Trends, they ain't so bad.

Well, hello again to all those who have been e-mailing me and wondering where CarBull has gone. Just kidding. By no popular demand at all I have found my way back to my beloved blog and am here to grace the Internet with the pearls of wisdom that just spill forth from my brain like so much baby poo on the kitchen floor.

There has been a lot that went down since the last time that I talked to the wall. Ken Block released his Gymkhana 2 video and blew up the world. Transformers 2 was released last night and blew up the world. I got new wheels and suspension for my ongoing Ford Focus project, and I, blew up the world. So the world has blown up at least three times and exciting things have gone down.

I have written numerous times about the deplorable trends that are engaged in by the car culture. There are some trends that I have looked at on other cars and thought, "Boy, that sucks." I must say that I have fallen prey to one of the biggest trends that I have seen on cars. I bought a set of rims with a brushed lip and black center. Many a time I have gazed upon a Ford Mustang and looked the car over enjoying the timeless design quality and getting to an all too common move of black rims with a brushed lip. I thought that I would never get a set of rims that I saw so many times and despised. I was wrong. They look great, which leads me to the conclusion that some trends are not all that bad.

Black rims + brushed lip = not that bad.

Body kits, door handle deletes, carbon fiber, flat paint and loud exhaust are all trends that could be terrible things when used in the wrong manner. As is the case in all car customization, tastefully implemented widespread trends look, and function, beautifully. Here I am, the infallible me, telling you that even I can look at something that everyone uses on their car and say, "I can do that." The only difference is that I do it a whole lot better than most people.

I have seen the future...and it sucks.

Do you remember the '70s and '80s? Well I definitely do not remember the 70s, but I do remember the '80s...barely (D.O.B. 1986). They were a tough time the car companies. Let me clarify that statement by saying that those decades were a terrible time period for car companies in America. Foreign car companies were already consistently making garbage. All the companies in the United States were, let's say, castrated. Many factors contributed to this mass suckifying of Detroit, but, with the dawn of the '90s and the '00s it seemed like there was going to be hay day the sequel for Detroit; not.

Now that the lead designers of General Motors and Chrysler automobiles will be the United Auto Workers and Obama let me relay the vision of the future that I have seen. All of the grim predictions that I am about to tell you are true, a taco with the Virgin Mary on it told me so. She says, "Hi."

The Chevrolet Corvette, the sultana of sports cars, the mack daddy of muscle, the car which I have been described as having "a hardon" for will no longer, in any way be worth buying. Think, 1986 Chevy Corvette, but worse. The only entry for America on the world stage of sports cars will become a slow/non-moving memory. The cylinders will be trimmed from eight to six and have a displacement similar to a shifter cart and about the same power. The transmission will only come in automatic and the bucket seats will be replaced with a sort of bench seat setup. The interior, which according to foreign and domestic press is deplorable, will be even more sparse being that it will be made of old moving boxes provided by Los Angeles hobos. Wheels for the Corvette will be made of lead, to save weight, and brakes made of government cheese a.k.a. aluminum. Exhaust for the mild straight six will be similar to coffee stirrers to give the car the deep exhale which Corvette lovers have come to adore. All of this and more can be yours with the 2012 UAW/Obama-Vette.

The Camaro will not get the ax this time around for GM it will merely be reworked, like the Corvette. The Camaro will have a base engine of a four-cylinder and an optional engine which will be the exact same four-cylinder. The Camaro will no longer be low and sexy but high and boxy, kind of like a Ford Focus, just not as good looking. Accessories and amenities will be much like the Corvette, but instead the brakes will be made of ham because human consumption of pork will soon be outlawed.

Chevy's hopped up SS line will be entirely gone.

Chrysler's SRT division gone.

Superchargers, turbochargers and engine upgrades all together will be gone.

The Dodge Viper which has been the Corvette's upstart little cousin for a little bit will escape the ax and become a carbon copy of the Corvette, government cheese and all. The convertible versions of the Viper will have a nifty burlap material as a new, forced, option. The mammoth V10 will be gone, to the max, and in its place will sit a hair dryer. Yes, the American cars will still be progressive with the Viper being the first car to successfully install a hairdryer as an engine, and you thought it would be the Japanese. In fact, the Viper will not carry the Viper name anymore because of it's threatening nature. The Viper will be renamed the 'Bunny' or the 'French.'

The beloved Neon SRT-4 will no longer be an option, but will just be the Neon. It will soon be discontinued afterwards because no one wants a regular Neon because they suck so bad. The Neon will be offered with four doors still but a back seat will carry a premium of $4,000.00 because government designed cars will be total rip-offs.

Ford, the last man standing at our current juncture. Ford will hold out as long as it can but will inevitably fall prey and be subject to government control. They will rule the American landscape for a bit, making wonderful cars, but when their profits become to tasty for the government to not seize they will be eaten up by the big machine. The machine coincidentally be Korean made.

All American cars will be hybrids, even though the most fuel efficient cars in the world now are diesel, and will run on 45 octane gas, even though the higher the octane of gasoline the cleaner it burns. All cars will be limited to 35 miles per hour and the national speed limit on all roads will be 24 miles per hour, so that the police can still get you for doing 10 plus. There will be no more SUVs because the government deems them too luxurious for common folk. Congress and the President will, of course, still have their SUVs. V8 engines will be outlawed all together, kind of like in that crazy Mel Gibson movie. Do not fear my people, "law enforcement" agencies will still have V8 Crown Victorias and Chargers to catch you evil speeders. For the short time that cars, which are older and customized to go fast, are still on the road "officers of the law" will be given flame throwers to burn the car on the spot. Then they will probably shoot you in the testicles.

So, don't worry be happy, because we will all be turned into human batteries a-la the Matrix not too long after all this happens and will have bigger problems, like where the probes are going.

(Sarcasm off)

All of this could be avoided if, and only if, the American people embrace freedom and shun tyranny once again. The only thing to do now is pray and fight, not just for cars, but for our way of life.

Streetfire.net

In case you have not taken my hints and not gone to StreetFire.net yet then here is your chance to sample some of the best. I spend at least a couple minutes each day on this site looking and the videos dedicated to cars. Here is what I have found to be the creme' de la creme'.

Will Roegge produces some awesome drift and car videos and they look fantastic. Check out his Red Bull World Finals video.

http://videos.streetfire.net/video/Red-Bull-World-Drifting_559178.htm

The guys from IMV Films are fun and produce videos that are real and entertaining. They make you feel like you're actually there and on the streets with them. The videos also make you want to go street race.

http://videos.streetfire.net/video/TEXAS-STREETS-IMV-Films_646562.htm

Roll Racing is like IMV films without the characters. There's about 20 videos and they are all the same and all rock hard. Get your street race on with the Roll Racing fellas.

http://videos.streetfire.net/video/Roll-Racing20-Vortech-oh_207361.htm

Leo is now world famous because he sounds just like a Supra. He also sounds just like a lot of other cars. Check him out as he goes for a couple test drives.

http://videos.streetfire.net/video/ride-in-a-supra-FUNNY-AS_61066.htm

If you enjoy supercars being driven very fast and loudly then you'll enjoy VRAlexander. He drives his Porsche Carrera GT the way it was mean to be and it sounds B-E-A-utiful.

http://videos.streetfire.net/video/VRAlexanders-CGT_149649.htm

Enjoy those vids you filthy animals.

