By Brian Lohnes

BangShift.com

On September 29th, 2009 Jerome Miller, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, passed away at age 72. You can read his obituary here.  We didn’t know Jerome. Heck, we had never even heard of him until Amy Dayton, at ARS Promotions, sent us word that he was a Milwaukee area racer that had died.

Jerome Miller was a longtime racer at Great Lakes Dragaway, and as his last request said that when his time came he wanted to make one last pass down the famed 1320. It may have been in a Caddy, and it may not have been fast, but we’ve got the video thanks to Amy. So, tip your hats, and watch. This may be one of the slowest passes in history, but it’s totally BangShift approved.

By Ben Schaffer

The Real JDM

There has been some buzz about this car ever since the rendering came out. After looking at the above picture, I think you can understand why the buzz is so strong. This car is hot!

So the deal is that Original Runduce came to Varis with a collaboration idea on this upcoming demo car. Since the Varis full bumper (pictured) is offered in two pieces already, this project is relatively simple to produce. The standard Varis aero kit is retained and an original Runduce front diffuser is added to the Varis bumper to create an aggressive new look (reminiscent to the R35 GT-R Amuse front diffuser).

Continue reading "Varis X Runduce CZ4A Evo X Collabo!" »

By Dan Strohl

Hemmings

William Flajole thought he knew exactly what people wanted to see in future cars in 1955. Then again, so did every other car nut with a pen in his hand, and Flajole’s track record (the Nash Metropolitan, among others) proved that, while his ability to think out of the box certainly remained strong, his prognostication abilities left much to be desired.

Then again, maybe he was thinking more long-term than short-term. Everybody says small cars are gonna be the next big thing, safety has been a big thing in new cars for years, and now Hyman, Ltd. has the Flajole Forerunner – the product of Flajole’s vision – for sale at $350,000. Continue reading at Hemmings

By Speedhunters

Car Culture At Large

There is one thing about Japan that you’ve just got to love. No matter how many tuning shops and modified cars there are out there, finding something very special and most importantly of all, different, is not as hard as some may think. It all comes down to a need to be unique and stand out from the crowd, something that becomes very evident if you spend a little time in Japan. This need to be different is precisely what drove the owner of the exceptionally clean JZX80 you see here to go out and create something very special, a car that would satisfy his personal tastes and objectives without following any preset guidelines. From the outside it might just look like your regular twin-turbo powered JZA80 Supra, spiced up with some nice touches like these TRD Sports T3 5-spoke wheels. But one turn of the ignition key is all that’s needed to reveal that there is something a little strange going on under the hood. Continue reading at Speedhunters

By Dino Dalle Carbonare

By Michael Berenis

Tampa Sports Car Examiner

Golf carts are notorious for being powered by slow electric engines that eat up batteries costing more than the cart itself. Why keep dumping money into battery replacement when you can invest slightly more money into something more powerful? A choice between 15 mph and 150 mph is a tough decision, but the avid enthusiast will always choose the latter. Swapping out the pitiful electric engine and heavy batteries for a GSX-R750 motorcycle engine can really bring that dull golf cart to life.

There is more to this build than just an engine swap. The chassis of the golf cart must be upgraded as well as the suspension system to handle the power and high speeds. Stability is key, and the stock golf cart suspension and wheels will not take the top end abuse the GSX-R750 engine can dish out. Swapping a motorcycle engine into light weight vehicles such as golf carts, Tata Nanos, and Smart cars is a quickly catching trend. Learn more about modifying golf carts for pleasure at Tampa Sports Car Examiner.

By Fireball Tim

Movie Car Design Master

Man, it’s been a crazy few days. Lots of cool cars have shown up (All in my driveway…. slight exaggeration, as in the driveway of the mind!) But, there are SO many doodads of coolness out there, it’s really hard to pick what gets the major super duper cool status of being one of of my CDW’s. (See, another acronym… I keep doing that for some reason.)

So, without further do doo… Feast in the pure bitchiness of the soul. Cars of heaven, direct to your door, yo.

1. THE AUDI LOCUS CONCEPT

Gorgeous, right. I mean, here’s a woman that knows your weakness. Although, most likely a 3D image, this Audi concept evokes style and charm with added sass. Like a woman who knows just how to get into that sweet spot of yours. ‘Course, dangling it first to get your attention until you melt like warm chocolate. Oooooo……

Continue reading after the jump!

Continue reading "Fireball's "Cool Designs of the Week!"" »

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

This electric two-seater concept was built narrow to better navigate city centers. And yes, you lean this thing into turns. Think Nissan will build it? More at Autoblog

By Jim Brennan

UDMan

Cash for Clunkers is over and the government and many dealers proclaim it as an overwhelming success. But at what cost? Many rather unusual and possibly valuable cars were sacrificed during the program; a few that will make the car enthusiasts among us cringe.

There were a number of questions raised when scanning through the list published on September 9th by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). To be eligible for the Cash for Clunkers program, vehicles were specified to only get 19 miles-per-gallon or less, measured by their previously published EPA rating. Yet a few vehicles that were submitted generally get better fuel mileage than the benchmark set by the program rules.

As troubling as that was, it is underscored by the list of truly desirable enthusiast cars that were traded in as clunkers. This raises some troubling questions as to the reasoning behind the transaction. Scanning through the list, here are 12 different vehicles that should have been saved from their eventual fate of being scrapped. These 12 cars will be met with the usual questions as to how this was allowed to happen in the first place, or what kind of person would trade such a vehicle, replacing it with a Hyundai or a Toyota? Continue reading about the “Dirty Dozen”, with details about each one at Automotive Traveler.

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

The poor seller should have done their homework before letting this low mile Mopar go for so cheap. Hope the new owner leaves the paint alone. More pics after the jump! Via Chevelles.com

Continue reading "Incredible Steal! Wild Custom '69 Road Runner Bought For Just $3,000!" »

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

I decided to check back on that H.A.M.B. thread (now locked) to see if there were any updates, and I found this post from the Chevy II owner. Looks like he’s happy now…

Thank you to all the hambers who positively added to the content of this thread.
At this point ASK that we DROP the THREAD. I asked for a re-traction and recived this via e-mail:
We understand you and our editor spoke. If you would send us a letter stating your position concerning the photograph on page 76 of the October issue, we will be glad to publish it. You can send the letter by e-mail, or send it via regular mail. Please include your name, mailing address, and phone number.

Our mailing address is:
Car and Driver Editorial Offices
1585 Eisenhower Place
Ann Arbor, MI 48108

editors@caranddriver.com
CARandDRIVER.com

This is what I asked for and looks like justice was served.
Thank you again H.A.M.B. for your support John