Saturday, January 7, 2012
Andy Gregg's bike furniture
a new pinstripe thing, records.. and they look cool
images found on http://hdshovelhead.blogspot.com/
more cool stuff from SwissStache
Red-Footed SRT Spotted at Dodge's Detroit Auto Show Booth
Volkswagen isn't the only automaker posting teaser pictures of one of its Detroit Auto Show debuts from the Cobo center. The Chrysler Group is also giving us a sneak peek from its SRT booth in Detroit.
"Behind the scenes as NAIAS approaches. Our SRT brand has staked out its space: Can you name the car under wraps?" the company asks us on its social media page.
Read more »2013 Ford Fusion Shows its Face on App, Aston Martin Asks for its Grille Back
While not a leak in the strictest sense, the ghost of the 2013 Ford Fusion sedan made an unexpected (but hasty appearance) on Ford's dedicated iPad application giving us our first look at the mid-size sedan model that will be officially revealed on Monday at the 2012 Detroit Auto Show.
Read more »
Volkswagen Teases "Big Detroit Reveal", What Could it be?
We're less than 48 hours away from the grand opening of 2012 North American International Auto Show in Detroit and we've already had our first leak of the day with the official pictures and video of the 2013 Dodge Dart.
Now, Volkswagen's Canadian arm is trying to capture our attention with the release of a picture shot at its Detroit Auto Show booth that shows an unidentified vehicle wrapped up in a sheet.
"The North American International Auto Show kicks off Monday in Detroit. Volkswagen has something big to reveal. What do you think it will be?" the company asks on its Facebook page where it published the picture.
Read more »2013 Dodge Dart Photos and Video Leaked Ahead of Detroit Motor Show Debut
There has been much excitement over the brand-new 2013 Dodge Dart as it's the first Chrysler product to be based upon a Fiat architecture – in fact so much that some couldn't just wait and unleashed a slew of pictures as well as the first video of the compact sedan on the road.
The Dart effectively replaces the Caliber in Dodge's lineup offering the Chrysler Group a direct rival to the Ford Focus and Chevrolet saloons.
It is based on a wider and longer version of the Alfa Romeo Giulietta's platform and will offer American buyers an initial choice of three gasoline four-cylinder engines including a pair of natural aspirated units with a displacement of 2.0-liters and 2.4-liters rated at 160 and 184-horses respectively as well as a 1.4-liter turbocharged engine from the Abarth 500 with 160-ponies.
Read more »All Hitler wanted was a Harley for Sturgis (funny adaptation of a movie clip)
Thanks to my buddy Mike who often sends me cool and funny stuff like this to share with all of you!
Chevrolet Debuts Sail Hatchback and MPV Concept at New Delhi Auto Expo
The 11th Auto Expo that takes place these days at New Delhi was the ground for the display of the Chevrolet Sail and MPV Concept, GM’s first products from its joint venture with China's SAIC.
The Sail is a five door sub-compact hatchback that has been developed at GM’s Technical Center in Bangalore to ensure that it will meet the needs of the Indian buyers.
Read more »Friday, January 6, 2012
Carscoop's A-to-Z Guide to the 2012 Detroit Motor Show [Updated]
Every year, the first major international auto show takes place on American soil: it’s the North American International Auto Show, or NAIAS as it is more commonly known, and it’s located right in the heart of the U.S. automotive industry, Detroit.
It’s only natural, therefore, for domestic manufacturers to display their newest models at the Motor City.
Among other presentations, Ford will unveil its new Fusion global mid-size sedan that will be sold as the Mondeo in other parts of the world including Europe, while Cadillac is already releasing spoilers of the brand new 2013 ATS and so is Dodge, which will introduce the first product of the Fiat-Chrysler collaboration, the Alfa Giulietta-based 2013 Dart compact sedan.
Cool pinstriper "3 Sheets" pulled a rabbit out of a hat, so to speak... he came up with a new take on pinstriped pistons and conrods, very damn cool
We Hear: 2013 Ford Fusion to get Two Turbocharged Gasoline Engines Plus Hybrid and Plug-in Hybrid Variants
In roughly two days from now, Ford will lift the covers off the next generation Fusion at the Detroit Motor Show.
While the Blue Oval has not released much information yet on the Fusion, which will be marketed as a 2013 model in North America, we were able to confirm the initial engine lineup.
The 2013 Fusion will arrive in U.S. dealerships later this year with a choice of four powerplants. The gasoline range includes a pair of EcoBoost four-cylinder gasoline units with a displacement of 1.6-liters and 2.0-liters.
