How often have you ever thought to yourself “what would happen is someone swapped this ridiculous engine into this classic car?” Today’s post is all about a guy who decided to actually follow through with that. I'm going to make today short and sweet, but I feel this car speaks for itself anyways. I want to highlight one of the craziest custom cars I've seen, a 1955 Chevy powered by a Rolls Royce Merlin V12 aircraft engine

For those that don’t know, the Merlin V12 was used in a wide variety of aircraft, most notably the Supermarine Spitfire. This particular one makes around 3,000 horsepower. That’s right, 3000. This is a perfect example of the sky being the limit for a custom car. This guy had an idea as well as the work ethic and bank roll to make it happen, the result is one of the most insane custom cars I’ve seen. So enough from me, let’s get down to business.

Its ingenuity and creativity like this that keeps the car customizing world progressing, despite the fact not everyone will like the final product. There’s countless chatter on the forums about how this is a waste of a good 55 or for that price they’d rather have 3 nice resto mods than 1 trailer queen, but I think they’re missing the point. The owner didn’t build that car for other people to like; he built it because he wanted to and he liked it. And that is the most basic element of a custom car, turning your car into something that you want it to be.

8/11/10

One of the biggest recent trends in customizing has been flat black paint. From stripes, to rims to the entire car, flat black was the thing to do. It hasn’t fully died out yet like spinning rims, but I feel that it’s certainly on the tail end of the fad wave. There’s always going to be applications where it’ll look timeless, like the factory stripes on certain old Barracudas or Boss and/or Mach 1 Mustangs.

For the most part, I think some people started using flat black as a crutch to give their car a full custom look without putting in the effort required to create something truly unique. For example, I saw a 2008 Navigator the other day that was painted flat black with matching 24” rims. It definitely stood out to me because I knew it wasn’t stock, but it didn’t stand out in good way. My first thought was “that’s a lot of blank, black space with nothing to break it up.” The truck actually seemed bland and almost boring to me. I like flat black in certain applications, but if you do your entire car in it, you’ll probably be end up regretting it later.

Now I’m starting to see other colors emerge in flat finishes. Hues of blue, white and even some greens and reds are starting to make appearances. It’s a good way to change things up from the norm, but again my only worry is that people will use this as a crutch to avoid creativity by doing everything (body, trim, chrome, rims, etc) in all the flat color. A good standout custom car needs some contrast to stand out, and there are multiple ways to achieve this. You could do a 2 tone paint job, stripes, chrome or aluminum accents, use different paint styles (metallic, candy, flat, gloss) just to name a few. If you do the same thing all over the car it loses its effect and becomes washed out in the overwhelming monotony.

congratulations, you have succesfully made an M5 Boring

So my bottom line is this, don’t do your entire car in one color (flat or any other finish for that matter) because it will look boring and show a lack of creativity. You have to have contrast to really make it stand out otherwise it just blends in with the surrounding and doesn’t achieve that eye catching effect most people want in a custom car.

