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We have finally filled the Jalopnik Fantasy Garage with a set of some of the most desirable, interesting, quirky, historic and noteworthy automobiles in the history of the art. This is not to say it is the definitive list of all things both fantasy and Jalopnik. A case in point was topping off the garage two weeks ago with the 1970 Chevrolet El Camino 454SS — some considered it absolute travesty we hadn't entered it sooner, others considered the entry phoning it in. It highlights the differences of opinion we all delight in discussing. We've got some ideas of our own on how to go forward with this honing process, but we're interested to hear from you. This garage is, after all, as much about reflecting your opinions and tastes as much as it is ours. Up until this point we've sort of been in the drivers seat, selecting and offering up cars we deemed fit for consideration, and you playing more of a passive role, submitting ideas and voting up or down on it. The shift...
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Though many have been entered and some have been trimmed, we have only one space left in the Jalopnik Fantasy Garage . One more bay into which we may slide any dream machine we can think of. To this point it has been a journey of discovery, history, humor, debate, outrage and delight, but still there remains only one spot. This final place has been reserved in our plans for a long time though. Despite the stereotypes held in the public eye about this car, we could choose no other to cap off this endeavor and we therefore humbly submit for your approval — the 1970 Chevrolet El Camino 454 Super Sport. What is it about us and El Caminos? Since the early days when Davey G. gave us his musings on the car which held such a strong place in his heart, through the last few months, which have seen the scion of the El Camino debut, and countless chopped up and rebuilt cars in between, we are El aficionados. And despite the awesome spectacle that is the Porsche 928-amino and acres of El Caminos...
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Perhaps now you understand the troubles we go through to select the lineup of the first 50 cars to fill the stalls of the Jalopnik Fantasy Garage. We presented to you the Caparo T1 , warts and all, for consideration of the garage without the benefit of flowery prose or over the top hyperbole — the car itself is hyperbole enough. We wanted to see how a game-changing supercar would stand up to the harsh scrutiny of an unsoftened voting block because frankly, we're tired of everything getting in so easily. This is about whittling things down to a sharpened point, debating the merits and pitfalls of some of the greatest mechanical symphonies ever built, this should be a knock down drag out fight to get into the garage — that is unless we're talking about the Morgan Aero 8. Morgan is one of those companies you have to love. For all practical purposes they are the last of a dying breed, a company which weighs profit motive and passion on equal terms — craftsman as well...
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Sorry kids, we knew you were looking to unleash the fire of a thousand suns on our latest selection for JFG and then vote it in anyway, but we're working our way through the scrum of the 2008 SAE World Congress to chat up the bigs and try to figure out if there's any news going on. Tune in tomorrow and we'll have the latest garage contestant ready for you to vote on. In the meantime, check out a garage built for fantasy-land . Image from Faildogs
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The question we continually circle around when examining this idea of a fantasy garage is 'What makes a fantasy car?' There are so many variables to consider; from the emotional impact, historical relevance, lusty body work, enviable performance, and so on, and so on. Certainly it is easy to rattle off a list of cars which blow the mind and bust the pocketbook, but developing a balanced palette of cars is no simple undertaking. You could easily fill warehouses full of dream cars slathered in history from the pre-war era and call it a day, but that's boring. Sometimes a car with absolutely no history, or even a bad history is just as outstanding. A car like the Caparo T1. It's almost pathologically rational that the Caparo T1 would spring from the same minds as those who developed the McLaren F1 . A fantasy car to end all fantasy cars, it was posted on every middle school boys wall and lusted after in the glossy pages of the buff mags. For all its design and technical innovation...
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One can barely wrap the mind around the concept of the last of any marque. Is there somewhere squirreled away the final DeSoto, the final Austin? Did anyone care to keep them around in carefully managed condition, warding off the meddling hands of restorers — and if they did, does the story of the final car cast a shadow of awesome grandeur fit to honor its makers history? There are likely many automobiles which represent the final stroke of the transfer presses, the last report of an impact hammer, the final time the lights were turned on over the smooth, ordered assembly floor. But we doubt any of them have a story to match the 1937 Duesenberg Model SJ, number 397, the last Duesenberg. Fate is a funny thing sometimes. It has a certain sense of humor not witnessed often, and it can twist a storyline to the point of impossibility. Such is the story of SJ-397. Both Rudolf Bauer and the Duesenberg brothers were likely not aware of each other as they rose from obscurity by force of will...
