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novelties

Nike Needs A Name For Their Armored AmphiCamper

Credit is due to Nike for creating a vehicle that makes us suddenly care about the AST Dew Tour. Built on an armored amphibious military truck platform — we think a variation of the XM410 — the vehicle combines a 1970's camper with a mobile skate park. There are multiple unique features on this truck for the extreme athlete, including rails for extreme grinding, speakers for pumping out extreme music, a quarter-pipe for extreme skateboarding and a BBQ gallery for extreme BBQing. Despite the "extremeness" of the vehicle, this has the makings of an excellent Post-Apocalytpic Survival Vehicle for Tony Hawk. Now what to call it? Details below the jump:

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2:20 PM on Fri Aug 8 2008
By Matt Hardigree
99 views, 41 comments

Latest by n/a: Once again we're faced with that age old human condition: Doing something for the sake of doing it. Some things are not worth doing, like digging out your eyeballs with a grapefruit spoon for example - or building this...thing. So more »

novelties

Jaguar XJS-C, The Car For Small Town Closeted Gay Voyeurs

We're really starting to like Stick Shift, Vanity Fair's weekly gay car blog. It explains to us the intricacies and variations of the gay psyche in a language we can understand: cars. Take, for instance, that really nice middle-aged guy who runs the local antiques shop. He's always inviting you and your teenage friends over to get high and he lives alone in a big old house that he can't quite afford to keep up. Which is kind of like his car: An old Jaguar XJS convertible. It's got tears in the top, the motor that raises it blew out years ago and the interior smells like mold mixed with Calvin Klein Obsession. He thinks it makes him look like the kind of upper class English man that calls himself The Major, when in reality it makes him look like someone living a lifestyle they can't quite manage. Everyone knows a disaster is looming (in the car's case, it'll require a new engine; in The Major's, an out-of-state move) except for the eternally optimistic owner. [Stick Shift]

1:40 PM on Fri Aug 8 2008
By Wes Siler
383 views, 48 comments

Latest by n/a: @Lounatic: Oh, and I drove my '64 Corvair convertible to work today. Guess I'm switch hitting! more »

cannonball run europe

Brabus Smart ForTwo Defeats 39 Supercars, Wins Cannonball Run Europe

A Smart ForTwo has defeated a field of 39 supercars to win Cannonball Run Europe. The rally, which distinguishes itself from events like the Gumball 3000 with its relatively cheap entry fee of $10,000 and emphasis on a sensible average speed (in this case 61 MPH) offered the perfect opportunity for a small, fuel efficient car to win. Driver David Ward said,
"The downfall of the bigger cars was that they were forced to stop so often, so while they kept overtaking us, we eventually went past them at the next petrol station when they needed to fill up again...we kept at a decent speed and still averaged around 35 miles per gallon."
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12:20 PM on Fri Aug 8 2008
By Wes Siler
1,186 views, 30 comments

Latest by Van Sarockin: @Van Sarockin: meant to read: But BRABUS and SMART, two words... I R HTML nolitrit. Sry. Hamsters ate my point. You can imagine how that feels. more »

custom cars

The Shocking Nova Kit Car: A Ten-Year Journey Of Fiberglass And Bondo

When we first brought you images of a heavily modified Nova kit car, we knew nothing about it other than its shocking appearance and innovative styling direction. We'd literally never seen anything like it before. Some opined on its terribleness while others thought it wonderful — we'll say it's at least interesting as hell. But what about the rest of the story?

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2:40 PM on Thu Aug 7 2008
By Ben Wojdyla
4,314 views, 54 comments

Latest by n/a: It would look a lot better with diffrent light, but its still creative and technically awesome!! more »

novelties

Do Not Want: Talon Performance Street Legal Quad

Talon performance has created a... thing... for use on public roads that, without much doubt, will certainly turn heads, though not in the way one might like. Based loosely on the automatic transmission-equipped Kawasaki KFX 700 four wheeler, the Street Legal Quad is an exercise in the absurd. Fun on the street probably, but the mix of terrifying styling and mechanical dubiousness (note the strategic lack of brake calipers) leave this on the top shelf of potential bad ideas.

[Talon Performance]

2:00 PM on Thu Aug 7 2008
By Ben Wojdyla
2,126 views, 30 comments

Latest by logruszed: Semi-related: Can someone explain to me why two-wheel bikes are street legal but nobody makes a street legal quad? more »

novelties

Sit Back And Relax On A Citroen DS Couch

This custom couch made from a Citroën DS may just be the best car-based sofa we've ever seen. This isn't just a chopped-off trunk with some cushions and leather stapled to it like some car couches we've seen. This bit of furniture art actually takes the lines of the full car and shrinks them down to living-room size. It may seem like an abomination to some of us, but you've gotta figure the donor car was nowhere close to being a running, driving automobile when it sacrificed itself for the cause. And we're guessing this gets a lot fewer grumbles from the neighbors than a hunk of dilapidated French metal sitting in your driveway. [Autofiends]

1:00 PM on Thu Aug 7 2008
By Mark Arnold
994 views, 19 comments

Latest by n/a: Looks comfy but smells of cheese and arrogance more »

novelties

The Ultimate Housemate Car Prank: Project Pimp Brian's Ride!