8/8/10

Not too long ago I gave you all my top 10 most wanted list. Today I’m doing the opposite. The top 10 cars that you will never see me driving or owning ever in my lifetime.
1. Toyota Prius: I feel I don’t even need to explain this. This isn’t the first time I’ve gone off about Prius’ and it won’t be the last. Underpowered, overhyped and very ugly. The only thing that makes them worse is seeing people try to customize them with rims or a body kit.
2. Any Smart Car: I always found the name “Smart” ironic because these things are anything but in America. Sure in they’re great in Europe with narrow streets, minimal parking and astronomical fuel prices, but they make no sense in America. We have wide city streets and 10 lane highways, all of which are packed with big trucks and SUV’s that will flatten one of these things like a soda can. (side note: I can’t be the only person who keeps getting this idea in my mind that hitting hard enough one would be like punting a football and the thing would go flying 80 yards in the air).
3. Nissan GTR: Oh let the hate start pouring down already on this one. Everything that makes this car good is what makes it bad. It’s the pinnacle of over engineering and unnecessary complications. The car has so many different computers and control systems that it reduces the need driver skill to a minimum. So a 70 year old grandma would be able to drive this thing almost as well as an amateur race driver. Also what’s up with them putting the launch control feature in this car, but using it will void your warrantee? Go look it up, I’m not kidding. The computer logs your driving and if they deem you’ve driven it too hard the warrantee is void. Seriously Nissan, what the hell? I would tell you to stick to making your econo crap boxes, but unfortunately for you those are next on my list. Next time you build a performance car, try having the balls to back it up when people drive it like a performance car.
4. Nissan Cube: It’s ugly, its full of cheap plastic, drives like a brick and filled with embarrassment to be seen in. To anyone who buys this car: Why?
5. Honda Insight: time for another hybrid. Again they’re a bad solution to an alleged problem. The market for these cars is created all off misguided advertising and hype and wanting to make other people think you care about the environment regardless of if you really do care about it.
6. BMW X6: Still have yet to learn what the purpose of this car is. Maybe I can get a BMW fan boy to explain it to me then tell them they’re wrong because this car has no purpose. It should not exist plan and simple. Not only does it eliminate any practicality you might get in an X5, but it becomes incredibly ugly in the process. Congratulations BMW, you have successfully created the world most bloated station wagon. The concept reminds me of an AMC Eagle only more for tasteless people with too much money who don’t ever need to carry more than 1 person. And in case you really want to show your lack of taste and intelligence, don’t worry, they made a performance M model of it just for you.
7. Citroen DS: I’ve never been much for French cars, mostly because they come up with ugly crap like this. It makes me want to grab a phone book and look up the number for an exterminator. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen actual cockroaches that look better than this car.
8. Chrysler PT Cruiser: Commonly known to me as a PT Loser, they finally stopped making them. With minivan esque styling, underpowered engines and crappy plastic interiors there was no way this car could avoid my list. Thank you Chrysler for finally stopping, but you never should have done it in the first place.
9. Any Kia: I don’t feel like I have to justify this. So I won’t
10. Pontiac Aztec: How could a company go from making cars like a 1969 GTO Judge to this? If you can figure it out, then you’re probably more qualified to run a car company than the people that used to run it. Because they all ran it into the ground with cars like this.

8/3/10

I finally had the chance to spend some quality time driving a 2010 Camaro SS the other day and I now understand why Ford made the new 5.0 Mustang so good; they had to in order to keep up (literally and figuratively) with the Camaro. 426 horsepower V8, retro styling and a Chevy badge? Of course this is going to be my winner. But before you deem my opinion irrelevant because of my Chevy bias, let me explain why I like the Camaro so much.
Starting off with when you first enter the car, you feel enclosed, almost engulfed by the car surrounding you. Initially I didn’t like this feeling, I felt like it was hard to see and I couldn’t really control the car. However, after I became adjusted to this it went from a negative to a positive. It creates a cockpit feel inside so once I got settled in; I felt more in tune with the car than if it were more open. In addition it makes driving it more fun because I felt much more engaged with every turn, acceleration and deceleration. Overall both cars are well built, badass muscle machines and it makes me proud to know that Detroit can still throw down in the performance car game. I would gladly take either of these cars, but based off personal experience, the Camaro comes first.

Now I’m not sure which car has more pull, the Camaro or the Mustang, but they both have enough grunt to shove you back into the seat even when you’re already doing 70 mph on the highway. There were a couple times when it took off faster than I expected it to and nearly scared me when I realized how fast I was actually going. By the numbers, the Camaro has a slight edge on the Mustang in power and acceleration, but a big factor for me is just that the Camaro looks better than the Mustang. I’m not exactly wild about the current styling of the Mustang, I don’t hate it but I think it could have been done better. However the Camaro is great looking. I feel like its bolder and more overstated than the Mustang and in the right color will command anyone’s attention driving down the road (not to mention you can’t go wrong with styling cues from a 1969 Camaro).

7/27/10

Today I'm going to give you all list of 5 simple things you can do to give your car a good custom look. Most of these are things you probably already know about and maybe even have on your car, but for those of you that don't know and need some direction to start customizing your car, pay attention.

Lowering: With the exception of giant trucks, I think pretty much everything looks better with a lower stance. It automatically makes it look more aggresive and track or show ready. I've always found it odd that I like low cars, given that with my size (6'7") they're a pain to get in and out of. Yet, the look and feel of a car thats just a few mere inches of the ground can't be beat.

