Articles
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Hooniverse Asks- What Car or Truck Has Stayed Closest to its Roots?
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There are some models of car that – like herpes – never seem to go away. Oh sure, they may get updated from time to time, adding more modernities and keeping up with the Joneses, but they tend to stick to the recipe that originally cooked them up. Porsche’s 911 for instance, or the example…
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Wrenching Tips: Write on Stuff
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Renaissance and Early Modern writers characterized the Vandals as barbarians, “sacking and looting” Rome. This led to the use of the term “vandalism”, to describe any senseless destruction, particularly the “barbarian” defacing of artworks. – “Vandals”, on Wikipedia Historical perspectives on the group have evolved with time, but their name is still the root…
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Hooniverse Asks- What’s the Most Impressively Designed Motorcycle? (Design Week)
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It’s design week, and surprisingly there are far fewer stylists who hang their hat on two-wheel artwork than those who do so on those with four. Still, there have been a number of noteworthy attempts at motorcycle beautification over the years, and that means we are more than within our rights to pick which one…
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Time Sink Of The Century: Dave Friedman's Archives
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After serving in the Navy, Dave Friedman attended and photographed many amateur sports car races around the Los Angeles area. In 1962,Friedman was hired as staff photographer for Shelby-American Inc. It was in this capacity that Friedman earned the opportunity to photograph the development of the Shelby Cobra. In 1966 and 1967, Friedman was hired…
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Hooniverse Neo-Classical Weekend – The Cars of Bob's Classics, Inc.
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Welcome to the Sunday Edition of the Hooniverse Neo-classical Weekend (which is very late because I had to deal with Project House Hell!). There is one dealer in the country that specifically sells these types of cars, and that would be Bob’s Classics in Clearwater, FL. According to the dealer: Bob’s Classics, Inc., established in…
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Mystery Car!
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Last Friday something happened, a disturbance in the Hooniverse if you will. Or maybe it was just that Taco Bell I had for lunch. Whatever the source, last Friday’s Mystery Car! failed to be solved within an hour of its posting, its typical outcome. It also saw a second hour pass without solution, and then…
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Hooniverse Asks- What’s the Best Evil Genius Ride? (Spy Week)
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Actors never want to play the good guys. It’s always the baddies that offer the meatiest roles, and they’re the ones who always get the best death scenes. If it’s so good to be bad, does that also extend to the rides of evil doers? This being spy week, what we’re obviously most interested in…
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Long Shots: The Two Toned Wonder
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So, the other day this olelongrooffan was out and about doing what, I don’t remember. But I do remember seeing this beauty in the parking lot of my local beachside filling station. (When was the last time my fellow Hoons heard a gas station referred to as that? I love my ole man.) Anyway, in…
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Last Call- Air Cooled Edition
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They say that no two snowflakes are exactly alike, and the addition of ice crystals can certainly change the appearance a landscape. Contrastingly, Volkswagen built millions of Beetles over its nearly three-quarter century life, all of them, like everything in this picture, air-cooled. Image source: [Volksfahrer via Lozerifonia]
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Of Datsuns, Nickels, and Dimes: A Trans Am Story
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The stage is set for the 1971 SCCA Trans-American Sedan Championship. Datsun was about to enter the 2.5 liter challenge for cars with engines under 2.5 liters in displacement (who’d have thought). Alfa Romeo was coming back to the series to defend their 1970 championship victory. Additional competition arrived in the form of BMW’s 2002, Volvo’s…
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Hooniverse Asks- What’s The Best American Car to Sell Overseas?
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The auto industry was arguably created in the U.S., and no other metropolis more rightfully lays claim to the title of Motor City than Detroit. Despite those factors, the United States has not bee a net exporter of cars and trucks for decades. For the longest time, that was partly due to the American car…
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True Blue – 1973 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray
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When I was a kid, there was a maroon ’80ish C3 Corvette just around the block from our house. At the time, it was the definition of an American sports car for me: incredibly low and swoopy, straight from the pages of a Chevrolet book I used to leaf through. While those years of the…
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Review: 2012 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Sport
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To write a story about the 2012 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Sport, I have to find the proper place to allow the vehicle a small chance to stretch its capable legs. I have to go to a place where the road is made of mud or dirt, not asphalt. A place where traction is earned not…
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Finland Fintail – 1959 Chevrolet Bel Air
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Some things have been breathtaking to look at from the get go, never becoming dulled down by the passing of time. The ’59 Chevys are such things; in my opinion the cat-eye tail-lighted Bel Air, Biscayne and Impala were the wildest-looking production cars the company made for a long time. I got to see this…
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Last Call- Old Meets Older Edition
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Lamborghini’s history is rich with could-have-beens and should-have-beens, of which the Bertone-designed Bravo – once considered as replacement for the Urraco – is one. Here it is wedging through some even more historical Italian architecture giving a brief glimpse of what might have been. Image: [25.media.tumbler]
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NAIAS Last-ish Photo Dump and More Observations
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[singlepic id=3187 w=340 h=700 float=left] [singlepic id=3189 w=340 h=700 float=left] My one day at the [insert drama] 2012 North American International Auto Show in Detroit! [/drama] came to an end at about 5:30pm on Monday. It is impossible for one person to cover a show like this within one day, hence the photo dumps and bullet-point thoughts.…