What started out as a terrible weekend, ended up as a not so terrible weekend. A friend of mine’s uncle had passed away and I had known him for many years. So I would be attending his funeral on Sunday, November 9th. I planned on spending the weekend out there, so I knew I couldn’t help the family in Saturday, why not go out and hunt for cars… Oh boy did that thought snowball.

I made a post about me heading to Bloomington, IL on www.moparts.com forums. Two members from down there, Shad and Scott both told me that they would like to meet up and show me some of the stuff they knew about lying around. They didn’t get into specifics, though.

I drove down Friday night, so I could meet up with the guys on Saturday. That was a long drive at night. The Challenger did fine, and I got on the girl a bit. But still I was glad to plunker down in my hotel room for the night.

Continue reading after the jump!

Continue reading "Daytona in the Barn, and Two Hemi Chargers, and One V Code 70 Charger: Barn One" »

Why, Vertical Doors Inc., of course. The company had a lambo-doored Camaro and Charger in their booth at SEMA this year. As Nelson would say, Ha-ha!

Continue reading "Who Still Thinks Vertical Doors Are Cool?" »

Hehe… I’m just going to leave this one alone. The last time we got between a couple of Cali car clubs by making fun of their SEMA rides, we ended up having to shut down the comments and start banning fools. People’s moms got involved. There were a lot of caps. It wasn’t pretty. So I’ll just let the pics speak for themselves. Hey, for what it is, it’s actually really impressive–I thought the captain’s chairs were an especially nice touch. Enjoy!

Continue reading "Noktastrophe" »

I have been waiting and waiting and waiting for the owner of this rig to show up since I landed in Vegas on Monday. This morning I took the proverbial bull-by-the-horns, and left a note inside the cab, and finally made contact. Introducing the 1947 Diamond T (Soon to be named “Mater”), along with an amazing 1928 Dodge “Diesel Rod”. Read more after the jump!

Continue reading "My Favorite Truck at SEMA: Steve Darnell’s 1947 Diamond T (W/ a 1928 Dodge “Diesel Rod”)" »

…Yeah, they’ve also got a Challenger widebody kit that extends the front fenders 3″  on either side, and parts that’ll dress up your plain-jane C6 Corvette as either a Z06 or a ZR1. And can you name any other booth at SEMA that has a new Camaro, Mustang, Challenger, and Corvette? Talk about covering all your bases. More pics below the jump!

Continue reading "Classic Design Concepts Claims First 2010 Mustang Shaker Hoodscoop" »

Chrysler CEO Ralph Gilles told me to look out for the 1320 concept over in the Mopar corral, and I have to agree that it’s the coolest thing in the booth this year. The 1320 is an SRT8 optimized for the dragstrip–the package includes a 550 hp aluminum 426 Hemi run through long-tube headers and a Corsa exhaust, a Dana 60 locking rear end with Dynashaft axles, and a stripped-out interior with Viper seats. Carbon fiber accents on the exterior include the hood, spoilers, and headlight buckets, but they’re not in-your-face carbon fiber–it’s all integrated into the 1320’s awesomely nasty acid-yellow-and-satin-black paint scheme. Clever details abound, including Mopar cop car wheels, and the two inboard headlights deleted to make room for air induction ducts. See walkaround video and gallery below the jump!

Continue reading "Dodge Challenger 1320 Concept To Deliver Straight-Line Thrills" »

Cherry Bomb found this ‘64 D100 in a barn near Atlanta and managed to score it for just $300. It now has a 528 Hemi with Keith Black heads mated to a 6 speed Tremec. More pics after jump!

Continue reading "Cherry Bomb D100 at SEMA" »

Really not a whole lot to report about the Mopar booth at SEMA this year. Yeah, the Jeep Lower Forty is cool, but you already knew that. I was nonplussed by the 1320 Challenger. More pics and video after the jump!

