Combine the best sounds from camping and off-roading with some of the best views you can imagine, and you have a perfect recipe for an overlanding ASMR video. If you haven’t heard of ASMR videos yet, then you might be living under a rock or you forgot to pay your cell phone bill and ran out of data. ASMR stands for Auditory Sensory Meridian Response. It's basically a scientific phrase that means sounds that make your brain tingle, and that’s exactly what we have here.

We headed to Lone Pine California to film our overlanding ASMR video in the ever so popular Alabama Hills. That location set the perfect backdrop for snow covered mountains with a foreground of dirt trails and rocky features. It was also the perfect terrain to test out a Lexus GX470 equipped with Nitto Tire Ridge Grapplers and a Toyota 4Runner TRD pro equipped with the factory Nitto Tire Terra Grapplers.

We drove both vehicles to the shoot location and them home. Not only did the Nittos perform exceptionally well in the dirt, but they also provided a smooth and quiet ride home down the 395. Turn up your speakers, put on some headphones and enjoy the best sounds of overlanding in this beautiful ASMR video.

Want more ASMR goodness? Watch our off-roading and tire installation videos!

I have a secret to confess. I’ve never really been in love with the Honda scene.

Don’t get me wrong—I love Hondas. My first car was a Honda, and my first engine swap, nitrous installation and trip down the 1320 were all in that same Honda. I currently own a Honda project car (maybe one day I’ll actually work on it). Regardless, I’ve always loved how well Hondas seem to do everything with the right work, and how they can still surprise owners of much more expensive born-and-bred sports cars.

But for every clean, highly tuned and respectable Honda driven hard at the track or strip, there have always been hundreds of H-badged jalopies slammed on cut springs, with knock-off wheels and terribly fitted “aero,” hollowed-out cats and raspy exhausts trying (and often failing) to buzz through freeway traffic as if they were in a Super GT race. Call me crazy, but I’ve just never liked that.

Fortunately, that’s all changing.

One of the Best Keeps Getting Better

This year’s 15th-annual Eibach Honda Meet left me with two lasting impressions. First, that the West Coast’s biggest Honda meet is continuing to grow and evolve. Second, that the Honda scene at large is evolving into much higher quality, much more respectable territory.

Like last year, this year’s event combined the usual vendor area and top-flight Honda builds with a full day of drag race competition and test-and-tune sessions, as well as a huge general-admission meet. The vendor area was absolutely top notch, bringing out the cleanest and most skillfully built Hondas anywhere outside the SEMA Show, including several debuts of all-new projects.

The two sickest cars of the show (in my personal opinion) were event co-founder Ryan Hoegner’s race-prepped and absolutely flawless EK and EG Civics. Inside and out, these are just about what I imagine the perfect Honda build to be.  

Coming in a hot second were Hybrid Racing’s matching FK8 Civic Type R and EK Civic hatch. We all know by now just how startlingly fast the FK8 is around a racetrack, and SP Engineering tuner Kristian Wong’s EK is really starting to look to be a worthy challenger to its Type R offspring.

GReddy’s ridiculously clean, period-correct EF hatch was also awesome to finally see in the metal, along with event MC Big Mike’s endlessly clean Prelude.

One outlaw Wangan-looking, turbocharged, street/track EG Civic hatch stole a piece of my heart, though. It might not have been as clean or crazy as others around it, but was definitely loved and rocked proper JDM Nitto rubber (ma’ man!).

FCS Fabrication’s long-nose “ghostrider” DC2 stole the show in the unofficial drag-prepped category among vendors (having blasted  8.2-second ¼-mile ETs in previous competition), but following closely was the monster 4Piston Racing EG Civic on display by Eat Sleep Race.

Time-attackers will recognize Spoon Sports’ center-drive FD2 from Super Lap Battle competition, as well as “Damn Gina” Miller’s S2000 from its battle against Meng Tea’s DC2 in a past episode of our Driver Battles series—both were in attendance at the Eibach meet.

Every Model and Generation

Moving up toward the gen-pop area, these trends of clean street/performance modification largely continued. Unsurprisingly, Civics and Integras were still the most popular models present, and no matter how much the lines have evolved over the years, it’s safe to say their mid/late-'90s chassis will remain the crowd favorites.

There were plenty of street and track builds, turbo and supercharged, naturally aspirated, and swapped with venerable Honda B, K, H and J-series engines.

Despite however much of a black sheep the ninth-generation Honda Civic may prove to be, SoCal 9s' crew brought probably more of them to the mat than any other generation of the model, most with very strong show-car approaches to their builds.

Likewise, the impressive number of FC Civics, Civic SIs and FK8 Civic Type Rs we saw seemed to grow as well.

There were fewer S2000s in attendance, but the ones that did come out were by and large very clean. We’re hoping this trend continues, with prices of clean, well-maintained S2000s down significantly over what they were just a few years ago.

While nowhere near as affordable, the same could be said of NSXs and their apparent uptick at the Eibach Honda Meet. Today they sell for less than ever, with most having lived an even cushier first life and make for great project cars or even daily drivers.

One of the coolest thing about a meet the size of Eibach is how many odd and rare models it pulls. From EP3 Civics to CRZs, Accords, TSXs, a bunch of CRVs and even a perfectly restored second-gen Civic hatch, nearly every cool Honda was in attendance.

Along with the mix of chassis came a healthy mix of styles. As more of a performance-head, I loved seeing the multitude of track-prepped or track-inspired builds in attendance…

...But also as someone who appreciates creativity and hard work, there were plenty of “odd” builds that caught my eye. Not saying it was all my cup o’ tea, but there was a lot to see and respect.

Quarter-Mile Proving Grounds

Let’s talk more about that performance aspect. For the second time in as many years, the Eibach Honda Meet’s drag race competition and open test-n-tune sessions have given Honda straight-liners a place to test their cars’ limits, settle grudges or add another title to their lists of accomplishment.

Although not as hotly attended as, say, the annual Import Faceoff races that happen at Fontana twice a year, the event did bring out a number of the area’s fastest turbo and all-motor competitors, as well as dozens of surprisingly fast street cars.

This is another area where the growing reliability of Honda owners’ projects should be highlighted. Where a half-dozen years ago broken axles and blown motors were the norm for a Honda drag racing event, I can’t remember seeing a single one of either this time around. Just lots of low ETs with very little incident.

Final Thoughts

If you’re a Honda fan to the core, or your business has to do with Hondas, you simply have to make it out to the Eibach Honda Meet. But if you’re a fan of performance, modification, style and sport-compact power in general—even if you’ve never been a fan of the Honda scene—you owe it to yourself to check it out, too. Trust me, you’ll be glad you did.

This Spoon Sports Accord Euro R is the real deal and races here in the U.S.

On May 10, 2019, Travis Reeder slid into history as the driver of the first electric drift car to qualify for Formula Drift in his Napoleon Motorsports EL1 Camaro, earning 67 points on his second qualifying run. After the much-documented drama surrounding the car at Formula Drift Long Beach, and a mechanical issue that kept the car from competing at the second event of the season in Orlando, the team was relieved to put the car into the show at Road Atlanta.

But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Let’s get back to how Travis Reeder navigated his way through the grassroots and Pro-Am circuits to get into Formula Drift in the first place! 

The Early Years

Reeder was part of a family of gearheads growing up in Vancouver, Washington. His parents were always into cars, having various hot rods in the garage and watching NASCAR or NHRA drag racing on the weekends. As soon as Reeder got his driver’s license, he knew he wanted to get into drifting because it was the cool new sport and very affordable to participate in. “A weekend of drifting would cost a couple hundred bucks, which is much cheaper than a lot of other motorsports,” Reeder said. Since his family was a normal working class family and didn’t have deep pockets, he knew that cost would be a factor in getting involved with any motorsport.

Reeder’s first vehicle was a hand-me-down mid-'90s Toyota pickup truck, and as soon as he officially got it from his dad, he did what any kid who wants to get involved in drifting and has a little bit of welding know-how would do: He welded the differential and started to slide it around at any chance he got. Of course, he didn’t actually tell his parents that he welded the diff, but who really tells their parents about welding the differential in the hand-me-down pickup truck? A few years later, Reeder received some money from family and friends that was intended to help him get a start in college, but instead, Reeder decided to use that money to go purchase a used 1991 Nissan 240SX S13 coupe. That coupe is the same Nissan S13 that Reeder used to win the 2018 Formula Drift Pro 2 championship and was the stand-in car for the first two rounds of the Pro 1 series in 2019.

Rolling Through Evergreen Drift ProAm

The Nissan S13 Coupe would be the workhorse drift car for Reeder over the following six years. He slowly built it over time, adding parts as his budget would allow and driving at as many local events as possible to build up his experience. Six years after acquiring the car, Reeder felt like he was ready to start competing and entered the Evergreen Drift ProAm series just outside of Seattle in 2016. This same series has spawned several Formula Drift drivers in the past, including Walker Wilkerson, Ian Fournier, Kyle Pollard and Cameron Moore.

Reeder ended up finishing second at the first ProAm event he entered and won his second event. He wasn’t expecting to see results so quickly in competition, but was happy with them and continued to push towards a bigger goal. Overall, Reeder claimed four of five podium finishes in his first competitive season and won the championship by six points over Matt VanKirk. With the Evergreen ProAm series conquered, Reeder turned his attention to the next level.

Ups and Downs in Formula Drift Pro 2

Reeder' success continued into the start of the 2017 Formula Drift Pro 2 season, as he earned second in his first event at Orlando Speedworld and won the second event at Road Atlanta. After two events in the 2017 Formula Drift Pro 2 series, Travis Reeder held a 78 point lead over the next closest competitor. The next two rounds didn’t go as smoothly, as Reeder lost to fellow Evergreen Drift alumni Dylan Hughes in the Top 8 of Round 3 at Evergreen Speedway and Austin Meeks in the Top 16 in the season finale at Irwindale Speedway. What looked like a lock for a championship turned into him finishing in second by just two points, narrowly losing the championship to Kevin Lawrence. That finish motivated Travis to work even harder for 2018.

Reeder returned in 2018 with a new motivation for success but failed to qualify at the first event in Orlando. He bounced back in Atlanta with a podium finish (again losing to Dylan Hughes in their semifinal battle), and strung together back-to-back wins at St. Louis and Texas to win the championship by 18 points. 

