By Fireball Tim

Movie Car Design Master

Adios 2009! Welcome 2010! We don’t have flying cars. We don’t teleport our asses around the globe. And we don’t eat square Star Trek food. BUT, we do have G3 phones. We DO have bluetooth contraptions hangin’ on our noggens and WE DO…

…have bitchin’ rides. Bring it, Fireball.

1. THE AUDI AVATAR

No, not designed by James Cameron. Although, he coulda had it in the movie. Audi is poised to create future car badness with this and the ETRON. Although, I think they’re going to too many movies. Their next car is their wind-powered SUV called the RAMBLOW.

Continue reading "Fireball’s Cool Designs for the New Year" »

By John Coyle

Deputy Editor

This was easily the craziest installation I’ve seen at the show. It’s completely impractical, way weird, and huge. Around the perimeter it actually says “Don’t Feed the MINI,” and for some reason, I think that’s super-funny. I don’t know about you, but this kind of feels like SEMA to me… More photos after the jump.

Continue reading "LA Auto Show 2009: MINI Clubman With Spiked Color and Lease" »

By David Clarke

highspeedhijinks

So I’ll forever be impressed with the big motor/little car modifications, and at last Thursday’s Hemmings Cruise In in Bennington Vermont I saw the one of the coolest of them all. I mean I’ve seen big block Vegas and even a 472 caddy engine in a Nash Metropolitan, but I haven’t seen this. You are looking at a creation that should be named Frankenstein, because it’s bound to draw and angry mob of diehard Mopar fans with pitchforks ready to kill it because they just don’t understand why it was created. The Mini’s real name however is Maxe, and it was not created by Dr. Frankenstein but rather Larry Audette of Westford, Vermont. Amazingly Larry was able to stuff a 392 twin plug Hemi into the front of this puny machine, and then had enough cojones to strap a blower to it. I say bravo sir, job well done. If you interested in some more rare rides that showed up at the Hemmings Cruise in check out the Hemmings blog.

By Speedhunters

Car Culture At Large

I just got a link from a friend who pointed out this AWD Mini project at Super Fast Mini’s. Inside the Mini community it is very popular to enhance the performance of the car with Honda parts. It is no different with this Mini. They started with a bare shell and went to work with the custom fabrication and placing of the AWD system. On the outside we see wider fenders to accommodate the larger wheels and extra sticky tires. Continue reading at Speedhunters

By Jeroen Willemsen

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

The Swede won this week’s Showroom Showdown by a 2-to-1 margin. I can’t figure out why I don’t see more C30s on the road.

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

This week it’s the battle of the city hipster cars. The Mini weighs 2,850 pounds and is powered by a turbo four banger which puts out 172 hp. The Volvo weighs 3,200 pounds and is powered by a turbo five cylinder which puts out 227 hp. The Mini gets 26/34 mpg while the Volvo gets 20/28 mpg. Both start around $24k and are available with 6 speed manuals. Which would you choose?

By Dan Strohl

Hemmings

I just dug up a pair of videos that we posted links to more than three years ago. They still remain favorites of mine. One more after the jump. Enjoy!

Continue reading "Endos and Hemis, Revisited" »

By David Wallens

Grassroots Motorsports

I know that some parts of the country are currently experiencing a cold snap, but in Florida anyway,  spring is here. Time to get the cool car out of the garage and kick out the cobwebs. We have been giving our Mini Cooper a little extra love. A couple of weeks ago we took it to our local hotrod cruise night. It might not have been the fastest or most expensive car, but it surely turned some heads. Has everyone else gotten their ride out of mothballs yet?

By David Wallens

Grassroots Motorsports

After who knows how many months, my Mini has rejoined the living. The culprit: a stuck thermostat. Why did the repair take so long? I guess I have been a little busy.

However, we got the car out for some fresh air and took it on a Saturday drive with our local British car club. Call it both a test drive and chance to see some scenery all at once. For those with projects that just need a few minutes to complete, my advice is to stop putting it off. Cars are much more fun when they can be driven.

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

Mini wins. Some funny captions over at VWVortex