Ice racing looks like a pretty fun time, and what makes a pretty fun time a really good time? Hot Rods.
The owner of this satin black Ford 5 window looks to be having a blast out on a frozen lake in Sweden.
Since this shot was from 2010 I figured there would be more somewhere and spent a quick minute searching. Didn’t find anymore photos of the car above but I did find an awesome clip of a different hot rod out slaying the ice and snow.
I feel a theme coming on…
It took a long time, probably about 8 years in fact, for the e36ti (or e36 compact depending on where you’re from) to grow on me.
Initially I couldn’t get over the abrupt end of the car after the D pillar but as time went on, and new car designs did even less for me, I began to appreciate BMW’s quirky little hatch back.
Today I show some appreciation to BMW for thinking outside the standard trunk box, and the owners below for opting for the somewhat less than common car.
Almost daily I see people blame stance (99% of the time they actually mean aggressive fitment, but that’s another discussion for another day) for the downfall of the automotive community as a whole.
Proclamations are made that once the ‘fitment fad’ dies off everything will miraculously change for the better.
Really? We’re using aggressive fitment as the scapegoat for all the problems that exist among enthusiasts today, while completely ignoring the fact that less than functional wheel, tire, and suspension setups are nothing new?
If you jump back forty plus years –conveniently hopping over the “ricer era” that is its own can of worms– and examine the ‘70’s Street Machine movement you will observe that people have been choosing their wheel and tire set-ups based on looks for years.
It just so happens that currently a significant portion of the community views pebble pushing ride height, low offset wheels, stretched tires, and ample camber as pleasing to the eye.
No. Aggressive fitment, nor whatever styling trend comes hereafter, is not the problem.
But those flat billed hat, skinny jean wearing, kids have single–handedly lowered the bar at car shows you argue? Well, no again.
A few years back a car that’s modification list started and ended with suspension and wheels wouldn’t make the cut for a show, and rightfully so wheels and lowering does not a show car make, however these cars are not driving into shows behind the organizers turned backs, they are being welcomed with open arms.
Why? Because event organizers have a lot of pressure on their shoulders; sponsors need to be pleased, venues need to be filled, merchandise needs to be sold, and models need vehicles on which to leave spray tan impressions.
From the perspective of a show runner it only makes logical (or financial whichever best represents your show of choice) sense to usher in as many people as possible by heavily leaning on what’s hot now, regardless of if it represents the best of the best from a practical, engineering, or build quality stand point.
But the flaws in the current car show model (touched on here by Shift Hype) are not really detrimental to the community as a whole because car shows are arguably a very small piece of the pie.
In my observation, the largest problems in the community today center around attitudes and egos.
The biggest and most concerning of these issues is that the voice of the car enthusiast is being drowned out by that of the scene enthusiast. Unlike car enthusiasts, scene enthusiasts don’t appreciate the hobby as a whole, they like their segment of car modification and wholly reject the ideas, and opinions of people they feel ‘don’t get it’.
These individuals don’t appreciate someone’s right to build whatever they want and worse still lack the ability to respect any aspect of a build that sits outside of their own personal preference.
People have become so head down and focused on what they like, and so opposed to what they don’t, that they fail to realize they wear the same brand of blinders as those of the opposite opinion.
The second, and perhaps equally troubling problem within the community today has to do with egos. The double-edged sword that is social media has grossly inflated the egos of those doing nothing more than lather, rinse, repeating what the person before them did.
The loud, boisterous, vein, obnoxious, and attention seeking are being heralded while the humble, talented, creative, true innovators are being almost completely ignored.
If you try to challenge or question those who have been lifted upon pedestals made up of likes, comments, and shares their bands of merry men, hiding behind shields emblazoned with the word hater, verbally strike you down.
We are caught in a vicious cycle where as one trend gives way to another a new group of close minded, ego-centric, people replaces the last. As this circle continues nobody truly benefits and the hobby suffers as a whole.
If it’s necessary for wheel widths to go back to 6.5″ and offset to flirt with +60 for this downward spiral to stop then by all means aggressive fitment needs to die.
Despite the fact that I’ll probably never see one in person the Ford Shogun is one of my favorite cars. Take one part practical boxy commuter and one part mid ship mounted trans-axle V6, pump up the bodywork and viola you have a vehicle worthy of the Japanese moniker for ‘Commander In Chief’.
