Hot Rods are pretty cool, but the one in this video sure is hot.
Watch ”Wild Thang” at the National Hot Rod Racing Association spit up flames during the 2012 the organization’s Winter Nationals.
Heed our warning, if you stare to long, the video starts to have hypnotic effects. Especially if you’re a gear head.
Check out the full video below.
Mercedes-Benz drag cars are pretty rare. But how about a Mercedes-Benz minivan drag car?
Down in Australia, one enthusiast was determined to go big, go bold and be different, and to do so he got his hands on a Vito van and turn it into a complete drag car.
From there, it was gutted and changed into a full tube chassis race car packing plenty of carbon fiber body components and a 632-cubic inch big block Chevy powerplant. Combine that with a full drag setup suspension and wheelie bars, and you know this thing means business.
While most everyone would probably be pointing and laughing at this absurdity making its way to the Christmas tree, the ensuing massive burnout hints that this naturally aspirated (for now) Vito has more than meets the eye.
It’s already done some impressive 9-second passes and it could be entering the 8-second territory once the nitrous gets hooked up.
Check out a video of the Vito tearing up the drag strip below:
Chevy gave everyone a pleasant surprise at the 2011 SEMA Show, unveiling a new-generation Camaro COPO Concept, ready to take on the NHRA Eliminator drag racing class. The engineers involved with the COPO Concept project took their new baby out to Bradenton Motorsports Park out near Tampa, Florida for some test runs and it’s looking very promising.
Unfortunately no actual times were mentioned in the video as the Camaro did some shakedown runs down the quarter mile. But the behind the scenes look throughout the video shows off what the team is working on as they’ll surely make the Camaro a competitive 9-second drag car. It’s worth mentioning that the team is testing multiple different engine setups in order to find what’s best.
Check out the video of the Camaro COPO Concept after the break.
Up on eBay is an extremely rare 1969 Ford Mustang Boss 429, packing just 2,219-miles on the odometer with a starting bid of $185,000. The ’69 Boss 429 is one of just 858 made during a two-year production run.
Powered by a 429-cubic inch NASCAR motor with 375-hp, this Boss 429 Mustang was made into a 1/4-mile drag car and primarily ran races along the the east coast and was a 10.50-second car with a top speed of 118-mph on the quarter mile. The motor was recently rebuilt and everything on the car is 100-percent matching. And despite Ford rating the motor at 375-hp, it was widely believed it produced a lot closer to 500-hp.
Even more remarkable is the fact that this particular car was once featured in a drag racing magazine back in 1970 – some of us weren’t even born yet.
Now this is a 10-second car worth owning, Dom.
[Source: eBay]
Ford officially announced its 2013 Mustang Cobra Jet at the 2011 Performance Racing Industry (PRI) show in Orlando, Florida, ready to roll into NHRA’s Stock and Super Stock classes and start dominating. The 2013 Cobra Jet will be limited to just 50 units and orders can be placed at a local Ford dealer where it’ll be first come, first serve.
Production of the Cobra Jets won’t begin until June of 2012 and Ford anticipates to start delivering vehicles by mid-summer of that year. It has an approximate MSRP of $86,000 with the naturally aspirated option while the supercharged variant will run $93,000. Additional options and pricing won’t be announced until the beginning of next year in January.
But what we do know about the race car is that both will be powered by Ford’s 5.0L TiVCT powerplant, with the naturally aspirated one featuring a Cobra Jet induction system, CNC ported heads, high lift cams and low-drag accessory drive while the supercharged version sports a 2.9L Whipple supercharger mated to a 5.0L with CNC port-matched manifold and heads and a proprietary 10-rib supercharger drive system for high RPM use without the need of a belt.
Ford also improved the chassis on the 2013 Cobra Jet with lightweight body modifications helping give it better weight distribution and while electric power steering provides better drivability without parasitic horsepower loss. On the inside, a new roll cage was designed to optimize safety and chassis rigidity. Minor tweaks include a new brake pedal ratio for more modulation and stopping power while the rear suspension’s geometry has been tweaked to deliver faster and more consistent 60-foot times.
Unfortunately no horsepower figures were announced with the release of the vehicle at PRI.
Ford is also allowing its fans to vote for the color of the 2013 Cobra Jet (classic white, silver or black) at fordracing.com with voting ending on December 31st, 2011.
[Source: Mustangs Daily]
Among the buzz already surrounding the 2013 Mustang, Ford has announced that the specialized Cobra Jet drag version will be part of the lineup. However, like the more mainstream variants, it will feature a number of updates. The 5.4 quad cam V8 will return, in either naturally aspirated or supercharged forms, but joining it on the options list is a version of the 5.0 ‘Coyote’ engine, found in the current Mustang GT.
