Joe Handley

Wow, old article, things change. So is gas and oil, much more heavily at that.

They're only on 13's?! Even NA$CAR rolls on 16's now!

And that's exactly why my 200 usually runs on 95% corn!

Now that just looks wicked!

'48-'53 Chevy 5 window pickup in the McDonalds driveup!

If we get enough brutes like what Tesla has been pumping out, especially with it being all aluminum, it could a problem. I will say this though, my 17 year old Cherokee with 190hp still costs me nearly as much to insure as my 3 year old 200 with 283hp with all the same coverages and such, yet I just don't see why it should.

I think those are for display purpose, the one near me in Oakbrook had one on display for a couple years before the car was available.

Are we talking tall or wide?

As there are more charging stations built, that will change, although I'm still waiting to see that on E85..........

I've read that originally the EV-1 was supposed to be a turbine-electric hybrid, but to work California's EV mandate, GM adapted it to run on only Lead, then later Nickle Metal Hydride batteries. Kinda makes me wonder what they could have been with the original turbine-electric running gear and/or if the Lithium batteries we now have had been around then.

I still prefer the Burton Movie Batmobile and the Tumbler, kinda with the Barris car was restored to it's Lincoln Concept Car appearance.

This

That's where cars like the Volt come in handy, as they carry their own back up generator and all. Although, even a set up like Toyota's and the truck system GM cooked up would work well to provide a boost of torque for getting up and over stuff.

A Cobra kit car, a Ford Econoline cabover pickup, and enough idiots to cover the next months worth of driving.

I'm still waiting for some road going idiot to do that as is!

The electric think might take time with adults, look at your LHS that sells R/C and count the number of electric vehicles vs nitro. Most of what we sell now that brushless and electric are coming of age is electric. Take a vehicle like the Traxxas Revo with a 3.3cc (.203ci) 2 stroke and 2 speed auto and it might hit 50 on a good day, requires constant tweeking and tuning, a while requiring fuel that can cost as much as $30 a gallon. Then look at the E-Revo with the factory installed Castle Mamba Monster Maxx ESC/2200kV motor, throw in a couple 3 cell lipo batteries and you'll have a truck that will exceed 65mph.......so long as the tires don't explode first! One place the instant torque would come in handy is on trucks that will actually go off road, I would hope to see Land Rover or Jeep pull it off, and wouldn't be surprised if Rover could, although Jeep does have a problem with loyal but closed minded customers, to point that the guy currently in charge of Jeep has said that if they go too radical on the next Wrangler, he might need armed security! Comsidering the receptions the XJ, YJ, KJ/KK, and now the new Cherokee and Renegade have all recieved, there's no doubt in mind that he might be right!

Thank you!

Don't know why, but that poor Prius reminds me of this poor thing.

I believe he owns this one too.

It's real.

It's not more difficult, it's lack of imagination and wanting to try it, or in my case, lack of funds to try it with. I see cars with stick on plastic chrome all the time, as with stupid looking, oversized wheels that do little to make the car safer. Plastic can still be altered, as can metal, so long as the mandated safety devices are still there, and you live in a state where you can get away with modding your car, you can still customize a car, You just don't need to do as much to make them look better. Cars no longer have 500-1000lbs of excess chrome on them that distract from the lines of the car that need to be removed, no longer have ungainly high rooflines that need to be cut down, same for body thickness. Taking existing styling cues and pushing them to the limits or beyond can have the same lunch returning reaction now that they had then too. If you want a 2 tone, it's still possible to get one done on your own, but it's likely not worth it for companies to put the effort into it if you only sell 5,000 2 tones a year vs 150,000 cars of a single color that would have the same retail costs as that 2 tone would.

boy, aint that the truth. i think you hit the nail on the head right there.

To me, this has a couple good examples of what not to do. First the flames look aweful, not that they're poorly applied, but the way they're layed out around the front of the car just looks bad. Then there is the hubcaps, just the "Baby Moons" would have been fine, but those bullets added to it are pointlessly over the top. Now the one that can't easily be fixed........too much chop, the windshield is no taller than the spot lights are round with barely the room to stick an arm out the window, then having the top that low is out of proportion with the rest of the body, which is stock height from coel to rocker panels.

Most of what you outlined can still be done with a unibody, with the exception of channeing. Problem with chopping most new cars is that it would ruin the lines of the vehicles even worse than it would hurt the structural rigidity at the same time, same with sectioning and "body dropping". In my eyes, most modern cars don't need those three big mods since they are already low. All you might "need" to do is just lower the car via spring or air, modify wheen openings as needed, shave as needed, then add trick paint and wheels that actually fit the looks of the car, even if they're stock size or just OEM for a diffrent trim level on the same car. A lot of what I have seen from the truck scene is in bad taste, especially when talking about gaudy paint, comically huge rims and short tires, cutting off the bottom edges of the cabs and even doors to get it lower, ect. Not really any better than somebody who takes a post war Merc and chops it to the point that roof has more square footahe than a small SUV's roof and mail slot windows that you couldn't pay a road toll through.