When your housemate goes away to Europe for a couple weeks and puts his beater Civic in one of your parking spots without leaving the keys... well, that means you need to make him pay. Some folks would have been content to fill the Honda's door handles with Vaseline, or maybe even put a dead fish in the glovebox, but the Merkur-mad maniacs from Team Turbo Schnitzel don't do things halfway. They hotwired the offending car and proceeded to paint it purple and outfit it with the finest accessories Manny, Moe, and Jack have to offer. Welcome home, Brian!! [Flickr]


2:45 PM on Wed Aug 6 2008
By Murilee Martin
4,878 views, 49 comments

Latest by weconway: Ok, two points worth mentioning to the Pimpmobile (official title) h8rs: 1. He'd been joking about doing this to his own car for a while.2. It was almost our LeMons entry. Fortunately we got our Merkur running shortly before the race. more »

novelties

BMW Owner Changes His 3-Series Color From Black To White... With Tape

This BMW owner decided he'd like his BMW 335i to be white rather than black, so he found a shop to wrap his bimmer in 3M shiny white tape. OK, so paint jobs aren't exactly dead yet, but it seems more and more people are choosing to wrap their metal rather than have it re-sprayed. We guess this way, if he feels like changing it to another color, all he has to do is peel off the skin and apply a new one. And obviously, it also protects the original surface underneath, if he ever wants to go back to black. But what do you think?

[E90post]

2:00 PM on Wed Aug 6 2008
By Mark Arnold
11,790 views, 110 comments

Latest by FrankGrimes: I bet it looks great when he pops the hood and everyone sees the black paint. more »

novelties

Vintage Maserati Quattroporte-amino Fire Truck Is Here To Save Us!

One of five cars built by the Construzione Estintori Anticendio of Bologna, this 1967 Maserati Quattroporte was camino-ized for firetruck duty. Known in their day as the "fastest fire tenders in the world," they were powered by the original 4.2-liter four-cam V8 engine that churned out a healthy 260 HP. Serving duty at Italian race tracks, they were, in typically Italian fashion, an overly stylish solution for the job. So where are they now?

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1:45 PM on Wed Aug 6 2008
By Mark Arnold
1,195 views, 35 comments

Latest by FuzzyPlushroom: Oh, oh, oh, yeaaaaaaaah. @sos10: That was my thought too! more »

novelties

Iraqi Taxi Crushed By Tank, Will Never Park In A Handicap Spot Again

Though we're not sure why this M1 Abrams tank had to crush this lowly Iraqi cab twice, we do know that it's a lot of fun to watch (and we suspect that may have had something to do with it). And before anyone gets upset about us losing the hearts and minds of Iraqi cab drivers, we'd point out that the little cab appears to be riddled with bullet holes meaning that it was either involved in an attack or in the wrong place at the wrong time. Either way, the car would have to be removed and we applaud the tank commander for pre-compacting it for any Iraqi clean-up crews (and for shooting and uploading video of it). USA! USA! USA! (Hat tip to CPB!) [LiveLeak]

11:15 AM on Wed Aug 6 2008
By Matt Hardigree
5,995 views, 70 comments

Latest by n/a: Wow, support our troops or you will be run over by a tank! more »

alternative energy

Paris Hilton Responds To John McCain's Anti-Celebrity Ad With Reasonable Energy Policy

Noted car washing and star SLR-egressing celebutard Paris Hilton aired a web video lampooning a negative campaign ad by Sen. John McCain (R-Colonel's Chicken) trying to pin Sen. Barack Obama (D-Paparazzi) as a "bigger celebrity" than Paris or Britney Spears. The tongue-in-cheek video lampoons John "old dude" McCain and Barack "hope machine" Obama through actually proposing a sensible energy policy that merges the energy policies of both campaigns that would include "limited offshore drilling with strict environmental oversight while creating tax incentives to get Detroit making hybrid and electric cars...creating new jobs." Sounds reasonable to us. Full video after the jump. And look, we even managed to not make a "that's hot" joke. More »

8:30 AM on Wed Aug 6 2008
By Ray Wert
6,236 views, 100 comments

Latest by benmlee: Tired of seeing comments on how dumb she is. She is not dumb at all. She is an actor doing a satire on America's haves and have nots. It was a great satire. She had to act dumb to give more »

custom cars

Man Builds Batman Tumbler Replica Single-Handedly

In the pantheon of awesome fan art, Bob Dullam holds a place of high regard after his work on a full scale, working Tumbler replica from the movies Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. Constructed in his two-car garage with little more than pictures and the extra features from the DVD, Bob has built for himself the single baddest piece of driveway candy ever to make the leap from the silver screen. This thing makes Deloreans with bent up trash cans on the hatch look like kids' stuff.

