Question of the Week: What’s a Driver/Machine Combo that Simply Cannot Be Separated?—WINNER’S UPDATE
WINNER’S ANNOUNCEMENT:
We’re back to announce the winner for our Question of the Week, where our victor will accept a $25 credit for a hat or T-shirt from the BaT Gear Store and the acclaim of their peers.
Our question was: What’s a driver/machine combo that simply cannot be separated?
The discussion thread spanned several disciplines, from the track to the big-screen. By decree of Editorial Privilege, the winning comment mentions an iconic duo from the silver screen—Burt Reynolds and the Pontiac Trans Am! BaT member @da-cat was the first to nominate it but he’s a three-time victor with a recent W in his column. So to spread the love around, we’re awarding the prize to the runner-up, @Ranchero65!
Think of a black Pontiac Trans Am with a screaming chicken on the hood, and Burt Reynolds comes to mind. The two certainly remain intertwined long after the hit film Smokey and the Bandit.
Image: Autoweek
In fact, Reynolds even went on record about those who could or could not rock a Trans Am. Congratulations, Ranchero65! Be sure to check your email to claim the prize.
Now let’s take a look at some other popular nominations from this week’s discussion thread:
Animated duos were present in this week’s discussion thread, and Speed Racer and his Mach 5 were one of many popular nominations.
“Lieutenant Colombo and his 1960 Peugeot 403 Cabriolet
Mike drop!”
“Jim Hall and his amazing Chaparral cars”
Image: TEN Getty Images via Road & Track
“Mark Donahue and the Porsche 917.”
Image: Motorsport Magazine
“sludgo and a ’68MGB.
;^)”
“Tom Selleck and the red Ferrari 308 in Magnum PI.”
“Ken Block and the Hoonicorn”
“Michael Dukakis and the M1 Abrams”
“OJ and the white Bronco”
“Steve McQueen and his 1968 Highland Green Mustang.”
Steve McQueen was tied to a number of iconic cars, and the Bullitt was the most popular one this week.
@Number_Six on Jim Clark and his Loti:
Jim Clark and Lotus. Name one, and you can’t help but picture the other.
Clark won his first Formula One World Championship in the sleek Lotus 25 in 1963, then took his second in the Lotus 33 in 1965. That same year, he crossed the Atlantic and won the Indianapolis 500 in the Lotus 38. When the Lotus 49 made its Grand Prix debut at Zandvoort in 1967, Clark won in that, too.
Image: Ford Archives
It wasn’t only open-wheel racing either. Watching Clark slide a Lotus Cortina through the corners in a touring car race, one saw the same effortless precision in a very different machine. Chapman built cars which required a delicate touch, a finesse, a slight flick of the wrist. Clark knew exactly what each one needed, regardless of engine size or chassis design. Across Formula
One, Indy, and touring cars, Jim Clark and Lotus became one of racing’s inseparable pairings, and quite possibly the greatest driver of all time.
There were many other notable nominations, but we’ll stop it right here in the interest of time. Congratulations once again to our winner, Ranchero65. We’ll be back with a new Question of the Week soon!
ORIGINAL POST:
Welcome to the BaT Question of the Week! For those unfamiliar, here are the rules: we ask an automotive-themed question, and the author of our favorite answer from the comments is awarded a $25 credit to the BaT Gear Store.
This week, we’re asking: What’s a driver/machine combo that simply cannot be separated?
Stirling Moss and the Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR. Smokey Yunick and the black and gold #13 Chevelle. Colin McRae and the Subaru Impreza, and so on. From track success on down to local legends, this week we’re celebrating those occasions where man and machine blur into one cohesive unit, and mentioning one immediately brings the other to mind.
We’ll keep the rest of the examples to ourselves lest we spoil the discussion. Now we pass it off to you!
Tell us your suggestions in the comments, and give a thumbs-up to any nominations that grab your attention. We’ll announce the winner on Monday.
Cover Image: Kurt Wonder via Road & Track
“Speed Racer and the Mach 5.”
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