Ford B.A. = 1.000

All one needs to do is look at Ford's upcoming lineup for the 2010 model year and the cutting of Detroit's headstone pauses. If school ending wasn't a good enough reason to be excited about this summer then the release of the first encarneation of Ford's F-150 SVT Raptor should get you revved up a little. The new Fusion, Taurus, Transit Van, Focus and Fiesta are all either coming or coming back. They are all looking Euro and great. Not to mention the ever-awesome F-150.

SVT Raptor:

It's a freakin' Baja 1,000 truck for the street. Oops, for the desert. Special body panels, special grill, bigger tires, new suspension and a newly tuned four wheel drive system add up to a really exciting truck. When recently discussing tow vehicles with my friend I mentioned that I wanted an FX 45, by Infiniti. To which he replied, "Why don't you just get an SVT Raptor." This truck had escaped my consciousness momentarily. I remembered it but hadn't heard much about it. It's release this summer has snuck up on me. The first generation of the Raptor will have the standard 5.4L for engine and later in the winter Ford will release the 6.2L version. Very Cool, huh?

Focus RS:

Whoot! Look out SRT-4s, SE-Rs and Civics here comes the Focus RS. No one knows the exact arrival date, but one thing is sure, this BEAST is coming to the United States. 300hp from a turbocharged Volvo engine that runs boost in the single digits. Now, by the time my friends and I get one we'll have turned the volume up to 11 and drop 6 second 0-60 mph times to 4 second jumps.

Taurus SHO:

Does anyone remember Ford's little sleeper from the late 80s and early 90s? Not the V8 version; the V6 version. Anyway, Ford is bringing it back. In Ford's European model, the Mondeo, skin is the way that Ford is introducing this favorite back to America. The horsepower from the deep breathing Duratec V6 will blow 250+.

I've mentioned these cars before, but with all this bailout mess of Detroit it seems appropriate to remind ourselves that although most of Detroit has been castrated, Ford has not. Ford is bringing the heat in a big way and will, more than likely, come out on top with the projected reasonable prices of these models. Thank God for guys that don't want bailouts, listen to buyers and don't lean on the Mustang to save them.

Summer Time

It's almost summer time and I'm about to get all hot and bothered. We're talking whore in church kinda hot here. Now I'm in college and I do have a lot more free time to not be in school and drive than I would if I was in high-screwel. What I don't have is enough time to work and make money so that I can fuel my addiction.


Formula D has kicked off, summer movies are coming out and it's travel time. Where? I don't know. How? I don't know that either. I do know one thing; this summer is going to be awesome.

Cars were made for summer fun and as long as the Bamster (President Obama) doesn't jack taxes up too far on, well, everything, but namely gas this summer should be fun. If we are all crippled by funding the involuntary volunteer programs for Obama Youth then that might taint all the fun.


For the folks up North, it's time to take the covers off the good cars that have been sitting in the garage all winter and put the Geo Metro, with the snow tires, up for a little while. Of course global warming may get a little too serious and there could be some late spring snow storms.

It's time to break out the sunscreen. Be careful when applying at the nude beach though. you have to approach the situation delicatley.


Happy summertime. Be sure to put all your stupidity on YouTube.com.

Car Guy TV

I use the words "Car Guy" a whole lot. I've made it clear what that means and I think that even if you don't agree with me on the specific definition then you do have some idea of what I mean.

I love cars and I love TV. Putting cars on a screen, any screen, and presenting them in a cool way just gets my motor revving. Pun intended. The problem is that Car Guys on TV suck. The programming is marginal and the only ray of light is Stacy David's show Gearz. The thing with shows on Spike TV or ESPN is that they don't promote them and mostly they suck.

To network managers apparently they don't think that there is a big enough group of guys who care about cars out there that watch TV. Wrong. The entertainment factor of the shows is sleep inducing because they choose lame/overplayed cars do the same mods on all of them that we have either done or seen before. Speed TV used to have a show called Chop, Cut, Rebuild (CCR) and it was the most boring tripe I have ever seen. Shows like Rides and Overhaulin' on The Learning Channel build a car in one hour. CCR took what seemed like 40 years to do a fender.

There is no input from people who care about cars on car shows, except Stacy David's show Gearz. Always put anything Stacy touches in the exception to the rule category. Anyone who has tried to watch these shows that are not promoted and barely scheduled on TV knows what I mean. For every good show that has, and is, on TV about cars there are two that negate the descent shows.

The only solution that I can offer to this problem is get a bunch of fruits like myself that care about nothing more than cars and let us argue for a couple of days, preferably in a really nice hotel in South Florida. I recommend the Ritz Carlton. Then we shall emerge with brilliant ideas for seasons and seasons of brilliant automotive programming.

I'm serious rich guys, call me.

Car Guys

Everyone's a critic. All you have to do to realize this is peruse the car websites and the youtube accounts of devoted car fans. This may come as a shock but even I am critical of some cars, owners, trends, etc. I try not to be as belligerent as some of the D-Bags on the web, or television, for that matter, but sometimes the moment calls for a little, "call it like I see it."

There's five kinds of car guys. There are subtle nuances to this list that may appear that smoe guys don't fall into each of these categories, but I assure you, if you look close enough the car guy you know will fall into one of these. Hopefully these attributes of the most common dudes, and gals, will help you to deal a little less harshly with the idiotic, stupid and occasionaly rational/learned.

Allow me to aim the crosshairs at those who entered the car culture back in 2001 with the release of the first Fast & Furious movie. Since then they have gained knowledge beyond that of NOS exploding and 10 second quarter-miles taking two minutes and feel the need to regale everyone with their superior intelect. These are the "Lemme Tell Ya" people. They hate Fast & Furious, even though it is the reason they first liked cars, and want everyone to know that they are a real car guy. They are so knowledgeable about what is what because they spent a couple minutes last night on HowItWorks.com, or Wikipedia.com, and want you to know what they know and that it was them that told you. They don't necessarilly have the money to have a sweet car but the way they talk you would think they did.

The second type of car guy is the "Ricer." Now I've written about this scourge of car world because people must know about these rats and obliterate them. Since you can find a deeper description in one of my earlier blogs I'll keep this short. They don't know jack about cars but they think they do. Their cars look like crap. They are loud, annoying and inspire hatful feelings in people. Avoid these people by all means necessary or you may end up in jail for murder.

Next up we have the "Professionals." These guys can go either way. They can be very good or they can be extremely bad. The good are the guys that will lean on their car at a show and talk to fans as long as the fans want to talk with them. Take a turn to a similar looking guy leaning on a race car in a fire suit and they will just tell you how great they are and you will not be talking to them for very long becasue, a.) Their agent will wisk them away to another photoshoot, or, b.) you will get sick and take off to find some schwag bags at the other parts of the show. Pros are not only race car drivers; they are the shop owners. The shop owners and mechanics know their stuff and can act pretty cool and talk with you for awhile or be too busy working on their cars to even feign understanding of mortals.

The "Rich Guys." They drive Ferraris, Lamborghinis and even Corvettes. These people have more money than taste and are extremely sad. Car guys often dream of having more money than the good Lord and it pains them to see those who come cloe wasting it on all too common supercars. These are usually older guys with wives that are either in their 20's or are made of parts from 20 year olds. They aren't that into cars but they like looking like they have money. They make everyone green with envy and red with anger.

