classiccars

Back in the days when my late 80’s E30 convertible was built at the Regensburg BMW plant, it was considered a “rag top,”  a moniker we old timers have badged a soft top vert.  Nowadays, the canvas top seems to have gone the way of riding in pickup beds and will most probably soon become extinct, except on collectable old rag tops.

These days, the bulk of convertibles are built with retractable hardtops and, with the exception of the much beloved PT Cruiser and the equally loved New Bug, canvas rag tops have largely gone by the wayside.

Now, as a Hoon aged at the half century mark, I thought the Ford Fairlane 500 Skyliner was the first of these examples. Sixty something motors operated that engineering marvel.

During my quick google image search extensive research on this type of vehicle, I came up with a couple others. But you have to make the jump to see them.

Before we get to the money shot, the retractable hard top is so ubiquitous even Volkswagen included one on their Matchbox sized almost popular Enos.

But this 1941 Chrysler Thunderbolt concept car is the one that excites this olelongrooffan the most. Only five were built and one sold at auction last year for $1.7 million!

I was looking for another older one I saw on these intertubes once that was of European origin and it seems this feeble old mind remembers that photo was possibly shot in front of the Eiffel Tower?

So that’s it Hoons. Whatcha Got?

Remember The Rules. Read the comments. Avoid duplication. Width=”500″. You know the routine by now.

Degree of Difficulty: 1990 to present: Getting a cold pop from the frig. 1950 to 1990: Clothes shopping with your significant other. Pre 1950: Coming up with $1.7 million to buy that Thunderbolt.

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In light of the recent Encyclopedia Hoonatica, I thought I would share this great find from the parking lot of a car show I recently attended.  Enjoy!

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While I was in Carlisle drooling over vintage Corvettes last weekend, our new Mid West contributor Tad was watching lucky Ferrari club members fling their rides around Gingerman Raceway in South Haven. There was even a new 458 Italia there to keep everyone honest. Sadly, the local track day event put on by the Central States Region Ferrari Club came to an early close when a participating Chaparral blew a seal and spewed 100 oil all over the track. I guess that’s what happens when you allow non Ferraris into a Ferrari event (kidding kidding).

Thanks Tad.

Here’s something you need to know about the 2010 Lexus IS350C convertible: my mother loves it. She stole the keys from me and drove it to work one day, and I’ll be damned, her middle-aged female co-workers went joyriding in it, like back in high school: they crammed into the Matador Red Mica convertible and sped off to Dairy Queen, waving their arms in the air. They had taken a photo of their shenanigans and blown it up to poster size, where it made its way to the lobby and presumably into two or three Christmas cards. You’d think Richard Gere had shown up that day, the way my mother went on about it.

“You’re going to have to buy me one of these!” one suggested to her husband that afternoon.

“Yeah, maybe when I hit the ($52,605) jackpot,” he retorted.

To some people, the hardtop convertible is an exercise in cynicism: the heavy top kills the trunk space, cutting off the top makes it wobbly, you’re better off buying a coupe of some sort. But to others, the Lexus is an event: perhaps a reflection of the Lexus’s middle-aged, upper-class target audience, for those who aren’t bothered with 0-60 times and think autocross is slang for some new street drug. Autocrossing certainly isn’t something you’d want to attempt with this car. And you know what? That’s fine with me.

The 350 in the IS350C’s trendy alphanumeric name indicates the aluminum 3.5-liter V6 engine, hiding somewhere under all that equally trendy plastic sheathing. With variable-valve timing and direct injection it is good for 306 horsepower and 277 lb/ft of torque—figures that feel adequate, if not overpowering. I timed its 0-60mph at 5.9 seconds, a tick below the manufacturer’s clearly far more scientific official time of 5.8, even with three other people cramming its four perforated leather seats. Power delivery is smooth until around 5500 RPM, when the six-speed transmission kicks down and roars into life; while the car came with the requisite paddle shifters as expected in a token nod to “sportiness,” they were slow to react and utterly gimmicky.

