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July 3, 2010
Ford XR8 Falcon Ute
By Rob Einaudi
Editor-in-Chief
If you haven’t already, be sure to check out RDP Motorsport’s amazing Ute, which has been near or at the top of Top Rides for the last few weeks. Incredible!
July 2, 2010
Mustang vs. Challenger at Daytona Tonight: Will It Happen?
By Jen Dunnaway
Editor
I never in a million years anticipated that witnessing the new Nationwide cars on the track in person for the first time would be what they call a “religious experience,” but I got chills watching the new Mustangs and Challengers roar around the high banks of Daytona during qualifying today. The advent of these cars in NASCAR feels historic in a somehow visceral way that I can’t completely explain. More to the point, it feels right. These lean, well-differentiated cars have been what NASCAR has needed for a long time now.
But will they even get to race? It’s raining in Daytona at time of writing, though they’re saying it’s going to dry out in time for tonight’s race. Sprint Cup qualifying was canceled due to the weather, while the earlier Nationwide quals yielded the pole to Brad Keselowski, with another Dodge, the No. 26 of Parker Kilgerman, in the second spot. Dale Earnhardt Jr. will start from 3rd in his one-time No. 3 Chevy, with fourth place going to Justin Allgaier. By all estimates, it’s going to be an interesting race for the largely unproven New Car, Junior is looking to be a factor, and those Challengers are mad fast and badass. If it gets to happen, I don’t see how it could not be the most awesome NASCAR race in recent memory. Hit the jump for a few more pics from qualifying, and tune in at 7:30 Eastern tonight on ESPN to see how it all shakes out!
Continue reading "Mustang vs. Challenger at Daytona Tonight: Will It Happen?" »
Downtown London Pit Stop!
By Karan Singh
StreetFire.net
Mark Webber, who may remember from an infamous crash last weekend at the European Grand Prix, takes to the streets of London in his Red Bull Formula 1 race car.
Randy’s Place
By Jen Dunnaway
Editor
As part of Dodge’s festivities leading up to the NASCAR Challenger debut in tonight’s Nationwide race, last night they hosted an Atomic Tom concert at a local dealership, Daytona Dodge. While the band got rained out, the outing was made 100% worthwhile by owner Randy Dye’s unbelievable collection of concours-restored Mopars. Strewn throughout his showroom and in varying stages of disassembly in his palatial service garage, Randy’s got a whole fleet of original muscle, including this fastback Charger, a Belvedere GTX, and a ’69 Dart GTS. I was blown away by the ’71 Demon all apart on the lift, brand new factory-perfect hardware bejeweling its original front drums. Though I’m personally a fan of upgrades and mods in such circumstances, there’s just something so undeniably compelling about factory-correct restoration of this level–even if it’s not what you’d do, you can’t not be impressed. And Randy is clearly living the ultimate gearhead dream, running a major dealership for his favorite make while being able to use the facility and infrastructure to fuel his hobby. Nationwide Dodge driver Justin Allgaier showed up for a meet-and-greet, and was as stoked as I was about the vintage rides. Hit the jump for more pics from a fun night at Daytona Dodge.
AFX Altered Wheelbase Nova Drag Car
By Dan Strohl
Hemmings
If, like me, you saw Steve Magnante make a couple passes at Musclepalooza XI in his Chevy II-based AFXer, you’ve probably been jonesing for such a car ever since. And if you desire some race history to go with your AFXer, then this 1965 Chevrolet Nova may just be the car for you. From the seller’s description:
Original AFX Altered wheelbase Drag Car built from a new Nova in 1965, Nova-Caine was Lost and timewarped for years, Documented with period photos, California race history, ran 9.80s at 140 MPH in 67!, Big Block with Hilborn Injection, Museum condition, Mechanically fresh, A piece of American Drag Racing History.
Random Highway Sighting – Vector W8
By Ben Schaffer
The Real JDM
I really happen to like living in Los Angeles. Having grown up in Boston, I can really appreciate the many benefits of living in Southern California. As a kid I had a poster of the Vector W8 on my wall. Since those days the W8 has become an even more rare legend due to the unfortunate fate of the company which spawned them. The W8 posted a hard to comprehend 242mph top speed at Bonneville salt flats only has 17 examples in existence (all info according to the Wikipedia link below).
Driving home from work in my GT-R, I spotted a recognizable face in my rear view mirror. I hit the brakes hard to let this unmistakably wild car catch up to me and then a snapped a couple of (bad) photographs to capture the moment.
Welcome to the Future
By Chris Trout
Troutster52
Ladies and gentleman, it gives me great pleasure to announce that the future of auto innovation is here. Few can argue that the pace of innovation has been incredible. Automotive technology has advanced to and past mechanical and technological boundaries once only dreamed of! Higher power levels, increased fuel mileage, reliability and safety are now attainable much more readily to the average consumer. And one of the moat notable displays of this fact is the 2011 Mustang.
Crown Vic With a 5 Speed and Open Pipes Gets Thrashed
By Brian Lohnes
BangShift.com
This video is cool as hell and makes us smile in the face of the bad news regarding the fact that Crown Vic production is going to stop in about a year. The video shows a guy thrashing on his late model Crown Vic that’s been upgraded with a 5-speed crash box and open exhaust. The car sounds awesome and that 5-speed is something we never knew bolted in!
Lot of guys used to swap manual transmissions into mid-1990s GM B-bodies but we honestly never knew that rowing your own in a Crown Victoria was an option. Not a factory option, but a legit swap option.
Big cars and stick shifts rule!
Team NFS Z4 GT3 Crash at Jarama
By Speedhunters
Car Culture At Large
At the FIA GT3 race at Jarama, Team Need For Speed driver Edward Sandström had a crash during Saturday practice. Thanks to an in-car camera, we can witness the crash in this video. Edward tries to compensate for the oversteer, but ends up spinning into the wall – loosing his trunk and hood in the process.
This weekend, we are in the south of France at Paul Ricard for the next round of FIA GT/GT3. Stay posted this weekend for updates from the track. Be sure to check out Jonathan Moore’s coverage of FIA GT3 at Jarama.
