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Encyclopedia Hoonatica: Center-Mounted Headlights
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Mounting a headlight along the center-line of the vehicle is one of those recurrent ideas that seem offer plausible advantages with a minimum of technical difficulty, but for some reason simply don’t become popular, either with the public or with designers. But there have been a number of production cars that have tried it, and…
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Encyclopedia Hoonatica: Thieving Foreign Parts Bins
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Low-volume car models are somewhat notorious for raiding existing cars’ parts books for easily adaptable components. Rear light assemblies are a case in point. The De Tomaso sourced the Pantera’s tail lights from whatever designs Alfa had sitting around, and there was a downright incestuous level of British parts-bin raiding by Bristol. Lotus, however, endured…
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Encyclopedia Hoonatica: Non-Circular Steering Wheels
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Last Friday, our esteemed Mr. Emslie asked, “Non-Round Steering Wheels, Brah! or Blah?” Many of our readers cited specific cars thus equipped in their responses (amiable, informative, and entertaining—as always). Unfortunately, the hivemind didn’t produce a definitive list of every car that had something other than a perfectly circular steering wheel. So, let’s keep the…
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Encyclopedia Hoonatica: Non-Circular Steering Wheels
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Last Friday, our esteemed Mr. Emslie asked, “Non-Round Steering Wheels, Brah! or Blah?” Many of our readers cited specific cars thus equipped in their responses (amiable, informative, and entertaining—as always). Unfortunately, the hivemind didn’t produce a definitive list of every car that had something other than a perfectly circular steering wheel. So, let’s keep the…
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False Neutral #7: "What's in YOUR Workshop?"
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This week we discuss our project bikes, which include Bultakenstein, Garrett’s radical RZ350-based custom, and a few other bikes we’re just trying to keep on the road in more-or-less stock condition. After discussing Dakota Mamola along with his dad, arguing over the definition of “UJM”, and praising the CBR600F2 as a cheap track bike, we…
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Encyclopedia Hoonatica: Cars named for mythical creatures
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Thanks to the fertile minds of Greeks, Romans, sailors, fantasy authors, and peasants living in thatched roof cottages, there is a nearly limitless catalog (or, if you’re Chris Haining, “catalogue”) of fantastical, nonexistent creatures. And fortunately, most of them 1) sound like they’d be pretty badass, and 2) have been around long enough to be…
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False Neutral #6: Richard Varner & The State of American Road Racing
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This weekend, the professional U.S. motorcycle roadracing season gets underway at the Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas. Fittingly, our guest this week is Richard Varner, CFO and co-founder of the KRAVE Group. Not too long ago, KRAVE was awarded the commercial rights to the AMA’s MotoAmerica pro racing series. Richard discusses the state…
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Encyclopedia Hoonatica: "We should add a hatchback version!"
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An old friend of mine once recalled his father car shopping at the local American Motors dealer in the fall of 1972. He was torn between the utility of the Gremlin and the styling of the Hornet coupe — both of which had been out for two years — until the salesman took him around…
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Encyclopedia Hoonatica: Single-Year Model Names
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Combine the effort automotive marketing men put into developing public awareness of model names with the intellectual property value of a legally-established trade mark, and it is understandable why car model names, once established, are often recycled over and over. But, some model names die fast and quiet. These are names tainted by a bad…
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False Neutral Episode #4: Dollars & Harleys & Buells, Oh My!
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Eric and Pete welcome Hooniverse contributor Wayne Moyer. Topics include Erik Buell, entry-level Harley-Davidsons, and why it’s so hard to make money manufacturing motorcycles nowadays. Now with bonus background noise! As always, follow along with the photos below the jump, then leave a comment about which of our opinions you agree or disagree with. Please…