By Michael Berenis

Tampa Sports Car Examiner

The worst accident in all of motorsports history, the 1955 Le Mans Disaster is a great example of why we have rules in racing. With out rules, chaos presumes. Almost two hundred people were hurt or killed because of a lack of rules regarding brakes, body panel materials, and proper safety barriers. Read more about the historical crash at Tampa Sports Car Examiner.

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

I love the anachronism of the tall-fast-and-badass treatment on a 70′s car–it just makes me want to run headers through the fender wells on my Eagle. CarDomain member PassinGas wonders if he’s “the only lugnut with a tube axle old school VEGA PANEL GASSER?” Yeah dude, I think you’re one of one. Check out the Vega’s ride page!

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

Jeff has done an amazing job with his Mopar, which he claims to be first twin-turbo 5.7 VCT Hemi. More pics on his 2009 Dodge Challenger R/T ride page!

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

Don’t let the steep gears fool you: despite running a 3:73 rear end, this gorgeous ’69 Firebird is a turnpike cruiser that can do 70 mph at 2000 rpm. And it doesn’t redline until 162 mph! Check out Ken’s ride page for a ton of fantastic pics.

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

More pics on Jim’s Toyota 4Runner ride page!

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

Today’s photo of the day comes via Hooniverse. Who is more freaked out here, the navigator or the photographer? Keep those photo of the day PMs and e-mails coming!

By John Coyle

Deputy Editor

Looks like this driver panicked when the ass-end of his Jag stepped out after he came in to this bend too hot. Here’s a tip: when you’re moving that quick, a little correction goes a long way. At the least the guardrail totally helped. Or not.

Jaguar on slippery road

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

I love NASCAR-branded 90′s GM’s. There’s just something so authentically redneck about them. Which makes it even more impressive when you find one that’s not totally thrashed. This Poncho seems to be the concept car for the Richard Petty 50th Anniversary Edition, and is being sold by Canepa, the boutique builder involved in the car’s design.  It claims to have only 1776 miles on the the 300hp supercharged 3.8. Check out the auction on eBay!

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

Talk about truth in advertising. Check out the side view after the jump! Thanks for the pics, Jeff!

Continue reading "Dent" »

By Brian Lohnes

BangShift.com

We’re proud to say that both our three- and one-year-olds are driving cars built 100% in America. Sure, they happen to be Little Tikes Cozy Coupes, but we’re happy to know that the cars are made by the fine people of Hudson, Ohio, and that is from start to finish. Even better news? They can barely make the things fast enough.

We were happily shocked to find out the weird little cars (and in our case pickup trucks) were made here in the good ol’ USA, and we were right for being so. According to a story we found on MSNBC.com, 95% of the toys sold in this country are made in China.

The success formula for the Hudson, Ohio, Little Tykes plant is similar to others we have seen. It’s local government chipping in some, workers chipping in some, and the company making smart and occasionally painful decisions to run their business in a lean fashion.

According to the general manager of the company, the process for building the cars is very labor intensive and there’s not much automation, yet they are able to be competitve here on our soil, instead of abandoning ship to head for red China. Hell, we may buy another one just because of this story!

Source — MSNBC.com — Made in the USA Makes Cozy Coupe a Rarity