Autoblog

What's more American than putting V8s where they don't belong? As we head toward the Independence Day holiday, let's take a few minutes to partake in that other great American repast, wasting time on YouTube. TechEBlog has gone on a surf-fest and they've dug up some interesting adaptations of one our favorite powerplants. A Hemi-powered barbeque certainly has merit, now that the summer grilling season is upon us; them's some fast burgers! Our favorite is the paper V8 with internals that actually move. Once they figure out how to get it to hold a combustion event, it'll be the ultimate lightweight block. Forestry will move at a faster pace now that there's a V8 powered chainsaw to make quick work of that pesky old growth forest. The list is altogether too short; we want to see more V8s where you'd least expect them.

[Source: TechEBlog]

It's nice to see romance flourishing in this increasingly jaundiced world. Nick Pointing's wife, Carolyn, fell in love with Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the tender age of three. She'd already accumulated quite the collection of Chitty memorabilia when Nick and Carolyn struck upon the idea to build a Chitty of their own one lazy Sunday morning. Presumably, that was the last time the couple took the opportunity to laze around. Fashioning bespoke bodywork is a decidedly deliberate process for even expert metalsmiths. The Pointings were not experts. Nick taught himself to weld and found a 1973 Series III Land Rover to donate its frame and running gear. Using stills from the Disney film and a Corgi scale model of the car, the Pointing's Chitty Chitty Bang Bang came to life in a less magical, more deliberate birthing process than Dick Van Dyke pulled off. Parts were sourced from all over the place. There's wood from a boatyard, bits of Mitsubishi Galant, headlamps from a retail store's housewares department, even pieces from a Singer sewing machine.

Mrs. Pointing's teenage daughter has told her mum to get out more. In pursuit of that interest, Nick and Carolyn will be taking a 12,000 mile journey to Australia, raising money for the Earl Mountbatten hospice, Multiple Sclerosis Society, and the World Wildlife Fund along the way. The replica has passed the MoT, and the Solihull undercarriage should ensure a safe arrival at the end of the expected four-months the journey will take. Now, what children's movie had a magical Porsche 912? Maybe we can argue that it's mostly like Herbie, but better. Doubtful.

[Source: Daily Mail]