WTF Friday: So Who’s Worse?

By

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Apr 13, 2012

It’s no secret that in the quest to go as low and wide as possible some people have been known to cross the line between voids warranties and downright dangerous.

Not long ago one particularily inept attempt appeared on Jalopnik and more recently people have been up in arms over a particular silver Celica from Japan.

While it is easy to assume that only lowered car owners go to such dangerous extremes to get the look they want, lifted vehicle owners are just as ready to blur the line between questionable and downright dangerous.

The question I ask today is when it comes to the most extreme of extreme examples from both camps who is actually safer? Or are they all just rolling games of Russian Roulette?

Exhibit A

The aforementioned Civic that didn’t actually end up all that low but scared a whole pile of people in the process.

Exhibit B

I am sure all of you have seen this Celica 1000 times over by now but if not here it is. Japan has always been pretty crazy when it comes to extreme modifications so I don’t see a lot of people following this cars path.

I hope not at least.

The best source of information on this car can be found over on Nori Yaro.

sowho4 — If you remember a Yellow Celica set up sort of similar... same owner

sowho5 — The yellow one was built to slide not sure that this one is...

sowho6 — People are wishing all sorts of terrible things upon the owner

Exhibit C

At first this Chevy looks like your typical show ready mall crawler but the closer you look the more you see that things are not quite up to snuff in the fabrication department.

sowho10 — As mentioned at first glance things look OK

sowho11 — But a look underneath reveals some questionable looking welds and cuts

sowho12 — Who knows maybe these welds penetrate fine and we are all just crazy

Exhibit D

Finally the end of this little comparison game is perhaps the worst built vehicle of this entire post. While this Suburban did end up pretty high but that is about all there is going for it.

The rest is downright scary.

sowho7 — Bags in the back leafs in the front... interesting

sowho8 — I am impressed any power makes its way through this mess

sowho9 — At least it is all color matched...

So if you had to drive one of these on a long road trip which would it be?

Site Updates

This is my last full day in California, Los Angeles to be specific, and this evening I will be going to Bob’s Big Boy in Burbank to hopefully have a good burger and see some cars.

That is of course if the weather holds out, if you are in the area or attend this meet look for the guy in the Stance Is Everything Shirt.

Flashback Friday

None today as the internet connection at the Holiday Inn LAX has flashed me back to the days of 7mbps evidently.

Cedric The Entertainer

By

DaveT

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Apr 12, 2012

1

In the ‘Four On The Floor?‘ Theme Tuesday I posted a Nissan 300C lowrider hittin a three at a gas station followed by Datun 200L with interesting rear window vinyl also paused on three.

Then later I dedicated an entire Tuesday to strictly non traditional lowriders. After doing those posts I didn’t think I would come across another, different, Nissan on wires but here we are.

This is a 75 Cedric that was originally built in the late 90s by Eddy Rattley (also known as RatDat). When finished for the first time it was Blue but then it was painted Gold later for another feature in 1999.

Then like a lot of cover/feature cars it vanished for a little bit before it was picked up by someone new and given a new lease on life.

Funny enough this car wasn’t originally built as a hopper it was built to dance. I would love to see some videos of it flexin’ as I think that would be pretty cool.

This car looks pretty good as it sits if you are into traditional lowriders and if you are not just imagine it with a different set of wheels…

Hopefully the new owner continues to show it off.

Photo Credit: AshleyKent
Spotted on: Suck Squeeze Bang Blow

More info to be had here and here.

Fat and Flush: and another one

By

DaveT

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Apr 11, 2012

2

Another entry in the ‘low s2000s with wide tires and Enkei wheels’, aka Fat And Flush,category.

s2000 owners just seem to gravitate towards Enkei wheels, be it the RPF-1 or the NT-01 which is the wheel of choice today.

Like the RPF-1 the NT-01 is strong, relatively light, relatively inexpensive, and looks quite great 9″ and wider.

An aggressive tire setup as oppose to an aggressive wheel setup is never a bad thing with an s2000 and neither is a hardtop.