As a result, don’t expect to live out your Montoya fantasies in this car, chiefly because of its 3880-lb curb weight—a 500-lb increase over the sedan. This heft gives it little semblance of speed, staying planted up and past legal highway speeds: squeeze the pedal firmly enough, watch the needle climb all the way to its 6600-RPM limiter (in Sport mode, anyway), and blammo!, you’re at 100mph without even realizing it. The Lexus feels most comfortable at this speed, with the top down on an empty, moonlit stretch of interstate, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club quietly crooning away through all eight of its speakers. Top speed is an electrically governed 141mph, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the car felt just as solid there as well, top down or not.

From a standstill, the throttle is surprisingly jumpy for a car of such caliber—if your foot is heavy, every stoplight launch turns into a hole shot. It’s possible to break the rear end out in a cacophony of tire squeal until the traction control blinks—hold down the button to turn it “off,” but you can never entirely get rid of the damn thing. It’s a Lexus, remember? The steering is nicely weighted, but it never lets you forget that the car is almost two tons heavy—the famous Lexus ride is set back by a little cowl shake and a few creaks emanating from the rear, no doubt because of its hack-and-slash convertible conversion. I couldn’t imagine driving the Lexus’s kid brother, the IS250C, with almost 100 less horsepower and the same amount of weight, as gutless as a butcher’s window.

Nor would I be willing to hustle the Lexus around corners: like the accordion, it’s a pursuit a gentleman can do, but doesn’t. Best to relax, take a breather, cruise at semi-legal speeds, and take in the beautifully-trimmed interior.

What you notice first when climbing in is the steering wheel, which rises upwards and tilts downward into full-attack driving position with a whirr. LEDs abound: LEDs in the footwells, LEDs in the glovebox, LEDs in the trunk, LEDs  in the center console where you stash your iPod (taking up valuable cupholder space, annoyingly), LEDs lighting up the “LEXUS” embossed doorsills (part of the $6,840 Premium Package), LEDs above the rearview mirror that illuminate the shifter, presumably in case the driver forgot where he put it. It’s a handsome, if slightly dull, interior, trimmed in soft tan leather and dark grey Bird’s-Eye Maple wood trim that was thankfully kept to a minimum: nothing screams “HEY, LOOK AT THIS LUGG-JURY” than slabs of shiny, processed trees. Sorry, Jaguar owners, the IS is far more modern than that.

Taking up center stage is a touch screen featuring Lexus’s Enform system, which included satellite radio, voice activation, automatic climate control, live traffic updates, XM Sports and Stocks, an angry red button alarmingly labeled “SOS” (for Lexus’s accident-response Safety Connect feature), Bluetooth. I didn’t play with any of these features, mainly because my phone dates back to the Clinton administration. But I did play with the iPod connection, which was intuitive, albeit slow: it hijacks your iPod and wrests control away to the screen, which then forces you to scroll down your list of artists—slowly. Painfully slow and unresponsive also describes the GPS navigation and the act of punching in addresses, which is blocked from the driver if the car is so much as rolling forward to a stop. Did Lexus expect that its drivers didn’t have passengers at their behest?  Maybe Lexus drivers don’t have friends? The GPS did show the location of passing airplanes, presumably in case you needed a wish right now.

The front seats are firm, but supportive. They’re also heated and cooled, with small fans that would have been more effective if I had driven without pants. I didn’t want to imagine how big the ensuing bill would be if someone was to spill a Big Gulp through its leather perforations.

These powered, programmable seats tilt forward at the touch of a button to allow rear-seat egress; those stuck in the back will find a carefully contoured pair of seats, low and snug like sitting in a baseball glove. Unlike Lexus’s last attempt at a convertible, the ancient SC430 currently languishing in Special Edition Hell, there’s actually room for, say, people with functioning legs of average adult size. The big heavy roof overhead can be a burden: headroom with the top up is a hair over my own 5’5” head. And rear visibility, blocked by the roll hoops and two sets of headrests, is about the size of a loaf of bread and akin to peering through a surgical opening.