Looking ahead to the 2019 season, Reeder was a rising star to watch. He knew he wanted to move up to the top tier of competition but lacked the proper funding to make a Pro 1 program happen. He faced a few different options: either take a season off, save up funds, and try to make a privateer effort at running the Pro 1 class, or return to Pro 2 and try to continue the success and momentum. Knowing that professional drifting is as competitive as it is, Reeder thought that while taking a season off was the better financial choice, the lost momentum via social media and with sponsors could hurt his chances of ever making a return. Thus, he vowed to return to Pro 2 and just try to continue with on-track success in hopes of impressing some potential sponsors.

Reeder brought his car back to his home in Vancouver, Washington and started the normal offseason prep: tearing apart and refreshing parts like the engine, transmission and differential, fixing any broken parts, taking stock of the spares he had available to him, stripping the livery and evaluating options. Then, in February of this year, he got a phone call.

Napoleon Motorsports Enters the Picture

Napoleon Motorsports had begun building their Camaro EL1 electric drift car in October of 2018, and had partnered with a driver who was local to them in Texas. However, an unexpected opportunity outside of drifting materialized for that driver that was too good to pass up. That left Napoleon Motorsports with a vacancy in their drivers seat, and a very short period of time to fill it. They chose to give the 2018 Pro 2 champion a call, and Reeder answered it.

“They laid down their plan for the car and the powerplant, and at first I was a little confused. They continued to detail their plans, and I realized that there wasn’t a question of if they were going to be bringing the car to drifting, it was whether I was interested in being the driver to pilot that car. I knew right away that it was going to be a game changer for drifting, so I was stoked to be involved with it!” said Reeder. Shortly after the phone call, he booked a flight to Texas to meet with the team and look over the car, and he knew he was in good hands for his rookie effort in Formula D Pro 1.

When Reeder landed in Texas, he quickly realized he had made the right decision. “I was very impressed with how professional the whole operation was. The car was very well put together, all the fabrication was awesome, the planning for the electrical was well thought out, and it gave me even more confidence in the program than I already had,” he said. For Reeder, he knew the program was going to be revolutionary and innovative, and he was excited to be a key part in the process.

The first drive of the car reminded Reeder that this wasn’t going to be a quick or easy journey. He had to retrain his brain to think about the Camaro differently than how he operated his Nissan S13. Thankfully, Reeder picked up an E36 BMW as a practice car in the 2018 offseason, and jumping from the S13 to the E36 was a great training tool to remind him that he had to treat each car differently. “When I drove the Camaro for the first time, it was definitely very different, but it was the best kind of different. It drove way better out of the box than I expected! I had full faith in the team, I just wasn’t sure how the concept of an electric drift car would drive,” said Reeder. The more he’s driven the car, the more confidence he’s gained, and the team has continued to add traction and grip to make the car even better.

Making History in Atlanta

After Reeder drove the first two events of the 2019 Formula Drift Championship in his refreshed Nissan S13 Coupe chassis, Reeder and the team committed themselves to putting the Camaro on grid at Road Atlanta. Thursday practice went smoothly for the team, which was an upgrade from the Orlando round when some gremlins parked the car for the entire weekend. Moving into the Friday practice and qualifying sessions, once Reeder turned a single wheel on track in the Camaro, he was committed to it for the weekend. But the laps were adding up, data was being gathered, and the team was dialing in more grip and traction into the car, proving that it wasn’t just a one-hit wonder.

Unfortunately, as Reeder pulled the car into the burnout box ahead of his first of two qualifying laps, the car went into limp mode. “As I watched the driver in front of me take off from the starting line, we had to make a decision as to if we were going to take our qualifying lap. We decided that we wanted to show the Camaro in the best possible light, so we passed up our first qualifying lap to diagnose the problem and work out the solution instead of trying to qualify in limp mode,” said Reeder. That decision turned out to be the right one!

As Reeder pulled back to the line for his second qualifying lap around 90 minutes later, the car would make history. The qualifying lap was a relatively safe one that scored 67 points out of 100, which left some room for improvement had he taken two full qualifying laps, but kept Reeder above the cutoff line for tandem competition. As luck would have it, Reeder landed in the 31st qualifier position, which matched him up against second place qualifier and fellow Nitto Tire driver Chelsea DeNofa for the Top 32 round. While Nitto only sponsors five drivers on the grid, Reeder has had the misfortune of matching up against a fellow Nitto driver in the first round of tandems at each of the first three events of the year. Reeder defeated Alex Heilbrunn in the Top 32 round at Long Beach, but lost to Ryan Tuerck in Orlando. All he needs to finish his bingo card of facing all Nitto drivers in the first round would be to face Vaughn Gittin Jr.!

Reeder lost his first tandem battle in the EL1 Camaro against DeNofa but continues to lead the Formula Drift Rookie of the Year chase. Just three events into the season, he sits in 20th place overall in the Formula Drift Pro championship standings. Reeder and Napoleon Motorsports are aiming to continue developing the Camaro chassis and hope to see continuously improving results through the remaining five rounds of the Formula Drift season. If you want to know more about Travis Reeder's EL1 Camaro, listen to him talk about it on the Konig Wheels podcast.

Stay tuned to Driving Line for additional coverage of Reeder and the rest of Formula Drift!

The first event of the 2019 Formula Drift season was not a fun one for Ryan Tuerck. After qualifying seventh in Long Beach, Tuerck’s Toyota GT86 had a major collision with the wall in practice, damaging the chassis beyond repair.

Once the event was over, Tuerck and his team frantically began to upgrade his GT86 “street car” that he made for drift demos into his new competition car. Everything had to be finished in less than two weeks in order to ship the car cross-country to Formula Drift Orlando and make the competition. While the new chassis was completed in the nick of time, it took an additional event to get the car back to the competitive level of the previous chassis. With five events left in the Formula Drift season, Tuerck should be considered as much of a championship threat as ever!

The Thrash

After the Long Beach event ended, Tuerck and his team evaluated the car and found the damage to be too much to repair. Despite hitting a tire wall that drastically reduced the force of the collision, the transmission tunnel had been compromised and the front driver's side suspension mounting points had shifted several inches. While a repair might have been possible, there was too great a risk of the chassis' integrity being compromised to make it a good idea. Tuerck originally built this chassis for the 2013 season, which marks six full seasons of competition, making it the longest running chassis on the Formula Drift grid. Retiring the car was probably slightly overdue, but Tuerck’s continued success made that decision hard. This final hit was the push that the team needed to move on to a newer, straighter chassis.

As we mentioned in our Formula Drift Orlando recap, Tuerck wasn’t even allowed to do much of the work due to suffering a concussion in the wreck, and thus had to rely on his team to do most of the heavy lifting.

Orlando Was Good, Atlanta Was Great

Formula Drift Orlando was a good shakedown run for Tuerck and the team. “Even though the car uses all of the same parts as the last car, it still feels like a different car,” said Tuerck after his initial shakedown in Orlando.

Tuerck put down a 95 point qualifying run, which only slotted him into 15th place overall. In the tandem competition, he lost a tough battle with Dai Yoshihara in the Top 16 round but was ready to improve on those results in Atlanta.

With several more practice sessions (and several more Nitto tires burned up), Tuerck laid down a 97 point qualifying run during the Road Atlanta qualifying session, which slotted him into third.

While he was outgunned by Fredric Aasbo, who took the top spot, and his Nitto Tire teammate Chelsea DeNofa, who took second, Tuerck was getting more and more comfortable in the newly-assembled chassis.

In tandem battles, Tuerck rose to the occasion on his Nitto NT555 G2s. After taking out Brazillian rookie Joao Barion in the Top 32 and Dean Kearney in the Top 16, Tuerck was able to defeat Worthouse Drift driver Piotr Wiecek in the Top 8 after a tough battle and also took out Michael Essa in the Top 4.

Facing his first final round of the season, Tuerck was up against top qualifier Aasbo. While he didn’t earn the victory, he was glad to return to the podium for the first time since Evergreen Speedway last season.

The Rest of the Field

Qualifying took place in a mix of wet and dry conditions, and the previously mentioned Aasbo (Q1), Denofa (Q2) and Tuerck (Q3) took the top of the qualifying charts. Defending two-time champion James Deane slotted into Q4, while current points leader Odi Bakchis rounded out the top five. Nitto Tire drivers Alex Heilbrunn (Q23), Vaughn Gittin Jr (Q24) and Travis Reeder (Q31) all qualified for tandem competition. 

In the tandem battles, three of the five Nitto Tire drivers won their first tandem battles, with Gittin Jr. taking out Ken Gushi, DeNofa taking out Reeder, and Tuerck taking out Barion, as previously mentioned. Heilbrunn fell to a fellow BMW in Michael Essa. Both Ford Mustang RTR drift cars didn’t escape the Top 16 tandem round as Gittin Jr. fell to Chris Forsberg and DeNofa fell to Pat Goodin, but Tuerck’s second place finish was the shining moment for the Nitto Tire drivers. Defending champion James Deane rounded out the podium, making Tuerck the only American in the awards ceremony.

DeNofa, Tuerck and Gittin Jr. are now 7th, 8th and 10th in the championship standings respectivey, just 119 points/120 points/124 points behind Bakchis. With five events remaining, all three should still consider themselves to be championship contenders. Heilbrunn sits in 17th place and will be looking to return to the podium for the first time since 2017, while Reeder leads the Rookie of the Year points chase in 20th position. The next round on the 2019 Formula Drift championship calendar takes place at Wall Speedway in New Jersey, which is known to be rough on cars and tires.

Orlando was also the historic on-track debut of Travis Reeder's electric drift Camaro!

Whenever we look for cars to participate in our Driver Battles series, we look for ones with that “it” factor. They need something that sets them apart from the sea of other track cars, be a ton of speed, the best mods or the car itself being a halo vehicle. When we found Johnson Mac’s ’94 Mazda RX-7, we knew we had the perfect contender on our hands. It has all three of those things in spades, and it didn’t disappoint.

There are way too many mods to list here, but to give a taste, it has an Evo-R GT2 carbon wing with Bubbletech wingstands, an AC Fabricators V-mount intercooler/radiator and Nitto NT01 tires. It makes 400hp with a weight of only 2,860 lbs, so it certainly has the power-to-weight ratio of a strong competitor.

To see everything that makes this car special, watch the video above!

Another excellent example of a rotary Mazda is this ’93 RX-7 R1.

