We’ve been watching the progress of the 49 Mercury in the Savage Speed Garage, our official West Coast connection. The first few updates have been clean up and maintenance. In the last week or so, the Kustom Werk has started! This is our first view of the stripped and slammed monster. I’ll bet you that it won’t be too many more weeks before we’re able to post video of the Merc’s first burnout!

When hurricane Katrina hit, we all freaked out that oil rigs had been damaged and there was going to be a gas shortage. That shortage never really occurred, just a spike in gas prices. Now, as a result of a minor fire that lasted only 2 hours, stations all over Ontario are running out of gas.
Continue reading →

The Austin Healey Sprite and MG Midget twins have long been known as Spridgets. From it’s beginning as the Bugeye (frogeye in the UK) in 1958 all the way until the rubber bumper cars of the Eighties, the Spridget has been a favourite of Brit car fans and road racers all over the world. Here in The Garage, Grandpa Bud began his racing career in a Bugeye. He was actually the first ever Ontario Sports Car Racing Champion, winning the Alitalia Trophy driving none other than a Mk II Sprite, way back in 1967. I even made an aborted attempt to restore a 72 Spridget in the late Eighties. I gave up, vowing one day to buy an H-Production Sprite some day. I still don’t have one.
Continue reading →

On the race track silly! While I was putting together yesterday’s Carnival of Wheels, AC’s great post DE Smooth vs Race Smooth stuck a major chord with me. My whole life as a driver has been influenced by the pursuit of smooth.

It all began… Well, you can read about the effect semi pro racing in the Sixties had on me in the about page. Really though, at some point in my formative years I found a book called Sunday Driver by Brock Yates. Essentially, Yates wanted to race so that he could write about it intelligently. Except he didn’t want to be the guy who raced one or two regional events and then called himself an expert like so many other writers. He wanted to run a full season in Trans Am. The pinnacle of sedan racing in America at the time. One chapter hit me like a ton of bricks. While the actual words are a bit blurry, the message has stuck with me for the last 25 years or so. Yates’ team owner and team mate followed him through a practice session and then berated him for his lack of smoothness. While his teaching method might have caught him a smack upside the head from some, his message got through to Yates. Wild and woolly might be fun and look spectacular, but it beats up the car and it’s slow. Who woulda thunk?
Continue reading →

Welcome to Edition #9 of the Carnival of Wheels! As always, it’s been a busy week here in The Garage. Along with preparations under way (ie packing the dining room) to lay a new floor in the dining room, I’ve been hard at work (well…sorta) editing our first podcast. If all goes well, you should all get to hear our first interview within a few days. For now though, lets get on with the Carnival!

First off, we’ve got a rookie in The Garage this week. Except that this guy is a rookie to the CoW the way that Montoya is a rookie in NASCAR. Joe Sherlock is a long time auto industry guy who also happens to be one of the earliest car bloggers. This week, Joe has a unique suggestion how we can save Chrysler. Now lets think, I always thought my old 69 Fury II should have had a Hemi instead of that anemic 318 drinking through a skinny straw! Some disc brakes would have been nice too. Welcome to the CoW Joe.
Continue reading →

When they first move into the world of government, most politicians have an idealistic view of the brave new world they will help create. One such nut is Maryland delegate LeRoy E. Myers Jr. who wants to singlehandedly massage remove the nuts from pickup trucks all over his fine state.

You know the ones, those saggy bagged gonads that swing from redneck’s pickups and come in every colour of the rainbow. Hey, maybe that’s a new market…Rainbow Nuts! Maybe we should set up a booth at next year’s pride parade!
Continue reading →

What’s a Saturday morning without a bit of great rally footage? Enjoy this 2006 WRC season highlight real from Eurosport.

Over in the Zentastic Garage, Shannon Larratt has dug out one of his old projects, a Laser 917 kit car. After years of sitting in a corner somewhere, the Porsche 917 replica is set to have a complete reworking. Updated headlights and a more streamlined windshield will be just the beginning from the sounds of things. For now, the car has been brought home for the initial clean up. Currently without a powerplant, Mr. Larratt is looking for a reasonably price (can you say free?) beetle engine to drop in, just to get the car moving. Regular readers may remember Shannon, he’s the guy with the camoflage painted Porsche 911. I’m sure we can expect the same type of cool when the Laser is finished.

Regular readers here in The Garage know that I’m a sucker for killer car videos. When they are assembled by Canadians I’m just stoked & even a bit proud. The team at Flat Over Crest, have been talking the last few months about their upcoming video magazine. The fruits of their labour, produced and directed by Warwick Patterson are now available to us, the internet viewers.
Continue reading →

We don’t normally comment too much on the business side of things here in The Garage, but this is too close to home to ignore. Just-Auto is reporting that GTA based Magna International may be looking to step into the bidding ring for Chrysler. The purchase would be a logical one, as Magna has long been a supplier to Chrysler and even runs an assembly plant for DCX in Austria.

Some industry folks will likely worry that Magna will lock out any other suppliers in order to ensure they have full control. That looks like a pretty valid worry, as Magna is definitely a powerhouse parts manufacturer.
Continue reading →