Sadly I wasn’t able to find specs for this one but I’m sure one of you know…

Photo Credit: GeeRoq

Theme Tuesdays: Drifting Gifs

By

DaveT

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Apr 10, 2012

2

Reading all of the Long Beach Formula Drift coverage really makes me wish I flew into LAX and went from LA to SF instead of the other way around, but I had free board for a few nights in SF so…

Instead of drowning my sorrows in a local ~~San Francisco~~ Morrow Bay pub I pulled together some drifting gifs to make myself feel better.

gifd_drift_12 — Another for good measure

gif_drift_4 — This makes it all look so easy

gif_drift_6 — The people stationary probably thought they were dead.

gif_drift_9 — I could watch this one all day

gif_drift_10 — Maybe I will do a street drift Theme Tues...

gif_drift_13 — Beside boss in the dictionary is...

Finishing the SF to LA cruise tomorrow, hopefully I can come across more cool cars in Los Angeles.

Be sure to check up on the California Car Spotting gallery on facebook, doing my best to update it daily.

Featured Ride: Eric’s MKV Rabbit

By

DaveT

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Apr 9, 2012

3

The last time I was in Pennsylvania I saw a car so poorly modified that I nearly wrote off the entire state when it came to cars. I know that sounds extreme but that car was quite bad.

On the complete opposite side of the coin Eric’s Rabbit is quite good and in my eyes does an excellent job of redeeming, and representing for, the entire state.

After one look at the photos Eric sent in I knew this car was worth sharing, and with the Volkswagen community often taking the blame for some of the more extreme trends in the scene right now Eric’s car serves as a reminder that you don’t need to go over the top in order to stand out.

Eric skipped over bright paint, rusted body parts, excessive vinyl, and other modifications that walk the line between original and cliche and instead went for a much more subtle exterior treatment.

A Votex lip kit has been installed and to keep the visual flow consistent and undisrupted all the way around the vehicle Eric also painted the rub strips and shaved the rear wiper.

The ground kissing stance you have no doubt already noticed on this car is care of a Air Lift XL / Bag Yard bomber setup that is managed with Accuair’s e-level air management system.

When installing the system in the hatch Eric went that extra mile by lining the floor with hardwood and neatly laying out the skinny 5 gallon air tank, dual Viar compressors, and Accuair exo mount ontop of it.

Completing the package is an aluminum hard-line set-up that is a bit of a change from the more commonly seen brass hard-line configuration.

Going through all the trouble of fine tuning an air ride system to not end up with something that was sitting on the floor and tucking significantly all said and done wasn’t what Eric was after, so he chose wheels that didn’t fight for real estate with the fenders every time he aired out.

The 18 x 8.5 et 36 Privat Kup kicks he ultimately settled on look right at home in their new residence deep inside the rolled fenders.

Like all great cars Eric didn’t put this one together completly on his own and would like to thank his girlfriend for introducing him to the Volkswagen scene, and his father for helping out with the wrench work over the years.

I would like to thank Eric for sending his ride in and photographers Eric Shell and Matt Lianco for contributing the photos for this feature.

Modification List

Exterior

Votex lip, rear, and side skirts
Shaved rear wiper
Roof rack basebars
Painted rub strips

Suspension

Airlift xl’s front
Bag yard bombers rear
Air lift shocks
Accuair elevel management
skinny 5 gallon tank
Two Viar compressors
Accuair exo mount
Aluminum hardlines

Interior

Painted trim
euroswitch

Wheels/Tires

Privat kups 18″ 8.5 offset 36 all around
215/40 r18

Performance

Awe cat back exhaust

WTF Friday: Bavarian Terror

By

DaveT

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Apr 6, 2012

1

As a former BMW owner I’ve hung around BMW message boards for quite some time and seen many a BMW re-imagined as a straight line terror.

I’ve seen 2002 gassers, Isetta Monsters, and plenty of snail fed slick tire equipped e30s, but this e21 I spotted on The Amazo Effect just so happens to be an American milled BMW I’ve never seen before.

Built by Swede Martin Lundblad in 1998 the car came about when he began to develop a liking for American vehicles (the Chevy Nova in particular).

While the lure of American power was strong Martin couldn’t bring himself to get rid of his first car and loyal daily driver so he did the next best thing.

He cut it up.

The firewall was recessed, the trans tunnel moved up, and the rear was tubed all while a tube frame worked it’s way underneath the car.

The factory motor hit the curb and a small block 350 was put under the hood (something I tried to encourage other maxbimmer members to do quite a bit).

View Larger Scan

He also took care and precaution to keep the car as factory looking as possible given the modifications done.

This is by no means the only drag e21 around it’s one of the cleaner ones I’ve seen.

Wonder where it is at today?

Still I think this 5er might be the cleanest Chevy powered BMW ever.

Source.