Rims and tires: This is an obvious one for most and also the easiest way to set a car apart. However it's also the part that people screw up the most. What I can't stand to see, for example, is some guy in a Range Rover rocking some 20's wrapped in super low profile tires or a lifted truck on stock size wheels. The wheel well is so big that it dwarfs that small rim and tire combo making it look stupid. So not only is rim size important, but tire size too. It varies by vehicle, but for a good look (unless you have a lifted truck) the wheel well should be filled up almost all the way, if not more, by the wheel and tire. Another way this problem can be solved is by lowering I have tons more to say on the subject of picking the right rim style for your vehicle, but I'll save that for another post

.

Tinted windows: Another easy modification and popular one. I feel that people underestimate the effect tinted windows can have. Take my Impala for example, for 2 years I had no tint on it and it looked pretty good. I would get compliments occasionally, but it was still missing something big. Recently I had it tinted 10% all the way around and it makes a huge difference. It brought together the other exterior modifications I have on it, but didn't take away from them. Window tinting is something that isn't going to be standout feature on you're car, but it will compliment every other feature on the exterior by drawing your eye away from anything going on in the interior since you can't see it.

Clear corner/turn signal and side marker lamps: Bottom line, I hate amber lenses. They're ugly and screw up the color coordination on a car. How many times have you seen someone who spent tons of money to have their rims and trim color matched to their car but left those ugly amber lights there? It happens to often. Clear replacement lenses are usually pretty cheap and gives it an understated custom look. Most passerbys might think "for some reason that car looks better than other ones I've seen but I can't figure out why" because it's a subtle touch that you don't immidiatley notice, but I think it makes a world of difference. If your going to shell out some time and/or money in dressing up your exterior, it's worth it to hope on ebay and get some clear replacements for your crappy looking amber lenses.

Mesh or billet grille: It's a pretty simple way to set apart your front end from stock, and there are numerous options available in styles and finishes. I'm rather partical to the mesh or horizontal billet because it gives you a nice, clean look. Some of the finer mesh styles I like even more because you get that racing, agressive look that gives your car a "dont mess with me" kind of face. I'm not a fan of the wild tribal or flame designs you see on some pickups and SUV's. To me thats just tacky and doesn't do anything except reduce the amount of air flowing to your radiator.

So thats 5 easy and simple modifications that most people can do. If you have any questions about them or suggestions as well drop me a line at Chris@cagmotors.com, or on either Facebook or Twitter.

7/25/10

What defines a custom car? You can go and google it right now and see what wikipedia says, but it's wrong. Seriously? There are only 2 ways a car can be considered a custom, Wikipedia? Someone please do me a favor and fix that because it's wrong.

Plain and simple, a custom car is one thats made to be different from all the other cars on the road by the owner, not the factory. For example, it could be something as small as doing an aftermarket grill, clear corner lights and rims or as big as chopping, sectioning, engine swapping and fabricating new parts. Bottom line for me is this: a custom car reflects that the owner put some effort into making their car more distinct than all the other ones out there on the road. I take a great deal of pride in pulling up next to another 94-96 Impala SS at a stoplight and knowing that my cars not the same as his. I've done things to mine that he hasn't done to his and vice versa (but mines usually the better one). My cars are a reflection of myself, and I'm sure many of you feel the same way about your cars if you're reading this, so you understand not wanting to blend in and be one of the crowd.

I love when I see people turning their heads or pointing at my car and leaning over to their friend and saying something. It tells me that I've accomplished my goal and that my car stands out.

Now there are different styles for everyone, and to each their own. Different people have different tastes for what they like to do to their cars (however if you scroll down to my June 13 post, you'll see that some of those things are unforgiveable crimes against human and car kind). So I could probably spend another 5 hours writing about different styles and what I like, but that might be boring. So I'll wrap it up for today, but check back tomorrow because I may do a limited (and I stress limited because I could go on for days about custom car trends. Seriously, ask my friends and family, they'll look you in the eye and say its absolutely true) post on what some of my favorite styles and mods are.

