By John Coyle

Deputy Editor

While I might be using the term sport compact a little loosely here, I thought all these cars were wicked, so I was able justify shoehorning them into this category. Sue me. Anyway, I’m a sucker for an old-school VW, so I loved Paul Newman’s 351-powered Beetle, and I was really impressed with Rhys Millen Racing’s mid-engine Genesis Coupe, the Fiesta—stock, but awesome—in the Ford booth, the ferocious Fiat 500 and the Scion xB that won the Tuner Challenge. Vote for your favorite below!

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By John Coyle

Deputy Editor

When I went to the Media Center to pick up my media passes, I happened to catch a glance of this sweet ’63 Beetle, and I was wondering what the hell it was doing here. Sure, it looked nice and everything, but this is SEMA, not the Friday night meet-up at In-N-Burger. Of course, once I got a little closer, I saw what all the fuss was about. Turns out this baby was built for Paul Newman, and it’s sporting a Ford 351 mounted amid-ships, a GT40 ZF 5-Speed, and Koni coil-overs. Talk about a sleeper! Check out the walk-around video. More pics after the jump.

Continue reading "Paul Newman's Mid-Engine, Ford 351 Powered VW Beetle" »

In addition to being a great actor and an incredibly generous philanthropist—all the proceeds from his Newman’s own products go to charity—Paul Newman is also a talented race driver. Unfortunately, 18 months ago, he was diagnosed with terminal cancer, and apparently, he doesn’t have much time left. But that didn’t stop him from hitting the track at LimeRock last week in his GT1 Corvette! Check out a few pics of his #80 car on the circuit after the jump, and head over to the Early911Registry forums for some great stories about a real class act.

Continue reading "Paul Newman Runs Some Last Laps at LimeRock" »