Another week, another Larz Anderson Museum of Transportation Lawn Event. This week’s theme was British Cars, or British-y if you include the new Mini Cooper and the few models with American iron under their bonnets. Below is a gallery of the dreadful beautiful British machinery, which filled the brisk Brookline air with the scent of burned oil leather.
In the early 1990s my stepfather was operating a car service company in northern New Jersey. The fleet of Lincoln Town Cars would chauffer businessmen between fancy suburbs and the three area airports. To the teenage me, there always seemed to be a Town Car around in need of cleaning or a transmission replacement.
Ford has recently announced that they would be discontinuing the Panther platform on which the Town Car, Grand Marquis, and Crown Victoria are based. Normally I would have no issue with a car manufacturer killing off such dinosaur, after all these are heavy, inefficient, and essentially non-upgradeable vehicles. … Continue Reading
In November of 2009, Kia announced in a press conference at the SEMA Show that, in conjunction with Kinetic Motorsport of Atlanta, GA, they would enter competition in the 2010 season of the Grand Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Street Tuner class. Within three months, Kia and Kinetic had a brand new Forte Koup on track competing against Honda’s Civic Si, Mazda’s 3 and MX-5, and MINI Coopers. In the third race of the 2011 they came away with their first victory.
![5152 500x800 image Remote Start and Manual Transmission [with VIDEO]](http://www.carguydad.com/wp-content/gallery/misc-2/image.jpg "RX-7 Corvette swap")
This was a very nice Mazda RX-7. The rotary engine was replaced by a the amazing LS6 from the Corvette Z06 and the 6-speed transmission to go along with it. With wide fenders and what looks like a nice overall shape, it all probably added up to tens of thousandths of dollars in work. Also installed was a remote start which seemed to have malfunctioned, sending the car off into the water, but not before it hit two motorcycles and another car.
Details, pics and VIDEO after jump
Before getting the turbocharged E34 535i to the start of One Lap in Indiana, Justin Kababik and Baer Connard wanted to make sure that everything was working properly and the car was race-ready. Needless to say, things were not perfect. Here is a day-by-day rundown of the week prior to the start of the race.
Shake down test at Lime Rock Park. Not since 2001 has RedFive made it back from the track under its own power, so these were trying times. RedFive performed very well however. Sure, there were minor issues such as vacuum hoses popping off, or brakes which didn’t work too good, or the occasional disappearance of coolant (more on both of these later). The great news was that handling was sharp and neutral, and despite not getting all 17psi of boost every time the throttle was applied, the acceleration was great. … Continue Reading
The month of May is almost upon us and motorsports are in full swing. In an effort to provide better understanding of the various forms of road racing in North America and the world we have brought you the Complete Guide to American Le Mans Series, the Complete Guide to the Indycar Series, and Grand Am Rolex Sports Car Series. We now look at the Grand Am Continental Tire Sport Car Challenge.
Inspired by the epic battles of the Trans Am series competitors of the 1960’s and 70’s, … Continue Reading
Having a project car means having a to-do list. Having a project car which is also a racecar means having a to-do list with a deadline. If your project is not completed well in advance of the race, you’re not racing, it’s that simple. Redfive Turbo E34 is no exception and with the start of One Lap of America at the end of the month, that deadline and that to-do list are butting heads.
When looking to buy just about anything these days, internet is the way to go. Internet is Winning! Internet has only one speed – GO! Except when it comes to shopping for cars… well, in that case the internet is losing. Allow me to explain.
There are about a dozen big car websites that advertise new and used cars. If you are looking for a particular model of a certain era, all you have to do is plug in your data and bam, you get the results. Sort of. You get 400 cars with prices ranging from almost nothing (scam!) to ridiculously high (certified, inspected, loved, with free coffee). And then you have to repeat that same procedure eleven more times and obtain the same results. In addition you still don’t know the going market value is. Well, now there is a better way…
One Lap of America is an eight-day driving endurance race created by Brock Yates. Reading this you probably already know that it started as free-for-all run from New York City to Redondo Beach, California in the 1970’s and inspired a handful of movies. You also probably know that these days it is a more disciplined event where racing takes place on tracks and public roads are used only as means of getting form one location to the next.
