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hot rods

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custom cars

And The Winner Of The Greatest Use Of Fiero Powertrain: '39 Chevy Rat Rod

The art of chopping up Pontiac Fieros and using their guts in other projects is one which occasionally, if rarely, produces something really unique. Instead of a passe Nailhead up front, or a cobbled together amalgam of collected parts, LuckyFast Eddie of Camden, Delaware has dropped the whole enchilada — engine, trans, and suspension — from a Fiero into the tail-end of a chopped-and-stretched '39 Chevy.

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2:00 PM on Thu Jun 19 2008
By Ben Wojdyla
3,620 views, 36 comments

custom cars

Buick Roadmaster Hot Rod Makes Flat Black Look Good

Flat black, white walls, wagon, flames. On paper, this Buick Roadmaster wagon would be a spectacular hot rod and parts hauler, but the truth is far stranger than that. Start with the first description, then chop the top off the wagon, add a vinyl liner to the back, and make those flames out of wood-grained contact paper. Oh, and put some bull horns on the hood. And rename it the Ratmaster Roadster. Intriguing. In fact, all signs point to crazy, and therefore a sick part of us really likes it. (Thanks for the pics Tinfoil)

5:00 PM on Tue Jun 10 2008
By Ben Wojdyla
2,052 views, 48 comments

Latest by carless: Awesome. Wood paneling cut into flames, improbable roof removal, painted whitewalls. That's my kind of custom car. more »

billetproof 2008

Flame Jobs Or Surface Rust?

Some may argue that the only proper finish for a hot rod or kustom is a good ol' flame paint job. But at Billetproof we noticed that many of the rides have adopted the growing trend of a natural (or natural-looking) surface rust. It really depends on the car, and the owner's preference. We dig both, so we'll let you all decide. Which is cooler?


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6:00 PM on Mon Jun 9 2008
By Mark Arnold
2,709 views, 62 comments

Latest by n/a: Flat Black with flames. Not the "fire" type flames, classic flames.Not a big fan of rust -- it looks unfinished (rust is the enemy) more »

billetproof 2008

Billetproof: All Ate Up With Motor

Summer is car show season in Michigan. So, after checking out the Orphan Car Show last weekend, this past weekend we went up to the little town of Davisburg to hang out at Billetproof. Basically, it's the most badass Hot Rod show there is. No six-figure trailer queens here. This is a show where surface rust is loved more than chrome, and flat primer as much as metal-flake candy coat. But what do you really come to a Hot Rod show for? That's right, you come for big, beautiful motors. Check out the gallery below for our favorite mechanical details from the show.

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4:20 PM on Mon Jun 9 2008
By Mark Arnold
1,361 views, 18 comments

Latest by DΞLUXE: I can't believe I missed Billetproof this year. Flew right by me. Usually, the smell of pompadour grease signals it's time for a car show. My senses have failed me. more »

novelties

Norwegian Hot Rod Slammed, Literally

Looking at this bad wipeout it's hard not to be surprised that the driver survived. Apparently, the 52-year-old driver was not wearing a seatbelt and was thrown from his car before it landed wheels-up in the ditch. Though lucky to survive, the man is in stable but serious condition in a hospital with significant chest injuries. Because of the foam it is sort of hard to get a read on what happened but there don't appear to be any visible skid marks, which makes us wonder how far it flipped before arriving in the ditch or if it came from the other side of the road. A picture of the hot rod pre-destruction below the jump. More »

10:20 AM on Tue Apr 29 2008
By Matt Hardigree
3,456 views, 37 comments

Latest by turbo zero: @CptSevere: It's a pity that snow mobiles aren't allowed in Norway. There has been nice weather the last couple of weeks, so the bikes and cruisers have been out in force. But I have to agree with Warpig, the roads here more »

custom cars

Details Emerge on Lakes Style Speedster

We told you what was needed to figure out the details on that sweet black lakes-style hot rod was to just sit back and let the HAMBers do their thing. Of course we were right again, as they've clawed a ton of information out in just a single day. First and foremost on the neat-o list is that engine its unbelievably a Datsun 260Z mill made to look like an old Miller/Offenhauser inline six — very trick. The car was built by a first time body man by the name of Jim Pendleton out of Texas and the build is fairly well documented across several sites. It's pretty nicely built and aside from the Datsun motor the rest of the build appears to be period correct. Jealous.


[MetalShapers, Webshots, 2008 Round Up, and Jalopy Jounal]

12:40 PM on Fri Apr 11 2008
By Ben Wojdyla
1,192 views, 28 comments

Latest by n/a: Definitely an ac compressor, unless his power steering runs on freon. @Spasticteapot: who cares? this thing is awesome. more »

custom cars

Mysterious Single Seat Lakes-Style Hot Rod

A very mysterious custom hot rod showed up at the Lone Star Rod & Kustom Round Up last weekend and it's caught our eye. The single seat, lakes-style inspired roadster is sleek and smooth with some very cool tricks up it's sleeve. The car is powered by an inline six sporting a straight pipe running down the side and a V12 distributor — good for a dual spark head. Not too much info out on it yet, but the folks at the HAMB are on the case, so we'll know what schedule bolts were used on the seat bracket in no time. More details and images over at Jalopy Journal.