7/21/10

Being that amongst my friends I'm the resident car guy, I frequently get asked "whats your favorite car?" or "what do you think of this car?" Bottom line is I've never had one favorite car, one clear cut winner that I say "I want it more than any other car in the world." So today I'm just going to do a rundown of my top 10 most wanted. Keep in mind that this is in no specific order, and the position on the list doesnt hold bearing on where it stands with me relative to the other cars.

1. 1969 Dodge Charger: Big, bold and to me, one of the most iconic muscle cars of the 60's. This thing screams burnouts and donuts.

2. 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air 2 door: Big fins and acres of chrome, whats not to love? Also a great base to start out with for a clean resto-mod.

3. 1996 Chevrolet Impala SS: Go ahead and call me out on this because I already own one, but it's an afforadable modern day muscle car with good looks and plenty of room.

4. 2010 Cadillac CTS-V: Possibly the most beastly sedan being produced today. 556hp, rear wheel drive, manual transmission and a Cadillac badge? Sign me up.

5. 1970 Cadillac Coupe Deville: I had one as my first car, tried to fix it up and failed miserably. Ever since then I've wanted redemption.....and I'll get it.

6. 2010 GMC Sierra Denali: Big truck, big engine, sleek look. I'll take mine with a 2"/3" drop with 24's and tints

7.Armored Military Humvee: Why an armored military one over a regular H1? Go figure. I just want a truck that I could drive around knowing I could take an RPG or IED blast and walk away in tact. Also would be great for tailgating Prius' going 50mph on the freeway

8. 1964 Impala 2 door hardtop: Classic and classy, incredibly popular platform for lowriders and custom builds. I think I'll go with candy blue body, pearl white top, matching interior and 20" Torque Thrust wheels

9. 2005 Silverado SS: Again, one that you could call me out on for having already, but I seriously don't care. These trucks are flat out badass and haul ass (as well as other practical things, unlike a F-150 Lighting or Ram SRT-10).

10. 1966 Lincoln Continental 4 door hardtop: If you read my blog regularly, I shouldn't have to explain this. If you don't, then scroll down to my June 7th post.

7/18/10

A couple days ago I was presented with the chance to drive a brand new Mustang GT with the revitalized 5.0 engine. All I can say is job well done Ford, you've managed to make a lifelong, diehard Chevy guy want to buy your product. This thing just pulls and pulls all day; you put the pedal down and you just go. The throttle responsiveness was tight as well as the steering and the car had a real solid feel to it. After only 10 minutes in it I felt so comfortable in it that I almost forgot it wasn't my car. I also can't go without mentioning the sound from the engine, it wouldn't be right of me. The exhaust note on this car is amazing, simply put. It's aggressive and deep so when you get on it, its like it tells you, "hold on, I'm about to pin your ass to the seat. Just keep me pointed in the right direction."

The only major complaint I have about the car (other than the "grabber blue" paint color. Side note: I know its a retro color, but sometimes theres a good reason it's retro and they stopped doing it at some point) is the shifting on the transmission. The car I drove was a 6 speed manual (it should be a crime to buy a car like this with an auto), but the shift lever required a good amount of force to go from gear to gear and felt slightly clunky. For the most part it didn't have a huge impact unless you shift fast, in which it feels more likely that you might miss the shift

Not the actualy car I drove, but the same color

Overall kudos Ford. I love you for making such an awesome car, but I hate you for making one that almost ...MIGHT.... be better than (seriously this is going to hurt me as a chevy guy)...the Camaro

7/10/10

As promised, I'm posting today about what I think is a better solution in the short term than hybrids. Some of you may agree with me, some may not and some probably just won't care. So for those of you that don't care, I don't care that you don't care.

I think what needs to be pushed in America is clean diesel technology. Diesels have come a long way since their noisy and odorous creation and can help be part of a solution to reliance on oil and reducing emmissions. Most diesel vehicles in America today are commercial trucks and trains with large displacement engines designed to be work horses of transportation. But we're starting to see an increasing number of diesel powered consumer cars come over from Europe where they're already in wide use.

The advantages of diesel are plentiful. For one, a higher compression ration is required for diesel fuel so not only do they have potential to make more mechanical energy, but they must be constructed better as well to withstand the pressure. This is why it's not uncommon to see diesel vehicles running well in excess of 250,000 miles on their odometers.