Aside from the Jeep Wrangler, possibly the next most easily recognizable vehicle on the planet is the HMMWV. Short for High Mobility Multi-Purpose Wheeled Vehicle, the HMMWV was originally designed for the U.S. Military in 1979. The idea was to create an off-road capable troop carrier that could be configured in multiple ways to carry high payloads and various battle-ready setups. It wouldn’t be until the early '90s that a civilian version would be offered to the public.

Part of what creates the HMMWV’s iconic look is the completely independent front and rear suspension. Thanks to geared hubs at each wheel end, the HMMWV boasts an impressive 16 inches of ground clearance. While the civilian version has been out of production for over a decade, the market for used military surplus HMMWVs seems to be as strong as ever. Part of the draw of the military HMMWV is that they are extremely bare bones, many without doors or a top.

While something so stripped down may scare many away, for others, it’s the perfect blank canvas to create something beyond your run-of-the-mill wheeling machine. For Joey Osborne, his ’92 HMMWV was just that. Though he could have started off with a newer civilian version, the allure of a more custom vehicle had him hooked. Of course, the road leading to a custom vehicle is never a short one. However, this journey would be well worth the wait.

The purpose of this build was to have a jack-of-all-trades HMMWV with modern touches added in for reliability. While Predator Motorsports was tapped to install the modern Duramax powerplant and assortment of bolt-on upgrades, it was Vice Unlimited who resurrected this HMMWV into what you see here today. This resurrection process included the body and chassis being completely dissembled and every nut, bolt and moving part replaced or refreshed in some way.

We caught up with Osborne at one of our favorite wheeling destinations, the Flats Offroad Park in Marion, North Carolina. There, we were able to get an up close look at this incredible machine.

Duramax Power

The 6.2L diesel that came standard in 1992 was pretty underwhelming in the power department. This is why Osborne had Predator Motorsports swap out the old V8 and replace it with a much newer 6.6L Duramax diesel engine. Pumping out 650hp and 900 lb-ft of torque, the tuned-up turbocharged GM transplant is more than enough to make the HMMWV extremely powerful, without sacrificing reliability. Backing the diesel transplant is a built Allison 1000 transmission that gets cooling help thanks to an ATS deep pan and Derale cooler.

Resting at each wheel end is a geared hub fit with a 1.92:1 drive ratio. When combined with the AMC 20 differentials, you get a final drive ratio of 5.24:1. That’s a pretty serious gear reduction, even for a 40-inch-tall tire such as the ones this HMMWV is running. If everything looks new under this vehicle, it’s because it is.  

The Right Tire

Speaking of tires, there was little confusion over what was the perfect choice for this build. With the added clearance the 3-inch body lift provided, Osborne had room to fit a 40x13.50R17 Nitto Trail Grappler. While the 40-inch Trail Grappler is known as one of the most dominant tires in Ultra4 racing, it also has made a great name for itself as a very smooth riding and well-performing on-road tire. The radial mud terrains were paired with 17-inch Eduro series beadlocks from KMC wheels. With six inches of backspacing, the tires stay well tucked within the wheelwells.

This HMMWV, like many others, didn’t come with a top or doors. To close out the cab, a roof kit from Vice Unlimited was used. This kit is comprised of .188-inch aluminum, so it doesn’t add a tremendous amount of weight. Since Osborne wanted a place to secure camping gear and haul anything extra, he had Vice build a custom exo-cage. Comprised of 1.75-inch, 0.120-wall DOM tubing, the cage works not only as a roof rack, but a secure rollover device incase things go unplanned off-road.

Desert Tan

This cage setup ties in with the Vice Unlimited rocker guards, which span not only the outer lip of the rocker, but run all the way to the framerails. Capping off the new enclosed cabin is the Vice aluminum door kit. These, along with the rest of the rig, are coated with a two-stage Line-X in a Toyota color called Desert Tan.

Up front, a Predator front bumper and Warn winch serve as protection and recovery gear. While an assortment of aftermarket LED lights give Osborne plenty of candle power when it gets dark.

The interior has been updated significantly, starting with the dash. Sitting behind the Momo steering wheel are AutoMeter gauges, which handle a fair share of the information relay. Just off to the right you’ll see an iPad, which is what actually starts the vehicle. The other displays include a Bluetooth-enabled Restomod Air HVAC system, a custom backup camera display and a JL audio sound system.

Details

The coated-aluminum center console is handmade by Tim Odell of Vice Unlimited and has the same level of detail and craftsmanship that runs throughout this rig. It rests between four leather-cover bucket seats and is surround by marine-grade carpet.

The amount of work that has gone into this HMMWV is incredible. The fact that it was completely stripped down and rebuilt is a feat in itself. We got to see the truck fresh off the build, but what’s not shown is the matching military trailer setup on 40-inch Trail Grapplers as well. There’s currently talk of removing the original AMC differentials and replacing them with a much stronger set of custom Dynatrac center sections. Hopefully, we can sync back up with the owner once the next round of modifications are complete.  

Want to see more? Flip through our fully gallery below. Digging custom HMMWVs? Then you’re going to want to watch this video of a Cummins-powered one!

It’s the battle of the motors on this episode of Diver Battles, with the rotary power of an FD RX-7 against the LS3 in the C6 Corvette Grand Sport. They may come from different worlds, but they’re both from famous engine families that are known for producing big power. Which will reign supreme around Willow Springs?

On paper, it looks like the RX-7 may have the advantage. It certainly has more mods than the Corvette, including a turbo and wing, and it’s also lighter. That said, you should never count out an LS, which is known as one of the least expensive and best engines out there. Both cars are on Nitto NT01s, so the drivers will be able to drive aggressively and lay down consistent lap times.

Want to know who wins? Watch the battle above to find out!

Want more Driver Battles? We have a whole series!

While the Japanese automakers Toyota and Honda have long been mainstream players in the auto industry, Mazda has more and more worked to establish itself as a niche premium brand with cars that are focused on driving dynamics and aesthetics.

While the brand has made significant progress on moving toward this new identity, at the moment all of its vehicles aside from the MX-5 Miata use front-wheel drive based architecture. On top of that, the brand doesn’t offer an engine with more than four cylinders.

It appears, however, that will be changing. As part of its 2019 fiscal year financial report, Mazda mentioned an upcoming “large architecture” that will use a longitudinal engine layout, as opposed to the transverse layout currently used in all its cars not named Miata.

While no other info was released about the new platform, a longitudinal engine layout certainly suggests RWD (the report did say the new platform will also support AWD). If so, that would indeed be a big step for Mazda.

What’s even more interesting is that Mazda says it will accept a pair of straight six engines: a gas version using its SkyActiv-X compression-ignition technology and and a SkyActiv-D second gen diesel. It will also be available with both standard hybrid and plug-in hybrid drivetrains.

There was no info given about what types of vehicles would use the new platform, but one has to imagine it would include a sports sedan, a crossover SUV and more than likely something based on the beautiful Vision Coupe Concept it showed at the Tokyo Motor Show in 2017.

We’ll have to wait longer until we find out the specifics, but introducing a new, rear-wheel drive platform and a high tech take on the classic inline six engine seem like great moves for the small Japanese company that’s always marched to the beat of its own drum.

Want to hear more about Mazda's future? Check out our story on the Vision Coupe Concept.

The dead pedal, the long-crank hot restarts, the engine dying suddenly while driving down the road, never to restart again. Yep, sounds like a ’98.5-’02 5.9L Cummins. This version of Cummins’ 359 ci inline-six, the 24-valve ISB, came equipped with the Bosch VP44 injection pump—an electronic rotary pump that is notorious for failing unexpectedly. It followed a period of time where the fully-mechanical Bosch P7100 aboard the 12-valve 5.9L offered in ’94-’98 Dodge Ram 2500 and 3500s wouldn’t die even if you were trying to kill it. Needless to say, the VP44 got a bad wrap from the get-go, effectively becoming the red-headed stepchild of the injection pump world.

But despite the VP44’s unpredictable nature and the fact that many prospective Cummins owners avoid them like the plague, it still enjoys a loyal following. With knowledgeable diesel mechanics, injection system experts and enthusiasts in that following, all of the VP44’s weaknesses have been exposed, well-documented and some have even fixed by the manufacturer over the years. To be sure, the VP44 remains one of the ficklest components to ever grace the legendary Cummins lineage, but there is now an unofficial protocol to follow in order to keep one alive. Below, we’ll highlight the key causes of VP44 failure and what can be done to prevent it from happening.

For more light reading on diagnosis and functionality of the VP44 from a highly reputable source, visit Blue Chip Diesel. It’s a company that has specialized in the ’98.5-’02 VP44 Cummins since it was introduced.

The Bosch VP44

To meet ever-tightening emissions standards on pickup trucks, Cummins introduced both a 24-valve cylinder head and electronically variable injection timing midway through Dodge’s ’98 model year. The ’98.5 5.9L ISB Cummins was equipped with the Bosch VP44 distributor style rotary injection pump. A cam-driven, radial piston pump, it features three internal pumping plungers, a fuel metering solenoid, a timing advance solenoid and a built-in computer called a PSG (or EDC) that monitors and controls fueling. The VP44 is capable of supporting 1600 bar (23,200 psi).

Most Common Failure

The majority of VP44 failures can be traced back to the PSG, the computer that’s married to the top of the pump. Excessive heat and thousands of heat cycles take their toll on the lead-free soldering that was used in the PSG’s internal circuit board, periodically interrupting the electrical signal. During PSG failure, several different symptoms surface, with the most frequent being long cranking when attempting to restart a hot engine. In recent years, better soldering has become part of the remanufacturing process on VP44s, which has led to improved reliability.

Rotor Seizure

Rotor seizure in the distributor portion of the VP44 is another issue that was especially common on early pumps due to an inferior de-burring process from the manufacturer. In essence, the sharp edge of the rotor makes contact with the distributor, digging into both mating surfaces. After enough contact (and damage), the rotor seizes up, breaking the drive plate. At that point only the VP44’s input shaft is left turning, but pressurized fuel is no longer making it out to the injectors. This sudden failure will stop your truck dead in its tracks.

Diaphragm Failure

The diaphragm, which is located at the pump’s distributor head inlet and supplies fuel to the bores of the distributor shaft, is also notorious for failure in early VP44s. Thanks to being made from a material that wasn’t up to the task of dealing with high-pressure fuel spill pulses, it was prone to cracking over time. The diaphragm’s life is further shortened when it’s exposed to lengthy periods with little or no fuel supply pressure from the lift pump. A hard cold start is the biggest indicator of diaphragm failure. The revised, later model VP44s came with a solid steel backing behind the diaphragm, which eliminated the flexing that resulted in failures.

