The MW Automotive Thread

[NizZzuS]

sorry - wrong thread - delete

Edited October 7, 2005 by NizZzuS

[reddsun1]

Toysport is a good place to look, as well as LC Engineering [they're more likely to have items specifically for the 22RE]. But the 22RE wasn't exactly the most popular 'yota engine, and items for boosting performance on this much un-loved motor are pretty damned expensive. I used to drive an '84 Celica GTS, also equipped with the wheezy little "truck motor" 22RE. Fun car to drive, one of the better looking little compacts from the 80's. LOL, but the damn thing wouldn't break a buck-twenty on the speedo unless you dropped it from a high flying plane! By the time it got to 4 grand on the tach, it was screaming bloody murder, like it was all it had to give. Not a high winder as 4-bangers go, due to the relatively long stroke, I believe? You say your truck is an '86? By the time all is said and done, you will spend more on the turbo kit, etc. than the vehicle itself is worth...it's largely what made me wind up going with a "muscle car" with a V8--comparatively speaking, the cost-per-horsepower isn't as high as with a 22RE. I've heard 300+HP is well within reach; IF you're willing to spend the bucks...

[areaseven]

Now this is a rather odd stripe design.

Lotus Exige Espionage

[reddsun1]

Hmm, looks good...if you've got an expensive pin-striped suit you really want to match.

Now this is a rather odd stripe design.

Lotus Exige Espionage

334796[/snapback]

[yellowlightman]

Toysport is a good place to look, as well as LC Engineering [they're more likely to have items specifically for the 22RE].  But the 22RE wasn't exactly the most popular 'yota engine, and items for boosting performance on this much un-loved motor are pretty damned expensive.  I used to drive an '84 Celica GTS, also equipped with the wheezy little "truck motor" 22RE.  Fun car to drive, one of the better looking little compacts from the 80's.  LOL, but the damn thing wouldn't break a buck-twenty on the speedo unless you dropped it from a high flying plane!  By the time it got to 4 grand on the tach, it was screaming bloody murder, like it was all it had to give.  Not a high winder as 4-bangers go, due to the relatively long stroke, I believe?  You say your truck is an '86?  By the time all is said and done, you will spend more on the turbo kit, etc. than the vehicle itself is worth...it's largely what made me wind up going with a "muscle car" with a V8--comparatively speaking, the cost-per-horsepower isn't as high as with a 22RE.  I've heard 300+HP is well within reach; IF you're willing to spend the bucks...

334793[/snapback]

I had an '83 Celica GT and I agree with pretty much everything you said about the motor. Was never intended for performance, I though it's strongest attribute was how reliable and solid it was. I miss that car a lot... got into lots of wacky poo with it and it kept on running...

[reddsun1]

Ah yes, the last of the RWD Celicas. No barn-storming performers by any means; but I remember back in the day, they were the shiz-nit. I seem to remember seeing a magazine article once way back--Motor Trend or Car and Driver, can't remember--that did a comparo with the then new Celica GTS and the BMW 3-series Coupe. Apparently the Celica did surprisingly well in that one, posting perf. figures quite even to the Beemer.

[areaseven]

Back from Palm Springs. Those windmills are really huge.

[Lightning]

Toysport is a good place to look, as well as LC Engineering [they're more likely to have items specifically for the 22RE].  But the 22RE wasn't exactly the most popular 'yota engine, and items for boosting performance on this much un-loved motor are pretty damned expensive.  I used to drive an '84 Celica GTS, also equipped with the wheezy little "truck motor" 22RE.  Fun car to drive, one of the better looking little compacts from the 80's.  LOL, but the damn thing wouldn't break a buck-twenty on the speedo unless you dropped it from a high flying plane!  By the time it got to 4 grand on the tach, it was screaming bloody murder, like it was all it had to give.  Not a high winder as 4-bangers go, due to the relatively long stroke, I believe?  You say your truck is an '86?  By the time all is said and done, you will spend more on the turbo kit, etc. than the vehicle itself is worth...it's largely what made me wind up going with a "muscle car" with a V8--comparatively speaking, the cost-per-horsepower isn't as high as with a 22RE.  I've heard 300+HP is well within reach; IF you're willing to spend the bucks...