Now what if you applied that same over the top American logic to a ’84 Civic? Well then you would have this crazy car originally built by Naval civil engineer Andy Barcheck.
While I may have just discovered it this car actually isn’t a new build in the least. Started in ’87 and completed in ’92 this clever unison of Honda, GM, and Nissan parts is a very impressive piece of kit.
The engine and transmission are Honda units sourced from the Acura Legend, while the brakes and hubs come from a Corvette, Nissan 240z component based custom suspension was employed at all four corners.
With a track with now much wider than that of a ’84 Civic Andy had an all steel wide body (no bolt ons here!) fabricated that housed the Enkei 2 piece wheels wearing 205/255 rubber.
After driving it and receiving much noteworthy press Andy sold the car and since then it has changed hands a total of four times. The third owner keeps this Cardomain page alive for archival purposes but its current whereabouts are unknown.
However the last time the current owner popped up he said he was going to put a CL type S drivetrain in it so there’s that.
Thanks to Shawn HibmaCronan for alerting me to this crazy project!
More info can also be found at carbuildindex.com
My apologies on the late start to Winter Wednesdays this year, it’s been so cold (and not snowy) in the GTA that I’ve just been trying to pretend winter isn’t happening.
Here’s a few shots of Travis Bishop’s S15 out in the snow shot by the talented James Tippet.
What other site would you find a bevy of Chevrolet Camaros posted the day after a glimpse into what’s currently going on in Japan?
Put aside visions of less than pleasant, rusted out, half running v6 models and get ready for a few outstanding versions of all generations in this post.
(skip to about 55 seconds for dyno pulls)
AE86 slanger Jover, designer/builder/drifter/wise-craker Martino, and fellow Garage Collective members Anthony, and Yazan, are currently over in Japan enjoying the heck out of themselves on a trip to the 2015 Tokyo Auto Salon.
Between mind-blowing cars, life changing ride alongs, and vending machine dispensed corn, Martino has been sending over pictures of their exploits.
Today’s post contains a few of his photos from the Fresh Tokyo Car Meet, as well as their first day at the Tokyo Auto Salon.
Enjoyment on their end is high, as is jealousy on this end.
Super Street, All That Low and Hardcore Japan teamed up to put together a meet in decks at Tokyo Beach. From the looks of it a lot of people rolled through and it was the first stop for a lot of the out-of-town folk.
Once photos started popping up on their collective instagram accounts (@jover, @vsmartino @garagecollective) it became pretty apparent that one day I really need to go to TAS, I’d better start saving my pennies.
Hopefully Mike sends through some more stuff but based on his instagram(@VSMartino) he’s pretty busy having an awesome time.
Late last year, when following up on the Maserati Quattroporte powered Miata build I posted in October, I was saddened to learn that project appears to have been permanently moth balled.
No answers from the owner in the thread, and it showed up on kijiji for a quick spell.
Surprisingly someone else has taken up the challenge, this time with an NC chassis Miata instead of an NA.
The process this new builder is taking couldn’t be more different than the last, focusing on the motor and transmission bits first instead of immediately getting busy with an angle grinder.
The build is very much still in its infancy so that’s about all that has happened so far (minus the front end coming off the Miata) but progresses on the ‘Miaterati’ project can be followed here.
This Mazda Maserati mash up actually isn’t all that far away from me so I might have to try and get in touch with the owner and go check it out.
Shortly after I got my tank done by Christian Melchoir Art Malczewski of dropculture.ca paid him a visit to get the lettering redone on his freshly re-finished Sprint Hart CPR wheels.
Like myself he brought his camera when he went to pick up his wheels and took a few snaps of Christian’s prize possession.
Christian’s S10 is yet another perfect example of less is more. Re-spray in the factory color, new interior, cowl hood, rally wheels and a ride tech suspension system.
All killer no filler.
For daily duties Christian drives a C10 that is equally clean.
Summer sure can come back anytime now!
While watching Team Canada take Junior Hockey Gold last night (had to mention it) I thought to myself, ‘self you have not done a Theme Tuesday dedicated to FC chassis RX-7s’. However when I woke up this morning and started pulling it together I realized I had. Don’t trust anyone includes yourself I guess.
Anyway the last one was three years ago now so part two is most certainly in order.
