Archive | FotW RSS feed for this section

>Freak of the Week: Very Conspicuous.

27 Feb

>


In New York City, it’ll take you days to find a parking spot. The experienced have many strategies. Some double park to stay put when they have a feeling that someone’s about to pull out of a spot, and others circle like vultures looking for gaps. Driveway… driveway… driveway… fire hydrant… driveway… driveway… don’t event think about it… driveway… driveway… no parking anytime except blue moons…. It really tires me out. Don’t get me wrong, I love driving, but I get fed up with parking very quickly.

You wouldn’t understand then, unless you live in a city yourself, just how ecstatic it feels to move on with your life. I get so ecstatic that I jump out the car and engage a full on sprint in order to make up the lost time and meet with my engagement scheduled yesterday. It’s that bad.

Just last night, I borrowed my parent’s car, and went to meet my friend for a movie. When it was time to leave, I was in trouble. The problem with leaving the car in a hurry is the terrible task of recalling where you had left it. It’s pathetic, I know, but I promise you that I tried! My solution has been to take a note on my cell phone to remind me where I parked.

Good, it’s 71st and 112th. That’s not so hard! Wait… 71st Street? Or was it 71st Road? Where am I now? 71st Drive? Forest Hills is impossible.

Finally, I found the damn car, and I realized that I had already walked right passed it twice. It was a beige Nissan. And so was every other car on the street. I’m sure you all can understand, then.

I can’t say the same for Mr. Yannick Sire, though, who’s the man behind “The Priapism”, the name of the car meaning– a state of constant painful, arousal. Quite appropriately named, for such an inappropriately sexy piece of work. Obviously, Yannick wouldn’t know a thing about beige Nissans at all.

Featured on windingroad.com, the video below is from OliandJoe.com. Freak of the Week #11! Enjoy!


YS from OliandJoe on Vimeo.

>Freak of the Week: Marcus Moto Design F1 Tracker

21 Feb

>

Marcus Moto Design F1 Tracker

Freak of the Week #10, woohoo! Every week, I’m out looking for something balls off the wall crazy, polarizing or just weird and worth talking about.

And this time, I thank BikeEXIF’s Facebook fanpage for this week’s find. Really, it is a bit odd that BikeEXIF decided to post this incredible motorcycle on their Facebook fanpage wall, but not on the main site. On the other hand, I kind of see why. The fans of BikeEXIF that regularly come to the site to see custom classic cafe racers won’t be ready for this at all!

Older F1 fans will remember the Ferrari 312T driven by Ferrari’s ace, Niki Lauda. Not a particularly attractive race car, I’ll admit, but it did win the 1975 World Constructor’s Championship before tall air boxes were banned in 1976. If anything, this is a testament of creativity and courage from the custom motorcycle builders Marcus Moto Design when they embraced such an unlikely race car for inspiration.

Based on a Ducati 996, this custom motorcycle features flat track style bmx handlebars as well as an extensive use of carbon fiber.

I’ll be honest, I’m an idiot when it comes to bikes. But, stylistically, custom bikes are absolutely fascinating and thanks to BikeEXIF, I’ve caused myself a bit of an addiction.

So if you like this bike half as much as I do and also have the funds to make dreams happen, you’d be happy to know that you can buy this bike now! For more information, contact Marcus Moto Design  and be sure to have your check ready.


Happy President’s Day to our American viewers! Hope you guys enjoyed the three day weekend!

>Freak of the Week: Green Machine

16 Feb

>

Welcome to Freak of the Week #9. A while back, I posted a FoTW on the “Angrier” Dodge Daytona pro touring. The idea behind the car was to modernize a muscle car so that it can accelerate, brake, and turn as well as a present day sports car.

Well, it seems like the idea has already been very popular and have ventured to less likely platforms. I present you Anthony’s pro-touring Datsun 510.
Found on 6speedonline, the heart of this Datsun isn’t a Datsun at all! Anthony found power by way of an engine swap donated from a straight-six 1991 Toyota Supra. The result? After some massaging via a Garrett GT35R turbo, intercooler, custom exhausts and intake, and a number of other exhaustive and tedious hours of attention to detail, The Supra powered 510 dyno’d 398 WHP. 
Anthony’s talent goes far beyond completing an engine swap, he really dialed in a very unique appearance. With the hula girl caliper detail, military green matte finish, custom grill and headlamps, 240Z wheel flares and custom dash, Anthony took the Datsun from something that was simply amusing and turned it into a work of art.
Don’t be mistaken though. This is not a trailer queen.