Continue reading "Mopar at SEMA" »

Hmmm. Part of me really feels that this much intricate chrome bling overwhelms the otherwise scaled-down, satin-black-accented R/T. At the same time, I kind of dig the whole mis-matchedness of it. What do you guys think?

Continue reading "22″ Gila Wheels… On A Challenger?" »

I still think the Challenger looks great as a convertible (though maybe not with the top up). Come on Ma Mopar! More pics and video after the jump!

Continue reading "Droptop Customs at SEMA" »

This week at Talladega, the competing automakers are each officially debuting their Nationwide Series version of the Car of Tomorrow–and at least two out of the four are opting for  ponycar-based racers. Dodge’s Nationwide Challenger is the hottest ride to take to the NASCAR circuit since the 70’s, and the NASCAR-ed out Mustang, while awkward, is nonetheless going to be a huge shot in the arm for both Ford and the troubled Nationwide Series. The odd man out? (Well, Toyota is sticking with the Camry, because of course they don’t have anything less boring to base a stock car on). But Chevrolet, probably the biggest underwriter of NASCAR in the world, inexplicably opted not to build a Nationwide car based on the new Camaro. What? Yeah, they’re going to stick with the now-played-out Impala, the same nameplate they use in Sprint Cup. Chevy officials made vague PR-sounding excuses about not wanting to compromise the new Camaro’s iconic lines, citing the partially templatized body they’d have to conform to (okay, for one thing, what iconic lines? The Camaro looks like a cartoon, but in a good way–perfectly suited to the Lightning McQueen era of NASCAR). That warmed-over Impala looks nice and everything, but seriously, wtf? They think running a Camaro in NASCAR would be bad for the brand? Unbelievable.

In any case, the new cars are in final testing at Talladega Superspeedway today, and will be run in four races during the 2010 Nationwide Series, beginning at Daytona in July. NASCAR hopes to have the hot new Nationwide rides fully integrated into the series by the 2011 season. Check out a whole gallery of new Nationwide rides below the jump, and read the press release at egmcartech.

Continue reading "NASCAR: Challenger Is A Go For Nationwide Series, But Not Camaro" »

I was really looking forward to seeing this car at SEMA, and so I was pretty excited to stumble across it on the way to the media center this morning. The BASF Petty Blue paint looks fantastic and I really dig the center exhaust. Sorry, no pics of the 426 Hemi under the hood, but I do have a ton more exterior pics after the jump!

Continue reading "Petty Garage Dodge Challenger at SEMA" »

Here’s another entry for our continuing fascination with trars: the 4×4 General Lee! This looks like something from a very special episode of Dukes, but it’s real life for a guy called SunroofSuperbird over at Moparts.com. See the Moparts forum thread here.

The Charger was another story. 1970 Charger R/T with a 69 R/T front sheet metal and a 70 Super Bee hood scoop welded on–not well, though. It was a really interesting car. It wasn’t in that bad of shape. It wasn’t good, but very restorable.

Continue reading after the jump!

Continue reading "Mountain Men, Cars in Barns and Crazy Bees: Part Deux" »

Have you ever noticed that the car model you owned in the past has grown in size, in weight, and in displacement? This phenomenon affects almost every car line from BMW to Honda, with a few exceptions. Remember when the name Honda was synonymous with lightweight, economical cars? The company established itself in the United States in 1970 with the N600, a small four-seater. It hit pay dirt with the introduction of the larger 1973 Honda Civic, a car that was light and fuel-efficient yet could fit four adults in modest comfort. Honda sold many first-generation Civics during its seven-year run, as the car was just what Americans needed during the first OPEC oil embargo. During subsequent redesigns, Honda offered more Civic models. What had been just a two-door truncated sedan became a three-door hatchback, a formal four-door sedan, even a five-door wagon. Engine size increased as well, growing from a 1.3-liter four-cylinder to a 2.5-liter. Read more about the ever growing models, including BMW, and a surprise Detroit entry at Automotive Traveler.