Perfection?

This is one of the best photos I have ever seen, purely because of how much epic win is contained.  It's good to see cars with properly sized wheels, lowered correctly, and painted correctly, instead of cars on 25 inch or bigger "dub" rims.

F1 through the years

Here is a very interesting look at formula one cars, and the progression.  Its pretty interesting to watch. Just click on the link!

Evolution of the F1 car

Lucynell a part of the family for 15 years

This is Lucynell, she is a 1963 Oldsmobile F-85 station wagon, which has a list of body modifications which could probably fill a book. The picture shown though, is 10 years old though, so you would be thinking that by now she would be painted, gleaming, and perfect.  Wrong!  She has felt neglect, and even when my family tried to work on her in the past, thing's didn't go as planned, and finally the oil pump failed on the buick 215 in her, and I ended up buying her.  

This is her now, and although she might look worn due to time, she is in the process of new life.  The front brakes have been converted to disks, a new buick 215 is in the process of having all the good performance parts put on it, and the engine bay is being cleaned up and repainted.  

As you can see from this picture, there is still a fair amount of engine bay work to do, but its easy to see that a lot of work has already been put in, and to be honest, its getting close to being done. 

The mild 215, Edelebrock 4 barrel intake with 390cfm double pumper, aftermarket distributor, and spark plugs are all that have been done so far.

Scarebird disk brake conversion in place, and working well now. So for now, this is where she sits, but by the middle of August hopefully she will be painted and looking good again, with a panned rear bumper, and some other body modifications that will begin soon.

the bell boy

Traditional comedy at its best.  Although its the only majorly car related part of the film, The Bell Boy, it is such a great movie.  Its well worth the watch!

Old beauty

This car, commissioned in 1937 for the Paris Autoshow by Louis Delage, has to be one of the best looking cars ever designed.  With its curvy lines, and graceful appearance, it is easy to see why it is so well kept today!

Big Red

Probably the most well known Camaro in history, Big Red, is still at it, and with records everywhere, its obvious to see why its so famous.  It's hard to believe that in 1993 the car was hitting 230 miles per hour, when today the most expensive of supercar's only reach 280 miles per hour.  

No Prep!

Warning, some vulgar language in this video.  The racing though, priceless!  In fact, some of the best driving I have ever seen.  No prep races are becoming more popular, and this is why, although it seems very dangerous to risk everything like that, it makes it really exciting.  It's like a wild west gun show!

Jay Leno's Garage

Although its a new channel on youtube, Jay Leno's Garage is well worth watching.  Quality camera work, good story's, and best of all, he actually drives the cars!

A Fiat did what?!?!?

This thing is legitimately insane!  10 seconds in a fiat 500!  A micro car with a vw engine that runs in the mid to low 10s, if I was offered the chance to drive this, I would take it in a heartbeat!

Long Live Mercury

Its good to see that after Mercury becoming another one of the "orphan" companies, that people still use the cars, and modify them well.  This Cougar is a prime example of that, fast, loud, and best of all, truly Mercury!

Words of wisdom!

What this guy says, is so right in my opinion about cars.  Its a 4 minute video, where he talks about his car, tells its story, and then tells his views about cars.  I couldn't have said it any better myself, props to this guy!

Car sounds

Usually I would post a car picture or a great video involving cars, but today its a person trying to be a car in a sense.  This guy has talent, its amazing comparing his replication to the real cars.  Just compare the rotary noise to the actual car in the 2nd video.

Prius owner rage quits!

Ignorance at its best, is probably the best way to describe this video.  It's truly shocking about how inconsiderate people can truly be to other motorists.  For no reason at all, this irate Prius owner decides to go and pick and annoy this family with a diesel.  Makes prius owners and environmentalists look really good ey?

Marty Robbins:Musician, Actor, and Stock Car driver!

Hell on Wheels, a movie well worth watching.  Its from 1967, and happens to feature Country music legend Marty Robbins.  Besides his day job of singing Country, Robbins raced stock cars.  It makes for a better acting experience in my opinion since what makes for the best acting role in regards to a stock car driver?  Somebody who actually has raced in the USAC, Nascar, and other various stock car circuits.  Its well worth watching, even though some of the acting is cheesy, but there is a lot of good racing action.  

