By Jim Brennan

UDMan

Roger Neuman has a personal history with 904s. Over the past 30 years Roger has owned and raced four different 904s, chassis 002, 016, 028, 091. Currently he owns the second 904 built, verified by its chassis 002. Roger’s current 904 is unique in several significant ways. First, it is fitted with a leather interior, verified as correct by factory photos of the early build cars in 1963. Next, unlike the production 904s, whose bodies were molded and assembled by aircraft manufacturer Heinkel and are thicker, Roger has been told that the first two bodies were molded by a small facility in Stuttgart who was not able to meet Porsche’s production requirements to get the cars homologated. This 904 is also equipped with a 6-cylinder engine, reportedly installed at the Porsche factory at some point late in the 1960s before the car was sold to its first private owner.

Although the car has been well documented in two different 904-specific books, there are many gaps in the car’s chain of ownership over the last 45 years. As the car’s current owner, Roger is curious to learn more about its history. Read more at Automotive Traveler.

By Ron Honig

WaytooFurious

On Sunday I decided to do a windscreen repair on the Valiant using a DIY kit. I have been curious about these since I spotted one recently at my local auto parts store, and wanted to see if they really do fix chips. You may have seen similar kits yourself. Generally they come with a suction tool to direct the resin that is supplied with the kit. Overall I was surprised with the result. I did manage to repair a couple of small chips, however it was a real struggle to deal with anything slightly larger. The one thing that drove me nuts was that the suction tool kept popping off at the worst possible time. It really was a fiddly job that tested my patience. However the end result was worth it. So if you do have a small chip in your windscreen and don’t want a crack check out what’s available at your local auto parts store.

Continue reading "DIY Windscreen Repair" »

By John Coyle

Deputy Editor

For a second, it looks like the driver might get control of this wiggly dragster, but them it gets away from him and winds up skidding across the track on its roof. Fortunately, it doesn’t look like there’s any real damage, and it’s almost certain he didn’t sustain anything more serious than a few bruises. It’s a shame there isn’t some in-car footage of this wreck, I bet it’d look scary as hell!

By John Coyle

Deputy Editor

This radial-engine powered Goggomobil is easily one of the craziest things I’ve seen since I started working for CarDomain. I’d never even heard of these post-WWII German micro-cars before I saw this clip in the StreetFire queue, and I’m still stunned that builder Uwe Wulf was able to shoehorn the massive 10220cc Vedeneyev M14P airplane engine into such a tiny machine. But the fact that he fabricated his own two-speed tranny? That just blows my mind. While the Goggomobil came stock with an anemic 20HP, the Vedeneyev is pumping out 380HP and a demonic 666lbs of torque, so performance should be significantly improved. Head over to Jalopnik for tons of photos, and check out the video documenting the birth of this beast below.

By John Coyle

Deputy Editor

Even though three-wheeled vehicles kind of sketch me out, I’ve always wanted a bike with a sidecar. And while my dream machine is a dead-simple, olive-drab WWII-era Harley, the craftsmanship evident on François Knorreck’s Laverda-based project is astonishing. While the 1000cc engine was carried over from the original bike, and some parts were lifted from a few cars—Renault, Citroen, BMW, VW and Audi—virtually everything else was custom fabricated by Knorreck. The sidecar is set up to carry two passengers, and though I have to wonder what the handling is like—Predictable? Scary?—I’d be more than willing to take it for a spin. Head over to the Kneeslider for more details on the build, and check out a couple more pics after the jump.

Continue reading "Most Insane Sidecar Project Ever!" »

By John Coyle

Deputy Editor

Most of the time, when you see a crash during a motorcycle race, it’s because the rider comes into a turn too hot, or because a couple of riders get tangled together and wind up wrecking each other. But I’ve never seen a tire fail as spectacularly as it did on Matt Mladin’s GSX-R 1000, and it’s amazing this wreck wasn’t more serious. Riding one of these vicious racing machines is hard enough when everything is running perfectly, and trying to bring one to a stop with no rubber on the rear wheel must be a nightmare. Here, the seven-time AMA Superbike champion makes it look easy, but it’s safe to say a lesser rider wouldn’t have been able to handle a situation so gracefully. Good thing it was the rear that went, I don’t even want to think about would have happened had the front one disintegrated…

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

I made a quick stop at the Greenwood Car Show on the way out to the beach with my daughter, and managed to snap a few pics with my pocket Casio. Jen and Chris were both there, showing off their rides. More pics after the jump!

What did you do this weekend?

Continue reading "What Did You Do This Weekend?" »

By Brian Lohnes

BangShift.com

The Donut Derelicts get-together happens every Saturday morning from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. at the corner of Adams and Magnolia in Huntington Beach, California. What started in 1986 as four friends meeting at a local donut shop has turned into one of the must-do stops for any car guy in Southern California. With a wide variety of cool cars and warm donuts, plus the ever-present chance that a top car builder/designer such as Chip Foose will stroll in, how can you go wrong? Also, when it’s over, you still have an entire day to hit the other car junkie things southern California has to offer. (Like, for example, the John Force cruise night that we also attended so we could make a gallery for you.)

BangShift.com hit the show early this morning—June 28, 2009—to bring you this gallery of 63 photos. See the club web site by clicking here.

By Speedhunters

Car Culture At Large

Earlier this month I posted a couple of the dress-up tuned vehicles that were done by Noblesse in Japan, but Noblesse also tunes Hondas for the track. Their latest project is a bit unconventional but I’m quite excited about it – a Honda Insight circuit car. With just coilovers, wheels and tires, and brake pads from a Fit RS, the Insight recorded a 51.428 lap time at Mihama Circuit. For comparison’s sake the tuned Noblesse Fit RS recently ran a 51.806 lap on the same track. Once the weather cools down, they plan to go at it again with some bolt-on exhaust and intake upgrades. To me, the idea of building an Insight for the track captures the original spirit of hot rodding – transforming a run of the mill hybrid car into something functional and unique.

I’ll certainly be keeping an eye open to see how this project develops.

By Mike Garrett

By Dan Strohl

Hemmings

So now that the HMX is on the road, the next big thing I want to accomplish with it is a rear suspension rebuild and axle swap. After scraping away a couple decades’ worth of grease, I discovered the Model 15 axle currently under the car, from a 1982 Spirit GT, is an L-code, which means it’s an open rear with a 2.35:1 gear ratio. Yeah, that’s not a typo. One big reason cars of the early ’80s got such a bad rap was the astronomically high rear-axle ratios, implemented as a band-aid to increase fuel mileage. Continue reading at Hemmings