Mickey Thompson is a legend in American motorsport and hot rodding. The NHRA Wally Parks Motorsports Museum is currently exhibiting a collection of Thompson's lifelong achievement through photographs, memorabilia, and the very machines that broke the records. To get an idea of who Mickey Thompson the man was, consider that while holding down a full-time job as a Pressman at the … [Read more...]
A Brasilia in California
Even though almost a million units were produced over its nine year production run, the Volkswagen Brasilia is high on the list of cars one is unlikely to see rolling along the roads of North America. This 1975 Brasilia was driven up from Mexico by a man known to us only as Luis. The Brasilia was slammed after he got it back to the USA. The suspension was left stock for the … [Read more...]
Tool of the Week: Vacuum Gauge
From the atmospheric pressure and faulty carburetor adjustment division of Tool of the Week comes the large dial vacuum gauge. As the Starlet was going through its bi-annual carburetor meltdown, the time was right to bust out the vacuum gauge to see what was going on. Spark was there for sure. There was plenty of air. That left fuel and fuel delivery as suspects. This … [Read more...]
Auto Soccer Assault at Irwindale
Start with a bunch of demolition derby-spec cars and station wagons. Add a 400-pound steel ball that was at one time a propane tank. Combine the two with the world's most popular sport and you have Auto Soccer at Irwindale Speedway. Robert Rice hatched the idea to meld the previously disparate worlds of Demolition Derby and Soccer together about three years ago. "We used to … [Read more...]
Surf Punk Toyota Hilux Truck
One of the great mysteries of modern motoring is why anyone would need a pickup truck the size of an Iowa or Yamato class battleship to carry around a circular saw and 20-foot extension cord. Marketing powers tell us that we desire a truck so heavy-duty that a guy with a bucket loader can drop boulders into the bed with such force that the pickup truck will bounce off the … [Read more...]