Question - what would the deceased Jalop actors race in heaven?

"themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles" (themanwithsauce) 12/01/2013 at 03:15 • Filed to: Paul Walker, James Dean, Steve McQueen, Paul Newman, Porsche 917

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Personally, I don't think Mr. Walker is the most amazing actor. Instead, I think he's just one of us who ended up living the dream - getting paid (quite nicely) to be a car guy. I hope the epitome of cool, James Dean himself, came up to the pearly gates in a 550, tossed Paul a leather jacket when he was in line, and said "Get in, we need a fourth driver." Now why would James Dean say that? Well it's quite simple.

Steve McQueen

And Paul Newman

alongside Dean have formed a racing team up in heaven.

My question to you Oppos is this - what car would they be racing? You have Walker and Newman repping the nissan badge but Dean and McQueen were diehard Porsche drivers. Would they go historic? Would they thrash the newer nissan prototypes? Would they do the deltawing to be on the cutting edge of cool and daring?

Personally, I'm leaning towards something that can never be "uncool". Dean and McQueen defined what was cool and what wasn't. And Newman himself had a ton of racing success so he won't be driving any old piece of junk. Walker helped define modern car culture as we know it by breaking some tradition and ushering in the new generation of car culture via mass exposure.

So broken down, we need a race car that is

-Timelessly cool
-Bred to win
-Breaks tradition

To my knowledge that is pretty much the porsche 917 in a nutshell. It ended the ford victory train and pretty much banished ferrari out of the record books for outright wins at Le Mans. It will never look "uncool" and was so dominant it ended up being ruled out of contention thanks to the french governing body. So to me, they're racing classic le mans up there and fending off the older GT40s and 908s while battling the ferrari and alfa prototypes for the lead in a gulf liveried 917. Shine on, all you crazy diamonds.

beardsbynelly - Rikerbeard > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles 12/01/2013 at 03:36

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I'd like to imagine one of them is racing the Mazda Furai or some other concept or prototype car that has been tragically taken from us.

Krieger (@FSKrieger22) > beardsbynelly - Rikerbeard 12/01/2013 at 03:50

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Or screwed out of a chance of production (I remember a GT2 version of the New Stratos...).

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > beardsbynelly - Rikerbeard 12/01/2013 at 03:53

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In that case, I'd argue for XJ13

beardsbynelly - Rikerbeard > Krieger (@FSKrieger22) 12/01/2013 at 04:28

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exactly. Especially with Ferdinand Porsche, Bruce Mclaren, Enzo, Colin Chapman, Carroll Shelby all up there to make cars for them to drive.

McSchmalex > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles 12/01/2013 at 04:58

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I am going to throw in the AC Cobra because it is fast, dangerous, fast, cool, badass, fast, and fast.

It does meet the requirements of timelessly cool, bred to win, but it does't break tradition... it is tied to Le Mans for eternity through Carroll Shelby and his legacy there. Through its ties to Le Mans it is tied to sports car racing for eternity.

With that said, I am going to withdraw the AC Cobra. In its place I submit for your consideration the Porsche 918, in Martini livery of course.

Hoccy > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles 12/01/2013 at 06:28

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Whatever they raced/drove in their movies?

Of course, Dean and McQueen have had some time tuning their rides with God-parts, so they should be competetive with whatever Walker brings in.

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > McSchmalex 12/01/2013 at 18:44

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You know what, I think the daytona coupe would be just as good, if not better than, the 917 I suggested originally. It's an AC cobra that can actually control its power.

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > Hoccy 12/01/2013 at 18:45

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A 550 spyder, a 917, a 300ZX and a skyline GTR line up at the track......Would certainly be an interesting group of cars.