Full Tilt Built Comet Street Rod

We were sent this story and being Comet/Falcon lovers, we had to post it.  Anytime I hear or see a Mercury Comet, I smile.  My dad owned a ‘64 Comet Cyclone.  ‘61 Comets are not your typical hot rod platform, but you wouldn’t know it from seeing this particular purple rod.  It was built by Full Tilt Street Rods in Grand Junction, Colorado, and they had this to say about the project on their website:

“Clay and the Full Tilt Crew started with a bone-stock 1961 Comet, tore it down to the frame and installed a couple of tons of the finest street rod parts available.  The ‘61 features Full Tilt’s complete Hub-to-Hub Mustang II IFS and Full Tilt’s Parallel 4-Bar rear with ShockWaves.  Full Tilt also did the body work, applied the dive-in-deep “Full Tilt Purple” base coat/clear coat paint and fabricated the custom upholstery.”

Of all the views of this rod, I like this rear 3/4 shot.  The painted bumper, custom frenched tails and the big 335/35/17 meats give this ride the perfect street rod stance.  Super low and the just the right amount of rake.  Too bad Mercury designers didn’t give the rear window a little more angle. 

Can you believe the custom hood scoop is made from front fenders?  Rad!  The painted bumper street rod look works great for the look.  Dig this front view yall.  Very nice work from the Full Tilt crew.

This front 3/4 view gives us a better look at that custom hood scoop hiding an injected 351 stroked and poked Windsor.  Also dig those early 60’s rear fins.  Why doesn’t detroit bring back the fins?!  They could make a killer stealth fighter inspired hot rod don’t you think?  I personally like the dual horizontal headlight look of the early to mid 60’s Mercs.  Gives it that wide purposeful look

One more beauty shot before we hear the story behind the Comet.  Check that injected V8.  Boom!  Custom leather upholstery on stock seats and suicide doors make this a comfy cruiser.  This shot was taken at the 2009 SEMA show. 

Now on to a history lesson…from Kathy, the original owners daughter.

In 1961 Warren & Beverly Jones purchased the Mercury Comet.  As the family grew, the Comet went everywhere, even pulling a teardrop camper.  In 1991 I ran into Kathy, her saying to me “you don’t remember me do you”? She was our newspaper girl. I married the girl next door.  While telling Kathy, the Comet would make a great street rod, whenever the subject came up, her dad would say, “When we bought the Comet, the salesman told me it would do 80 mph”!

Behold the humble beginnings.  Ha ha, I’m sorry.  Is that even the same car?  You betchya!  All I can say is nice work Full Tilt Street Rods for resurrecting/reincarnating this family haulin’, grocery gettin’ Mercury.  Another example of how some wheels, stance and paint can transform almost any car (I know there was much more put into it than that, but just sayin’).

As the years went by, the Comet was fading into a dull, lifeless car. My wife was diagnosed with a brain tumor; the tumor was operable, and a success. I knew I had a promise to keep.  I headed for Full Tilt Street Rods with the Comet. Clay Mullis listened to my story. Clay and his men worked tirelessly to finish the car for SEMA, a lot of it on their own time.  We lost Kathy’s dad unexpectedly during the project, but we all believe he can see it and is smiling.

The Comet made its debut at the 2009 SEMA Convention. Kathy was brought home in the same car 46 years ago to the day.

Vehicle was built at:   Full Tilt Street Rods, Grand Junction Colorado

Condition of vehicle at purchase: My father bought the car new in 1961.  Purchae Price:  $1600

Frame: Custom by Full Tilt

Rear end: Strange Engineering, posi, narrowed with Strange 4:11.  Custom chromed four link with air ride shock waves in the rear and a Mustang 2 style custom front end with pro shocks on air ride bags.  Brakes are GM discs in front and ford racing discs in the rear.

Wheels are Boyd Coddington 17×7 fronts and 17×10 rears

Tires are 215/50/17 BFG’s, rears are 335/35/17 Dunlops.