Also, the advancements of emmissions controls and technology allow for manufactures to significantly reduce the output of harmful toxins into the air, specifically sulfer. In addition with, oil refineries developing diesel fuel with lower sulfer content and emmissions management systems like Mercedes' BlueTec, they're only going to get cleaner.

And if you're worried about power outputs and performance, don't be. Diesels are known for being able to create monsterous amounts of torque due to the high compression, sometimes reducing the need for big horsepower numbers. However if one would want to, diesel performance can easily be increase through minor modifications. It's not uncommon to run across someone with a Cummins powered Dodge or Duramax Chevy thats putting out 600+ hp.

Power aside, fuel effieceny on diesel cars is pretty good. You've probably seen the commercial for the Jetta TDI with them claming it gets 50 mpg, but have you heard about the VW Polo which can get up to 74 mpg? The potential for development and effieceny is there and America needs to start pushing for more diesel technology.

But don't get me wrong, I still love the smell of unburned gasoline flying out of the tailpipe of a 454 Chevy big block. And you don't get that same sound from a diesel either, but not everyone enjoys that like I do. So heres my final argument for the diehard, gas burning gear heads: According to the EPA, if 33% of American drivers switched to diesel, we would use 1.5 million barrels of oil less per day, cutting down the cost of gas. So not only is there more gas for us to use, but it's cheaper as well. And if that doesnt convince you, then maybe this can...

P.S. All the facts I stated can be found Here, in Popular Mechanics

7/9/10

It's about time I addressed something that I rant about all the time, Hybrid cars. They're just a bad trend by automakers, sold to the public through marketing campaigns that take advantage of peoples ignorance of cars and convince them that hyrbids part of the solution to global warming (note: I'm not going to discuss my views on global warming. I don't blog about the weather and I doubt you would want to hear my ramble about it).

Lets break this down using the hybrid everyone knows, the Toyota Prius. For startes, the material for the nickle-metal hydride batteries is mined in North America, then shipped to Europe for processing, next its shipped over to Japan to be put into the cars then finally back to America as a finished product. Now thats a lot of shipping to make just one part of the car. In addition, I've read, but can't confirm that the batterys don't contain any toxins that would be harmful to the environment if disposed of improperly, yet I have a hard time believing that (if you know if this is true or not, please enlighten me, I really do want to know).

Manufacturing aspects aside, the Prius doesnt even make that much sense economically. There are other cars out there that achieve high 30's to low 40's in mileage that arent hyrbids that are actually cheaper. It would take well beyond the useful life of the car to be able to pay for itself in terms fuel savings.

So all this ranting and whats my point? Hybrids are not the solution. The have a social stigma as being both environmentally friendly and economical when really the majority of them aren't. Most people end up buying them just because they want to show other people that they care about the environment or how theyre a progressive thinker. I could go on probalby for the next three days about this, but I think this clip from South Park really sums up what I'm trying to say.

P.S. Check back tomorrow for my post on better alternatives to hybrids for clean engery transportation

7/2/10

Today is a bittersweet day for me, and many other car enthusiasts as well. Today, the last Dodge Viper rolled off the production line, and in tribute, I dedicate todays entry to it. It would be a crime to not pay tribute to the car thats thousands of bedroom walls in poster form, being the "someday it will be mine" dream of thousands (myself included)

What started off as a concept to create a modern Shelby Daytona, evolved into one of the greatest halo cars of our lifetime. The project started in 1988 with concepts and designs, eventually getting the green light for production from Lee Iaccoca in 1990. By 1992, the first Vipers were rolling off the production line equipped with a 400 hp V10 and 6 speed manual transmission. In 1996 the car saw its first changes in adding a GTS coupe to the lineup in addition to the R/T 10. Horsepower was bumped up to 415 and weight was down by about 650lbs.

The Viper saw its first major redesign in 2003, dropping the R/T 10 and GTS nameplates and picking up the SRT-10 name. Horsepower was a whopping 510, which was enough to drive it from 0-60 in 3.8 seconds. The SRT-10 nameplate lasted until today, but the car was again redesigned in 2008 and this time Dodge was playing with some serious firepower. They upped the engine to an unheard of 600hp and 560 ft/lb of torque in order to compete with Chevy's forthcoming ZR1 Corvette.

