In addition to the new shirt release there is a new bundle in the store called The Mystery Box.
A Mystery Box includes two shirts from the SIE store along with two stickers. One from myself, and one from a site sponsor. Priced at $32 it’s currently the best deal in the entire store and available in limited quantities.
Check out all of the products, and like always, thanks for the continued support!
When it comes to really nailing a replica vehicle chassis selection is important. The closer your donor is to the vehicle you are emulating the better the result.
The Fiero, despite its factory faults, is a great base for mid engine replicas. Heck even the seventh generation Toyota Celica can be made to look like a Ferrari with enough effort.
Third generation F bodies though? Well… if the car below tells the tale, maybe those should just remain the humble Camaros of Firebirds they left the factory as.
Known as the “Fire Arrow” this car is currently for sale on Hemmings Classifieds. Listed as a replica the car takes styling cues from Ferrari and perhaps a door stopper.
The F body donor car shines through via the front end and wheels. Overall the car looks a fair bit shorter than an f body ought to be, thanks to the 1.5″ square tubing chassis it rides on.
The positive camber all around is indicative of some shenanigans but the rear camber is especially curious.
Gone is the factory straight axle rear end replaced with the trans axle from a Chevrolet Corvair.
Under the engine cover is an aluminum Buick V8. These motors are known more for their light weight than power, making roughly 145 horse power brand new.
Weighing in at 2500lbs this car isn’t a speed demon, but it does boast a 50/50 weight ratio.
Inside the interior is a rather jarring combination of hold out Camaro bits and hand formed riveted together sheet metal.
A show winner this car may not be but, it could make a pretty cool Chump Car. The ad says please inquire so it might be hard to scoop up for the limit but there’s no harm in trying!
Do you remember the Dodge D50? No? Well, honestly, I don’t really remember it either. Released in the height of the minitruckin’ era they are very similar in size and shape to the Mazda B2200 or Nissan hard body.
Being so similar to those imports, one would assume they have an equal following, but this doesn’t seem to be the case. In fact I’d say they have little following at all (sorry D50 fans)
I’d never really thought about doing a Theme Tuesday dedicated to the D50 but that all changed when hot rod artist Chris Pisctielli sent me the truck below.
Wearing vintage Enkei wheels and classic 80s livery the truck is 100% period correctIt’s really shame this segment of truck no longer exists
This truck quickly sent me hunting for more like it and, unfortunately, they are not the easiest vehicle to find modified examples of.
Especially today after Photobucket nuked so many photos from aging forums.
This mid 90s style truck comes way of Cardomain, its been sold and is presumably no longer with usThis retro styled D50 was shot by Shaw McCann, looks like a rider owned truck tooDrag spec D50 via the surprisingly still up mightyram50.netOG minitruckin at its finest – Via: layitlow.comThis is actually a Plymouth Arrow, one of several different names this truck went under
This is probably one of the most famous D50s, it has a 4G63 under the hood, aka a first generation eagle Talon motor – Photo: Truck TrendIt was used for Drifting, but I don’t think it is around any longer – Photo: Truck Trend
“Street Smart” is a fairly well-known D50, perhaps the only one featured in Truckin’
Enter the Mighty Max
When I uncovered that the D50 was actually a re-badged Mitsubishi the search for cooler examples became a bit easier.
This Mighty Max isn’t uncommon to see crusin’ around Ontario, it’s owned by Norther Showdown’s own Will SalazarWith phantom grills these trucks look really, really, similar to Mazda B2200sTruck Trend has the feature on this beauty truckAnd finally, perhaps the most famous D50 ever, the Six ShooterIf I remember correctly this truck is now in a museum
Obviously this truck isn’t winter driven. But, it’s seen a bit of snow now, which makes it a great pick for the often neglected Winter Wednesday series.
If you have some pictures of your car in the snow, send it through to [email protected], tag me on instagram, or post them in the comments below!
Wheels have grown, quite steadily, in both diameter and width since this site’s inception. To be honest, it’s pretty hard to deny the appeal of large diameter wheels. Their physical size makes them hard to ignore, and done right there’s no question they look great.
A drift car with 18 x large wheels hucked sideways dragging kit through a corner looks phenomenal. As does a minitruck skating by on 22s.
But small diameter wheels have their place too. When paired with a restrained exterior, smaller diameter wheels help complete a “clean” aesthetic for lack of a better term.
