By Alex Vickers

Katakuna

It’s pretty sad when I’ve had so many cars that I forget about some that I’ve owned. The car I forgot about most recently was a 1995 Dodge Neon 2-door, and I really liked it. It didn’t have the paint falling off in sheets, which was a common thing for the first Neons. It had three regular wheels and a doughnut on the front right wheel, and the windows would tilt when you lowered them. It was fun to watch when I’d let people sit in it and they’d start playing with it, and they’d shoot down into the door. One guy turned white as a sheet when he thought he broke it. The window tint wasn’t bad, actually, and I actually drove this one on a weekly basis. You wouldn’t think it, but that tiny little deathtrap had some balls. It must’ve had 150 horsepower because it wasn’t totally stock, what with a full exhaust (no fart cannon, thank goodness) and a true cold air intake.

The only thing I absolutely hated was that crappy little three speed automatic, it shifted craptastically and sucked the torque through a straw. It’s spending its days on a friend’s farm next to a completely gutted and rusted ’46 Chevrolet sedan, where I first learned to drive, mostly because the engine cuts out but also for the fact I couldn’t even get a junk title for it. It was a great little car, even if it wouldn’t run too long at a time. Its fate is sealed, as it’s being parted out. Not much is useable other than interior, since most of the exterior panels were either damaged or warped. Who knows, maybe I’ll scrape together my brother’s Accord and demo the turds? Whatcha think? Should I send it out in style, or sell it, part by part? It’s up to you, CarDomain members…

By John Coyle

Deputy Editor

Driving an Alcohol Funny Car is one of the most difficult tasks in the drag racing universe, and with ten years of consecutive victories at the famous Maple Grove Raceway, Frank “Ace” Manzo, has demonstrated he’s an unqualified master at it. Talk about a spectacular achievement! For a complete breakdown of Manzo’s incredible career and details of his history-making win, head over to BangShift and read Brian Lohnes’ great post.

By Chris Trout

Troutster52

In the mystical depths of the imagination, there exist mythical things that are so improbable, they can only be imagined. Typically, these inventions of the human mind are champions at two or more things that are usually mutually exclusive. Examples include the feature-packed cutting edge cell phone that is completely indestructible and totally free on your wireless plan; the fishing rod that can feel even the most indecisive pluck from a crappie but have the strength to land a muskie; and the smoking-hot supermodel that loves sports and cars and doesn’t care what her boyfriend looks like.   In the automotive world, these seemingly unattainable myths are just as plentiful. Many of these dreams of old have become a reality, but many too are destined to remain out of reach of automotive manufacturers and customizers alike.

Continue reading "The Search for a Unicorn" »

By Ron Honig

WaytooFurious

I am the first to admit that I am not into Caravans or RVs. It’s just not my thing. If I find myself travelling long distances I always use hotels. However there are some cool vans out there. Check out this collection from the Herald Sun.

By John Coyle

Deputy Editor

Anyone who’s been to Tokyo is immediately struck by two things. First, the living spaces in Japan’s capital make the Big Apple’s cramped domiciles look like a suite at the Trump Tower, and second, the city is at the cutting edge of technology. So while it’s not surprising that the city will be a test bed for electric taxi cabs, I was struck by how simply the city’s largest cab company and its partner, Better Place, are choosing to handle the problem of limited range. Instead of pouring tons of money into the research and development of a long-range cell, the pair is aiming to make a battery which can be swapped out quickly at stations around the city, so that a fresh charge would take about as long as filling a conventional gas tank. Pretty cool idea, huh? More over at Wired.

By John Coyle

Deputy Editor

Ferrari has released more images of its spanking new 458 Italia, and unlike the first batch of pics, they show the new Cavallino out in the real world, instead of the sterile confines of a photo studio. While it’s nearly impossible to take a bad picture of a Ferrari, I like the al fresco ones a lot better. The studio shots gave me an almost CGI vibe, which is probably due to the fact that even in person, the 562HP F430 replacement almost certainly looks unreal. Damn, I love the silky smooth curves of that real end! Head over to StreetFire to hear its engine note and watch Paolo Pininfarina explain some of the finer details of the bambino’s styling, and hit the jump for three more pics.