Worn Out Distributor

Various internal components in the VP44 tend to wear out over time, the rotor and distributor being a couple of them. The distributor’s job is to route fuel from the pressurized pumping chamber through delivery valves, toward the injectors. When the distributor section of the pump is on its way out, hot restart issues will be present, and many times rotor and distributor failure go hand-in-hand.

Lack of Fuel Supply

Being that the VP44 relies on adequate fuel supply pressure and volume in order to operate, lubricate and keep it cool, a failing lift pump can spell disaster. Unfortunately, lift pump failure runs rampant on ’98.5-’02 Dodges. A self-priming, electric Carter lift pump came standard on the 5.9L ISB Cummins in Rams, but due to its being mounted on the engine block it is constantly exposed to vibration, which does not aid longevity. The factory fix was to replace the lift pump with an in-tank unit, and while that helped it didn’t provide the kind of reliability most customers expected. Bottom line: If the VP44 is not seeing at least 5 psi of fuel supply from the lift pump, it will not be happy.

Heat Is a Major Killer

A lack of fuel supply leads to hotter fuel being sent through the VP44—and as we’ve already alluded to, the VP44 doesn’t like excessive heat. Did you know the hottest the VP44 gets is actually 15 to 20 minutes after the engine has been turned off? This is due to heat soak. So if you’re driving a truck that makes frequent short trips and is subjected to a lot of hot restarts, your VP44’s life expectancy can be cut in half. Nine times out of 10, having trouble restarting a warm engine means the VP44 is on its way out. The only way to ensure the VP44 stays as cool as possible is to feed it good supply pressure and volume.

12-15 PSI Is Ideal

To keep the notorious chain reaction event of a failed lift pump from starving (and then killing) the VP44, 5 psi of supply pressure is the minimum you should see during idle, driving and/or wide-open throttle. Whenever possible, 12 to 15 psi worth of fuel pressure should be your goal. In the image above, the fuel pressure gauge is illustrating the fact that an ’01 Dodge Ram 3500’s non-functioning factory lift pump is supplying zero positive pressure to the VP44. Hooking up a mechanical fuel pressure gauge to a ’98.5-’02 truck is one of the first steps in diagnosing VP44-related failures.

Install a Reputable Lift Pump

Aftermarket electric pumps from Fuelab, FASS and AirDog have proven more than capable of delivering adequate pressure (again, 12 to 15 psi) to the VP44 on a consistent basis. For performance applications, both companies also offer comprehensive tank-to-engine fuel systems, complete with a high-flow electric lift pump, added filtration and larger diameter fuel lines. With good fuel supply, there is no reason why a VP44 can’t go 150,000 miles, if not 200,000 or more. Just remember to run a fuel pressure gauge in case you ever have an issue with your lift pump.

Mechanical Aftermarket Lift Pump

Power Driven Diesel’s Predator lift pump for ’98.5-’02 Dodges is relatively new to the Cummins aftermarket, but it shows a lot of promise. First and foremost, the pump is belt-driven and fully-mechanical, which means the faster you spin the engine the more fuel it pumps. Second, it features an internal pressure regulator valve that’s set up to work with the factory overflow valve on the VP44, which eliminates any possible overpressure scenarios. Last but not least, its 400,000-mile design means it will likely outlive any truck it’s installed on.

Get a Fuel Pressure Gauge

To keep tabs on the health of your lift pump (even if you’ve installed an aftermarket one), do yourself a favor and install a fuel pressure gauge. Trust us, the sooner you notice your lift pump no longer keeping up, the more money you’ll save in the long run by not having to fork over $1,000 or more for a remanufactured VP44. Some aftermarket gauges even offer a low fuel pressure warning light that you can configure to come on at whichever pressure threshold you deem as being too low.

Curious to know what problems torment other generations of Cummins-powered Rams? Click here.

Who doesn’t love toy cars? For many auto enthusiasts, they paved the way for the real cars to come and the toy aisle is a required detour on every trip to the store. There are even still plenty of enthusiasts who can be found regularly hunting down the latest releases, making diecast collecting an entire hobby unto itself.

While Hot Wheels has long been considered the most popular diecast name in the U.S., Matchbox has always been right there with them—and their latest releases in particular are dripping with real-world auto enthusiast cred.

For decades, England’s Matchbox and America’s Hot Wheels went head to head for toy car supremacy, but in the late ‘90s, Mattel acquired the Matchbox brand. Now both are corporate cousins, albeit with entirely unique personas.

Needless to say, we always find ourselves looking at Hot Wheels when we go to the store, but lately we've been spending just as much time searching the pegs for Matchbox cars.

More Realistic

While Hot Wheels has always favored a slightly more exaggerated or customized style for its diecast cars, Matchbox has always gone with a more life-like feel, with trucks, trailers and other working vehicles mixed in with scaled down examples of everyday passenger cars.

In recent months, Matchbox has truly taken their products to a new level—one that easily rivals that of their corporate sibling. Among its newer releases you’ll find everything from off-roaders and rally cars to vintage station wagons and tow trucks.

We’ve gathered up some of Matchbox’s recent vehicles and opened them up for a closer look. We even took some of them outside to give them the old dirt test, because they're even better out of the package.

Huge Variety

As an auto enthusiast, there are so many things to like about what Matchbox is doing. First up there's the fact that their lineup includes replicas both of iconic machines and more obscure vehicles that represent many different eras and brands.

Speaking of obscure, check out the Matchbox take on the Mk.II Volkswagen Golf Country, a rare version of the car that featured AWD and all terrain suspension.

One of the other cool thing about Matchbox cars is that they are typically a modeled a bit truer to form than their Hot Wheels counterparts. The wheels in particular look much more lifelike, like the steelies and hub caps on this Mooneyes-branded Ford Pickup.

Don't forget about towing, either. We also love that many of the latest Matchbox releases come complete with trailer hitches, and you can also buy a variety of trailers to attach to them.

Even the "working vehicles" are cool, like this NASA support truck with its distinctly '80s vibe. It even has a functioning door in the back.

Made for Collectors

While on the subject of opening doors, Matchbox recently came out with a new line of upgraded diecast cars that feature opening doors, hoods and other extra touches for a slightly higher price than the standard cars.

Like other diecast brands, Matchbox has also done more and more lines geared specifically toward collectors, like the Globe Trotters Series, which is where this Gulf-colored Ford GT40 comes from.

As someone who grew up playing with a lot of Matchbox cars as a kid, it makes me really happy to see the brand not only doing well, but coming out with some of the coolest products it's ever done.

So whether you enjoy collecting, displaying or giving them to your kids to play with, do yourself and favor and checkout the Matchbox section the next time you're at the store. Chances are you'll find some really cool stuff.

Want more diecast fun? Auto World's True 1:64 Scale line has some of the best detail we've seen in model cars.

With the arrival of the 2019 Ram Heavy-Duty came the death of the manual transmission option in North American diesel pickups. To be fair, the writing was on the wall for years with Ford having dropped out of the game in ’11 and GM doing the same five years prior. But why have all of the big dogs now pulled anchor on what has traditionally been the backbone of the American work truck? To the Big Three, the answer is easy. It’s all about customer demand, and by customer demand they mean sales. Once Ram’s manual transmission sales bottomed out, it was likely no longer justifiable to offer the option. Sad but true.

But what gradually drove the masses away from manual transmissions in a truck segment where hard work is the name of the game? Was it an unwillingness to put in the legwork of shifting our own gears that killed off the manual, the lower power rating that often accompanied the standard shift option or are today’s automatic transmissions just that good? We think it’s a combination of all of the above. Below, we’ll highlight the technological advancements that made automatic transmissions more durable, functional and efficient, and that also sent the hand-shaker to the graveyard.

Powertrain Matching

An important OEM term to understand is powertrain matching. Each vehicle manufacturer spends an inordinate yet necessary amount of time making sure the engine and transmission work in perfect harmony with one another. However, as the bottom line of any automaker is profit, no manufacturer is going to allocate time, resources and money into a dying product. With so much advancement occurring in diesel-specific automatic transmissions throughout the past two decades, the manual transmission became a rare sale for a dealership, and as such was gradually worked out of many OEM powertrain matching programs. Even before the Big Three killed their respective manual transmission option, they’d long given up on sinking much R&D into them.

GM

Allison 1000

The best example of a manual transmission killer can be seen in the Allison 1000. Known for building world-class medium and heavy-duty automatic transmissions for RVs, dump trucks, Class 8 trucks and everything in between, getting the Allison name onboard offered GM a big leg up on the competition when it debuted behind the all-new 6.6L Duramax in 2001. A five-speed from ’01-’05, the Allison gained double overdrive in ’06 and the six-speed version would survive through the ’19 model year, with considerable upgrades in strength occurring each time the Duramax received an uprate in power. For 2020 GM HDs, the Allison bolted to the L5P Duramax will offer 10 forward gears.

Adaptive Learning

One of the biggest selling points behind the Allison is its being completely electronically controlled. There are no pressure regulators or spring-controlled pistons, but instead a computer (the transmission control module, or TCM) that is constantly adapting to your driving style in order to provide the cleanest, smoothest possible shift for optimum comfort and drivability. Throughout the life of the Allison transmission, the TCM will even adjust its shift strategy based on clutch wear in order to maximize the overall efficiency of the transmission.

The Seldom-Optioned ZF-6

While the ZF S6-650 (often referred to simply as the ZF-6) six-speed manual manufactured by ZF Friedrichshafen AG was available from ’01-’06, it’s rare to find a Chevrolet Silverado or GMC Sierra HD with one. The Allison name proved quite enticing for most prospective HD buyers. By the ’07 model year, GM canceled the ZF-6, the first of the Big Three to kill the manual transmission option. As expected, it did very little to deter anyone from buying one of General Motors’ HD trucks.

Ford

5R110 TorqShift

Though the take-rate on the 4R100 automatic was more common than the ZF-6 manual on Ford’s ’99-’03 Super Dutys, it’s reasonable to assume the automatic-to-manual sales gap began to widen with the release of the 5R110W TorqShift (5R110 for short). Like the Allison 1000, the 5R110 was completely electronically controlled, featured its own version of adaptive shift technology and integrated a Tow/Haul function that was well matched to the engine (the 6.0L Power Stroke at the time).