 

I love these in process shots like this.  Hours and hours of grinding, welding, wrenching.  It’s the heart of the hobby.

Engine:  Mid 80s 351 Windsor bored, stroked and balanced and runs Imagine Injection, Crane cam, TRW pistons and rings, Crane crank, Cloys rods and timing chain.  9.5:1 compression with Edelbrock RPM heads, a March pulley system and Flowmaster muffs.  Spark comes from a Compu-tronix unit and makes about 500 horsepower.  All engine work is credited to BC Engineering.

To put all this power down on the old Merc’ hot rod is a Full Tilt built  Performance Transmission and trans cooler with a 3k stall converter, Drive Line Industries (Grand Junction, CO) driveshaft.

Man!  These 2 engine bays can’t be more different. 

Body work includes suicide doors, front tilt hood, cut and filled bumpers, steel hood scoop made from 2 front fenders and custom guage cluster on the bell housing.  Paint is a custom purple hue and was completed by Full Tilt.  Lights are stock with billet aluminum housings, custom frenched turn signals in the front and rear bumpers.

Interior uses ultra leather vanilla, stock customized seats, EZ wiring harness and Dakota Digital instruments.  Steering gear is a Water Fall Flaming River unit with B&M paddle shifters and the always trusty Vintage Air a/c.

Kathy emailed this note.  “Tho’ the comet has great sentimental value to our family…. we never dreamed anyone else would have an interest. Nor did we ever dream she’d come out so cool.”

Thanks to Kathy for sharing her Comet story with us.  It definitely came out COOL!

What a cool tribute to Warren Jones, original owner of the Comet!  I think he’d be very proud.

Full Tilt Street Rods

BringaTrailer Dodge Seneca 413 Cross Ram 4 Speed

Our friends at BringaTrailer.com have some cool and unusual cars for sale.  It wasn’t hard to find one to feature at MyRideisMe.com. This Dodge Seneca stood out, especially for the 413 Cross-Ram that grabbed my attention.  Throw in a 4 speed and now you’re talking.  Check out BringaTrailer’s feature and let us know what you think!  You better go get on BringaTrailer’s email list too, so you can check out all the newest rides for sale that just might find its way to your garage.

Odd Design, Huge Engine: 1961 Dodge Seneca 413

“Sick” Camaro Never Looked So Good…

by Brian Stupski at www.problemchildkustoms.com

…and it’s getting closer to the street, literally and figuratively.

The gang at ProRides, along with a dedicated team of close friends have been working diligently to get the ‘69 Camaro completed and ready for its show car circuit tour and also testing on the track. It is currently in Steve’s garage and the gang has been working on it every night after work. The goal is to finish the car in April and start testing… We are even thinking about driving it on a leg of the Power Tour to test the street driving of the Camaro. Not bad for a six-second capable ride…

Bowler Transmissions wants to have the car in their booth at some Goodguys shows in the coming year, and Denny will also be working with Goodguys on making exhibition runs at their Indy event. Feel free to let Denny know if the car is needed for anything else during the entire season, as we’d all love to see the car not only running on the street and track, but also acting as an ambassador for the hobby and industry as a whole.

The car should be going to paint at the beginning of February, and look for many more pics to follow. We truly cannot wait to share some finished shots of the car. Check out the mounting of the Chiseled Performance intercooler, Be Cool radiator, B&M tranny cooler, ProCharger, and that fuel tank in the front… not much room left!

…and if you’re not yet familiar with the project, here’s the rendering…

…and you can see the first updates, like machining the block to save weight, and building the chassis right here on my site! Look for more updates soon!

Original Story: Click here for a street-able car running 6 second quarter miles

More killer renderings from Problem Child Kustoms:

AMC Hornet: Problem Child’s Latest – Let Them Eat Cheese

SoCal Cube with Cues from VW Bus

World’s First: 3D custom car illustration

Don’t-cha wish you could draw like that?

