Bring It Over, Now: Blastolene B-702
You can’t have one but if you could, you really would
by Imthishan Giado
The Middle East, bless its Burberry scarf-clad heart, is a region unfamiliar with the word ‘subtlety’. Yet you have to wonder, why do people bother going to the trouble of wrapping their car six different colours or worse yet, building it out of porcelain, when they could simply make one of these instead?
You’ve seen the work of the Blastolene Brothers, Michael Leeds and Randy Grubb, before; they built Jay Leno’s famous Tank Car. The B-702 was their tribute to the graceful classic grand tourers of the 1920s. Clearly influenced by the Bugatti Atalante and the dangerously voluptuous Delahaye Sautochik Roadster, the B-702 is a lovingly-mental mix of old and new. No way steel could deliver those curves – they’re handbeaten out of aluminium, or aloominum as the Blastonenos would probably say.
Under the hood lies what can only be described as the beating heart of the apocalypse : a heavy duty 702cid (11.5 litres!) V12 engine, hooked up to a rock solid Allison transmission, outputting 650ft-lb of torque at a mere 850rpm. Given that the B-702 weighs only slightly more than 2 tonnes, this is a recipe for some serious speed. Not that the eventual buyer cared all that much; B-702 sold at Barrett-Jackson in 2008 for a cool $475,000 and is now no doubt home in some snug garage, never to re-emerge.
But wouldn’t it be cool to see one on the streets of Riyadh? Or Deira?