Tuning to match the power came by way of 280zx struts with Tokico Illumina cartridges, Techno Toy adjustable T/C rods, Ground Control camber plates and coilovers, adjustable rear shocks, custom panhard bar, a limited slip diff, Corvette C5 rotors with Dodge Viper calipers, 18×8.5 and 18×10 Racing Hart wheels f/r repectively… shall I go on?

This is what Anthony had to say, 
I like this car because it’s unique, people get a kick out of it, and I’ve built and tuned it by myself. It’s fun at track days yet I can drive it on road trips such as Portland to San Jose this summer was over 1200 miles round trip. I vow no trailers are in its future.
Enjoy the pictures!

The P-Zeros are gone!!
Props to whoever can identify where that center console piece is from

>Freak of the Week: Practically Impractical

9 Feb

>

Welcome to Freak of the Week #8, where for every weekend, we look for something balls off the wall crazy, polarizing or just weird and worth talking about.

Ever since hot hatches became popular, so too have there been mid-engined hatchbacks. Unfortunately, though I can clearly see why, the idea never caught on…

In MOTORING CON BRIO fashion, I’ve compiled my own grab bag of photos of mid engine hatches.


Sit back.

 
This car deserves its own post!
A project that James, or Rentonone of Scoobynet.com forums, had
undertaken to turn his MK-VI Ford Escort into a mid engine rwd track killer.

>Freak of the Week: 2500+ whp/ton

31 Jan

>Welcome to #7 of Freak of the Week, where for every weekend, we look for something balls off the wall crazy, polarizing or just weird and worth talking about.


This week I want to show you a purpose built standing mile machine. Now I’m sure many of you are more than familiar with Suzuki Hayabusas and although this one doesn’t look any different from the rest of the lot, you’ll soon realize that’s exactly what makes it so special. Think of it as Dr. Bruce Banner. Reserved (as far as Hayabusas go) at first impression, but you’ll need no more than a brief introduction with this ‘busa before you find a Garrett GT40 turbo underneath… maxing 35 psi… pushing 636 whp.

636whp in a 480lb motorcycle?! This has got to be illegal in at least 40 countries. And that’s fine, because it’s still nothing short of a hero at the Maxton Mile.

I saved the best number for last. HULK SMASH at 1:56!!


The Fastest Mile- 256.79 MPH on a Turbo Hayabusa from Streetfire Network on Vimeo.

>Freak of the Week: Land Down Under

24 Jan

>

Welcome to Freak of the Week #7. Every week, Weimann, Chin, and I look for something balls off the wall crazy, polarizing, or just weird and worth talking about.

This week’s search took me to a continent that I know relatively little about. However, there is one thing about Australia’s car culture that is very clear. They love their Supercar V8 Series. And so do I.

But before there was the Supercar V8 we know now, there was the Australian Touring Car Championship. Beginning in 1960, this era created some of the baddest cars I’ve ever seen.
This week’s Freak of the Week isn’t exactly about a car, but it is a moment for me to share with you the fascinating culture of the Land Down Under– its motor sports and its sports cars.

1969 Peter Brock Holden Monaro

1976 Marlboro Holden Torana

1975 Vauxhall Magnum
1970 Ford Torino Cobra
1971 Ford XY Falcon GT-HO Phase III
No, actually I don’t know of a car with a longer name.
Chysler Valiant Charger

>Freak of the Week: VWtf?? Bitchin’ Wagon edition.

17 Jan

>Welcome to #6 of Freak of the Week, where for every weekend, Weimann, Chin, and I look for something balls off the wall crazy, weird, or just polarizing and worth talking about.

credits: http://www.hotrod.com

This week, we feature Ken “King of Chop” Prather’s ’62 Minibus.

Apparently, Ken “always wanted to build a mid-engine hot rod.” Any other day I would have been able to throw out a dozen different ways to go about the idea… but after seeing Ken’s work, I’m rendered utterly speechless.

