By Sam Barer

Sound Classics

Despite its claim as the “Christmas Tree Capital Of The World,” Shelton, Washington is not the epicenter of anything. Considering that the town closes its streets at least twice in June for car shows, though, it can at least be identified as the most octane-friendly place west of Puget Sound.

Shelton again hosted the annual Mason County Forest Festival (curious isn’t it that there’s a forest-themed fair in a place that lives and dies by the timber industry?) Car Show this past weekend. The show draws people from all over Mason, Thurston and Grays Harbor counties, which means that if a bomb dropped on the show, pretty much everyone who used to read my weekly “Sound Classics” newspaper column would be wiped off the map. That also meant that despite the pouring rain, I had an obligation to be there to support my car friends.

In the past I’ve taken my 1960 Triumph TR-3, 1986 Ferrari 328 GTS and a long-since-sold 1969 big block Corvette Convertible up there, but I decided this year to introduce the townspeople to the Infamous Craigslist 1976 Ferrari Dino 308 GT4. I suppose that I could have also taken the ’79 Chevy K10, but I still can’t excited about showing what I consider a work truck.

Continue reading "Mason County Forest Festival Car Show Summary" »

By Michael Berenis

Tampa Sports Car Examiner

What is the fastest way to funkytown? 200+ miles per hour in a screaming Veyron down the Autobahn is a great start. While jamming out to a classic musical fable of disco lore, these Veyronites push their Bugatti to the watered down limit. You could have done better! Read more at Tampa Sports Car Examiner.

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

Which do you prefer? Via VWVortex

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

Contrast is nice sometimes, but I dig how just about everything in this photo is sort of putty-colored. It’s almost like Joe’s Monte Carlo is in its natural environment.

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

If you like old school muscle, go here. If you prefer new school muscle (with a few Neons) go here. And I have a ton of video after the jump! (Jen had the Nikon at Pocono this weekend, so I shot everything with a tiny little Canon PowerShot SD1400 IS.)

Continue reading "Mopars Unlimited Spring Roundup Pics Live!" »

By Brian Lohnes

BangShift.com

We’ve made it clear in the past that we find few things more awesome than street driven cars with planetary transmissions like Lencos and Jeffcos. We’d be lying if we knew the intricate differences between the Lenco and the Jeffco, and frankly we don’t care. Watch this video of guy grabbing shift levers and laying rubber in his car and tell us you don’t want one too.

The car is insane, as you can tell when he leans into it and the guy running the camera nearly craps his pants. Seeing all those awesome levers coming up through the floor gives us the chills. Your race prepped ‘Glide ain’t got spit on this!

By Speedhunters

Car Culture At Large

While at the 2010 Ferrari Festival at Fuji Speedway, a tour of the parking lot soon turned up examples of one the of the cars making its Japan debut at the event, the striking 458 Italia. The car that replaces the F430 certainly is a worthy successor to the most popular model from the brand. It turns out there was a pair of the new machine at Fuji. Note this example had rather more sporty wheels than the white one. Better illustrated in this image. The 458 looks destined to become yet another classic. Continue reading at Speedhunters

By Len Clarke

By Ryan Brutt

HemiPwr70

The first leg of the Power Tour started us off at the Perkins in Newton, IA. I got there around 8 am and had breakfast. By the time 8:45 rolled around we had almost a dozen Mopars waiting to go.

Everyone was introducing themselves and showing the others their cars. It is always a blast to have a group of Mopar guys together. Once 9 am rolled around I gathered everyone together to give them updates on what was going on. We were to follow the main route. There would be fuel stops approximately every two hours for those that needed it. And we would have a brief stop in Macomb, IL.

Continue reading "Hot Rod Power Tour 2010: Day Two, Springfield IL" »

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

Despite some spotty weather I got out to the Mopars Unlimited Spring Roundup up in Everett. I think this was the 8th Spring Roundup I’ve attended with my ’66 Satellite. It rained on me on the drive there and on the drive home but the weather stayed relatively dry while I was at the show. Turnout was pretty decent, with a ton of old school and new school muscle. I’ll have pics and video up shortly. What did you do this weekend?

By David Clarke

highspeedhijinks

The other night I had to break the bad news to my Grandfather: Mercury is dead. He was a little surprised. For an 81-year-old man whose owned a 1952 Club coupe, 1963 Monterey, 1965 Monteclair, 2001 Grand Marquis, and a 2006 Grand Marquis, he can definitely say he was a fan. Although he may have strayed over the years, his loyalty was always with this storied brand. His biggest gripe though isn’t so much that the brand is soon to be gone, (he hated all their current model cars except for the Grand Marquis), it’s that there are now no affordable, V8, rear-wheel drive, long-wheelbase cars left. I for one agree with him. With Ford’s “Panther” chassis going the way of the dodo, what other car being made fills that niche? We both conceded to the fact that the Lincoln Town Car, albeit overpriced and unattractive, will more than likely be the last car he will buy. On the other hand he is open to suggestions. What new car would you suggest older people like my Grandfather should buy now that the Grand Marquis is gone?