I get it. This is a blank canvas. Building a chassis from pretty much anything else that’s half as balanced and composed would cost easily twice that on the cheapest platform. To wit, the best handling chassis for a Beetle will set you back right around $20K, and that’s just the chassis (restored with custom front and…

Philosophical question for the older crowd here:

‘ Automotive News points out that there are a lot of flat-looking panels going on, which they say “is typical of aluminum.”’

My first thought was that it was a Holden or something. Then I looked closer and mouthed, “Whuh?” Certainly wouldn’t be my first choice for a project of this magnitude, but it’s the best executed example of the genre I’ve seen in a long time. Bonus points to who or whatever is responsible for being out of the box and…

I laughed pretty hard there... Here’s a star.

Awesome!

Just a month after a fire scare (reverse 9-1-1 call, gather up everything you can fit in your car that you would rather not see turned to charcoal, and be ready to bolt), there was a huge and historic flood in Colorado three years ago last month. I lived up in the mountains at the time. Down in the flats (specifically…

Fewer moving parts means fewer PPFs (potential points of failure), and electric cars coming into the mainstream could be revolutionary. But if the batteries have a life of XXX charges, and aren’t easily replaceable by the end user it’s completely moot. Same with proprietary software, and craptastic plastic that…

So much this... I remember when it first started showing up in cars, I did some research to try to figure out what the hell it actually was and why it was so precious (the salesman had the usual salesman clueless answer, “it’s the best stuff for interiors because”). Like you said, Alcantara is just name brand…

I’ve contended for years that proper tuning can make an old engine just as clean as a new one. I had a ‘74 FJ40 with a stock engine (save jetting and electronic points) that I tuned the hell out of. Despite being emissions exempt, I had it tested (I’m a bit of a masochist) and the results were 15 ppm HC out of an…

I believe you’ll find the barometric pressure reading was to see if it was at sea level per test specifications.

I know this is probably too late (I read Jalopnik in the morning over coffee, and usually catch everything a day late), but I would suggest the most fun fuel efficient car is the one YOU MADE fuel efficient. To wit, I had a ‘74 Toyota FJ40 Land Cruiser. Those guys are widely regarded for their off road prowess…

Didn’t someone sizable actually produce a slidevalve-headed piston engine at some point around the 30s?

These are the sorts of things I think would be great printed in large format and framed on the wall of my shop along with the blue prints and other more technical decor. Keep it up, Torch!

And you haven’t died a fiery death yet? How can the DOT allow this crime against humanity (that being allowing said humanity to operate their own machines without unnecessary electronic nannies) continue??? A pox on their house!

For when existing as a mentally capable human being is just. Too. Hard. New! From the makers of such gems as the coffee table bib:

For the first time in several years I have a vehicle with a radio that’s hooked up and rated the same voltage as the containing vehicle’s electrical system. It might even work.

HOLY **expletive deleted**!!!! This is the most amazing thing I’ve seen in... brain still processing... This is the most amazing thing I’ve seen! I just ran into the other room to tell my wife of this amazing discovery, and she just sadly moaned, “no....” They look like Star Wars land speed racer things. So much brain…

I once worked at a startup where the owner drove a Range Rover Sport. I, the guy actually running the company, drove a ‘62 VW bus with a hippie house paint colored exterior (and parked between said Range Rover Sport and an Aston Martin DB9 convertible). I worked on my bus most weekends on restoration, repair, and…

Much empathy... $10K into a $3K truck, I discovered the 30K mile block had developed three cracks in the main bearing journals due to an exhaust lifter that had just barely started to collapse...