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With auto show season officially, mercilessly, thankfully over, the Jalopnik Fantasy Garage stands to be full in just six weeks. A short time by any standard, but especially so when distilling over a hundred years of automotive excellence into just 50 vehicles. Two weeks ago saw the induction of the Cadillac Eldorado Brougham , a car so finely crafted only a communist would disapprove. In this week's edition, we switch gears entirely. Compact, lightweight automobile construction, responsive suspension, spicy engine and a slick manual transmission. It's a simple formula which, if done properly, not only results in a car with character, but one which transcends the bottom-of-the-barrel genre and becomes something of legend, something which can ascend to the level of fantasy. This week, we examine the hot hatch. Here's the deal, it's going to be a knock down, drag out fight with no elimination rounds, no brackets, no BS -- a winner takes all match up between four of the most...
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With auto show season officially, mercilessly and thankfully over, the Jalopnik Fantasy Garage stands to be full in just six weeks. A short time by any standard, but especially so when distilling over a hundred years of automotive excellence into just 50 vehicles. Two weeks ago saw the induction of the Cadillac Eldorado Brougham , a car so finely crafted only a communist would disapprove. In this week's edition, we switch gears entirely. Compact, lightweight automobile construction, responsive suspension, spicy engine and a slick manual transmission. It's a simple formula which, if done properly, not only results in a car with character, but one which transcends the bottom-of-the-barrel genre and becomes something of legend, something which can ascend to the level of fantasy. This week, we examine the hot hatch. Here's the deal, it's going to be a knock down, drag out fight with no elimination rounds, no brackets, no BS -- a winner takes all match up between four of the...
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Well, you've done it again - voted into the Jalopnik Fantasy Garage another glass-and-steel piece of history which some, but not all, agree would make for a great addition: the Lotus Eleven . Last week saw no progress towards filling the garage due to Geneva Motor Show shenanigans, but that just gave us some extra time to think about what to offer up this week. Sometimes it's hard to be objective when selecting nominees, this week's pick is a personal favorite from a bygone era of high rollers, big egos, and uncompromising style - the Cadillac Eldorado Brougham. In the postwar era, Cadillac was a dominant force in the world of luxury automobile, outpacing its previous rival, Packard, with styling innovations such as the famous tail fins, as well as myriad luxury options. Cadillac in the 1950s proudly proclaimed its "Standard of the World" slogan. In order to truly own that idea though, Cadillac needed to build something with unsurpassed luxury, besting even its peers...
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Though there was much gnashing of teeth over the Land Rover Defender last week, the British stalwart marched triumphant into the Jalopnik Fantasy Garage, with a convincing 82.8%. We now have 43 slots down and a mere seven left to fill. Things are beginning to get tight, so let's move on to something better able to fit in the tiny and uncomfortable spaces we've got left. With a wind-sculpted shape and dominating track record, purity of concept and unwavering devotion to engineering, this week's long-awaited entry proves that might does not always make right. Indeed, sometimes the victor is he who carries the lightest burden. The Lotus Eleven is a special kind of racing automobile, just as Lotus and its founding father are unique icons. Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman was an early visionary in the racing world; he developed a series of design philosophies particularly adaptable to the sport. Chapman is famous for his notion of "adding lightness" as a primary means of improving...