A Roadster That Can Fly? Check Out Platinum Bomb!

“If the guy building a 1943 Lockheed airplane decided to build a hot rod, this might be what he’d build,” said Zachary Norman, owner and builder of Platinum Bomb. While he denies that it’s a theme car, there’s a definite unifying element to this 1932 Ford roadster. One quick glance will tell you it’s aviation. From the aluminum-looking paint job to the dash full of airplane gauges, this car is full of details that make it look like a hot rod that’s ready to fly!

Nothing makes a hot rod fly like the engine, right?! This baby is powered by a 1949 Cadillac 360. Its been rev’d up a bit by a 1/200^th over-bore, custom pistons, and much more. All that power is steered by a yoke-style steering wheel connected to its steering mechanism via a large linked chain. A very cool looking accent on the firewall that no-doubt saved some room in the engine compartment for those custom-made headers.

Rolling on to the wheels, the details keep coming. They’ve been custom built by Zach and are sandwiched together with fasteners. While its most common to use nylock or split washer fasteners when ya need to avoid something jiggling apart, airplanes don’t – they use what’s called safety wire. Zach incorporated that into Platinum Bomb’s wheels as you can see in this picture. The safety wire winds through each bolt, securing it. Mil. Spec. MS-20995C at it’s finest!

What I love about this and other features on the Platinum Bomb is all the extras are well thought out and serve a purpose. I also thought the brakes looked a little different as well. (I do believe I’ve seen this sort of thing before, but as a novice, I never knew what it did.) They’re designed with holes in the back plates and a chrome wing which acts as an air intake, all for the purpose of cooling the brakes down as they operate. Cool brakes = happy brakes!

Another surprisingly purposeful thing on the Platinum Bomb is all the gauges, the dash is covered in em’. Platinum Bomb’s striking cockpit-looking dash is full of 100% working gauges! That’s right…all of those many gauges do something! From the regular items like gas and temperature, you’ve also got things like a compass and a US Navy clock.

I fell even more in love with Platinum Bomb when Zach told me how the speedometer works.

Unlike most speedometers’ that connect to the transmission, Platinum Bomb’s uses Korean war helicopter technology. The gauge is connected to what’s called a Pitot static tube. As air passes through the Pitot tube, its velocity is measured and translated into m.p.h.

Is this tube hidden somewhere under the grill? Nope. It’s right out there in front, disguised as an aerodynamic-looking hood ornament.

Of course, you can’t look at the Platinum Bomb without noticing the paint. What many don’t realize at first glance is that it’s not a bare aluminum body. The silver color is called “Kosmic Krome” and it’s a paint you don’t see too often because the painting process has to be carried out to perfection for it to look good. The guys who made Platinum Bomb shine are Matt Means and Tom Prewitt of Department of Customz in Anaheim. The rest of the paint continues the aviation theme, from the black scallops to the green accents. That green isn’t just a color picked because it looked cool. It’s a reproduction of something called zinc chromate, a primer used on airplanes. Platinum Bomb’s paint is too nifty to include all the details here, so continue on to “Painting the Bomb” for the full scoop.

With all these goodies and more packed into one Bomb of a car, the only thing that could make it better is Zach declaring his plans for “what’s next?”  “Driving it!”  Whether out with his Them! Car Club buddies or on his own, I’m sure Zach will have tons of fun flying around in Platinum Bomb… I sure would like to experience a take off in this one!

Hollywood Hot Rods

40 East Palm Ave

Burbank, California 91502

www.HollywoodHotRods.com

Bonneville Bound Louver Lover

I’ve been wanting to share this car with you guys for a couple months now.  I originally showed some early pics I took during a tour of Salt Flats Speed Shop (that story link here).   

Chris Davenport, shop owner and metal craftsman, and now louver expert, is building a ‘32 Sedan in the traditional style from the 40’s and 50’s.  He has put together a pretty detailed build thread on the H.A.M.B.  He has been updating it pretty regularly the last couple months as he’s been making some big progress.  Ok, enough of my words, let’s see this work of hot rod art.  Photos by Salt Flats Speed Shop.

