West Coast Customs 1959 Corvette

Not much info on this, but I saw these photos on WCC's Flickr feed and for sure they caught my eye. Built for (deep breath) rapper, musician, songwriter, singer, actor and producer Will.I.Am of the Black-Eyed Peas, it's a'59 Corvette C1 body on a cutom-made tube chassis with modern-day Corvette C6 running gear. So that means a 376ci (6.2 litre) GM  LS3 lump. The satin trim really looks the part, the interior lees so; it looks to be from the same C6 donor, so looks a little out of place compared to the exterior, but I do like the iPad built into the centre console.
Very restrained by WCC standards, it shows that Ryan Friedlinghaus's company can build some great cars when their clients allow them to.

'A body like yours, Oughta be in jail, Cause it's on the verge of being obscene' 

'I guess I shoulda known, By the way you parked your car sideways, That it wouldn't last'

'I guess I must be dumb, Cause you had a pocket full of horses' 

'Believe it or not, I started to worry, I wondered if I had enough class' 

'But it was Saturday night, I guess that makes it all right, And you say, "Baby, have you got enough gas?" Oh yeah' 

Insert Prince 'Little Red Corvette' lyric here

'Damn, shoulda called rock...'

Taking Aim

Straight & True

1970 Meyers Manx Buggy - Designer Bug

Beach buggies. The iconic VW-based kit car of the 1970's, but unfortunately stuck in that decade image wise, at least in my opinion. But this one has been dragged kicking and screaming into 2011, by a man who should know a thing or two about design. Derek Jenkins, the former chief designer of Volkswagen's Design Centre in California (now at Mazda); involved in such projects as the Microbus Concept vehicle and Concept 1, that formed the basis of the New Beetle. He's cast his expert eye over a classic Meyers Manx buggy as a personal project, the result of which is quite brilliant. Not a man to rest though; he's already thinking of a carbonfibre body and a Subaru flat four powerplant...
Get ready to search eBay after going bug-eyed reading this.

More Buggy features to come...

T.W.O. - Matt Hotch’s Vincent Chopper

If you see a chopper with ultra clean lines and without any wire and cables, you can be assured that it has come out of Matt Hotch’s garage. And if the owner said he paid a lot of money for the beauty, rest assured it has to be a Matt Hotch design. Well, champion builder Matt Hotch became famous for building radical styled clean choppers. The choppers are hand built only by him, guaranteed for life - and bloody costly.

I'm not sure of the price tag on this Vincent, but is rumoured to be around $85,000.

If you remember the Biker Build Off series on Discovery Channel, you might remember the episode featuring Matt Hotch vs. Roger Goldammer. Heavily promoted as a battle between two heavyweights, Matt was the then 2-time reigning BBO champion, squaring off with 2-times former champ Goldammer. Matt first exhibited his 1951 Vincent chopper, based on a Black Shadow, which was going to take on Goldammer’s very unconventional 2-stroke Yamaha RD250 on the Bonneville Salt Flats for the gold. Matt built his hi-tech version of a post-war Vincent Black Shadow against Roger’s purpose built racing machine with elements of dirt bike and race bike powered by a go-kart engine. Hotch and Goldammer met in Canada to ride 900 miles together to the salt flats of Bonneville. For the record, Goldammer won.

The bike is a major departure for him, since it’s based around a classic British Vincent V-twin, but with a 26-inch front wheel and as Matt puts it, “a bunch of crazy stuff.” As for the choice of the 1950s Vincent, the fastest production bike of its time, Matt says, “My grandfather had one when he was a hooligan and hillclimbing.”

What is a Vincent? well, Vincent HRD Motorcycles made top-end motorbikes 1928 to 1955. Their 1948 Black Shadow was at the time the world's fastest production motorcycle. In 1955 the company discontinued motorcycle production after experiencing heavy financial losses. For those of you that think British motorcycles are all parallel twins, look again; Vincents had a dyed in the wool purpose-built V-twin engine. British companies experimented with V-twins until the proliferation of the parallel twin motor that was much lighter, more efficient, and more compact. It was the perfect engine for the small-framed motorcycles typical of British companies.
Not much info on the bike though on his website or anywhere. Famed Vincent engine maestro Steve Hamel built the engine; a 998 cc (60.9 cu in) 50 degree OHV V-twin.  Matt has maintained his ‘invisible wires and cables’ look in this chopper as well, the body is a pure form of art, cuvaceous and on a exercise diet. The rear wheel is a size 180+ mm (probably 200mm) and I definitely like the curve of those twin exhausts.

