Getting the stance right in a custom vehicle can either make it or break it from a visual perspective. Set it too high and it looks like a 4×4, set it too low and you’re dragging oil pans. Diedelson’s Customs in Holland has opted for the latter on their 1951 Chevy Truck and in doing so has created a vehicle that looks like it came out of some B-rated horror flick. It’s old and rusty, but thanks to a front airbag suspension it actually runs pretty good when pushed hard. Is it for everyone? Well no. However if you’re diggin’ on the rusty ole’ airbag look, then this slammed old Chevy may just be the one for you.

Source: Chromjuwlen.com

There are good ideas and then there are bad ideas. For example; eating your vegetables, going to the dentist and paying taxes are good ideas. Towing a trailer behind a diesel pickup truck at 140 mph, well, not so much. That however didn’t stop Diesel Power’s Associate Editor Jason Sands from heading out to the El Mirage Dry Lake Bed to try it though.

Click through and check it out.

Source: Youtube.com

By now we’ve all seen the Jetman hooning through the skies whilst attached to his jet powered flying wing. The thing is completely insane and honestly makes me wonder why there aren’t more lunatics flying around up there. Whatever the case though, what the Jetman has accomplished with his wing is amazing. It just makes me wonder how long it will take before the military invents one with room for a couple of sidewinder missiles.

Source: Vimeo.com

If you go drag racing at a NHRA sanctioned track, you’ll have the benefit of gravel traps, catch nets and even water barrels to stop you if something goes wrong. The problem with driving at a busy drag strip is that it’s nothing like street racing; there’s plenty of rubber (and traction compound) laid down on the drag strip asphalt, ensuring that you’ll get a good launch. While some see this as a plus, others see it as taking the challenge out of launching your car.

Enter King of the Concrete, a reverse drag race that more closely simulates street racing. Instead of launching from the christmas tree end of the track, racers launch from the shut-down end. That sounds cool until you consider the implications: a mechanical failure or driver error means you could hit the center guard rail head on, or run full-tilt into whatever is at the top of the track (usually the timing and scoring building). In other words, if something goes wrong, it isn’t going to end well.

I won’t spoil the video below, other than saying that Opel driver Troy Scott has got some mad skills (and some incredibly good luck behind the wheel). The video is NSFW due to language, but only after the run. You’ll understand why after seeing Scott’s run for yourself.

Source: Bangshift

If you were a kid in the 1970′s then you no doubt remember the “Green Machine” by Marx Toys. It was the “Ying” to the Big Wheels “Yang”, and truth be told, it was the cooler of the two. The Green Machine was just flat-out bitchin’ back in the day as it employed back wheel steering that was actuated by two pull levers. Those who road the Green Machine were the shizznit and are all believed to have gone on to accomplish great things in life. Two such Green Machine owners are the guys from Parker Brothers Choppers in Melbourne, FL. These guys like the green beastie so much that they decided to build their own life size version complete with a 45-inch front wheel, rear-wheel steering and an 80-cubic inch Harley-Davidson engine. According to the guys at Parker Brothers,

“We had a Green Machine lying around the shop and we figured it would be a cool idea,” said Parker Brothers’ Jeff Halverson, who did 50 mph on this beast. “It rides crazy and is fast as hell. If it wasn’t for the rear tires we could have had it DOT approved.”

A ride like this surely isn’t for everyone, but if I worked for those guys I’d have insisted that it be made street legal. Aside from causing a few accidents here and there from astonished onlookers, I can almost guarantee that this new Green Machine would be hottest thing on the streets.

Source: Wired.com

Yugo Girl!

Today is Malcolm Bricklin’s 72^nd birthday, and to celebrate this jubilant occasion, I am presenting my review of a book written about perhaps the most reviled of his infamous business exploits: the Yugo.

I recently had the pleasure of reading Jason Vuic’s “The Yugo: The Rise and Fall of the Worst Car in History.” And just so you know, I thought it was a total hoot. It’s been ages since I last found myself transfixed by a book, owing in no small part to the clever prose of Mr. Vuic and his obvious enthusiasm for the Yugo and its hilarious cast of supporting characters

The tale is peppered with anecdotes that will make you cackle gleefully in public and get the side-eye from old ladies on the train. It will inspire you to torture your coworkers with a relentless barrage of Yugo jokes. Your resulting revelry in everything Yugo will have phones hanging up on you, doors closed in your face. But, oh yes, it’s worth it.

Vuic begins by telling a tale of the brave pioneers who first brought the Yugo state-side. The first person to show an interest was a Californian who had originally sold used Fiats in his home country of Czechoslovakia, where it was illegal to run a business selling used cars, and people could only privately sell their cars once their cars hit 5,000 kilometers. So he only bought and sold the same color and model Fiat so as not to arouse suspicions. He purchased the red Fiat 600s new, then drove around like mad, competing in road rallies in his efforts to reach the requisite distance – no small feat as the country only had 10,000 kilometers of paved roads. After he moved to California, he succeeded in importing the Yugo 45; then Malcolm Bricklin purchased from him the California distribution rights to the marque, acquired the rights for the other forty-nine states, and founded Yugo America.

