By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

Wearing your heart on your sleeve is one thing, but wearing your car on your butt? Yeesh. Via PoorlyDressed.

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

This creature kind of makes me think of what road-crew flaggers might have looked like in the Disney-Pixar Cars if the creators had chosen to anthropomorphize them. Student Joseph Carnevale reportedly got in trouble with the cops for this prank, though the construction company he stole the cones from just thought it was funny. Via saturnic’s livejournal.

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

It’s an ’88 Escort hatchback chopped into a convertible, sprayed with rhinoline, and equipped with a variety of features unheard of on Escorts of this era–like a real working trunk! I dig the gnarly hood scoop, the Batman Command Console, and the angled exhaust tips (which are purportedly functional, though I think that’s the actual exhaust sticking out where the rear plate used to be). Striking fear into the hearts of New Jersey denizens everywhere it goes, it’s even piloted by a middle-aged dude who dresses up in a batsuit to battle crime at corporate picnics and little kids’ birthday parties. More pics below the jump, and read more here. Thanks to 1lowscort for the tip.

Continue reading "Ford Escort Batmobile" »

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

Powered by a 16-liter inline motor from a PT boat, guzzling fuel from its 50-gallon tank through dual Zenith carbs, the behemoth Hudson Invader is the latest in the whackjob creator’s bizarre stable of “LARGER THAN LIFE SUPER CARS.” The rambling auction copy advises the curious to “GOOGLE TO PHOTOS AND HISTORY OF THESE AUTOMOBILES” if they want to know what the hell is up with these freakishly large vehicles, so I did–check out La Bestione and Van Blerick, clearly creations of a mad genuis. Still scratching my head, though–the eBay auction has to be seen to be believed.

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

Hey, what’s more American than a Boaterhome? Just 21 were made back in ’86 by Sport King. The Econoline-based rig functioned as an RV on land, but when you got to the lake–plop! You can unload your boat in under two minutes without having to get out of your vehicle! Oh wait, I think you have to get out of your vehicle to get into the boat. Darn it. See the ad on Hemmings!

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

Sure, we don’t have to look any further than our own American backyard to see examples of ill-advised mods. But it’s always entertaining to discover how other parts of the world each have their own unique style of doing it wrong, and a whole different set of novel and I-never-would’ve-thought-of-that cars to do it wrong to. English Russia has finally compiled a monster thread of all the weirdest rides they’ve dredged up from arguably one of the world’s weirdest custom cultures. See the best of these Eastern Bloc beauties below the jump, and check out English Russia for the full gallery.

Continue reading "You’re Doing It Wrong, English Russia Edition" »

By Michael Berenis

Tampa Sports Car Examiner

While driving down the Autobahn, a motorist was attacked by what appears to be a savage sock monkey flying through the air at destructive speed. But where did it come from? Is this the elusive evil sock monkey that lurks about the Autobahn? Maybe. Read more about the attack at Tampa Sports Car Examiner.

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

The faux-croc exterior treatment on this Bentley Continental GT, dreamed up by some clown-college visionary of the Russian faux-luxury movement, kind of makes it look like a barfy SEMA interior that somehow succeeded in throwing up on the outside of the car as well. Maybe that’s a little harsh, but the whole leather-wrapped-everything fad is kind of gross, especially since most of the available-to-everyone leather that plasters everything these days right down to a base-model Hyundai interior is just cheap smelly junk from India and China that doesn’t denote even a shred of the”luxury” once associated with the more high-end material. This particular leather, by contrast, comes from Cape water buffalo, a mud-loving critter that swarms in large numbers across much of Africa. The inventors of the Bentley’s big green scab reportedly spent months “perfecting” a way to make the hide look like it was ripped off of a nasty reptile instead of a bovine pest species. Yes, very classy. Via Jalopnik.

Continue reading "Croc-Wrapped Bentley Up For The Congressional Medal Of Ugly" »

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

After Chris sent me this disturbing wreck photo of a squashed smart today, I was cruising for pics of smarts met with violent ends and stumbled upon this story. Apparently, the latest and greatest in the persecution of the quirky microcars is to lift them up and dump them into the nearest drink. (Relax: the photo is fake). With a curb weight of around 1600 lbs, they’re among the lightest rides on the road. I guess they’re easily liftable once you dial in the right mix of strapping lads and alcohol, and something about the combo of the smart’s diminutive size and the stigma attached to their nerdy owners is clearly making them a target for rugby teams and roving herds of middle-aged frat boys. There’s been a quiet trend of such cases in Europe, and law enforcement is said to be keeping it hush-hush to avoid encouraging a rash of copy-cats. Via The Sun.

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

Tight parking spaces? No problem. Check out what people are coming up with in other parts of the world to avoid buying Smart cars. I bet it’d work great for moving non-running vehicles around the garage too!