Continue reading "Mama Mia: New Pics of Ferrari's New 458 Italia!" »

By Speedhunters

Car Culture At Large

When it comes to high speed events in North America, the hallowed salt at Bonneville is what comes to most people’s minds, or maybe the Silver State Classic held on an empty stretch of highway in Nevada. Besides those storied events, there’s another top speed gathering which has been gaining popularity this decade – the Texas Mile. Held on a runway in the town of Goliad, TX, the Texas Mile started in 2003 and has become a meeting point for some of the fastest cars and motorcycles on the continent. Unfortunately a search around the net didn’t yield a whole lot of photographic coverage of the Texas Mile, but I did mange to find a few interesting shots.

The rules for the Texas Mile are simple—drivers see how fast they can get their machines going before the one mile of runway runs out. Like Bonneville, the cars and bikes are divided into classes based on the level of modification and type of engine setup. This brings out a wide variety of entries from street-going door slammers to fully prepped land speed cars. You can even see a Toyota Cressida sharing the grid with a few C6 Corvettes in the opening photo! Check out the full gallery over at Speedhunters.

—by Mike Garrett

By John Coyle

Deputy Editor

We don’t know if it was the uber-strangeness of this image that stumped everyone—it sure as hell stumped us—but there were only 65 comments this week. Maybe everyone is just enjoying the last days of summer, but that still seems a little low. Fortunately, the people who did submit had some good entries, and while I almost declared carfreak809 the winner, at the last minute, I decided I didn’t want to be called into the H.R. office again, so I wimped out. But that’s not to take anything away from cutty_supreme, who came up with; “No need to worry about gas… I just feed it burritos!”. Bravo, buddy! Tune in tomorrow for the next installment of our never-pornographic, often off-color Caption Contest!

By Dan Strohl

Hemmings

I’ve received a few emails about a recent L.A. Times story that’s been making the rounds with a quote from YT in it, defending the 25-year exemption inserted into the federal cash for clunkers program, thanks to SEMA’s lobbying efforts. For the story, Ralph Vartabedian and Ken Bensinger rounded up a bunch of folks who thought their VW Beetles should qualify for cash for clunkers and used those stories to question the 25-year exemption.

Aside from the libertarian who claims that destroying older vehicles immediately results in increased values for the remaining vehicles (attrition-induced rarity != valuable, as any Vega owner can attest), the authors also support limitless crushing of old cars with some dubious-sounding stats from the California Air Resources Board that claim a 1965 Chevrolet Malibu produces 400 times the smog-forming pollutants of a 2010 Malibu. Continue reading over at Hemmings.

By Brian Lohnes

BangShift.com

We’re on a bit of a go-kart kick today as we spent yesterday reviving and thrashing a Craigslist find 5hp kart for a family member. That little devil was a hoot to terrorize the neighborhood with and frankly, we’re now trolling seriously for either a kart chassis or mini-bike chassis to plunk the 8hp motor we have in our basement onto. That would give us a fun toy, not an insane death machine like the dudes in this video. A 750cc Suzuki GSX-R motorcycle engine on a go-kart chassis is crazy beyond our league.

Sure, right now you’re saying, “I’d drive it!” That’s all well and good but stuff happens toute quick on a normal racing kart. Not much warning when the ends feel like swapping. You’re “I’d drive it!” sentiment may be replaced with an, “Oh fiddlesticks!” When your tukus is careening backwards toward the guard rail or the woods. This thing and these guys are nuts. We love ‘em and we’d be keen to check it out in person. Just not in the drivers’ seat. A man’s got to know his limitations.