By Ron Honig

WaytooFurious

It’s nice to see car makers that are proactive when faults are found with their cars. Unlike the recent example set by Toyota, it’s good to know that you can still count on some organisations to do the right thing, and save themselves a heap of trouble in the process. Australia’s Holden has recently announced a recall of 34,000 utes as there is the possibility that their tailgates might open unexpectedly while in motion. The chances that this will actually happen to anyone are slim, but in the event that it did, it could pose some obvious hazards to anyone driving behind the defective vehicle. Get the full story at the Age.

By Ron Honig

WaytooFurious

Anyone who knows me understands that the 1968 Dodge Charger is my all-time favourite car. That’s why when I saw this on eBay I almost barfed up my lunch. To be brutally honest: the color has been way overdone and the rims don’t do this car any justice at all. But what really leaves me flabbergasted is the rear spoiler, which looks like something that I would have thrown together in the metalworking class when I was 15. Pay attention, kids–if you’re going to wreck a legend, piling on the tasteless touches is the way to do it. It’s hard to believe that it’s for sale with the Buy It Now set at $199K. Check out the auction here.

By Ron Honig

WaytooFurious

I am the first to admit that I am not into Caravans or RVs. It’s just not my thing. If I find myself travelling long distances I always use hotels. However there are some cool vans out there. Check out this collection from the Herald Sun.

By Ron Honig

WaytooFurious

Recently a friend of mine was complaining that the car of his dreams, a Hemi Daytona, was financially out of his reach and he’d probably never own one. Unfortunately it’s just a fact of life that a large majority of high priced classic and exotic motor cars don’t fit within the budget of Joe public–I don’t even think that a Lamborghini Countach will ever grace my garage. But it hasn’t stopped me having fun with cars that I can afford. My advice is simple: if your dream car is out of reach, find something that you can afford that will give you a comparable level of enjoyment. Remember, you don’t have to be rich to have something different. Take this this Valiant that’s currently listed on eBay. Apparently it’s a one-owner with a genuine 40,000 miles! If I had the money I would bid on it myself and upgrade it to a big V8. Or if you really wanted something different you could bulletproof the six that it has and throw on a turbo. Everyone knows that it’s not an exotic, but with the right mods it could rival that Daytona’s fun quotient.

By Ron Honig

WaytooFurious

Take a close look at this picture. No, it’s not some crazy piece of artwork. Sadly it is just one of many pictures that show new cars from around the world that remain unsold. My friend Dale sent me an email which has been doing the rounds, showing pictures of new cars being held in storage by various manufacturers. And I thought I had problems storing three cars at home! More pics after the jump.

Continue reading "New Car Overload" »

By Ron Honig

WaytooFurious

I was walking home the other day and I came across this classic piece of Australian motoring history. Looking at the car I could see that it had not moved for a very long time. I am no expert but I am fairly certain it is an EH Holden. Back in the day these were the best selling car that Holden had ever had. What I found really odd was the sign on the dash saying that the car was not for sale. The one piece of advice I have for the owner is this, cover the car. If you are not going to sell it you should at least keep it out of the elements. This is a classic piece of motoring history that is becoming rarer each day. The last time I saw one being used as a daily driver was over twenty years ago. I just find it frustrating when people own a classic car but are quite happy to let it rust in their yards. What do you think the owner should do?

By Ron Honig

WaytooFurious

I came across this Plymouth Fury on E-bay the other day. There is no doubt that it is a sensational car because it looks like a lot of time and money has been spent on it. What I find interesting is that the Buy It Now is set at $175,000. Is it really worth that much? Personally, for me, it’s not. With cars it is very easy to get excited about a project and over-capitalise. It reminds me of a client that we had when I was selling cars for a living. He had invested thousands in doing up a standard Ford Falcon. He had installed a racing motor and racing gearbox as well as various other bits and pieces. The problem was that we could not take it as a trade in because he wanted too much money for it. Also he would never get back the amount of money that he had invested in it by selling it privately. I don’t know what he did with his car in the end, but I do know that he was very disappointed because it was not as easy to sell as he thought it would be. So have you ever over-capitalised on a car?

By Ron Honig

WaytooFurious

One of the things that really grabbed my attention at the Victorian Hot Rod Show on Friday was this Mustang Fastback. The thing that I really liked was that it was not any old Mustang. In fact it’s not old at all, it’s brand new! The Muscle Car Factory is offering turnkey ’67 Fastbacks using new bodies from Dynacorn, and they are the first to do it in this part of the world. Unlike some previous attempts by others where ‘old’ Mustangs were used to produce turn key cars this seems like a good plan. Personally I like it because you are not presented with the dilemma of ‘hacking’ up a classic piece of motoring history to build the car of your dreams. You can have your choice of color and trim and it comes standard with a 302 crate motor. Upgrades are available at an additional cost.

By Ron Honig

WaytooFurious

One of the highlights of the Kustom Nationals is the Chop How-To seminar that is held each year. This Mercury was given the treatment by the guys from John’s Rod & Custom Shop. Unfortunately I was not able to get any video of the event. It is an art form because it takes a lot to get the ‘geometry’ right when doing a chop. To get an idea of what’s involved check out this cool clip. And if you want to see another chop there’s this clip.

By Ron Honig

WaytooFurious

Over the years I have seen some pretty interesting modifications that people have made to their cars. There have been weird 4wd conversions, people using arm chairs to replace car seats and the use of gaffer tape to cover rust, which is still one of my personal favourites. However I am still puzzled by a modification that I saw on a Ferrari about a year ago at a car show. I was surprised to see that the owner had added a tow bar to his prancing stallion. So what do you tow with a Ferrari? Have you seen any strange car modifications recently?