The reason for this, according to Ford Racing’s Jesse Kershaw, is that it will allow the ’13 CJ to compete in a wider variety of NHRA sanctioned events than previous versions of this car.
Other changes on the 2013 model include revisions to the CJ’s suspension, steering, even the roll cage design and seats in an effort to balance improved capability while minimizing mass. “We’re looking at ways to cost-effectively take weight out of the Cobra Jet,” said Kershaw “and are also paying close attention to the final price. Based on our research we know where the car needs to be performance and price wise.”
The 2013 Mustang Cobra Jet is slated to make it’s debut at this year’s Performance Racing Industry (PRI) show, which runs from December 1-3 at the Orange County Convention Center, in Orlando, Florida, with production likely to begin sometime next year.
[Source: Mustangs Daily]
The folks over at AMS have been working hard at setting records with their Alpha Series Nissan GT-R and the Alpha 12 has now become the world’s first 8-second GT-R down the quarter mile. What makes the pass even more remarkable is how many of the GT-R’s standard features are kept intact, including air conditioning. Oh, and it’s also quite steetable.
AMS claims that the Alpha 12 GT-R makes around 1500-hp and according to their data log, the GT-R went from 60-mph to 130-mph in 3.34 measly seconds. That is also a record for any street car to hit 130-mph from 60-mph. AMS estimates that the top speed of the Alpha 12 GT-R is around 230-mph and with a final drive upgrade could hit a over 250-mph.
Check out the video of the record setting run after the break.
Jens Eklund is hardly a stranger to building high-horsepower Audi drag cars, having campaigned a wildly popular 9-second 1,000-hp Audi S6 in the past. He decided that the S6′s styling was becoming outdated, and given just how beautiful the new A5 looks, he decided to build a whole new chassis to terrorize Sweden’s drag racing tracks with.
Nothing looks better than a well-built RWD drag car that still remotely resembles an actual vehicle. Never mind the full on dragsters that hardly look like the car they’re meant to look like; we’re talking about cars like Eklund’s new A5 dragster. Even though it’s clearly a full-on drag race chassis, he’s able to retain the factory body panels given it the proper dimensions that a stock car would have. No elongated front ends here and the result is a very stunning A5 drag monster.
To maintain an engine program that clearly has been working for him, he managed to retain the powertrain from the S6, giving this A5 the same 1,000-hp he’s been campaigning, lighting up the track and storming YouTube with. We can’t wait to see how this new chassis does for Eklund and we bet it’s a pretty sight to see going down the quarter mile.
[Source: Jalopnik]
The headline could have also read “finally, a Honda with some torque.” Ok, we kid. But the mere existence of a rear-wheel-drive Acura Integra with a blown 454 Chevy big-block says two things: 1.) you can turn anything into a Pro Street racer with enough knuckle sweat, and 2.) always follow your dreams, kids.
The impressive Integra was reportedly built by Pro Street Unlimited, based in Manchester NH, and features a manual transmission, a belt-driven supercharger, electric blue paint and a sound like God’s Own Cuisinart. Rumors that this car is the current prototype for the next NSX are still unsubstantiated.
[Source: 1A Auto Blog]
Watch the video after the jump:
This red 1963 Volkswagen Beetle, known as the “Newman Bug”, isn’t your typical old Beetle, and it’s price tag of $250,000 should reflect that. The drop top Bug, owned by Paul Newman, is fitted with chrome bumpers and a black cloth top in good condition but the beauty of this car is in the rear engine compartment. A mid- mounted 351- cubic inch Ford Windsor engine has been shoe-horned into the little car to make it a deadly hot rod.
Paul Newman bought the convertible in 1963 after he fell in love with racing while filming Winning. He approached renowned Indy-car builder Jerry Eisert to modify the Beetle. Coupled with the 300-hp engine, is a five-speed ZF transmission as well as a high performance suspension components to keep the “Peoples Car” straight under load. The rear gets a custom A-arm setup for racing.
As the story goes, after Eisert finished modifying the car, Newman would speed up and down Mulholland Drive racing anyone who dared to line up with him at the stop light.
The bug has been restored twice. Newman donated the car to Sam Contino at the Chaffey College auto shop in Alta Loma, California. There, the car underwent its first restoration followed by upgrades such as a paint job and four Keystone chrome rims. The car was tweaked to be raced but was mostly used as a show car. After Contino retired, the car was given to him as a gift and was immediately garaged where it slept until 2009. Contino and his son restored the car in April 2009, hoping to show Newman the refinished bug, but the actor passed away before the restoration was completed.
[Source: AutoWeek]
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