The last, he best car guy is the "Regular Guy." They don't have all that much money but they do have enough. There cars may not be that extreme, but they work well. The regular guys are the happy ones. They are satisfied with who they are and where they are in life. Regular guys are the best to talk to at shows and the best to race on Friday night because in the end they don't want enemies and would rather build good will than start fights.

Keep your eyes sharp and look for the Regular Guys. Surround yourself with positive people in the car community and maybe some Rich Guys...for the money and free upgrades.

How to break into the car world.

So you want to be a drifter, NASCAR driver, rally driver, car builder or car designer? Well, good. Me to.

You'd think that a blog with a title like, "How to break in to the car world," would be very lengthy with a bunch of details of how to do things. Wrong. You might also think that it would come from an authority on the subject, like someone who actually has a job in the car world, not just another armchair quarterback. Wrong.

I'm like a lot of folks out there that read magazines and watch TV and think, "Man, I could do that better than these guys?" Maybe not so much "better," but...well, yes better.

I was perusing the Rally America website and like other websites it had a frequently asked questions section. So I clicked on the tab hoping they would tell me how to get into rally racing; and they did. Kinda.

They start off by telling you about the commitment and time and money and blah, blah, blah. All of this is not anything that someone has heard from a condescending racer or car owner.

There is no secret to break into the car world, at least not one that I have found. It is like anything that people do in life they have to eat, sleep, drink, feel, breathe and mate with their dreams. You have to go after it as hard as possible. Guys like Chip Foose have a leg up because they were raised in the culture and have known it from birth. Travis Pastrana is another guy like Foose. Pastrana wasn't raised in the car culture, but he was raised on a motorcycle and now he's driving a rally car.

Don't take no for an answer. Find what part of the car culture you like, be it drag racing, show cars or drifting, whatever. Pursue it. hang out with people who love it to. Go to school to learn what to do with your passion. Don't go to regular crap school that gives you a piece of paper at the end. Go to a school like Universal Technical Institute or Wyotec that will give you the skills you need. Just don't count on their job placement programs. Count on yourself to get things done. Go to every car show, race and event you can and get your name out there. If it is meant to be then it will happen.

Just take this blog at its face value. Be encouraged by it to not only chase your car dreams but any dreams that you may have.

Review: Fast & Furious (2009)

I saw the latest chapter in the Fast & Furious franchise this past Friday. I would have seen it earlier, but my local theatre was not doing midnight showings on Thursday night (Grrr). In my humble opinion this flick was probably more anticipated, albeit silently more so, than Watchmen. Banners for the movie were all over YouTube.com and Streetfire.net. Even though I would have liked to see this movie everywhere being advertised, I did not.

Let's get down to business. Did I like it, or not? In a word yes. Maybe that's the wrong word. How about, HELL YES! The movie was spectacular. It wasn't cartooney like 2 Fast 2 Furious; it was more on par with the first and third movies. Now, some have only included the first and second movies in the 4-part series as the "good ones." I must disagree.

Before I get too far into where the movies rank I have to tell you a little about this one and this may include SPOILERS. The film begins with the scene that anyone who has looked at the preview for the film has seen, with Dominic (Vin Diesel), Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) and their team hijacking a gas tanker truck, the land train. Craziness ensues and spectacular car stuff happens. The movie puts you on the edge of your seat from the start.

If you've been a fan from the start then there's an added tear jerk factor to the film, because it is like a reunion of old friends that you haven't seen since 2001. There are nods throughout the film to the original. One of these moments was when Brian (Paul Walker) and Dominic were exiting the police impound. Brian remarks to Dominic that he owes him a 10-second car, because Dominic blew up multiple cars earlier and Brian's happened to be one of them. This is a nod to the first film because in the first one it was Brian that owed Dominic a 10 second car. This is just one of many inside jokes, a.k.a. smile moments, to those fans who have been with the franchise since its inception in 2001.

There is no need to see the first three films in order to understand this one. If you see this one without the others, you might not get the inside jokes, but you will want to. This movie makes you a lifetime fan from the start of the movie and deepens your love for the characters if you already are a fan.

The rank of the films in the series go like this:

(There is no room for debate of these rankings)

No. 4, 1, 3, 2

The latest was just the most rounded and well thought out movie. All the movies were enjoyable and great rides. The only slide room that I will give is that the first and second movies are interchangeable in their rank. The two are too close. Number one is saved by the coolness of the film and number three is saved by the originality.

I don't review movies from a point of view of a cinematic standard. If you go to a movie and get what you want, or even more, then that's a perfect movie. I got what I wanted from Fast & Furious. I got more than I wanted, because I did not expect the ending to be as good as it was. If you enjoy cars,if you enjoy explosions, if you enjoy rediculousness, then go see Fast & Furious. The movie has enough coolness for anyone and even a little heart, if you look close.

The best driving road...In the world.

Top Gear said, in their quest to find the best driving road in that world, that the best in the world was the Stelvio Pass in Italy.

I contend that the best driving world can be found on each and every continent. If you find yourself on a twisty mountaing road or even a straight highway at midnight that can be the best driving road in the world. It all comes together when that 12 year old part of us takes over when we look around and think, "I want to mash the gas a little." "I want to sit up a little straighter." "That turn there, I want to dive into it." All of these things are ideas that pop into a car guy's mind when he just lets the car loose.

The world would be a terrible place if it weren't for the little blessings that the good Lord sees fit to give us. Topping the list of wonderful things is cars and roads to drive them on. I understand life is a lot bigger than driving cars on wonderful roads, but at the same time I really don't.

Montana has the roads to top your car out on and California has the scenery on the roads. In the middle of the country there are some mountains and valleys that combine to form some excellent roads for driving. Florida has got good fun to be had, as long as you avoid the little brown bears in their Crown Victorias with lasers on them.

What you're looking at when you're driving is just as important as the road you're driving on. I could drive on a brilliant road that couldn't be more thrilling but if it's in Burford, United Kingdowm, then it might not have the same pleasure as the Italian Alps.

If there's nothing to hamper your good time and you even have some buddies with you then any road that you're driving on can be the best in the world. I know that the Top Gear guys weren't speaking literally when they named the Stelvio Pass as the best driving road, but they were accurate in their assesment. The Stelvio Pass is brilliant. Roads, like life, is what you make it. Grab some friends, fast cars and make it fun.

The Silver Lining

The economy is in the crapper and it doesn't seem to be getting any better. The Bamster is in the White House trying to pass every cockamamy bill that comes across his desk; in between making 'wtf' exective orders and visiting Jay Leno for a little Special Olymics belittling. Dogs and cats living together...mass hysteria!!!

Where is the silver lining?

Oh there it is.

The brand new Chevrolet Camaro is just about to be released and it looks fantastic. The performance of the Camaro is that bad either. It has 126 more horsepower than, what will be, its main competitor the Ford Mustang. Now, Edmunds has just recently tested one of these brand new modern musclecars on their internet channel and failed...epically. With that horsepower gap, and looks gap, the car should be faster than the five seconds that Edmunds mustered for their 0-60 mph time. Edmunds, please leave the testing of cars to people who are entertaining and can drive them.

The Dodge Challenger is already out and it also looks freakin' awesome. I don't think that it will be long for this world because Chrysler is the dumbest car company out there right now. Yes, even dumber than General Motors. Chrysler has a bad habit of thinking that their cars are extremely special and worth more than they really are. So if you've got more money than you need, blow it now on a car that will presumeably break.