2:45 PM on Thu Apr 10 2008
By Ben Wojdyla
1,097 views, 22 comments

Latest by beercheck: @SundaySunday: I understand there to be 2 fwd Millers known to remain. more »

autorama

2008 Builder Of The Year: Gene Winfield

His work has been seen on TV series such as Bewitched, Star Trek, and Get Smart, as well as on the big screen in Blade Runner, Robocop, Back to the Future II, and Sleeper. So it really comes as no surprise that the 2008 Motorama Builder Of The Year is Gene Winfield. He's one of the greats, right up there with Ed Roth and George Barris. He was one of the first to make a "Lead Sled" Mercury, but it's obvious that he wasn't tied down to just that particular sort of Kustom. Even if you're not into "blended" paint jobs or the low stances, you really can't ignore the talent and creativity this gentleman still has. There's so much we could say, but we'll just let you enjoy the gallery below of his display at the 2008 Detroit Autorama.

5:45 PM on Tue Mar 11 2008
By Mark Arnold
2,600 views, 24 comments

Latest by FЯeeMan: What in the world is this? more »

autorama

2008 Detroit Autorama, We Hardly Knew Ye

Well, the 2008 Detroit Autorama was a swell show this year, chock full of goodness for any hot rod persuasion. We saw all of the entrants for the Ridler award, a smattering of kit car action, and some very cool traditional hot rods. Hell, we even saw a Citroen 2CV stuffed with a small block Chevy mill. This show does nothing if not inspire its attendants to take on their own projects, push their own envelope, or build their personal dream car. Every year we go we see some new style take root, or a once dead branch sprout new growth - there's just so much good stuff here to see that we can't cover it all. And with that, we conclude this years coverage with a gallery of the things that got left on the cutting room floor. Full wrap up below the fold.

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5:30 PM on Tue Mar 11 2008
By Ben Wojdyla
3,695 views, 8 comments

Latest by Dr.Danger is in Denial: @Ben Wojdyla: I will definitely keep an eye out. more »

autorama

The Larson Engineering Special

What do you call a handmade car built by a 20 something name Bob Larson and old enough to have been in the original Detroit Autorama? You call it the Larson Engineering special and it is a treasure trove of clever ideas and hellish ergonomics. We're not implying anything, but if this is the car responsible for the whole scissor doors thing, we're way less excited by it. Still the way they operate is pretty clever, sort of a pivot on a carrier mounted to a parallelogram hinge and secured with a shot pin latch, not bad for 1953, but not even the tip of the iceberg for this car.

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3:15 PM on Tue Mar 11 2008
By Ben Wojdyla
2,249 views, 19 comments

Latest by n/a: @RichDeBene: A flame thrower! That's just righteous man. more »

autorama

We Like To Call This The Puppy Crusher

We saw this mashup at Autorama in Detroit this weekend and immediately imagined a darker, more gory version of 101 Dalmatians. The villainess would beckon her automobile from its murky depths to carry on all manner of misdeed and the car would be known as Cruella's Puppy Crusher. We spent some time talking with the builder, one Mr. Brajkovich of Brajkovich Rods and Customs from Jonestown, PA. and found out some pretty neat stuff. First, even though it isn't quite done yet, what we do see came together in only 3 months of work. Everything in the car is some kind of special, instead of the common 235 straight six, the car has the bigger and nominally more powerful 300. The exhaust is routed 3 per side into the frame rails and is dumped out the back through the open rails

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9:20 AM on Tue Mar 11 2008
By Ben Wojdyla
1,821 views, 43 comments

Latest by Armand Bengle: @Adamskiy: A Jaguar V12 ought to fit in there pretty easily... more »

boyd coddington

Boyd Coddington, Remembered

As we sadly reported first earlier today, Boyd Coddington died early this morning at the age of 63.

As a lad reading Hot Rod by flashlight after bedtime — as if it were Highlights for Children — I assimilated Boyd Coddington's name alongside the usual suspects of the Hot Rod feature-well: Gray Baskerville, Bill "Grumpy" Jenkins, "Big Daddy" Don Garlits, et al. Coddington's take on traditional, 1930s-style hot rods enthralled an impressionable kid marinating in late-1970s culture. Kiss was meeting the phantom of the park and mirrorballs were circling above every head-shop in the country, casting bricks of light across Cheap Trick posters, decorative coke mirrors and door beads. A master metal craftsman, Coddington was lathing his own stylized parts from whole aluminum billets. More »

Feature

2:30 PM on Wed Feb 27 2008
By Mike Spinelli
120,267 views, 76 comments

Latest by n/a: Boyd Coddingham was an Artist, in every sense of the word. He was the Ed "Big Daddy" Roth in three dimensions. God bless you Boyd, you gave it everything you had and we appreciate it. more »

boyd coddington

Boyd Coddington, Hot Rod King, Dead At Age 63

World-renowned tuner and hot rod king Boyd Coddington died at 6:20 am this morning. The cause of death is still unknown. Coddington, founder of Boyds Wheels and designer of prize-winning custom cars, had recently been hospitalized twice for an undisclosed medical condition. Although he was though to be in recovery, rumors of his untimely death began circulating today throughout the forums. A spokesperson for Boyd Coddington's corporation has confirmed to Jalopnik that those rumors are true. The company will be releasing a statement later today.