Check out them louvers.  I think the top has 420 something louvers.  Wow!  It looks tough and right out of Bonneville 1946!

Here’s the view Chris will have when trekking out to the Salt Flats on I-15.  I wanna grab some rolling shots of this ride when you drive out to Bonneville, k Chris?

This might be my favorite shot.  Add some black and white to this photo and it would appear to have been taken 60 years ago.  Chris, you are the man!  Look at that rod, its a work of art.  Louvers FTW!!!

Gosh dang that front view of the chop top and louvered hood and roof is Bad Ace!!!  I’m in the moment right now, but this is THE most Beautiful Hot Rod of all time!!!  Seriously, its that RAD!!!  Does three exclamation points get my point across?

In process picture with the roof panel clamped down and hoodless.  Dig that hopped up Flattie.  What’s a 40’s traditional hot rod without a hot rodded flattie motor?  From what Chris told me during my tour, this is a stout little Flathead!

Last pic for now.  Here’s the young whipper snapper, Chris Davenport.  Remember that name folks!  Chris “The Real Deal” Davenport is gonna rock Speedweek 2010 with this masterpiece ‘32 Sedan.  Remaking an 80 plus year old door skin?  No problem!  Busting out 400 plus louvers?  All in a days work!  I personally hope Chris doesn’t paint it, at least not for a bit.  Paint will hide all this fabulous craftsmanship.

I wanted to show you more pictures…like of the chop process, door skin repair, etc., but it was too hard to choose.  Go check out the latest on Chris’ build thread I linked above.

Salt Flats Speed Shop will be hosting an Open House sometime during Speedweek 201o in August.  Keep your eyes peeled.  As soon as the details are finalzed, I’ll post up that info so yall can see where all the magic happens.

Hechtspeed

Check out other Bonneville cars in our Bonneville Salt Flats Picture Galleries below:

Nick Hoesings Pictures from Wendover Nugget Car Show and Salt Flats

Bonneville Speedweek doorslammers and modifieds

US Forest Service Tribute Shop Truck for only $450

Story and Pictures by Andy’s Pinstriping

“I have a friend in Seattle that was doing some pre-Spring cleaning and needed to make some room for a new project so he called me. The offer was too good to pass up.  I was told that if I could find a way to pick up an old 1963 Chevy truck that i could have it. I had to fork out $350.00 to have it delivered from Seattle to my door step and after looking at the truck, I realized that was a great deal!

 

This is what I started with. A good original truck with a bad 90’s Teal paint job…but I saw potential. I did some research as well and found out that this truck started life as a Forest Service truck, so sentimentality kicked in as I had a beloved uncle that was a Ranger all his life.
All of a sudden, an idea was born…

Obviously, it had a height issue that needed to be addressed ASAP!  This is after the front went down about six inches.

This is what it looked like after the back went down about eight inches…it’s still drivable and didn’t cost an arm and a leg to lower. I do want to install an air ride suspension one day…when funds allow!

As with any project that I immerse myself in, I like to go in with a plan so I called my buddy Ryan Hadden and had him sketch me out an idea that I had.

The dirty work always seems to be the fun part for me. I enjoy the sanding and prepping part. The best part about this paint job was that it was going on my “shop truck” so quality wasn’t an issue. It was actually difficult for me at first as I am normally spraying five thousand dollar paint jobs and this one needed to be lesser quality for the look I was going for.

Instead of using a hundred thousand dollar spray booth and expensive automotive paint we used my dads open air shop and some cheap tractor paint from Cal Ranch…again, it would all help with the look. The ground coat for this truck is Red Oxide primer. I thought it would look really good when the top coat was sanded through  and it was exposed.

