By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

Just one more reminder that the Big Car Showoff is this Saturday at the Miami Dade County Fair Expo Center in Miami. And of course we’ll have pics from the show early next week!

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

We got lots of good captions for this one, but I’m going with Bill‘s “I wanted 24″s but I couldn’t wait another 40 years.” Stay tuned for another caption contest tomorrow!

By Ben Schaffer

The Real JDM

I’m always interested in what the new trends are. I just like seeing something new… anything new will entertain me for at least a minute.

This year’s Tokyo Auto Salon brought a few new trends. One trend that I see potentially taking off is the concept of printed vinyl stickers for rim lips. The idea is not really anything new, printed graphics on vinyl stickers have been around for years. But the specific marketing and use of it on wheels is relatively new, especially when it comes to JDM tuned cars and Tokyo Auto Salon display cars.

I know where it’s headed ultimately, and its ugly. Within six months I expect to hate rim vinyl as much as I hate seeing Lambo doors on Ford pickup trucks. Most trendy things get abused and ruined very fast. But…just like I thought the first set of lambo doors was cool when I first saw them on something other than a Lamborghini, I’m going to put my neck out on the line and say that I think vinyl on rims can be cool if done right. Continue reading…

Continue reading "Rim Vinyl" »

By Speedhunters

Car Culture At Large

Mmmmmm Jr’s 2010 Mustang sounds real nice……

By Brian Lohnes

BangShift.com

Automotive designers have the unique ability to design and create something that has the potential to last for a very long time. Guys like Bill Mitchell, Harley Earl, Larry Shinoda were able to capture the public’s imagination with their sexy, timeless ideas.

Virgil Exner does not enjoy that same type of seemingly universal acclaim, despite the fact that his accomplishments and ideas helped shape the visual landscape of automotive design in the ‘50s. Instead, Exner is best remembered for a last batch of cars he designed for Chrysler that not only looked odd when released, they’ve not moved any closer to normal after nearly 50 years since their introduction.

Before we get into that mess, it’s important to look at the entire career of a guy who was really an American success story. Born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1909, Exner was a bright kid who, throughout his childhood had a well-known fascination with art and cars. He attended Notre Dame for two years before the monetary well ran dry and he returned home to Michigan where he took a job working as a helper at an art studio.

Continue reading at Freiburger’s Junkyard

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

Here’s the latest track toy from Porsche, and it can be yours for just $493,392. The new 4.0-liter six-cylinder boxer engine makes 450bhp at 7,800 rpm and the car weighs in at less than 2,700 pounds. And it looks pretty wicked, too. More at Jalopnik

By Bob Balderston

Bob Balderston

As we enter the new era of enlightenment, a new mindset has been thrust upon us, one that may threaten the way we own and drive cars in this country. With sponsors from the great state of California, a bill has been introduced that would make a nationwide incentive program to take old, fuel inefficient vehicles off the road and send them to the scrap yards to be crushed and destroyed, in return for “vouchers” for up to $4,500 dollars to be used towards purchases of newer cars or credits for inner city public transportation. Continue reading…

Continue reading "No Help For the Hoopties" »

By David Belau

dartslantsix

Last week I showed the design and build of my subframe. This week I’m going to show the design and build of my control arms. This is without a doubt, the sexiest part of any suspension. It’s also the most difficult to get right.  This is the difference between a fun car to drive and something more violent.

Continue reading "1966 Dart GT IRS Project Journal Part 3" »

By Jim Brennan

UDMan

Over the past few years there seems to be an explosion of vintage Muscle Cars available for sale, with values for GM Big Block, Mopar Hemi, and Ford Cobra Jet equipped vintage cars leading the pack in both dollar value, and desirability. Although values have started to cool, most are still out of the realm of affordability, while their desirability grows to an ever increasing car loving public.

Certain models will always be on the top of any list, including icons such as the Chevelle SS 396, the Plymouth Hemi Superbird, the Ford Talladega, or even the Oldsmobile 442. When you think Muscle Car, most enthusiasts think of cars like the Pontiac GTO, Mustang Boss 302, or Mercury Cyclone, and with good reason. Most automotive aficionados probably remember the 1964 Pontiac GTO as the birth of the Muscle Car movement, while they also lament it’s passing after 1972, when GM dropped the lithe “A” platform (Chevelle, Skylark, Cutlass, LeMans) for the newer Colonnade intermediates. However, it is my duty to try and expand your mind to the possibility that the Muscle Car started much earlier, and is still available, brand new, today.

Continue reading after the jump.

Continue reading "The CarDomain Obscure Muscle Car Parking Lot" »

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

Insurance fraud or… what? Whoever did it was quite thorough. Too bad it’s got a slushbox or it would make a cool track toy. eBay via VWVortex