I’ve never done a small diameter wheel Theme Tuesday before, but 2018 seems like the year to start.
Santi went from big wheels and a large kit, to small wheels, and honestly I think it was a good switch upIt doesn’t look like he’s going back anytime soon, now owning two sets of smaller diameter wheelsThe Work Equip 40 wheel is a great new, small diameter wheel
Elvis of Stance Nation recently used them to great success here
These wats might be bordering on standard size, but I think with the chunky sidewall I’ll slide them in here, also because 2+2Ditto can be said for this set, on a work in progress Datsun in the parking lot of Fitted a few years agoThis Fiat looked pretty god on these BBS RS wheels, they were a little too wide, but from a profile view they looked great, these wheels were later switched out for much taller Rockstar wheelsHas anyone seen this car within the past two years or so? – Photo: The Scraped CrusadersOriginally built for a Ferrari I’m not sure where these 15″ Campagnolo wheels ended up9 times out of ten the ae86 looks best on 15s or smallerCase in pointThis post is incomplete without some Miata love
Hard to do wrong with classic Japanese tin and small wheels
These wheels were actually legitimately golf kart wheelsThese mini wheels, while still small in diameter, are actual car wheels@prkbkr is perhaps the small wheel content king on Instagram
Trucks
Don’t worry truck guys, I didn’t forget you guys with this one! Big wheels are totally in style now, but don’t forget the little guys.
The small billets on the Mazda on the left has always been fittingIt suits the look of the truck overall very wellI’ve never seen this hardbody again, but it was oh so right at Imporfest in 2012Wires on a clean s truck is another great retro lookA bit more modern, the Black Anvil Garage truck combines several stylistic elements to make a killer looking truck
In my 2017 look back I mentioned forthcoming site tweaks for 2018 and beyond. One of those tweaks is the addition of bi-weekly #motormonday posts. The Motor Monday series will supplement Facebook and Instagram posts of the same name.
Facebook and Instagram are great, but often not the best medium for some of the more interesting motor set ups I have in the archives.
Entry one in this series is ‘Superstition’ a 1957 Bel Air spotted at the 2017 Detroit Autorama. ‘Superstition’ is a real deal surviving competitive drag car from the heyday of Hot Rodding.
If you’ve read the Thunderball feature then you already know how much I love survivors.
Superstition is powered by a big, bad 400 cubic inch Pontiac V8. Atop the V8 is a period correct GMC blower. Despite looking somewhat neglected the motor is very healthy and runs quite well. Don’t just take my word for it though, hit play below.
Given the aggressive motor setback, and stance, I’m sure you have all deduced that this car was built for straight line dominance. Additional function forward modifications include a Ford straight axle conversion and an extremely spartan interior.
In its prime the car ran a 10 second quarter-mile at 125 MPH. With new rubber and a daring pilot it just might be able to do that again today.
The rarity of a drag car surviving this in tact has made Superstition the subject of a few different features online. The most in-depth of those features can be found hotrod.com.
A truly gnarly car Superstition is a great way to start of a new series here on SIE.
The last WTF Friday of 2017 was a little a subtle red sleeper, and the first WTF Friday post of 2018 is a, subtle red body swap. Well, somewhat subtle depending on how much of a Corvette purist you are.
This one-off Corvette was born in Washington state, and it’s a 1967 (C2) Corvette Roadster body that’s been put on top of a 1993 (C4) Convertible.
At a quick glance, the car does a pretty good job of convincing you it is a slightly modified ’67 Corvette. It looks fairly right, but, at the same time the more you study it, the more things seems slightly amiss.
The builders did a really good job, all things considered, but the main tell is the windshield. It’s raked further back than the windshield of a ’60s vehicle.
A soft top was used to try to mask the difference, but it is pretty obvious, especially from the side.
However at the front three quarter angle above the proportions of the body look very reasonable. I’m sure there’s some widening going on somewhere to accommodate the generation jump between the two cars but I can’t tell quite where they’ve added material, can you?
Looking past the windshield you can see late model seats used.
Those seats come from yet another generation of Corvette, the C5, and are power leather units installed into an otherwise factory C4 interior.
The 300HP LT-1 came with the one owner donor chassis and sits under a custom engine cover. Likely the only one of its kind this little red Corvette is up for sale at $90, 000 Canadian or best offer.
