Car Parts 2011

Welcome to #6 of Freak of the Week, where for every weekend, Weimann, Chin, and I look for something balls off the wall crazy, weird, or just polarizing and worth talking about.

credits: www.hotrod.com

This week, we feature Ken "King of Chop" Prather's '62 Minibus.

Apparently, Ken "always wanted to build a mid-engine hot rod." Any other day I would have been able to throw out a dozen different ways to go about the idea... but after seeing Ken's work, I'm rendered utterly speechless.

Beginning the build with a 7 inch chop and a grey finish to get the 'bus in a proper rod stance, Ken apparently ended up with a few loose screws during the build-- fitting the 'bus with a roll cage, modified fuel cell, drag parachute, a custom frame fitting fatty 10 inch wide 5 spokes at the back, and a throttle pedal made from a spoon once found in his kitchen. But the centerpiece of his insanity in this machine? The mid mounted blown Chevy 355 small block. But look at the pictures below. There's NOTHING small about it!

Finally, what really made me smile was that Ken actually took this bus on a 4,000 mile road trip. A trek to Mecca, of sorts... from his home in Waterford, Pennsylvania to the Bonneville Salt Flats of Utah.

credits: www.hotrod.com

credits: www.hotrod.com

credits: www.hotrod.com

credits: www.hotrod.com

credits: www.hotrod.com

credits: www.hotrod.com

credits: www.hotrod.com

credits: www.hotrod.com

Before there was the El Camino there was the coupe pickup. Simply remove the trunk lid and slide in a bed and you've got a truck. Beginning as a business coupe which had a shorter roof length and no back seat (so you can put all the shit you intended to sell in it) there was an optional model where you could also convert it temporarily to a truck. Now there were Utes at the time as well but with this style you could have a car or a truck, how awesome is that? Now I've seen Utes but I have yet to see one of these rare beasts with a bed in all my hot rodding years. It is truly a unique, funky, and cool vehicle. It was ahead of its time and a real odd man out...

Do you ever find yourself in the mood to watch a race and turn on the Speed Channel only to find Pimp My Ride or hour after hour of Barrett-Jackson auctions?  If you're like me, there's a series of reactions to this.  First, there's a feeling of anger/disappointment.  This is followed by being perplexed at how 18 TVs fit into one car.  Then, something on the auction block piques my interest and I settle in for a couple hours with dreams of buying some of those ridiculously priced concept cars from the 50s or maybe a nicely restored, numbers matching, overpriced Hemi Cuda.  Well, this post is here to slap you upside the head because there are much more interesting cars to find than what's at Barrett-Jackson, Mecum, or RM.

virginmedia.com

In the market for a vintage race car?  How about a 1938 Delahaye 135MS?
 In 1938 this car came with a 3.6 liter inline-6 which was good for about 135 horsepower.  It could do an incredible 100 mph with that amount of power.  Neither of those numbers sounds like much compared to today's cars but back then 100mph meant your face was about to peel off if you hit the accelerator anymore.

This car doesn't exactly have the history or panache of a fully documented, championship winner... but WHO CARES when it looks this good?!  If you're interested, it can be found here.

There's also this 1948 Delahaye 135M roadster for those that want something that looks more like a boulevard cruiser than a competitor at Le Mans.
This particular Delahaye has been restored in California.  It is powered by the same motor as the race car except for a few missing carbs and has as much power as a Scion xD.  Yet, those 115 horses only have to propel 2,450 pounds via the rear wheels.  I'm pretty sure you'd get more looks in this than a Scion also.

Not into French built roadsters?  Prefer being pampered and chauffeured?  There is nothing like old world British elegance in the form of a Rolls-Royce Phantom.
This 1934 model of the Phantom houses a 7.7 liter inline-6 for immense amounts of low end torque to whisk its passengers in quiet comfort.  Though when called upon, that monstrosity of a motor can generate ludicrous speeds as displayed on its 120mph speedometer.  Remember, this is from 1934 not the current Phantom which is loved by Cristal imbibing clientele.

For the rest of us, the meat and potato kind of guys, I present some American muscle, both old and new.  First up is a 1957 Chevy pickup restomod.

www.ironworksspeedandkustom.com

Not everyone wants to drive a restored old truck.  Some of us like new conveniences like brakes that work and engines that fire up reliably.  This 57 Chevy is pretty much a mashup of C5 and C6 Corvette mechanicals with modified pickup truck aesthetics.  It puts down 598 dyno verified horsepower from a built 402ci LS2.  Handling duties are controlled by a tube chassis and C6 suspension parts.  Pizza sized Wilwood brakes stop this black beauty.

When handling and stopping are less of an issue and going fast in a straight line takes priority, there's nothing like a muscle car.  In this case, it has to be a grabber blue 1970 Mustang Boss 429.
This is the most badass blue monster that I've seen since that lagoon creature ate the entire Smurf village my junior year in college.  This is a numbers matching car located in Missourri and seems to be in damn good condition.  Since it's numbers matching, the specs don't need to be regurgitated here.  Let's just say that if you drove any of these cars, Xzibit wouldn't need to pop your collar for you to be a pimp.