classic car

As I picked up the duPont Registry I bought while grocery shopping today, I thought the same Asanti ad for its latest ultra-exclusive wheel set, the Asanti Black Series, would appear. As I paged through, I saw the same ad, but something was different. There were three other sets of wheels at the bottom, which turned out to be their uber-ultra-mega-expensive Diamond Collection. The base wheel, made of cubic Zirconium, was priced at $250,000, a quarter of the price of the wheel we all know of, the famous $1,000,000 Diamond/Sapphire wheel set that was displayed at SEMA and comes with a free Bentley. But there was also another wheel on the page, which hasn't gotten any of the attention of its $1 Million brother. The Asanti AFS 103 Series, made of nearly six times as many Diamonds as its brother with 1,200 Rubies sprinkled in, is priced at a monstrous $2,000,000! This is the flagship wheel set of the top series of the most expensive brand of an ultra-lux wheel company. In other words, Lexani makes Asanti which makes the Diamond Series which makes the AFS 103. These wheels eclipse their half-price brother to become the most expensive wheels on Earth. According to many reports, the Diamond Series is dead, but this ad in the January issue of the duPont registry tells otherwise. I wonder if it comes with two free Bentleys...

  Ah, Iola Old Car Show and Swap Meet. The meeting point of every car-obsessed person in the Northern section of the Midwest. For a weekend, the tiny town of Iola, WI is lit up with gleaming chrome and trailers full of rusting vintage Cragars, wheels, bumpers, and any other automotive item you could need. A full-fledged car show, a giant swap meet, a car corral, and an auction all packed into one three-day-long event that attracts thousands of men carrying their reluctant wives and the occasional genuinely interested woman. There are Dodge Chargers, Kaisers, BMWs and Duesenburgs, and all of them are interesting to anyone who loves cars. Its almost impossible to resist coming each year. Of all these cars, you'd think that the most interesting would be some classic Ferrari of Duesenburg, but this July it wasn't so. This year, the car that stole the show wasn't a car featured in multiple magazines, not a historic Bonneville racer, but a 1998 Chevy Cavalier.

  Yep, you heard that right. Walking among the many drivers for sale in the Car Corral section, near the end of my day in Iola this July, I was pretty bored and feeling kind of down. We had just been by the auction section, where the economy had lead to only one out of 10 cars we saw go up on the block sold. All of the cars I was around were drivers, with the top price being around $50,000 for a '57 Corvette, and I was going to leave in about half an hour. I was heading back to the swap meet section when a crowd obscuring a car caught my eye. The crowd was larger than the one around the featured driver Auburn/Cord/Duesenburg collection, larger than the one around the custom '54 Kaiser Manhattan featured in Hot Rod Magazine, and larger than the one around the highest-mileage car in the world, a Volvo P1800 coupe. I rushed over to see what all the fuss was about. Was it a used Bugatti for sale? A Fiat 500 with an Enzo motor? As I got closer I saw the truth. It was a Cavalier, decked out in custom gear making it a rolling tribute to Chevrolet coupes. It had '54 Corvette headlights and grille, '57 Bel Air-style rear fenders, '63 Corvette split-window rear glass, Impala hints and more. It's powered by an unknown motor, hopefully a V-8, with a nice blower on it, and it was being offered for an amazing deal of $4,000! Thats 5 different cars with a total value of $301,692 for just $4,000. No, just kidding. I wouldn't buy it either, but it does make for a good conversation.

  I spotted the Porsche Carrera S on a trip to Chicago a year ago.

  This Viper RT/10 was a one-time shower at the Howard, WI A&W Cruisin' Nights.

  If you're not familiar with my story about this car, go to http://bit.ly/grantur

  This Ford coupe, like the Viper, was another local find.

  On a trip to Madison, WI, I couldn't identify this truck at first.

  You've seen them prowling the streets, wincing at how fast their rubber will shed and how much ride quality, or lack thereof, it has. Old Monte Carlos, Caprices, Crown Vic's, Chevelles and more, all wearing at least 20-inch rims, with many sporting 23-inchers and some wearing up to 35s.  This trend is always both coming into style and going out of style at the same time in different places, and currently its a growing trend in the upper Midwest. These cars, as you probably know, are called Donks, with huge wheels and custom paint being the main features of the cars.

  People, mainly people in their teens and twenties, see Donks as a trend for them to get instant recognition in cars that would otherwise be seen as crap. For as little as a few thousand dollars, they can have an interesting wheel and paint combo and be recognized as a car god among college students for having a Caprice.

  Donks are frowned upon by the major section of customizer community, and the main reason for this is that the cars may look distinctive, but their performance isn't usually modified except for the occasional custom exhaust system. They are also notorious for having a harsh ride quality due to the low-pro rubber and are not the main choice for more traditional hot rodders.

