By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

Don writes: “Do you know how you’re gonna die? I do!” Um, yeah, I can see that. Learn more about this awesome 1964 Austin-Healey Sprite on his ride page!

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

Tired of watching high dollar exotics lapping Nurburgring? Well how about old school muscle? Watch the video after the jump (and turn up the volume)! Via Dogfight Mag

Continue reading "64 Fairlane Attacks Nurburgring" »

By Brian Lohnes

BangShift.com

Welcome to installment one of Project Fat Lane, a 1964 Ford Fairlane Thunderbolt look-a-like that is being constructed to compete in the Heavy Street class at races like the Shakedown at E-Town and The World Street Nationals in Orlando. This car will be visually close to an actual T-Bolt, but will sport a billet-block, solid-headed, F-3 ProCharged big block Chevy motor that would make the 427 in an original T-Bolt like like an Iron Duke four banger.

In terms of performance, to be ultra competitive in Heavy Street, you need a car that can run in the bottom 7s, and into the 6s consistently. The catch is that the mother will weigh well over 3,000 pounds in competition trim due to the rules. Depending on the race and the specific rules this car will be tipping the scales from 3,400 to 3,600 pouds. The body is steel from the cowl back with the exception of the trunk lid. The front will be ‘glass, but will use the factory grill and it will have working headlights.

Construction is underway at Tube Chassis Designz, the chassis shop operated by Jon Sandahl in Hanson, Massachusetts. This car will be on the track in the Spring and we are going to follow its builsup week by week.

One very cool thing? The owner of this car, actually has one of the 50 original Thunderbolts. He bleeds Ford blue, although this monster will have a billet block Dart Chevy motor in it. The car is a very cool piece and will be bitchin’ to follow from it’s early stages right on through to completion.

Stay tuned, this is going to be fun!

Click here to see the BangShift.com Project Fat Lane photo gallery.

By Brian Lohnes

BangShift.com

We instantly fell in love with this truly neat 1964 Econoline truck for sale on eBay. It has the whole Gasser/wheelstander vibe happening, the wheels and tires are perfect, and the interior is freakin’ mint. Shockingly, it still retains the factory stock 170ci inline sixer.

We’re thinking that is a good thing because it’ll allow the lucky BangShifter who wins this auction to screw their own mill together, or maybe even work over the six popper with some forced induction. If it were us, a 514 would find its way in there sometime. We’d also be looking for a vendor to supply us enough lead to fill the inside of the tailgate. Now that would be a blast.

Click here to see the eBay auction page.

By Brian Lohnes

BangShift.com

We got tipped off to this awesome video by Bangshift forum member and blog contributor Speedzzter. It is footage of a 1964 Galaxie 500 being wrung out on a frozen lake in Sweden. The car is a four speed and there are some shots of the driver doing some fancy footwork to guide the car around the frozen course.

There is an old Chevy in the video which puts up a futile chase, but the big Ford owns it by a lot. We’re going to attend some ice races this year, sadly our Javelin won’t be coming with us unless the Brinks truck breaks down in front of our house with the doors unlocked.

The big old Ford is painted up like an old stock car and it sounds healthy when the driver gets into the loud pedal and starts hurling shards of ice all over the place. This is one talented Swedish wheelman!

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

Best of Show, the award for “outstanding achievement in design,” went to this incredible Ring Brothers ’64 Fairlane in the BASF booth. The car is powered by a Roush 427, rolls on Forgeline 3-piece wheels, and sports a carbon fiber hood, front and rear bumpers, side air intakes and deck lid spoilers. This was one of the hardest cars to photograph cause it was always mobbed. More pics and a quick video after the jump!

Continue reading "SEMA Best of Show: Ring Brothers '64 Fairlane" »

By Brian Lohnes

BangShift.com

Mike Renteria Sr.’s 1964 Dodge 330 makes 800 horsepower out of a 496ci big-block Mopar wedge motor, gets driven and shown regularly, and belongs to a man who is 70 years old.

Mike is the father of Tom, Sean, and Mike Jr., who operate the Renteria Brothers Custom Shop in Morgan Hills, California. They are body men and fabrication masters as evidenced in the construction of this car.

The boys did this car specifically for the old man as a thank you for being a great dad. Sean, Tom, and Mike run a wickedly awesome blown Valiant AA/GS drag car when they are not fixing wrecks or building nice stuff like this Mopar. It goes mid 6s. Look for it in this video. It’s the black four-door.

Meanwhile, check out dad’s ’64 in this photo gallery with captions and tech info, and watch the BangShift.com video below.

By Brian Lohnes

BangShift.com

After hearing about the death of Pontiac and drawing a heavy breath, I, like lots of us car guys took a few minutes to think about my experiences with the fabled and now doomed brand.

My thoughts wandered to my experiences of growing up, cruising in the 1964 GTO that my dad restored when I was a little guy. It’s a four-speed, single-four-barrel 389 (obviously) hardtop with a vinyl roof. Living on a dead end street, I remember dad heading off to the gas station or some such places, stopping to talk to a neighbor, and then the sound of the motor winding up, the clutch dumping and the redline bias-plies smoking off down the road.

I remember chasing down a guy in a Datsun who thought he was hot poop on the highway coming home from Nick’s in Natick, Massachusetts, a formerly epic cruise spot that was featured in Hot Rod magazine back in the 1980s. The best was when my dad looked over at my mom and said, “Moves pretty good from 70 to 100.” She was not pleased, and my sister and I had eyes the size of pie plates. We even cruised out to a big Pontiac convention in the western part of the state and I was convinced that dad’s car was going to win best in show, despite the fact that this was a national deal and I was blissfully unaware that concourse judged muscle cars don’t actually drive to the show.

All this stuff combined in my head to bring me to the shocking revelation that a 1964 Pontiac GTO is the one car I’d love to have above all else. Dad still has his, but Lord willing, he’ll be messing with it for decades to come. Continue reading at BangShift.com

Photo: Richard Rhoat’s Pontiac GTO

By DUB Magazine

DUB Magazine

Custom car enthusiast Brad Jones, of Cincinnati, Ohio, calls his sweet ’64 Impala “Inspiration,” and for good reason. “When I bought the convertible, my initial idea was to make it a clean restoration,” Jones recalls. “But shortly after I got into it, I had a change of heart and decided to go full custom.”

Full custom is an understatement; there are virtually no totally stock parts left. That’s why it took Spade Kreations (Cincinnati, Ohio) 3,800 hours to create the “roadster,” but it was worth it. In just a few months Jones’ Impala has won the Squires Cup at the 2008 Cavalcade of Customs, 2008 BET Spring Bling Champion and the Hot Rod Industry Award at the 2008 SEMA Show in Las Vegas. Continue reading at DUB Magazine

By Dick DeLoach

By Brian Lohnes

BangShift.com

I have a soft spot for 1964 Pontiac GTOs. My dad restored one when I was a little guy and drove the wheels off it while I was growing up, and now it sits in his garage while the Nova bracket car gets most of the attention. I’ve got lots of great memories of being pressed back in the seat when dad dropped the hammer on the 389. Continue reading at BangShift.com