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Posts Tagged “

rat rod

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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

rat rod

Before They Called Them Rat Rods: Hellhammer's Caddy-Powered Model T

When we brought a car with a crazy engine/transmission swap and some wild junkyard suspension mods to the 24 Hours of LeMons race, some folks thought it wouldn't last a dozen laps... but we knew better. You see, we've got the mighty Hellhammer, aka Junkyard Dave Schaible, as crew chief, and this guy can build anything. Here's one of my favorite Hellhammer projects: one of the first- if not the first- of the current generation of Northern California rat rods, built back in the early 1980s. It's a Model T body (which was found, complete with bullet holes, sitting in a Castro Valley field) on a Model A frame, powered by a '49 Cadillac 331-cubic-inch engine spinning a seriously lumpy mid-50s-vintage Isky cam. It's built entirely from stuff Dave had sitting around, including a Geo Metro back seat, '40 Ford brakes, handmade headers, etc., and I'm having a tough time thinking of any vehicle that's more fun to drive. Those of you heading to the Billetproof show in September will get to see this machine in person.

1:20 PM on Fri May 30 2008
By Murilee Martin
2,999 views, 67 comments

Latest by Evil_Genius: Hellhammer has my old truck.. Maybe the big block out of it will get reincarnated in something cool like this.. A little about Dave.. When we were building the V8olvo we were having an issue with wheel offset and I was more »

down on the street

1950 Ford

This is the 24th 1950s vehicle we've seen so far in this series, and it seemed right to follow up the '58 Mercedes-Benz 220S with something from Detroit. You can't get much more Detroit than an old Ford, so here comes a car from a two-time DOTS owner (as far as I know, WhatWouldJesseDo is the only three-time DOTS honoree).
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9:15 AM on Tue Mar 18 2008
By Murilee Martin
2,543 views, 46 comments

Latest by freeride53: hey! this guy lives on Brodway Ave, near the intersection of Blanding. The guy also has a pink one for his girl. also, check out his landscaping in front! lol more »

maximum el camino day

Buick Halfmaster-amino Is A Whole Lot Of Awesome

Those hosers up at Dave's Farm sure are professional hoons. And they're not too bad at doing good ol' fashioned backwoods engineering too. Check out this creation: The Buick Halfmaster. It's a '90s Buick Roadmaster with a severely shortened wheelbase that's been converted to an open-air 'amino. Now, you might question how much of a truck this car really is since it doesn't have a proper bed, but c'mon. It doesn't even have headers; the small block V8 exhales flames straight out of the head! So, judge for yourself; does the Halfmaster fit in with Maximum El Camino Day or not? [YouTube]

3:15 PM on Mon Mar 17 2008
By Mark Arnold
2,369 views, 29 comments

Latest by danio3834: @silex006: I don't know if you remember the Platform Pontiac, but theyve created several vehciles with platform driving positions using mostly stock, re engineered parts. + Watch video He explains in another video that to make the Redneck Roller coaster, he merely more »

autorama

Plymouth Rat Rod With Machine Gun Intake

A 1934 Plymouth sedan isn't a typical starting point for a hot rod, but that's just the beginning of the uniqueness of this car. It's a hodgepodge in the best sense of the term; '79 GM A-body rear suspension, 400 cubic-inches of '73 Plymouth V8 power, a custom intake manifold, and 3 Rochester 2bbl carbs. The wood headliner is actually made from a tree that was growing in the owner's yard. That machine gun styled air cleaner even utilizes the leftover portion of the shortened driveshaft. And would you take a look at that homemade hood ornament; its a "screw" flying though a "U." The best part? The owner bought the car just to get one part for another car, but ended up deciding to build this up just for fun. It's stuff like this that make us love Autorama.

4:15 PM on Tue Mar 11 2008
By Mark Arnold
3,495 views, 18 comments

Latest by ccc40821: @smokeydog001: Keep in mind that OCC is not in the bike building business, but in Show Business. They're bloody good at the latter, even for a bunch of twits. more »

down on the street

1960 Studebaker Lark VIII

It's doesn't come as a shock to find that Studebakers haven't made much of a showing in this series (so far we've had just an Avanti), given that the Studes were never all that common even back in the day. But hey, at least the Studebaker Pines are still standing tall, and so is this quasi-rat-rodded '60 Lark VIII!
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9:15 AM on Wed Dec 12 2007
By Murilee Martin
2,735 views, 39 comments

down on the street

1947 Plymouth

You know I was reaching for the camera in a hurry when this car loomed into my field of vision. This Plymouth is owned by the guy who has the Creamsicle '54 Ford we saw a while back, and I can say from firsthand experience that the copper paint job looks perfect when illuminated by streetlights after dark. The perfect mix of classic Detroit and postmodern irony. Something like that. Anyway, it looks very, very good, and it has suicide doors to boot! More »

9:00 AM on Wed Oct 17 2007
By Murilee Martin
3,508 views, 26 comments

Latest by n/a: Great car. These old classic and vintage cars have one thing lacking in today's cars CHARACTER. Thanks for the pics Murilee. DOTS is my favorite section on this site more »

down on the street

1954 Ford

We've seen 11 Alameda vehicles from the 1950s in this series, but not a single one of them was a Ford product. Well, that changes today! I spotted this heavily customized Ford when I was lured down an East End side street by a quick glimpse of a late-60s Dart, spotting this '54 in all its lowered orangitude just across from the Mopar (don't worry, Dart fans, you'll see that '69 pretty soon). There's no telling which model this car is, what with the utter absence of any sort of trim, but I'm hoping it's a Mainline. Damn, that's a great car name- bring back the Mainline, Ford! More »

9:00 AM on Thu Oct 4 2007
By Murilee Martin
4,288 views, 19 comments

Latest by the artist formerly known as dolo54: I actually like the mexican blanket seat covers on this car even though it reminds me of the smelly dead heads that camped out a college friend's apt for a month. more »

The Meanest-Looking 356 On The Planet! What can you do to make a Porsche 356 more interesting? Well, there's Junkman's approach, of course. But what about the rat-rod treatment? Steadfast commenter Vintage Racer sends us these shots...