334793[/snapback]

well, I had a kinda crazy idea to switch the engine to a 4A-GE, since i'd be making the same HP, but with less displacement and make more MPG out of the deal, but part of me wants to keep the 22R, since it's the engine those trucks are identified with.

However, I found that TCR performance has good crate engines (some to or past the 200hp mark, and that will rev to 6500+ RPM) some with turbo, some without.

EDIT: BTW, I still have the LeBaron, though once I have the 22R all checked out and fully driveable, I can start turning the LeBaron into racecar/hipo-street car.

Edited October 9, 2005 by Lightning 06

[Splash]

Here's a rare thing, an Australian Falcon XB coupe in the states! I was going to have it "Go Mad", dress it up like the black-on-black in Mad Max/Road Warrior. Sold it to a fellow afficianado in Texas who wanted a Mad Max Pursuit Special daily driver. Now I'm working up the parts list to build a Spinner from Bladerunner... But I've still got the Mad Max body parts kit so the possibility is still there.

[yellowlightman]

well, I had a kinda crazy idea to switch the engine to a 4A-GE, since i'd be making the same HP, but with less displacement and make more MPG out of the deal, but part of me wants to keep the 22R, since it's the engine those trucks are identified with.

335201[/snapback]

The 4A-GE would make a bad truck motor because of the higher RPM range and much lower torque. Both the 22RE and 4AGE make around 100hp, but the 22RE makes around 140 ft/lbs opposed to the 4AGE's 100 or so.

[yellowlightman]

Toyota will support eight Nextel Cup teams when its cars make their debuts in 2007, but none of them is likely to be from Ganassi Racing, which all along figured to be part of the Toyota contingent.

Source

Honda, long-rumored to be interested in NASCAR Nextel Cup racing, is now trying to hire NASCAR engine builders for its Honda Racing Development operation, according to engine men familiar with the situation.

It is unclear just what game plan that Honda might be considering. But NASCAR has provided Honda with Truck-racing templates, and Honda, since introducing its first big truck this season, the Ridgeline, has been widely expected to enter NASCAR Truck racing eventually.

"Honda will outsource to begin with, but they'll quickly bring it back in-house," one knowledgeable engine builder said.

Honda is a major power on the Formula One tour, and it has been dominating Indy-car racing, essentially running General Motors right out of open-wheel racing and pushing Toyota down that same path.

That Honda news comes as NASCAR officials wrestle with Toyota executives over changes in engine design that NASCAR would like Toyota to make in Toyota's NASCAR V-8, which is currently run on the Truck tour (but of very similar design to a Nextel Cup-legal motor).

"The Toyota people have gotten very 'bowed up' over that," according to one top NASCAR team manager familiar with the talks.

The Toyota Truck engine has been a bone of contention among rivals this season, particularly after Toyota's impressive summer winning streak.

Ford's Jack Roush says that the Toyota engine is superior to the other three makes. Chevrolet's Richie Gilmore, who runs Dale Earnhardt Inc., says that one key aspect of the Toyota engine is its light weight, "160 pounds less than the others." That's because of both design and metallurgy.

Rather than spend large sums to match the Toyota NASCAR designs, Ford, Dodge and GM are pushing NASCAR to force Toyota to change its engine instead, which Toyota is naturally resisting, apparently very vigorously.

That controversy over the Toyota engine may have been a major reason for Toyota's decision to abandon plans to field teams on the Busch tour in 2006.

That Ford, Dodge and GM are having big financial problems at the corporate level is widely known. Toyota, on the other hand, is a $140 billion capitalization company with $160 billion a year in sales and with more than $5 billion a year in free cash flow, and it sold 7.4 million cars last year, moving past Ford to become the world's number-two car maker.

Two years ago General Motors proposed a new NASCAR engine that would meet the Toyota challenge, but NASCAR officials, after initially approving the design, abruptly killed it, without explanation.

Over the winter, NASCAR officials began a series of meetings with top stock-car racing engine men to lay out a blueprint for a brand-new, NASCAR-type V-8, with goals including small cubic-inch displacement and 100 less horsepower.

That project was an attempt to get Toyota "back in the box," by bringing engines under tighter specs.

However NASCAR abruptly killed that program in June, again without explanation.

