By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

These are the same guys who brough the green Challenger convertible to SEMA last year. Looks great, but I think I’d wait for the factory version. More pics at Drop Top Customs.

By Brian Lohnes

BangShift.com

Well, this one should put people in two distinct camps. You’ll either love it or absolutely hate it. “It” is a 1966 Ford Galaxie sporting an 850hp big-block Chevy motor, huge axles, massive tractor tires, and an appetite for mud pits.

It is a capable 4×4 with respect to mud bogging, but without any real axle articulation, a center of gravity about four feet higher than the Eiffel tower, and a throttle that appears to be more on-off switch than control pedal, it is a specialized machine.

We’ll go on record as loving it. Go ahead and fling mud at us!

It takes a minute or two to get to the Galaxie, but this mother is worth a look.

By Speedhunters

Car Culture At Large

As I get ready to head down to Fuji Speedway for the D1 Grand Prix double-rounder final this week-end, I thought this little clip might begin to get us all back in drifting mode. I was actually on the apex of that corner in Okayama this June and what Kawabata was doing looked pretty amazing. But seeing it form this angle makes you really appreciate the pure skill involved in a maneuver like this. If I recall correctly most drivers were throwing thert cars sideway with a flick of the handbrake at around 110 mph. Insane!

By Dino Dalle Carbonare

By Alex Vickers

Katakuna

I’ve been on CarDomain for nearly two years now, and in that time I’ve seen some of the most amazing custom cars you can imagine. Camaros, Cobras, Vipers, Chevelles, Cadillacs, all of those you’d expect me to mention, right? Those kinds of cars are the kind you’re expected to fawn over at a show. Me, I love ‘em all, but deep inside is the feeling that the winter beaters we reserve for most of our abuse deserves more respect than any show car trailer queen.

With that said, some of us feel that some beaters are more fun to, well, beat on. They last through it all without a complaint, some need a fix here and there, and some just can’t handle our bad driving and completely drop an engine (for the record, that’s happened to me once). What I’ve done is compiled a list of five beaters that I’d love to have, for the simple purpose of running ‘em until they die:

1. 1992-1998 Geo Metro- 3 cylinder

When I first noticed these cars, I absolutely abhorred their weak engines and their odd styling. Over the last month they’ve grown on me, and now I realize the charm that these little runts have. It’s like it takes hold of your imagination. You hate it, but then again the utter joy of beating the piss out of it is equal to that of, say, a Porsche 911 Turbo at Laguna Seca? I can’t for the life of me think of a way to make it look cool, I do know that window tint would be in order for the simple fact that no matter how much fun it is to ride it like Fergie, it’s still embarrassing to be seen in one. After all, not everyone will see it my way, which, in my opinion, is just another reason that I enjoy them.

Continue reading after the jump!

Continue reading "I Want These Four Beaters" »

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

You know the drill: Come up with a caption for the picture below by noon PST next Thursday. If you submit the funniest one, we’ll send you some CarDomain swag. Three entries per member max. Good luck!

By Rich Truesdell

Automotive Traveler

It might seem that since I bought my 1965 Corvair Corsa back in August that there’s been a lot Corvair content on Automotive Traveler and you would be right. But this listing for our “Not Found on eBay” segment was brought to my attention by a reader in the Phoenix area who saw this car listed on Craigslist. It is one of just 6000 cars produced in the Corvair’s final year of production. The two-door 500 Sport Coupe was the most popular model outselling by 55 units the up-market Monza model (2,717) in addition to the 521 Monza convertibles. There’s an interesting back story to this Corvair. It seems that this 1969 Chevrolet Corvair 500 Series Coupe was purchased new from General Motors by Pellini Chevrolet of Sebastopol, California. It was never registered and it remained part of the dealership’s private collection until it was sold in December 2008. Read more about this fascinating Corvair at Automotive Traveler.