Big Deal Video of the Day: Hyundai Teases 2013 Genesis Coupe
Erroneously, Hyundai thinks American consumers have no idea what's going on in the rest of the (automotive) world. We beg to differ even though some may seem eager to play along with Hyundai's meaningless teasing game…
"Take a sneak peak of the 2013 Genesis Coupe being introduced at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, MI on January 9th 2012. We're very excited to share with you this sneak peak, check back next week for the full video and more footage," says Hyundai on its YouTube channel.
Read more »Detroit Show Video: Is this the 2013 Shelby GT500 Convertible or did Ford's Rep Make a Mistake?
Without getting into any names, the crew over at Jalopnik are making it a point to prove Autoblog (the dot com one) wrong on its assumption that Ford will reveal the 2013 Shelby GT500 Convertible at the rapidly approaching Detroit Motor Show.
We decided to take a look around and see what we could find and the result was this official Ford video that just came out with a company representative taking us for a quick tour around the Blue Oval's booth at the Cobo center in Detroit.
Volkswagen to Debut Beetle-Based Electric Hot Rod at the Detroit Motor Show
We just learned that Volkswagen's surprise debut at next week's 2012 North American International Motor Show in Detroit will be a pure-electric concept model based on the new generation of the Beetle – despite previous reports saying otherwise.
The conceptual EV version of the recently launched 2012 Beetle will sport a heavily modified body with a lowered roof and wider fenders with its looks slightly resembling the Volkswagen Ragster Concept (pictured above) that was displayed at the 2005 Detroit Motor Show.
Read more »DC Design Avanti is India’s First Sports Car, will Enter Production in 2013
The Italian automotive industry is renowned not only for supercar-making companies like Ferrari and Lamborghini, but also for its carrozzerias like Pininfarina and Bertone, which design and engineer cars for other automakers as well as manufacture their own limited production models.
The Indian automotive industry, on the other hand, is best known as the country that manufactures the world’s cheapest car, the Tata Nano, which may or may not lose the title to the Bajaj RE60.
While Italy is safe for now (…), India will soon have its own sport car thanks to DC Design’s Avanti that was launched at the 2012 New Delhi Auto Expo.
Founded by former GM designer Dilip Chhabria, DC Design is mostly known for its one-off prototypes. The Avanti, however, is a production ready sports car that will be manufactured at the company’s brand new plant at Talagon near its existing Prune facilities.
Read more »Oops…Honda Civic Driver Flies Onto a Cadillac CTS at a Parking Lot
Unless we knew better, we'd say that some drivers are purposely trying to get their automobiles airborne…
Following a bizarre incident earlier this week when a thief managed to perfectly land a stolen car on the roof of an apartment building in California, another driver, this time in Massachusetts, somehow piloted his burgundy colored Honda Civic sedan onto a Cadillac CTS at an office parking lot in Wellesley.
The Civic driver allegedly stepped on the gas instead of the brake pedal and hit a curb, which slung the car into a parking lot and onto the Cadillac.
Officer Chris Cunningham of the Wellesley Police Department said that no one was hurt from the accident that took place on Thursday morning. Video follows after the jump [pun intended…].
Read more »Thursday, January 5, 2012
We count our victories by the bombers we get to their targets, by the husbands we return to their wives, by the fathers we get back to their children.
Terrence Howard and Cuba Gooding, both are oscar winners, and this looks like the best aerial combat movie since Pearl Harbor, or Flyboys
One of two 1961 Corvettes special ordered by Don Yenko Chevrolet for delivery to Grady Davis - of Gulf Oil Research and Development fame, made with the special factory speed parts that Duntov could equip it with
Competitors sighed with relief. Grady Davis called Dr Dick Thompson.
Sitting in Number 11’s race seat, Thompson picked up where Yenko left off and drove the Corvette to victory Bridgehampton, Indianapolis, Thompson, Road America and Watkins Glen. In the half-season spent with the Corvette, Thompson won every race and the B-Production National Championship
photos from http://www.sportscardigest.com/duntovs-secret-corvette-gulf-oil-race-car/ via the Vintage Racing League weekly newsletter
Zora Arkus Duntov, somethings I knew, some things I just learned
In addition to the galleries of Super Sport Corvettes that Zora made, I've posted very little biographical info about him. I just read the following
The Belgian born son of Russian Jewish parents, Duntov had already outrun the Nazis, revolutionized hot-rodding (with his eponymous line of Ardun accessories for Ford’s Flathead V8), and aided the development of Allard sports cars by the time he saw the new-for-‘53 Corvette at the New York Motorama. He loved the car’s lines and despised everything else. So he wrote a letter to GM telling them as much and was hired shortly thereafter.
Duntov’s love of speed was no mere whim. While helping Allard engineer their sports cars he proved a talented driver as well and later piloted a Porsche 550 to class wins in two 24 Hours of Le Mans; the last of which, ironically, during the same 1955 event that would eventually lead to the AMA ban on racing. Nonetheless, he profoundly influenced American motorsports and, in particular, the Corvette.
