Jalopnik: parts

Life Lesson #427: Don't Buy Parts From Registered Sex Offenders

Matt Hardigree — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 12:40:00 EST

Finding the right parts for your project car can be tough. Who can you trust these days? As we learned with the Unique Performance saga, even seemingly reputable businesses can turn out to be suspect. Things get even tricker when buying things over the web, as this horny car-jacking victim discovered. Thankfully, we've got television news investigators on our side. [My Fox Detroit]

Ford Focus Reborn As Musical Instruments Sounds Pretty Good

Travis Hudson — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 17:45:00 EST

Sure, Audi and Hyundai may have dropped millions of dollars on fancy-pants marketing for the Super Bowl, but the real commercial winner is Ford, who launched its part-orchestra TV spot on the other side of the pond today. Yes, the same one I told you about last week.

It may have not cost millions upon millions to produce, but it's a hell of a lot more creative and unique than some of its competition. For a refresher, Craig Richey and Bill Bilbrodt turned 21 parts from a Ford Focus into 31 different musical instruments. A professional orchestra then learned the new instruments and played a tune for this commercial spot. Yeah, no kidding—they really played music on repurposed hunks of a Focus! "Beautifully arranged" is the tagline. Accurate, orchestrally if not necessarily automotively. The composition itself worries us a bit. It's a kind of morose riff on Yann Tiersen (of Amélie fame), and it sounds sort of like how Ford must be feeling these days.[Crave]

Ford Focus Gutted, Stripped By An... Orchestra?

Travis Hudson — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 16:15:00 EST

No chop shops involved here. As part of a UK advertising campaign, 21 different Ford Focus parts have been transformed into 31 musical instruments. The instruments—including a door harp, clutch guitar and bass repurposed from a fender—are played by professional orchestra musicians who don't mind getting up close and person with some of the Focus' bits and pieces. The commercial is the brainchild of composer Craig Richey and sound designer Bill Milbrodt and is set for a television debut on February 4. [WCF]

Scott Burgess of the Detroit News Wants to Have it All

bwojdyla — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 14:30:00 EST

Scott Burgess, the most cuddly of auto critics over at the Detroit News has come up with an interesting, one-man-focus-group pseudo-review of the best parts of cars this year. Deftly sidestepping the realities of engineering, Burgess asks for somebody, anybody to put parts of some of the most dissimilar cars around into a Frankenstein's monster of platform prostitution. Take the brain from Ford's Sync System and put it into an Audi R8 body, bring in a heart from GM (what?!) and eyes from Mercedes... okay that's where our body parts/car parts metaphor runs out, but it's still madness, madness we say! Mwah ha ha ha ha! We're totally loving the diabolicalness of it all.[detnews.com]

Jalopnik Holiday Gift Guide: O'Reilly Auto Parts Gift Card

Matt Hardigree — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 14:30:00 EST

If you're not sure what the ideal gift would be for the gear head in your life, a gift card is always a good way to go. But how to know if it's the right gift? If someone in your life goes to the auto parts store more than they go to the Safeway, they might like an O'Reilly Gift Card. If they wear a jumpsuit more than any other type of clothing... well you see where we're going with this. It's also scalable to however much you want to pay/how much you like the person.

Bimmerformance! BMW Launches Performance Parts Line

Mike Spinelli — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 08:54:19 EDT

Not to be outdone in the aftermarket-parts goldmine, BMW is launching a line of factory performance parts that will challenge those from tuning shops. Apparently, the line only includes gear for the Z4 and 3 Series, with a concentration on the last-gen model. To wit: BMW claims a performance exhaust offers five more horsepower at a reduction of 8.8 pounds, and an engine kit for the 330 adds 10 horsepower and 8 lb-ft of torque. Also in the catalog are a shift kit, suspension hoo-has, drilled brake rotors, an air intake, and wheels. We'll hold out for the V10 crate motor for our Mantamino project, thanks. [Automobile]

Secret Corvette Parts Stash Found, Soon To Be On EBay

Ray Wert — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 08:15:00 EST

The National Corvette Museum just received a gift of several pallets of never-used manufactured Corvette and GM parts from Guide Corporation. We're talking all sorts of parts for every model Corvette going back to the 1950's. You've got your grilles, chrome pieces, headlamps, lenses — really, a little bit of everything. The NCM's decided that each week for the next couple of months they'll be dropping a dozen or so of the parts onto eBay for all to enjoy — as long as they win it via "Buy It Now" or straight-up by auction. What — you think they'd just give these generally vette-tastic parts away for free? – Ray Wert

nationalcorvette auctions [eBay via GMInsideNews]

Related:
Question of the Day: Baby's First Mods? [internal]

Question of the Day: Baby's First Mods?

Mike Spinelli — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 09:30:00 EST

So, n00b, you've been staring out the window at a patently stock vehicle, getting all itchy in that special place car freaks call "the wallet." You'd love to imbue your assembly-line queen with a semblance of sporting trim, but the aftermarket is so vast, you have no freaking clue where to start. Thankfully, you have Los Jalopniks to guide your hand. That's the segue, kids. How should someone starting down the Path of Lost Wages spend their add-on bucks, and what products should they avoid like sparklers on crepe-paper day? Don't hold back. – Mike Spinelli