My goal was to create a Forest Service truck so I needed Forest Service Green…the problem that I encountered was that tractor paint does not come in this color so I put my thinking cap on and came up with a solution. I bought a gallon of Ford tractor White and two quarts of John Deere Green and mixed until I had the shade I needed.
On a side note, I painted this entire truck for less than $100.00

I knew that the artwork I did on this truck would either make it or break it. My goal was not to make this truck look like I just painted it to look old, I wanted people to look at this truck and think they were seeing an old Forest Service truck.

I started by masking the shield and painting it Olive Drab. It’s really kind of a bad shot but after the Olive Drab dried I put a sheet of Friskit Film on and began three hours of X-ACTO knife cutting to create the logo. It was exhausting but well worth it in the end when I covered it up with Ivory White.

These were the colors used in 1963. After unmasking and spending another couple hours sanding and distressing, my logo’s started taking on a personality of their own.

 

Here are a few shots of my truck in front of American Fork City’s Monument to Veterans.

I still have many more things to do to this truck. I will be painting the interior white like it was originally, and my cousin Jared is making a new wood bed for it. I have a lot more distressing to do on the exterior paint to make it look weathered and I just ordered a set of government stencils so I can put the fleet numbers on the tailgate and the GVW numbers on the side.

So to recap, I started with a truck that was originally a Forest Service truck…sometime I suspect in the 90’s it received the hot rod treatment of the time (yuck)…so now I  have created a so called hybrid, a hot rodded truck that has a work truck appearance. If any of you see me at the shows this year come on up and say high and as always, if there are any paint, body or fabrication questions please shoot them my way. I would love to help you out!

Andy

Thanks Andy for sending this story and pictures.  Can’t wait to see this truck progress.  I’d personally love to see some white walls and maybe some painted white wheels.  Either way, it looks awesome.  And shoot, for $450, this thing has huge bang for the buck style going on!

Hechtspeed

What’s on Your List?

I’ve found that everybody has their own unique approach to building and working-on their car projects. You’ve got factors like money, who’s doing the work, skill level, space to work in, time, end-result, and of course personal organizational style (or lack thereof!)

My 1955 Studebaker Champion is a work-in-progress. Since she’s my daily driver my top goal is to keep her on the road so I’ve got regular maintenance to keep done and of course unexpected events come up too! But that doesn’t rule out my desire to get her into better shape as time goes by.

So with it being the holiday season, I figured this would be a good time to step back and identify what I’d like to get done and what my priorities are for Stude. So I’m not sure whether this is a Christmas wish list or my 2010 New Year’s Resolutions… but here it is! Maybe you’d like to make your own for your project car!

1. Get a new exhaust system on. The pipes that went on my car were originally shaped for a different model Studebaker. This means I’ve got an ugly exhaust system taking a good 6” under my car’s profile – yuck! It’s also taken a good beating on the asphalt because of that, which has resulted in both mufflers been torn open! Take that and worn out Hooker headers and you’ve got crazy noise and a less-than-healthy exhaust system.
2. Work on suspension components. I don’t think I’ll be able to afford airbags for my car this year, but there’s some less-costly stuff to get done to my suspension. First of all I can get my rear leaf-springs re-arched which shouldn’t cost much. I also just noticed that my shock-absorbers are shot which is making steering a challenge at times. Combine that with still-original shocks on the front-end (which I think recently lowered a little) and there’s some serious improvements to be made with a minimal amount of work and money.
3. Add seatbelts. Yep, I’ve been danger-girl driving Stude around LA freeways with no belts. My previous job working on an ambulance taught me that lap-belts alone are sometimes worse than no belts at all…so I just kept them off. But I’ve decided it’s time to do a little something about safety and I’ve found a company that makes custom-colored shoulder belts for classic cars.
4. Seal her off! Most people probably never think about the rubber trim in their cars. But when you own a car 50+ years old it means the original rubber is dry, cracked, and all worn out. Why does this matter? One word: rain. Rubber helps keep things aligned and quiet too, but what will really bother ya is when water starts dripping down the doors and windows when it rains. I’ve replaced a little of the rubber on the Stude, but the door and back windows need to be done, then I can stop mopping up the accumulated water under my rear-seats after a downpour!
5. Better my brakes. It’s LA…I drive in a lot of traffic! Stude’s still on original drum brakes, and sometimes I think I add brake-fluid a little too often. If my brakes failed to stop me as good as I needed, I would be one extremely sad girl – I don’t even like thinking about that! So one of my top priorities this year is upgrading to a disc brake system. I’ve got some research to do before putting significant money and time into this super-important part of my car.