Now, I knew of Bricklin before reading the book. I knew that he was the first person to import a Subaru to the United States, and in his varied career built a strange, gull-winged, fiberglass car called a Bricklin SV-1. And to my delight (and to yours, I guarantee it), the book goes into Bricklin’s entrepreneurial endeavors in great detail, which truly made for entertaining reading. It paints Bricklin as the quintessential dreamer – someone with wild business ideas a logical person would chortle at (for example, Vuic claims that the Bricklin SV-1 cost $50,000 to produce, but sold for $7,500 new). A man in whom reason was entirely absent. A man who was well acquainted with lawsuits and bankruptcy, but who also made millions and had (and perhaps still has) an extravagant and generous life. The book reserves several choice anecdotes for Bricklin and his love of excess. For instance, when he founded Subaru of America, the headquarters in New Jersey had a helipad (he loved helicopters), a collection of bonzai trees, a waterfall, and his desk was a James Bond-inspired contraption with monitors and secret cameras, while his second in command had a desk covered in fur.  Bricklin also was portrayed as having a fondness for cowboy boots and turquoise jewelry, which I find somewhat disturbing for a fellow Philadelphian.

Bricklin SV-1

Vuic also describes the bleak process of Yugoslavian car-buying in the 1960s.  A buyer could only choose one of two cars – the Fiat 1300/1500 or the Fiat 750.  Buyers had no ability to choose the car’s color or its features.  They had to purchase whatever was allotted to them several months after ordering.  Other stories involve the workers at the Zastava manufacturing plant in Yugoslavia (now Serbia) who tossed back sljivovica brandy (truly vicious stuff) at breakfast, lunch and during work, which probably explained why brand new Yugos came out of the factory with rust.

Indeed, the best tales are reserved for the car itself, but I don’t want to give too much away as the book offers a plethora of amusing, and consistently surprising, stories of its tortured existence. I grew up in the eighties and was just old enough then to remember the almost universal contempt for the car; however, I was too young to recall Vuic’s description of Yugo’s initial, seemingly unbelievable appeal when Yugo-mania seized the United States and lines actually formed at dealerships to purchase the car.  At one point, Chrysler even offered to buy the company.  The Yugo actually became the “fastest-selling first-year European import in US history.” Quite impressive for a car that was sold brand new in the US but was essentially a fifteen year old Fiat 127.

However, as expected, the book inevitably describes (in thorough detail) the precipitous decline in sales and eventual winding down of the company in the United States. An abysmal review in Consumer Reports triggered the downfall, and a fatality that occurred when a Yugo GV was blown off the Mackinac Bridge in Michigan destroyed what little reputation the company had remaining.  The breakup of Yugoslavia and the resulting dearth of Yugo parts drove the company further into disrepair.  The coup de grace was a NATO bomb that was dropped through the roof of the Zastava plant.

Although we all know what became of Yugo in the United States, I guarantee that you will find yourself quite surprised by the story behind the car and absolutely astounded that anyone with any sense would want to bring it here.   At the 50th time I told her a Yugo joke, one of my friends whined, “Why write a book about the Yugo?”  Well, to be honest, I don’t think many of us know much about the car -  I personally don’t know anyone with a Yugo or anyone who has ever admitted to owning one (any former Yugo owners among you?) – but there’s a hilarious, absolutely bonkers story behind its arrival in the states that deserves to be heard.  Vuic is an effective, skillful writer who does a terrific job conveying the Yugo’s story in a way both car enthusiasts and history buffs will enjoy.   If you’re looking for a page-turner, pick this one up and laugh loudly – you won’t be disappointed.  At the very least, this book will inspire in you a new found appreciation for any car you drive.

What do you call a Yugo with brakes?  Customized.

Got any good Yugo jokes?  Post ‘em here!

As YouTube user Jiraya09 demonstrates, winter is no excuse to put the bike in hibernation until spring. In fact, it seems like a very good excuse to hunt down a supermotard bike like his KTM 690 SMC, which can clearly be used as year-round transportation if you mount the right tires and check your sanity at the door. For the record, Jlraya09 was riding on sport rubber, not knobbies, and that definitely requires a healthy blend of skill and madness.

Need further justification to hunt down a supermotard bike on Craigslist? Here he taking a quick run up France’s Col de Steige on the Katoom, in nicer weather, on worn tires. Damn I miss twisty roads…

Source: Two Wheels Blog

I’ve tried a lot of different things to go fast on snow, but being pulled by a jet fighter plane isn’t one of them. I’m not sure it’s as fast as being pulled by a snowmobile, since no pilot in his right mind wants to firewall the throttles while taxiing on snow and ice. Airplanes aren’t all that maneuverable on the ground, and airplane tires aren’t exactly mud and snow rated. Besides, I seriously doubt the guys on sleds would appreciate it if he lit up the afterburner (although it would keep them warm).

I love the warning of “Don’t try this at home”, since I was just about to start combing the internet for jet fighter rentals. We don’t have snow and ice down here in Florida, so the closest I could come is being pulled down the beach by a jet fighter. If I can find a pilot crazy enough to give it a go, I’m up for riding the sled. Just give me a Nomex suit and a longer tow line.

Source: Neatorama

By creating the new sport of Yacht Surfing, Frank was convinced that he was now on the correct path to fame and fortune.

Source: ThatWillBuffOut.com

There are some jobs in this world that I simply have no desire to try out. Heart surgeon is one, and the other is a big crane operator. It seems that every time I see one of these things they’re either falling down, toppling over, or inflicting damage on some sort of expensive structure. Now I know that we need these things, but lets face it, this has to be one of the most dangerous jobs out there. This particular incident took place in Auckland, New Zealand and occurred when this 200 tonne crane attempted to lift a new piece of bridge structure into place. Apparently the crane was placed on a platform that was specifically designed to handle its immense weight, but rains from the previous evening apparently weakened the underlying embankment thus causing it to give way. Watching the ground let loose under the cranes immense weight is pretty scary, especially when you consider that there is an operator strapped inside.

Source: Youtube.com