Top Gear is still on TV. Many of you who are fans already knew that and were well aware that, unless you're a pedestrian, watching Top Gear on the internet is a more fulfilling endeavor than watching it on BBC America. Clarkson, May and Hammond will also be coming back for a new season (series) soon. So all the Top Gear fiends like myself will have our fix of our favorite British export since chlamydia.

In addition to cars being in real life and on TV, they are also in magazines. I must mention Top Gear the magazine because it is probably the 'top' car magazine out there. The writing and photography put Motortrend and Car and Driver to shame. Superstreet is a magazine that seems to be in love with Supras, Evos and other overplayed cars. Apart from that, the little import magazine that could is still up there when it comes to little news stand treats.

The police are still out in droves at the end of every month looking to fill their speeding ticket quotas and there is suicide enducing traffic at all the roads you want to drive fast on, but there are still roads that are open. Just wait a little while on weekend nights in the wee hours of the morning and look around there's nothing on the roads. There's just you and your car. Take advantage of Uncle Sam's road works and burn them back to the ground from whence they came.

The aftermarket is still going mad making stuff to speed up your's and my car. People are still having meetings and dragstrips are still open.

All of these things may be temporary, but there you go, it's your silver lining.

Nür-boring

Enough is enough. I've seen every fast car in the world go around the Nordschleife, or Nürburgring (Ring), in some astounding amount of time. There is a battle raging as I write to you, between the Corvette guys (ZR1 - 7 mins 26.4 secs) and the Viper guys (ACR - 7 mins 22.1 secs) about who is the greatest Ring ruler of them all. All of this, "Who's the fastest," talk has left the Nissan GT-R (7 mins 29 secs) guys crying like little girls because they're so close, yet so far. All of this arguing has me tired. When did the Ring become the trump card for any car guy to say that their favorite car was superior to any other.

Unless I'm wrong, which I'm not, all this Ring talk really started right after the C6 ZO6 Corvette started lapping the Ring. To give the previous times some perspective the ZO6 did a lap in 7 mins 49 secs, and that's a really fast car.

That's not why I'm writing though. I left a comment on a video on YouTube.com about how the Ring lap times are trite and overplayed (see "Overplayed" blog entry for definition). I put forth the opinion that people are more interested in the lap times on the British Broadcast Company's show Top Gear than Ring times. I won't quote you the details of his response, but it was usual YouTube.com garbage. I think that the technical and hard professional driver numbers are of no use in the real world. Although Top Gear's, The Stig is some sort of professional driver his lap times are a more interesting argument than some dinky little 14 mile track times (insert sarcasm).

Top Gear is a world wide program and has spawned programs in Germany, Australia and, reportedly, America. The show's tame racing driver, The Stig, sets lap times weekly on the show in the world's most expensive cars. The show's hosts are hilarious and entertaining. The lap times are a hard number chaser to the entertainment.

What's the point of a professional driver from Dodge or Chevrolet beating the snot out of a car on the race track if it can't be driven by your average Miami doctor to beat little kids in Hondas?

I take this opportunity now to say that real world/Top Gear driving is more important/interesting than Ring/Motortrend/Car and Driver times. I submit that it's all about how we relate to the numbers. I love seeing professionals do what they do, that's why they're professionals. I would rather argue about the numbers set by a creature in a white racing suit than some dude from Ohio named Jim that only drives Vipers all day long.

P.S. - To fully put the argument between Corvette and Viper to rest, the Corvette has been around for 50 plus year and won numerous prestigous races. The Viper has been around for 10 plus years, not won a thing and is under consideration to be sold by Dodge. So, cheers, Viper fans. Way to put your eggs in the big worthless basket.

Will it be better by then?

No, it's not time to panic yet. If the car market and the aftermarket is in real trouble that we're going to be sitting in for a long time then November 3 – Friday, November 6 2009 will be some dark and depressing days.

Those dates are when the 2009 SEMA show will we held in Las Vegas. If the economy has cut really deep into the car market then there will be a couple Civics and some Mustangs at the show.

Car shows are the barometer for how bad things are going. Maybe not for everything, but definetly for the car community. Duh. If nobody is going to be willing to spend money on some sick cars for the show we can all look at that and start to pee in our pants.

For those of you who know God, please pray that there might be some glimmer of hope before the show. For those of you who don't know God, give your life to him so that you to can pray for the life of the car world. It's a blessing that we cannot afford to take for granted.

I hope that everyone out there gets the humor and the tongue in cheek-ness of my remarks. If you have to know how good or bad things are going for the car look at the car shows, especially SEMA. Be vigilante out there. Yeah, I meant to say 'vigilante.' If you want to be vigilant as well. Look out for what you love. I love the car and I'll be keeping a close watch on it.

I got it.

I got my car.

Wondering what it is?

It's a 2004 Ford Focus sedan.

Isn't that just awesome.

No?

Well, of course it's not awesome yet. It is cool though. For a small, four cylinder sedan it is spectacular. I would reccomend the car to anyone just looking to drive a car. Anyone who wants a nice car to drive and not do anything to, got one. After a long while of driving a Chrysler PT cruiser this car is a huge step up.

There have been Foci, Focuses, however you say it, that have made over 300 horsepower. My plans for this car is to make that and more. I have a soft sport for cars that no one has. The Ford Focus is a car that when you get one you become part of a community that is ultra exclusive with the same dynamics as any other car culture community. There are serious enthusiasts and then there are morons. Just peruse the photos on FocusFanatics.com. I like the car because I feel exclusive when I drive it. A car guy that drives a Focus. What a combination?

I don't want to write a love letter to my car (I love you sweetie), but, it's exciting to drive a car that you finally plan on driving for a long while. My car aspirations go far beyond the usual one car for me and the one car for my significant other. My dream is a big garage with a big collection in it. The Focus is car # 1. The baby of the collection. The genesis. I may be gushing a little, but I'm just excited and had to tell someone.

I wrote a blog a little while ago about getting a new car. Now is the time to buy a new car at a cheap price and not have to pay a lot on a monthly payment. With this Focus I didn't go into debt. I traded the PT Cruiser on it and paid the difference in cash. Now that's a feeling I would be happy for a lot of people to have.

If you're reading this and don't know much about the worldwide disease that is cars, please read my other blogs. Do whatever you can to catch the disease. Lick a car guy, get a car and spend all your money on it. You'll never be happier than when you get yourself a car and drive it like yo stole it.

Top 10 Most Overplayed Cars:

Now this list is most defianetly going to make some people mad. Good. I can safely say that I could care less about feelings. We're talking cars here and they hurt more feeling than a woman does. The thing with cars is that you want to keep coming back to them. Women? Sometimes you can just take a nice long break from women. Cars? No. So, here it is for you visual and intellectual pleasure, my second top ten, the Top 10 Most Overplayed Cars in a particular order:

(Definition of "Overplayed" according to me. Overplayed is whenever you go to some car related magazine, video site or car show there are a million examples of that "overplayed" car and maybe two of something interesting that you actually haven't seen before.)

# 10 - Mazda RX-8

I had to fill the list somehow. Sorry Mazda guys. RX-8 goes on the list and at the bottom. There have been a bunch of articles of custom RX-8s and the Mazda would have gone higher on the list but it's just so crap that not enough people buy them. It looks cool. The gain in acceleration that you get after 40,000 miles is pretty cool, but, the car just isn't popular enough to go higher on the list.

