Capriceshop.com has an image collection of modified Chevy Caprice and Buick Roadmaster wagons that looks pretty bad ass. These huge sleds have acres of trunk space, are rear-wheel-drive and are one of the last American wagons, becoming extinct in 1996 when SUVs took over the market for gigantic, gas-guzzling family cruisers.
Just got back from Englishtown, NJ and Raceway Park‘s “Summer Motorsports Spectacular”. Lots of loud and wicked-fast jet cars, monster trucks and the 1000 hp Cool Bus wheel stander pictured above.
I put together a compilation video with Grave Digger, Maximum Destruction, Bull Dozer, Cool Bus and the Jet Semi. Tom Meents, the driver of Max Destruction, is nuts. He went faster, jumped farther, and spun crazier than anyone else out there.
The highlight of the night, though, was Jill Canuso’s jet car Queen of Diamonds. She ran the fastest 1/4 mile I’ve ever seen in person: 5.4 seconds at 301 mph. I told my daughters, “Hey, that was a lady driving that car!” and they did a double take.
I’m headed to the drag races at Raceway Park in NJ today. Don’t know if I’ll see any wagons like this nutty ride, but I can hope.
Jalopnik reports that Honda will be selling an Accord wagon in the US, similar to the European Accord Tourer pictured above. But it’s not a wagon, It’s a “CUV”. Whatever you call it, it looks pretty sweet.
Moms and Dads, this is what your kids are doing with your old family truckster, now that they’re all grown up and traded their soccer cleats for car keys. And you wonder why the tires need to be replaced every 10,000 miles.
Looking like it floated out of Dire Straits “Money for Nothing” video, the turbo brick pictured above is available for download into Grand Theft Auto San Andreas.
I admire the custom build, but nothing beats the 240 GLT Estate in Gran Turismo 4.
I had never heard of the stereotype of Scotsmen being frugal and cheap until I saw this post on Sociological Images. It was well known enough in the 1950s, however, that Studebaker made a line of vehicles under the “Scotsman” name. This included the station wagon pictured above.
According to info on Wikipedia, the Scotsman was Studebaker’s attempt to position itself as the maker of inexpensive, bare-bones cars, in contrast to the Big Three automakers miles of chrome, fins and gimmicks. Base price for a 2 door was the patriotic $1776, but it could be had for less than that if the buyer opted for painted bumpers and wheels instead of chrome.
The interior had no carpeting, just rubber mats on top of steel. Gray vinyl seats and painted cardboard trim (!) were the only interior options and rear passengers were unable to open their windows. Accessories were limited, and dealers were instructed to steer buyers looking for frills to upgrade to the Champion line.
Studebaker managed to deliver a reported 30 MPG from the inline six, making it one of the most economical cars of its size. With 0-60 times of around 20 seconds, it was also one of the slowest.
I got some nice new Yokohama Avid H4S tires installed this week. My mechanic said that 3 out of 4 of my alloy Virgo rims are bent. I guess 1 straight rim is better than none!
“Carousel” is a video created by Stink Digital for Tribal DDB to showcase Philips new 21:9 ratio television. It’s a bullet-time tour de force; the viewer gets a panoramic view of a single moment of a wild crime scene featuring clowns, a hospital… and a wrecked Volvo 740. From all the cops surrounding the car and the clown being pulled from the wreckage we can assume the black brick was the clowns’ getaway car. Doesn’t look like they’re going anywhere now though.
See the interactive video at Philips site.
See the lower quality version on YouTube.
Apparently TV pitchman Billy Mays brought joy to people’s hearts all across America before passing away last week. I only knew of him from Jaboodydubs. But when I see him at :30 in the clip below, restoring the shine of your boyfriends dull, gray Volvo 240, I know he was a good man.