By Ben Schaffer

The Real JDM

I’ve always had a bit of a crush on the Stagea wagons with the GT-R RB26DETT motor. Something is undeniably awesome about driving what is essentially a GT-R wagon! It was always somewhat surprising to me that Nissan decided to have GT-R powered wagons produced in the first place. I’ve always found it to be an odd choice that such an epic motor as the RB26 is found only in a wagon and of course the GT-R itself. You’d think that they would have perhaps used the RB26 in a convertible variant and especially in a sedan competitor to the Toyota Chaser, yet they chose only a wagon over those more conventional options. Perhaps that particular point in itself defines a Japanese and European desire for fast wagons whereas in the US fast wagons are an oxymoron. What else could better explain this and the fact that the Audi RS6 Wagon features a twin turbo Gallardo related V10 motor, yet there is no Audi in the US whatsoever that utilizes that incredible V10 twin turbo power plant reserved solely for the European RS6 wagon.

Continue reading "An Ultimate Daily Driver: Stagea RS260" »

By Brian Lohnes

BangShift.com

We thought there were laws against stuff like this! This demo derby, which happened in Delta, Utah, featured trucks. Not little weenie trucks, but large half and three-quarter ton jobs. There’s a bad ass Suburban thrown in the mix as well. The hits are major league, especially the finale at about 1:10 into the film.

The field looks to be filled with Chevy trucks, some of classic age! There even looks to be an old International pickup in the group which made us sad. Those babies are in short supply and to see one get pulverized made us wince. We winced harder at that last massive crunch, though!

Buckle up!

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

The marriage of two awesome things–it’s like peanut butter and chocolate, only in car form. This ’79 Mustang is running a 429 big block through a shift-kitted C6 trans and 4:10 rear gears, and though it might not be the most practical transportation, it’s totally street legal. Check out the auction on eBay.

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

Lol… Via The Lexus Enthusiast

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

In case you’re one of those people who always complains, “well that’s x minutes of my life I’m never going to get back,” I’m going to warn you: a hellacious wreck, and then a whole lot of nothing, happens in this video. But you kind of have to admire the guy for staying with the remains of his bike despite all the chaos around him.

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

How could anyone not love twin baby-blue T-Birds? Just gorgeous. From the ford-men.com Facebook page.

By Karan Singh

StreetFire.net

It’s not the most impressive jump, but it is impressive that it was even attempted in such a vehicle. The guy’s boss probably won’t think so, though.

Shortest Jump in the Biggest Truck

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

The car is salvage from a New York City art exhibition wherein the creator set up a living environment entirely covered in crochet–an apartment that looks like it’s inhabited by a schizophrenic grandma, with the Minor parked out front. The eBay auction, stalled at time of writing with only one 500-dollar bid, might be a little more successful if the seller gave some indication of the condition of the car. Is it a straight running Minor that’s just been covered with a giant tea-cozy, or has it been more permanently disabled? The only clue in the ad is an ominous reference to “plaster sculpture” in the car’s construction. But that could mean anything, right? Check out the action here.

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

Our commenting system has been kind of jacked up here for, well, a while now. Don’t worry, we have a real fix this time, but it’s part of a larger, top secret project–just give us another week or so and all will be revealed. But we do appreciate those of you who manage to jump through all the various hoops necessary to comment on the blog, and we do read your comments. And it seems like other people read them, too. Like David Freiburger, Editor-in-Chief at Hot Rod Magazine. I opened up my November issue of Hot Rod last night (it’s November already?), skipped to Freiburger’s column, and there it was, in black in white: Retroman’s comment on Hot Rod’s Corvette hack. “Ok, so I understand that the C4 is like the Mustang II of Corvettes… It was the right car for the time, but hardly anyone wants one now. But, still… It’s a Vette, dude.” Well put, Retroman! If you missed it the first time around, here’s the Hot Rod video he was commenting on. And you can see the full version here.

HOT ROD’s Corvette Hack

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

Airbags are an important safety development that have saved millions of lives, blah blah blah. And sure, the technology has come a long way since the jaw-busting jiffy pops of the 90′s. But you know what? I still don’t trust the darn things. And this video doesn’t help. But that last slow-mo is pretty cool, yeah? Via ThatWillBuffOut.