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Here's something you don't see every day. These cars are usually restored to stock and parked in museums, not resto-rodded! With a Chevy 454 big-block under the hood, this gangster Pierce-Arrow would be a force to be reckoned with. And with the reserve set at $49,500, the seller assures that it's "priced for a quick sale." Better take a number!

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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.

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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.

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The smart fortwo finished last in the majority of the One Lap events, but it's still cool. Owner Steven Noton had a great time with it, the smart looked hysterical out on the track, and there wasn't any other car on the tour that was able to draw more identical cars out to the racetracks to greet it. Plus, when you get a bunch of smarts together, there seems to be no limit to the goofy, fun-with-cars antics that people are willing to get involved in. Ok, so we never actually lifted one off the ground—everyone was too worried that the panels would fall off—but we did establish that a standard parking spot will in fact hold four smarts. It was a stretch, and wheels were on the white line on both sides. But in a pinch, you could do it. More pics after the jump!

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!

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Rachel Ward of the UK, despite leaving her car in a signed no-parking zone while rushing to catch a train, was able to take the high ground after her ride was vandalized by a punctuation-impaired goon. Hey, if you're going to take pot-shots at someone else's literacy, at least know where to put an apostrophe. Details at Metro.co.uk.

Editor

Help me out here: I realize the whole Iron Cross thing is kind of trendy right now, thanks in part to the various chopper shows, but to be so committed to WWI-era German military imagery as to build a whole car replete with proto-fascist trappings—is that sketchy at all? And doesn't a giant silver helmet tend to ruin the look of some cars? Sure, it's got a great straight-8 with a row of six Stromberg carbs, and—hell, yeah—any excuse to mount a machine gun on your ride is generally commendable. The cops sure seemed to be into it, and I guess it's cool in a grotesque sort of way, and obviously meant to be tongue-in-cheek as well as (update) a full-sized replica of the quot;Red Baronquot; dragster model kit that Tom Daniel created for Monogram in 1968 (thanks, Adam). But the spectacle kind of reminded me of that kid who built the 1/2-scale Panzer tank—all I remember thinking is, thank God he did that instead of shooting up a school. See the full freakshow after the jump!