By Speedhunters

Car Culture At Large

To the surprise of a few of the Speedhunters audience, I snuck the above image into the original announcement of the 2009 Speedhunters awards as a great example of stance. Some of you were confused that I wasn’t showing a stretch-tire-special, but I think this machine is a great example of perfect stance … look at the rake! Continue reading at Speedhunters

By Rod Chong

By Speedhunters

Car Culture At Large

With the Mustang, Ford is in possession of a very valuable property: a modern car with soul and character. Think about it: the vast majority of car companies these days make all of their models with uniform styling features. It’s even hard to distinguish between different cars of the same class these days.

It’s for this reason I’ve developed a bit of a soft spot for this retro macho machine, especially the hotted up versions that companies like Shelby and now RTR are putting out. The Mustang is a car that hasn’t forgotten what it’s about and is the only pony car in the US which has had a continuous production line back to the 1960s.

I also love driving Mustangs… I have to admit it. The raw experience appeals to the masculine side of my personality. Continue reading at Speedhunters

By Rod Chong

By Speedhunters

Car Culture At Large

I’m sure that most people who live in and around Germany don’t necessary think of the Autobahn as a Temple of Speed. It’s just a highway system that interconnects German cities. But for people who live further afield, a chance to drive flat out on the world’s only unrestricted freeways sounds like an impossible fantasy. And having recently spent a day driving on these famous roads, I thought I’d commit a few of these experiences to paper (as it were) before the experience completely fades from memory.

For our day of driving, we met up with Germany-based photographer Alok Paleri and local drifter Patrick Ritzman. Alok was going to help us shoot the driving sequences as Dino and I had our hands full piloting our two BMW press cars. For Patrick and Alok, driving along in a tuned up Mini with your speedometer pegged past the 240 kph marking is just another day on the road. For the rest of us it sounds like a slice of heaven! Continue reading at Speedhunters

By Rod Chong

By Speedhunters

Car Culture At Large

Just got this note in from the Twins Turbo crew:

“Guys, just a quick note. The Viper project we have been working on for the last year is up and running. Shane Tecklenburg has been on the DynaPack with the car all day and we are looking good to go. Results so far are 950 WHP and 806 TQ at 4 psi of boost.”

Continue reading "Twins Turbo Viper on the Dyno" »

By Speedhunters

Car Culture At Large

As we got ready to start the Speedhunters coverage of Bonneville Speed Week I was silently hoping there was going to be a Japanese campaign at the event. The legendary Japanese tuning shop Jun Auto’s Bonneville runs are now the stuff of legends, and I was praying we’d be able to find something similar to document at Speed Week. However, when I looked at the Bonneville entry list there were no Japanese teams listed… the closest thing to an Asian based team was an entry lodged from Singapore.

It also turned out that the AMS team was not able to get their Evo completed in time for Speed Week, so we went to the event without any expectation of shooting high end Japanese machines. However everything changed as soon as we arrived and I clocked this blue RX7… Continue reading at Speedhunters

By Rod Chong

By Speedhunters

Car Culture At Large

As a Bonneville newbie, one item that’s become clear to me is that the chassis and engine selection for a land speed record car are two very separate and distinct choices for any car builder. Most competitors combine the engine and the chassis in order to enter what appears to be hundreds of different classes. Often a builder will try and find an overlooked class, build a special car and go for the record. People may even show up at Bonneville with more than one engine in order to set multiple records with one chassis. Continue reading at Speedhunters

By Rod Chong

By Speedhunters

Car Culture At Large

There’s been a lot of business to take care of at our office in Vancouver for the past few months, so it’s been a little while since I’ve been in the field with a camera. But that all changed today, as we just shot at two rather different automotive scenarios, each within a few miles of one another. It all started a week or so ago, when John Naderi from Streetfire.net invited us to a shoot he and Will Roegge were conducting just down the road from Evergreen Speedway in the Seattle area. Continue reading at Speedhunters.

—By Rod Chong

By Speedhunters

Car Culture At Large

I’m told that once you go to The Salt you’ll be hooked for life. The quest for speed gets into your bones and there simply is no getting away from the place. And the people behind the Royal Purple Streamliner, Nish Motorsports are certainly addicted to Bonneville. Their quest to become the fastest wheel driven vehicle on the planet will know no reprise until this dream has been fulfilled and a new speed is imprinted into the record books. We’ll see how they do next week, but in the meantime we can enjoy this ride-a-long as the streamliner reached 386 mph in 2006. by Rod Chong

By Speedhunters

Car Culture At Large

Mmmm… I know white cars are all the rage right now but it’s hard to beat the presence that a blacked out car exudes…. Yum… Just look that that thing…. so good! See more pics of this car at Speedhunters

By Rod Chong

By Speedhunters

Car Culture At Large

Speedhunters reader Adam D passed on this link to a fantastic collection of Rally videos on Youtube… As we just did a retrospective on Ford Rally cars, I chose these two videos on the history of the Ford RS200 to highlight. Cheesy canned music aside, these youtube videos are full of some great historical footage of this the RS200s. It’s good watching if you want to learn more about Ford’s rally program in the legendary Group B era.

By Rod Chong

Continue reading "A Ford RS200 History Lesson" »