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Lord Vader, your helmet is ready. No, wait, you already have one…
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In 1979, the original Battlestar Galactica was on TV and George Lucas was about to show us all how much striking back the Empire could do. Simpson Race Products, of drag parachute and nomex suit fame, capitalized on the fashion and introduced the RX-1, which everybody pretty much went ga-ga over. At the 1979 Indy…
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VAM Lerma reveals the Concord's Mexican Spirit
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[singlepic id=1807 w=512 h=299 float=center] VAM (Vehículos Automotores Mexicanos) was sort of a “Mexican Motors Corp” version of AMC. Originally Willys Mexicana, the south-of-the-border Jeep distributor, VAM went on to manufacture their own Ramblers and AMC models in Lerma, Mexico under license. Most VAM cars were nearly identical to their U.S. versions, with the exception of…
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Fiat 500 + Kawasaki ZX12 motor = Awesomosity!
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The YouTube page for this video simply says “no description available,” but is any really necessary? All you need to know is that this is a tiny Fiat 500 fitted with a 1200cc jar of hornets.
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The Emperor Has No Divisions — Somebody finally nails what's wrong with GM
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“Back when General Motors was great, it was a holding company that owned some of the best car companies in the U.S. GM’s genius chairman, Alfred Sloan, constantly fought the very system he built to keep those companies autonomous and decentralized. He would be horrified to see how they are run today…. No executive is…
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Hooniverse Asks- Your Highest Velocity: When, Where & With What Vehicle?
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Last week, fellow hoon Number_Six mentioned the Yamaha FZR1000 in the comments, which prompted me to relate the time I achieved my highest Personal Motoring Velocity (PMVmax) at the controls of that very model motorcycle in 1987. It’d been years since I told that story, but this past Sunday morning at church I was surprised…
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Great Moments in Advertising: 1987 Honda CBR600 Hurricane
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The Ninja-dissing TV ad Honda used to launch its brand new 600 Hurricane in 1987 was so skillfully executed that I’ve clearly recalled it for 23 years. While going through some old VHS tapes last week, I stumbled across a copy of it.
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The Real List of Girl Cars is pretty darn girlie
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On the Internets, “chick car” is perhaps the ultimate automotive insult. Probably every car currently in production (other than maybe the Ariel Atom and Se7en) the has been derisively labeled a “chick car” by some forum fanboi at some point. V6 Mustang? Chick car. Miata? Chick car. Corvette? Yes, I’ve even heard that called a…
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Molly Sanders: The guy who programmed your brain
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We all know that, just as the sky is blue and cardinals are red, Kawasakis are supposed to be green, and (no matter how Yamaha tries to force blue bikes on us), Yamahas are supposed to be yellow, with a fat black hash-line across their flanks. Buick Grand Nationals are supposed to be blacker than…
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I was supermotard before Supermotard was supermotard
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As any 2-wheel hoon will tell you, motards, or streetified dirt bikes, are an unholy blast. Here’s mine, circa 1984. You might be tempted to call it a Supermotard, but at the time this bike was built, the term didn’t exist, or at least hadn’t migrated outside of France.
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Okay, now I feel like a jerk…
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When I first saw this monstrosity for sale on Craigslist, I was ready to get all snarky on it and talk about what a horrible creation it was, what was this guy thinking, who would ever buy it, blah-de-blah-blah… But then I followed the link in the ad to an interview with the builder and…