In 2017 I ended up getting a slow start when it came to feature vehicles, leaving a lot of killer Ontario cars on the table to circle back on in 2018.
On the train to work this morning I decided to scribble down an additional short list of vehicles to add to the previous 2017 list.
To keep myself honest, I am going to post those five in the hopes that peer pressure will force me to make it happen.
This could all blow up in my face, because featuring all these cars in one year might be a bit ambitious –especially when you consider weather, conflicting schedules, and vehicle readiness– but that’s not the kind of thinking to start a year off with now is it?
1. Matt’s Dodge Club Coupe
I’ve known Matt for years, he’s probably one of the most talented yet humble individuals I’ve ever met, so properly spotlighting his Dodge is long overdue.
From a patina standpoint Matt’s car has some of the best I have ever seen. He put a little elbow grease into cleaning it up, but all of it, including the visor, is natural.
He’s tastefully selected from that natural color palate for everything he has added to the car as well, resulting in an elegant looking laid out Dodge.
There’s also a significant amount of fabrication hidden in the car enabling it to sit as low as it does. Those details might be really hard to capture but I’d love to give it a shot.
2. Dynamotorsports’s Toyota Celica
I’ve seen this Celica at shows for the past three years, and since it’s now running the chance I might be able to feature it seems a little more realistic.
I’ve never actually met, or talked to the owner of this car, so I’ve got a few hands to shake before this happens but this list is all about goals right?
From an exterior perspective the car is fairly understated, at least from the sides and rear.
The wheels are super wide, as are the tires, but the lack of dish and gloss black finish help downplay that to some degree.
With this car, the real show stopper is under the hood with the dual charged 2UZ motor. Using a Ford SVT charger with a Japanese motor and a giant turbo? Right up my alley.
3. The Cyrious Garageworks Dodge Charger
This is probably putting a bunch of undue stress on the guys at Cyrious Gargeworks, but this is one car I really want to shoot when complete. The World War Z Camaro feature is currently the most popular feature ever on this site and I think the Charger could eclipse that. Reactions to the car have already been quite knee jerk, and even though the internet might believe Cyrious is building this car solely to piss of the purists, that isn’t their goal.
They are simply executing another crazy idea Miro has in his head. Miro’s vision combined the talent within the walls of Cyrious Garageworks will result in one very feature worth vehicle.
Not sure if I’ll be able to get to it first, but you can make damn sure if it is done I am going to b line to Cyrious.
4. Jordan’s Ford F100
Jordan’s F-100 is one of the cleanest, unfinished, vehicles I had the pleasure of seeing in 2017. Like most of the builds preceding this truck I’ve mentioned it a few times.
I spent a long time ogling it at the E.L.T.A. summer bash in awe of just how clean it is, from the air management set up to the great looking engine bay. The fabrication, fit, and finish are all absolutely top notch.
The truck also has one of the best looking interiors on this list.
5. Mustang Kyle’s “Mustang”
One of the hottest cars in Ontario now, and all across the internet really, is Kyle “Mustangkyle” Scaife’s 67 “Mustang”.
Mustang is in quotes because, as Kyle explains below, the car is actually more C5 Corvette than it is Mustang.
The car was on the road as of August of last year, and Kyle and I spent the remainder of the season passing like ships in the night. Hopefully this year we can connect, but at the very least I just want to see the darn thing in person.
Are these five cars the only cars I want to shoot for 2018? Heck no, but if I can hit these five at minimum I know it will be a great year ahead.
If I were to make this list an even ten, what five would you add-on?
Here we are, just shy of 365 days from where we began, at the end of 2017. 2017 marks Stance Is Everything’s seventh full year in operation and seven years is a long time, practically eons, in internet terms.
In those seven years several similar sites have come and gone and the staying power of SIE is not something I take for granted. Be it stupidity, stubbornness, or both, I am not ready to let this site go the way of the Dodo. Standing strong and maintaining a loyal readership is something I am incredible proud of and therefore I’m in it for the long haul.
Each year has marked some sort of growth and change for Stance Is Everything and 2017 has been one of the most challenging so far. The blog life balance certainly skewed a bit more towards life this year, but because this blog has crossed over into so many parts of my life those scales tipping isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
2017 served up several significant demands on my time, one of the most import (and fun) being this guy:
As any parent can tell you having ‘threenager’ is a challenge but I’m quite lucky that my son Ash is –at least currently– quite into cars. This means he’s happily tagged along to a number of shows this year.
