Thomas Crapper's Little-Known Porcelain Carburetor

The Red Green Show offers a handy DIY tip on how to upgrade your car with a simple mod using items you can easily find around your home - as long as your home isn't a one-room shack in the Blue Ridge Mountains, that is.
 

Batman chillin in his Lambo

Bonus points for the Isley Brothers' Summer Breeze.

 

Mighty Car Mods: Nissan March Super Turbo

Here's a bit of a rarity, at least to readers in the West. Though we're huge fans of the little high-tech minimonsters churned out by Japan in the 1980s and 1990s but the Nissan March Super Turbo is a new to us.

This little beast looks like heaps of fun and thanks to the guys at Mighty Car Mods, it looks to be back to its full-power self. Bravo!
 

Modified 1981 Porsche 924 Carrera GT For Sale

Here are a couple of photos of a 1981 Porsche 924 Carrera GT with some modifications, including a GTR body kit.

With a total production run of just 406 cars, the 924 Carrera GT is an extremely rare beast and thanks to the rather agricultural roots of the basic 924, is amongst the lesser-loved vehicles to emerge from the famous Stuttgart firm.

That lack of love is far from deserved. Despite the pedestrian VA/Audi underpinnings, the basic Carrera GT produces 210bhp from its turbocharged four-cylinder motor and comes with balanced handling that soon grows on its drivers.

Just 406 Carrera GTs were produced as part of a program designed to homologate the model for competition. This particular car is LHD, meaning it carries the 937 model code. You are unlikely to ever see a Carrera GT on the road, much less parked at the kerb.

You could, however, own this particular, thanks to it being on sale as a project car. We have no idea how much work will be needed to get the car back on the road and running reliably but at less than £15,000, it could offer relatively cheap entry into the rarified world of limited-run Porsches with competition pedigrees.

China Blocks Ferrari Searches Over Deadly Crash

Jalopnik rounds up the various reports covering the alleged censorship of web searches in China that include the word "Ferrari".

The tale of censorship apparently revolves around an odd accident in which the reportedly illegitimate son of a senior member of the country's Communist Party may have been behind the wheel of a Ferrari 458 Italia Spyder that crashed, killing the politically-sensitive mystery man and leaving two other people severely injured.

Reports claim that all three victims were in the Ferrari when the accident took place. The driver was ejected from the car and died, while his two female passengers suffered serious injuries including head injuries, burns and at least one broken leg.

According to reports, authorities in China started blocking internet searches of the word "Ferrari" and deleting content posted on blogs.

Discussion of the story can be found in the NY Times blogs, The Atlantic, The Globe and Mail, and the Guardian. More interestingly, perhaps, are the Chinese-language reports - by CPD.com.cn and New Tang Dynasty Television - as well as one rather strongly-worded article in China's Global Times.

I wonder - if Google were around in 1969, would people be able to search for "Chappaquiddick"?

One note of caution: if you have friends in China (or who might be there at the moment), don't email this to them. Their email is being monitored. Trust us - we found out the hard way!

(Photo from CPD.com.cn).

The World (the California part, at least) Has a New Electric Family Car

The newest boy on the all-electric-automobile block has just emerged into the California sunshine. CODA, which has been promising its four-door EV for a while now, finally started selling its much-anticipated all-electric, all-Califnornian offering.

The CODA car brings "best-in-class acceleration", "fast and easy charging", zero emissions and a good ole' Californian peace sign to the market, all for less than $30,000, once you've received your Federal tax rebate (the pre-rebate price is $37,250).

According to CODA, their car will manage 125 miles on a single charge. It also comes with a "best-in-class EV battery warranty". There are a few caveats attached to some of these claims but it's still great to see the market and product choice continue to expand in the EV car sector.

I do wish someone would explain to me why so many all-electric cars still seem to need grilles at the front, though...

via engadget

Michael Fassbender on the BBC's Top Gear

Seeing as our sister site, nsphere, is providing the latest HD trailer for Ridley Scott's upcoming sci-fi epic, Prometheus, we thought we'd regale you with some videos of that film's star, Michael Fassbinder, enjoying his time on the BBC's Top Gear program.