Then last month, as Toyota went on its winning streak, NASCAR found itself under pressure again to rein in Toyota.

Now GM engine men have scheduled a major meeting within the next few days on the engine issue.

NASCAR executives have been pushing hard for several years to get Toyota to step up to Nextel Cup and Busch racing, for the value-added marketing and TV promotion that such a venture would provide NASCAR.

Source

As if NASCAR wasn't a big enough joke already, the good ol' boys are about to get pissed on by Camry's and Accord's. This is too friggin' cool.

I LOOOOOOOVE how the Big Three are bitching about Toyota's V8, which was designed and built in under a year because Toyota didn't have any push-rod V8s (you know, modenr cars use OHC motors). How long have those guys in Detroid been sitting on their V8s? This is the same poo as when the Japanese first released cars here in the US, instead of trying to innovate the Big Three whine and complain instead.

[reddsun1]

They're getting rare alright; even down under, from what I understand. The Aussies are apparently getting uneasy about so many Yanks taking their coupes, and the past couple years have seen a sharp rise in asking prices. Rolling shells are going for as much as 6-8K now. Who brought yours over? Terry at madmaxcars.com? Or perhaps Cameron at Aussiexport.com? So many people here in the states want BoB replicas, we may see a new movement start up, one to keep some coupes unaltered.

Here's a rare thing, an Australian Falcon XB coupe in the states! I was going to have it "Go Mad", dress it up like the black-on-black in Mad Max/Road Warrior. Sold it to a fellow afficianado in Texas who wanted a Mad Max Pursuit Special daily driver. Now I'm working up the parts list to build a Spinner from Bladerunner... But I've still got the Mad Max body parts kit so the possibility is still there.

335218[/snapback]

[reddsun1]

Hmm, that'll pretty much make Toyota the company with the most prolific factory racing programs of any of the major manufacturers, won't it? Let's see, they've got:

--IRL engine program

--Formula 1

--NASCAR [trucks, and soon Nextel Cup]

--FIA World Rally [do they still have an active 'works' team?]

--Sports Cars [at least, 'locally' w/the JGTC]

and I'm sure I've missed a bunch of other series. They've pretty much covered all the bases, haven't they? From open wheel to sedans, on road and off. And yet, they STILL manage to claim profit margins, while the other big mfrs all claim they're in danger of losing their shirts. They must be doing something right. I'm just not inspired by any of their new product, IMHO. I find them too sterile. The design direction seems to be "upright, tall and egg-like" if you had to sum up the overall "feel" of their vehicles...bleh

[areaseven]

--FIA World Rally [do they still have an active 'works' team?]

335532[/snapback]

Toyota no longer participates in WRC, especially after they were caught cheating back in 1995:

TOYOTA BANNED FROM WRC

Rally Sport December 1995

Toyota Team Europe has been banned from competition for the next 12 months, and the points already gained in the 1995 World Rally Championship have been taken away by the FIA.

"It's the most ingenious thing I have seen in 30 years of motorsport." admitted FIA President Max Mosley after an extraordinary meeting of the FIA's World Council convened following technical reports on Toyota from the Catalunya Rally.

The cause of complaint was that Toyota had fitted turbo restrictor?s which were modified in three ways:

The restrictor was not sealed so it was possible to move it without touching the seals.

It was possible for airto enter the engine without passing through the restrictor.

The position of the restrictor could be moved so it was further away from the turbine than the50 mm limit permitted.

It was discovered that these irregularities were made possible by a flange which had a special hidden bypass device which was held open against a very strong spring. The hose which connected the restrictor to the turbo had a metal casing inside, and attached to this casing were catches which could secretly force open the by-pass flange to the extent of 5 mm.

Max Mosley explained: "When the system was dismantled, the flange would automatically close itself and remove evidence that extra air could have entered engine. This system not only allowed extra air which did not pass through the restrictor to enter the engine, but also the restrictor itself could illegally be moved further from the turbo.

"The hose was fixed to the restrictor by a jubilee clip. A special tool was then applied to open the device and then the device then gripped in the open position by a second clip. Both of these clips had to be undone for a scrutineer to check the restrictor and in the process of opening those clips the device snapped shut.