Of course I could continue adding to this wish list (bodywork or paint wasn’t even mentioned!), but I think this is a good place for me to start at this year. So be expecting to learn about the above things as I do this coming year! And may 2010 be filled with car adventures and learning of your own!

Happy Trails to one and to all!

Diesel Rat Rod: Blowin’ Smoke

Photos by Swanee

SEMA 2009 proved to be an extreme mix of automotive genius and variety.  Rat rods are becoming part of that creative pool. Rat rods, in general, are built solely from old parts and pieces that are deliberately left raw and natural.  Additional trinkets are added, leaving their patina to show.  The surge of this style of building is gaining support by a recent article by Car and Driver Magazine.  Check it out: Car and Driver Top 10 Favorites from SEMA

Case in point, is this “Diesel Rod”, a 1928 Dodge 4 door body, rusted and abused beyond restoration, was chopped and channeled onto a hand built frame.  Stepping way out of the box and into the next field, a retired 1998 Dodge pickup donates its motor, a Cummins 12 valve mechanical diesel engine.  The diesel motor produces plenty of horsepower and torque plus gets 20+ MPG.

The diesel rod is the imagination of Steve Darnell, owner of a fabrication shop aptly named, WELDERUP. www.welderup.com

Steve has been around cars all his life. Finding old cars is his reason for living, even better when he can drive the beauty home!  Steve’s daily driver is a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air, left in its original condition.

Steve and his crew build rolling works of art.  This diesel rod has so many features that every time you see it, the more it pops.  The trim around the body is a bandsaw blade, a chainsaw blade surrounds the cowl. Brass screen mesh, from a gold mine, has been recycled into interior door panels. The dash is sheet metal from an old piece of farm equipment.  The rear bumper is two pistons from an excavator engine and the steering support is a connecting rod from the same piece of machinery.

This entire project, as well as others, is based on the recycling of old parts. Sheetmetal, handles, gears, chains and endless other parts come from salvaging in the backfields of the farm and ranch community.

Steve jumps at any chance to cruise the streets and enjoys all the attention he gets riding in this rat. Burnouts at every stoplight baby!   Fire from the propane injection and smoke bellowing out from the single exhaust pipe.

No trailer queen here, the diesel rod was built to be driven and enjoyed by everyone.

The diesel rod has been featured in a variety of magazines; Diesel World, Diesel Tech, Diesel Power, and Hot Rod. This rod brings the diesel heads together. Rebel Rodz teased the rat rod community and overseas e-magazines like, El Diablo (Spain) by featuring this rat and Mattblackrat (England) http://www.mattblackrat.com/ found the diesel rod to be an interesting ride.

(This is a picture of the hand crank starter. About half a turn is all you’ll need, believe it or not, to fire this thing up. I watched him do it and couldn’t believe how easy it was.)

What is next?  ENJOY IT!  Welderup is based in Montana but, the crew isn’t scared to drive all over the U.S…  Be on the lookout as the “show” rolls into town!

Alan57

http://www.alan57.com/

“Car of the Week” Hot Rod Ramblings Part 2

Part 2 of Hot Rod Ramblings “Car of the Week”, we take a look at some rear wheel drive beauties from all around the world, Japanese, European and even American.  These 5 cars have all been “Cars of the Week” in the last few years for me.  They all have great aftermarket support, wheels, suspension, exterior, engine, etc. and can all be built into multiple different styles, drifting, road racing, street car or show car.  Each has tons of potential to let their owners be creative and make their Ride an extension of themselves.