Beginning the build with a 7 inch chop and a grey finish to get the ‘bus in a proper rod stance, Ken apparently ended up with a few loose screws during the build– fitting the ‘bus with a roll cage, modified fuel cell, drag parachute, a custom frame fitting fatty 10 inch wide 5 spokes at the back, and a throttle pedal made from a spoon once found in his kitchen. But the centerpiece of his insanity in this machine? The mid mounted blown Chevy 355 small block. But look at the pictures below. There’s NOTHING small about it!

Finally, what really made me smile was that Ken actually took this bus on a 4,000 mile road trip. A trek to Mecca, of sorts… from his home in Waterford, Pennsylvania to the Bonneville Salt Flats of Utah.


credits: http://www.hotrod.com
credits: http://www.hotrod.com
credits: http://www.hotrod.com
credits: http://www.hotrod.com
credits: http://www.hotrod.com
credits: http://www.hotrod.com

credits: http://www.hotrod.com
credits: http://www.hotrod.com

>Freak of the Week: Dammit Jalopnik! Big ups to Speedhunter!

9 Jan

>Welcome to our fifth installment of Freak of the Week, where for every weekend, Weimann, Chin, and I look for something balls off the wall crazy, weird, or just polarizing and worth talking about.

This week, we found a particular VW powered Fiat 600. We came across the car on eBay a couple of days ago and we were attracted to its humble appearance and to something its got beneath the shell– A turbocharged VW engine with 185 horsepower.

What’s more, if you respond to the post on eBay, you’ve still got just about 6 hours to make this FIAT yours! Click here to get redirected to the eBay posting.

Strangely, Chin has found out that this very car has already been covered by Jalopnik a couple of months ago. And we just can’t allow that.

So, undeterred, we continued our search for the Freak-of-the-Week elsewhere. Which brought us to a rotary.

Now we know that modified Mazda FD RX7′s used to be extremely popular, but since production has ended back in 2002, clean examples are definitely becoming more and more uncommon. This one in particular, affectionately named the “Yellow Fever” RX7, is a private daily driver’s car belonging to loving owner Mr. Rami Sadi, who shares with us every step of his journey during his interview with MotiveDVD, featured in Speedhunter’s site.

We hope our readers can appreciate his devotion in the pursuit of his vision of what an RX7 should look like. I can’t put a finger on it but there’s something Chin and I both agree on. We love the Aussies and the Kiwis. We love their style and we love what they’re doing down there. Big ups! Keep doing what you’re doing!

In addition, we highly recommend everyone to check out Speedhunter’s site. They provide very thorough coverage on the import tuner scene and their photographs are of another level. www.speedhunters.com

>Freak of the Week: It’s a Monster

1 Jan

>

Ken Block is known for two things, DC Shoes and those crazy gymkhana videos.  For his last gymkhana run as well as his inaugural invitational event,  he made the switch from Subaru to Ford and his weapon of choice is this all wheel drive Fiesta.  Here’s what the car can do:

If you’re interested in how the car can do all that, head over to MotoIQ, where Mike Kojima has almost unrestricted access to this Monster Fiesta that packs 750 horsepower from its 2.0 liter, 60 psi (!!!) turbocharged inline-4.  His writeup is full of mind blowing engineering as well as gorgeous photos.

>Freak of the Week: Blizzy-B

27 Dec

>

The F2000 has something the Ford Raptor doesn’t

We’ve got something familiar yet different for our third installment of Freak of the Week, where for every weekend, Weimann, Chin, and I look for something balls off the wall crazy, weird, or just polarizing and worth talking about.

Now for those of you who don’t know, the East Coast has been hit with a pretty hefty snow storm. Naturally, when a snowstorm strikes, the only choice we’ve got is to strike back! What better to have than a trophy truck?

This one here is the Ford F2000 Pre Runner.

Imagine if all that sand was snow! Now if you’re thinking that this is nothing but an old Ford Raptor, you’re making a big mistake. I’ll let you in on one thing that the F2000 has that the Raptor does not.
A Twin Turbo Sapenfield 460ci motor pushing out 1000 HORSEPOWER.

Here some more closeups of the beast. Enjoy!

4900lbs

Twin I-Beam front suspension, 28″ front wheel travel
6 Piston caliper brakes, 4 Link rear suspension, 38″ rear wheel travel
60 Gallon fuel tank

+ Air Conditioning, iPod integration stereo system, and a rearview camera.

Stay warm, everyone!

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.