The Carry-Over ZF-6 vs. the Highly Refined Automatic

If it were possible to drive a TorqShift-equipped 6.0L Power Stroke and a ZF-6 version back-to-back, most folks would fight for the keys to the truck with the automatic. Not only was the ZF-6 carried over from the 7.3L Power Stroke, but the 6.0L’s lack of low-end grunt meant owners frequently had to start out in the ZF’s ultra-low 5.79:1 first gear with any load behind them. By comparison, the powertrain matching Ford sunk into the 6.0L/TorqShift combination was night and day different, with drivability concerns being almost non-existent.

Forfeiting 25hp & 50 lb-ft With the Manual

While the same horsepower and torque rating was available from the 6.0L Power Stroke whether an automatic or manual was selected (325hp and 570 lb-ft), that wasn’t the case when the 6.4L came onto the scene in ’08. Nearing the ZF-6 gearbox’s maximum input torque capacity—and an unwillingness to develop its own or outsource a different manual transmission—the 6.4L Power Stroke in front of the ZF-6 turned out 325hp and 600 lb-ft vs. the automatic model's (the 5R110) 350hp and 650 lb-ft numbers.

2011: Hello 6R140 TorqShift, Goodbye ZF-6

If the 5R110 didn’t send the ZF-6 packing, the 6R140 version certainly would’ve if both had been offered at the same time. Even tougher than the 5R proved to be, the 6R140 featured a beefy 1.18-inch diameter input shaft, a 12.6-inch diameter two-disc torque converter and was admittedly built with the Allison 1000 as its benchmark. But even better than the Allison, the 6R140 had a true manual shift mode and an earlier lockup event that facilitated better fuel economy and maximized rear-wheel horsepower and torque right off idle. With the 6R140 even being offered in trucks as big as Ford’s F-750s, we’d say the six-speed TorqShift has been a success.

Ram

6.7L Cummins: Less Grunt With the G56 Manual

Since the 2011 model year, owning a heavy-duty pickup with a manual transmission was exclusive to the Ram Truck brand. However, unlike the days of old where the manual transmission afforded you access to the higher horsepower and torque version of the 5.9L Cummins, advancements in automatic transmission technology brought the slushbox onto an even playing field from 2003-2007. Then, beginning with the release of the 68RFE six-speed automatic in ’07.5, the auto became the version to have if you wanted the more powerful version of the 6.7L Cummins. By 2018, only one percent of all 2500 series and one percent of all 3500 model trucks were ordered with the Mercedes Benz-supplied G56 six-speed manual gearbox (pictured above). With a one percent take-rate, it was only a matter of time before Ram put the kibosh on the manual option.

Very Little Love

With the G56 having so few takers, it stands to reason that Ram poured very little resources into it, even though the Cummins would see six increases in torque output during its tenure. As a result, the G56 went almost completely unchanged from ’05.5 to ’18 and was rated for a lower torque input than the automatic option from 2007.5 on. The G56 did come with a 660 lb-ft rating beginning in 2013 (up from 610 lb-ft), but at the same time the 68RFE auto was rated for 800 lb-ft and the heavy-duty Aisin AS69RC auto for 850 lb-ft.

68RFE

While it’s no Allison 1000 or TorqShift, Chrysler’s 68RFE automatic is a modern marvel compared to the transmissions that were pitted behind the Cummins in previous years. Unlike those four (and three) speeds, the 68RFE features six forward gears, no bands and is completely electronically controlled. It offers real-time, adaptive shift and pressure control for seamless operation and its converter lockup and shifting strategy helps protect the transmission in cases of high temperature. The 68RFE also debuted alongside the 650 lb-ft version of the 6.7L Cummins midway through Dodge’s ’07 model year. The G56 version was rated for the lower 610 lb-ft engine.

Aisin AS69RC

Beginning with a new engine calibration for the 6.7L Cummins in 2011, which belted out 800 lb-ft in conjunction with the 68RFE automatic, the G56 would be left even further behind. After the release of the commercial-grade Aisin AS69RC automatic in 2013 (pictured above), the same transmission that is currently tasked with harnessing the ’19 6.7L Cummins’ 1,000 lb-ft, Ram customers still wanting to shift their own gears had to settle for 190 lb-ft less (660 lb-ft vs. 850 lb-ft). That gap would widen even more in ’15, ’16 and ’18 when further torque increases were made for automatic models but not for G56-spec’d trucks.

Curious how much power the legendary Allison transmission can take? Check out our Boiling Point series here!

If you’re looking for a truckload of technology, you’ll find it in the 2020 Sierra 1500 Denali CarbonPro. While carbon fiber parts are nothing new to vehicles, it is a novel material for the business end of a work truck. When Ford came out with a bed made of aluminum years ago, proponents of steel were extremely vocal about how it wasn’t strong enough. But as time passed and the lighter metal proved robust enough for the rigors of real labor, the work truck crowd began to accept it, even to the point of potentially being open to other more exotic materials. Now, GMC’s exclusive carbon fiber pickup box is available on the 2020 Sierra 1500 Denali CarbonPro that was developed to increase durability, efficiency and functionality and dent, scratch and corrosion resistance.

Some of the other major premium truck options for the 1500 include 3.0L Duramax turbo-diesel, new 10-speed automatic transmission and ProGrade Trailering. GMC’s Duramax boasts 277hp and 460 lb-ft of torque, with the peak toque numbers coming in at just 1500 rpm.

The 10-speed automatic has more gears for more ratios, enabling the Sierra to refine performance and improve shift quality. The Enhanced ProGrade Trailering is a segment-first transparent trailer view and segment-leading 15 total available camera views.

GMC didn’t stop there when adding technology options to the truck. There’s also an innovative MultiPro Tailgate that features six functions like a standing workstation and enhanced second-tier loading and load stop solutions. It also has a multi-color heads-up display that projects customizable vehicle data on the windshield creating an easy-to-see 15-inch diagonal display.

Did you see all the new options that will be available on the 2020 Sierra Heavy Duty pickup truck?

TV trucks might not have gotten the same celebrity treatment as their automobile equivalents (we're pretty sure General Lee posters outsold anything with a cargo bed by a factor of about 50 to 1), but that doesn't mean there weren't more than a few hardworking small screen heroes that we miss inviting into our living rooms.

Which ones are still lodged the most deeply in the collective pop culture psyche? Check out our picks for the TV pickups that we miss the most.

1. 1994-2002 Ram 1500: Walker, Texas Ranger

Ah, the '90s. It was a time when justice, at least on TV, was administered with a swift karate kick from a late-career Chuck Norris that somehow also taught us all a lesson about ourselves in the process.

It was also an era where a Texas Ranger's brand loyalties could shift at the drop of a 10-gallon hat. Despite an early agreement with General Motors that saw Season 1 Walker drive a GMC, it wasn't long before the lawman had kicked the K1500 to the curb and pocketed the keys to an extended-cab Dodge Ram. This truck, which featured the big rig styling that shocked the entire industry after its 1994 redesign, remained the face of the show for the rest of its astonishingly long eight season run. It wasn't long before criminals learned to fear the bull's-eye grille bearing down upon them in the rearview mirror almost as much as they would Walker's big black headwear.

The Dodge ties extended past the regular series into the 2005 TV movie, "Walker, Texas Ranger: Trial By Fire." Released three years after the show had ceased production, it saw Walker graduate to a fire-breathing, Viper-powered Ram SRT10 pickup.

2. 1921 Oldsmobile Model 46: The Beverly Hillbillies

The Beverly Hillbillies was the kind of high-concept 1960s humor that felt completely comfortable making fun of an entire subset of the American population that was hopefully too rural to even have electricity, let alone a television. Insulated from any kind of cultural backlash, Hollywood pumped out nine incredibly popular seasons charting the progression of the titular Clampett Hillbillies from have-nots to millionaire oil tycoons.

So important was the 1921 Oldsmobile Model 46 to the progression of the Clampett family that it's even mentioned in the show's theme song. The truck itself was a cut down roadster that had been modified by famed star car builder George Barris. The truck-from-roadster conversion was a common one in the pre-war era, and Barris embellished it with all the small touches required to give it the down-home personality the show was looking for (including a pretty sweet couch mounted in the cargo bed).

3. 1980-82 GMC K2500: The Fall Guy

The Fall Guy was a five-year hit on ABC's action-packed early-'80s schedule that posited a world where a Hollywood stuntman (played by Lee Majors) could expand his empire by working part-time as a bounty hunter. You know, the gig economy and all that.

A major part of nearly every "get the bad guy" plan seen on-screen was Majors' 1981 GMC three-quarter ton truck. This pickup would take a major pounding from flying through the air, bounding over boulders and off-road trails, crashing through walls and just generally doing things a stock truck would be able to do maybe once before exploding into a big ball of flames fueled by melting '80s plastic. As a result, producers spent significant amounts of resources building and re-building the GMC, finally ending up with a mid-engine design that could handle the near-constant aerial stunts without buckling or tipping at the worst possible time.

The truck also featured 35-inch off-road rubber and a 6-inch lift kit to go with its bitchin' light bar, and some models showed off GMC's Sierra Grande appearance package, too. Oh, and of course it had a secret human-smuggling compartment carved into the side for transporting fugitives, because that seems totally and 100 percent legal. Why not just get a crew cab, Lee?

4. 1993 Ford Ranger: King of the Hill

Can a cartoon truck become an icon? It can, if it's being used in the service of the propane and propane accessories industry like the 1993 Ford Ranger driven by Hank Hill in Mike Judge's King of the Hill.

The truck was drawn in a few different styles throughout the animated show (including an '86 model in its final appearance), and Hill often referred to it being 20 years old, making its exact vintage a little tough to determine. Hank's love for the Ranger was much easier to pinpoint, however, as he clung desperately to the clunker despite it threatening his marriage and eventually breaking down on a train track, where it was destroyed by a speeding locomotive.

5. 1979 Dodge Power Wagon: Simon & Simon

Another eight-season stunner was Simon & Simon, a show about a private eye outfit run by Rick and A.J. Simon. Ostensibly, the brothers were polar opposites: A.J. had a taste for the finer things in life (and a college education), while Rick was a rough-and-tumble former Marine who lived on a boat in front of his bro's house.

It made sense, then, that while A.J. flossed as many classic cars as he could, Rick would cling to an orange Dodge Power Wagon for the duration of the show. The Macho package truck had a big battering ram bumper, a roll bar and intimidating blacked-out rims, and Rick never missed an opportunity to smash it into whatever object (house, car, etc) was most convenient for advancing the plot.