  Today I went to the second annual Big 3 Performance car show, which is just a regular thing for me. But when I got there, I knew that I was in for something better than I expected. The posters for the show had shown renderings of the upcoming Jim Wangers Edition GTO, of which only fifty will be built. The Wangers GTO is scheduled for a debut at the next SEMA show, but sitting in the middle of the parking lot under a cover was the unmistakable lines of a muscle car. Could it be?

  I ended up waiting for over four hours at the car show waiting for the reveal, during which I met Jim Wangers, who is touted as the Godfather of the GTO as well as being the inspiration and nameplate for the new car, and visited the guys at Shelby Parts and Restoration across the street. Somebody there remarked that creating a GTO as a tribute to Wangers was like "Creating a Mustang as a tribute to one of Shelby's secretaries", as Jim has been mostly a PR person, traveling the country with the "GeeTO Tiger". Even so, a good car is a good car. At about 11:00 I got impatient and asked one of the Big 3 Performance employees when the big reveal was, and it turned out they were waiting for their camera man to arrive. They said it should be five or ten minutes.

  An hour later the announcement finally came. "Thanks for coming to the Second Annual Big 3 Performance Car Show. We are now going to give you a sneak peek at the new Jim Wangers Edition GTO, so will everyone please make their way to the covered car in the middle of the lot." Everyone rushed over to the car, and some employees went through the whole speech session about how the car was a community effort and what a joy it was to work with Jim. Finally, the covers were pulled off the car to much fanfare, and Jim Wangers was invited to start his car. He then proceeded to rev the wee out of this expensive prototype, and was only stopped from doing a burnout and driving it out by sheer luck. The motor sounded fantastic, different from anything I've ever heard, muscular yet refined, modern yet harkening back to the days of old. I took a video of the unveil, but it doesn't even begin to do justice to the sound of the motor. You can see the video at http://bit.ly/Wangers.

  If you've looked for a car on Craigslist, you've probably seen them. Cars that are crazy, pointless, or undeniably exotic being advertised. On a website that has seen everything from a $50 beater Cadillac Cimarron to a Bugatti Veyron, you're pretty likely to find some interesting cars. I've searched through car blog archives, forums, and many other sites to find some of the wackiest ,which I will list here.

  To start off , we'll go straight to the well-known one. On December 12th, 2008, the staff of Specialty Automobiles in San Fransisco, CA listed a 2006 Bugatti Veyron on Craigslist for $1.3 Million, which shattered all previous known records of car pricing on Craigslist. The car had 874 miles on it at the time, and was blue with silver fenders and a "Bardo" interior.

  The second car on this list is one that is actually currently for sale in Silicon Valley by RoadSport USA, a car dealership for the ridiculously affluent. It is a 1958 Lister-Jaguar racer that is being sold for $1.1 Million on the San Fransisco Bay Craigslist. There are rumors of it being a works car along with other race history. This is the car you see above.

  The last car on my list isn't ridiculously priced, but it's just odd. Earlier this year, somebody posted a supposedly haunted car. The ad goes on to say that the person doesn't want to work on the car because he's afraid it'll turn on and run over him. I bet it's all fake, but it'll keep you wondering. Here's the ad:

Haunted 1992 Honda Accord Ex JDM RHD – $6500 (Los Angeles)

IM SELLING THIS 1992 HONDA ACCORD EX! 4DR RHD! I SPEND ALOT OF MONEY INTO THIS CAR BUT WILLING TO SELL IT CHEAP CAUSE IT GIVE ME THE CREEPS! BAD! I THINK OR BELIEVE IT’S HAUNTED. THIS CAR IS SALVAGE TITLE! NOT CLEAN IT’S WAS BEEN IN A BAD ACCIDENT IN JAPAN I BELEIVE THE CAR WAS CUT IN HALF IN A ILLEGAL STREET RACE. I WAS ABOUT TO POST AT THE JUNKYARD WHEN I FOUND OUT CRAIGSLIST BUT IF YOU WANT MORE INFORMATION JUST ASK ME!
* * * WARING *** THE WEIRD / REALLY BAD: I brought this car in Japan 7 years ago and imported into United States and start working on it as a project car. The car was in a major accident over in Japan which makes it totaled! but had body fix. Seems to be possessed by a demon or some sort of entity!: makes low mumbling backwards-like indistinguishable talking sounds through the speakers which aren’t even hooked up to anything. There is no stereo in it so it can’t be anything to do with that. When you get into the car it makes you have odd feeling like you wanna leave fast to get out the car and also there’s cold spot inside the rear seat makes you uneasy. It makes no sense at all but it has almost killed me many of times while I was driving to work and school. Mirrors adjust themselves to all different sorts of positions while I’m driving, and I never actually notice them moving so I’m guessing the person die inside the car still exist. Trunk opens on its own at during summer season feel like the car has it own mind to it. Hood flies up while it’s park the driveway at night , it always somehow comes undone. I recorded my car at midnight on a camrecorder… on my driveway the shocking footage is seen you see the car will move on its own while the motor is not on plus I also see red eyes in the driver seat and a black figure at side of the car, the scary thing about this car it will start on its own while sitting out in the driveway without any key being in the ignition. It’s a horrible car to rely on. I just can’t bear to look out the window and see it sitting out there anymore It give me the creeps! i’ve try blessing the car many times but nothing happen I think this person die in the car wants to be left alone with his car. ***

