By John Coyle

Deputy Editor

This was uploaded to StreetFire this morning, and the description—”Just plain stupid…”—cracked me up. But as someone who’s done tons of “stupid” things in pursuit of a good time, I’m more inclined to call this guy’s stunt totally bad-ass. I mean, hanging out the door is one thing, but climbing into the engine bay while the car is turning donuts? That takes a serious set of stones. Obviously, said stones would get seriously mangled if this daredevil slipped, but hey, life is short.  Let’s just hope we don’t see another clip of this dude with “fail” in the title emerge…

By John Coyle

Deputy Editor

It’s been a little while since I sat down to pick the winner of the Caption Contest, so I was beyond stoked to dig in and see what you guys came up with. In fact, I’m so happy to be back, it didn’t even bother me that someone submitted a caption that ripped off those tired old “priceless” commercials. Sorry, that actually did bother me. I thought I broke you guys of that habit, like, a year ago? Anyway, it was a tough call, but this week’s winner is moorethanenuff, who came up with; “Why the mower? Because the wood chipper made a huge mess…” Congrats man! Tune in next week for the next installment of our recession-proof Caption Contest!

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

Or not…

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

I guess this guy wrecked into a wall. Via Jalopnik

By Mike Musto

RideLust.com

I was trying to figure out what to write about Dom DeLuise, as he passed away on Monday evening, but I just couldn’t think of the right words. Throughout life you may be fortunate enough to come across individuals who inspire, delight and generally bring laughs to the masses. Dom DeLuise was one of those people, and if you were a kid growing up in the late 70s and early 80s and were into cars, there was no better hero than Captain Chaos.

Cannonball Run came out in 1981 and man, did it strike a chord with me. Watching Burt Reynolds and Dom DeLuise hammer across the country in that ambulance was comedic gold to this nine year old boy from Brooklyn. Hell, he is one of the reasons that I do what I do. In fact, if you had to ask me who my favorite superhero is, Captain Chaos would be at the top of my list. That movie, combined with Dom’s lovable overzealous charm and humor provided so many memorable laughs and one liners that my buddies and I still quote the movie religiously some 28 years later. For all the young ones reading this, go out and BUY, do not rent: Cannonball Run I and II, History of the World Part I, Smokey and the Bandit II, and Fatso. Then grab some beer and popcorn and let the laughs ensue.

Dom, you will be missed. Thank you for all the laughter and smiles you’ve provided to the countless millions over the years. One bit of comfort that all of Dom’s fans should take into consideration, is that with Dom DeLuise in heaven, God must be simply laughing his ass off!

Farewell Dom, we’ll miss you.

Continue reading "Farewell to the Captain: Rest in Peace Mr. DeLuise." »

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

Seattle is filled with militant pedestrians. You know the type: they cross the road without looking both ways, without making eye contact. This, combined with a the multitudes of silent Priuses driven by a texting yuppies, is the perfect recipe for mass carnage (my old Mopar has a bunch of pointy things on the grill and fenders specially designed for spearing pedestrians, but I don’t text, and you can hear the Flowmasters from several blocks away). Well now researchers in England have developed a new system that deploys a hood airbag at the base of the windshield. Radar and infrared technology “pre-detect” collisions with unwary pedestrians and inflate the airbags to cushion the blow. Isn’t that nice? Full story at Wired

By Brian Lohnes

BangShift.com

Watch as a high-powered pulling tractor experiences a massive engine failure that tops even some of the wildest stuff you’ll see nitro powered machines do to themselves.

By Speedhunters

Car Culture At Large

After seeing all of the cool Karmann Ghias at Bug-In last weekend, I got to thinking about this incredible circuit-tuned example I saw running a few times last year at Tsukuba CIrcuit. The over-fenders and RS Watanabe wheels give the Ghia a distinctively Japanese look, but this car is about much more than just looks. In fact, it was running circles around of some of its Italian and British sports car competition on the track. I’ll post more VW photos from Japan later this month.

By Mike Garrett

By Austin Knight

Gotadime

Many stereotypes exist in the car community. Some may argue that they’re generally correct. I personally believe that you can get a feel for what the driver is like by looking at their car, but you’ll never know for sure until you meet them and talk for a while. Yes, certain crowds associate with certain cars, but there are always exceptions. For example, many people assume I’m a spoiled brat because I’m 16 and own a late model Mustang. The reality is, I worked and saved for four years before I went out and bought the car entirely on my own, for way under what KBB listed it at. Do I deserve to be associated with the spoiled brat crowd? Absolutely not. But many times, I am forced to try to explain my situation. So, is your ride associated with any stereotypes?

By Matt Wellumson

Neuwerks

It is not often that you will see cars zipping around an amusement park lot at full throttle without there being some kind of scene. But that is exactly what happened at a recent MAC (Minnesota Autosports Club) event at Valley Fair in Minnesota. MAC held their opening round of their MOWOG ( which stands for “Morris-Wolesley Garages”–don’t ask) autocross series at this venue. The facility is great for such events, as this amusement park has acres of parking spots, which were empty due to the park not yet being open for the season.

Continue reading and more photos after the jump!

Continue reading "Amusement Park: Bring Your Own Ride" »