By Ron Honig

WaytooFurious

Have a look at this ad that has been doing the rounds. I don’t know if it’s real, but it did put a smile on my face. It reminds me of numerous stories I have heard of people catching flak from their spouses for bringing home an impractical or “unauthorized” vehicle. Ever had this problem with your better half?

Recently I was mulling over the notion that gradually over the years I have been seeing fewer examples of classic cars on the road. The irony to all this was that I was driving my sister’s econobox at the time because my ‘classic’ daily driver was in the shop. It’s just a fact of life that the older a car is, the more maintenance it will require. However, this is something that I am happy to put up with because for me most modern cars lack the character and individuality that cars had in the past. That’s why if I see old steel on the side of the road I am drawn to it like a moth to a flame. Despite the heavy rain at the time, the trip in the econ box suddenly became worthwhile when I saw this old girl parked on the street. She was on full registration rather than club registration, which indicates that she must be a daily driver and most likely an on-going project. So when was the last time that you made a U-turn to look at some classic motoring history?

Sunday was a great day for me. I got to attend the American Breed 2008 show. Run by the 60s American Car Club, the show caters to all American two- and four-door cars and rods. Although attendance was down because of some really bad weather on the previous day, it still turned out to be a top event. The show had a wide range of cars from 50s Caddies to classic American muscle like Chargers, Mustangs and Camaros.

However the one car that left me really puzzled was this Firebird. Someone has obviously gone to a lot of trouble to combine a classic 60s Firebird front end with a more recent Firebird body. My friend John loved it but I didn’t care for it that much. What you can’t see in the photos is that the modern car has a steeper angle on the front which I thought did not sit well with the older bonnet. So what do you think?Good or bad idea? More pics after the jump.

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I recently attended John’s Rod And Custom Picnic at Pakenham, Australia’s largest rockabilly and hot rod festival, which spans three days each November. The thing that I really like about the rod and custom shows is the variety in the cars on display. One of the more unique vehicles was this VW. I have heard of Volks Rods before but this machine takes it somewhere completely different, and whether or not it’s a good kind of different is a matter of personal taste. Then there was this hearse. What I really like about it are the R.I.P license plates that are the real deal! Another thing that I noticed was the number of blowers on cars—it seemed that every second or third vehicle had some sort of wicked supercharger jutting through the bonnet, and I really liked the custom touch that the owner of this Ford had given his. See them all below the jump!

Continue reading "Automotive Eccentricity at John's Rod and Custom Picnic" »

I had some suspension work done on the Valiant recently, and when I got the car back I found a big Pedders sticker on the back window. I didn’t mind, since the guys who did the work managed to get me out of a fix. Besides, there’s something about a bull wearing a helmet and holding a bunch of suspension parts that just cracks me up. However, it does remind me of my previous life when I sold new Fords. We would occasionally get a customer who would insist that there be no dealership stickers or license plate frames on their car when they took delivery. Their theory was that since they were paying us for the car, we could go and advertise elsewhere. It never bothered me, as I was always happy to move another piece of inventory out the door. But their attitude contrasts strongly with the idea I had about the old XP Falcon that I used to own. One of the things that really pleased me about the XP was that it still had the original Heath’s Ford sticker on the back window from 1965, even though that dealership was long gone by the early 90’s. So how about you—what brand does your car wear?

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Occasionally you come across something that just makes you scratch your head, and this ’84 Dodge Colt full-sized bumper car conversion is one of them. However, it would put you at an obvious advantage in traffic. View the auction here.

I’ve often been asked if I get bored going to so many car shows, to be perfectly honest I don’t. It just seems that no matter how many you go to, you’re guaranteed to see something that you haven’t seen before. The other week I attended the annual show run by the Melbourne-based Chrysler Restorers Club of Australia. Much to my surprise someone had brought along a sensational looking Chrysler 300, which had only just arrived in the country and is probably the only one in this part of the world. There were a lot of other cool cars, like this 70s Valiant in yellow with a brown vinyl roof—talk about retro. And despite the fact that it was a Chrysler show, there were a few nice rods of other makes in the car park. More photos after the jump.

Continue reading "Australian Car Show Season In Full Swing" »

In Australia, my favorite season is at hand. While most of the car-crazy world is heading into winter, It’s spring here so the weather is mild and daylight savings means I get to come home from work while the sun’s still out. Best of all, though, is that car show season is just starting. I attended the Euroa Show and Shine on Sunday, and like last year, it was a great event. Held in the small Victorian town of Euroa, the show caters to all makes and models. In total there were about 900 cars, ranging from sensational to mind-boggling. In the mind-boggling category was this 1960s home-made car constructed from Morris and Mini parts, plywood, and fiberglass. As my friend John said "it’s so bad it’s good," it just made me laugh. In the sensational category was the Jaguar D type racing replica that you can see after the jump.

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There are some basic rules of thumb that apply to situations ranging from home improvement to automotive work, like "measure twice and cut once." Well, on the weekend I only measured once and I wound up paying the price. I needed to replace the cable for the manual choke on my Valiant. I didn’t even make a measurement, I simply lined up the old choke cable with the new one and decided that it was as accurate as it needed to be and cut the new cable to size. Unfortunately what I failed to take into account was that the outer coating on the old cable was plastic and the coating on the new cable was a flexible spring. You wouldn’t think it would make that much of a difference, but it turned out that my new cable was too long. So what should’ve taken only ten minutes would up taking me at least a half-hour, with the use of a lot of creative language along the way. I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s been there—when have you been caught out only measuring once?

I love innovation in the automotive industry, even more so when it comes from my part of the world, Australia. The country that gave you the Ute now presents the winner of the Ford Global Challenge. It’s been a hundred years since the Model T helped to change the world, and to mark the occasion, the Ford Motor Company invited six schools from around the world to present concepts for a car that embodies the essence of the Model T, 100 years later: the new car would have to be "simple, lightweight, practical, compelling and low cost." Sharing the win with Germany’s Aachen University is Deakin University of Melbourne, Australia. According to Bernard Rolfe, the project leader for the Deakin team, the "T2" concept offers value for money as well as being a green machine. Designed to run on compressed air, the T2 produces zero emissions and uses air rotary hub motors to give it an approximate range of 125 miles, which can be extended through the use of compressed natural gas. Running on three wheels, the lightweight T2 could be one of the answers we need to resolve today’s fuel crisis. Now if they could only come up with a compressed-air Hemi. Read more on Ford’s contest here.

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