When racing was simple

In today's racing world, everyone seems to use way too much technology.  Months are spent perfecting aerodynamics, computer models made to test suspensions, computer programs made to run the engines if needed, and on and on.  Take a look back 40 years ago, and it was a completely different field.  Teams were not 20 members strong, and they did not have giant big rigs to carry a single car or two around.  They didn't travel in motor homes, and the parts they used, were not all billet.  When funny cars were a real production car that was chopped apart, and rebuilt to go faster with altered wheelbase, instead of a space ship with wheels.  It was a time when you didn't see the same few models every pass, a time when passion was obvious.  It was an amateur sport, but it was better, corporations were not running everything, and the big three were helping out.  Long live the original spirit of drag racing!

Chop it!!

Although I do not agree with the looks of most of the cars that are built by this show, it is well worth watching, and actually very inspiring.  Taking nothing but cars that are worn out, and are almost ready for the scrap heap, this team in England turns them into concept cars, in only a matter of weeks.  The techniques, and how they attack the builds are amazing.  

A sad day for the car community

Its always sad when somebody dies.  Well today, one of my hero's, Bill "Grumpy" Jenkins died.  He was 81 years old.  He started racing in the late 1950s, and in 1963 he won little eliminator at the Nationals in a A/FX Chevy II.  In 1964 and 1965 He raced in A/FX and eventually Super Stock Eliminator with his Black Arrow Dodges.  Due to Chrysler officials not wanting to meet his terms in 1966, Jenkins went back to Chevy's, and the rest is history.  Racing Camaros, Vegas, Monzas, and a ton of other well built cars.  His last full season was in 1975, and in 1976 he only raced the first event of the season and then handed driving duties over to Larry Lombardo, who won the season.  After 1983 the Grump' retired from being a team owner, but was still involved in helping teams throughout the years after his retirement.  He will be greatly missed!

sunday drive

This is what happens when you follow your friends 1959 Rambler through a nice industrial section.  You get some great photos, and on a nice day, its like a flashback to the 1960s.  

And now, for something completely different!

There are a lot of odd things that you see in the automotive world, but for me, this one has to take the cake!  Starting in 1979 Honda started putting oval piston engines in their bikes.  Making 150hp with these weird pistons, it wasn't exactly exactly slow on power, but it wasn't very competitive. It won only once well in competition, which would explain its short life span.

 

Take a look at the comparison of the oval block to the regular piston block!

The rotating assembly of the motor.  So crazy

Got dome??

The bike that the motor was used in

Emissions!

I think that all hot rodders and car enthusiasts hate emissions.  It makes your car heavier, slower, and it limits how much you can modify it.  Well California might be changing the laws a bit, so that cars that are from 1981 or older, will not have to comply with emissions. Currently the law is all cars that are 1975 or older do not have to comply with emissions, but either way its still not fair to the car crowd.  streetlegaltv.com reported on the article, and hopefully on March 27th, all cars 1981 or older will be allowed to be emissions free!

Daily picture

I think that the picture speaks for itself, its just so epic!

when men were men and cars were cars

This video clearly goes back to a time when racing was so much simpler, and better for that matter. You didn't need a million dollars and a major sponsor for a year of racing, and you didn't have a million safety requirements, and the cars actually resembled real production cars!  The footage is from 1973, and includes interviews with Jungle Jim, Don Garlits, and Shirley Muldowney!  Its a wild video to watch, link is below!
http://vimeo.com/25680255  

Daily video #9

Of all things to show up at the dragstrip I think this just about takes the cake, and the sleeper award as well.

Daily Picture #9

Brotherhood Raceway, what more can be said but Legendary!  Besides being the legendary track, the cool super stock style Plymouth with the wheels in the air makes this picture all that much more cool.  The stance, tire setup, and just feel of the car with its yellow paint screams cool!  Of course Big Willie has to be mentioned for his involvement in Brotherhood Raceway and all the good that it did for the car scene.  Hopefully one day he will be able to reopen his track!