# 9 - Honda S2000

The little 4-banger, sports car from Honda started out as a little fish in a big pond that won acclaim and adulation from anyone who drove it. Now that it has aged a few years and the second hand car market has gotten a hold on it, it's become overplayed. Driving around a college campus you'll need more fingers and toes to count all the S2000s on the roads. They start out fast and can be made to go faster. Too many folks driving these little rockets make them overplayed and not cool anymore.

# 8 - Subaru WRX STI

When this car first came to America about the same time Fast and Furious was coming out in 1999-2000 I loved this car. It looked great, had all-wheel-drive and a solid engine. It was just cool for the sake of cool. As new models came out and the performance just went up a bunch of guys who's fathers were doctors got one. A little too many suburban wannabes made this real life rally car their own and sucked to exclusivity right out of it. But, hey, it's still not as played out as its main competitor.

# 7 - Dodge Neon SRT-4

I cannot begin to tell you how much I wanted to put this car higher on this list, but I couldn't. A motorist can't go 100 yards without running into one of these products from Chrysler's SRT-4 division. Exhaust on them sounds great. The engine is massively powerful. When everyone has one, what do these plusses matter? This car harkens back to an era of drag racing big block muscle cars. This thing just has half the cylinders of those old boulevard burners. Everyone's got one = Overplayed.

# 6 - Nissan 350Z

Just like the S2000 the 350Z is a college campus all-star. Slap some rims on this baby along with a body kit and it looks pretty darn good. This car doesn't deserve to be overplayed. It's too nice. It's the japanese Mustang and a great value at the price. Sadness comes over me when I think about the fact that real car enthusiasts, like me, can never get one because of the number of club hopping, blow-out sporting and Affliction shirt wearing dudes that have already gotten one.

# 5 - Ford Mustang

Ouch! Yet another car that pains me to put on the list. I've had a Ford Mustang and it was cool. V8 engine, 5 speed transmission and rear-wheel drive, what more could you ask for? This car is an oddity, however. It is overplayed in its own realm. Look up videos of mustangs racing and there will be very few of Mustangs beating other car that aren't mustangs. Loud exhaust systems cannot make a fast car and it is time that the Mustang guys learn this. I reccomend that all the Blue Oval Musang fellas leave their cars in the garage until they can get some parts that allow them to race against other cars other than copies of themselves.

# 4 - Mitsubishi Lancer Evo

It is almost a four way tie between the top four cars on this list. The Evo is beginning to garner hatred from me. This car has got to get the magazine cover award. I have never seen a car that has gotten more cover stories in the car community. YES! They are quick. There are a lot of other cars that are quick to. Being bombarded with this car has made it lose its coolness. I'm not really sad that this car is overplayed. I can't have any remorse for putting it in the top five, it deserves it.

# 3 - Toyota Supra

Awesome car. Awesome engine. Overplayed. Every other video of a Supra on YouTube.com is of a 1,000 horsepower Supra. "Oh, look, another 1,000 hp Supra." "Now that's something I haven't seen before." If you can afford to put the money into one of these to make it a supercar, more power to you. Judging by the number of Supras on the internet that are fast, and the money that it takes to make them fast, the economy isn't that bad.

# 2 - Honda Civic

The rice burner that made rice poular. It's a Civic. Spit and you'll hit one. Do not make me explain this choice.

#1 Nissan GT-R

The big fat gold medal go to the Nissan GT-R. Just because of the hype associated with this car it goes # 1. A car that breaks and voids its warranty when the full potential of it is realized means that it's sub-par at best. Making excuses for it and talking about it like it's a better deal that a Chevrolet Corvette makes it overplayed. The GT-R was out of date before it came out. It would have been impressive were it not for the rest of the pack of supercars that came out at about the same time.

There you have it. The most overplayed cars in the world. Is your car on the list? Are you angry yet?

Possibly.

Just what is possible and not possible when it comes to building cars? The sky is the limit my friend it's within the realm of possibility to do pretty much anything you damn well please. Examples have been given to us over and over again that you can put what ever engine in whatever car you want. Like the "Civ-Vette" video below. A Honda Civic with a Chevrolet Corvette engine. Ignore the blasphemy first and just think about the pure awesome that thing is.

Civ-Vette - http://videos.streetfire.net/video/Civette-Civic-with-Vettes_142432.htm

A few years ago, before all this Fast and Furious stuff, mentioning carbon fiber to a regular person might have been met with an eyebrow that seemed to say, "Quoi (what in French)." Now everybody knows what that magical black/grey/red/blue/etc. sheet is. Its strength and versatility is unquestionable, but how much of a car can be made from it. If supercars and race cars are any evidence of this, everything can be made form it. I do mean everything. Doors, hoods, seats. This excludes all the other things that are made from carbon fiber like boats, planes and toilets. That's right. Toilets. Aston Martin is just another example of, "I may have seen it before, but that sure is sexy." Aston Martin has entered the Hyper-car market with its One-77 car. Guess what? It's going to use carbon fiber, a lot. Check out the link and see if you can find an inch that doesn't have the wonderful thread on it.

One-77 - http://www.autoblog.com/2009/03/06/aston-martin-one-77-uncovered-in-depth-on-whats-under-the-skin/

Racing products make it onto the street all the time. We've got splitters, FUNCTIONAL body kits, performance upgrades that would make Micheal Andretti blush and all kinds of other dress up items to make heads turn more than Heidi Klum dressed in a thread of yarn. Sorry, no picture of that.

The performance insanity doesn't stop at cramming engines into cars that don't belong there. There are actually engines that come in cars that can be modded themselves and then are able to defeat much more powerful cars. Unbeleivable, I know. The guys from RiceKiller.com have a video posted on StreetFire.net that evokes feelings of disbelief among people like, well, me. The evidence is there none-the-less. A itty bitty Acura Integra beats a Cadillac CTS-V. Allow me to remind you that the CTS-V is the Cadillac with the Corvette engine. Now that that's sunk in watch the video below and have your brain scrambled.

Integra v. CTS-V - http://videos.streetfire.net/video/RICEKILLERCOM-Budget-VS_638166.htm

You may have already seen somthing like that. Whether you've seen giant killers before doesn't make it any less amazing, to me anyway. The accelereation (pun intended) of the car world has been staggering. When I discuss future mods to my own car with my buddy on many an occasion he seems to be of the ilk of impossibility. Usually, I convince him that it is possible and we continue to be friends. I cannot join the band of nay sayers on countless car forums that have the standard response to any remotely outlandish idea of, "Not possible." I say, "No" to them. I refuse to live in a closed box world where I can't cram an oversized engine into a $200 Civic and can't spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a car that is made of carbon fiber. The answer to the question is always, "Yes."

No matter how crazy an idea, no matter how impractical, it it's for a car and it's cool then it's possible. Do it.

B-E-A-uitiful.

In a sea of crap-o-la there are spectacularly beautiful things. The Mona Lisa, Michelangelo's David and other high class stuff. Then there's sunsets and the ocean, you know, stuff you're girlfriend drags you to. There has been a lot of discussion over the many, many years that the car has even existed about what the most beautiful of them all. When the car was first invented there were a couple German guys arguing, in German, over what early model Mercedes was the prettiest. Don't ask me how I know this, just trust me. Germans like 1 cylinder turn of the century Mercs.