Toyota AE86 Corolla GT-S “Hachiroku”

A 1980’s Corolla?  You’re probably thinking I’m nutty.  I am, I love this car.  Why?  It is probably the ultimate drivers car.  Ever heard of Keichii Tsuchiya, the “Drift King”?  Heard of the Japanese comic book “Initial D”?  Anyway, that should give you guys something to Google today.  I can’t spoil all the fun.  But, suffice it to say, it has all the makings of a drivers car:  rear wheel drive, 5 speed manual, high revving 1.6L DOHC fuel injected aluminum 4 cylinder and lightweight construction.  I love the boxy lines of the “86″ (or hackiroku in Japanese) as its known.  This Orange beauty grabbed from Speedhunters.com is a circuit, track day example.  This one sports a big carbon GT wing, fender flares to fit bigger meats and a gutted interior.

This next example is a sweet street version, looking the part as a Japanese street/touge drifter.  This one also has aftermarket fender flares, carbon fiber vented hood, wide 15 or 16 inch wheels and body kit front, rear and sides painted in a typical for the mid 80’s two-tone jobby.  Boxy cars with flares just looks so good!  The 86 is a lightweight car that you can flick around.  It’s a nimble street car that can be made to drift, autocross or canyon run.  Too bad they don’t have airbags.  :(  If you wanna “Live the 86 Life!” go check out one of the top forums, Club 4AG and soak it in.

Nissan 240SX/Silvia

One of the cars that has recently been a “Car of the Week” favorite is the Nissan 240SX, also known in Japan and around the world as the Silvia, 180sx or 200sx, depending on what engine spec.  As is the case, the USA got the watered down version and in this case it is no different.  Instead of getting a highly modifiable Turbocharged SR20DET 2.0L DOHC 4 cylinder engine rated anywhere from 200-250hp, the US 240sx received the dull and weazing 2.4L DOHC 4 cylinder turbo-less truck engine rated at 155hp.  That of course doesn’t stop the enthusiasts in the know to swap in a JDM (Japanese Domestic Market) SR20DET engine into their chassis.  This red aggressive S14 240sx runs with the Risky Devil Street Drift Club, one of the crews that knows how to setup a Nissan!

There is a huge following and many forums and websites dedicated to the Silvia.  The 240 runs independent rear wheel drive, 5 speed tranny setup and weighing around 2800 lbs, making for a ball to drive.  Turbocharge that stock KA engine or swap in the SR and you have a Mustang beating, drifter or road racer!  Here’s another red Risky Devil 240SX showing us how its done sideways!

Why Nissan stopped selling the 240 in the USA is beyond me.  Apparently they didn’t sell well in their day, but now its hard to find a used example without an angled exhaust and some drift rash.

2005-2010 Mustang GT

Ah, the retro styled Mustang S197 chassis.  Released as a 2005 model, it came with a 300hp 4.6 3 valve V8 that could run on low octane.  The chassis and body was totally revamped from the Edge SN95 Mustangs and with that, a much improved handling suspension package.  So much so that the S197 Mustang has been very sucessful in GT racing around the world.  In 2008, Ford released its Cobra Jet special edition drag pak, I think only 50 were sold, body in white versions sold to drag racing teams that wanna cough up the dough of course.

If you don’t know yet, I’m a huge drifting and Japanese car nut.  Vaughn Gittin Jr is a drifter who has taken on the S197 chassis and shined, taking a few wins and many podiums in his new 2010 Mustang GT.  Here is his street car!  I here from Speedhunters/Motor Mavens (can’t remember which one) mentioned this week that JR will be going to the aftermarket selling Mustang parts and such.  This stang is clean looking.  I’ll take one in Grabber Blue though!  I love how the ’Stang has been updated for the 2010 model, with its more aggressive front end, angled rear and bumped up power.