Studebaker is coming back? Is that a good thing?

With the news that Studebaker will return and soon be making cars, a lot of people are excited, myself included.  Well I should say that I was excited till I saw the renders of the cars they are going to make.  Be prepared, its not pretty.

Here's a serious question, of these two cars pictured which would you rather own?  The top car is a 1959 Studebaker Lark, and the car on the bottom is the "new" concept for the "new lark".  Honestly, how can they even be called the same thing, its pitiful. 

Here is the other car that has been shown in concept form.  Its called the Studebaker Sport Sedan, and honestly, I don't get it!  It has absolutely no appeal, and looks like its broken.  

Now I might not be able to make a car look that glossy through a computer program, but I know that I could make way better designs for Studebaker.  In conclusion, here is what I think the rebirth of the Avanti should look like!  Would be nice to see old school style return with a big bang!

Daily Video #8

This has to be on the list of worst wrecks in a drag radial car.  The driver Kevin Neal thankfully is ok, and from reports the car is pretty much ok besides the body.  It should be back later this year hopefully.  On the bad side though, this mustang has a big block chevy, that might be the problem with it.

Daily picture #8

I've posted Anglia's before, but as history has shown, if a little of something is good, then more must be better, so without further to do, I present this awesome picture of this anglia, found on Racing Head Services facebook page!

daily picture #6

Heres my first picture from the 2012 Detroit Autorama.  Just beyond awesome, just looking at this car made me wish that the altered class's were still around in the big leagues.  Even though the older cars were a lot harder to drive and a whole lot more dangerous, they just were so much more exciting.  Long live the days of professional racing before you had to have a major sponsor and a million dollars to just race 1 car for an entire year.

daily video #6

This one is purely for the enjoyment of the watcher.  The title;"Old man steps on dyno roller" pretty much sums up this entire post, so without further to do the video.

daily picture #5

There are just those amazing days when you get lucky, and at the Detroit Autorama, yesterday I got to meet one of my heroes.  I met Dean Jeffries, and he is just an all around nice guy, and it was just amazing to hear him talk.  He even signed one of my designs, it was just way to cool.

Daily Picture #4

Beyond all doubts, Ronnie Sox was one of the best racers of all time, and his tuner; Buddy Martin was one of the best tuners of all time!  The duo reigned terror throughout the 1960s up into the 1980s in Stock, Super Stock, Pro Stock, and for a while even the early funny car eliminator period!  Their race hauler seen here around 1971, just shows how far the sport has come.  Personally I like this look so much more then the modern day race hauler look where everything is done by a body wrap procedure instead of actually painting, not to mention that the actual tow rigs looked so much better back in the day as well!

Daily video #4

Well some people would say that yet again another good chevy has been destroyed because of this, I say that its the exact opposite of that.  This in essence is the very foundation of hot rodding, its taking whatever you want, and doing whatever you want with it in the pursuit of speed, be it on land, water, air, or in this case mud!

Daily picture #3

bangshift.com has this really really awesome gallery which includes 52 pictures of old school style gassers, and actual cars that were raced in the gas classes back in the day.  Well worth the look!

Rotary+Nova??

To some people this is just wrong and the idea shouldn't even come up.  Well In my opinion its so right!  The nova has a 13b style rotary motor in it making over 550hp at the wheels and runs 11.0s at the strip well pulling the wheels.  Not bad at all!

Daily video #2

Although not really normal car action, this is definitely something exciting to watch.  This event taking place in Tennessee, shows that there is always going to be something new and exciting going on in the world of cars.

daily picture #2

Heres an oddball, ever heard of a Ford EXP or the Mercury LN7? Based off the escort platform, the first generation was from 1982 to 1985. The second generation doesn't look that cool, so that's why I will not be focusing on it. The cars had a whopping 70hp from a 1.6l 4 cylinder, and were front wheel drive. Either way, way to cool. Here are a few images. In the first image, the EXP is on the left, and the LN7 is on the right.