Of course, putting the roof down alleviates both problems. Which I tried for the first time in a 7-11 parking lot, impressing the hell out of a gang of Slurpee-chugging high school kids presumably breaking curfew. “Izzat your car?” one girl screamed. “That’s sooo cool!”

Cool, indeed. The top takes 28 seconds to fold down, according to my friend’s stopwatch. And during my week with the Lexus, I never got tired of it—it is a precision array of engineering, a dramatic mechanical ballet that I ended up showing off to every one of my friends (hey, you would too, wouldn’t you?). Impressive to see from the driver’s seat, even more so when viewed from a distance. Which is a luxury left ungranted to the driver, as the dash-mounted rocker switch must be held down until the LCD screen between the gauges triumphantly proclaims, “OPERATION COMPLETE.” What, deprive the driver of everybody else’s fun? For shame, Lexus!

In order to put the top down, however, first a plastic divider must be positioned in the trunk, to cordon off room for the complex folding hardtop. Which leaves an embarrassingly small amount of room; enough for maybe a messenger bag, or, keeping in accordance with its target audience, half a set of golf clubs.

If the Lexus is to be used as a daily driver, imagine taking it grocery shopping: because of the measly amount of space in the back, you would have to put your bags of Cheetos in the backseat. Which exposes them to miscreants and the elements, so you put the top up. The irony, then, is that this creates more room in the trunk, which you then stash your groceries in, which defeats the purpose of putting the top up, etc. This is a problem on any car with a folding metal roof.

The best solution, then, is to ditch the groceries and (as we’ve already established that the rear seats are actually useful) find 3 of your friends to embark in general douchebaggery. We did what anybody with a newly-acquired car, anywhere in the world, does: we drove it to downtown Boston to show it off to girls. Friday night with the top down, blasting Jay-Z through its eight speakers, is the Lexus’s natural habitat. And while we did get a few looks from females, including one in a 1998 Maxima with a license plate that read “SWINKY,” we also got side glances from everyone else: cops, bouncers, gas station attendants, plumbers in Econolines. It’s great fun if, my friend declared, “you’re a 20-something who like stylin’ on ‘em.” What does that mean? I haven’t the faintest idea. All that Jay-Z must have gotten to his head.

Make no mistake: the Lexus is a deeply cool car, one that will cause mothers to swoon and friends to buy you drinks. The regular IS was always a handsome car, with a front end that was clean and well-arranged, without being overly aggressive. And from the A-pillar forward, it’s standard IS fare. But there’s about a mile of bodywork between the rear wheelarches and the top of the trunk, and with the top up its sloping roofline curls backwards like a swimmer’s cap, or the ass-end of a Morris Minor (note: this is the only time a Lexus will be compared with a 1940s British product). Even with the top down it manages to be both squat and short, reminiscent of another fine Toyota product—one on the opposite end of the class spectrum, the Scion tC.

The Infiniti G37 is perhaps its closest competitor, other than the pesky Germans (and maybe a Swede or two). And the G37 certainly pulls off the coupe-to-convertible transition with less lost in translation than the Lexus—visually, at least. Of course, Infiniti has its own standalone coupe, while Lexus does not—but hey, this still shouldn’t stop them from bringing back the SportCross.

The sticker on the Lexus starts at $44,890, and this model—with its aforementioned $6,840 Premium Package, which even includes a cigarette lighter—is smack-dab in the middle of the segment. The cynics will inevitably deride this as Lexus’s attempt at carbon-copying BMW to every minute detail. Others will claim that it’s still cheaper—almost $20k cheaper—than the Botox-discount special known as the SC430, and represents as much of an evolutionary leap over that model as Stephen Hawking does over a three-toed sloth. But the fact of the matter is, Lexus has built a comfortable, classy, relatively good-looking tourer that won’t spill your drink into the wind at 120mph, and will still impress your friends.

Just hide the keys from your mother.

