Every car buff knows that when you need to haul 15,000+ pounds, rip a stump out of the ground, or pull down an aging barn, you’re best off if you use a diesel-powered machine. Not due to its horsepower, but due to its torque. See, diesel engines notoriously have extremely high torque ratings, but their horsepower is typically very low in comparison.
So now you can understand our confusion and excitement when we hear about a diesel-powered dragster. That’s like hearing about a 1994 Geo Metro that can tow 10,000 pounds; it just doesn’t quite make sense. Well, now it does. What we have in the above video is a rail car with an International DT466 engine, which primarily saw use in school buses and farm equipment.
We are not too sure which DT466 this dragster has, as there are several variants – MaxForce DT466, DT466E, and DT466 – but we do know they produced a maximum of 300 horsepower, which is certainly not enough to get the car down a quarter mile in 7.6 seconds. According to the original poster of the video, the engine was built by famed diesel engine specialists Hypermax.
Needless to say it is fairly badass to hear a diesel engine spooling up three turbo chargers, then flying down a racetrack with black smoke billowing away. Yeah, a 7-second drag car is fun, but the added effect of the diesel sights and sounds just make it absolutely insane.
Crank up those speakers nice and loud, and enjoy the sounds of this beast.
For those of us fortunate enough to live in the U.S. or U.K., we are all aware that there is no such thing as a debtor’s prison, regardless of what some overzealous collections agent trying to hit their monthly bonus number might say. Well, in Dubai things are a tad different, as people who cannot pay their debts get thrown into the slammer.
This results in expats that fall into debt problems in Dubai fleeing the country and leaving their indebted property to bake in the not-so-pleasant desert sun. That is exactly what happened in the case of this $1.6 million Ferrari Enzo. The British expatriate purchased this machine and, according to reports, ran into issues with traffic citations that he couldn’t afford, so he fled the country, leaving the Enzo to bake for about 20 months in a parking lot.
Dubai authorities finally found the vehicle and impounded it faster than it can hit 60 mph. Now this million dollar supercar is heading off to the Dubai police auction, along with 23 other luxury cars, and will like fetch a nice sum of money for the Dubai authorities. The other 23 cars have fines attached to them ranging from Dh98,300 to Dh100,000 ($26,766 to 27,229), meaning the highest total the fines can be is $626,267. It is more than likely that the Enzo alone will sell for enough scratch to cover that amount. Sounds like a sweet business move, huh?
How can they do this? Well, in Dubai, the police have the right to seize and auction any car that is abandoned for six months. Chances are, they focus mostly on luxury cars, leaving rotting and sunburned econo-boxes to continue to take on more sand and sunlight. But, who are we to judge?
So, if you would like to snag up a sunburned and sandblasted 1-of-399 Enzo, just head on over to Dubai and get a 30 day visitor’s visa (free for U.K. and U.S. passport holders), pay the Dh110 ($29.95) fee to get into the auction, and bid away.
UPDATE 04/30/2012: Sorry, folks, but this dusty Ferrari Enzo is NOT for sale. Dubai police have spoken to Emirates 24/7 and have stated that the cars "have been seized as part of evidence from various crimes such as robbery, and are not for sale."
When we start digging into racing, drifting in particular, the fans really don’t garner much of our attention. That is until we meet the Santa Claus of drift fans that has both an awesome white beard and a brass set of ball bearings.
This bearded fellow, named Bil Baldwin, has made quite a name for himself at Long Beach Formula DRIFT events. He is not famous for running onto the track in just his Fruit of the Looms or anything like that. He’s famous for not fearing these speeding drifters, regardless of the fact that they are sliding just inches from his legs.
Yup, this long-bearded fellow stands at the edge of the wall coming out of a turn and allows the cars to get within six inches of his legs. Sometimes, as you can see in the above video, the cars even smash into the wall just before they reach him, sending debris flying toward this brave man. Like a well-trained boxer, Bil bobs and weaves out of the way of the soaring debris, then quickly looks back to the track so he doesn’t miss a second of the action.
He clearly is a brave soul and Formula D seems to be accommodating to his fame, allowing him to continue standing in this dangerous position, regardless of the safety issue. We all love racing and we are particularly enthusiastic about drifting, but none of us would put ourselves there.
So here’s to Mr. Baldwin and his white beard and overall jeans flowing in the draft from passing drifters. It’s only a matter of time before Formula D decides that it’s a little too dangerous for him to be there. Until then, enjoy the hell out of it, Bil.
It’s not every day that we bring news of a Formula One world champion starring in a new action film, but that’s not the case today. Sebastian Vettel, the reigning world champion who is still looking for his first win of the 2012 season, is set to take part in a short martial-arts based flick currently being filmed in China.
