Clearly this just needed to be posted. It’s a PT Cruiser gone PT Bruiser!
We caught this at the last Hopewell Cruise Night, down the road from most of the action. There were a few other such vehicles with it, but the PT Cruiser has a place close to my heart… it was my first car in Gran Turismo 3 as a kid, mostly because I knew what it was at the time.
This thing is a beast!
-Nick
Not sure much else about the Morgan 3-Wheeler from this video because Matt Farah and Alex Roy were just giggling the whole time, but maybe that says all that needs to be said about this car.
All I know is, I want one….
-Nick
When I say Kammback, the Pontiac Firebird is not a car anyone thinks of. People will think of it if I say phrases like “Screaming Chicken”, “Mullet”, “Eighties”, and my personal favorite, “Drunk Teenager Crashed It Into a Telephone Pole”. Well, this one lacks the drunken teenager and the Screaming Chicken, but it makes up for it with much added Kammback style. Nick and Shane took one look at this thing and said “Albert, this one’s all yours.” I gladly obliged. Continue reading 1985 Pontiac Trans Am Kammback at the 2015 Concours of America
My brother Matt and his fiancee Rachel saw this parked in the fire department’s garage on Balboa Island, in Newport Beach. It’s a 1920 American LaFrance fire engine in absolutely beautiful condition. While it’s not up to the task of fighting fires anymore, this stunning fire engine is probably a massive hit with the little kids and kids at heart at every parade in town. Enjoy the photos. Continue reading 1920 American LaFrance Newport Beach Fire Engine spotted in Balboa Island, Newport Beach
At some Concours events, the most interesting cars might not be the ones I see as soon as I arrive. While traipsing past the back of the field right next to the astoundingly beautiful Hotel Hershey, I spotted this car, called the Farago. Its story is one for the ages. Continue reading 1969 Farago CF428 Coupe at the 2015 Elegance at Hershey
Anybody want to go fishing? Well, I’m no fisherman, but I think that with this thing, it’s be difficult to justify parking it near a dock–the metal’s so thin it might just rust within a foot of the ocean. This is a 1957 Mini Moke, but it’s not just any Moke–this one’s a beach car. When it comes to beach cars, I’m used to seeing Fiat 600s with basket-weave seats and doily trim hanging off the cloth roof. This is only the second Moke I’ve seen made into a beach car (the other one was at an auction near the Quail in August of last year). Continue reading 1957 Mini Moke at the 2015 Boca Raton Concours
Last year, a young man named Roman Grudinin brought with him a Lada to show at Greenwich and won the award for Best Special Interest Car. This year, yet another piece of Soviet iron took away the hardware–but this time, it did so in the lap of true Luxury (only with a capital L, for Lenin). Say hello to the ZiL 41045 limousine. ZiL was a company in the former USSR which mainly built trucks, but also made cars on the side for either the super rich or the ultimate in politicians (high ranking members of the Politburo, KGB, or the Premier himself). The 4104 series was made until the mid 1980s, and this particular model, a 41045 sedan, was the state vehicle of none other than Mikhail Gorbachev–the last General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
As a state vehicle, the ZiL had to look imposing–so it sports plenty of lights and probably the loudest siren I’ve heard in more than a decade (it nearly took my left eardrum out!). But, the engineers who worked on this car did not stop with just audio/visual cues. This thing weighs over four tons, stretches to over 20 feet long, and packs a 315hp, 7.7L V8 engine with a four-barrel carburetor. It’s not the Beast–but it looks plenty threatening. The doors are bulletproof, and the interior appointments would make a contemporary Rolls-Royce or Mercedes sweat in their moccasins–look at that thick-pile carpeting and puffy leather seats. For years, in the Communist world, all were created equal–but some were more equal than others, and for the most equal, the ZiL was the only mode of transport of the time. These cars were truly one-of-a-kind, and I do not believe that I’ll see another for quite some time. Enjoy the photos of this rarely-seen Russian state cruiser. Continue reading 1985 ZiL 41045 Limousine at the 2015 Greenwich Concours
Back in the mid 1970s, Cadillac was at the top of the throne in terms of American luxury, just before their kingdom crumbled to bits of rust, diesel engines, and Cimarrons. But before that, they were pretty much King Louis XIV. If you wanted a luxurious automobile with enough glitz to rival Las Vegas, Miami, and Hollywood combined, you spoke to your Cadillac guy. Here, Big Muscle host Mike Musto shows us something called the Cadillac Mirage, a converted Coupe DeVille with a pickup bed, and so much American schmaltz that I can’t help but wonder just who would buy something so insanely American. Wait a minute–I’m looking at myself. I’ll let the honorable Mr. Musto take it from here. Enjoy the video.
