By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

Do you guys have this stupid law in your state? In Washington you are required to have a front license plate unless you have a “collector car” like my old Mopar. Someone put together a petition to remove the Washington state front license plate requirement. I guess it gets brought up every year and never goes anywhere. Still, might be worth signing if you’re a Washington state resident and hate this law as much as we do.

By David Clarke

highspeedhijinks

My obsession with rat rods is getting worse, and the very sinister “Phantom Bantom” isn’t helping at all. Created by Royal Customs, this 1938 Bantam packs the typical small block 350, but when this motor is placed in a car the size of a Mini and sits at a 45 degree angle, it looks massive. Check out the sweet way they bent the headers to look like bird wings. The kinked frame is the truly outstanding feature of this car, which is more than ready for the lead role in a Rob Zombie video. The eBay auction ends soon, so act quick!

Continue reading "Phantom Bantom on eBay" »

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

Jalopnik just posted pics of the 2010 Ford Taurus SHO, which was spotted doing humid weather testing in Florida. Other than the dual exhaust and SHO emblem on the back, it looks the same as the standard Taurus we saw in Detroit. The new SHO is expected to get the 335 hp EcoBoost V6. You can see more pics at Jalopnik

So I’m curious: are you guys excited about this car at all?

By Jim Brennan

UDMan

Welcome to the CarDomain Obscure Muscle Car Parking Lot, a regular feature which aims to expand the notion of what a muscle car is, and to have some fun in the process. This week, the featured car is a pioneer of sorts. It is the first production turbocharged V-8 built in America: the 1962 Oldsmobile F-85 Jetfire. Continue reading…

Continue reading "CarDomain Obscure Muscle Car Parking Lot: 1962-63 Oldsmobile F-85 Jetfire" »

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

My cars aren’t parked out front at my Seattle house. Out of curiosity, I checked my old San Francisco address. I used to park my Fury III vert right where that red Civic is parked. Took up two spaces.

Go to Google maps and see if you can find your ride.

By Matt Wellumson

Neuwerks

It appears that more companies will be going small to help cope with increasing pressure to have affordable, fuel efficient vehicles. With fuel costs expected to go up again, and increasing pressure by states like California, more foreign automakers are looking to bring over more vehicles to raise their companies average fuel economy. We have seen this more and more recently with vehicles like the Honda Fit, Toyota Yaris, and the Nissan Versa selling relatively successfully.

In the European import circle, the hot topic going around recently stems from a post on Autoweek.com. From reading that article,  it appears that Volkswagen is looking to bring over its highly beloved Polo hatchback. This is good news for many of us in the US that consider the current Golf (sold here as the Rabbit) a bit too large and thirsty to fit the fuel sipping commuter job position. Many of us are hoping that VW will do this right the first time, and offer both a TDI and GTI version of this vehicle at a respectable price point!

By Dan Strohl

Hemmings

Thanks to TA’s recent discovery of the NASA Images photo archive, I recently goofed off for an entire day found an AMC Spirit variant I’d never come across before: the Stirling-engined Spirit. Whaaa???

Yes, Stirling engines are theoretically the most efficient engine yet invented. They’re technically external combustion, and were pretty much restricted to high school physics class experiments until the late 1970s, when the Department of Energy told NASA to start figuring out how to reduce our dependence on foreign oil.

NASA, which was apparently doing some research into Stirling engines at the time, decided to try fitting one into an automobile. To do that, they formed a joint research group that included AM General, which in those days was known mostly for building military vehicles and trucks for the post office and for raking in metric tons of cash for AMC. Continue reading at Hemmings

By Katherine Helmetag

Atomicalex

I’m going on record as against the ruling yesterday that states can petition to set their own emissions guidelines. The Law of Unintended Consequences is about to apply itself to car buyers in a really painful manner. Right now, if your car dealer doesn’t have the option set you want, s/he can pull from the entire US (or CARB pool) to get it. Once we get local emissions, you’re only going to be able to get local cars. Imagine the diesel debacle, only now it’s gassers, and now you can only get cars that are legal in your own state! Worse yet, emissions are going to be an options package, meaning fewer trim levels to choose from in any given local emissions zone. I’m all for clean air, but this is going to SUCK.

By David Freiburger

David Freiburger

The reality of a VW Bug motorhome itself is plain bliss, but when you add the homegrown art of the side, this is thing is pure genius.

I spotted this Beetle camper during my honeymoon road trip in 2005 off Route 66 in Holbrook, Arizona. Surprisingly, this is not homemade. These were made by a company called Bugaroo, though something tells us they were not hot sellers. There was also a time when Mechanix Illustrated magazine showed you how to build one yourself. All the details are still available at a web page here.

By Speedhunters

Car Culture At Large

Mmmmm one day when I grow up I’m going to get me one of these…. hopefully it will be larger than 1/24 scale!

By Rod Chong