The criteria for the most beautiful car ever, has to be specific. How can we discuss something without rules to decide what actually is the prettiest? Now, since I'll be making the rules I'll inevitably be deciding the prettiest. I could just think of them in my head and not even tell you but here are the rules for deciding whether a car is pretty.

1.) The car must be collectible - If no one else cares to buy the car then how can it be expected to be pretty. 1984 Honda CRXs don't fit into this category because they are total, uh, crap.

2.) The car must be fast - Now I'm not talking 200 miles per hour but it can't be a dog. Again, Honda CRXs don't fit into this category. Old British cars don't fit this category either because, let's face it, they are absolute rubbish with speed.

Now that we have eliminated most foriegn cars we are left with domestic cars. Now let's eliminate some other cars.

3.) The car has to be old - Yes, yes there are plenty of beautiful modern cars but they still don't count. Cars today have been marred by the limits of government on their fuel systems and how much they kill weasels in Austria. Classic cars are from a time that anything went and that makes them special.

4.) Looks fast standing still - The body of the car has to be sleek. It can't have a big flat nose that looks like the only way that it will ever get down the road is with a mammoth engine. The car has to be sexy. It has to look like something that you want to put on your wall as much as you'd like to drive it.

We've eliminated foreign cars, both young and old. We've also eliminated all new domestic cars. What we are left with is old, domestic cars. I'm not biased against foreign cars but in a blog on the most beautiful car ever you have got to admit (actually you don't have to) that the most beautiful were 1960s American cars. There era from which they came was a magical time that has been imortalized in film over and over again in films like American Graffiti. Songs make these cars into legends, so tach up that 409 buddy. There is only one car that fits all of the criteria that I've put forth.

...And the most beautiful car ever is...

1963-1967 Chevrolet Corvette



To say that this car is in no way beautiful would be a lie. To say it is not the most beautiful car ever would be blasphemy. This blog may seem a bit gushy, well, it is. This car makes my blood pump big time. The best argument that I can make is this...JUST LOOK AT THAT THING!!!

Car Bull No. 2!!

Back by no demand at all. Here it is kiddies...Car Bull #2. Come listen to me try a new format with the same tasty picture in picture look. Listen to me rant on YouTube.com via the link below or the bar on the side.

Welcome, this is Car Bull.

Is Red Bull the most fun loving company out there?

To paraphrase Travis Pastrana in one of his Nitro Circus DVDs, Red Bull is the most fun loving company in the world. It just is. Everywhere I seem to turn, Red Bull has yet another sponsorship or a new sponsorship in the works. Red Bull pays athletes in almost all forms of sport to smear their logo across helmets, jumpsuits and vehicles. Red Bull sponsors teams and individuals in motocross, off road biking, NASCAR, Formula 1, rally racing, skating, snowboarding, drifting and numeruos others even including air races.

Red Bull is most famous for making energy drinks and, if you can find it, cola. Red Bull was actually founded in Austria and has been around since 1987. Only recently has the worldwide phenomenon reached America.

With the introduction of the new Hyundai Genesis and most recently the Genesis Coupe, Red Bull is going to continue its sponsorship of Rhys Millen in the Formula D drift series here in the United States. Not only will Red Bull be sponsoring a driver they have also partnered with the Formula D sanctioning body for the Red Bull World Championship. The champioship was held this past November at the Port of Long Beach in California in November. Oddly enough the defending champion for the 2009 season will be, Rhys Millen.

Red Bull Rally Racing has opened the 2009 season with a win in Norway for its Austrian team. Rally America driver/Freestyle Motocross legend Travis Pastrana has been doing well over here in the States rallying as well. He's won the American champioship for the last three years and has begun this season with win.

Not only does Red Bull sponsor someone in every sport on the planet, they sponsor good people, and these people win. What's wrong with that? Absolutely nothing! I love it. Pastrana was right, Red Bull is a fun loving company. If only more multinational conglomorates had the attitude about spending money that Red Bull does. Red Bull has a cool logo that looks great on cars and other vehicles, and looks great when it wins. Cheers and congratulations to Red Bull. My only question is...Can I get a sponsorship?

Why is that ticket so big?

Due to the steepness of hills in Florida drivers gain a lot of inadvertent speed. Due to this unintentional speed I have had the privilege to give hundreds of dollars to the state of Florida. After so many injustices you might think that I would have become embittered, and you'd be right. That is not the problem though. However, my dislike is not irrational.

There have been numerous studies done throughout the years on the correlation between speed and crashes. The overwhelming conclusion on the subject depends on who you talk to. If you were to question any government who receives massive amounts of revenue from speeding ticets, they would say that speed limits are there to protect you. In fact, according to the current online traffic school, sanctioned by the state of Florida, one of the questions asks what speed limits are for. The inevitable answer being that they are there for all motorists' safety.

Is that actually true?

No.

If that were true I would not have read in Motor Trend Magazine that some counties in the U.S. are increasing penalties for speeders. Now, how does that protect us more? It doesn't. It only increases revenue to a government that will spend it on things like Kaleko computers and studded horse saddles.

One of the safest roads in the world is the German Autobahn. Not only the ultra high speed Autobahn but the rest of the roads in Germany as well. It takes a lot of money to get a German drivers license and it doesn't come overnight. You have to be a good driver to drive in Germany. I'm not saying that I'm that big a fan of Germany, Nazi-ism is a big detractor from the safe roads and beautiful countryside. This is just one example of how charging people a bunch of money for going fast is not making people safer.

In states like Wyoming and Nevada a few years ago there were no speed limits on the roads that were in the middle of no where. These kind of roads are most often featured in independent films that make feeble attempts at art and whit. As described in Wyoming law; whatever speed was "prudent" was the speed limit. After repealing these flexible laws in the name of safety crashes have inevitably gone up.

The possibility of crashes and traffic are two problems that make the road dangerous. To help illustrate my point, answer this question. What would cause more crashes and traffic?

1.) Flexible speeding laws complimented by more stringent license standards.

'or'

2.) Extremely harsh traffic laws that bankrupt the offender and a cop sitting in the middle of I-95 shooting radar.

Is the answer obvious or not? If you can't figure it out. Hit yourself with a brick and try again.

Time 2 buy.

Ok, so most car companies are in some deep doo-doo. Especially if you're General Motors, Chrysler or Ford. That's why they're offering pretty freakin' good deals. Just check out Ford, GM and Chrysler.com. When you check out Chrysler don't forget to look at Dodge because they'll be having the same deals going on, being as they're both under the same umbrella.

So what are we to make of these really good deals that all the American car companies are offering? It's time to go to your local dealership and rob the place.

Now by "rob the place" I mean go into the dealership knowing that they need your business and that they are desperate. Just recently I stopped by a local GM dealership and was told by one of the salesmen that their used car division sold 66 cars last month. That number didn't sound that impressive until he told me that new cars only sold 32 cars last month. Please, insert the grain of salt that goes with any information from a car salesman. As a young man myself, I probably wouldn't be given the time of day were I to walk into a dealership during, let's say, better times. My two day old beard growth and Quicksilver sandals would be an immediate turnoff to any self respecting, greasy horse trader. In this day, however, I get treated like the balded, retiree that talks like he worked with a lot of pastrami in his younger days.

Listen to me responsible little children with steady jobs and half a brain. If you've ever had a hankerin' for a new car, go get one. Go get one. Go get one! If you also happen to have something to trade, then what are you waiting for? It is not beyond the realm of possibility to double the value of your thousand dollar gift from aunt Mona just by going in and trading it.

