There’s definitely an extent to which "art" is in the eye of the beholder, but there’s no question that what superstar drifter Vaughn Gittin Jr. does with tire tracks in this video is beyond cool. Even more awesome is the fact that he pulled this off in the streets in the heart of Los Angeles—even though they’d been closed, that had to take some serious skills. Watch below, and see more at Bosch Performance Art.

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

Cutting the roof off a car to make it a convertible is always a bit sketchy, but the owner seems to have done it the right way, if you can say there even is a right way to do this kind of radical surgery. In any case, you have to hand it to him: the flamed, flat-black ’84 Gran Fury looks hot. Here’s what he says about it:

1984 Plymouth Gran Fury Police Special. The only four door convertible I bought this car in Cuba while stationed at the US Navy’s Guantamo Bay Naval Base. in my spare time, I welded the doors shut, cut the roof, flamed the front and added custom details like satellite CD and underhood neon. The vehicle was a former Base police patrol car and now serves as the local head-turner. This car deserves to win because it is a raw expression of the love for custom automobiles and a testament to what car folks will do even when on an isolated desert island.

There are still more chances to win, so if you haven’t already thrown your hat into the ring, make sure to enter the Amoco Ultimate Your Car Is Worth It Photo Contest!

Here’s a time-lapse video of the Northwest Auto Salon guys doing an "enthusiast detail" on a 996 Turbo. It definitely shows the level of attention that is required if you truly want to get your vehicle clean. Blake will be doing some in-depth detailing tutorials for us in the near future, so stay tuned.

Continue reading "CarDomainTV: Enthusiast Detail at Northwest Auto Salon" »

There sure were some incredible entries in our first-ever CarDomain Pumpkin Carving Contest. Hot damn, you guys sure are good with tiny little knives! The contest is now closed, and because there were just too many awesome pumpkins for us to pick a single winner, we’ve decided to award a couple of runners-up as well, who will each receive a CarDomain beanie for their efforts.

Overall winner: Paul’s Trans Am pumpkin! As one of the commenters said, it’s like a photograph. The depth and detail makes the Firebird really pop, and the lettering is great too. Paul gets a CarDomain tee-shirt and beanie!

Runner-up #1: Aydar’s "Pumped Smart." You’re not even going to believe this insane smart-car pumpkin "build." CUBE is famous for clever photos involving his smart, but he takes it to a whole different level for the contest!

Runner-up #2: Eli’s Dodge Stealth pumpkin. Nicely rendered, beautiful shading. I wish I had the skills!

Congrats to all on some absolutely fantastic pumpkin carving, and thanks to all for participating in the most car-crazy carving contest on the net. See the runners up and honorable mentions below the jump—each pic links to the carver’s ride page. There were also a selection of logo pumpkins which can be viewed in the comments of the original contest post. Happy Halloween! 

Continue reading "CarDomain Pumpkin Carving Contest Winners!" »

By John Coyle

Editor

Mitsubishi’s Evo is a wicked machine straight out of the box. Remember when Top Gear pitted one against a Lamborghin Murcielago, and Clarkson managed to bully the champion behind the wheel of the Raging Bull into a spin? Because I sure as hell do! Anyway, in an effort to determine which tuning house can get the most out of the platform, Mitsubishi is sponsoring the Baddest Lancer Evolution Challenge. There will be some preliminary judging next week at SEMA, but all the entries will have to prove their mettle at Buttonwillow before a winner is declared. Since there are sure to be a ton of Evos at the show, the competition is sure to be intense. Just look at the entry from AMS performance! Three more pics and the full press release about the challenge after the jump.

Continue reading "Baddest Lancer Evolution Challenge at SEMA" »

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

Brian’s Lexus IS F just got an Artisan Performance twin turbo setup. Here’s a video of it on the dyno. We’ll meet up with Brian and get a lot more on this car next week.

If I could go back to the future, I’d hook a tow-dolly on my DeLorean, set the clock to go back 20 years or so, and haul home something like this never-titled, never-registered Grand National GNX with 9 original miles on the odometer. Turns out that if I had an extra $100K lying around, I wouldn’t have to! Less than 3 hours left on the auction.

Many thanks to Eric for finding this!

By John Coyle

Editor

When a got a chance to drive Hyundai’s new flagship a couple of months ago, I was pretty impressed with it. And while I thought the interior was great, the stock model doesn’t have anything on the one in the pimped-out Genesis Rides is bringing to SEMA. The upgrades to the exterior were pretty subtle—custom bumpers, side skirts, 22" wheels—the guys really went to town on the interior. In addition to the sweet suede accents and the custom rear console, the builders also added, like, just about everything Apple makes. The baby is sporting two Mac Minis, a 20-inch Apple Cinema Display, a Mac Book Air, an iPod touch and an iPhone 3G. Obviously, there’s also high-speed wireless internet, which is build to support 50 people using it simultaneously. I’ll make sure to get a bunch of shots of this baby when I get to the show, but for now, head over to Rides for all the info and a ton more pics.

SEMA kicks off next Tuesday and if you’ve been paying attention to the CarDomain Blog we’ve been covering tons of rides like Topo’s widebody Challengers, Vivid Racing’s Green Evo-X, and GT-RR.com’s Signature GTR build. 

But before any of you members go off saying that a car must be over the top expensive to make it to SEMA I wanted to show Rogue Status’s Scion XB. Check out the modest Gun Show print design and the custom Capital Forged Gun Show wheels after the jump.

Continue reading "Rogue Status Scion XB Ready for SEMA 2008" »

Rob stumbled across this picture the other day, and it cracked up everyone in the editorial playpen. Let’s hope that if there was a horse involved, it escaped unscathed. So just how many vehicles are involved here, and what the hell happened? You know the drill: Come up with a caption for the picturebelow by noon PST next Thursday. If you submit the funniest one, we’ll send you a great big bag of CarDomain swag. And remember to leave a link to your ride page so we can contact you. Three entries per personmax. Good luck!