Sadly, the Power Wagon would not make a triumphant return in the 1995 reunion movie "Simon & Simon: In Trouble Again," probably due to the fact that it's hard to work a pickup into a story that centers around a stolen yacht.

Have you seen the tribute to the Fall Guy Truck?

Today’s diesel trucks are nothing short of phenomenal. No matter which horse you pick, it’ll have an engine that turns out more than 900 lb-ft of torque, be capable of safely towing 35,000 pounds and do it with virtually zero tailpipe emissions. Without state-of-the-art, high-pressure common-rail fuel systems onboard these behemoths, none of this would be possible, but simply making use of this cutting edge, 30,000-psi technology doesn’t make these systems bulletproof. In fact, in the case of the LML Duramax and the 6.7L Power Stroke, there is one major drawback: the Bosch CP4.2.

The pump itself is simple, easy to package and highly efficient, but thanks to one internal aspect of its design it’s known to fail catastrophically. When the CP4.2 lets go, the fuel rails and injectors downstream of it almost always end up beside it on the scrap pile. While GM no longer offers the CP4.2 on its Duramax mill, the 6.7L Power Stroke continues to employ one at the front of the valley, which means this sudden, hard-to-detect failure that can cost you as much as $10,000 is always lying in wait on your ’11-present Super Duty.

In an effort to minimize the damage incurred when a CP4.2 self-destructs, the common-rail experts and former Bosch engineers at S&S Diesel Motorsport have come up with a CP4.2 Bypass kit, a system that saves your expensive injectors and fuel rails in the event of a CP4.2 failure. To see how the kit works and why your 6.7L Ford needs it, keep reading.

Bosch CP4.2: Everyone’s Using It

Bosch’s CP4.2 high-pressure fuel pump has been used on the 6.7L Power Stroke since Ford released it for the ’11 model year Super Dutys, but this is far from its only application. Along with being employed on the LML Duramax (’11-‘16), the 5.0L Cummins V8 available in Nissan’s Titan XD, the 3.0L V6 VM Motori in the EcoDiesel Ram 1500, the 3.0L Power Stroke in the F-150 and even the new 1,000 lb-ft 6.7L Cummins in Ram 3500s, it’s become the go-to high-pressure pump for common-rail engine manufacturers. However, while it provides for exceptional power and squeaky clean emissions, it does have one Achilles heel—an Achilles heel that doesn’t just bring about its own downfall.

What Happens Internally

Within the CP4.2 there are two high-pressure chambers, each with its own piston that’s driven up and down by dedicated lobes on the pump’s camshaft. The bottom of each piston integrates a roller lifter that rides on the cam lobe. Unfortunately, there is no mechanical lock or keyway in place to keep the piston from floating and rotating in its bore, which it often does when fuel in the high-pressure system becomes aerated. Demonstration provided by RCD Performance.

Irreversible Carnage

When the piston rotates (usually 90 degrees) in the cylinder, the roller lifter on the bottom (which sits in a fixed position due to being pressed into a follower) hits the cam lobe at a perpendicular angle. From this point on, the roller lifter begins to beat itself to death against the cam lobe, slowly sending metal shards out the high-pressure outlet toward the fuel rails and injectors, but also back to the fuel tank via the return outlet. Typically, the driver won’t notice anything until the truck stalls, but by then it’s way too late.

No Fail Safe From the Factory

In this diagram of factory fuel flow through the CP4.2, you can see how the metal debris resulting from the failure of the roller lifter is allowed to contaminate the high-pressure fuel within the pump. Pieces of the disintegrating roller lifter and cam lobe are passed directly on to the fuel rails, injectors and the volume control valve (i.e. MPROP), as well as out the return. It’s not uncommon for a CP4.2 failure to cost its owner an entire fuel system (high-pressure and low-pressure), from tank to engine. The illustration above was created by Engineered Diesel, a high volume distributor of S&S Diesel Motorsport’s CP4.2 Bypass Kit.

CP4.2 Bypass Kit

The CP4.2 Bypass Kit comes with everything you need to install it on your ’11-present 6.7L Power Stroke. The contents include an aluminum adapter block, O-rings, one section of braided stainless steel fuel hose with fittings and detailed installation instructions. We’ll note that due to a different length fuel line being required for the install, S&S offers two different kits: one for ’11-’14 engines and one for ’15-newer.

The Pivotal Part

This is the key to the bypass system. The aluminum adapter block stops fuel from entering the plungers within the CP4.2 and reroutes it back to the fuel tank. This allows the return circuit to catch any metal debris should the CP4.2 fail, and not the pricey components downwind in the high-pressure system (namely the aforementioned fuel rails and injectors).

Clearing the Way

To install the CP4.2 Bypass kit you first have to gain access to the top of the CP4.2 located at the front of the lifter valley on the 6.7L Power Stroke. This calls for the removal of both the upper and lower intake plenums. In its installation pamphlet, S&S points out that cutting or grinding off the leg on the bottom side of the cast-aluminum, lower intake plenum simplifies reassembly with the bypass kit in the mix. The company also suggests removing a casting flash rib on the throttle valve end of the lower intake plenum to clear the MPROP connector later on.

Modifying the Factory Fuel Line Clamp

To accommodate the supplied braided stainless steel hose, the black plastic supply and return line clamps near the fuel filter base are removed from the hard supply and return lines. In order for the S&S braided stainless steel hose to be able to rotate in the bracket (and clear the crimp collar on the braided stainless hose), the bracket closest to the braided stainless hose has to be modified.

No Need to Pull the CP4.2

With access gained to the CP4.2, the circlips for both the supply fitting and return fitting are removed. From there, the factory T-bar is removed and discarded but the 10mm flanged head bolt that secured it is retained (it’s used to mount the aluminum adapter block). Then the hard fuel supply line is pulled, with the return line at the pump going untouched. The MPROP is also removed at this time.

A Good Seal

Though you can get away with reusing the factory supply tube O-rings on the adapter block, S&S sends fresh versions for peace of mind. In addition, new O-rings (the two largest units) are included to be fitted to the MPROP before it’s installed in the adapter block. All O-rings should be lubricated.

High Quality, Braided Stainless Replacement Hose

To tie the braided stainless fuel hose in with the factory hard fuel supply line, the hard line has to be cut approximately one inch from the sensor closest to the CP4.2 (by the fuel filter base). It’s vital that the cut be square and the rough edges completely deburred before the compression fitting on the braided stainless fuel hose is connected to the hard supply line. It’s also important to hold off on fully tightening the compression fitting until you’re sure the hose’s routing clears all other engine components in the valley.

Final Touches

The finished, installed product looks like this. Once the CP4.2 bypass system is in place, it’s important to ensure the braided stainless hose doesn’t come into contact with anything. As the hose runs under the lower intake plenum over toward the passenger side, fuel filter side of the engine bay, you’ll want to make sure it clears the turbo, lower intake plenum and exhaust manifold heat shield.

New Fuel System Flow

This diagram, again created by Engineered Diesel, illustrates the flow of fuel with the S&S bypass system in place. As you can see in the blue area, fuel supply to the plungers is blocked and rerouted back to the tank. This way, lubricating fuel from the camshaft area is subjected to another round of filtration before going through the fuel system again. All fuel entering the pumping element side of the CP4.2 and flowing toward the injectors is always routed through both of the truck’s fuel filters. Thanks to S&S Diesel Motorsport’s CP4.2 Bypass system, any contamination as a result of the CP4.2 breaking down will not effect the injectors.

Curious what the Achilles heel is for another popular diesel? Check out the 5 Fatal Flaws of the Duramax here!

When Ford debuted the newest European market Focus ST a few months back, it was a bittersweet moment for enthusiasts in the U.S. The new ST looked like a significant improvement over the old car, with more power, a more modern interior and countless other improvements, but because of Ford’s decision to stop selling small cars in the U.S., the new ST won't be coming stateside.

Now Ford has gone ahead and twisted the knife with the debut of the new Focus ST Wagon for the European market. Developed by the Ford Performance team, the ST Wagon includes all of the high performance goodies of the ST hatchback in the ultra-practical station wagon body style.

The ST treatment includes a 280hp 2.3 liter EcoBoost four-cylinder engine, the choice of a a seven-speed automatic or six-speed manual with automatic rev matching, and an electronically controlled limited slip front diff. A 2.0L diesel engine is also available.

Elsewhere, the Focus ST Wagon naturally enjoys significantly improved cargo space when compared with the hatchback version. We have to say the overall look may be even better proportioned than the hatch, and that’s not just because we love wagons.

At any rate, there’s no reason to get too excited about this because the chances of  the Focus ST Wagon ever coming to America are slimmer than regular ST making a comeback. Here in the U.S., Ford will be happy to sell you an ST-badged crossover for family duties, but we’d much prefer this.

Want to get jealous and see more cars we can't have? Read this list of forbidden JDM machines.

Pace cars occupy a strange slice of the automotive sphere. Wedged between the race cars they briefly share a track with for a few shining moments each year on the one hand, and the standard street vehicles they are based on the other, it's not always easy to serve two masters.

This is especially true when car companies decide to go the time-honored route of slapping some stickers on the side of a production model and selling it as a pace car special. Over the years there have been some, shall we say, "interesting" choices for pace car glory—some deserved, some not—and while not all have made it to the showroom floor, they're still a part of the Indy 500's long and storied history.

Let's take a look at 10 of the most memorable pace cars to have ever taken to the grid.

1. 2002 Oldsmobile Bravada

Kicking off our list is perhaps the most tone-deaf Indy 500 pace car choice of all time. Yes, at the turn of the millennium Oldsmobile's Aurora V8 was making waves on the track in Indy competition, but the decision to leverage corporate synergy to promote yet another bland SUV variant of the General Motors GMT 400 platform was a total dud. In fact, it's hard to think of a less-deserving vehicle to lead a pack of rip-roaring race cars than a plush pseudo-luxury truck.

Although offering 270hp in stock form, the actual Bravadas that were used on-track were modified in order to stay ahead of the Indy crowd, and were said to be capable of 140 mph. This is a scary thought to contemplate for anyone who's ever ridden in this fine example of GM's total indifference to sport-utility dynamics. One hundred twenty-one stickered Oldsmobiles were built for the race, with two of those actual pace vehicles and the rest used for support purposes.

2. 1930 Cord L-29

It's pure poetry that the first Indy 500 to be won by a front-wheel drive car was also paced by one. The Cord L-29 was in fact designed by the same man, Harry Arminius Miller, who developed Billy Arnold's Brickyard-winning car that year, the first of a dozen vehicles to win the race using one of Miller's motors.