The film is being made as yet another promotional activity by Infiniti and Red Bull Racing to promote each other’s products. Additionally, Sebastian Vettel has very close ties to the Infiniti brand and you could consider Vettel’s acceptance to take part as a thankful gesture after Infiniti created a special Infiniti FX50 named after him, something unique in and of itself.
Vettel was given some pointers from Chinese actress and Kung Fu master, Celina Jade prior to filming before its release sometime in May 2012. It’s currently unclear just how long the short film will go for, but anything over 10 minutes would come as a big shock to us as we can’t see how this film would generate much, if any, revenue for anyone involved.
Entitled ‘Kung Fu Vettel: Drive of the Dragon,’ the short film will likely be based around Vettel’s career in Formula One and how he continually has to fight off his opponents. Just a tad corny, we know. Vettel’s Red Bull Racing teammate, Mark Webber may also feature in the film, but only a small part is expected.
Vettel had the following to say about the experience, "Well that was the first time I’ve acted in a martial arts movie and it was great fun. It was something totally new for me which was good as I always like new challenges and experiences. I learned that just like with driving, you need balance, control and technique to be good at Kung Fu, but I think I’ll still stick to my usual kind of fighting on track on Sunday!"
Safety and parenting issues notwithstanding, this video is about as cute as it gets. We all remember Cris Ostberg as the dude who once put his then 18-month old daughter in the front passenger seat of his Audi R8 V10 Spyder while she gleefully shouted "turbo!" every chance she got.
Fast forward to 2012 and the little sweetheart is now three years old. But while she’s gotten bigger, her love for the Audi R8 V10 Spyder doesn’t appear to have waned in the least. In this new video, Ostberg was careful to follow all the safety precautions to ensure that his daughter wouldn’t be hurt, including switching off the passenger airbags.
Understandably, some folks might have a problem with Ostberg’s rather loose interpretation of responsible parenting, but if you can put that aside, the sight of his daughter continuing in her "turbo!!!" exaltation is just too cute to ignore.
Let’s just hope that dear old Cris doesn’t get any genius ideas and let his daughter drive the R8 V10 Spyder on her 4th birthday.
There comes a point where customization of cars reaches and then exceeds the level of what actually looks appealing and what helps or hinders a car’s performance. West Coast Customs back in the ‘Pimp My Ride’ days were masters of excessive styling, but the creations they once produced pale in comparison to what you see here.
Fitting larger tires and wheels to muscle cars and sports cars has always been a popular and relatively cheap way of improving a car’s visual appeal, and even though every individual’s tastes differ in terms of car styling, we believe the following Chevrolet Camaros are the strangest on the road today.
Fitting 22 inch wheels to a Camaro is pretty much the largest you’ll ever see on the road, but some true madmen in the U.S. recently fitted a set of 32 inch wheels to both a Camaro coupe and convertible, and we have to say, we’ve never seen anything so odd.
Thirty-two inch tires may be right at home for a few Jeeps and Toyota Land Cruisers out there, but they usually run 20 inch wheels. The tires on the Camaros in these videos are extremely low profile, so it basically looks like the cars are driving solely on their wheels.
Add in the fact that the spinners of the coupe play tricks with your head, moving forward while reversing and remaining still while driving forward, and you have two of the most tricked out cars going around.
It’s obvious what we think about them, but what do you think?
We have all had bad experiences at car dealerships and car repair shops. Heck, being a former service manager, I have had to attempt to repair these bad situations at times. Typically, when customer service turns sour, you simply express your anger, go home, call the corporate office, and eventually get a resolution. Well, apparently this is not the way the customer service flowchart goes in some countries.
In a Nissan and Suzuki dealership in what looks to be Russia, if I am seeing the sign correctly, a customer decides to take part in creating his own resolution for a customer service issue.
According to the story that we read, this customer took his Suzuki SUV, which he bought new, back to the dealership to have a faulty shock replaced. The dealership refused to replace the shock under warranty, which really isn’t that uncommon, and from there the customer bypassed calling customer service, and chose to take his frustrations out on the dealership, by way of ramming his Grand Vitara through the dealership’s window.
That’s not where it stops, this driver then smashes up a few brand new floor model vehicles, using his SUV as a battering ram, then eventually disappears from the screen – likely to do more damage on the other side of the dealership.
I used to have pretty nasty road rage, but mine mostly consisted of laying on my horn and flashing the occasional one-fingered salute. This guy really needs to get his anger issues under control. I hope his car insurance company is prepared to pay out to fix his now-smashed SUV, or their office may receive the same “redecorating.”
Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face, sheesh. Check out the above video to see all of the craziness, pay close attention to the brave guy that goes knocking on this lunatic’s window at the 1:57 mark. What’s he gonna do, ask him for some Grey Poupon?
