By David Freiburger

David Freiburger

The reality of a VW Bug motorhome itself is plain bliss, but when you add the homegrown art of the side, this is thing is pure genius.

I spotted this Beetle camper during my honeymoon road trip in 2005 off Route 66 in Holbrook, Arizona. Surprisingly, this is not homemade. These were made by a company called Bugaroo, though something tells us they were not hot sellers. There was also a time when Mechanix Illustrated magazine showed you how to build one yourself. All the details are still available at a web page here.

By David Freiburger

David Freiburger

It’s been the worst kept secret that my F-Bomb Camaro is in the newest Fast and Furious movie, releasing April 4. But now that the second trailer is everywhere, clearly showing the car, there’s not much left to guess. Yep, the F-Bomb has a decent role in the flick, which, BTW, is not actually called “4.” It’s just Fast and Furious. Seemingly a prequel.

While I’m still obligated not to reveal any plot points, I can tell you that the real F-Bomb is not in the movie, though you might see the engine and you will hear the car’s actual engine and tires in action. The production company built eight clones of the car, none of which escaped unscathed. Continue reading at Freiburger’s Junkyard

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

In November the backers of RiceBoyTV and CarJunkieTV pulled the plug on those sites, which sucked, cause they were both doing some great stuff. David Freiburger (former Ed-in-Chief of Hot Rod and Car Craft) wasted no time in setting up a new site, Freiburger’s Junkyard, and he’s been super cool about sharing his blogs over here. Well now John Naderi (former Editor-in-Chief of  Super Street) and his crew have landed a gig over at Streetfire. I’m sure they’re planning some hilarious stuff, so stay tuned…

By David Freiburger

David Freiburger

I nabbed four clips off of YouTube for this week’s videos, all of them showing what can go wrong on a chassis dyno. Many of us here have countless dyno pulls under our belts, and it’s easy to get slack about the disasters that can occur even with low-powered cars.

I was at Westech one day when a driveshaft broke about halfway through a pull and launched out from under the car in two pieces. It took about 20 minutes for the stuff to stop spinning on the floor.

Once I saw an engine-dyno room that was annihilated after a damper came off the front of a stock engine.

The moral of the story is that problems can happen. You should not automatically trust the skills of the car owner or the dyno operator. Check this stuff out. If you only have time for one video, do the first one that shows a 1,000-plus-rwhp car nearly launching off the elevated dyno at the Car Craft Nationals a few years ago. The driver is a major hero for getting on the brakes so quickly.

See the rest of the videos at Freiburger’s Junkyard

By David Freiburger

David Freiburger

This week’s eBay pick is another former Hot Rod magazine project car that has been up for auction many times in the past year or so. We’re guessing that the no-sale is thanks to the $75,000 opening bid and Buy It Now price. This ’71 Monte Carlo that was seen in the October and December ’91 issues of the magazine is a fairly nice car, but not $75,000 nice, in our opinion. The auction page gives a pretty good history of the car. It was owned by trans-shop guy Gene Christensen, who is mentioned in the rundown.

By David Freiburger

David Freiburger

Today is the on-sale date for the March ’09 issue of Petersen’s 4-Wheel & Off-Road magazine, which means some subscribers already have a copy and it’s just starting to hit the newsstands. Pick up a copy to see a two-page story written by me and shot by Chad as we tested a set of the new 44-inch Pit Bull Rocker tires on my Jeep.

By David Freiburger

David Freiburger

I spotted this car advertised on Craigslist a month ago or more, and neither Matt King nor I could tell for sure if this was the car that he and I did a makeover on when we were both at Car Craft magazine. As of today, I’ve communicated with the seller and it is, in fact, Matt’s old car. See the current ad here.

Matt and I sometimes carpooled to work and often passed by this car as it sat for a year or two at a tire shop in Hollywood. Eventually we stopped and asked what the deal was, and with our Obi Wan powers of negotiation, ended up owning the car for $200. Continue reading at Freiburger’s Junkyard

By David Freiburger

David Freiburger

Our first video for the New Year is an awesome two-part epic featuring the Hell Drivers at the ’64-’65 New York World’s Fair.

The Hell Drivers thrill show had been around since the ‘30s, but founder Lucky Teter didn’t catch up with his nickname in 1942 when he was killed during a stunt. The troupe and the equipment were purchased by Jack Kochman, who operated it until 1989. Kochman died in 2004 at 97 years old.

In the ‘60s, the Hell Drivers were sponsored by Dodge and appeared in many advertisements. The film seen here is presented by Dodge, and you’ll hear the announcer swearing that the vehicles used are in pure stock condition, but that they’re just plain Dodge tough. In later interviews with those involved, we’ve read that the cars were, in fact, virtually stock, but had welded rearends for two-wheel driving and upgraded shocks for nasty landings.

Two of the drivers seen in the film founded Thrill Show Productions, still active today.

See part II at Freiburger’s Junkyard

By David Freiburger

David Freiburger

One of the best things about the Internet is that it gives freaks a place to gather and celebrate the objects of their freakosity, then lets us outsiders drop by to share in the scene. As borderline freaks about virtually all American cars, we often find ourselves soaking up the likes of MatadorCoupe.com.

Even within the AMC party, the Matador guys seem to be the ones standing around the edges. In fact, this site will tell you that many believe it was the Matador itself that took down AMC. After all, its reported that just 94,468 of the cars were sold during the ’74-’78 production run. Compare that to, say, 272,000 Camaros sold in 1978 alone.

The MatadorCoupe.com site includes all the stuff you expect and want from a niche-interest car site: production numbers, option codes, history, a registry, photos, and more. So when you go shopping for that rare AMC, stop here first. And when you buy one, please make it look like this:

By David Freiburger

David Freiburger

Man, I’m just a total sucker for stuff like this. I went nuts when I found this real, nearly unmolested example of an Anglia Gasser fresh from the Feb. ’66 issue of Hot Rod magazine, but then totally lost my mind when I saw that it was powered by a Jimmy six. When I spotted this on Saturday it had one bid at $5,000, reserve not met. My guess is that bidding will get into the high teens, but that the auction will end before its actually sold. It’s probably worth $25,000, but we’ll see if it gets there.