Welcome to Driving Line's sixth episode of Talking Shift, a weekly series where we discuss the cool, weird, outlandish, dreamy and/or ugly vehicles we've stumbled upon recently. This time around we welcomed special guest Roy Narvaez of Narvaez Racing to talk shift with us for our second LIVE episode aired on Facebook. You may recognize Roy from some past Driving Line articles, including 360 Virtual Reality ride-alongs in his Hulk EVO 8 on Pikes Peak and Ariel Atom at Auto Club Speedway.
If you missed it LIVE, catch up on Talking Shift Episode 6 in the video below:
(And remember, you can still join in on all the shift talk in the comments!)
1. Lifted Life Power Wagon
ALI: There’s just not a lot of pristine examples of old 4x4s left in the South, so it's pretty cool anytime you see some vintage iron redone. I don't really care for the yellow accents on it, but it's a pretty cool-looking truck. Power Wagons have always been pretty popular in the off-road world, and it's neat to see someone do something different with it. I can't wait to check this thing out next week at the SEMA Show. It's got NittoRidge Grapplers and coilovers, and I believe it's got a diesel under the hood.
(Photo: @liftedlifetv)
KRISTIN: The snowmobile in the back is a little bit weird, but different.
JUSTIN: Like when you wanna rock climb, but in the snow at the same time.
ROY: Maybe he lives in Alaska.
KRISTIN: I love the front end of those trucks though. Gah, those years of those trucks are just golden in my book.
2. Happy Camper
KRISTIN: This one comes from the Ring Brothers, another car that's going to be at SEMA. They call this the Happy Camper and the Ultimate Road Trip Machine. On the inside they've got it decked out in a bar, some bucket seats, and beer refrigerator – exactly what I would like to take on a road trip.
JUSTIN: Except no drinking and driving.
ALI: Am I the only one that thinks this thing looks like the "Breaking Bad" Winnebago?
JUSTIN: Okay, so drinking and driving, and Ali's making a meth reference. Best road trip ever.
ROY: It's like a mobile bar, instead of a taco truck. But you have the taco truck next to it.
3. Street Racer
ROY: My Time Attack car. This is an '09 Nissan GTR. It's over 1,000 horsepower. It's a street car still, so I do drive it on the street, and it does really well at Time Attack. It runs on street tires. It has a bunch of modifications – arrow to suspension to transmission upgrades, water upgrades. It's my favorite car to drive – nothing like it. When the torque kicks in, the horsepower, there's nothing that compares to that car.
(Photo: @_gotzzlamonster)
JUSTIN: I have two questions. Why the two different colored wheels? And what's the fastest you've gone in it?
ROY: I thought it would be cool to have two colored wheels, but also when I went to go pick up the gold wheels at Mackin Industries, they didn't have four in stock, but they helped me out. The fastest I've gone? About 180 mph, but could probably go 200.
KRISTIN: So you driving us to lunch?
ROY: Well, there are only two seats, so there's only room for one other person.
KRISTIN: I'll go.
4. Ariel Nomad
ROY: You can literally drive to the desert, go have fun and then come home without having to worry about towing it to the dirt. For what it is, it's actually really fun.
(Photo: @_gottzlamonster via @notacarguy)
KRISTIN: What do you think of it, Ali? This is the off-road version of the Atom.
ALI: They are severely overpriced for the performance that you get out of it. This is super unique because it does have a lot of power. But I think it's going to be one of those cars like the Land Rover or Hummer H1 – people look at it, and they automatically assume that thing's gotta be awesome off-road! But it's cool for what it is. I think if I lived in the desert, it would be the perfect setup for that. It's just sort of a novelty vehicle.
KRISTIN: It's a gentleman's car.
ROY: It is street legal. You can literally drive to the desert, go have fun and then come home without having to worry about towing it to the dirt. For what it is, it's actually really fun.
JUSTIN: If you guys haven't seen it, we have a 360 video on the Ariel Atom on Driving Line, so check it out.
5. Daihatsu Mira Gino
JUSTIN: It's a Daihatsu Mira Gino. It sounds like I sneezed when I say it. This was at StanceNation's event in Japan. I thought it was a Mini Cooper at first... it just looks weird.
(Photo: @ys89_fotografie)
KRISTIN: I'd like to see the stock version of this car, because all I see when I look at this photo is that the windows are bigger than the doors. But it's cute. I want to pinch it.
JUSTIN: I believe it's even static, which makes it even crazier.
ALI: Yeah, that car's pure function right there.
6. Lambo Photoshop
ALI: This Hillbilly Photoshop keeps coming up on my Instagram feed. I see it everywhere. It's awesome. I like it, it's like the concept of the rally fighter, except they put a stupid Lamborghini body on it. I wish someone would do something like this. I've always wanted to take a like a Lotus Exige and make it look just like this, just to be obnoxious and different.
(Photo: @bestoffroad)
KRISTIN: You could never put that sort of suspension on any sort of Lambo frame.
ROY: Well, the Gallardo is all-wheel-drive, so you could modify it a little bit.
KRISTIN: I just want to know where you're going to pack in the ice chest and extra parts you need for off-roading in this things.
JUSTIN: Yeah, you don't.
ALI: I would think if you have a Lamborghini on 40's, you would have a support team that follows you around.
JUSTIN: This totally reminds me of Doug Breuninger's drawing, if you guys remember the Ferrari Re-Imagined video that we did.
7. Cadillackin'
KRISTIN: And here we get to the car that Trump should be driving. This is called a Cordova. It's a mix between a Cadillac El Dorado and a Corvette. I just think it's gaudy and super awesome.
JUSTIN: Those lowrider-esque wheels look very battle-chariot, like if you drive too close to me, I'm going to pop your tires.
ROY: That's a lot of chrome, that's for sure.
ALI: I wonder if you took all the chrome, so everything that is chrome is black. Let's swap out the spoke for some mud terrains, and I actually don't think it would be that bad.
JUSTIN: It sounds like Ali just changed the car entirely. Like, let's just go with a whole new car.
8. Value Wheels
JUSTIN: I’m lovin’ it! You know everybody likes to venture to McDonalds and enjoy a McChicken every now and then, but would you want to go there in a Lambo?
(Photo: @thestradman)
KRISTIN: I just want to see them try to reach out the window and try to grab their order.
ROY: I've actually gone to Jack in the Box in the Ariel Atom.
JUSTIN: I can just imagine all the looks, like hey, I drive this super expensive car, but I'm going to get this value meal.