The L-29 itself was a magnificent vehicle, an enormous roadster that would hint at the future Cord coffin-nose models that would be manufactured by Auburn over the course of the decade. Its 301 ci straight-8 engine was good for 125hp, a monstrous number for the era but hamstrung on the street by gearing that wasn't a good match for the almost two-ton weight of the car.

3. 1964 Ford Mustang

The 1964 Ford Mustang was poised to change the auto industry forever, but that hadn't yet been made clear when it was tagged in to serve as the Indy 500 pace car. A trio of official pace cars were built featuring stronger-than-stock V8 engines lifted from the GT40, said to push out 450hp.

An additional 220 Mustangs (the vast majority coupes) were used for support and promotion during the week. It was an auspicious beginning for one of Ford's most important models ever.

4. 1967 Chevrolet Camaro SS

It's a similar story with the 1967 Chevrolet Camaro SS pace car. Although not as ground-breaking—after all, the Bowtie-wearing two-door followed the Mustang into the pony car segment it had created all on its own—it would still set up a rivalry that would last for decades. Featuring a 396 big block V8, the Camaro SS pace car was breathed on by Chevrolet's "Experimental" department to keep it ahead of the pack in a race that was eventually won by A.J. Foyt.

Chevrolet would produce 200 of these pace cars, keeping 179 in the U.S. and sending the remaining 21 to Canada. They shared the L78 big block with the official car. Chevrolet would repeat its Indy Camaro pacing in 1969, but it would take Ford until 1979 before it had a Mustang leading the open-wheelers through the 2.5-mile oval again.

5. 1978 Chevrolet Corvette

By the end of the 1970s, car companies were beginning to clue into the promotional possibilities made possible by Indy 500 participation. Chevrolet, sensing the opportunity to kill two birds with one stone, managed to slide the Corvette into pace car contention to celebrate its 25th anniversary. At the same time, it created 6,502 black-and-silver pace car edition 'Vettes for sale to the general public, prompting a gold rush among collectors, some of whom paid significant sums over retail for what they assumed would be a vehicle that would appreciate over time.

It was somewhat of a failed gamble. Maybe if Chevy has stuck to the original plan of building 100 cars for each year the Corvette had been on sale they'd be worth more today, but '78 Corvette pace cars suffer from the same middling interest that plagues their less-pedigreed disco-Vette contemporaries. You can currently pick one up at a reasonable price, which when adjusted for inflation is probably less than what a few who jumped the gun back in the day forked over.

6. 1989 Pontiac Turbo Trans Am

A decade later GM had finally figured out what limited edition really meant with the production of the 1989 Pontiac Turbo Trans Am pace car edition. Only 1,555 Turbo Trans Am pace cars were built in total, and each sported an awesome 3.8L V6 similar to what was found under the hood of Buick's Grand National coupe.

Because of this, Pontiac bragged at the time that the TTA was the first Indy pace car that didn't need any factory hot rodding to handle its ceremonial duties on race day. Also notable from the Trans Am are its extremely low-key decals, making it one of the few stealthy pace car special editions out there.

7. 1990 Chevrolet Beretta

Apparently, GM decided to take everything we just said about low-key and throw it out the window the following year when it cut the roof off of the Chevrolet Beretta, painted it bright yellow and then splash a hot pink INDY across the doors, spray-paint style.

Chevy would go on to build 1,500 Beretta pace car replicas, but as coupes, not convertibles. They also lacked the 3.4L V6 that the official vehicle counted on to push it past 200hp (and its correspondingly beefier four-speed autobox), making do instead with a more anemic 3.1L V6. If yellow wasn't your thing, Chevrolet had you covered with a further 6,000 pace car coupes drenched in that most late-'80s of colors: teal. The cars also featured a mish-mash of aero bits taken from various Beretta models, shaken in a blender and then installed on top of an upgraded FE7 suspension package.

8. 1991 Dodge Viper

The Dodge Viper was never meant to perform pace car duties. In fact, there wasn't even a '91 model year for Chrysler's king snake, which means that the pair of cars circling Indy that year were prototypes lifted from the show car circuit that they had been a fixture on since the roadster's 1989 unveiling.

Why was the Viper pressed into service? Dodge had originally intended for the Stealth, a coupe built in partnership with Mitsubishi (read: rebadging of the Mitsubishi 3000GT) to do the honors. When the UAW got wind of the plan, however, they immediately flipped out about an import being involved in what was considered the most America race in the world. Chrysler backed down, the Viper was hastily slotted in as a replacement and the rest is history.

9. 1998 Chevrolet Corvette

The 1998 Chevrolet Corvette makes our roundup for one reason, and one reason only: it features what is by far the most hideous paint scheme of any Indy 500 pace car before or since.

No vehicle should ever have a bright yellow interior, but apparently Chevy was signing checks with its eyes closed at the end of the '90s, with the end result being this monstrosity.

10. 1997 Oldsmobile Aurora

The 1997 Oldsmobile Aurora breaks with the loose chronology of this list, but we wanted to begin and end with the now-defunct marque that paced Indy no less than a dozen times.

Although the Bravada was a serious misstep, the Aurora actually made sense. After all, it was named after the engine that Olds had introduced to the series and was powered by a somewhat distant, street-friendly relative of said power plant. Surprisingly, GM would limit the gold checkered flag stripe livery to the 64 support cars it furnished for the race, and not trouble its elderly Oldsmobile customers with an official pace car package. The Aurora would pace the race for a second time in 2000, with Anthony Edwards somehow being roped into the driving duties.

Curious about the biggest race events in the country? We've got you covered with this guide.

In 2002, Volkswagen debuted the crème de la crème of the Golf line up: the 237hp VR6-powered, all-wheel drive Golf R32. At a time when the GTI made 180hp, the R32 was the most powerful Golf ever made. Near redline, the motor was described as sounding like “Chewbacca on steroids.” Many would have been satisfied with that set up, but there are some that see it as the perfect platform for their even wilder ideas.

It Started With a Crazy Idea

After a few years of driving and autocrossing the R32, owner and builder Steven Berchtold thought was time for a wild change to his Golf. There was nothing wrong with the R32 powertrain, but he had always had this crazy idea of a front-mid-engine Golf in the back of his mind. One day he decided to stop dreaming about it and turn his idea into reality.

The R32 was the perfect platform for the swap, due to already having a rear differential carrier from its all-wheel drive system and suspension designed to handle much more power.

From the outside, the red Golf looks unassuming, but Nitto NT01s tucked into the fenders flares, a front splitter, a large rear diffuser and NACA ducts give you a hint that there is more to it.

Upon closer inspection, you’ll notice how serious this Golf really is. Through the windows, you can see that the driver’s seat and steering wheel are about 3-4 feet further back than it should be. A massive air filter connected to a turbocharger sticks out from where a headlight used to sit.

From Front-Engine to Mid-Engine

To make it a “true” mid-engine, Steven stripped the car down to the barebones and cut a hole in the firewall and a large tunnel through the center of the car. 

With a V8 as central in the car as possible, the driver’s seat was moved to where the backseat used to be.

Upgraded LS1

Originally, a naturally aspirated LT1 sat in the middle of the Golf when the swap was first completed. Currently, Steven is running an LS1 out of a Pontiac GTO. Not one to leave things stock, the LS1 received a cam, upgraded valve springs, chromoly pushrods and a Garrett 4088R turbo to top things off.

A Megasquirt MS3 Pro ECU ties everything together. On E85 and moderate boost (5-10 psi) the turbo LS1 makes 560hp and 528 lb-ft of torque at the rear wheels.

From All-Wheel Drive to Rear-Wheel Drive

Gone is the Haldex 50:50 all-wheel drive system. Power is sent from the engine to a T56 transmission and finally to a Ford 8.8 rear differential built with custom half-shafts.

The engine bay space is still used, but now it's housing the turbo and intercooler. You will also find a few remaining stock parts still in use, such as the steering rack and OEM R32 radiator.

Nitto NT01s sized 275/40/17 sit at each corner of the VW Golf to apply the 560hp to the pavement. The suspension geometry remains the same minus reinforced trailing arm pockets. In fact, the R59 still runs the same Bilstein PSS9 coilovers that have been on the car since 2008. Two-piece 13-inch rotors with four piston calipers up front and upgraded stock rear brakes bring the car to a stop.

Made for Time Attack

The car was built strictly for road racing and to endure a 20-30 minute track session. Steven has taken the car to a few events at various tracks across Southern California and for the most part the R59 has performed reliably, although he is constantly refining it.

How does it drive? Steven says, “The original R32 handles well up to a certain threshold at which the car became a nose heavy with uncontrollable understeer."

"That was one of the main reasons why I finally decided to do a mid-engine setup. In its current form, the car is now as neutral as it gets. It is unbelievable (to me anyway) how little work and effort I have to put in to run laps on the track. The R59 is very predictable, has a well behaved rear end and I can rotate it with the throttle input. Now... is this car record breaking? No not at all, but it is a blast to drive and I am very happy to know that the car far exceeds the performance of that original R32," Steven said.

Building a mid-engine rear-wheel drive VW Golf took years of work and it will continue to evolve. Steven did 99 percent of the work himself, from welding, fab work, electrical and more but he says it wouldn’t have been possible without the one percent of specialties provided by his friends, moral support of his brother and the patience of his wife and kids.

Love track ready VWs? Take a gander at this '08 Golf GTI with 400+hp.

Remember when airbags were a big deal? It turns out that car safety could have gone down a much weirder route—and in some cases did—if more rational decisions hadn't been made about how best to protect drivers, passengers and pedestrians.

Check out our take on some of the weirdest safety gear ever installed—or almost installed—in automobiles, and decide for yourself whether any of this equipment is actually better than the tried, tested and true combination of seatbelts and anti-lock brakes.

1. Volvo Heartbeat Sensor

In the rough and tumble world of Swedish corporate politics, apparently the single greatest threat to the safety of executives who could afford to buy Volvo's S80 flagship sedan was kidnapping. We say this because for most of that model's run it could be purchased with the Personal Car Communicator, which was an oversized key fob linked to a heartbeat sensor in the vehicle that would remotely warn you if someone was hiding in your back seat as you walked up to it at the end of the day.

Read that paragraph again and realize just how lucky you are that you don't need a car capable of detecting the subtle rhythms of the human circulatory system in order to feel safe.