Datsun 510

To me, the ultimate Japanese classic car is the Datsun 510.  Rear wheel drive with independent suspension, OHC 4 cylinder, manual trans and great looking boxy lines.  It was super successful in SCCA small bore racing in the 1970’s.   Throw a front airdam, wide sticky tires, roll cage and go racing!  Paul Newman learned the ropes of wheel to wheel racing behind the wheel of the 510, lovingly called the “Dime” by its followers.

If only Nissan or Toyota or Mazda could produce a modern version of the 510 or AE86 or even the 240SX, it would rejuvenate the sports sedan/coupe enthusiasts for sure.  I even saw a “dime” for sale in the local classifieds with a 350Z 3.5L V6 engine swap.  Wow!  They don’t make cars like they used to, in the USA or across the Pacific.

BMW M3/3 Series

If I had a little more money and didn’t live in Utah with its snow and long winters, I’d be driving a BMW M3 CSL (Club Sport model).  Look at this M3 running at the world famous Nurburgring race course.  Talk about grip!  Not sure what’s cooler, pulling the front tires off the ground at a drag strip or in a corner while road racing.  The M3 sold from 2000-2006 ran a 3.2L inline 6 that made 333hp and could rev to over 8000 RPM’s.

I’ve driven an E46 M3 right after driving a Terminator Mustang Cobra.  What a smooth revving engine!  One of the best sounding engines ever in my opinion.

One of the best looking and handling cars from the 80’s has to be the BMW E30 M3, with its fender flares and high performance 4 cylinder engine.  When tuned just right with suspension and wide wheels and perfect fitment, there’s not many cars cooler!

They’re hard to find used anymore.  They’re actually becoming a collector car of sorts for those who are BMW aficionado’s.  I can see why.

That’s it for this post.  What do you guys think?  Any of these cars fancy you?

Hechtspeed

NSRA Supernationals, Old Warden House, England

Words and Pics  by Keith Harman

Over here in the UK, the NSRA Supernationals has quickly risen to be the biggest and best rod run of the year on the British calendar. Its popularity is probably down to a combination of things, one certainly being the great venue, the run is in the grounds of Shuttleworth House, a stately home in Bedfordshire some 60 miles North of London, the site boasts plenty of shade, a great camping area and the added attraction of a vintage aircraft museum and preservation trust on the adjoining airfield. The run also attracts a great variety of rods and customs since the NSRA in the UK is not part of the American organization and is a volunteer- only non profit making proper club run by the members and for the members. To this end, faced with a smaller scene in a much smaller country, the club does not apply a pre-’49 rule but encourages members to run pre-72 cars, more like the Goodguy runs in the states.

Despite thunder storms and heavy showers on the Friday of the weekend, there were plenty of rodders in attendance from all over the UK and Europe too, even if it meant quickly setting up camp between the showers! As well as the many trade stands or vendors as you know them, the event featured giveaway prizes, a cruise to nearby Santa Pod Raceway where the Mopar guys were having a muscle car event, plus the Friday and Saturday night marquee parties which are always popular since nearly everyone stays on site so having that extra beer or three isn’t a problem! Certainly the American guest over for the event was nursing a sore head the next day, next time you see Jimmy Shine, ask him how we party over here!

Sunday was show and shine day and the field was full as usual, swelled by extra cars just visiting for the day. The Sunday show is open to the public too and the shows central location means plenty of paying visitors without who it would be difficult to put on the event every year. If you were planning a trip to the UK on vacation, this would be the show to visit, many US ‘celeb’ hot rod names have been before, Norm Grabowski, Pat Ganahl, Ron Covell, the guys from Radir wheels and journalist Chuck Vranas to name a few, so you’d be following in some familiar footsteps. Come on over and see what we’re doing on this side of the pond, you’re more than welcome.

Everyone from the UK and anyone in Europe driving a classic hot rod or tuner or cars we’ve never heard of in the United States… you’re all welcome at MyRideisMe.com.  1300+ members can’t be wrong so why not sign up today by entering your member name and email, that’s it!

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