UPDATE:

12:07 PM on Wed Feb 27 2008
By Matt Hardigree
405,761 views, 117 comments

Latest by n/a: it doesnt mater who was better boyd or chip foose they both have given many hrs of pleasure on TV and now is the time to remember boyd. I'm still getting over the old fat guy Roy the sheet metal more »

custom cars

Jalopy Journal Goes Renegade, Another Beige Roadster Last Straw

Now here's an interesting development. Jalopy Journal, the online bastion of respectable hot rodding, has thrown down the gauntlet, challenged the establishment, thumbing it's nose at this years "America's Most Beautiful Roadster". Incensed by the selection of yet another high dollar, flaw free, beige roadster, they are planning a revolt of sorts. We of the common first two syllables tend to agree with their argument. The mantle of the most beautiful is getting stale; the cars being chosen fall too much into a cookie cutter, huge dollar, trailer queen bucket and that is the antithesis of how hot rodding started. More »

1:00 PM on Wed Jan 30 2008
By Ben Wojdyla
3,415 views, 65 comments

Latest by wyatt_1st: Hmm last i checked its a free world and thats what makes cars so freakin CooL ! why all the attitudes here does old age make ya grumpy? more »

retro

The Norman Timbs Buick Special


The folks over at Jalopy Journal dug up a real gem the other day, the Norman Timbs Buick Special . The car was built in the late forties by the racecar designer and cost the princley sum of about $10,000 to put together. The aluminum body over tube frame stretches out to 17.5′ long (same as my Lincoln) with a 117″ wheelbase and a track of 56″. The luggage compartment is up front, engine behind the driver, fuel tank in the rear, with the one piece rear section lifted hydraulically. Total curb weight around 2200lbs. The car was recently found and is undergoing restoration at Custom Auto in Loveland, Colorado where they're posting progress pictures as they go. We sense a collectors frenzy when this thing is complete.

10:15 AM on Tue Jan 22 2008
By Ben Wojdyla
975 views, 13 comments

Latest by NovaloadMissesPolar: Tim Bucks 2 Buick. more »

sema

SEMA 2007: Twin-Turbo LS1 V7 Super Coupe in Vegas

The night and day efforts of three guys over the course of six months is under the lights here in sin city. Twin turbos on the LS1 helped twist the dyno to to read 1067 horsepower and 980 foot pounds of torque and make the V7 Super Coupe, as Phil from American Super Car put it - a D9 Cat in Corvette clothing. Right after bolting in the steering column before this shot was taken the crew realized the adapter hub for the steering wheel didn't exist. Phil fired up the mill at 4AM last Thursday morning and machined one so the car could get here and Mequires could put the detail on the machine for their booth. Next year promises a 1966 supercharged mid-engine drop top Vette.

4:00 PM on Wed Oct 31 2007
By Mike Bumbeck
2,707 views, 25 comments

Latest by SeanKHotay: While this project has its issues, I'm in the "this is what SEMA should be" camp. It's "SEM", not "OEM". Tho I'd entertain an OGEMA expo... more »

sema

SEMA 2007: Quadracycle!

Attempting to move quickly away from the country karaoke guy sitting and singing Eastbound and Down to electronic accompaniment from PA mounted to the lift gate of his pickup found us in short proximity of the none other than the Bourget's Bike Works Quadracycle. Passerby reaction seemed to be split between man that's over the top, and boy that makes more sense than a V8 motorcycle. All agreed to wanting to put that hammer down twist the throttle and give it hell.

6:00 PM on Tue Oct 30 2007
By Mike Bumbeck
3,062 views, 13 comments

Latest by contender: This and the Bombardier/Sea Doo/Can Am three wheeler are ridiculous. All of the lack of safety of a motorcycle on a vehicle you can't split lanes on. The power-to-weight coupled with the additional grip (relative to a motorcycle) more »

sema

ENGINE SUPERNOVA POTENTIAL!

Every now and again we have to revisit the reasons sinking endless hours and buckets of coinstar trappings into our rides somehow worth the effort. Last week we motored down to Torrance from Montrose in the mighty Starion for some wrenching, a late cobb salad down at the Hof's Hut, and to pick up a turbo heat shield bracket that had snapped after twenty years of heat cycling. Kelly was prepping Mario's car for the trip to sin city, and Mark came over to suggest propane turbo engine swaps for the Starlet. After some more wrenching on our own Starion we're off to SEMA today. If you see a mushroom cloud on your way out to Las Vegas don't worry. The nuclear test ban treaty is still in effect. The Star of Astron has merely gone supernova, and I'll need a ride.

2:30 PM on Mon Oct 29 2007
By Mike Bumbeck
952 views, 5 comments

Latest by Turboner: Those cars are way too clean to have 10 years on my Talon. more »

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