This Rossion Q1 and Ferrari 458 Spider were just the tip of the iceberg of awesome cars at the meet.
We were in attendance for the Bucks County Exotics meet last Saturday morning. I had a bit of an unexpected late night the previous evening, so it took everything I could muster to climb out of bed and drive over to Doylestown, PA for the meet. It is a cars and coffee style event, and many great cars show up each time, everything from hot rods to classics to supercars. Bucks County is a great area to enjoy driving fun cars, with lots of winding back roads cutting through the woods, and lots of scenic destinations to visit. It also happens to be a pretty affluent area, so everything seems to add up nicely to make an event like the Bucks County Exotics car meet possible.
Nick was far too busy photographing a nifty Volkswagen parked at the back of the show to take fair notice of something that was even cooler just next to it. This custom pickup truck is too insane for words. The frame is out of Toyota Pickup, the engine is a Chevrolet LT-1 V8 from the early Nineties, and the interior is completely custom-made, with a No Smoking sign forming the backdrop panel for the radio and a custom instrument panel. Meanwhile, the body is a cream-and-brown 1954 Dodge stepside regular cab, and the entire thing is fitted with an adjustable air suspension. I spoke to some buddies of the owner who said that some passerby snickered and said “What’s this doing here?”, smirking the entire time. In my opinion, the joke is on them–this is one of the coolest customs I’ve ever seen and absolutely belonged in the show. Note some of the more quirky touches, such as the set of ratchet wrenches standing in for a gas pedal and a sculptured middle finger in place of a rear view mirror. All in all, this custom pickup truck at the Festivals of Speed is one of the coolest customs I’ve ever seen. Enjoy the photos.
We saw this hot rodded Cadillac Lasalle Scraper in Carmel during the Tour d’Elegance. Hoards of people came to see the Concours cars drive into Pebble Beach, and this gem was parked off on one of the side streets. Other than the owner dubbing it “Low Salle”, I don’t know any details on this Lasalle gone Bad (yes, with a capital B). I just love the quality of the workmanship though, and the whole idea of taking a well-mannered luxury car and turning it into a “Bad Mofo” is extremely appealing to me. Enjoy the pics.
Drive’s Mike Musto takes out one extremely mean ’31 Ford. I just love rat rods like this because they embody everything that is fun about cars…. breaking the rules. Enjoy.
Yes, this is a little BMW Isetta 600 with a supercharged V8 strapped to the back of it. I saw this car a few times over the course of my summer in Detroit, Michigan, and it was a showstopper every time. I finally caught up with the owner at the Woodward Dream Cruise, and he was hppy to tell me about the car. From what I can remember it has a supercharged Rover V8 and puts down around 300rwhp. That is a staggering amount for such a small car, and even more staggering for those tiny tires. The owner said he doesn’t really drive it fast because it cannot handle well with all that rearward weight, but as a cruiser it turns more heads than anything on the road. Obviously this BMW hot rod is completely unique, with custom airbrushing on top of its custom mechanical setup. This is just a fun car all around, and it was awesome to see in person. Enjoy the gallery.
Sh’Boom is definitely the coolest Hot Rod I’ve ever seen, and that is largely because of its flamethrowers you see here. I posted a whole gallery of photos I took of the car during a cruise night, but during the Woodward Dream Cruise it put on a real show for the crowd. It was cruising along slowly, with flames continuously spewing from the tailpipes for at least 3/4 of a mile. The streets were lined with thousands of people, and I could hear loud cheers erupt from the crowds as the car drove down the road. It was an incredible moment to behold. The effect Sh’boom has on people is astounding, definitely a car that will make your day. I just found these photos while digging through the albums from my summer in Detroit, MI, and I needed to share them. I am also going to add them to the previous Sh’boom gallery, so if you haven’t see those pics yet, check them out. Enjoy
This epic Ford rat rod was at the Scarsdale Concours d’ Elegance. It was very well done, with a brutal supercharged V8 powering it. One has to wonder why someone would give it all that power with such skinny rear tires, but hey, it sure caused a scene amongst high society. This glorious rat rod stood in stark contrast to the high dollar luxury cars that filled the streets that day. It was a big calloused middle finger to the Rolls Royce crowd, with their pocket watches, and yippy appetizer dogs. This thing added a bit of flavor to this year’s event that is not normally present at a Concours, and for that I loved it. This is one of the coolest rat rods I have ever seen, the supercharged V8, the red wheels on whitewall tires, everything about it screamed “F**k you society!”. And at the end of the day, that is what a rat rod is supposed to say, so it is quite proper. Enjoy the pics. Continue reading Scarsdale Concours d’ Elegance: Ford Rat Rod→
This custom International Harvester truck was at the cruise night in in Hopewell, NJ a few months ago. I must admit that I don’t know much about these trucks except that they are quite rare at this point. This particular truck has obviously been slammed and customized, with pure badassary seeping from every nook and cranny. Enjoy.
It takes a special sort of car to pull off the color purple, and this does it as well as any of them. This beautiful Mercury custom was sitting at the Burger King on Woodward Ave during the Dream Cruise this summer. I am a huge fan of this type of car, so I am happy to add this to the features we have done on Sh’Boom and others. I wasn’t able to talk to the owner of this car so I really don’t know anything about it. I sure enjoyed seeing it though. Enjoy.
Every dad dreads the day that some other man will come to pick up his daughter for the first time. Now usually a guy in a Mustang is bad news, but if he rolls up in this thing then a father’s worst nightmare has become a reality. This 1930 Ford has obviously had a lot of custom work done, slamming it to within a few millimeters of the pavement, but it has retained its original body and frame from the Prohibition Era. Powering this ominous carriage is a 302ci Ford V8 with an Offenhauzer intake, and with those short, terminating headers it makes quite a racket. This is a really badass car, one that draws attention in any crowd of cars. Its edges are rough as hell, but there aren’t too many cars out there with more in the way of character and personality. Here comes Trouble!!! Continue reading Spotted! ’30 Ford Rat Rod, Woodward Ave, MI→
This incredible rat rodded Beetle was out for the Woodward Dream Cruise in Michigan. It is an entirely custom built car with the engine actually hanging off the back. I have seen many customized air-cooled Beetles over the years, but nothing quite like this car. One really cool feature is the car’s shift lever, which is actually a titanium hip replacement that has been repurposed for changing gears. I was assured the artificial hip was not a used part, but one of those usually costs around $14,000 when being used for medical purposes. Among the thousands of cool cars in the area during the Cruise, this Beetle was one of the ones that stood out the most to me. This is a very different kind of slammed car for the Volkswagen community. Enjoy the gallery.
Mind Over Motor 