Hot Rod Magazine has a new hack project: Corvette Hack!
Not going to be buying it for a few years but I got the idea today to buy something small and sporty after college. Rather than going and buying a $40,000 BMW I thought I could track down a three grand or less Triumph, Sunbeam, Jensen, MG, Austin-Healey, Lotus, TVR, or the like. Might even consider something from Italy like an 80s Graduate. My plan would be to add an American four cylinder (maybe a sported up Focus 2.0 liter or the super-charge 2.4 Ecotech from an old Cobalt SS) and the new transmission, drive shaft, and rear end. Also upgrade the electrics and suspension. Basically, use the wonderful style of the small European sports cars from years past with sound modern technology.
Also the reasearch has allowed me to drool over beautiful old English cars.
Pretty? Yes?
I thought you might agree. That is not a bit of sacrilege up there…that is a brand new F1 inspired bit of amazing modern engineering. It just looks beautiful, classic, and wonderfully English.
Rizk Auto offers one of a kind cars to very, very, very rich customers. They use the materials from F1 car chassis and craft the body to look like the old Aston Martin race car. The interior can be made of almost anything so that is Your car. From their website (www.rizkauto.com) “We can match the finish of the stainless steel dashboard to your favorite time piece”, yes people you can match your car to your watch. The customization continues under the hood. Rizk says they will fit any engine from the standard 4.2 liter Jaguar straight-six on up to any V8 or V12 option. Any. Engine. I am officially in love and have found my dream car. Now comes the list of technicals that make the car…quite amazing.
Chassis:
Body:
Suspension:
Steering and Braking:
This was the most advanced car of it’s time.
It was designed and built by Preston Tucker in Chicago as a safety car offering such innovations as: disc brakes, four wheel independent suspension, fuel injection, the middle headlight responded to turns and would lead the car. Power came from an aluminum flat six helicopter engine mounted at the rear. The car produced 166 hp. There was a perimeter frame surrounding the vehicle and a roll bar integrated into the roof. The windshield would pop out in an accident to protect the occupants. During one of the test of the Tucker 48 the lead engineer crashed the car on the racetrack at 92 mph and rolled three times. The engineer was not injured. As for the car, it needed to be cranked back up before it could be driven back to the garage. The engine proved just as reliable and safe after being tested for 150 hours at full throttle. That meant the engine could handle 18,000 miles at full revs without issue.
Sadly only 51 of these cars were ever produced before the company was shut down. Because Preston Tucker needed more capital to keep the company afloat he started the Tucker Accessories Program to sell Tucker items to prospective customers. This secured anyone who bought anything in this program a spot on the Tucker waiting list. As the war had just recently ended car makers were still trying to catch up to the demand for automobiles so people were put on waiting lists. Returning veterans were given priority on these lists, so the Tucker program stood out. This spurred an SEC investigation and the indictment of company executives. The bad press ultimately took down the company even though all charges were dropped. There is mass speculation that the investigations would not have happened had it not been for the urging of the Big Three auto makers who were afraid of this revolutionary car.
Old Merc E-Class Wagon goes drifting.
Oh…and it is a diesel.
You know considering my most recent posts are Mercedes related one might begin to think I am developing a thing for them…this means it is time for some good ol’ American iron.
New more aggressive styling. 71 LED headlights. This car has not been fully released yet. That happens at the Paris Autoshow where we will likely find out the full list of engine options and suspenion bits. I am hoping they skip all that and go ahead and announce the AMG version which I would imagine would carry the 5.5 Liter twin-turbo V8 from the CL63 AMG. Given this is a newer model and how the folks at AMG love the chance to add more power I would imagine…650 bhp and 700 lb/ft of torque? Maybe? No matter, this is just about the most beautiful and stunning car I have seen in a while.