Disclosure: Toyota provided the car, insurance, and a full tank of gas for this review.

[Photo credits: Keqing Song Photography]

Keqing Song is a photographer, zombie hunter extraordinaire, and all-around bad dude with a portfolio that’s definitely worth checking out. I like the guy so much, I’m not even being paid to say this. Though I might sucker him into buying me a beer.

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Do you remember, back when you were a kid, hoping against hope that you were going to get something cool for a birthday present – a BB gun or  indentured man-servant – and then actually got underwear and socks instead? Remember how that felt? Well, that’s the way it typically feels when you see a car maker that you love for one reason or another bow to the pressure to compete and build something so foreign to their DNA that it makes you wonder if the business has been taken over by evil alien clones, bent on the destruction of that beloved brand. What car or truck stands out to you as a prime example of this?

Jeep has always been known as being tougher than trying to crap a peach pit, but when they introduced the Patriot and The View- oriented Compass – neither of which carried the company’s Trail Rated seal of approval – it seemed that somebody else was at the helm of that slotted-grilled ship. It wasn’t just that the cars were bad, it was that they were targeted at a buyer who wouldn’t even consider a Jeep prior to the introduction of these faux-eeps. That’s one example.

Others might be the Panamera, which is both fugly and sports four-doors, both of which are at odds with Porsche’s previous efforts, or the Corvette-based Cadillac XLR, which still confuses me. There’s a few on the other end as well, the Acura NSX – admittedly a brilliat car, but what does it have to do with a company that produces luxo-barges and mid-size executive sedans?

Okay, maybe some are good cars, and maybe some are bad, but the main criteria here is of course the WTF factor- that brow-furrowing miasma that surrounds certain cars or trucks that appear for no good reason than to confuse and vex those of us who find such things important. So, important people, with that in mind, which car do you think is the most WTF?

Image sources: [wikimedia, Globalmotors.net]

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As my Internet access is severely limited during the day, posting here has become tremendously difficult most of the time. To alleviate this, and to provide you wonderful Hoons with more content to fill your days, we’re rolling out a new segment: Quick Shifts.

The basic concept is simple. Rapid-fire posts of a personal nature with little or no commentary from us. Sometimes things are more interesting and fun when presented without a context for relevance. Hopefully they’ll be enough to spark some conversation. Use them as a post to tell your own stories, or chat with your fellow commenters.

Okay, so this one is a little different, but I wanted everyone to get a feel for these new posts you may see from time to time.

Here’s hoping you enjoy them! It’s pretty amazing knowing that we’ve got such high-calibre commenters that we don’t have to spoon-feed you to help you realise what makes the post unique or interesting.

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On Sunday, September 26, the AACA Museum in Hershey, Pennsylvania, will host an all-Matchbox toy show. The show will be run by the Diecast Exchange, and will focus on the entire history of Matchbox model cars, from the early 1950s up through the present day products. Most of the top Matchbox dealers and collectors from throughout the country will be there displaying and selling some of the rarest Matchbox models ever created.

And there will even be a special limited-edition Matchbox truck with camper for sale that will be specifically decorated for this show and limited to 150 pieces. The show runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Museum is located just off Route 39, one mile west of Hersheypark Drive in Hershey, Pennsylvania. For further information, call 717-566-7100.

I think anything I say about this 1956 Talbot-Lago for sale on Hemmings.com might just be inadequate. Or possibly untoward. Either way, I’ll simply let the seller’s description take it away:

This Talbot Lago is a 1956 T14LS, chassis number 140019. The history, as we know it is as follows. In 1971 the car was imported into England and registered with OUG2 license plate, considered a cherished number. It was registered to a Simon Francis Phillips, from London SW7, around this time. That plate got removed and presumably placed on another of his cars and it became registered with PRK38K around 19th Feb 1976. The next registered owner was Mrs. Hilda Lewis, 47 Grosvenor Square, London W1A, a very posh and expensive part of London. The next owner was from here, John Heil. John bought the car in 1988 and imported it to the USA. John Vintage raced the car a little at some of the Palm Springs Vintage car races in that time period. At that time he had the car set up for that purpose, including a roll bar (removable) and competition seat belts and the obligatory catch and vent tanks for oil and water capture. The car remained in his and his family’s possession until we acquired the car from his estate recently. The car has a BMW V8 of the BMW 507 style with a 4-spd, the same as what went into the Talbot Lago America. This engine has been in it since prior to arriving in England in 1971, as the original English log book shows it as having this motor with engine number 21900, the same number as it has today. We have redone the interior completely and it is superb, finished in very nice leather and Wilton Wool style carpeting. We have redone the interior to what we believe is back to original style and standards. The paint is very good but is by all accounts about 20 years old. It is finished in French Blue with Black interior.

See more Talbot-Lagos for sale on Hemmings.com.

A restored 1958 Harley Model G flathead in brilliant yellow with a sidecar is just one of the many motorcycles scheduled to roll across the stage at the MidAmerica Auction taking place at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds on September 25 in St. Paul, Minnesota. Some other interesting classics up for bid include a 1952 Ariel VHA 500cc, a 1926 BSA 249cc “round tank” Model B, and several 1955-1960 Matchless bikes. Several classic cars will also be auctioned on that day under the same roof. Vintage cars being offered include a 1948 Hudson Commodore, 1942 Dodge Custom Deluxe and a 1962 Thunderbird. Exotic car aficionados will appreciate the 1966 Porsche 912.

In the Lost and Found section in the issue of Hemmings Classic Car that should be landing in subscribers’ hands shortly (#74), I included a photo from Guy Cassaday of the full-size prototype of the car that Dutch Darrin designed for Israel-based Illian, a company that previously assembled Kaiser-Frazers there. I also noted that the photo may have been flipped, so I thought I’d also show it the other way ’round, as it was sent to me by former SIA scribe Leon Dixon. Benni Haspel, who lives in Israel, confirmed for me that Israelis have always driven on the right side of the road, which should make this version of the photo the correct one. By the way, does anybody know whatever became of this prototype?

In my exchanges with Guy, he also related to me that Darrin worked on a design proposal for GM for the 1961 Pontiac Tempest and same year Buick Skylark that used a very similar front end to the Illian proposal, and sent along a photo of two full-size prototypes that resulted from that exercise. What do you think: Was it an improvement over what GM sent in to production?

How close is too close? Think you can get super close to Jay's cars and still identify them?

How close is too close? Think you can get super close to Jay's cars and still identify them?

How close is too close? Think you can get super close to Jay's cars and still identify them?

How close is too close? Think you can get super close to Jay's cars and still identify them?

If I were this American with a disability, I know how I’d act.

Image source: [Reddit.com]

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A bully pulpit is by definition an medium abused by its possessor to espouse some sort of self-interested drivel, often to the detriment of the listener or discourse in general. Luckily for you, Hooniverse is a collection of bully pulpits that are built out of DKW fenders and Corvair transaxles, and their occupants are manic street preachers waxing philosophical about Morris Marina door handles and the like. My sermon today covers the most devilish of all Australian muscle cars, the storied Valiant Charger E49 Six-Pack. Sprinkle some holy high-test on your computer, don your special nomex undershirt, and follow along.

Turning to the Gospel of Allpar, Chrysler Australia created the VH Valiant by taking a rib from the American B-body and breathing upon it. And from the forehead of the VH came sprung, fully formed, the sinister shape of the Valiant Charger.

Click here to view the embedded video.

A slinky notchback coupe with deep buttresses stretching aft, it would have been a more familiar shape to an American onlooker as a muscle car than the locally favored four-door body style. The recessed square headlights peering out angrily from the grill were certainly more menacing than the standard round headlights required by the DOT on the other side of the world. More to the point, it weighed nearly 300 lbs less than the standard Valiant body, being slightly shorter.

