Autoblog http://www.autoblog.com Autoblog http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.autoblog.com/media/feedlogo.gif Autoblog http://www.autoblog.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[eBay Find of the Day: Brass Era American LaFrance firetruck speedster is a prehistoric Blastolene]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2009/12/21/ebay-find-of-the-day-brass-era-american-lafrance-firetruck-spee/http://www.autoblog.com/2009/12/21/ebay-find-of-the-day-brass-era-american-lafrance-firetruck-spee/http://www.autoblog.com/2009/12/21/ebay-find-of-the-day-brass-era-american-lafrance-firetruck-spee/#commentsFiled under: ,

American LaFrance firetruck speedster - click above for high-res gallery

One of our favorite cars from 2009 is the Blastolene Peterbilt hot rod. You know the one with two (count 'em, two) superchargers bolted to its Detroit Diesel V12. Hubba hubba,. And if we had access to a time machine, our very favorite car from say 1933 might just be this firetruck speedster, that's quite possibly a direct ancestor of Blastolene. For certain the two are related in the chutzpah department. As the owner states, "You don't know what 'awesome' is until you drive this car."

Where to even start? First of all, brass era cars rule. Even if this particular American LaFrance bucket isn't exactly 100 percent of the period. The chassis is from 1921 type 14-6 short wheelbase firetruck. The motor is out of a 1918 type 31-6-75 front drive aerial ladder, while the aluminum cowl comes from another American LaFrance firetruck built between 1927 and 1930. The speedster just looks like it hails from 1915 (the year which it's coincidently registered). Pretty amazing, no?

Let's talk motor for just one moment. The six-cylinder powering this particular rat rod is a 14.5-liter inline-six (that's 820 cubic inches) good for 105 horsepower. Not oodles of power, but with twelve spark plugs (six off the distributor, six off the magneto) and all that displacement, you can bet this guy is torquey enough to pull stumps. Need more convincing? The differential takes 600 weight oil. Currently, the speedster's sitting at $50,000 (reserve not met) with a buy it now price of $149,000. Serious bidders only, and good luck!


Gallery: LaFrance Firetruck Speedster


[Source: eBay Motors]

eBay Find of the Day: Brass Era American LaFrance firetruck speedster is a prehistoric Blastolene originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 21 Dec 2009 13:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>American LaFranceAmerican LaFrance firetruckAmerican LaFrance firetruck speedsterAmericanLafranceAmericanLafranceFiretruckAmericanLafranceFiretruckSpeedsterBlastoleneBlastolene Peterbilt Hot RodBlastolenePeterbiltHotRodbrass eraBrassEraclassic carclassic carsClassicCarClassicCarsDetroit DieselDetroitDieseleBayebay Find of the DayEbayFindOfTheDayfire truckfire trucksFiretruckFireTruckshome builtHomeBuiltspeedsterMon, 21 Dec 2009 13:01:00 EST http://www.autoblog.com/feed/19288822/article-comments.xml http://www.autoblog.com/feed/2009/12/21/ebay-find-of-the-day-brass-era-american-lafrance-firetruck-spee/19288822/article-detail.xml 19288822 http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/12/630lf_thumbnail.jpg http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/12/630lf.jpg <![CDATA[MAKE reader builds Ariel Atom replica out of spare parts]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2008/09/24/make-reader-builds-ariel-atom-replica-out-of-spare-parts/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/09/24/make-reader-builds-ariel-atom-replica-out-of-spare-parts/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/09/24/make-reader-builds-ariel-atom-replica-out-of-spare-parts/#commentsFiled under: , , ,


Click above for more shots of this home-built Ariel Atom replica

We can think of few better ways to spend our evenings than bending, welding and beating metal into submission to produce our own car and it seems that we are not alone. MAKE reader, Utah resident and Flickr user proximacentuari took the design of the Ariel Atom -- currently one of the most desirable track cars in existence -- and replicated it in his home garage. What's more, he documented the entire process with pictures and uploaded the whole thing to the internet. This is the coolest show-and-tell ever.

Powering the beast, known by its builder as z59, is a Honda K-Series four-cylinder engine from a wrecked Acura RSX. It's an impressive build, taking "15 months and at least 800 hours of work in the garage," all done without any official Ariel schematics. "The frame is completely custom. I didn't make a single measurement off the real car... what you see is a series of very educated guesses," according to the builder. Much of the car is made from scrap parts, including the bodywork from a number of old appliances, a kayak and a doghouse. Check out a few pics in our gallery and click here to see the entire photostream on Flickr. Thanks for the tip, Pedro!

Gallery: Home-built Ariel Atom replica


[Sources: Flickr, MAKE]

MAKE reader builds Ariel Atom replica out of spare parts originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 24 Sep 2008 10:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>arielariel atomArielAtomdiydiy ariel atomdiy carDiyArielAtomDiyCarhome builthome built arielhome built carHomeBuilthomebuilt arielhomebuilt carHomebuiltArielHomeBuiltCarWed, 24 Sep 2008 10:01:00 EST http://www.autoblog.com/feed/1322527/article-comments.xml http://www.autoblog.com/feed/2008/09/24/make-reader-builds-ariel-atom-replica-out-of-spare-parts/1322527/article-detail.xml 1322527 http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2008/09/home_ariel_450_thumbnail.jpg http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2008/09/home_ariel_450.jpg -1 2