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In the September, 1956 issue of Mechanix Illustrated, directions for a lightweight, wooden speedster powered by a motorcycle engine caught the eye of some deranged boat builder on the west coast. Here's the result: a modified version of the Speedball Special. Best news? It's for sale. The car was originally built in 1959 and is equipped with an impossibly rare 1952 Ariel Square Four motorcycle engine, a smooth-running four-cylinder 1000 cc engine able to push out about 42 HP. That might not seem like much, but when driving the sequential four-speed and with a weight of only a mere 750 lbs this little wooden car has got to be a rocket. galleryPost('speedballspec', 6, 'The Ariel Square Four Powered Speedball Special'); galleryPost('speedballspecial', 6, 'Mechanixs Illustrated How-To Article'); The car seems fairly true to the original, with an independent suspension from a Citroen (three lug wheels!), single wheel drive, a Renault steering box, and...
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The Audi R8 is one of the most exclusive and beautiful supercars in the world, commanding auto-lust wherever it goes and wherever it's seen. But what if you want an R8 but don't have the $105,000+ to buy one yourself? You could go through the arduous process of designing and building the whole thing from the ground up in your basement , but that would take 17 years. Who has the time? Why not just design an approximation of the R8 around a 2001 Mercury Cougar, fabricate it from fiberglass, and call it the ReplicaAudiR8? galleryPost('replicaaudir8', 6, 'Amazingly Good Replica Audi R8'); Here's the thing about the ReplicaAudiR8 — we don't hate it. For being a front-engine, front-wheel-drive approximation of a mid-engined all-wheel-drive supercar it looks damn good. We find ourselves thinking it wouldn't be a terrible thing if an actual Audi looked like this. Sure some of the details need a little work, like the lack of inner fenders at the back, and...
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The Audi R8 is one of the most exclusive and beautiful supercars in the world, commanding auto-lust wherever it goes and wherever it's seen. But what if you want an R8 but don't have the $105,000+ to buy one yourself? You could go through the arduous process of designing and building the whole thing from the ground up in your basement , but that would take 17 years. Who has the time? Why not just design an approximation of the R8 around a 2001 Mercury Cougar, fabricate it from fiberglass, and call it the ReplicaAudiR8? galleryPost('replicaaudir8', 6, 'Amazingly Good Replica Audi R8'); Here's the thing about the ReplicaAudiR8 — we don't hate it. For being a front-engine, front-wheel-drive approximation of a mid-engined all-wheel-drive supercar it looks damn good. We find ourselves thinking it wouldn't be a terrible thing if an actual Audi looked like this. Sure some of the details need a little work, like the lack of inner fenders at the back, and...
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People give young folks in backwards baseball caps driving tuned Civics a lot of grief. Deserved maybe, but grief nonetheless. Are they really that irritating? Do we really have to call them "Ricers?" Why stereotype? Aren’t they just misguided kids trying to make their mark in life the only way they know how: by dancing bolting big wings to cars that don’t need them ? The Daily Interweb came up with “A Ricer’s Guide To Driving,” but we don’t think it differs much from the “How to drive like an average everyday asshole” list that we’ve been putting together for a while now. So let’s take a look at the two side-by-side and determine if there really is a difference between young hoons in modified imports and the rest of our great, big sweaty nation. 10.) Ricer: You must tailgate at all times. If you are more than a foot away from the car in front of you, you are not trying hard enough. Average Everyday Asshole: You must tailgate at all times. If you are more than a foot away from...
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Seventeen years ago, Ken Imhoff watched Cannonball Run and became so enamored with the Lamborghini Countach in the film, he hand-built his own, in his basement. In what we imagine might be the most Jalopnik build ever undertaken, Ken designed and fabricated his own tig-welded frame, installed a thoroughly massaged 351 Windsor V8 with a ZF-25 5-speed transmission, hand-formed the aluminum body over a meticulously measured and accurate body form, and finished it all off in a beautiful metallic gray. It took Ken 10 years to complete the project, and the results — as you can see both in the gallery and in the video below the jump — are amazing. There's only one problem, when you build a car in a basement — how do you get it out? Find out below. galleryPost('basementlambobuild', 9, 'Yes Honey, I Am Still In The Basement Building The Lamborghini'); galleryPost('basementlambostuck', 6, 'Finished, But How Do I Get This Thing Out Of Here?');...
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We've given you the muscle and the customs of the 2008 Woodward Dream Cruise . Now it's time for the hot rods. — Ed. Metal-flake, flames, chrome wheels or just plain flat-black, the appeal of hot rods stretches across generations. The Woodward Dream Cruise brings 'em out in droves, so here are just a few of of the chopped, channeled and shaved rat rods and T-buckets we saw on the Avenue over the weekend. galleryPost('wdc08hotrods', 24, 'Hot Rods of the 2008 Woodward Dream Cruise');
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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. Click through the pictures to see each car revealed in all its glory. 10.) Fierarri Enzo (Pontiac Fiero) 9.) Snakeskin Hatchback (CItroen Saxo) 8.) Barney-Amino (Toyota Hilux Truck) 7.) Porsche-rrari (Porsche...
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When one of the ways for employees to get out of the Hennessey Performance compound in Sealy, Texas is by driving down a drag strip, you begin to see why people perceive them as mad-for-power. However, after spending a day with the people at Hennessey Performance, I can say they're just like anyone else. Anyone else knee-deep in enthusiast's money and supercars. galleryPost('hennhqp1', 6, 'If Absolute Power Corrupts What Does A 1200 HP Viper Do?'); The first thing you notice upon arrival to the shop along Interstate 10 is that there's really not much to notice. The new headquarters is operational but not completely finished. Therefore they've elected not to create much in the way of attention-grabbing signage other than a small sign proclaiming "Lonestar Motorsports Park." But when you're driving all manner of supercars around, you're going to get attention. Attention, of course, is a good thing. Known for outrageously tuned vehicles, especially...
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newVideoPlayer("Specter_Werkes_GTR.flv", 463, 387,""); After hearing about the pending unveil of the Specter Werkes GTR and since they're situated only a stones throw from the Jalopnik Detroit HQ, we decided to give 'em a ring and head out for a visit. President and founder Jeff Nowicki gave us a tour of the Troy, Michigan facility and gave us the low-down on what kind of hotness their rebodied Corvette C6 will be. The full scoop below the jump. galleryPost('gtrinclay', 12, 'Specter Werkes GTR Progress'); The GTR is the natural progression of Specter Werkes existing product line, which was previously topped out with the Group 6 model. When we first saw the new GTR, the car had just finished primary sculpting, meaning one half of the car had been carved out of clay and the full design was given the green light. As might be expected, half a custom car would only raise the ire of enthusiasts, so duplicating the work for the other side was the order...
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