Autoblog

Truckticular implants: The Stretch Truck

Dan Roth — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 09:28:00 EST

Is a 20-foot long, four-door longbed pickup still too small for your needs? Whether it's ego or an overabundance of backsides to seat, size definitely matters to Stretch Truck. The Denver based customizer will add extra length to your hauler (they've got a thing for Fords, it seems) with a seamless factory look. It's easy to take potshots about how these trucks are the panacea for insecurity, but they fill a niche that's too narrow for the automakers to fill themselves. One of their six-door Excursions would carry at least half of the Autoblog team with all our gear tossed in back. Stretch Truck's fine work costs accordingly, running in the $20,000 range, but you don't give up much. We expect that the turning circle is large enough to require a harbor pilot, and the extra wheelbase might make it difficult to crawl the Rubicon, but if you've got a need to carry a brood and a burden, these extra-long trucks might be just right.

Gallery: Stretch Trucks

[Source: Stretch Truck via Winding Road]

Truckticular implants: The Stretch Truck originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 12 Mar 2008 09:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Solstice F430: Abomination or Pontiac perfected?

Dan Roth — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 17:56:00 EST

Filed under: Aftermarket, Tuners, Convertible, Etc., Pontiac

click above to view more images of the Solstice F430

There's a pretty healthy argument to be made for leaving the styling of your Pontiac Solstice alone. It did end up in production virtually off the show floor, as evidenced by the cockpit's spaciousness and spectacular materials (hint: saracasm). But there's always at least one person who's not content to leave well enough alone. Luckily, Mr. Paul MadMods seems to have what's known in the biz as mad skillz. What that means is he has a way of working with his hands in a painstaking manner to turn out customized cars that don't scream "HACK JOB!"

Aesthetics, however, are another whole thing, and we're sure that this choice of colors and body mods won't sit well with everyone, but you have to give the guy credit, it's all nicely done. We also have to give props for not creating a full-on Ferrari replica. Paul states that his intent was just to incorporate cool cues from cars that he sees. Thus, his Solstice wears an F430 nose, Porsche Cayman side intakes serving as extractors in the front quarters, tons of custom electronics and a snarling custom turbo installation, too. It's pretty amazing to see how much like a kit car the Solstice actually is. It's not the most comfortable little mini-'Vette, but it's well engineered platform-wise. After seeing how easily the Solstice takes to wrenching, we want one of our own to trick out. When we need an F430 nose, we know who to call.

Thanks for the tip, Aman!

[Source: CarDomain via KitCarsForum]

Gallery: Ferrari nosed Solstice

Solstice F430: Abomination or Pontiac perfected? originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 28 Dec 2007 17:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Citroen 2CV ala Picasso

Dan Roth — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 10:22:00 EST

Filed under: Etc., Misc. Auto Shows, Citroën

The Citroen 2CV is already a unique-looking car, with Citroen's distinct mid-century-modern style and flair. The French auto could be considered the opening salvo in a styling onslaught that led to such heights of style as the DS. A regular 2CV could be considered a piece of art, and Andy Saunders saw his French runabout as a canvas for further experimentation. Inspired by Pablo Picasso, pieces of the CV were sliced, diced, moved hither and yon, and repainted to mimic the artist's 1937 portrait of Dora Maar. The car is street legal in England, and we can only imagine the double takes it garners as it motors on down the street. Nighttime visibility must be rather entertaining, with both headlamps on one side of the car, and since turn signals received similar treatment, you'd best know your hand signals if you don't want this art car to suddenly become a collaborative effort, painted by someone else's vehicle-shaped brush. Saunders's car was at Goodwood this year, and Autoblog photographer extraodinaire Frank Filliponio snagged a shot of it. Just like Picasso's work, this Citroen will garner diametrically opposed reactions, but love it or hate it, it is a brilliant homage to an artistic movement that was fresh and vibrant when this humpbacked, bug-eyed voiture first saw the light of day.

[Source: Caradisiac]

Citroen 2CV ala Picasso originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 29 Jun 2007 10:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Intrepid Chinese make their own Jeep Wrangler

Dan Roth — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 11:24:00 EST

Filed under: China, Etc., Jeep

Click the pic above to see a gallery

This faux Jeep gets a pass, because it comes out looking so close to the real thing, though Jeep faithful will likely pick it to pieces. Pieces is how the story begins, with a Bejing Jeep 2020 that has a tryst with a Sawz-all. Predictably, the 2020 gets all broken up after its torrid affair, and needs to be put back together. Two talented Chinese bodymen took up the mantle and reinvigorated this unloved, down and out conveyance.

The outcome sees the Jeep better than has ever been, which is the hope of anyone who ever partakes in an intervention, isn't it? While this facsimilie has been whipped up most of the way around the world, it's definitely got some Jeeper spirit going on. There's plenty of backyard-assembled CJs here in the homeland that don't look anywhere near as good as this totally fake Rubicon. Sure, the paint's not great (well, it does look shiny, that counts), and the mechanicals are a crapshoot, but the caution (and safety equipment) be damned attitude that these fellas show as they forge ahead and make something from nothing is true Jeep ethos. Besides, we'd much rather cruise the streets of China in the red faux Rubicon than the Chairman-Mao Green thing it started as. It's not the first time someone's made a replica out of a totally unrelated car, anyway. We're not generally fans of the practice, but we see the effort here and applaud the results.

