mexico” for that very reason. ironically, maserati won the mexican grand prix the following year and the model was then shown in 1965 in torino. it was so well received that a limited series were produced and released at the paris show the following year, 1966. while the car was quite fancy for the time its funny to note that, radio was an optional accessory on a maserati in 1966. this one (above specimen) has an after market unit glued to the console below the lovely toggle switches! shame. by dd