By 1955 the Corvette traded the 150hp straight six engines and powerglide automatic transmissions of ’53 and ’54, for 195hp, 265ci V8s and three speed manual transmissions. By ’57 the Corvette added a 283hp 283ci V8, a limited slip differential and fuel injection. All the while, Duntov kept his eyes and talents focused on the racetrack and by the 1957 AMA ban on racing he stood at the center of one of the greatest contradictions of mid-century corporate America. While GM’s brass touted safety, forward styling and advanced color theory, Zora Arkus-Duntov quietly slipped some of the country’s most successful race cars out the back door; among them the championship winning Corvette seen here.
Duntov would have a hard time explaining why his engineers vacationed together in Nassau during Speed Week. Harder still the suitcases packed with Bermuda shorts and prototype intake manifolds.
Duntov’s available speed equipment; since the words ‘speed equipment’ weren’t exactly politically correct in ’61, however, the high performance parts were identified by their harmless sounding RPO or “Regular Production Option” numbers. It seems that while the AMA might wonder why any factory would offer a fuel injected, 315hp 283ci V8, they were far less likely to question “RPO354.”
Ditto RPOs 675, 685, and 687 which, in non-GM-speak are a Posi-traction differential, four-speed manual transmission, and heavy-duty suspension and brakes, respectively. The boxes of uninstalled parts that came with a few cars, on the other hand, are a different story altogether. Known by a select few as the ‘Sebring package,’ the vented hood, stiff front anti-rollbar, aerodynamic headlight covers, and 37 gallon fiberglass gas tank didn’t have RPO numbers and, by all accounts, left Duntov’s office without his bosses’ blessing or knowledge.
Duntov would have a hard time explaining why his engineers vacationed together in Nassau during Speed Week. Harder still the suitcases packed with Bermuda shorts and prototype intake manifolds.
Partnered with Zora to win races in Corvettes were Don Yenko, and Dr Dick Thompson. Dick was a dentist, and such an expert in winning SCCA raes with Corvettes he wrote a book on what a buyer should do to order the things only the insiders knew about (the RPO codes) and items like aluminum flywheels... and that little trick got Don Yenko suspended from SCCA racing for 6 months. FIA racing allowed the aluminum, but SCCA didn't allow them in B-Production
info from http://www.sportscardigest.com/duntovs-secret-corvette-gulf-oil-race-car/
The Belgian born son of Russian Jewish parents, Duntov had already outrun the Nazis, revolutionized hot-rodding (with his eponymous line of Ardun accessories for Ford’s Flathead V8), and aided the development of Allard sports cars by the time he saw the new-for-‘53 Corvette at the New York Motorama. He loved the car’s lines and despised everything else. So he wrote a letter to GM telling them as much and was hired shortly thereafter.
Duntov’s love of speed was no mere whim. While helping Allard engineer their sports cars he proved a talented driver as well and later piloted a Porsche 550 to class wins in two 24 Hours of Le Mans; the last of which, ironically, during the same 1955 event that would eventually lead to the AMA ban on racing. Nonetheless, he profoundly influenced American motorsports and, in particular, the Corvette.
By 1955 the Corvette traded the 150hp straight six engines and powerglide automatic transmissions of ’53 and ’54, for 195hp, 265ci V8s and three speed manual transmissions. By ’57 the Corvette added a 283hp 283ci V8, a limited slip differential and fuel injection. All the while, Duntov kept his eyes and talents focused on the racetrack and by the 1957 AMA ban on racing he stood at the center of one of the greatest contradictions of mid-century corporate America. While GM’s brass touted safety, forward styling and advanced color theory, Zora Arkus-Duntov quietly slipped some of the country’s most successful race cars out the back door; among them the championship winning Corvette seen here.
Duntov would have a hard time explaining why his engineers vacationed together in Nassau during Speed Week. Harder still the suitcases packed with Bermuda shorts and prototype intake manifolds.
Duntov’s available speed equipment; since the words ‘speed equipment’ weren’t exactly politically correct in ’61, however, the high performance parts were identified by their harmless sounding RPO or “Regular Production Option” numbers. It seems that while the AMA might wonder why any factory would offer a fuel injected, 315hp 283ci V8, they were far less likely to question “RPO354.”
Ditto RPOs 675, 685, and 687 which, in non-GM-speak are a Posi-traction differential, four-speed manual transmission, and heavy-duty suspension and brakes, respectively. The boxes of uninstalled parts that came with a few cars, on the other hand, are a different story altogether. Known by a select few as the ‘Sebring package,’ the vented hood, stiff front anti-rollbar, aerodynamic headlight covers, and 37 gallon fiberglass gas tank didn’t have RPO numbers and, by all accounts, left Duntov’s office without his bosses’ blessing or knowledge.