[Source: China Car Times via Hemmings]

Gallery: Chinese Jeep replica

Intrepid Chinese make their own Jeep Wrangler originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 12 Jun 2007 11:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Car Costume: Audi 90 Quattro becomes Audi 90 IMSA GTO

Dan Roth — Fri, 25 May 2007 13:08:00 EST

Filed under: Motorsports, Etc., Europe, Audi

Old Audis are cool, and old racing Audis are even cooler. A Swedish Audi fanatic seems to think so, too, and has gone to extreme lengths to transform a workaday Audi 90 into the IMSA GTO version of that car. Not wanting to go the stripe-and-bodykit route, this Audi's flares were painstakingly constructed from many pieces of metal, intricately tacked into place. Replica body pieces like splitters were created in composite after measurements of an original car were taken, and the authentically nutty looking rims are custom-modified VW pieces. The doors still open, despite 8 additional inches of width, and the amount of work that went into the body modifications is truly incredible. It looks like a scale model was built first, and once the form was perfected, it was "blown up" to the actual car - we don't know Svenska, and translators aren't terribly useful. Motivation is provided by an A8's 4.2 liter V8, which must make the replica pretty zippy, but probably not as fast as those IMSA cars were. Still, though, it's a hell of a thing to see lurking in your rearview, and the handiwork is truly impressive. We see the most insane stuff coming out of Sweden - must be something in the ~~water~~ aquavit. AudiMotorSport's got galleries of the build here.

[Source: AudiMotorSport.se via German Car Scene]

Car Costume: Audi 90 Quattro becomes Audi 90 IMSA GTO originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 25 May 2007 13:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Why the world rips on us: Dimora's JX Coupe Concept

Dan Roth — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 18:08:00 EST

Filed under: Aftermarket, Coupe, Chrysler

From the fertile mind that brought you such varied hits as the Clenet and premixed coolant, we present to you the Dimora JX Coupe. Done up the old-world way -- with real metal and skill -- and the results for all that effort are decidedly weird. They can call it a coupe all they want, but its certainly more El Camino than sleek GT. The JX moniker is a little strange too, as the Chrysler Concorde that this car began life as was an LH model. The JX is the designation for the Sebring convertible from '96-00.

No matter, this metallic tangerine wonder has had old school bodywork techniques applied to make it a landaulet-looking contraption. The car was built as a movie car, though Dimora is cagey about where we might ultimately see the JX's film debut. The write up at the Dimora website is filled with hyperbolic nuggets. Our favorite gem is this one, regarding the fitting of a 3.2-liter V6: "We replaced the stock engine with a 260 HP 3.2 liter V6 from ATK, which is backed by a three-year unlimited mileage warranty. We added a "Tornado" vortex component to the air intake. MPG was increased 10% and horsepower grew by 10%. We have not had a dyno test on the engine..." Uhh, what?! We're not sure how you can measure a 10% horsepower increase (from an intake restriction, no less) without, you know, measuring it. Ah well, at least the rest of the world continues to have vehicular reasons to ridicule us.

Gallery: Dimora JX Coupe

[Source: Dimora via Jalopnik]

Why the world rips on us: Dimora's JX Coupe Concept originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 24 Mar 2007 18:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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VIDEO: Repairing your own Maybach

Dan Roth — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 14:27:00 EST

Filed under: Videos, Maybach

Going hand-in-hand with the wrecked Maybach we found, here is one of the most appalling thing we've ever seen. This is a great example of what not to do to any car. Romanian soccer team owner and billionaire Gheorge Becali managed to rack up the ne plus ultra of Mercedes at least four times. Out came the crowbars, away went pieces of the doorskin. We wept openly. The Maybach may not be a looker, but it certainly doesn't deserve this type of sadism.
Thanks to tipster maddan.

VIDEO: Repairing your own Maybach originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 22 Dec 2006 14:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Autoblog Project Garage: Underbody rust mitigation

Eric Bryant — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 13:46:00 EST

Filed under: Aftermarket, Maintenance, Technology

Quite simply, rust sucks. Most any vehicle regularly driven during winters in the Salt Belt will fall victim to corrosion, and the various spray-on undercoatings available from the aftermarket have their shortcomings. Specifically, the spray-on application of these coatings often results in incomplete coverage, and what is applied will typically degrade upon repeated exposure to a decade's worth of abrasive road debris.

After dropping the fuel tank on our 1996 Buick Roadmaster, we found some oxidized ugliness despite the vehicle's near-impeccable maintenance record. Fortunately, the damage was caught before significant amounts of sheetmetal were lost, and modern technology has provided us with the tools to keep the situation from getting worse.

Continue reading Autoblog Project Garage: Underbody rust mitigation

Autoblog Project Garage: Underbody rust mitigation originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 11 Nov 2006 13:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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