$6,500 dollars and takes it off my hands! or not I’ll let it go 3,400. Please take this car out of my life.
May God Bless You & Have Mercy On Your Soul! This car is really haunted!

THINGS I DONE TO MY CAR SPENDING OVER 7 G’s
MANUAL 5 SPEED
HAS A H23 ENGINE
JDM WINDOW VISORS
JDM ONE PIECE HEADLIGHT BLACKHOUSE
JDM FOGS
JDM LIP ” VERY RARE!”
JDM INTERSECTION LIGHT
JDM FLUSHMOUNT “VERY RARE!”
JDM SIDEMARKERS
R33 GRILL
QUICKRELEASE STEERING WHEEL G-SQUARE
EDM-WASHERS
JDM REAR FOGS
LED LIGHT INTERIOR
HID LIGHT SYSTEM

THE BAD:
DOESN’T START IN THE MORNING! NEEDS TO BE WARM UP USING YOUR RPMS UP TO 4,000 CAR MAY STALL.
IT LEAKING SOME FLUID! BOTTOM OF THE CAR IM SCARE IF I CHECK IT USING A JACK THE CAR MIGHT TURN ITSELF ON AND RUN OVER ME!
MAKE SURE YOU ALWAYS BRING SOMEBODY WITH CHU IN CASE!
NEEDS NEW SHOCKS BLOWED SHOCKS ALL 4

OTHER THAN THAT THE CAR NEED SOME TLC CAUSE IT WAS LEFT OUTSIDE DRIVEWAY LIKE 2 YEARS.

So there's my list. Tell me about any updates and any worthwhile cars I missed.

  Ever heard of the Ventura? Liar. You're probably thinking of the Puma, the more common (and admittedly better-looking) Brazilian VW-Based kit car from the malaise era. In this country, where almost every Brazilian kit car is referred to as a Puma, it's almost impossible to find somebody who can identify a Ventura, and even less the extremely rare convertible version, not one of which is known to have made it to the US.

  So what exactly is the Ventura? It was a very similar design to the well-known Puma kit car in that it was a chassis based on VW 4-cylinder power cloaked in a sporty 2-door fastback body that was sold in coupe and convertible forms. Some key differences between the Ventura and Puma are styling, which can be explained by the eras in which each of these cars was launched. The Puma was launched in 1964, with styling reminiscent of Alfa Romeo convertibles that would come a few years later, as well as the Ferrari Dino and other cars. But the Ventura was launched in 1978, fourteen years later, and the auto industry was much different by then. The Venturas were influenced by the Porsche 924 and a "looking towards the eighties" interpretation of the Ferrari 308, and were much more hard-edged and bland. Underneath the differences are slight. Both cars were powered by 4-cylinder VW motors, but the Ventura had the pancake-type engine out of the Type III, unlike the Puma, which used different VW power as well as some early DKW and later Chevy-powered kits.

  The original Ventura design was produced until 1984, when a minor facelift was in order that gave it the aforementioned styling cues and a bland convertible model reminiscent of a more angled Dodge 400 was added to the range. The coupe you see in the photo is a 1984 model. There were now four versions of the car, with two engine and body configuration options. You could either get an 84-horse 1.8 motor or a 1.6, which was eliminated after 1986. Ventura decided due to slowing sales that the car was in for another chenge in 1988, though this one was much more radical. More than just a styling change, the new Ventura II was powered by a 2-liter motor and had major adjustments. Although it was supposed to be an altogether better car, the company stopped making it that same year due to floundering sales, only continuing with low-volume small-truck production, another category it had its hands in. Be wary, though and don't be too quick to tell me production of the Ventura continued after I said. Since many of the VW components used in the cars dated from the sixties and the cars were often titled a few years after they were built due to the owners taking their time with their own personal modifications to the car, the model year was hard to determine by any DMV office. Usually when you find Ventura cars, the model year will have been determined by whatever year they were titled. I've found Venturas that have been titled as 1992 model years or even later.