"Inside it was beautifully made. The springs inside the hose had been polished and machined so not to impede the air which passed through. To force the springs open without the special tool would require substantial force. It is the most sophisticated and ingenious device either I or the FIA's technical experts have seen for a long-time. It was so well made that there was no gap apparent to suggest there was any means of opening it."

The FIA estimates that 25 per cent more air was allowed into the engine than permitted although admits it's difficult to estimate how much more power that would achieve. An expert put it as high as an extra 50 bhp?a considerable advantage when the cars are supposedly limited to 300 BHP.

TTE did not claim the device was legal but was represented by lawyers who entered a plea in mitigation. Mosley went on to say that the points Toyota and their drivers, Juha Kankkunen, Didier Auriol and Armin Schwarz had gained in 1995 would simply be taken away but others would not move up to fill the gaps.

The team would also be banned from contesting the 1995 Network Q RAC Rally and the 1996 World Rally Championship. He also stated that the FIA would not allow the team to get around the restrictions by entering under another guise and went on to say that there was however, nothing to suggest that the drivers were aware of anything going on.

According to Toyota the device had been devised at a "certain level" and the management knew nothing about it. The FIA dismissed this claim, saying that as a team they were responsible for all their actions.

He went on to say that there were indications that this type of thing was not happening with in other teams and praised those who were concerned with discovering the irregularity. TTE has announced that it is planning to appeal against the ban extending through 1996.

The absence of the team would weaken an already frail championship and leave it to a fight between Subaru, Mitsubishi and Ford with Subaru being the obvious favourites.

[yellowlightman]

Hmm, that'll pretty much make Toyota the company with the most prolific factory racing programs of any of the major manufacturers, won't it?  Let's see, they've got:

--IRL engine program

--Formula 1

--NASCAR [trucks, and soon Nextel Cup]

--FIA World Rally [do they still have an active 'works' team?]

--Sports Cars [at least, 'locally' w/the JGTC

and I'm sure I've missed a bunch of other series.  They've pretty much covered all the bases, haven't they?  From open wheel to sedans, on road and off.  And yet, they STILL manage to claim profit margins, while the other big mfrs all claim they're in danger of losing their shirts.  They must be doing something right.  I'm just not inspired by any of their new product, IMHO.  I find them too sterile.  The design direction seems to be "upright, tall and egg-like" if you had to sum up the overall "feel" of their vehicles...bleh 

335532[/snapback]

They also have professional drag race team, which races a Solara-bodied V8. Of course professional (or non-professional, for that matter) drag racing is about as exciting as watching paint dry while getting kicked in the balls.

I agree about their new products, they're not inspiring. I might buy a tC if I needed a new car for cheap, and I'd definately pickup a Tacoma before any other mid-size truck but that's about it. I love what they're doing with hybrids but I don't think I'd buy one.

Last I heard, every Japanese car company is profitable except for the abortion-in-progress that is Mitsubishi. It's really the American car companies that are having the most trouble.... wonder why?

[Mallet21]

It's really the American car companies that are having the most trouble.... wonder why? 

As a GM employee....the financial troubles are tied to pension payments and health insurance costs. GM is waaayy too nice to its employees. And when you call NASCAR a joke, I assume you are not referring to its profitablility?

[yellowlightman]

It's really the American car companies that are having the most trouble.... wonder why? 

As a GM employee....the financial troubles are tied to pension payments and health insurance costs. GM is waaayy too nice to its employees. And when you call NASCAR a joke, I assume you are not referring to its profitablility?

335592[/snapback]

I actually wasn't aware that GM treated their employees so well, that's pretty cool. As far as I'm concerned, the reason why the American automotive industry is in the shitter is because they make inferior cars. They survive on focused markets and devoted customers, not innovation or superior products.

Performance cars like the SRT-4, Z06, and GTO offer something the Japanese don't (anymore) and American is the only way to go for good towing vehicles but that's about it. If you were shopping for a mid-size sedan or economy car there's no reason to choose Ford or Chevy before Honda and Toyota. If American companies attempted to match the quality of import vehicles, they'd sell a lot more and wouldn't be in such financial trouble.

There's also the devoted customer aspect. I worked for about 6 months at a Chevy dealership, and the only people who purchased non-truck automobiles were old people who had grown up Chevy drivers their entire lives, because there's no other reason to buy most American vehicles.

