Some of the more interesting cars at any car show are often tucked away in the parking lot. This late sixties early seventies vintage Opel Kadett was spied by our man in the field Dave Wallace at the Kulture Shock car show in Lake County, California. The show was open only to traditional pre-64 hot rods and customs, which evidently relegated this Kadett to the spectator grass. Keen eyes will notice a side exit exhaust on both sides, a hood full of louvers, and a strategically placed naca-style hood scoop. All this together with the V8 emblem on the rear lid are good clues that this Kadett is probably packing a few more cylinders than stock. Possibly four more. Compact rear-drive sub-2000 pound coupes and hatchbacks with more horsepower than people should be allowed to have is exactly what we’re working towards around here. Project? 1967-72 Opel Kadett B plus Ecotec turbo engine and six-speed manual transmission from a Pontiac Solstice FTW!
More: Dave Wallace’s Hot Rod Nostalgia
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When it comes time to dismantle suspensions or any other monkey wrenching agenda where the wheels come off the car, a sturdy
From the environmental protection and creative reuse division of Clunkbucket comes this installment of Tool of the Week. While not at all glamourous, the drip tray and oil change pan are supremely useful – and can in fact help save the planet. Collecting used oil in a container that won’t puke all over the trunk makes it easy to recycle used engine oil. Picking up another drain pan and dedicating it for engine coolant means pouring the poison green stuff right back into the radiator after replacing a stuck thermostat or cracked heater hose. A drip tray is bonus protection against toxic spills or ruined concrete. Bringing used oil back to an official collection and recycling station means knowing it will get cleaned up and put to good use. The titans of global industry will tranform old crud into new Chuck Taylors, Yuri Gagarin Junior Politburo bureaucrat paperweights, or another quality plastic oil change pan!
Changing the oil and filter on a regular basis is the single best way to keep an engine running as long and best as possible. A thin film of oil molecules is the only thing that keeps gnashing engine internals from turning into an expensive heap of scrap metal by way of friction and heat. Another function of engine oil is to keep those same engine parts clean. Dropping out the oil and swapping in a new oil filter takes but about an hour, and can mark the beginning of a do-it-yourself tradition of maintaining your engine and wrenching on your ride.
The genuine possibility of more rear-drive muscle returning to the race tracks of America is certainly welcome, but without AMC Javelins slipping through the apexes, things just won’t ever be completely right again. Mark Donohue forever etched the red, white, and blue into American Motors when he took the Trans-Am series in 1971 and 1972 behind the wheel Roger Penske-prepared AMC Javelins. The good news is all is not lost. Thanks to the tireless efforts of the Historic Trans-Am Group, the legend of American Motors Corporation Trans-Am history lives on not static in a museum, but moving around the race track – complete with high octane gasoline, side exit exhaust, and an overabundance of chin and deck spoilers. Getting up close to these beasts in action is immensely entertaining, and makes it easy to gain respect for the driving and engineering skills required to muscle one of these long nose monsters out in front at the finish.
Eating while driving is just not right, and can be dangerous. Getting out of the car to sit down and enjoy a meal can often be the best part of the drive. Any trip near to or south of the Mason-Dixon line must include taking some time to sit down and enjoy a delicious experience at one of the numerous Waffle House dining establishments. Since 1955, the Waffle House has been open 24 hours a day and 365 days a year. As the world’s leading server of hashbrowns, t-bone steaks, and grits, the tasty waffle is only the beginning of an impressive lineup of famous foods served under blocky yellow letters by a friendly staff. Certain parts the Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways feature Waffle Houses on both sides of the road on the same exit, making the decision to dine at Waffle House easy one regardless of which direction you’re going. Saving fuel otherwise wasted driving clear across to the other side of the road is another bonus. Walk in to get some breakfast, lunch, or dinner, and you’ll feel like you never left.
It’s not often one sees a Renault Dauphine in the wild. Seeing one on top of an Atlas looking figure wearing a W on his belt buckle in Bowling Green, Kentucky is something, that up until recently, was on the very high order of improbable. Even though we didn’t hit the winning numbers on the Kentucky Powerball, we did see this Renault Dauphine atop of what we can only assume is a reasonable likeness of Walt himself of Walt’s Allstates Transmission Service. According to current shop proprietor Carlos, the likeness is in fact supposed to be Walt, who is retired and living in Texas. Is Walt strong enough to hoist a Dauphine over his head? “At one time, he was pretty strong”, said Carlos. No one seems to know where the Renualt came from or how it ended up on top of the sign – which was built in the early seventies. No matter. What better resting place then a roadside sign for an automobile that Tom and Ray from Car Talk said “was 
The glamour of the road recently brought Clunkbucket to Bowling Green, Kentucky for the NHRA Hot Rod Reunion at Beech Bend Raceway Park. A slow walk around the swap meet netted a deal on a ultra rare Tiger in the near 100 percent humidity. According to legend, Tiger mufflers occasionally appeared from a parked semi trailer somewhere near Celina, Ohio. Every once in a while the trailer would be liberated of a few mufflers, which in turn ended up bolted onto to local exhausts. The seller said it was one of only three of the Tigers he had ever seen, but since he had since found a nicer example, he made us an offer that we couldn’t refuse. “If you take that with you right now, you can have it”. Deal!
From the bungee cord suspension modification division of the Morris Garages department comes this 1934 MG Magnette, owned and driven by Michael Jacobsen. The car originally came to American shores with a serviceman on his way back from World War II. The bungeee cord front suspension upgrade had already been completed. Michael’s Dad Lars raced, wrecked, and rebuilt the car with the custom body and coach work it still wears. Michael races the car on the vintage circuit, and had run the Special around the bends at the Wine Country Classic at Infineon Raceway prior to heading to downtown Sonoma for the big car show.
The drivers and associated crew of this Toyota Corolla had no idea what model year it was originally. Reading the number of dents and layers of paint like tree rings might set the car’s age at hundreds of years old, but they estimated a more realistic late-seventies vintage. These guys bought and brought their Corolla to race after hearing the Friday night mayhem from work next to the Petaluma Speedway. Rather than fight, they figured why not go racing? When co-workers Darian Valestrini, Sam McCloud, and Jason Weaver spotted this former mini-stock Corolla on a local lawn with a for sale sign on it, they knew they had found their race car.