Where things get really interesting is under the hood. You see, the boffins at Chrysler Australia’s Highland Park headquarters decided that, keeping in line with local tastes, a higher-performance motor than the venerable slant-six was required. Instead of simply slapping the 318 and its numerous variants into their products, their engineers determined to craft a straight-six more powerful and lighter than even the most powerful slant-six. The result was a family of Hemi inline sixes in 215, 245, and 265 inch flavors. They were powerful and light, and they revved higher than a V8 would or could:

Click here to view the embedded video.

The ultimate Hemi six variant could only be found under the hood of the VH Charger. Starting with the 265, which made a healthy 202 HP and 262 ft-lbs of torque in stock single-barrel form, Highland Park slightly modified the engine to handle higher stresses and revs. Then they bolted on a brace of Weber side-draught carbs for a whopping 100 horsepower increase. 302 HP and 320 ft-lbs of torque made the E49 Six Pack the most powerful six cylinder motor until the 911 Turbo dropped three years later – and that with forced induction. An E49-equipped Charger could bolt to 60 in just over six seconds, and turn the quarter in 14.1 seconds, making it the fastest-accelerating production car in Australia for many years.

Six Pack cars are rare and trade for big bucks, usually upwards of $200,000 AUS for authentic examples. Reproductions abound. And really, who can blame them? The big Hemi six wasn’t quite as exotic as the Pontiac Cammer, but it was a good fit for the culture down under and was popular enough to be developed into a fire-breathing monster. Plus, just listen to the sounds it makes in the video above again!

We may all be sinners, but for those who now covet thy neighbor’s Valiant Charger, the confessional booth is located below.

Allpar, Classic and Performance Car

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The term “forward control” means that the driver sits over the front wheels, rather than behind them. It’s fairly common for trucks and commercial vehicles, especially in Europe, as represented by the Thames van pictured above. But for today’s Hoonatic entry, in the interest of creative thinking, we’re going to define it as any vehicle in which the driver has any portion of his body in front of the front axle. This allows me to include, yes, the Porsche 917 as a “forward control” vehicle. How many can you name, and and how creative can you get while still being technically accurate? Read before you post, no dupes, and images are a plus, if you know how to embed them properly.

DIFFICULTY: If you can’t do this, you’re out of the club. Turn in your Carspotters Handbook to your Hoon Leader.

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A while back I did a few posts about my father’s quest for the vintage Jaguar of his dreams. From the many shows and renowned restoration shops we visited, I learned a heap about early XK cars like the 120 and E-Type. Fast forward to the present, where dad has substituted classic American muscle cars in where the gentlemanly British roadsters used to be. We’re now focused on finding a big block C2 Corvette with Knock-off Kelsey-Hayes wheels and side pipes loud enough to irritate the neighbors a little bit. So we did what any other sane person with Vettes on the brain would do…headed to Carlisle to check out the Corvette show of Corvette shows, soak up a little brand culture, learn more about collectable big blocks and perhaps score ourselves a new (well, new to us) Corvette.

Driving through the downtown area surrounding the fairgrounds was surreal. There were Corvettes absolutely everywhere. New ones, old ones, nice ones, ratty ones…there were all kinds. The beautiful Summer afternoon was filled with car talk amongst friends and screaming V8 engines being tested on the dynamometer. Bright eyed locals lined the sidewalks, watching and pointing as all the Vettes grumbling by in every color imaginable. There was even a parade on Saturday to honor legendary racer John Fitch, who in 1960 co-drove the first Corvette, the #3 Briggs Cunningham car, to ever capture a class win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Some of the more entrepreneurial townies who resided near the fairgrounds turned their driveways and backyards into paid parking lots and spent the weekend enthusiastically waving people in. The fact that they did this shirtless, beer in hand made it all that much more enjoyable.

See how we made out with a classic Vette and check out the many sights and sounds from the show after the jump. And if you really want to laugh, get a load of our Corvettes at Carlisle featured gallery with more cheeky vanity plates than you can shake a stick at.