Much like me, at one point you probably also wanted to enter One Lap of America. You are still confident that your mad driving skillz and even madder car tuning, modification, and repair skillz would totally pwn all those suckas and their jalopies. Right.
Talk is cheap for Justin Kababik, who in 2000 entered his first One Lap with a stock-ish ’89 BMW 535i. He loved the event so much that he entered again One Lap again in 2001 and 2002, each time modifying his 535i accordingly for faster lap times. Sadly the M30 motor did not like the pressurized air much and blew up on the first lap of the first event in 2002. D’oh!
Little Formula 1 car made out of chocolate? Indeed. Yummy dark chocolate to be precise.
Christmas is a few days away and if you have not got your shopping done yet then you are pretty much screwed. Hopefully your kids and, more importantly, your significant other are taken care of. In between the cleaning, decorating, and other holiday preparation festivities you may have forgot one thing, yourself.
Seriously, you work your ass off, often unappreciated, why not get yourself a few cool toys you have always wanted? Yes, toys! Toys you have always wanted as a kid but for one reason or another never had due to lack of space or time or most likely money. And yes, you can justify this purchase as a way of bonding with your kids, even if they’re newborns. Get them started early.
This is the 2012 Ford Mustang Boss 302S. Ford unveiled the car at Performance Racing Industry (PRI) show in Orlando, where CarGuyDad friend, sometimes contributor, friend of Bill Bacon, and an all-around nice guy, Baer Connard was. Baer snapped some pictures at the show and I do believe that outside of the two photos supplied with the press release, these are the first live shots of the car. Enjoy. … Continue Reading
Midlife crisis – a term coined in 1965 by Elliott Jaques to describe a period of dramatic self-doubt that is felt by some individuals in the middle years of life, as a result of sensing the passing of their own youth and imminence of their old age. (Wikipedia)
But, it can’t be! I’m far too young to have a midlife crisis. And, besides, this was not a rash decision. I have been slowly working towards this goal for close to five years, now. So, let’s call it a 1/3 life crisis. That may be presumptuous, claiming that I will live to the ripe old age of 117, but no matter how you add it up, I ain’t getting any younger, so it’s time to just do it.
And, what is it, you may ask? Why, it’s my very own racecar! Well, race car in a box might be a better way to say it. I had purchased a V8 Mercedes to run on the track for NASA HPDE 1 in the summer of 2011. However, as I gradually massaged the car into shape, two big problems began to rear their ugly heads: … Continue Reading
Wondering how to get your kids to help you shovel snow this winter? Tell them you’re going to go make a Ferrari out of snow! … Continue Reading
Today in our weekly (or whenever I get around to it) news update, we look at a happy Mazda, plan a tour of a GM factory, fail to understand MPG ratings of electric cars, and check out the updated Chrysler 300. Also, the Internet has voted and the results are in…
This is the first of three articles on Rally Racing. I intend to cover car set-ups, driver training, different classes, and whatever else I may come upon. This part will show a built of an Open Class rally car, which is …
I have recently had the opportunity to drive the new Jaguar XFR on the road and on a race track. With the XFR competing directly against the BMW M5, which I have also had the opportunity to drive on the track …
While you may have already read a thing or two about BMW’s new compression ignition offerings, you may not have heard all the details, and you may have some questions. I sure did, and I did my best to answer them …
French cars; some say they’re ugly, some say they’re beautiful, all agree that they’re unreliable. However, there is something about them that makes you want to look. These pictures were taken in March of 2007, my wife’s and mine last trip …
Do you think your ’02 Chevy Tahoe with 170k miles is at the end of its life? Try driving a ’55 Suburban that you inherited from you father. This is a gallery of car pictures from Cuba, where the only way …
Have you visited Hooniverse's Retro Tech site, AtomicToasters?