2. Pedestrian Airbags

Airbags keep drivers and passengers safe inside a car, so why not use the same concept to protect pedestrians facing down the steel-encased outside of a vehicle, too? So goes the logic behind pedestrian airbags, a technology pursued by a number of European brands but never put into production.

Primarily, these airbags were designed to alleviate the impact of a person's head on the hood or windshield of a vehicle in the event of a frontal hit, but taller grilles and engine setback rules have been implemented to accomplish largely the same function.

3. Hit and Run Discs

Picture this: You're walking along, minding your own business sometime during the 1930s, when out of nowhere an automobile jumps the curb, blows past you and knocks you to the ground.

What a catastrophe! Have no fear, however, because you'll soon be able to bring the perpetrator to justice thanks to the "hit and run disc" that the car spat out at you after the dirty deed was done. Mechanically activated by the impact of the bumper as it crushes your shinbones, the discs were inscribed with the name of the owner and the license plate number.

The idea was bandied about in the automotive press of the time, but never implemented. Perhaps someone finally realized that simply not loading the bumper discs into your car would be an easy, and invisible, work-around.

4. Pop-Out Windshields

The Tucker Torpedo was ahead of its time, particularly when it came to safety. One of the more unusual protections afforded by Tucker's industry-shaker was the concept of safety glass that popped out rather than shattered when the windshield was struck during an accident.

This wasn't designed to protect pedestrians, but rather reduce the damage done to passengers who would have normally been lacerated beyond recognition after having been ejected through the windshield in an accident.

5. Rim Blow Steering Wheel

Wouldn't you rather squeeze the steering wheel to blow the horn than slam its hub in anger? No? Well, 1960s automotive researchers felt they had the data to prove you wrong, and as a result developed an entire line of rim blow steering wheels that would do exactly this.

The logic seemed sound—after all, some people instinctively tighten their grip in stressful situations—but the manufacturing capacity of Detroit simply wasn't up to the technological task of making the feature work properly. As time went on, the sun would shrink the plastic circumference of the rim blow wheel, squeezing it to the point where the horn just sounded constantly. The feature was quietly retired after a very short run.

6. Automatic Seatbelts

Automatic seatbelts remain the bane of anyone seeking a vintage '80s car. These ugly, annoying and difficult-to-remove shoulder belts slide back across your body automatically as soon as the door closes, and the slide forward once it's open.

It was a solution to a problem that didn't exist—essentially trying to force people to wear belts—and it was no real improvement over the traditional manually-operated belts. They disappeared from most cars when it was revealed that they were prone to injuring occupants when used in conjunction with modern airbag systems.

7. Speed Chime: Forever

An alert that sounds when your vehicle surpasses a specific speed, typically one selected by the driver, is a feature offered on many current vehicles, and can be a useful tool to help stave off speeding tickets.

A chime that sounds once your vehicle hits 60 mph, and then continues to sound off, non-stop, for the entire duration of travel above that speed? That sounds more like a recipe for madness, and yet it's exactly what Nissan installed in its S-Cargo compact van, a reflection of Japan's speed limit at the time the vehicle was produced (late '80s/early '90s).

8. Water-Filled Bumpers

Run out of speed discs? Don't worry, it's water-filled bumpers to the rescue! We're not sure who decided that single-use bumpers were a good idea, but we're glad that everyone else in the room shouted them down and restricted this bizarre novelty to taxi fleet usage in a few major U.S. cities in the 1960s.

It turns out that the horrendously expensive repair bill to get the feature re-installed after impact prevented their wider adoption.

9. Night Vision

Night vision at first seems like the ultimate high-tech safety feature, and perhaps it would be if it were implemented properly. Unfortunately, although some integrate into a heads-up display, most luxury cars that feature night vision cameras force you to take your eyes off the road ahead and look down at the dashboard to see their eerie images.

Can this feature help you see better past the edges of your headlights, potentially scoping out wildlife waiting to bound out in front of you at night? Certainly. Do you have to sacrifice looking at where you're actually going to benefit from this second sight? Um, also yes.

Want to stay safe in your garage, not just on the street? Check out these 10 tips.

This year not only marks the 10th anniversary of GM shutting down the storied Pontiac brand in 2009, but it also marks the 50th anniversary of one of Pontiac’s most popular and iconic cars: the Firebird Trans Am. So in honor of this milestone, we’ve put together a list of what we consider the five greatest examples of the Pontiac Trans Am.

During its 30+ years of production the Trans Am sat at the heart of the American performance car scene. There were some truly great versions produced through out its run, but we consider these ones to be at the top of the pyramid.

Take a look and see if you agree with our choices.

5. 1969 Trans Am

Starting off, we have the first Trans Am ever, which was introduced for the 1969 model year. It wasn’t even a separate model but an option package for the standard Firebird that took its name from the popular SCCA racing series. All 697 examples  of the '69 Trans Am that were sold were painted white with blue stripes and featured unique body styling.

Mechanically, the ‘69 Trans Am was the same as a highly optioned Firebird 400, but both its overall rarity and the fact that it started off the the journey make it more than worthy of a spot on this list.

4. 2002 Trans Am WS6

Next we go from the very first Trans Am to the very last. 2002 marked the end of the road for the fourth generation Camaro and Firebird, and the WS6-badged Trans Ams in particular may have the been the best all around performing Trans Am ever made with its modern LS1 engine and dialed-in suspension.

Unlike the Camaro, which would be revived in 2010, the demise of the Pontiac brand meant the 2002 would be the last Trans Am ever made, and that’s one of the big reasons why the late model cars have continued to hold their value and will likely appreciate in the coming years.

3. 1971 Trans Am 455 H.O.

In 1970 with the move to the second generation F-Body platform, the Trans Am had begun to build an identity for itself, and the following year Pontiac decided to counteract corporate rules on engine compression ratios by fitting the Trans Am with a massive 455 ci V8.

This was unprecedented for the pony car class, and while the 455 H.O. didn’t quite match the peak horsepower ratings of the earlier 400 motors, it had an abundance of torque on tap and quickly earned a spot among the greatest pony cars of all time.

2. 1989 Turbo Trans Am

From Knight Rider to the GTA, the third generation Trans Am continued to be a big success for Pontiac, but it was a limited edition model from 1989 that represented the peak of third-gen car. To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the model, Pontiac decided to fit a limited number of Trans Ams with a 3.8L turbocharged V6 from the Buick GNX and the result was a spectacular performer.

Conservatively rated at 250hp, the turbocharged Trans Am wasn’t just faster than its V8 counterpart, it was one of the fastest cars you could buy in 1989, capable of running a mid 13 second quarter mile right off the showroom floor. That, combined with the distinctive styling of the third-gen Trans Am has kept its desirability very high.

1. 1977 "Bandit" Trans Am

Finally we get to number one, and despite the fact that it’s easily the slowest of these five picks, there should be no surprise that the 1977 Trans Am takes top honors here. Immortalized by Burt Reynolds in the first Smokey & The Bandit film, this is the car that elevated the Trans Am from a pony car to a cultural icon.

It didn’t matter that emissions regulations had drained the Trans Am of most of its horsepower and that a modern minivan would leave it in the dust. Thanks to the T-tops, hood scoop, screaming chicken and the power of the silver screen, the late '70s Trans Ams were made undeniably cool, and it’s in this form that most people will remember the car.

Happy 50th, Pontiac Trans Am!

Looking for more Pontiac history? Take a look back the story of the GTO.

If you are like us, chances are you have at least a few diecast cars sitting around somewhere. Maybe you have dozens or even hundreds of them sitting in closets or boxes somewhere in your house and have been looking for something to do with them. With a small amount of money and a minuscule amount of work, we've found a way to display them in a cool way.

But of course before you do this yourself, you'll have to come terms with opening up your diecast cars and taking them out of their packages. There are arguments for both ways of collecting—and that's something we'll cover in the future—but for now you'll have to make that decision for yourself.

A Ton of Cars

Once you've committed to opening them up, you'll need to find something to do with them. Purpose-built display cases that go on the wall are great for this, but they are quite expensive and if you have a lot of cars you'd like to display the costs can be daunting.

In my case I had several hundred Hot Wheels, Matchbox, Tomica and other diecast cars that I'd acquired both brand new in the store, online and at swap meets and toy shows. The packaged ones I had either hanging on the wall on their cards or stacked in storage, while an equal number were stored loose in boxes.

With my walls having run out of space and dozens upon dozens of cars packed away in boxes, I wanted an affordable and easy way to display all my cars. A search around YouTube showed several collectors who had discovered the secret of using hobby storage cases to display their cars on the wall, so I decided to give it a shot.

Cheap and Easy

The cases I went with are made (here in the USA!) by Plano Molding Company and are made to store anything from hardware to craft and hobby items. They're item number 5324 and can be found for under ten dollars each online, usually with free shipping.

Each case has 24 compartments that just happen to be the perfect size to display Hot Wheels and Matchbox-sized diecast cars. Doing some rough calculations knowing how many cars I had, I ordered a few boxes of them, and they showed up at my house the next day.

Simple Installation

Putting them up was about as easy at gets. The first step was removing the plastic lid from each case. Technically you could keep the lids on for dust protection, but they aren't very transparent and it kind of defeats the purpose of using them for display.

Perhaps the biggest drawback is you'll have drill into your walls, but that will likely be required with any display case. In this case we used a box of inexpensive wall anchors from Harbor Freight.

We used two anchors for each case, and there are even holes the cases that work perfectly for this purpose. In the end it didn't take more than about 20 or 30 minutes to hang all 28 of our Plano cases on the wall.

The Hard Part

Once the cases are up on the wall, the really time consuming part begins: opening up, placing and organizing all the cars into the cases. This is also the perfect time to rediscover diecast cars you forgot you even had. It's actually therapeutic in a way.

The other downside to this display method is that the cars won't be sealed from dust, but I figure that just gives me more chances to take them out and look at them. On the other hand, the open compartments also make it easy to grab cars for photos or to rearrange them.

Best of all though, the sight of the cases stacked on the wall and filled with a diverse assortment of cars makes me smile every time I head into my office. Given how cheap and easy this was to do, I only wish I would have tried this method sooner.

Not surprisingly, I've already filled up this first batch, and it will soon be time for another order of Plano cases to keep the fun going. Here's hoping this helps some of my fellow collectors who have been looking for an easy way to display their diecast cars.

Looking for some cars to fill your cases? We love the latest releases from Matchbox.