Over the years there have been several special editions and variants and such, but they have all stayed true to the intial concept of the Viper, build a kick the crap out of you, balls to the wall sports car. To me, the Viper is the epitome of a drivers car because you have to be a skilled driver to handle one at it's limits. Raw and brutal, there's really no place left for creature comforts in this machine.

Although it's sad to see this grandiose beast go out to pasture, 18 years is a hell of a run considering this isn't anything the average consumer would be able to afford or drive on a daily basis. But it makes me wonder, what's to become of the other over the top, obnoxiously awesome cars out there? Could this be the first of many exotic V10 and V12's to get the ax? With Mercedes planning on dropping V12's from their line up and many other manufacturers going with twin turbos and smaller displacements, we could be seeing the start to the end of the big, exotic, multicylinder high performance motors. Although my sensible adult side understands the practicality of it, my inner child keeps jumping up and down and saying "bigger, bigger, faster faster!"

All that being said, I want to salute Dodge and the Viper for providing a dream and object of lust for thousands if not millions of little kids out there growing up. I had the Viper poster right up there next to the Lamborghini Diablo VT and 1967 Shelby Mustang GT500. Dodge announced a replacement car will come in 2012, but its not clear if it will be under the Viper name or not. Either way, thank you Viper for being Americas most kickass car for the past 18 years. You will forever be a part of my childhood and my America.

7/1/10

I'm a little excited today about what I have for you all. While at work today(unfortunantly blogging doesn't pay all the bills so I do have other jobs), I had the blessing to be in the presence of not one, but two Cadillac CTS-V coupes. These cars aren't even on the road yet and won't be for the next couple months at least. The two that came in today were both most likely pre production cars but still very impressive. The fit and finish quailty is the same high standard as that of the CTS-V sedan and packs the potent 556hp LS-A V8 engine underneath the hood.

Being that I love muscle cars and my favorite car brand is Cadillac (the first couple cars I ever had were classic Cadillacs), these cars are basically heaven in car form. You can have your M5's, E63's even M6's, I'll take a CTS-V and the only looking back I would do is in the rear view mirror to see how far back the competition is. This is the car I've been waiting for an American company to make for years now. Yes, I understand the CTS has alot of ties to Europe in terms of its engineering, but the spirit of the V series is pure American. A good, aggressive looking car with a big, kick ass V8, manual transmission and rear wheel drive all under an iconic American name? Sounds like an American muscle car to me.

I may be a little fanatical about this car, but hot damn it gets me going. Besides, I can't think of a better way to ring in the fourth of July than some tire shredding American muscle. And on that note of patriotism, I'll leave you all with a bizzare, yet awesome commercial from Dodge

6/22/10

So i dont really have any specific update today, the ideas arent flowing like they are normally, but I still want to give you all something to read at least. So how about I just give you all an update on how I'm doing. Recently my 1996 Impala started having trouble with the airbags...again (side note: dont ever put airride on your daily driver, in theory it sounds cool but much like communism, it doesnt work very well in reality). I track down a shop not too far away from me that specializes airride installs and me being stubborn and unwilling to pay for a tow, decides to drive it there thinking I can make it on a slow leaking bag. Turns out that the bag leak decided it wanted to be a big leak instead of a small one that day and I ended up stranded halfway between my house and the shop, resulting in a sizeable tow bill.
So as a type now, the cars sitting in the shop waiting for the parts to come in and get fixed and man do I miss it. I've been driving around my S500 to commute and such but theres something about my Impala that inexplicably makes me want to sit in rush hour traffic in it over a nice, posh mercedes.
On the note of the Mercedes, as many of you know, I have been trying to sell it for awhile now but it hasnt gone too well. At one point I was about to trade it straight across for a BMW 740iL until I scanned the trouble codes on it and they showed it would need some major transmission repairs. So I still have it, and the longer I have it, the more I become emotionally attached to it, making it even harder to want to part with. Ultimately I would rather have my Impala fixed and running right but everytime I look at the Mercedes I grow more fond of it (which is strange for me because all my life I never gave two looks to a foreign luxo land yacht and was focused on American muscle).
I almost feel as if I'm betraying my muscle car roots, but I plan to make it up to myself. In the near future I decided that I'm going to get either a 1966 Lincoln Continental 4 door hardtop, a 1969 Dodge Charger or possibly a 1957 Chevy Bel Air 2 door.
Next time I promise to have some more ideas flowing, but if theres any topics you want me to write about specifically feel free to drop me a line by email, twitter or facebook.

