No, really. It’s got Looney Tunes stuff painted all over it.
Bizarre Roadside Sightings: This Chopper is Looney Tunes!
Thursday, October 28th, 2010The Worst Rims Ever Seen On A Bentley GT
Thursday, October 28th, 2010
In Los Angeles, the Bentley Continental GT is such a common sight that often we forget its $200,000 sticker price. Many Continental GT owners don’t even like how many of them are running around major cities these days, and the easiest way to stand out is to add a set of aftermarket wheels. Depending on the owner’s good (or terrible) taste, these wheels can go either way. (more…)
Bizarre Roadside Sightings: Confiscated Ricer Edition
Monday, October 25th, 2010
I’ll admit it: I chuckle a bit when I see a car that has clearly been confiscated by the cops and turned into some sort of Police vehicle. In Rye, NY, my hometown, there is a 1996 Dodge Viper that has been turned into a D.A.R.E. promotional vehicle, ironic because it’s far easier to die in a Viper than it is from doing drugs. Here we have a confiscated Dodge Neon SRT-4, complete with cheap-looking aftermarket rims and a loud exhaust, and it’s turned into a FUNERAL ESCORT vehicle! Tom and I spotted this gem in Arizona, where, apparently, grieving families like to follow the single worst sounding car ever produced while on the way to bury their loved ones. My condolences.
Bizarre Roadside Sightings: Crazy – But in a Good Way Edition
Monday, October 11th, 2010
Now here’s something we really didn’t think could possibly work, but it works better than you could have ever imagined. Meet Pierre, the owner of this fantastic contraption that is simply brilliant, but in a completely insane sort of way. That trailer didn’t come from a Land Rover Discovery that was wrecked, or broken, or without an engine. He took a perfectly good, functional Land Rover, and cut it in half for a go-anywhere trailer. Its two side doors still work, and with the door handles from the non-existent front doors, are power-lockable using the key or remote fob. The trailer has its own set of batteries, rechargable from the tow-Rover’s alternator, and even the power windows still work. The stock Discovery fuel tank is intact, and using some trick plumbing, will pump fuel as needed into the main tank, for a combined payload of about 60 gallons. Unfortunately, the Discovery’s rear seats were not retained, which is too bad, because that would make a cool safari tow vehicle.
Pierre was on his way out to Death Valley when he stopped on Malibu’s Mulholland Highway to chat with us, and he says he can stay totally remote for several weeks if need be. You’re nuts, Pierre, but we absolutely love it.
Bizarre Roadside Sightings: Menage-a-Fuel Cell
Friday, October 1st, 2010
While out road testing a couple of cars yesterday, I found myself stuck behind some slow drivers in the canyons. This happens from time to time, and while we occasionally make moves around them, we didn’t this time because of what cars we were following. There was a Mercedes-Benz F-Cell, a Kia Borrego FCEV (Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle) and a Honda FCX Clarity all in a row, winding their way down the canyons. Strangely enough, the Kia and Benz had manufacturer “M” plates, while the Clarity seemed to just be another Californian on his way home from work.
Bizzare Roadside Sightings: Hyundai… Continental?
Saturday, September 25th, 2010
People like to think of Santa Monica as a “progressive” place. A place filled with “forward thinkers”, people who believe wearing newspapers on your feet will balance your chi and that drinking organic dirt-milk should be a sport. Perhaps it’s that kind of delusion that brought this person to defile their Bentley, by putting a Hyundai badge on the back. After my initial “WTF?” moment I could only come up with 1 theory: Someone stole their Bentley emblem and switched it with the one of their own Elantra, and the owner of this car is such a narcissistic Xanax-junkie they haven’t noticed (ironic since they bought this car to get attention.)
Or maybe they’re being audited and hope this will dupe the tax man? No matter what the reasoning, I want to thank this idiot for giving a great big laugh on Friday morning.
How Not to Mod: Porsche Boxster Edition
Saturday, September 18th, 2010
I spotted this Boxster while walking in Los Angeles. My friends made a joke about how much I like cars, thinking I was stopping to take a picture of a car a cool car . Wrong. What I was taking a picture of is a very bad body kit that looks like it’s held on like a refrigerator magnet. Wide fenders are just laying on the origninal fenders, and the spats in the back look like a Dr. Scholl’s insole that you trim to fit-and this owner forgot.
Looking to the front I laughed a little harder. Is that a intentionally recessed filler cap? Or perhaps one of HOmer Simpson’s famous “speed holes?” No, that’s just a great big sign to the world telling it you bolted a second fender over your original fender. If you want a body kit that will get a lot of 12 year olds to turn their heads, but you only have about $200 bucks, this is the mod for you.
Bizarre Roadside Sightings: Vision SZR
Tuesday, August 24th, 2010
It’s sad to say but after living in LA for more than a year, my brain has become a little jaded. AMGs are so common I’m shocked if I see a “regular” Benz, trucks are less common than 997 Turbos and Bentley Continentals are basically expensive cockroaches.
However this car had me jump out in traffic and go completely out of my way to get closer to it. If you’ve ever driven in this city you know what it means to voluntarily extend your journey in traffic. (You might have the winning lottery ticket in your pocket but if the claim office isn’t on your way it’s not getting cashed in til tomorrow.) It’s called the SZR, built by Vision Industries LLC, a So Cal company that’s been around since 1997. Oh, underneath that traffic-cone paint is a Chevy 502 with 750hp. Perfect for rush hour, no?
Bizarre Roadside Sightings: The Worst DeLorean In History
Tuesday, July 20th, 2010
Now that we’re back from Bullrun and things have calmed down a bit, we’re finally going through all the photos taken on the rally. This little gem right here was spotted cruising (repeatedly) around the Ritz Carlton, where our rally cars were parked, bumping some dirty south rap. There isn’t much I can say about this photo that will be funnier than the photo itself, so lets just say this guy’s Auto Zone rewards card must be paying off huge right now. I mean, did he literally walk into Auto Zone and just buy every single piece of cheap imitation chrome he could find, and slap it all on the car at once?
Sadly, the best part of the car isn’t shown in this photo, because I fell over laughing so hard when I saw it. As he pulled away, I noticed the Altezza tail lights. ALTEZZA LIGHTS! On a fucking DeLorean? This car is a perfect example of everything that’s wrong with car culture in the US.
If you own this car, and you’re reading this, get help immediately. Because you suck at life.
Signs You Bought the Wrong Vehicle
Monday, July 12th, 2010
Motorcycles are incredible. They can be called beautiful and bad-ass simultaneously. They provide an almost un-matchable thrill on the road and for a few thousand dollars you’re faster than a car 100 times as much. They have nostalgia, character, history and mystique. But despite their economical gas mileage, they are not exactly practical. This couple was spotted today heading back from Los Angeles Airport. You know what’s handy for taking people and luggage somewhere? Cars.
Now I’d like give them the benefit of the doubt. Maybe this was one of those emergency situations where on the day of your un-refundable 2 month trip to Hawaii your car grenades, and you’re forced to load your weekend cruiser the way a family of 11 piles on a moped in India and make a mad dash for the airport. Unfortunately the smiles they had on indicates this is a regular thing for them.
Can’t say I’m that surprised. She’s wearing a reflective vest during the apparently poorly lit hour of 2pm, to make her more visible and thus, safer. Yet she chose the “road-rash-friendly” fashion item, the jean short; it’s clear logical purchases escape them.
-Zack K
