One feature of Karmann-Ghias (and Bugs also.), was that up to model year 1965, many parts were interchangeable with Porsche 356's. I had a KG coupe with a Porsche Super 90 engine and 356B drum brakes and wheels. Everything simply bolted on the VW chassis with little or no modification. Add on some Koni shocks and a…

Yes, they removed the gas filler door that works on a cable release. Not sure why... seems like a lot of tricky bodywork for dubious results.

Maybe it's not the "weirdest" gearbox, but the Lotus 12 Formula 2 with a 5-speed transaxle was a bit ahead of its' time in 1957. It was dubbed the "Queer Box" for its' sequential gear change and notorious unreliability. I couldn't find a photo of the transaxle, but here is the car.

Actually, the Brits are the best in the business when it comes to the art of "panel beating" aluminum bodies. Perhaps, not everyone is aware of that, but, they have kept alive a lot of the old skills and taken them to almost an "art form". Also, they have the casting and machine shops around the country to replicate…

Thanks for the update. I know Pininfarina has sold off some of their concept cars in the past, but, hadn't heard the 512s Berlinetta Speciale went to a French collector. Many years ago, I heard a rumor from some of my friends in the UK that a rich Brit with a collection of Ferraris was going to commission an exact…

Eastern Flight 401 is not the first time that parts from a crashed plane have been used on other aircraft and then those aircraft met a grim fate. The WWII bomber, the "Lady be Good" found in the desert of North Africa many years after the war had the same "curse" attached to it. Supposedly, the radio and some other…

I'm not 100 percent sure about it's present location, but, not that many years ago, it was still in the Pininfarina collection, along with many of their other concept cars that they have done over the years. They could have sold it off, but, I haven't heard anything.

This is another Pininfarina design based on the Ferrari 512S chassis. I think this one is more practical, relatively speaking, and better looking.

While the Aeromobil may be one of the better concepts (and better looking) of all the flying-car designs recently, I can't help but think that it won't be a very good airplane or a very good car. The two functions are just too disparate to reconcile in one vehicle design. I am impressed that it weighs only 992 Lbs.

It wasn't quite the "lopsided contest" you might think. Ferrari had a lot of help from Fiat and other Italian companies that was "off the books". They didn't want Ferrari to lose, of course. Italian "Pride" and all that... The Fords and Ferraris were somewhat evenly matched on the track, but, the years of experience…

There is a new flying car called the "Aeromobil" from the Czech Republic, I think. The photos look pretty good. At least better than anything else so far. They just flew the first prototype. Don't know if they have a website or not.

It appears to be a large piece of plastic or heavy fabric... maybe a chunk of the insulation in the roof panels?

I never heard of them either. Perhaps the state food should be the cheeseburger, since it was first served at a drive-in restaurant in Denver. Unfortunately, the drive-in was torn down a number of years ago, but, the cheeseburger lives on...

One of the early Race /Road car conversions. Essentially a "left-over" D-Type with windshield and a few other things added for road use. Some were actually converted BACK to race cars...

Isn't the title of this article a little misleading? Yes, this work was done in the Sixties, but, Syd Mead has done a lot of more recent work and some of it is really "Way Out There". You can't even recognize his designs as cars.... they are just some sort of transportation device. And his skill as an illustrator…

Pikes Peak seems to have gotten a very polarized response. Perhaps we should remember it's history. It was built almost a hundred years ago as a "Tourist" road. (The hillclimb came shortly after it was finished.) So, when it opened, it was for tourists to drive their, then,"brand-new" Model T Fords to the top at…

I like the wheels.... the rest of the car is a complete mess. "Forgetaboutit"....

It is a tough one to figure out what happened. You're right, the black and white Porsche looked like it was going for the inside line. Watching it again, it almost seems he didn't realize how close the red Porsche was when he went for the apex.

There is something odd about how this accident started. The black and white Porsche seemed to intentionally drive into the side of the red Porsche. I'm tempted to say driver error, but, giving the driver the benefit of the doubt, it also looks like it could have been a mechanical problem with the steering or front…

Uhhh... Thanks, but, no thanks.