Matt Hotch built a one of a kind Vincent that represents well the meticulous image that British motorcycles have upheld for years. Take a look at the detail on this custom by Matt Hotch. The vintage pieces blend seamlessly with the new parts to create a beautifully integrated work of art.

Matt has been customizing choppers since 16. His philosophy – Perfection Is Possible. It shows.

Info compiled from various sources,

Nürburgring 6 Hours, July 8 1973

The start of the race. The no.15 Jägermeister CSL, driven by Niki Lauda and Hans-Peter Joisten, finished third. The no.12 BMW-Motorsport CSL, driven by Chris Amon and Hans-Joachim Stuck, came in first. The no.10 CSL, driven by Toine Hezemans, Dieter Quester and Harald Menzel came in second.

Street Life: Call Me A Doctor, This Type 3's Making Me Faint

Most of my recent car related sightings seem to revolve around my car accident. To sum up, my BMW E21 was rear-ended by a Smart Roadster driven by a no-so-smart driver, which resulted in whiplash and an old shoulder injury flaring up. As part of my claim, I had to have an assessment by an independent GP based in the West End of London. This was parked opposite:

A 1969 VW Type 3 Variant, don'tcha know.

Normally I'd run a mile from 'patina', but this car's looked natural:

Roof racks are so overplayed, but this didn't look out of place:

Fuchs 4 bolt wheels from a Porsche 914. A friend of mine has a set on his Type 3 Fastback, I think they really suit these cars:

The sight of this definitely eased my physical pain. Wonder if I can get one on my medical plan?

If The Mari Celeste Was A BMW Dealership...

A normal building? Let's look closer...

The story goes that in '88 the dealer, Citation Motors, had his concession license revoked for unknown reasons. They then moved to Toronto under the name Downtown BMW, which in 2002 closed up shop. The owner, apparently a well-off German business man, seemed to have no interest in selling the place, or even the inventory, as everything seems to have been left behind intact.

An E24 635csi, 68 or 6000km on the clock (depending on who you believe) frozen in time.

Another 'fly in aspic', this time an E28 5 series.

Out back; looks like an E23 7 series, another 6er, and what looks like an R65 bike.

More from the service dept; that E24 may have been on the ramp for TWENTY THREE years...

Don't fret; it's just a picture...

More from this fascinating (and eerie) find here.

Land Rover DC100 concept

First introduced in 1948, the Land Rover Defender has been one of the world’s most iconic off-road vehicles. Little has changed in the design or technology over the past six decades and Land Rover has enjoyed sales of more than two million worldwide as a result. Now however, an all-new Defender will be released in 2015 based on the DC100 concept, set to be unveiled at this year’s Frankfurt Motor Show.

Images of the DC100 released by Land Rover show a vehicle radically brought into the 21st century with curved edges and sleek lines a stark contrast to the straight and boxy original Defender. Die-hard fans of the original are probably not best pleased with the concept’s design, however it is clear Land Rover are looking to the future.

Gerry McGovern, Land Rover's Director of Design said:

'Replacing the iconic Defender is one of the biggest challenges in the automotive design world; it is a car that inspires people worldwide,' he said. 'This isn't a production-ready concept but the beginning of a four-year journey to design a relevant Defender for the 21st century.'

John Edwards, global brand director Land Rover, added:

 'Loved the world over for its simple, honest and distinctive design, we are determined that the new Defender will be true to its heritage, while meeting the requirements of a changing global market.
'We plan to engage with existing and potential customers to help us finalise the details of the new vehicle. One thing's for sure, it's going to be an exciting journey, and we can't wait to get going.'

Few details of the next generation Defender are available, however Land Rover are expected to maintain the vehicle’s immense off-road ability and possibly market the car in the U.S. The current Defender has not been available since 1997 as it does not comply with current U.S. safety regulations.

N.B. Remember, its a concept, the first step in replacing the Defender, not the last. Personally, I like the idea, provided the Landie's legendary off-road ability isn't compromised in any way. The current Defender only sells to a niche market (squeezed out by its main rivals, the Toyota Land Cruiser and Nissan Patrol) and there's the pressure for an updated version for the Armed Forces, the service vehicle market etc. It's a mammoth task and has to be done. I hope they get it right.