Remember back in the late-1990s when there was all of that hubbub about top-heavy SUVs and how they roll over easily? Apparently, some people really need to be reminded of how SUVs handle. We totally understand that the Nürburgring is an awesome thing, as anyone with a car, $34, a driver’s license, and a heartbeat can take their car screaming down this famed course. We also completely understand that some SUVs belong on this track, like the Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8, X6M, and so on.
That said, c’mon guys, taking an obviously stock Honda CR-V for a cruise around the ‘Ring? Are you trying to record a 20:00 time around the course to gloat about to your buddies? There comes a moment in every person’s life where you simply have to decide that the risk really isn’t worth the reward, and flying an early 2000s CR-V around the ‘Ring is one of those times.
It looks like the driver in the above video doesn’t quite grasp any of that… The first minute of the video consists of almost all high-performance vehicles, or at least modified ones. Once you get to the 1:05 mark on the video you hear a loud screeching sound of tall, skinny tires and coming around the corner sideways is a CR-V. A quick flick in the other direction to attempt to correct the spin and that’s all she wrote; over goes the CR-V into a spectacular rollover.
The CR-V then leaps over the guardrail on a single bound and sticks the landing like a pro. Keep in mind, the only reason we are so nonchalant about this horrible wreck is that according to the YouTube post, the people in the CR-V were fine, except for the fact that their mom’s gonna be mad when she sees her car.
Enjoy the video and make this a reminder, don’t race your CR-V on a track designed for racecars. It never turns out well.
Cloned classic cars are everywhere. Heck even my dad has a cloned 1966 Chevelle SS. There is one difference between my dad, along with most other cloners, and one Bobby Patton, they have no problem admitting that their vehicle is officially a clone.
Mr. Patton apparently purchased a 1965 Chevy Chevelle from a gentleman and figured out that there is one extremely rare model in 1965 that the average person wouldn’t recognize from a regular old Chevelle. This model is the 1965 Chevelle Z16, which features a boxed frame, different engine stampings, special badges, different rear end, and the most obvious one, a unique VIN.
After tricking some car show judges into giving him a nice collection of trophies, Mr. Patton decided he was going to try and make a quick buck off of this clone by auctioning it off. Well, the problem is that he didn’t identify the vehicle as a clone, but as one of the few Z16s in the world, and was trying to get a cool $100K out of it.
The crack detective team at Chevelles.com sniffed out this fraud and began a conversation with the man that was auctioning the car. The conversations were not accusatory, but instead an attempt to help the guy realize that whoever sold him that car had tricked him. One of the folks talking to Mr. Patton pointed out numerous errors with the vehicle, including a homemade cowl VIN tag, incorrect speedometer, wrong engine stamping, wrong frame, and many other things.
Obviously, the guy kept pressing the issue and it took several days for him to come to his senses and pull the car from the auction site. That was a little too long, as someone reported him to the Ohio State Highway Patrol and they paid him a nice visit.
He claimed to have purchased the car that way, but the cops found out from the original owner that the car was badged, titled, and sold as a Chevelle 327SS, not a Z16. A long story short, now his car is impounded and he is serving two years of probation. Who would have known cloning a car could cause such issues?
Okay, I have worked in many repair shops in my day. During my tour as a service manager, I came across a fair share of “Mountain Man Mechanics,” which is the politically correct thing to call them. These guys love taking the strangest vehicles and creating monsters out of them.
There was one mechanic that took a 1980s Honda Civic hatchback and dropped a 1300 cc Hayabusa engine in it, thinking it would increase the Civic’s performance. He didn’t quite grasp the logic of torque-to-weight ratio and ended up with only a really cool sounding Civic.
Another monster that sticks out in my mind is when a mechanic tore apart his unwilling wife’s mid-1990s Mitsubishi Mirage and dropped its body on a self-shortened S-10 frame. He then dropped a 307 cubic-inch Oldsmobile engine in it and connected the Olds engine to the transmission and transfer case on the S-10 frame. It actually looked and sounded mean when he was done, but instead of re-welding the frame together, he used several bolts to secure it. Guess what happened...
What’s my point here? Well, a new monster has recently come to our attention, which is for sale on Craigslist. The owner has dubbed this machine a 2007 Willys Trike. This trike has a stretched Jeep CJ-2 body with a motorcycle wheel on the front. The body sits on a custom frame – hopefully it’s welded – and has the rear independent suspension from a T-bird.
Instead of having the old Jeep CJ-2 engine, this beast has a Chevy 4.3-liter Vortec engine, which is good for around 190 horsepower, if it is stock. Plus it has a four-speed transmission connecting the engine to the rear wheels.
The handle bars for the motorcycle wheel span all the way from the front of the vehicle through two slots under the windshield. We bet this thing is a scary animal to maneuver at high speeds. But anyways, this “Mountain Man” monster can be yours for “just” $11,000. We bet this thing sits on the market for a while.
