Check out these super-cool 80′s stockers. Bobby Allison’s 1988 Buick and Bill Elliott’s 1985 T-Bird, both previous Daytona 500 winners, were on display as part of the event’s 50th anniversary festivities. "Stock" cars back then looked a lot more like cars driven on the street, especially with those factory-fresh grilles. This tough late-70′s Monte Carlo was another of the vintage NACAR rides scattered throughout the grounds—and back in the day it was apparently totally fine to claim Jesus as one of your sponsors!

Now here’s a cool site devoted to 70s funny cars. I especially like the lost and found page. The pic below is of a "funny car boneyard" at an undisclosed location in Washington state. Rumored to have up to fifteen funny car bodies, cars include Tom McEwen’s "Coors" Corvette, Mike Miller’s Olympia Beer Mustang from the early 80s, Rich Roger’s "Miss Debra" Duster from the mid-70s, So Cal’s Clarence Bailey’s King "Boogaloo" Cougar, Kenney Goodell’s Mustang from the late 60s, as well as a complete Camaro and Pinto funny cars from the early 70s. There are a ton of pics and a lot of history here, so if you’re into 70s floppers, be sure to check it out.

With all the hype over NASCAR’s totally redesigned Car of Tomorrow, which will be running its first full season in the Sprint Cup this year, we can get a little nostalgic for the roll-and-wreck days of what NASCAR old-timers sometimes call "real racing." That’s why, on the eve of the CoT’s full-time debut, this spoof article by The Onion reporting a contending push to run a "Car of Yesterday" in NASCAR’s top series, seems timely. Here’s a preview of what the Car of Yesterday will offer (or not):

"Our primary concern with the Car of Yesterday was safety," said NASCAR competition director Robin Pemberton. "The fans hate that shit. We had to keep that in mind when we went back to the drawing board, so we took away anything that increased grip, improved handling, or prevented a stock car from experiencing a sudden and total loss of control. NASCAR isn’t about the cars, it’s about the drivers. And the Car of Yesterday keeps the driver involved with the vehicle, whether he’s just driving it or, ideally, crashing it."

Check out the rest of the spoof here.

I am a big fan of vans. I’m not talking about the modern minivans of today, but the great vans of yesteryear. Mainly those of the late 60s and early 70s. Vans in general fall into one of two categories: creepy or cool. My wife seems to think that all vans, regardless of the year, make or model are just plain creepy. I disagree–I think that vans have gotten a bum rap over the years. When many people see an old van they conjure up visions of teenagers in the back, fully ablaze on illegal substances. Others see them as solely purpose built vehicles–load em’, lug it and unload em’, end of story. I just love them and think they’re just plain cool. Just take a look at Julie’s Dodge A100. Simply put, this thing is COOL. What do you think?

Back to the future! Designed by Paolo Martin and built over a Ferrari 512S, the Ferrari Modulo concept stunned everyone at the Geneva Motor Show in 1970, and again took center stage during the Pininfarina 75th anniversary celebrations in 2005. Not the most practical concept–the bodywork around the front wheels meant the car could only go straight. More pics and history on this cool car here. 

Yesterday’s blog addressed some of the most fuel-efficient cars of the late 70′s and 80′s, whose gas-mileage stats give even modern hybrids a run for their money. One of the all-time champs of these vintage gas-sippers would have to be the two-seater Honda CRX, whose 57 highway miles per gallon�51 by today’s standards�handily beats out the Prius. Yesterday also, CNN ran an interesting article on the CRX, weighing some of its failings against its "eye-popping" fuel efficiency, and considering the factors that make it harder for today’s cars to attain the same kind of fantastic mileage numbers, even with their technological advantages. The greatest obstacle for modern cars, not surprisingly, is their sheer mass. Almost any vehicle will tend to bloat over the course of its model run, the article explains, as manufacturers feel pressure to keep adding "more" of everything, from legroom to airbags to creature comforts like power locks and air conditioning. The weight gain results in a kind of snowball effect, because the heavier the car gets, the more dependent it becomes on systems like power steering and power brakes, which themselves add even more weight. Modern crash-safety requirements account for additional structure and mass, contributing to that padded feel of many modern cars: the sense that every surface around you is stuffed with airbags. A lot of 80′s compacts were such stripped-down shells that even their unimpressive horsepower numbers didn’t stop them from feeling quick and responsive: some of them could take off surprisingly fast, you could see 360 degrees around you, but if you got in a wreck you’d probably be in some trouble. The best way to have your vintage fuel-efficient cake and eat it too?  Don’t crash!