Editor

I ran across this bunch of furniture made out of stock cars on Born Rich, but digging a little deeper, found that the manufacturer also produces running street-legal NASCARs built to customer specifications. Rock! Mike Burkhardt of American RaceCars and Furniture confirmed over the phone that he picks up old cars from Sprint Cup teams and refurbishes them with all-NASCAR internals, including brand-new 100K-warrantied 358 cubic-inch V8s tuned to Late-Model specifications, which translates to about 600 hp and much greater durability than the hard-running 850+ hp mills used in the Sprint Cup series. The cars can be fitted with either automatic or standard transmissions, and as many distinctly non-racecar-like creature comforts as the customer can stand (such as a stereo system, or doors that actually open). Some companies have them built as quot;rolling billboards,quot; allowing them to plaster a stock car with their logo without actually having to sponsor a stock car. Others are hobbyists and professionals who run the cars in local racing series. Either way, I think I need one—and just in time for $4-a-gallon gas! See more pics below the jump.

Editor

Tony Swan of Car and Driver, who ran the Nissan GT-R in this year's One Lap of America, has apparently gotten a lot of static about finishing "only" 11th in the overall standings and feels understandably prevailed upon to justify the much-hyped supercar's performance. But oddly, the article that appears for this purpose on the Car and Driver website mostly just comes across as a load of whiny diapers. Though he blames everything from tires to computer technology, much of the apologia centers on the "fateful" autocross challenge at BeaveRun, where Tony got confused and went off course, resulting in a DNF and a minor tantrum by the driver, who reportedly stormed off in a huff, gunning the GT-R through a paddock populated by spectators. Probably not his proudest moment, but in the ensuing drama, it nonetheless became the spearhead for a movement to award a bunch of "bonus points" to those who failed to negotiate the autocross course successfully. Fortunately, common sense eventually prevailed, with the organizers confirming that a DNF is a DNF and that it wasn't in the spirit of the event to compensate teams for poor performance. Seems perfectly reasonable, though Tony apparently has a different sense of how it all went down. It's clear that he's endeavoring to be candid and honest about what happened, but having a GT-R fall on its face in multiple events turns out to be not the easiest thing to explain away. Read Tony's article here to decide for yourself if he gives a satisfactory defense of the GT-R's finish.

Editor

After putting the first Challenger in the fence yesterday, co-drivers Erich and Rob, design engineers for Chrysler, have returned to the circuit with a whole 'nother car. One Lap of America will be an exhibition run for them now, since you can't officially run for points once you've replaced your car—so now they're just in it for kicks. The orange SRT rolled into the paddock this morning at Mid America Motorplex in Pacific Junction, Iowa, and completed a perfectly respectable and wreck-free run out on the track.

Rob told me that they drove wrecked Challenger 200 miles in the shape it was in yesterday with no problems, getting 19 mpg on the highway. It's getting repaired at a friend's shop, and Rob confirmed that it'll likely be run in the Targa Newfoundland, Canada's version of the Mille Miglia. It's a good thing that race cars never die!

Editor-in-Chief

Now here's an original project. Some guys who post over at VWVortex are building a Nissan 240 truck. The weirdest thing is not the fact that they are converting a former drift car to a pickup, but that they are adding a cantilever rear suspension, sorta F1 style. More pics after the jump. And if you click through to the thread, you'll see a fairly skillful truck conversion on a VW Fox wagon. Update: Josh just provided this link to a thread on the Nicoclub.com with even more pics of the car.