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4:00 PM on Tue Aug 5 2008
By Ben Wojdyla
81,931 views, 52 comments

Latest by Jamo: @Tanshanomi: Don't hate because you're unable to build something that requires this much dedication. more »

We Are The Best Focus Group

The Ten Features We Want In Our Next Car

Automakers are far from mind readers, so in an effort to aid them in creating the cars we want we've compiled a list, with some help from our commenters, of ten features we want in our next car. Some of these features are widely available and others, though still in concept form, are quite feasible (sorry folks, no Bat Pod). Check out the list below and vote for your most-desired feature. Don't see one you like? Suggest your own. More »

Feature

12:00 PM on Tue Aug 5 2008
By Matt Hardigree
12,923 views, 105 comments

Latest by got no clutch? You ain't much.: 1. Manual transmission. Automatics are for sissies and mothers. And if you have to go automatic make it a dual clutch. 2. Attractive cars for tall people. We like to drive sports cars also. 3. No more beige or tan more »

novelties

Joe Lucas, Prince Of Darkness: British Electrical System Jokes

What better way to while away the lazy afternoon hours than with a collection of jokes, anecdotes and humorous diagrams depicting the joys of Lucas electrical systems? Joe Lucas — or, more accurately, the company bearing his name — engineered electrical bits for pretty much everything emanating from the UK, and the notorious unreliability of Lucas components played a key role in tanking the British car industry in the early 1980s. Make the jump for "If Lucas made guns, wars would not start," and other classics. More »

4:40 PM on Mon Aug 4 2008
By Andrew Stoy
3,545 views, 47 comments

Latest by Mike the Dog: @Murilee Martin: Ain't that the gospel, brother! I've got 'em for the Eagle and the Rambler. For the Ranger a Haynes is just fine, though. more »

Just Go Ahead And Stab Yourself In The Eyes

The Ten Most Outrageous Car Body Kits

Building a car from the ground up is an incredible challenge, which is why many budding designers have to settle for re-bodying an already built car. Whether deciding the quickest way to live their dream of owning an exotic car is stretching those lines over a not-so-exotic frame — like a Ferrari out of a Fiero or a Porsche out of a Volkswagen Beetle — or just for the challenge, the results are usually outrageously memorable. True, they're mostly memorable for being disgusting, but that isn't stopping these designers you've helped identify from trying. While we've got our ten after the jump — tell us via the poll and comments below what car body kit you find the most outrageous. Without further ado, here's our ten most outrageous full-car body kits. More »

Feature

12:00 PM on Mon Aug 4 2008
By Matt Hardigree
71,784 views, 76 comments

Latest by n/a: The Fiero Fino and the DC Designs Rolls Royce are not all that bad. Sure, they could be better, but there are a ton of non-kit cars that are worse then these two designs. more »

novelties

Nissan Introduces Gas Pedal That Pushes Back When Accelerating "Too Fast"

Nissan's revealed plans to install what it's calling the "ECO Pedal" system in models next year. The technology makes the gas pedal press upward when it senses motorists are speeding up too quickly. Although Nissan says the system can help drivers improve fuel efficiency 5 to 10 percent, we say it's the ultimate nanny technology that should never see life. More »

10:40 AM on Mon Aug 4 2008
By Ray Wert
3,327 views, 70 comments

novelties

When You're Not In Your Car The Stereoscopic Parking Garage Will Freak You Out

The three-dimensional directional system Australian designer Axel Peemoeller created inside the Eureka Tower Car Park in Melbourne may have won several design awards, but wethinks perhaps it'll freak you out if you happen to be walking by. Especially when you start to notice it looks like the walls and floors are bleeding different colors of ink. Still, it's got to be really cool to see these stereoscopic signs from the driver's seat.

(Hat tip to Richard!) [via RideLust]

11:13 PM on Sun Aug 3 2008
By Ray Wert
6,829 views, 41 comments

Latest by FuzzyPlushroom: @rearden_steel_1: More specifically, they work from the viewpoint you're most likely to have while traveling through the garage - I'd hope, anyway. more »

novelties

Spinelli Tops List Of Awesomest Vans Ever

Picture the scene: It's August 1984 and you're about to start your first semester of community college. You've got the $1,200 you earned stocking shelves at your dad's hardware store all summer burning a hole in your pocket and your eyes on the sweet panel van your buddy Darryl is selling. The problem is; you know you should spend the money on your first apartment so you can move out of your Mom's basement. What should you do? Score the van and spend the leftover cash on airbrushing, or take your first step into responsible adulthood? One young man named Mike Spinelli knew the answer, and this van is the result.

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6:00 PM on Fri Aug 1 2008
By Wes Siler
8,071 views, 114 comments

Latest by LandofMinos and the trials of Judge Muttonchops: @jalexei: That's not the only thing he's pounding... ...well they do call these vans Fuck Trucks more »

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