By Michael Berenis

Tampa Sports Car Examiner

The automotive performance scene in Jamaica is quickly rising to the top of international motorsports. Jamaica is not the easiest place to build and tune, yet they can still build amazingly fast vehicles. Parts supply is hard to find, and the atmosphere is especially hard to work with. Various elevations, humidity, and vast temperature change make building any high performance vehicle a specific challenge. Forced induction application is especially sensitive to these environmental changes and requires the use of multiple map ECU technology. Regardless of these difficulties, Jamaican tuners continue to succeed!

Jamaica hosts drag strip meets regularly. At these meets you will see mostly JDM performance vehicles like Honda Civic, Mitsubishi EVO, Subaru Impreza, and every once in a while you will see the rare Nissan Skyline. The builders here have access to the true JDM versions with right hand drive! An amazing collection of performance minded enthusiasts exists in Jamaica, great job everyone! As we sit back and watch your video clips, we can see your true performance abilities shining brightly! Keep up the good work Jamaica, the world loves your tuning. Comment below your thoughts about Jamaican tuning. Read more about the Jamaican performance scene at Tampa Sports Car Examiner.

By Ron Honig

WaytooFurious

It has taken me a while but I have finally gotten round to putting my Magnums on the Plymouth.  To say that they have changed the look of the car is an understatement. I chose the Magnums because they are period correct, I have never been a fan of new style wheels on older cars.

Getting the wheels onto the car actually turned into a slight challenge. When the tyre shop pulled off the old rims we discovered that the previous owner had ‘upgraded’ to slightly bigger drums on the front. They are not flat like the ones on the back but have more of a dome shape. My mechanic seems to think that they may have come off a small truck. Unfortunately this meant we couldn’t just bolt the new wheels on. We needed some spacers, otherwise they would just warp. Luckily one of the tyre guys was able to put me onto an out of the way store that supplies a lot of speedway racers with racing gear. The spacers fitted perfectly straight out of the packet, and the rest as they say is history.

Another interesting thing I discovered is that the original tyres on the car were white walls. The previous owner had simply flipped the tyres around when the white walls had faded. This car really does have a lot of history, I almost wish it could talk. More pics after the jump.

Continue reading "The Wheels Maketh the Car" »

By David Wallens

Grassroots Motorsports

Who says it takes big bucks to go fast? Each year our readers prove that fact to be dead wrong. Our Kumho Tires Grassroots Motorsports $2009 Challenge takes place this weekend at Gainesville Raceway, and through the magic of the Internet we’ll be posting regular updates at Grassroots Motorsports.

So, don’t think you can build a 12-, 11- or even 10-second car for what is basically pocket change? Follow along.

By Rich Truesdell

Automotive Traveler

Over its 27-year history the Newport Beach Concours has been held at many venues. It seems as if it’s finally found a home. Say goodbye to the Newport Beach Concours d’Elegance, and say hello to the Concours d’Elegance at the St. Regis Resort. Organizers are usually reluctant to change a name long associated with an event, but in this case, it hardly mattered, as it had been several years since Newport Beach had actually played host. Warmly welcomed by both the community of Dana Point as well as the world class St. Regis Resort, the Concours d’Elegance now has room to grow and prosper. The fairways and close-by parks provide an outstanding venue to showcase a stunning collection of motorcars. The vehicles on display were primarily from the period before 1948 but also included some very nice examples of more modern ( up to 1975 if we can call that modern) exotic and touring cars.

In the spirit of full disclosure I must admit to being close friends with the event’s organizers, President Bruce Junor and Chairman of the Board Dick Waitneight who for the past two years have afforded me the opportunity to photograph the cars as they enter the concours show field. This year, with almost 200 cars passing before my camera, I was able to photograph some of the most elegant and sporting shapes to ever grace four wheels. From pre-World War One classics like the Blitzen Benz, to limited production concept cars like the one-of-five 1940 Chrysler Thunderbolt with its body by LeBaron and ahead-of-its-time retractable hardtop, to my favorites from the fifties and sixties like Studebaker’s innovative supercharged Avanti, there was something for every auto aficionado to savor. Read more at Automotive Traveler, and be sure to take a look at the high resolution images of the event while you’re there.