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Last week saw a heated debate over the entry of the 1925 Rolls-Royce Phantom 1 Jonckheere Coupe . Was it beautiful or a mockery, art or excess, folly or fantastic? According to the votes, 80.3% of you believed it a worthy entrant, so those questions have an answer. Now we switch gears entirely, from a tribute to form to a celebration of unquestionable function. In modern history, Land Rover has been nothing if not there to see things happen. It is said that a Land Rover is the only vehicle some people will ever see. Beginning in post-war Britain in 1946, an unbroken chain of workhorse machines has performed the duties set forth by their owners, never rusting, rarely failing. That progression has left us with a paragon of uncomplaining, uncomplicated virtue: the Land Rover Defender. To tell the story of the Defender, you must tell the story of the Land Rover Series vehicles. Conceived during and after World War II, at a time when steel and other materials were strictly rationed in the war...
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And then there were ten. With a completely expected shoo-in for JFG like the Porsche 959, the margin of acceptance standing at 95.1% is no surprise. Impressive yes, but still bested by the McLaren F1 and the Mercedes 300SL, though we suppose that to be good company to keep. Today's offering is far less well known, with a far murkier history, and much, much more beautiful coachwork. What the bloodlines of the recently axed Rolls Royce Phantom cannot offer is everything this car represents. Complete and utter disregard for cost, opinion, standard, and precedence. This automobile set a benchmark we doubt will ever be reached again in within our lifetimes; the 1938 Rolls-Royce Phantom 1 Jonckheere Coupe. galleryPost('jonckheere', 9, '1925 Rolls-Royce Phantom 1 Jonckheere Coupe'); With this car, it's easy to draw comparison to Aristotle's model of the tragic hero. The tragic flaws are not in its character but in its history. It is not for lack of greatness but for...
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First production Porsche to top 300 kilometers per hour. On its own, a rather impressive standard to bear, but coupled to the tectonic shift in technology necessary to reach that milestone, the Porsche 959 stands as a true engineering masterpiece. The mythic beast that dominated many a boyhood poster wall came into being during a strange time in Zuffenhausen. Things were bleak for Porsche's traditional rear engine layout--the 924 and 944 were chipping away at the paradigm--and many wondered quietly how much longer the 911 would remain relevant. When the 959 went into production in 1986, Car and Driver said "The 959 can accomplish almost any automotive mission so well that to call it perfect is the mildest of overstatements." When compared to the development cycle of other supercars of this class, the 959 is unique. How many Lamborghinis have you seen running in the Group B class of the Paris to Dakar Rally? The story of the 959 began in 1981, when Porsche bosses met to work...
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With the departure of the hairy but golden penned Mr. Lieberman, I have been passed the torch of the Jalopnik Fantasy Garage. It is with honor and deference I accept this great undertaking and I hope to carry on where he left off, bringing you the best of the best in this galaxy of automobilia. Unfortunately, my first duty in this endeavor is striking the final coffin nails on two former occupants of the garage which you've deemed unworthy. The writing was on the wall early for the RUF RT12. It's early inception and it's lack of respectable progeny placed it high on the list of potential victims of the ax. Apparently prodigious power and fancy paint jobs do not a fantasy make. Progeny, it seems rang, the death knell of the ultralux Rolls Royce Phantom as well. Perhaps a bit too much Swabish blood flows through its once proud British heart to readily usher it into the garage. Perhaps the whiff of bourgeoisie excess overcomes the admiration of its craftsmanship. Regardless, it...
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Four cars, two bullets. But where to aim? After two days worth of ruthless bickering enlightened discussion, you have selected the Fantasy Garage's four bottom feeders. First to act is the RUF RT12 , the car that achieved the 2nd highest number of "out!" votes. Interestingly, this non-CTR Yellowbird RUF was also the first car inducted into this here Garage. Will it meet the same fate as the second ever inductee, the Maserati Quatroporte ? That's for you to decide. Next up is the Rolls Royce Phantom . As is tradition around these parts, big-ass 4-doors fair quite poorly when it comes time to nix. I still pine for the W12 Phaeton . Anyhow, the Daddy Warbucks Roller appears to be no exception. Third to bat, we have the Lamborghini LM002 barely squeaking by the Buick GSX 455. Just three votes up as of me writing this. People really seem to hate this V12 powered 455 horse off-roader. Bunch of meshugoim if you ask me, but that's democracy for you. Finally, the poor Porsche...
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