By Brian Lohnes

BangShift.com

Let’s face it, we are at the dragstrip more than anyone but the touring pros, so it only makes sense that we’ve seen a lot of funny and weird things go down while at the track. One that never ceases to amaze us is the racer who loses a wheel in the water box, or who chucks the rear out of his car at the launch. Clearly, we don’t want this to happen to anyone, and we feel bad for being entertained by the carnage this Mustang suffers when the rearend decides it doesn’t like its happy home.

But like we said, we are entertained. Check it out, you will be too.

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

I’ve never let another human being wash my Escort GT since getting tri-stage candy paint nearly four years ago. However, when we were shooting video last week at NorthWest Auto Salon, I totally let Blake’s crew of crack detailing genuises get their mitts (literally) all over it. But, you know, that’s because it’s Northwest Auto Salon–they detail million-dollar supercars for a living, and I am in awe at their skills, not to mention their tact in refraining from making any more fun of my Escort than they did.

So, while the car-wash rule is clearly out the window, there are still, dammit, things I would never let another person do on my car, at least not out of my sight. For example, I will never let anyone else change the oil on any of my cars–for such a simple task that most shops, even the good ones, relegate to only their most ham-handed flunky, there are just way too many ways to mess it up. And most of them are potentially catastrophic.

How about you? What is your single bottom line over-my-dead-body procedure for which you’d never entrust your vehicle to another person?

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

I want…

Ferrari 599 GTO launch drive review by autocar.co.uk

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

Unlike the dog that went to town on that cop car, this swan seems to stick to amorous nibbling that doesn’t leave any damage. I love how its mate is standing around looking all “that’s great honey, let’s go.” Via English Russia.

By Michael Berenis

Tampa Sports Car Examiner

Using the 5.0 version of the Fox body Mercury Capri, the burnout bandit quickly meets his demise as an over authoritative rent-a-cop shuts down his tire roasting escapade. I would have loved to see the expression on the pseudo police officer’s face when he caught this guy ripping up his pristine parking lot. Read more about the treachery at Tampa Sports Car Examiner.

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

Today’s photo comes from the ride page of Walter’s ’71 Cutlass, which looks damn dignified sitting in front of its gated-and-gargoyled barn/mansion. Got a pic you’d like to see featured for Photo of the Day? Drop me a line.

By John Coyle

Deputy Editor

Nothing ghost rides like a Deere…  Got to love the back flip.

Ghost Riding the Tractor

By John Coyle

Deputy Editor

Unless you actually need to use it as a phone, the iPhone is super cool, and there are tons of useful apps for it. But I don’t think the new Rolls-Royce one, which lets you configure a Ghost, was such a good idea. If  I was going to buy a Rolls, I’d want to makes decisions about leather and trim and such in a 19th century drawing room while drinking champagne with a sales rep that looks like Keira Knightley. But that’s just me. Maybe there are some Howard Hughes-type billionaire folks who’ll dig it?  Apple via Jalopnik

By Chris Bicknell

Bick66

For me, this nightmare started last summer when I finally got my ’66 Impala convertible roadworthy after being down for about 8 months for its restoration.  I was just starting to break in the freshly built 383 stroker motor, so making it all the way to my office on a sunny morning with the top down was an awesome feeling and all my coworkers came out to see the car that I hadn’t stopped talking about all winter.  Later that very morning, I went out to check on the car and was horrified to see a man running a leaf blower at wide open throttle all over the interior of my car that he had just covered with a thick layer of dust. Wait a second–wasn’t the dirt perfectly okay on the ground, where dirt belongs?  Why is someone getting paid to take the dirt and spread it all over my car?  I spent the next hour wiping down the entire car inside and out.  Now, fast forward about a year to just last week when I walked outside my office to find someone from the same landscaping company running a weedwacker along a crack in the pavement about 2 feet from my 2005 Corvette. I was pissed!  I’d had enough, so I marched into my company president’s office where I proceeded to make it very clear to him and everyone in the front office just how upset I was.

In the end my coworkers think I’m crazy but I made enough of a fuss that the property owner now reports a parking lot cleaning schedule to my company so I receive a nice little email warning a few days prior to the landscapers’ arrival, enabling me to get the Corvette bundled up in its protective cover to guard against airborne dirt assaults.  While I may not have been able to outlaw the use of power equipment in parking lots everywhere, at least I have the peace of mind knowing that I’m not going to find any more nasty surprises when leaving the office after a long day.

How about you? What parking lot nightmares have you encountered?

Continue reading "My Parking Lot Nightmare: Leaf Blowers and Weedwackers" »

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

Ryan and I both want Fox bodies. Who doesn’t? The video by Alok Paleri today prompted me to do a Craigslist search which brought up this sick notch and this awesome LX hatch. Both are a bit out of my price range, but damn… Which do you prefer? I think I’d take the notch. More pics and ad copy after the jump!

Continue reading "Some Tempting Fox Bodies on Seattle Craigslist Right Now…" »