Update: Top Gear seems to be having trouble serving these two videos to our site at the moment, so in the meantime, scroll down to see a YouTube video of Fassbender's Top Gear appearance. You can also follow the links underneath the first two videos to watch them on the Top Gear website.

Michael Fassbinder and The Stig in the McLaren MP4-12C

This video can still be seen at the Top Gear website.

Behind the Scenes with Michael Fassbinder on Top Gear

This video can still be watched on the Top Gear website.

If you're a fan of Top Gear and you somehow missed the episode featuring Fassbinder, make sure to check out episode 4 from the latest series, which has just ended. If you're not a fan of the program, it's still worth seeing how much fun Fassbinder seems to be. Michael Fassbinder on Top Gear

Groovy Hawaii Five-O Car Chases

Here's a hilarious bit of nostalgia for you. Someone has knitted together a compilation of car chases from the old Hawaii Five-O TV series.

Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati Rock Bangkok 2005 Motorshow

You might want to don a pair of sunglasses before delving into this bunch of shiny, bright yellow Italian thoroughbreds. Ferrari, Lamborghini and Maserati appear to jostle for position in this seeming traffic jam of mouthwatering exotica.

Chevron B16 at Brands Hatch for the Ferrari Festival

I'm digging through my library. My lossy compression is your gain!

Check out a few photos of a gorgeous Chevron B16 at Brands Hatch. My memory is old and fuzzy but it's a few years ago at the Ferrari Festival.

The B16 is a beautiful little "mini-Lola T70", built for endurance sports racing at places like the 24 Hours of Le Mans and Nurburgring in the late 1960s and early 1970s. You can read more about Chevron, and the B16, here and here.

More Porsche 911 GT1 Photos

I know it's been a while since you enjoyed anything new on here. It gets a bit like that sometimes, you know? I am SO glad I don't have any kids of my own to worry about or I doubt I would ever acheive anything else useful. How DO parents do it?

I just uploaded six more reasons to drool.

So put down whatever useful job you're working on and get on over to flickr!

I'll be rooting around in my hard disk some more later and hope to find some more goodies for you. Glad some of you have been enjoying these photos and keep the comments rolling in.

Pieces of Audi, yo......

Detroit 2006 Concept Car Roundup

We've already covered the ultra-sweet/gnarly/bodacious Chevrolet Camaro Concept, which we hear is slated for production in 2007.

DaimlerChrysler has rocked out its sublime Dodge Challenger Concept (in Hemi Orange, no less). The only basis for choosing between the Camaro and the Challenger will be the age old brand allegiances, I suspect.

Ford F250 Super Chief

Lamborghini Miura Concept

Aston Martin Rapide

Nissan Sport Coupe Concept

2005 Jaguar Coupe concept

What's more butt ugly? 2006 Chrysler Imperial concept, Maybach Exelero Show Car

Clarkson on the Bugatti Veyron

The Veyron must be some beast, eh?

"The Veyron has rendered everything I've ever said about any other car obsolete"

Some notable quotes:

"I mean it's on sale now at £840,000. And, for that money, you could buy a house."

A house? Reminds me of one of the reasons I left the UK. Six-figure sums for starter flats and the almost complete lack of access to the property market for anybody who has not mortgaged themselves to the hilt straight out of university.

What I find so notable about things like the Bugatti Veyron is the way they completely alter our frames of reference. Until something else comes along and ups the ante once again, that is.

I am lucky enough to live in a part of the world full of women I find incredibly sexy and beguiling. However, I recently worked with an aspiring young female runway model who I suspect does indeed have the looks and character to make it at the top levels of international modeling. I found my frame of reference for beautiful women completely reset.

Likewise with supercars.

Eight hundred and forty thousand British pounds for a sports car? Remember when half a million was "outrageous"? How about when only those demi-gods who lived in the rarified upper financial stratosphere could afford even to get on the waiting list for the Porsche 959?

