To Cuda or not to Cuda

My first car was a 1970 Plymouth Duster 340 which I still have although it's been taken apart.  Since then I've been thinking that instead of restoring the Duster (which originally wasn't a 340) I'd love to drop the 340 into a pre-1970 Barracuda Fastback.  I'd love it to be a Formula S but a regular 6-banger would give me the freedom to do what I'd want to with it.

This dream was rekindled a bit when I watched an episode of West Coast Customs where they took a 1967 6-banger, customized it and dropped in a new 6.1 Hemi into it.  I'm more of a hot rodder than a custom guy but this one turned out really nice.

  

Just for reference I'm including a picture of what an original Barracuda looks like the same year.  As you can see they did change a lot but I love the super clean lines with all the trim and crap removed.  The original car certainly isn't ugly though.

I have a lot of loose ends to tie up before I get to a point where I can even worry about it however it's nice to dream

2011 Hennessey Venom GT: How is this not a Lotus?

 

Quote from Hennessey, "Our dedicated staff of former Bonneville, Formula One and Le Mans race engineers have teamed to design the Venom GT— incorporating many of the best technologies and advanced materials available today. The goal? The best overall performing and best looking road-legal supercar that we could build."  

Ummm guys, it was already made awhile ago.  I'm pleased to introduce to you the 2004 Lotus Exige.  Yeah yeah, I know Hennessey admits that they built the car from the ground up using the Lotus platform but I just don't see how they can call it a different car.  Like when Hennessey created the Viper Venom wouldn't this be the Lotus Venom??

Car? What Car?

Jeep Announced Six Jeep models get the Mopar Makeover for 2011

Jeep plans to show six new Mopar-tuned models at the annual Easter Jeep Safari in Moab, Utah.  Three of them are worth a look.

Jeep Wrangler Blue Crush

6.4L Jeep Wrangler Renegade

The extreme looking Jeep Wrangler Blue Crush has a 426-cubic-inch Hemi V8 capable of 540 horsepower.  It sits on monster truck-like 39-inch tires rely on custom drifeshafts and has a full roll cage.








The Jeep Wrangler Renegade is packing a 475-horsepower 6.4-liter V8 bolted up to a six speed manual transmission.  A four-inch suspension lift was also added to make room for 35-inch Mickey Thompson Baja Claw Radials.

Jeep Wrangler Pork Chop

The final one is called the Jeep Wrangler Pork Chop.  Apparently the vehicle is called the Pork Chop because all the fat has been trimmed.

It started off as a 4,240-pound Wrangler and then lost 850 pounds by losing the bumpers, doors and tailgate. The hood was swapped with a lightweight aluminum and carbon fiber unit that weighs all of eight pounds, while all four fenders were swapped with lightweight replacements. Mopar even ripped out all the carpeting, replaced the gas tank with a lighter unit and swapped out the factory seats for Sparco Chrono Road bucket seats.

2012 Mustang Cobra Jet

No it's not street legal but it does do the quarter mile in under 10 seconds.  Using an aluminum block 5.4-liter V8 and Ford Racing Whipple supercharger this Mustang Ford claims to be the quickest production car.

You want one?  Well too bad, the sold-out 2012 Cobra Jet starts at $91,990, with a fully loaded Cobra Jet coming in at $103,980. That sounds expensive, but Cobra Jet owners say it's cheaper than a do-it-yourself project delivering the same results.

Sold out really??  Awww, now I'm gonna have to tear up my check.

My Shenanigans Have Gone High Tech

After years of law enforcement not agreeing with my "robust" driving style and a super close call Friday night which would have cost me my license I decided to buy a radar detector.  But I didn't get just any radar detector, I got the Escort Passport 9500ix, this baby sees all!! It has built in GPS which keeps up to date with the location of any speed cameras and also uses it to learn false signals.  So you drive by a place that is sending out a false signal like an automatic door and it beeps, but after driving by the same spot three times the detector learns and stops signaling at that location. I got to see it in action this morning because my kid's school has one of those warning boxes that displays you approaching speed and the radar detector flipped out four blocks away!

I've never had one before and I know they aren't illegal but I feel totally devious using it......AND I LOVE IT!  If your interested here's a link to more info. Escort Passport 9500ix

Holy Crap!!

This video sure made me jump!!

 

I gotta ask though, what the hell was he/she filming and why?   That part makes me think it's staged.

Oh Pagani, you taunt me so..

Does Pagani make anything ugly?  The new 2011 Pagani Huayra doesn't replace the Zonda for me but I certainly wouldn't say no to it.  It's got a Mercedes-AMG turbocharged V-12 with around 700 hp!