-Albert S. Davis
Tatras are machines of wonder and amazement, despite not being an exotic by definition. The rear-engined design dates back to the Great Depression, and they were quite radical. Eight cylinders mounted behind the rear axle, air-cooled, and styled as if in a wind tunnel, they were ahead of their time in a few ways. When the Nazis invaded the Czech Republic in the 1930s, production slowed until the war was over. Unfortunately, they were never sold in the USA–as the company produced cars from behind the Iron Curtain.
The 603 series was very popular with high-ranking officials in the USSR, and even Fidel Castro sported one (painted white, for some reason). They were sleek, had classy styling, and distinctly American motifs everywhere. Some of those motifs included contrasting roof/body color combinations (like the red and white on this particular example), lashings of chrome down the sides and around the windows, and heavy, chrome-plated bumpers. This particular car even included a bed, which could be set up by simply folding the front bench seat back. The general public was not able to purchase cars like this in the Soviet Union–these were reserved, similar to the GAZ Chaika, for high-ranking public officials and Communist Party members. This particular car hails from the Lane Motor Museum of Nashville, TN and was for exhibition only, but still looked stunning amongst its peers–as the Tatra model series was a feature at Pebble Beach last summer. Enjoy the photos. Continue reading 1958 Tatra 603 Aerodynamic Saloon at the 2014 Pebble Beach Concours
When it comes to the VW Beetle, I’m not the biggest fan in the world, but I tolerate them. Of course, one that’s been modified in some amusing way will keep my attention for a good amount longer. This little white Beetle had some turquoise tape stripes (clearly made of tape), cool Minilite-style wheels, and some writing on the back window. It’s nowhere near the caliber of any other car that I saw running around Carmel that evening, but this unique little Beetle (which has a “turbo” and “1000 Horsepower” according to the written notes on the back end) has a draw and a charm all its own. Continue reading 1973 Volkswagen Beetle #69 Spotted in Carmel, CA
When it comes to Fox Body Mustangs, most people think of the notchback Mustangs from the later era, along with stripped-out hatchbacks packing huge V8s (often with superchargers added in) screaming down the drag strip. They’re interesting cars for the era and are slowly becoming more appreciated in the Mustang community for plenty of reasons. However, this is no ordinary Fox. This Fox has been drinking steroids through an IV bag. Thanks to the McLaren body and success Ford had in racing the Mustang in the IMSA-GTO endurance class in the early Eighties, three street display cars resulted to advertise the new 5.0L V8 engine and a new set of Firestone tires. This is the second of just three built, and the only one remaining at this time. Although it’s not a normal car to see at a Concours event, it looked quite fitting on the bottom row of cars at Radnor last month, especially against the crystal-blue sky. Enjoy the photos. Continue reading 1980 Ford Mustang GT Enduro at the 2014 Radnor Hunt Concours
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fS6AXjNcTPU
When it comes to making lemons out of rotten lemons, Roadkill does quite a job. From supercharging a Chevy-powered Jaguar early on, to doing an engine swap on a ’68 El Camino in a parts-store parking lot in Reno, to dumping a motorhome-worn 440 Chrysler V8 into a rusted-out Dodge Charger shell, David Freiburger and Mike Finnegan work for Hot Rod Magazine and Subaru brought them a few Legacy sedans to compete against in three separate contests–a barrel race vs a beat-up Ford Ranchero, a rallycross race between a Legacy 3.6R and the “General Mayhem” (a beat-up 1968 Dodge Charger with a smog-choked 440 and worn-out axles), and a road race through an abandoned neighborhood against a turbocharged, Chevy V6-powered Datsun 240Z with more rust than sheet metal. I don’t want to reveal the ending–the video is worth watching. Go ahead, take an hour, and watch the video, it’s worth the time spent.
-Albert S. Davis
Mind Over Motor 