6/13/10

 And for the finale for today, Ipresent to you the Bertone Mantide: the second worse use of a Corvette I've ever seen (scroll up for the first). What started as a kicking ass and taking names 'Vette ZR1 was turned into quite possibly one of the ugliest "supercars" out there. Combine that with a price tag of a whopping $2,000,000 (yes thats two million) you get a synergy of stupidity and ugly. Looking at the outside of this car I literally see nothing I like. Everything clashses and looks like someone tried to modernize an 80's concept car. I can't help but feel sorrow when I look at it and know what it used to be before it was horribly disfigured by a bunch of rich guys with no sense of automotive style or class.

6/7/10

So it's been a little too long since my last post, but I'm in the process of moving houses and throughout this whole transition I haven't even opened up my laptop. So today I'm going to make a quick post and hopefully I'll get everything back to normal in the next day.

So without further delay, today's car is one of the most bad ass, gangster rides I have ever seen, A Lincoln Continental built by the dons of Lincolns at Mobsteel in Detroit, MI. Since there's no official description on the car, I'm guessing that it's either a 1966 or 1967 (judging by the taillights and the grill), but since nothing appears to be stock on this car there's no way to know for sure just by looking at the picture.

The '66 Continental is one of my personal favorites, and those who know me know I'm a sucker for my big gangster cars. And this car might have me being close to the biggest sucker in the world right now. These guys bring a whole new definition to the "murdered out" style (for those that don't know, that's making near everything black). Literally everything on this car is black except the rims. I don't know how you would be able to find this car at night if your not on a well lit street. The whole car has a very clean and smooth look with all but one emblem on each fender being removed. Overall I like this car, but it's almost too much on the black for me. I would have left all the window trim chrome as well as the front grill. However I do get that the overall theme of the car draws your attention to the quality of paint work and the body modifications. Having copious amounts of chrome on the car could potentially take away from that. The only chrome on the car is the lips of the rims, but I'm having mixed feelings about the gray faces of the rims.

Like I said, overall I love this car. It's big, It's black and it's oh so gangster. Tip of the hat to the guys up at Mobsteel, keep building 'em like this

5/29/10

It's no secret that when Chevrolet unveiled the new Camaro, they would have a hit design. When the cars finally hit the showroom floors, customers rushed to snatch them up before they could even get off the truck. I've even seen people that know absolutely nothing about cars and typically don't care about them go crazy for this car. "I don't know anything about it, I think it's a Chevy? All I know is that it looks awesome and I want it." That's a direct quote from a friend who is was talking to about it. So most would agree that Chevy did a good job modernizing and restoring a classic name. So how do you improve upon that? Hennessey Performance of Texas had a few ideas.

They call this one the HPE 700 Camaro, the 700 designating the horsepower output of the car. They offer a wide variant of power ranges to choose from, ranging from a "mild" 475 hp on up to a mind blowing, white knuckled balls out 1000 hp for those customers who may have a death wish (or just want a steroid infused burnout machine).

What I like about this car is that Hennessey did the most obvious thing to improve the car by stuffing it with the biggest, baddest motor currently available from Chevrolet, the LS9. From there they built it up with a multitude of goodies including stainless steel headers, heavy duty clutch and flywheel, numerous suspension components and brake upgrades. After all is said and done, Hennessey claims this car will pull 0-60 in 3.5 seconds and an 11.3 second quarter mile time at 126 mph.

All that performance is astonishing, but I feel that the exterior effects could have been improved more so than are. The wheels fit well, giving it good road course racer look, but my preference would be to go with something more muscular/updated classic look (something along the lines of this).  I also feel the ground effects kit could have been more aggressive in design, with more sharp angles and a more aggressive lower grill opening.

