March 26, 2008

TrabiCustomizer

Chromjuwelen

You might remember the Wartburg ”Zonen Zombie” project, where some German custom culture nuts started to hot rod a Wartburg 311. This project is typical of the new ”East” movement in Germany. Especially in East Germany, where you see more and more slammed, shaved and chopped jalopies popping up, with either glamorous paint jobs or a more vintage rat look.

Even more popular than the Wartburgs are the Trabants. Gone are the days where you could score these cars easily. While those two-stroke rides were once denounced as ”Rennpappen” (”race cardboards”), they are now one of the most popular cars to hot rod. If you’re luck enough to own one, I have the perfect tool for you: the TrabiCustomizer. Simply choose your model and do a digital sketch before you pull out your angle grinder. And if you’re more into air cooled stuff, try out the fabulous Bug-/Bus-/Type 3-/Porsche-Selcta.

Be the first to comment!

Permalink:

Posted at 5:23 pm in air cooled, Dispatch From Deutschland, Porsche, Trabant, Volkswagen, VW

February 27, 2008

Burly Brits

By Ralf

Chromjuwelen

Normally british classics like MG, Triumph or Healey are too well-behaved to break ranks. But there are some guys who turn british understatement upside down by swapping, for example, a Pontiac V8 into a ’69 TR6. Or a Buick V8 in a ’74 Lotus Elise. So, if your heart beats for orginal matching numbers cars, don’t go to www.britishv8.org!

More pics of this ’65 Austin-Healey 3000 III BJ8 with a Chevy 350 engine after the jump!

Continue reading "Burly Brits" »

13 Comments

Permalink:

Posted at 5:46 pm in 350, Austin-Healey, Chevrolet, Chevy, Dispatch From Deutschland, Lotus, MG, Triumph, V8

February 18, 2008

Buckle Up Your Keys

By Ralf

Chromjuwelen

Sick of losing your keys? I don’t know if the London design team at Thabto are car-addicts, but they created something perfect for us absent-minded gearheads. This wall-mounted key holder is a belt buckle, and the idea is that, over time, plugging in your keys will become as much of a habit as putting on your seatbelt. Sounds easy to me.

Continue reading "Buckle Up Your Keys" »

Be the first to comment!

Permalink:

Posted at 10:37 am in Cool Products, Dispatch From Deutschland

February 4, 2008

French Blasphemy

By Ralf

Chromjuwelen

Customizing isn’t that common over here in Europe. In fact, if you start channeling, chopping or even engine swapping with an "old timer" (the German expression for classic car) you will be universally derided. So you can probably imagine what would happen if someone willfully executed a "goddess"
(or "La Desse"–what a Citron ID 19 is called over here). When Andrew produced some sketches of his project for the first time, traditional car collector enthusiasts nearly had a heart attack. To keep a long story short: Corvette LS1 engine, beefed-up independent suspension, all-around performance braking, custom Billet Specialties wheels, and the original front wheel drive has been switched to rear wheel drive. For more details check out his CarDomain ride page and his blog. I think it’s a-w-e-s-o-m-e. What do you think?

Comments Off

Permalink:

Posted at 5:28 pm in Citroen, Dispatch From Deutschland, DS

January 30, 2008

Nippon Deuce

By Ralf

Chromjuwelen

The students at the Shizuoka Professional College Of Automobile Technology in Japan hot rodded a Mazda Carol, the first car ever build by Mazda. The Mazda Carol has its engine in the back, but to make it a more traditional hot rod, they took the ladder chassis from a Suzuki SJ30 and put the engine in the front. Mission accomplished! More pics after the jump.

Continue reading "Nippon Deuce" »

8 Comments

Permalink:

Posted at 5:45 pm in Dispatch From Deutschland

January 24, 2008

Jet Dragster Art

By Ralf

Chromjuwelen

So, you are bored of all the tiki and pinstriping in the hot rod scene? And lowbrow art doesn’t satisfy you any longer? Then do it like the German artist Benjamin Tillig: go to your garage, collect some old spoilers and body kits, park your jet-powered dragster in front, and let them melt to a real motorkultur sculpture. Burn baby burn! You can see a video of his work here.

Be the first to comment!

Permalink:

Posted at 5:58 pm in Dispatch From Deutschland

January 22, 2008

We Added Three New Bloggers Today!

By Rob

Editor-in-Chief

You may have noticed that we have a few new bloggers today. It’s all part of our effort to bring you guys new and varied voices in the blog.

First up is Ralf, who heads up the very cool Germain site Chromjuwelen. You may have read about his crazy Pontiac with a Supra drivetrain. He’ll be sending us a weekly Dispatch from Deutchland.

Then there’s Mike, AKA Mr. Angry, who needs no introduction. Mike has a few big things up his sleeve this year, but he’s gonna try to take time out of his busy schedule to blog for us twice per week.

And finally we have Dan from Hemmings Motor News. In addition to writing for the Hemmings Blog, Dan has a very cool 1979 AMC AMX–he’s promising to build a ride page for it soon!

Be the first to comment!

Permalink:

Posted at 10:07 pm in AMC, AMX, Dispatch From Deutschland, Guest Blogger, Hemmings, News, Pontiac, Rob Einaudi

Birka Cup Sweden: DIY Autobahn Dragstrip

By Ralf

Chromjuwelen

So your super gasser needs a little test and tune? And the next dragstrip is too far away? In Europe it’s simple: grab your friends, go out to the closest Autobahn and let her rip! I don’t understand Swedish, but I definitely understand the rallying cry of the Birka Cup, which has been around since 2005: "Run what you brung and hope you brought enough." I wonder how much the bail money us Germans would need if we were to show up with a handful of cars. You can watch a Birka Cup video here.

Be the first to comment!

Permalink:

Posted at 10:22 am in Dispatch From Deutschland, Guest Blogger