Duntov would have a hard time explaining why his engineers vacationed together in Nassau during Speed Week. Harder still the suitcases packed with Bermuda shorts and prototype intake manifolds.
Partnered with Zora to win races in Corvettes were Don Yenko, and Dr Dick Thompson. Dick was a dentist, and such an expert in winning SCCA raes with Corvettes he wrote a book on what a buyer should do to order the things only the insiders knew about (the RPO codes) and items like aluminum flywheels... and that little trick got Don Yenko suspended from SCCA racing for 6 months. FIA racing allowed the aluminum, but SCCA didn't allow them in B-Production
info from http://www.sportscardigest.com/duntovs-secret-corvette-gulf-oil-race-car/
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Found in a family members trash after they cleaned out the garage rafters, a rare 1968 Scat Pack Super Bee light sign, for sale on Craigslist
Aprox. 6 lbs
Plastic with cardboard back.
Original hanging chain attached.
Original 2 prong electrical cord attached.
5 original light sockets attached.
original Dodge Dealer Lighted Scat Pack Super Bee Sign. Found (actually my family whose house this came from dumped it into the trash) after cleaning out a garage of a family member who had it stored in the rafters. As you can see from the photos, all the light sockets work (non original bulbs) and the plastic does not have any burn marks! Everything is original including the hanging chain.
The seller has already talked to his local Dodge collectors, and the most he's been offered and turned down was 1500, mostly because the Mecum Auction people have raised his expectations to 2007 price levels. His other problem is not wanting to ship the sign. Wow, talk about narrowing your possible buyers to your own area code.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Car collector extraordinaire Bruce Meyer defines the acronym CSX as Carroll Shelby Experimental
That is what I thought it was too, but after reading Shelby Cobra Fifty Years, the author Colin Comer, expert in Cobras, defined CSX as Ace car company 3rd series (a =1st b=2nd c=3rd) S was for Shelby, the customer... and X was for export.
So, what is the right definition? I'll have to get the Shelby company, or the SAAC to let me know, and settle this.
So, what is the right definition? I'll have to get the Shelby company, or the SAAC to let me know, and settle this.
Autoweek’s Vinsetta Garage
Named for a storied auto-repair shop on Detroit’s legendary Woodward Avenue, Autoweek’s Vinsetta Garage originates in the Motor City, for people who live for cars everywhere.
http://www.vinsetta.com/
here's my opinion of it after watching it:
http://www.vinsetta.com/
here's my opinion of it after watching it:
Started with a look at Bruce Meyer's cars, and some other collector guys with a LeMons Caddy and Bobcat, then a discussion on what is a car person/guy, a dialog with Courtney and Auto Week editor, in a E type Jag.... which the editor calls a Drophead Coupe. Get off your high horse, it's a convertible you egotist. Why are so many editors full of themselves? Ditto Jag owners.
Then a self promoting Auto Week dream week rundown of what the lucky 20 will get to do if they win.
Every moment of the show has a music bed soundtrack as if the watcher can't get enough music, or needs a sound bed to get them through the show. It's too loud. It's not necessary. It's annoying.
Every 5 minutes is a commercial, and self promoting commercial among others. So half the 30 minute window was commercial or self promotion.
So, in a nutshell, mediocre to annoying. Better than Hot Rod TV, but not by much. It's no wonder so many of us keep watching British Top Gear
Monday, January 2, 2012
Hot Rod Delux turned up a great story this month... a found deuce had unexpected history, on El Mirage, and a timing tag turned up!
Lewis McMillan bought this one at the LARS (LA Roadster Show) in 1978, and had no idea it had dry lakes racing history. (I label dry lakes racing as "dry lakes racing, LSR, racing. LSR" in the post labels)
He shipped to his home in Lexington North Caroline, and stored it away til he could get to it... 24 years later when he'd collected all the parts he wanted to add, like a Halibrand quick change, boxed frame, etc
Speaking of cool parts, those headlights are 1943 Seagrave fire truck lights!
So when he dug into fixing up the car, he discovered a matchbook with a guy's name on it, and it turned out to be the guy who raced it in 48! Arvel Youngblood. The new and old owners met and Lewis learned about the car... somehow a friend of Lewis found the timing tag and reunited it with the car. Awesome.
Mary Ann Foss and Black Magic (58 Pontiac), they won the 1964 D/SA title
Image from http://allshops.org/cgi-bin/community/communityalbums.cgi?action=openalbum&albumid=9980177328148
The Salt 2 Salt Studebaker set some records at Bonneville this year, with an interesting 182 cu in v8
The trick of getting such a small displacement is using a tiny one year only block, and the crank from another model year to get the right numbers.
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