As for NASCAR being a joke, I'm referring to the fact that it's the short bus equivalent of the racing world. The cars are poorly engineered, the drivers are under-skilled and it's considerably more boring than more legitimate forms of racing like WRC or F1.

[reddsun1]

It's really the American car companies that are having the most trouble.... wonder why? 

As a GM employee....the financial troubles are tied to pension payments and health insurance costs. GM is waaayy too nice to its employees. And when you call NASCAR a joke, I assume you are not referring to its profitablility?

335592[/snapback]

LOL, I've often jokingly said there's no way that Chevy/GM can justify their wanting 30K and more--for a galldang pickup truck; it all boils down to the fact that we're just paying to put some UAW worker's kids through medical school. But I'd wager it's more due to huge corporate salaries and benefits. And you can bet your arse these cats aren't getting their 6-figure-plus salaries docked when the companies sputter and underperform due to their general mismanagement. It's a disturbing trend that's coming more to light in this day and age: corporate managers who make obscene amounts of money, but when they don't perform, or are shown to be generally unqualified or downright incompetent, they stay on the payroll....WTF is that?

[trueblueeyes]

professional (or non-professional, for that matter) drag racing is about as exciting as watching paint dry while getting kicked in the balls.

I'm not a professional but I have spent a lot of money and time over the last few years drag racing, and because of the crowds it seems many do find it exciting.

So what O Great One qualifies as exciting racing to you? I may not care for NASCAR either, but I am getting sick of your..."If joo don't drive a Japanese car or truck, joo suck!" attitude.

[Gaijin]

professional (or non-professional, for that matter) drag racing is about as exciting as watching paint dry while getting kicked in the balls.

I'm not a professional but I have spent a lot of money and time over the last few years drag racing, and because of the crowds it seems many do find it exciting.

So what O Great One qualifies as exciting racing to you? I may not care for NASCAR either, but I am getting sick of your..."If joo don't drive a Japanese car or truck, joo suck!" attitude.

335625[/snapback]

My thoughts exactly.

Edited October 10, 2005 by Gaijin

[yellowlightman]

I'm not a professional but I have spent a lot of money and time over the last few years drag racing, and because of the crowds it seems many do find it exciting.

Hey, if you like it-- that's great. I find it boring as hell, going fast in a straight line for less than 20 seconds opposed to going fast and TURNING? No comparison.

So what O Great One qualifies as exciting racing to you?  I may not care for NASCAR either, but I am getting sick of your..."If joo don't drive a Japanese car or truck, joo suck!" attitude. 

335625[/snapback]

What qualifies exciting racing? Turning. Left AND right. My favorite cars are actually European, but the honest to God truth is that Japanese cars ARE BETTER. With the exception of diesel trucks, American automotive companies don't have any advantages over Japanese car companies.

[Agent ONE]

It's really the American car companies that are having the most trouble.... wonder why? 

As a GM employee....the financial troubles are tied to pension payments and health insurance costs. GM is waaayy too nice to its employees. And when you call NASCAR a joke, I assume you are not referring to its profitablility?

335592[/snapback]

I actually wasn't aware that GM treated their employees so well, that's pretty cool. As far as I'm concerned, the reason why the American automotive industry is in the shitter is because they make inferior cars. They survive on focused markets and devoted customers, not innovation or superior products.

Performance cars like the SRT-4, Z06, and GTO offer something the Japanese don't (anymore) and American is the only way to go for good towing vehicles but that's about it. If you were shopping for a mid-size sedan or economy car there's no reason to choose Ford or Chevy before Honda and Toyota. If American companies attempted to match the quality of import vehicles, they'd sell a lot more and wouldn't be in such financial trouble.

There's also the devoted customer aspect. I worked for about 6 months at a Chevy dealership, and the only people who purchased non-truck automobiles were old people who had grown up Chevy drivers their entire lives, because there's no other reason to buy most American vehicles.

As for NASCAR being a joke, I'm referring to the fact that it's the short bus equivalent of the racing world. The cars are poorly engineered, the drivers are under-skilled and it's considerably more boring than more legitimate forms of racing like WRC or F1.

335602[/snapback]

- GM is way too good to their employees, thats why they lose money on every car they sell.

DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Corp. lost an average of $1,227 per vehicle in the first half of this year in North America, while cross-town rival Ford Motor Co. lost $139, according to new research from Harbour Consulting.

"GM has two to three people sitting at home for every single person working today and that has a huge legacy cost impact on them," Laurie Felax, vice president of Harbour Consulting, told an automotive conference Monday. "It wipes away any profit that they have."

[Agent ONE]

...

What qualifies exciting racing? Turning. Left AND right. My favorite cars are actually European, but the honest to God truth is that Japanese cars ARE BETTER. With the exception of diesel trucks, American automotive companies don't have any advantages over Japanese car companies.

335631[/snapback]

I don't drive a Japanese car, so there is no emotion in this comment, but that IS true.

[reddsun1]

A few years ago, I became more "enlightened" to the design philosophies of Australian auto manufacturers, and I kinda like what I see. It's like they followed the same vein as US auto makers on certain key "performance" design elements--i.e., a penchant for V8s, front engine, RWD--and skewed off in a slightly different direction with it [or stayed the course, depending on how you look at it]. Ford and GM in Oz offer hot rodded versions of their most popular sedans, the Falcon and Commodore respectively. So instead of ponycars being the predominant vehicles with muscle, theirs are usually "tourers" or 4-doors. Taking the practicality of a family sedan and stuffing eye-peeling-stump-pulling hoss motors [usually V8] in em? Seems to be a winning formula for them. Compared to their US counterparts [Chev Impala? Ford Taurus?], these vehicles would bludgeon the sh-t out of them, performance wise. Instead of working harder to bring them over here, or design something comparable, US mfrs [most notably GM] just don't seem to get it. What did Chev do? They take an already nose-heavy uninspiring pig of a fleet car that is the Impala, and attempt to give it a "hi-po" image by stuffing even more weight out over the front wheels with the SS V8 [my parents have an Impala, and having driven it, I can say I hate the fu--er, even compared to my 10+ yr old Camry]. It's a band-aid fix for what amounts to gaping, bleeding wounds in the sales market. They [the Aussies] did give us a new kick-ass GTO, after all. Detractors can call its styling "bland," but whenever I've noticed one in traffic, it immediately stands out, catches the eye. And letting the crack-smoking monkeys at Pontiac tack on extra scoops and tacky panel lines sure as heck ain't the answer. I think they'll be highly collectible 20 years from now.

Drag racing not real racing? Well, it's not my cup of tea either, but I won't say it's all that bad. It can be somewhat captivating watching the pro-stockers and the top fuelers for a couple of rounds. But yeah, after a while, it gets a little bit bleh. Here's the best analogy/comparison of drag racing and road racing I can think of: If you could have a lusty, passionate encounter with [insert favorite movie starlet here], would you rather have it with her for 12 seconds, or 12 minutes?

Edited October 11, 2005 by reddsun1

[trueblueeyes]

If you could have a lusty, passionate encounter with [insert favorite movie starlet here], would you rather have it with her for 12 seconds, or 12 minutes?

In my case, neither.

Drag racing not real racing? Well, it's not my cup of tea either, but I won't say it's all that bad. It can be somewhat captivating watching the pro-stockers and the top fuelers for a couple of rounds.

I actually find professional drag racing boring more times than not. Give me a small tire, 1,000 + horsepower ,on the edge of control, tripping the 60 foot lights with the front tires still in the air, car on a sub 10 second pass on the 1320 any day.

Melissa

[reddsun1]

If you could have a lusty, passionate encounter with [insert favorite movie starlet here], would you rather have it with her for 12 seconds, or 12 minutes?

In my case, neither.

Drag racing not real racing? Well, it's not my cup of tea either, but I won't say it's all that bad. It can be somewhat captivating watching the pro-stockers and the top fuelers for a couple of rounds.

I actually find professional drag racing boring more times than not. Give me a small tire, 1,000 + horsepower ,on the edge of control, tripping the 60 foot lights with the front tires still in the air, car on a sub 10 second pass on the 1320 any day.

Melissa

335825[/snapback]

Oh, by all means; don't allow this to be limited to the males only. Feel free to substitute your own favorite Hollywood/sports/etc. leading man, girls. But LOL, this is for illustrative comparison, only; please don't consider literally. I realize at 12 seconds, 12 minutes--neither one would exactly be getting rave reviews from the ladies.