57 comments

car shows

Billetproof 2007: Hot Rod Wrap Up


There were so many cool rods at this event that it's hard to highlight them all. Can you really highlight a Caddy with an air suspension that's "layin' frame" over a nutjob that put flappers on all eight hand made exhaust pipes? Or how about epic pinstriping over oh so smokin' hot rockabilly chicks? You don't. If you're lazy (like me), you post all the great shots of cool stuff in one gallery for the people of the year (you) to ogle for a while. At the end of the day, even though I ran from the barrage of giant raindrops like a little girl to my overengineered Deutschmobile, the rods at Billetproof '07 were so nicely built that I can't help but mark my calendar for next year - and that's an indication of radness right there.– Ben Wojdyla More »

4:00 PM on Tue Jun 5 2007
By bwojdyla
2,114 views, 1 comment

Latest by Turboner: I need to start going to rod shows again. The only problem is, here, the rockabilly chicks aren't exactly smokin' hot. more »

car shows

Billetproof 2007: Party Wagon Zen


When we saw this minitanker mit bier thema — duallies, high Schlitz shifter, bull's head hood ornament and exposed u-joint — it was as if we'd found our hot rod soulmate. It's low, it's rough, it's a little bit ugly, but it is creative and it brings (or pretends to bring) hoppy refreshment to the unwashed masses. There isn't much not to love. If there were beirmaidens involved we would have never left.– Ben Wojdyla More »

12:30 PM on Tue Jun 5 2007
By bwojdyla
2,352 views, 9 comments

Latest by CptSevere: Love it. Just plain badass. Trucks, beer, early hemis, rust, I can't imagine anything better. There's a Rockabilly Rat Rod thing here in Tombstone this weekend, can't wait to see more of this. more »

car shows

Billetproof 2007: Hot Rod Like it's 1959

Once, we were trying to think up a clever and marketable name for the sport of tying small knives to the paws of crazed squirrels and setting them loose in yuppie restaurants. We only came up with funny names (e.g., Super Amazing Squirrel Knife Fight Happy Time), but nothing that was both instantly recognizable AND clever. Billetproof on the other hand is evocative of the growing anti-trailer queen hot rod movement and it happens to be the name of an eleven-year-old car and culture show. The rules include no billet (imagine that), no digital gauges, no cars newer than 1964 ('65 in the Cali events) and the like. Awesome old-style rods converged on tiny Davisburg, MI this past Saturday, and while the Gods smote us with a gnarly thunderstorm eventually, radness had its moment in the sun. Stay tuned for full coverage. If you live on the left coast, check out their site for details on the September NorCal show. See artsy image of the pending smotage after the jump. – Ben Wojdyla More »

9:16 AM on Tue Jun 5 2007
By bwojdyla
2,890 views, 8 comments

Latest by Automanic: @Turboner: Never, Ever, EVER think you've seen it all! more »

auto shows

Autorama Blowout! My Personal Riddler, Slammed Stude


Ha! I made it! You didn't think I'd pull it off did you? All day with the posting. It's hard to do this work all day. I'll have you know I only was only able to pay weak attention to the showcase showdown today. More »

6:00 PM on Fri Mar 16 2007
By bwojdyla
4,133 views, 10 comments

auto shows

Autorama Blowout! Porsche Speedsters' Grandpappy

Okay, so maybe it would have to be Grandpappy from the American side of the family (before coming over to Deutschland), but that's the first thing I thought when I saw this low and lean roadster. Looking at that worn paint, the zoomies, the Native American blanket seat cover and the underhung headlights. It all makes me giddy as a schoolgirl. There's just so much coolness packed into this little car. It's a wonder I didn't walk out of that place with a significantly lighter wallet and a basketcase that looked really cool. For no good reason, the craziest/coolest part of this car is the trunk if you believe it or not. Take a look after the jump.– Ben Wojdyla
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4:00 PM on Fri Mar 16 2007
By bwojdyla
1,936 views, 7 comments

Latest by wyatt_1st: what is this car? i love the lines but dont know the year or make can someone identify it fot me this is beyond cool ! more »

auto shows

Autorama Blowout! Axle Madness

A couple of stretched out bruisers were sitting nose-to-nose in the first row of the lower level. I almost fell over when I saw em. They were raucous and unconventional, seemingly thrown together with whatever parts could be found. They were also done with so much style you had to love 'em. What's not to love about a car with gull-wing doors, whose rear axle is under the your knees, that's also called "Hemirod"? Or whose roof has more metallic sculpture than the Guggenheim museum and a dually truck axle? Nothing, that's what. – Ben Wojdyla More »

3:15 PM on Fri Mar 16 2007
By bwojdyla
2,150 views, 5 comments

Latest by Turboner: My mom told me way back that if you push too hard, you will get hemirods. more »

Sema Show: Rattish Land Cruiser How much did we fall in love with this ratted out Land Cruiseramino? It's Vegas, so we may marry it. [Gallery] Related:
More "El Caminos" [internal]

10 comments