Daily Automotive Video #1

This just cannot be overlooked, and this is probably hands down the best sleeper in history, I mean 4 door, hidden cage, 8-inch wheels with drag radials, rust, paint that is in odd states of repair, its just way to cool, and oh yeah, its got a twin turbo small block chevy, this just went off the top end of the cool board!  With a best et of 8.95 at 152mph, its obviously a monster!

Daily automotive picture #1

Its weird how looking back at old pictures of your car make you realize how much you really enjoy it, and in my case how much I appreciate the styling of mine, and the memories in it that my dad and I created. Of course this picture also makes me wish that summer was here again, winter is just annoying at this time and point.

arfons jet car crash

It doesn't really get any sadder then this, but then again, the footage is amazing to watch, even though a good driver went down that day.  Art Arfons though was not driving that day!  The driver was Gene Thomas, R.I.P.

Automotive rant #1

This really requires the proper music for this rant, and any colour you like really helps me focus my emotions on this.

As of recently I keep seeing more people saying they have a few to many project cars, and such of that sort.  Well honestly in my opinion any car you spend a lot of time working on starts to become fused with you, it becomes part of your soul.  A car is never done, no matter what, no matter if the owner says its done, it will always be modified (restorations are a different story), but a modified car, will always be that way.  It has soul, any true car has soul, and you can communication to it well driving it, and the more you drive it the more you get to know it.  I'm that way with my 1963 Mercury Meteor which is named Mr.Venables, its a long story in regards to the car which I will explain later, but I have realized that when I am an old man, Ill still be modifying the car, its just what I do, and it just fits the car, its always changing like I am.  Kinda a short rant, but I feel that all hot rodders agree on this one.

How things change

A while back I used to work for the facebook application vDream Racing, and on the app was the 1969 camaro rendering on the left.  I didn't make it, but I had planned to go really into detail on making it better (i made the hood on it in about 15 minutes and it got in lol, it was just trying to match the car).  Anyway, now that vDream is "closed" down, I just had to redo that 1969 Camaro.  I felt so bad for the car in real life, compared to the game.  For starters in regards to things wrong on the original render, its got no passenger side tire, its got 4 bucket seats, and the back two are higher then the front two, and its proportions are just way off.  On the right is how far my redo of it is so far, and I am quite happy with it.  Also the wheels on both cars are the same to show how things have changed so drastically.

What happened to pro street?

Its weird to think that the whole pro street trend has started to die out.  Sure Pro Touring is great, but Pro Street just has a whole different cool feel to it.  People would build more dare to be different cars, and there wasnt a limit to how modified the car could be, and most of them were fast too.  This Buick is a prime example of that, hopefully it will make a comeback in the near future.

Anglias!!!!

There are such few cars as iconic in the world of drag racing as the Anglia.  A handful at best when combined with a supercharged or injected power plant, but at the end of the day, an amazing car.  Here's a few Anglia pictures to make the day just that much better!

Sometimes newer isn't better

Most people in my age group (myself sometimes included) enjoy the Toyota Supra.  Its a great car for the price, and there is a lot of modification out there for it, but everyone overrates it.  Now on the other side of the tracks there's this 1970s AMC Hornet, a car that isn't known for being the fastest thing around, although if you had a Hornet X back in the day you could do some damage.  Well in this battle of epic proportions, it would seem like the Supra would have a clear win, and it would be over extremely fast, and it is in the first race when the Hornet is on motor only, but the second race, lets just say that this Supra owner went home with a whole different outlook on cars built by AMC.  I can only imagine if the Hornet had been a Pacer at how bad the Supra owner would feel for his loss.  

Almost perfect

At times I wonder is it really possible to modify a vehicle perfectly, and in the case of this 1920s Ford, I have to say that it is almost possible.  If it were just a small block Ford it would indeed be perfect, but then again it was the 1960s, and the rules on what is ok to do in regards to engine swaps hadn't been set yet.  Either way this has to be one of the cleanest trucks in history.

Tire Fire

And just when you think that the Australians cannot come up with a new way to do a burnout they do....