Skid Plate racing rules are straightforward. Any 1980 or newer four or six-banger front wheel drive car with a 90-inch or longer wheelbase is OK. No secret reinforcements or buttressing allowed. No added weight. Hitting the buffet a few times to add weight to the driver before the race is OK. A Skid Plate Race car must be stock at its core. If you are going to run a V6, two of … [Read more...]
Merkur XR4Ti: The Inside Story
Ford of Europe, from about 1975 on, was considered a training ground for Ford Motor Company’s highest-potential executives, engineers and designers. Succeed over there, in that cauldron of competition against Fiat, VW, Renault, Peugeot-Citroen and GM, and you MUST be smart! Or willing to work 20 hours a day, and seven days a week. That was the thinking. Over the long haul, … [Read more...]
Mickey Thompson: First American to 400 MPH
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...]
The Great Indoors
Can we get a loud amen, please, for the indoor car show? A couple of weekends ago, we got up very early on a Saturday morning, shot through the morning ritual, and headed our trusty ride from the suburbs down to the beating heart of Detroit to attend the 58th annual Detroit Autorama at Cobo Center, one of the oldest, largest and most widely respected indoor hot rod and custom … [Read more...]
Full Race Jalopy
The American Heritage Dictionary defines jalopy as a word used to describe an old, dilapidated motor vehicle - especially an automobile. The origin of the word itself is hazy. The Ultimate Hot Rod Dictionary goes further, suggesting the word may have come into being as a result of many dilapidated automobiles sent to the Mexican city of Jalapa. The second definition of the word … [Read more...]