  I'm excited because I get the satisfaction of reporting this before Autoblog or Jalopnik, which I both sent tips to. I was getting stuff ata local gas station when a guy who obviously has a sense of humor pulls up in a 2001 Buick Century Custom. The catch? It had hybrid badges all over it! Each front fender had a GM Hybrid badge on it, which reminded me of a Rolls-Royce with hybrid badges I saw on Autoblog a few weeks ago. The car even went a step farther, with little 2-mode badges on it on a logo on the back of the car. I immediately snapped some photos and sent in some tips to a few major automotive blogs. But I still get the satisfaction of being the first to report on this, this thing.

  So you're visiting your cousin Bob who lives in Neenah on Saturday, September 12th? Make sure you come to the biggest event in Green Bay for car fans, an event held on the property of a well-known custom car shop, Big 3 Performance, and Shelby Parts and Restoration, which if you haven't seen on this blog before is a world-renowned Shelby Mustang restoration shop. This car show will showcase everything from a Lamborghinis to Barracudas, with a Dyno available for use and drag racing down the stretch of public road, which is a Wisconsin road so you don't have to worry about bits falling off. Big Three Performance, known for their custom 650hp Mustang, will be the main host of this event, with many judging categories for imports, restored classics and domestic customs. This show will be located at 2215 O'Conor Road in Green Bay, and if you're nearby on the 12th, be there. You can find more info on this show at  http://www.big3performance.com and you can click on the "Annual Auto Show" link in the middle of the page.

Inspired by the recent Concours d'Lemons in conjunction with the real Monterey Concours, I've created this special Lemon Edition Youtube video reel for your enjoyment (and/or disgust).

If you're a Mercedes-Benz fan or an obsessed car person like me, you've probably heard of Brabus, a famed tuning house for Mercedes-Benz products Anywhere from the SLR Mclaren to the Smart Car. But something you may not have known until now is that Brabus also has a new customization for none other than the Lotus-based, electric Tesla Roadster.

My feet and ankles started aching two hours ago, I'm dehydrated, I've been at this for seven hours and yet I keep going. I've scouted every corner of this property for prizes to behold and oddities not worth mentioning. My camera ran out of memory at three hours in and all I have to convince myself to keep going is the sight around me, which makes it all worth it. I'm not working in a mine surrounded by gold; I'm not running a marathon in California; I'm at Iola Old Car Show in Iola, Wisconsin, one of thousands to come to buy parts at the giant swap meet or just stare at the cars all day long.

When many teens buy their first car, they tend to try to use their small budget to the maximum and customize their Cavaliers and Civics as far as they can go. Often if they can't afford something, they get a cheap knockoff or make one themselves, as shown above by this lovely Honda Civic, found at Stangbangers.com. The result in most of these is ugly, with a cobble of stock, used, ugly parts, with spoilers and rims more fit for better cars. Why anyone would do that and make their car look worse than it was, I have no idea. It just hurts to look at.

This custom Rolls-Royce, a '95 Silver Spirit MKIV, is rumored to have cost in excess of $1 Million and is in the possession of the Sultan of Brunei. It may be very attractive to some and expensive-looking, but to me it looks like it's having an identity crisis.
I mean, look at it. It would probably look like it was shape-shifting from the side as it drives by. When coming towards you, it looks like a weird Rolls-Royce, as it goes so you get a side view it looks like a Nissan 350z, and the back seems like a squashed Maybach Exelero. This car is, of course, impeccable in quality, made by the thoroughly professional firm of DC Designs in India. I like it, but it is kind of confusing.

I've run into a couple of these online: Edsel Ranchero conversions. I think it was a good idea for the Edsel branch of Ford, but they never made anything like it. Yet I occasionally see one online, trying for attention at a car show, and getting it. Some are so well-done they look like they came from the factory. I saw one online that was sitting in a parking lot in Lansing, MI with a sticker that said "Double Lemon" on the back.
Generally, there are two ways to go about making an Edsel "Ranchero". The first of these is the most authentic, taking off the whole rear aspect of an Edsel station wagon and rounding out the body panels to make a pickup bed. The second way to do this conversion is to take an old Ranchero and manipulate the trim to make it look like an Edsel, switching out taillights and grilles. Either way you do it, you have an attention-getting idea that never made it to production (you can even claim it was a pre-production model!). Photo is from Street Rodder Magazine (obviously).

Finally I think it has started warming up for good, and today people started bringing out their babies again. The first sign was a hot rod near me that I hadn't seen since early October (it looks like it's been chopped a few more inches over the winter) and a late-model GTO on the back roads leading to the highway. Then there were numerous cars that were being brought out, including a custom Nissan 350Z and a Mercedes-Benz SL-Class (though it was an '07). I think that Spring is in the air, and the cars are coming out. The photo is of the Custom 350Z I was talking about. Yeah, it's a convertible.