He’s also begun to take quite an interest in the mechanics of the vehicles asking to see under the hood, or stay at certain cars a little longer to take in a detail or two.
Ironically his tastes seem to be skewing towards lifted vehicles… time will tell if that remains the case of course.
Another, significant, draw on my waking hours has been freelance work. I’ve contributed photography and text to a number of publications this year and it’s looking like 2018 will continue this trend.
This is something I am certainly not going to complain about because that work directly contributes to funding the final time hog, Project Why Wait.
Be it time spent on the computer researching parts, working in the garage pushing past build milestones, or generating piles of scrap learning how to fabricate, one of the most popular post series on this site is at odds with the amount of time I can spend working on the site.
But, however many hours it steals away from my life, the journey thus far has been incredible. It’s been all the challenge I’ve wanted (and a bit more if I’m to be honest) and the support and encouragement I’ve received as I fumble through has been overwhelming.
I appreciate that so many of you have picked up on the passion I have for the project and offered support in any way you can. I will do my best not to let all of you down and see this project through to the end.
Hopefully by the end I will have inspired a reader or two to pick up some tools and give a project a try.
With all of that said 2017 has still been a very successful year for Stance is Everything. From a sheer numbers perspective the amount of events and vehicles featured in 2017 might have been fewer, but the diversity and quality remained at the level you’ve come to expect from SIE.
Of course I also manged to hop from a style oriented drift event one weekend, to a classic car show the next, because diversity is a mainstay of this website.
Weaving in and out of the several automotive niches is a large contributing factor to this site’s continued success.
Niches are great, but I like a bit of everything, and if you’re reading this you like a bit of everything so while you can expect some change in the day-to-day operation of Stance Is Everything, the diversity won’t be going anywhere.
There are plenty of events I’ve still yet to attend, and several vehicles left for me to shoot before I put a fork in this site and call it ‘done’.
Combine vehicles and events, with a few editorial topics I have yet to touch, and “done” isn’t something you have to worry about labeling Stance Is Everything in 2018.
I’ve got a lot of ideas, and plenty of drive left, so with few tweaks under the hood, and plenty of support, SIE will keep rolling on through to 2018 and beyond.
So thanks again for your continued support this year, and hope to see you again next.
Cavaliers were one of the most popular disposable heroes of the General Motors line up. Designed as a generic runabout they sold quite well from their first generation release in the 80s, up until the end of the line globally in 2005.
I’m not a J body fanatic by any means, but, I’ve seen my fair share, and I don’t think it is a stretch to say that heavily modified examples are fairly uncommon. By heavily modified I don’t just mean wheels, kit, bags etc (those are quite prevalent). I mean ones that have been converted from FWD uni-body cars to rear wheel drive v8 powered ones.
Putting that much time and effort into a chassis that many would say doesn’t deserve it isn’t for the faint of heart. But, there are always those who prefer to swim up-stream and I’d say this owner from British Columbia likes to fight the current.
He took his never winter driven pride and joy and transformed it into a real sleeper. Sleeper is a bit of an overused term these days, but looking at the car above would you expect it to have a Holley four barrel topped 5.7L v8 under the hood?
Sure, the cowl is a bit of a give away but for the most part the car holds its cards tight to the chest.
Tucked in a cleaned up black engine bay the small block is backed by a C700 four speed auto transmission fit with a 2200 stall torque converter.
You can’t really see it in the photo above but hung off the back of a custom frame is a Detroit 9″ posi rear end with a 2.75 gear ratio. At the front of the frame is a Mustang II suspension, aka, the hot rod front end swiss army knife.
The proportions of the body are unchanged, and the ride height even appears to be similar to that of a stock Cavalier, helping again reaffirm the sleeper status.
If the photo above tells the tale the combination works quite well, and the owner had the car appraised at a decent $16,000 Canadian a few years ago.
It is currently listed at best offer, though I can’t possible fathom what a reasonable offer is for a car of this nature. It is after all still a Cavalier but, if you want to try your luck offer up on Kijiji.
A Mystery Box includes two shirts from the SIE store along with two stickers. One from myself, and one from a site sponsor. Priced at $32 it’s currently the best deal in the entire store and available in limited quantities.