After getting our fill of vanity plates, barbed wire tattoos and high rise cut off jean shorts, we headed over to some of the “Corvette Corrals” where several new and classic models were being offered for sale by their owners. This type of shopping presents opportunities and obstacles. On the plus side, you can browse what might be the largest and most diverse inventory of classic Vettes in one place at one time on the planet. And the owners are right there to tell you about the car. The bad news is that there are lot of people looking to sell you a nice, shiny fake. A Corvette to be certain, but perhaps that Corvette has parts with mismatched serial numbers (frame, engine, etc) or has seen the hot end of a blow torch for major accident repair that has conveniently not been mentioned in the advertisement.

My research has me thinking that a ‘65 Fuelie, or Fuel Injected, convertible is the right Corvette for us. While not as rare or valuable as the ‘67 427/435 L71 or aluminum headed L88, ‘65 was the last year for fuel injection and only 771 Corvettes left the factory that year with the then $538 option. Authentic examples, what’s left of them, will certainly maintain their value over the long term and will hopefully appreciate as vintage pickings become slimmer and slimmer for the Corvette faithful moving forward. Sebring Silver over black would be amazing but color is less important to us than condition and originality.

Kevin Mackay, a leading Corvette restorer and 20+ year NCRS/Bloomington Gold judge, was good enough to help us look over a handsome convertible that peeked our interest early Sunday afternoon (description above). The price seemed too good to be true and the seller had no records or receipts to share with us. All he could tell us was that the car was restored about 10 years ago and there had been at least 2 owners since then. Hell, he had only taken possession of the thing 4 days ago. Good thing we had Kevin there to sort through the car’s unknown provenance. Within moments, he was feeling up the inside of the wheel wells and jamming his head inside the engine bay to search for identifying marks and evidence of authenticity. It only took him 5 minutes to discover that the engine had been re-stamped. How did he know? Apparently the font of the serial number was incorrect. A few minutes later he identified the passenger side headlight as being from another year and told us that the car had definitely been involved in a collision at some point in its past. The experience was akin to watching the forensics team from CSI: Las Vegas tell detectives all the dirty little secrets lurking at the crime scene. Maybe someone should pitch Jerry Bruckheimer and NBC on a new Corvette spinoff of the show.

We had a great time but, based on Kevin’s findings, our search for an authentic ‘65 Fuelie continues.

We received these photos from Tony, who snapped them while he was visiting Jakarta, in Indonesia. Now, the notchback is always a beautiful car, but this particular example managed to set the hearts of the Hooniverse editors aflame.

The modifications done to it are subtle, just a few touches here and there; nevertheless they work together, and look fantastic. Our own goingincirclez said it reminded him of a miniaturized ‘49 Ford.

Of course, this minor modification is what makes the car so interesting, and causes it to induce a smile. The logo is brilliantly done, and strange enough to cause one to wonder if it was, in fact, a real name for a Volkswagen. The only quibble I could bring up would be that the notchback is not actually a “Variant” model. That title belongs to the Shooting Brake version of the Type 3. Nevertheless, we’ll forgive that little detail.

As a bonus, here’s a photo our longrooffan snapped a few years ago of an American-issue Notchback, should anyone need it for a comparison.

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[Photo courtesy http://bricklinautosport.com/]

Remember that Bricklin model car I spoke about last month? It was designed by an American automotive designer by the name of Herb Grasse. He is responsible for (or has played a large part in the design of) some other pretty amazing vehicles including the original Batmobile, the 1967 Camaro prototype, and a handful of wonderful concept vehicles. Two vehicles in particular that I love are the Waltzing Maltida Jet Truck and the Dodge Challenger Yellow Jacket.

Herb Grasse just lost a battle with pancreatic cancer and has passed on at the age of 65. Friend of Hooniverse, James Cowen (owner of Automodello, the company which produced the Bricklin model car) sent him a very special get well card before he left us.

On Friday I learned of Herb Grasse’s passing on August 24th from complications with pancreatic cancer.  This came as quite a shock and I have since let Raffi and the rest of the Automodello team know too.