Don't get too zealous. If you make less then $20 a week you might want to get out of grade school before you go and purchase that Corvette ZR1. As a college student myself, chomping at the bit to enter the dreary world of full-time employment, who has a trade, a $25,000 to $30,000 brand new car is not out of the realm of possibility. Obviously payments are inevitable, but they're really, really cheap ones.

Think about it. Talk to someone more educated than myself. I'm just sorta thinking out loud here. It's not dreaming though. Problems for big companies equal big discounts for the rest of us. Go for it. Review your finances and get something good...if you can.

Movies+Cool Cars, anyone?

There are plenty of cool cars out there that are worthy of being in movies but Hollywood and movie producers don't seem to notice that lately. Today it's all about corporate sponsorship and making money before the film is even released. Back in 1968 when the movie Bullitt got released they had to debadge the Mustang, because Ford would not let the producers leave the little horsey in the grill. I'll bet you didn't know that.

With cars being as big a part of not only the American culture, but the world culture, as they are you would think that cooler ones would make it onto the big screen. They don't always have to be brand new cars either. Take James Bond for instance. The Aston Martin DB5 was great in Goldfinger and Bond being put back in an Aston in Die Another Day was spectacular to see, don't put him in the same silver car every movie though.

I may have already started down a path called, "Stupid Argument." I will stand by my stupid argument though. There are cool cars that get put in movies (Ferrari in Vanilla Sky). For every cool one that makes it in there are dozens of others that suck. Sorry for the gratuitous use of 'suck,' but it works. 2 Fast 2 Furious was descent enough without Vin Diesel and the Mitsubishi Evo was pretty cool. What was with the Eclipse? Any dude who saw that movie was not inspired by that purple piece of junk to go out and buy an Eclipse. Mitsubishi sure thought they would be because they sponsored the movie. Hence, why we had a convertible Eclipse as a title car.

Not convinced? Take Batman: The Dark Knight. Batmobile. Freakin' awesome. Batcycle. Kind of cool (I guess). Bruce Wayne's Lamborghini. A tad sucky. Before you jump on me again, Lambos are cool cars. They just aren't cool enough for Batman. Every shiny toothed rapper has a Lambo. So, why would Bruce Wayne be as unimaginative as them and drive a Murcielago that wasn't even the LP-640. If a man as rich, and with as much taste, as Bruce Wayne were going to buy a Lambo it would undoubtedly be the Reventon. Maybe he would have a Koenigsegg CCX or something less ostentatious like a Bugatti Veyron. Anything. Don't put the coolest half-bat half-billionaire in a regular old supercar especially one that was in the first movie.

Movies do hit it right...sometimes. Bullitt I have already mentioned. Vanishing Point, The Blues Brothers, Back to the Future and Ghostbusters. It is possible to have cool cars in movies. The studios just need to put in a little more effort and get more esoteric.

How to build a car...really.

Ok so the post title may be a bit misleading. I’m not actually going to tell you how to build a car from scratch, but I will tell you how to build a car from a starting point…an actual car. The wisdom I have to impart to you is how to build a car that will not only be fast but good looking as well. Although you may not think that this is at all possible just by looking at the cars with aftermarket exhausts hanging loosely under their rear bumpers and the incomplete body kits that run the streets, it is. You haven’t heard anything like this before, trust me.

Like the beginning of any build you’re going to need a starting point. A skeleton, if you will, on which to hang your numerous parts. Now I’m not going to go down the road of getting a car that can be good looking, but it isn’t when you get it, and you have to get a bunch of body work done, then you get a body kit, etc., etc. The point we are going to start at is with a car that is already good looking, because why would you buy something to drive that is ugly? Depending on how much people hauling you may want a two or four door car. Many cars come with a coupe or sedan option. So there’s your first spot of luck. To narrow the field and give you a picture in your head I’m going to use the 2000-2004 Ford Focus sedan as my jumping off point. I chose this car partly because I will soon have one, and partly because I will build it like this. You can choose other cars like the Mitsubishi Lancer, Chevrolet Cobalt and if you just have to the Honda Civic. All of these cars can be purchased in excellent condition good miles for around $5,000.

Make sure you get the nice engine and transmission combination. Manual is recommended but not mandatory. With the Focus the best engine in the first part of the American production was the 2.0L Zetec motor and in 2004 the best one was the 2.3L Duratec. Learn how to read VIN codes or engine covers to get the right engine and for the love of God do some research on the best engine for you build.

Now that you’ve got your car or have your car in mind, it’s time to do some work. Rims a.k.a. wheels are usually one of the first things that people go for when customizing their car. If I was a douche from some magazine like Import Tuner or Super Street I would tell you to do that so I could phone in my article and get to work on my own car, but I won’t, because I care about you. Just getting rims is a bad choice. If you like function, as well as appearance, just getting rims are stupid. They are usually heavier than stock and make the car sit higher if you’re getting a bigger size. My recommendation would be to stick with the stockies for now. Go for suspension. Not just lowering springs either. You’ll need some new shock absorbers, springs and anti-roll bars. Depending on how extreme you want to go companies like Eibach, Tein and H&R will usually kit and misc. parts to complete your suspension.

Now that the car is handling well it’s time for some rubber and maybe some rims. As I said before, function is key in a build. Only go with rims that are lighter than the ones that came on your car or are only a couple pounds lighter. Also, depending on the car don’t go bigger than 18” in size or your just being dumb. An alternative to this would be to keep stock wheels and put new tires on them that are more performance oriented. ZR rated summer tires are good unless you live in Seattle. If you live in Seattle then you might want to get an all-weather tire. Tire makers like Goodyear and Yokohama are excellent choices. The best website to find tires and some wheels is TireRack.com, they sell everything. If you’re going the stock wheel/new tire route this allows the saving of money and adding of performance to spend on lightweight wheels later.

So now the car is handling well and you’ve got some new rollers. Now what? Now would be the time to get your air intake, exhaust (full or cat-back), underdrive pulleys and short shifter. The first three add a little extra horsepower and the last is to quicken up your shifts. All these upgrades are very tasteful and can help a car perform way mo’ betta. We haven’t even done a thing to the exterior yet.

Exterior is a tricky thing. Body kits and be functional and garbage. I recommend a front lip or splitter to start off with. Both of these can improve handling (if installed correctly) and look pretty good at the same time. Body kits are weird, because unless you're going to get a widebody one or one that works they're pointless weight adders. We did assume that you liked your car in the first place, right? Use your discretion when working on the body of a car. Only do it if it'll help the car perform. A hood that lets heat out of the engine or a lightweight trunk (only front wheel drive) can be nice, functional, additions.

It’s a proven fact (what I think is cool) that cars with upgrades done to them gradually are way cooler than cars done all at once. Tasteful upgrades followed by increasingly more extreme ones are the best. Plan ahead and make sure you have your money lined up. Depending on how far you're going to take this project it is advisable to make hard decisions in advance. Whether you're going to go for big horsepower is a good question to answer. How fast do you wan to go? Will it be legal? Do I want to be legal? Do I want to look stupid or awesome? Answer these and you'll be well on your way to an awesome car.

Now go do it.

Car Bull No. 1!

The first episode of Car Bull is now up on YouTube.com. The video can be viewed on the vlog list to the right or via the link below! Car news and information, updated weekly.

Car Bull 1: R10, 370 Z, V-Spec, more...

Drive fast...Please.