[Splash]

They're getting rare alright; even down under, from what I understand.  The Aussies are apparently getting uneasy about so many Yanks taking their coupes, and the past couple years have seen a sharp rise in asking prices.  Rolling shells are going for as much as 6-8K now.  Who brought yours over?  Terry at madmaxcars.com?  Or perhaps Cameron at Aussiexport.com?  So many people here in the states want BoB replicas, we may see a new movement start up, one to keep some coupes unaltered. 

Terry at www.MadMaxCars.com, I bought it in transit. They're looking for a few more to import right now I read, what with all the noises recently about a 4th Mad Max movie franchise they probably felt they couldn't afford to wait any longer. Let's see what they come up with and how much they cost.

I agree that more coupes should stay coupe-ish. If I get another coupe I'd most likely add some Bathurst bodywork and a Cobra paintjob; Rod at www.madmaxparts.com has an amazing collection of racing bodywork he brought back to Indiana a few years ago. He also reported that coupes were routinely sent to the crusher up until 4-5 years ago without a second thought. That changed when Americans started buying them (they reached the 25-year EPA exclusionary limit). Some eagerly sold them as relics of a by-gone day, others started bemoaning their exportation (as opposed to their scrapping?). Well, that's market economics.

[reddsun1]

Well, let's get back to the meat and potatoes of this thread: eye candy!

[reddsun1]

They're getting rare alright; even down under, from what I understand.  The Aussies are apparently getting uneasy about so many Yanks taking their coupes, and the past couple years have seen a sharp rise in asking prices.  Rolling shells are going for as much as 6-8K now.  Who brought yours over?  Terry at madmaxcars.com?  Or perhaps Cameron at Aussiexport.com?  So many people here in the states want BoB replicas, we may see a new movement start up, one to keep some coupes unaltered. 

Terry at www.MadMaxCars.com, I bought it in transit. They're looking for a few more to import right now I read, what with all the noises recently about a 4th Mad Max movie franchise they probably felt they couldn't afford to wait any longer. Let's see what they come up with and how much they cost.

I agree that more coupes should stay coupe-ish. If I get another coupe I'd most likely add some Bathurst bodywork and a Cobra paintjob; Rod at www.madmaxparts.com has an amazing collection of racing bodywork he brought back to Indiana a few years ago. He also reported that coupes were routinely sent to the crusher up until 4-5 years ago without a second thought. That changed when Americans started buying them (they reached the 25-year EPA exclusionary limit). Some eagerly sold them as relics of a by-gone day, others started bemoaning their exportation (as opposed to their scrapping?). Well, that's market economics.

335866[/snapback]

I need to check the member pages at the yahoo group more often; I should have recognized the Tennessee Falcon. I'm glad I got mine before the exchange rates went all to hell. Alas, any chance of getting my hands on another are slim to none though. I guess Rod will have the distinction of being the first Yank to take a Coupe vintage racing here in the states. I love what he did with the Brut 33, and I can't wait to see his Cobra replica.

Edited October 12, 2005 by reddsun1

[reddsun1]

And, more eye candy...still arguably the most beautiful and sexiest Lambo [and one of my favorites of the supercars], the Miura. Rumor has it that fans of retro designs may have even more reason to rejoice. Sketches of a "Miura" concept, based on the Audi LM GT platform have been spotted, and it looks pretty dang good...hopefully postable pics will surface soon...

[reddsun1]

And, some more eye candy. Sorry if some of these have already been posted. But some of the truly beautiful ones bear repeating....

[reddsun1]

Hoowah! Adrenaline on wheels! Gotta love 'em.

[reddsun1]

Okay, last one, I promise.

[Agent ONE]

What is that last blue one, it looks stupid. I love when I see a front engine car with rear air intakes, it takes a hardcore dildo to do that.

[yellowlightman]

What is that last blue one, it looks stupid.  I love when I see a front engine car with rear air intakes, it takes a hardcore dildo to do that.

336065[/snapback]

It's a twin turbo Supra with a hideous body kit on it. Amazing car... but the current owner seems to have pretty poor taste.