About 3 weeks ago, I sent Herb a get well card. When I first began talking to Herb, he mentioned that during the assembly process in Canada cars would arrive at the end of the assembly line with not quite matched doors and body.  So Raffi and I had the factory build a single special Bricklin just for Herb, a 1 of 1 Get Well Edition, please see the attached pictures.

Yesterday, I talked with Terri Grasse, Herb’s wife, and she said that the Get Well “card” did not arrive until after Herb was already in the hospital.  The sight of this model lifted his spirits immensely.  And whenever anyone came to visit, Herb would retell how this model was so accurate, (even the ones that were painted correctly).  He was excited to know that we had gone to the effort to create this one model just for him.  Terri further relayed how weak Herb had been since the operation in June, that he could only sign the Founders Edition certificates of authenticity for only 5 to 10 minutes per day before he had to rest.  His comment to Terri was I made this commitment and I am going to keep it.

We are all saddened by his lost.

To see more of Herb Grasse’s work, head over to HerbGrasseDesign. There is some pretty excellent work over there, including some excellent concept vehicle art.

Thanks to James at Automodello for sharing this story, and the photos of the 1 of 1 Bricklin model they created.

Related posts:

1. The Bricklin SV1 by Automodello
2. The Griffith Series 200 by Automodello
3. Hooniverse Asks- What Deceased Auto Maker Do You Miss The Most?

Streaking, that wild sport that requires nothing more than a sense of adventure, and maybe some sturdy track shoes, seemed to peak in the 1970s. But as summer is winding down, and we all want to make the most of the last warm days of the season, it makes sense to want to get out and bare all, letting the neighbors know we have no shame. Of course, these days we’re all much busier than we were in the disco era, and if we choose to go au naturale, we certainly don’t have the time to do so by running around in our Keds, and that’s why we’d drive.

There’s a certain emboldening that driving naked imbues,  a freedom that only comes when the wind is in your hair- all of your hair. But if you were going to drive in the nude, you’d want a set of wheels that allows for the best viewing angles so as not to deprive Nuns, your mother-in-law, and that biker gang that just rolled into town a proper view of what God gave you.

Obviously hardtops with heavily tinted windows wouldn’t do, nor those with beltlines so high you’d need to drive sitting upside down just to show off your shortcomings while going. No, what you’d need is something with either low doors, or no doors, and a beltline so low it could run for public office.

So, what car or truck would be best for a quick run around the block, or a trip to the Dairy Queen, while your clothes take the night off and relax at home without you? What car would be the best choice to be the streak-mobile?

Image sources: [ allison's alliterative adventures, getty images]

Related posts:

1. Question of the Weekend: Wouldn’t you rather have more choice in Color?
2. Last Call- Honda Didn’t Get The Memo Edition
3. Any simpler and you’d drive it naked: the strange, charming Norsjo Shopper

As far as street rods go, 2010 will be remembered as the year of the Magnatude sweep, now that Jerry Magnuson’s custom-built roadster took all three of the major street rod awards handed out by Goodguys this year, becoming the first street rod ever to accomplish that feat.

Over the weekend, Magnatude won the America’s Most Beautiful Street Rod award at the Goodguys West Coast Nationals in Pleasanton, California, adding to the hardware it already took earlier this year from winning the Street Rod d’Elegance in April at the Del Mar Nationals and the Street Rod of the Year in July in Columbus, Ohio.

Magnuson had Chip Foose design Magnatude’s body, then trusted Marcel DeLay to build it. The car features a Magnacharged LS1 Chevrolet V-8, Tremec six-speed manual transmission, and Kugel front and rear independent suspensions on a custom Kugel chassis.

Magnatude beat out the 1937 Ford of Brent Scheider, the 1939 Ford of Cindy Warn, the 1939 La Salle of Bill West, and the 1937 Ford of John Delahunt to win this year’s America’s Most Beautiful Street Rod title.