Adam’s New Paul Newman Z Car

January 12, 2013

We check out Adam’s new Paul Newman Z race car as he gets ready for the Winter Speed Days race at Laguna Seca. Then we check out the 2013 Cadillac ATS!


Show Credits

Producer: Jeff Fox
Audio Engineer: Chris Laxamana

Cadillac ATS website

httpv://youtu.be/ZekUSaLqXgk
httpv://youtu.be/Fj1a_NXx254
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15 thoughts on “Adam’s New Paul Newman Z Car

  1. nAAter

    Buddy! Ace! That car DEMANDS that you know it. We in the audience love our new everyday Carolla Digital, but get that a few WEEKS are required for you to know what the hell you are doing.
    Think we’ve never heard a complaint about how this or that didn’t go right? Think we don’t know it is all your fault for not
    taking this aspect of your life seriously and with the respect it deserves?
    Love you Ace but sometimes your arrogance is overwhelming.

    I wanna hear how you prepared and won.

    1. Charles

      I will keep it brief. We actually are pretty serious about safety. Les, Arron, Rob, Matt, and myself constantly worry about it and Adam does as well. He takes it very seriously and I would actually say more so than other Driver/Owners so please don’t confuse comedy in the show with a lack of concern. At either rate, Chris and I can always rig up the iron lung or traction hostipal bed podcast if he ever goes I to the wall!

    2. Pizzano

      Why is he arrogant, quite frankly he is being honest with his comments about not know many aspects of the vehicle, but I am sure Ace takes this more seriously then you can imagine, Ive seen him run at the track and is probably one of the most serious celebrity race car drivers out there. Go easy on the the Lad!!!!

      He will get it dialed in indeed, I think he is just overwhelmed with the quality of the build, no monies spared when it came to Newman racing!!!

  2. Tyler Durden

    Adam — love your passion for such diverse areas of life; it’s a real blessing to us.

    Thank you

  3. dbcoyle

    Ace. Living the dream for the rest of us who’s career choice can’t allow it. Great being a 48 yr old, and I get to listen to someone lament today’s kids (mine included) where my wife is swatting tap water out their hands, and everyone’s lack of work ethic. Anyway, I get to play with tons of cool junk for NASA, but I’d gladly trade a lab full of equipment for a Newman Z-Car. Next time you’re near Baltimore or DC, a personal, behind the scenes tour at Goddard is yours. Take care.
    BC

  4. ChicagoCarollaFan

    Very cool, not sure if it was this car but can I remember watching him in these Z cars at the race track. My wife used to work at a track many years ago that Paul Newman tested at, she worked in the front office and always said he was one of the nicest people she would deal with.

  5. Robey

    Ace-man:

    The ATS is a car designed to take down the 3 series. GM has been working on this car with the idea that they need to compete with that specific segment.

    The Catera (from the late 90s) was tagged as “the caddy that zigs” was a horrible piece of chit that GM took (ie: imported) from the Opel brand, and attempted to compete with the 3 series back then. That Catera was a poor, quality riddled launch for a car that was too complex for it’s own good. Powertrain problems were just the beginning with that car, and really destroyed the Cadillac brand image. Hopefully the good ATS launch and the GM marketing department will right the ship with a good product.

    Thank you for the ATS/Newman review. See you in Detroit soon!

  6. MS3 Dan

    Anyone notice the LS1 coil near plug ignition and the Motec ECM? Definitely not correct for the time but I bet it works a shit load better than what it had. The thing looks great in the videos, nice choice Adam!

    1. Aaron

      Dan, the original engine management for this car was likely Electramotive – the team that built/raced the Nissan GTP-ZX in IMSA GTP at the same time. Electramotive also used individual or waste-spark coils with these engines because if I recall correctly, the NISMO head castings did not have a provision for the distributor like the road-going VG30 head.

      I also believe there to be a great number of Electramotive parts on these Newman-Sharp engines. Due to a low availability, I’d bet the Engine Management was changed to a MOTEC system for availability and programming support/ease. Which is smart if you are going to be racing a beast like this. That Electramotive stuff is precious and I doubt you could get ECUs anymore. Or even find anyone who could program/tune the ECU for that matter.

      -Cheers

  7. Rex Montana

    Those tubes and hoses and robotically precise welds, one wonders “when was this made?” Hard to fathom.

    Not quite a 959, almost.

  8. Brad in Seattle

    Two Newman stories of yore…1988 (or so) in the paddocks of Poncono Speedway or Watkins Glen all the noises and scrambling the crews were doing to get cars ready for next day…and then there was the Newman garage. Brightly lit, classical music and very relaxed. It was (now) your car they were working on. Same era, I lived and worked in State College, PA where Leiztinger Racing hails from and they being Datsun/Nissan at the time were hooked up with and friernds with Newman racing. Paul would come through and stay with the Leiztingers and one of his stops was a pizza place I worked at. I got to make Paul Newman’s pizza that night.

  9. Tim Hillsamer

    Love the PLN car…if that isn’t a fine example of functional artwork, what is? Based on the last comment above from Brad in Seattle, classical music can easily be seen as an inspiration for that.

    My only question would be how many hundreds of pounds of braided stainless line are on that car?

    Great stuff, super stoked to see a truly appreciative owner of a classic high-end racecar.

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