All in all this is an awesome car, and I give it my two thumbs up. It's no secret that I love my powerful American muscle cars and this doesn't disappoint. For the lucky few that can get their hands on these, kudos to you and drive it like you stole it. And for those of us who aren't as lucky, here's something to help us keep dreaming.

5/22/10

In 1958 Ferruccio Lamborghini purchased his first Ferrari, a 250GT. 5 years later he founded Automobili Lamborghini and changed the super car world forever. Their first big hit came in 1966 with the Miura which is still today regarded as one of the most beautiful automotive designs in history. As time went on, Lamborghini's company began to struggle and endured years of hardships and ownership change up until 1994 when the company was sold to Audi. Today Lamborghini is synonamous with high performance, craftsmanship and exclusiveness and many people only dream of being able to take a ride in one, let alone own one.

So what's the purpose of this little trip down history lane? I just wanted to give you a little background before getting into today's car, a 2004 Lamborghini Gallardo.

Now this is now ordinary Gallardo, and I'm lucky enough to have worked with this car back when I was working in custom paint and collision repair. Built by Car Nutz Customz in Bellevue, WA (15 minutes east of Seattle), this car features a full carbon fiber Mira Corsa body kit, color matched Zenetti wheels and custom suede and leather interior. When it first hit the scene, it was dominating the magazines and show circuit. No one had seen a Lambo quite like this one. The aftermarket work is actually very impressive and high quality, they didn't take any shortcuts or spare any expenses and it shows. Like I said, I've had the opportunity to work with this car up close and personal and it's a fine piece of machinery. One of my favorite things about it was the aftermarket exhaust. This thing is so loud that when it fires up, you could probably hear it two counties over, and when its reved up high enough it actually shoots flames out the tail pipe (no flame thrower kit). It's pretty bad ass. As nice as this car is, I have to say I'm not a fan of those rims or the excessive carbon fiber. If it were my car to do (and I highly stress the IF part, hopefully someday all our dreams will come true) I definitely would have gone with a different style wheel, one that doesn't make the car look so bubblish and accents the sharper angles of the car rather than the rounded ones. I also would have gone with a polished aluminum face with the inside of the spokes color matched to the car rather than the black chromatic paint with blue accents. However the black plays well with the heavy use of carbon fiber, but since I would change that as well I feel black would be out of place. I get that the new trend in custom cars is carbon fiber, and using it as much as possible. And I admit it can look good...when used appropriately. I don't like it when people plaster their cars with as much unpainted carbon fiber as possible, to me it looks tacky. I do like the accents on the bottom of the front bumper and the wing (it helps that they dusted it with blue flake), but the side scoops and rocker trim are too much. It breaks up the flow of the car and takes away from the cleanliness of the overall design. Going into the interior, again some carbon fiber accents can do wonders in making a car look good, and I think this is where they decided to use that moderation. Again, the craftsmanship is great and I feel it's fairly tasteful (although I'm sure many will disagree with the gratuitous use of blue suede. I admit it looks like they skinned an entire smurf village to make this interior). I like the blue/tan combo, but I feel this car really could have stood out more if it had some brushed aluminum accents instead of plastics or carbon fiber. All in all its an awesome car and seeing it in person makes your jaw drop. I know recently that it was sold at Park Place Ltd in Bellevue, WA, so if your ever in that area keep your eyes out for it (although your guaranteed to hear it first).

I've been working on my 1967 Plymouth barracuda convertible lately. It's been a difficult process so far, nothing is going easy and it doesn't look like it's going to get any better. Some of the parts for this thing are near impossible to find but that doesn't stop me from trying. I've recently been looking at just sending it to a hot rod shop just to finish it, but I don't exactly want to dump a ton more money into a car I know I won't get it back on. I probably never should have taken this project on in the first place but there's nothing I can do about it now. Anyways I'm sure all my doubts and woes will go away when I actually get it done and can enjoy it. I forgot to mention I've been going through all this while I'm sick, maybe the car's to blame, I would sell it off as is for the right price, but I can't realistically expect to get what I want when the car is in the condition it's in. Anyways, that's it for now, check back later for more