Remember when a "supercar" had less than 300 bhp and got from 0 to 60mph in under 7 seconds? It was not all that long ago. We (well you fureeks, at least) were wearing bell-bottoms and freaking out over Saturday Night Live. Having arrived on an 1100 cc Suzuki superbike that topped out at 120 bell-bottom-balooning mph and slaughtered a hundreds at the first corner. Not much later, we had whacked-out bahnstormers from Porsche tuners like RUF that wowed us with 0-100mph in under ten seconds but, again, would slaughter hundreds at the first corner.

A few years later, we had quarter-litre two-stroke race replica motorbikes that exceeded 120 mph. Until they seized in a corner and slaughetered hundreds, of course.....

2006 Chevrolet Camaro Concept Is HOT!!!!

Dude, sweet! GM's 2006 Chevrolet Camaro Concept has just been launched and it's hotter'n hell!

Not only that, but MPH Magazine has a reader's photoshop of what a convertible version might look like.

All the official photos and specs are here.

Bring on the 2006 concept gold medallions and blow-dried chest hair!

Porsche 911 GT1 Photos

I tell ya, you kiddies are SO lucky!!! This feels like Christmas all over again. Ho, ho, ho!!!

I'm exhausted but I still found time to upload a bunch of my own photographs of 1 Million US Dollars (count 'em) worth of Porsche 911 GT1, freshly-arrived from its German birthplace in a top-secret London batcave for really cool machinery.

A million-dollar price tag, 1100 kg and 544 hp mean the road-going version of the GT1 gets from rest to sixty mph in 3.7 seconds. Even better, it gets to a hundred in about 7 seconds. That should just about get your kids to school on time.

Thanks to flickr for the hosting but not for how damn long it takes for my emailed photos to show up on flickr. Grrrrr.....

Meanwhile, here's Tiff Needell putting the competition prototype through its paces:

Friday Bonus Photo: 1977 Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV 2.8i V8

How about a nice little Friday afternoon bonus, eh? Here's something you don't see everyday. Actually, you'd be lucky to see one anywhere. Ever.

Alfa Romeo's racing department, Autodelta, had been campaigning an Alfetta (pic of the shell)with a 340bhp, 3.0 litre version of the Montreal's V8.

Later, the German distributor got Autodelta to fit the standard Montreal engine to a standard Alfetta bodyshell. Twenty were built and, as these were Alfetta bodyshells after all, they would have begun to corrode before they even left the factory. Hence, the rarity.

Unfortunately, the 1970s were not a good era for quality steel, quality construction, quality shipping or quality storage for carmakers, least of all Italian ones.

More info here.

If you are all super lucky, I might find time over the weekend to share my secret stash of XXX-rated car porn. That's right, I'm threatening to whip out my photos of a Porsche Carrera GT1 hiding in its super-secret London batcave....

Rare Magni Moto Guzzi Spotted at Brands Hatch

How often do you see one of these babies? Quite rare and sought after, this is a relatively modern Magni Moto Guzzi. I've just uploaded a couple of my rather more pathetic photos of this much-coveted vehicle found relaxing in the shade behind the stands at Brands Hatch motor circuit in Kent in England.

Amphicar Action Pix

You know, sometimes it seems like you wait ages and ages for photos of an Amphicar to come along and then, a whole bunch suddenly show up at the same time.

I just uploaded a half-dozen snaps of an Amphicar cruising along the Upper Thames River in Henley, England. As one does....

Thanks to flikr for the hosting.

Amazon has a bunch of amphicar stuff for sale.

Alfa Romeo Giulia GTA replica photos

I just uploaded five photos of a sweet, little Alfa Romeo Giulia GTA replica that was for sale at AROC UK's National Alfa Day back in 2002.

Thanks to flickr for the hosting.

Supercharged Austin 7 road rally competition car pix

I've just posted a bunch of photos of one of Hermitage Engineering's beautiful little Austin 7 "hot rods" up on flickr.

This tasty little beast is a natty little supercharged road rally special that pays homage to the Ulster. Peter Maguire is always eager to point out that he does not produce Ulster replicas but rather cars that live in the spirit of the great Ulsters. Thanks to flickr for the image hosting.