America is cars and music. It’s just a fact that is evidenced by the way that we live. Look at the roads that we drive on. Look at the way our stores get their inventory. Our roads are huge compared to the old ones of the United Kingdom where our forefathers came from. The majority of the products that each of us buy from Wal-Mart are shipped via an 18 wheeler trucks. Whether you have noticed it or not America has gasoline running through its veins and a thumping backbeat for a heart. Even when people see cars as just transportation they can get into their beige sedan as they leave work on a Friday, hear a good song and immediately be teleported behind the wheel of a red-hot Ferrari. Here for everyone’s consideration I present MY top 10 driving songs. These songs have specifically been chosen to elevate pulses and speedometers.

Now I must take a moment to warn those out their without open minds. Some of these songs, if not more than 50%, will be country songs. I will provide inks to all their videos so that if you make it past this paragraph you can see for yourself if I am lying or not. Oh, yeah., no particular or is meant by each song’s number.

No. 1: Jason Aldean - Johnny Cash (COUNTRY)
This hard driving country track ropes you in from the very start. Thumping drums, wailin’ guitar and cowbell will prepare your foot for the gas mashing to come. Usually I don’t think that a song is necessarily a driving song just because it has random trips and cars in the song, but this one is an exception. Aldean has a voice that sounds like it would be equally suited to 80s stadium rock as much as it fits in with modern country.

No. 2: Kenny Chesney - Young (COUNTRY)
I hesitated to include this song on the list because, at first, I thought it wasn’t fast enough. It didn’t have the deep primal grunt I was looking for. However, I came back to it. Something about the imagery and the harmonies that Chesney puts together just evoke something in the soul of someone, like myself ,who is slowly creeping toward nostalgia. I will add that this song might be more suited to highway driving rather than the quick lane changes of city driving.

No. 3: Dierks Bentley - Free and Easy (COUNTRY)
Now I know what you’re thinking. “Oh, man. Another country song.” I would then say to you, “I already told you this is MY list.” At any rate Dierks would have fallen short with this song if it didn’t have the rolling banjo as it’s base. No banjo. No list. A slick drum beat and a banjo scream speed. That’s why I had to put this song on the list. As an added bonus the song is singing about going down a road. Taken literally or metaphorically the song just revs.

No. 4: Theory of a Deadman - Bad Girlfrriend (ROCK)
If there were a perfect driving song Theory of a Deadman comes as close as you can get. Overdriven guitar and a raspy voiced singer, it doesn’t get much more appropriate than that. This song is also a perfect example of what to do right in a song over and over. When driving there is no time to remember complicated and introspective lyrics. “Bad Girlfriend” gives a Motor Head just what they need, a chorus and some guitar. Thank you very much.

No. 5: Free - All Right Now (ROCK)
Listen and you’ll know what I mean. It’s the only song that Free ever had that was a big hit. The guitar is brilliant and perfectly suited for getting where you’re going very fast. The middle part of the song is somewhat of a detraction because of the slowdown, but think of it as time to look for police and state troopers the guitar comes back around.

No. 6: Sugarland - Down In Mississippi (Up To No Good) (COUNTRY)
I’ve got wildcards coming out of my ears. Sugarland has a female lead singer. The fact that this song made it on the list is a testament to the talent of Jennifer Nettles. She has a great voice and has an innate ability to make a listener forget the content of the song, if they’re male, and just enjoy the ride. I also count this as the one pick I’ll give the ladies to show them I’m not sexist.

No. 7: Del Amitri - Roll To Me (ROCK)
Now I do this one in honor of my father. There has to be a variety in your driving mix and without that the drive becomes monotonous. I’ve tried to create a balance in this list and Del Amitri provides some of that ballast. Their hit “Roll To Me” from the 90s is an upbeat rock rhythm that puts you in a mood of relaxation while at the same time creating a need for speed.

No. 8: Kenny Loggins - Danger Zone (ROCK) (sorta)
…Speaking of a “need for speed.” Kenny Loggins played a big part in making Top Gun cool (as if freakin’ jets aren’t enough). Listening to this song in the appropriate car with appropriate horsepower will make you think that you are wearing a flight suit and a helmet that says “Maverick,” or “Goose” if you’re lame. It’s the imagery brought on by being paired with a jet movie like Top Gun that makes this song so cool.

No. 9: AC/DC - Rock ‘n’ Roll Train (ROCK)
AC/DC has many songs that are worthy of being on anyone’s driving list. I put this one on here to represent all of those even though it is the most recent. Never let it be said that AC/DC had a varied formula but, boy it sure is a formula that works. I have yet to hear a song from them that didn’t sound awesome. AC/DC has made yet another driving hit with Rock ‘n’ Roll Train.

No. 10: Brad Paisley & Keith Urban - Start A Band (COUNTRY)
Honestly, who thought I was going to end the list with songs that weren’t country. Paisley and Urban are two of the top guitarists in country music today and show off their guitar chops on this song. The chorus makes the song. The tune is simple and catchy. There isn’t much more to say than that. The song just rocks.

A list is never really finished. This is just a taste of thousands of songs that are good for driving. Whether screaming around town or laying it out on the freeway I guarantee, if you’ve got the gears to shift, these songs will send you into a world of pounding hearts and high speed where tickets run rampant.

Disclaimer: I endorse all moments of speed and driving fast.

Palm Beach Supercar Weekend 2009

The sights. The sounds. Nothing can getcha as excited as real sports cars. Now by ‘getcha’ I may not be talking about you, I may just be talking about myself. I know I’m not though. Seeing cars on YouTube.com or StreetFire.net is one thing, but seeing the real thing, hearing the real thing and smelling the real thing is what it’s all about. Palm Beach just held its 4th annual Supercar Weekend on Flagler Drive. The event caused thousands of people to flock down to the Flagler waterfront and take part in the appreciation of all these wonderful automobiles.

Having gone down to Palm Beach myself and taken part in all the festivities I am happy to report that Supercar Weekend is well worth the gas money and $30 admission. It would be advisable for those who wish to get their full money’s worth to go in the afternoon. This way, not only will you be able to see all the cars relaxing along the drive you will also be able to see them start up and leave. As is evidenced by anyone’s heart rate when a Ferrari cranks its engine, looks are 10 percent of a car and the other 90 percent is taken in when the car has its engine roaring.

As expected there were numerous Lamborghinis and Ferraris but it was the cars that weren’t so common that attracted the most attention. The Koenigsegg CCX for instance was one of the cars that had a massive crowd around it constantly. I could only take a guess as to what attracted so many to the CCX but it’s still an educated one though. It could have had something to do with the doors on the Koenigsegg that not only open, but open in one of the most unique ways ever conceived on a car. Talk to anyone who has seen these Dihedral Synchro-Helix Actuating doors in action and they are more than likely to tell you that they are one of the craziest and most awe inspiring things they have ever seen on a car. Numerous car forums throughout the internet can be found with thread upon thread devoted to the discussion and design of these doors.

There wasn’t much for activities for any non car fans that you might bring along other than yakking about fashion with the wives of the car owners that had also been dragged to the show. I can’t really think that anyone car loving or not would expect anything else than cars at an event titled Palm Beach SuperCAR Weekend.

For those of you who didn’t make it this year keep checking the PalmBeachSupercarWeekend website for next years dates and photos that the site will post later. Until then please find below a video of the many sights and sounds of the event that I have made with some of my own footage and pictures.