Think street racing is a new problem? Think again. The youth of today have been ripping up the streets since they were the youth of yesterday. Your parent’s parents terrorized their towns in their beaters just as the neighbor’s kid in a clapped out Civic blasts down your street. Coffee can tailpipes? Grandpa did it with no muffler at all.

Back in 1952, The Man put together this wonderful little video aimed at getting the hooligans off the street and onto the strip. More specifically onto the salt.

A great video courtesy of Ryan at The Jalopy Journal. Be sure to watch in full screen to take advantage of the great quality copy.

The Road Runners: 1952 from The Jalopy Journal on Vimeo.

I think I might have actually shed a tear when I drove up to the Trollhättan offices of Saab. I am not some Saab groupie and this is my Graceland, rather I saw what was once an innovative auto manufacturer wondering if there will be a tomorrow. I was invited by an old friend and former Saab employee to spend two days road testing two Saabs which may or may not arrive in Canada… The new Saab 93X and 94X.

I must confess a deep love for Sweden. My Drive from Malmö to Trollhättan could easily have been a typical Canadian’s weekend run up to the cottage. If I turned off the radio and just looked around I swear I could be in Muskoka. Besides the landscape, we share quite a bit with the Swedes. Whether it is the weather, universal health care or hockey, we have more in common with Sverige than our neighbours to the south.

My first day was spent with the 2010 Saab 93X 1.9ttid. Touring around the car I was first impressed by the styling. Saab has taken a 93 Sport-combi and raised ride height 3.5 cms. The aggressive front air dam and front and rear skid plates make you want to get off the highway and take the gravel roads.  A representative from Saab even explained that the side skirts around the wheel wells was designed to  keep your doors a little cleaner when driving down those gravel roads. It is powered by a 1.9 litre twin turbo diesel mated with a six speed automatic, powering the front wheels with 180bhp.
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Oh man! Am I ever glad my photography skills have improved over the past 15 years. Way back in the early Nineties, I spent a season as John Heintzman’s crew chief. That’s him up there in the blurry Suzuki at some rally circa 93. The following year, John took the role of team owner and yours truly drove the wee beasty for part of a season.

Herr Heintzman grew up in a household with a rather eclectic assortment of cars, ranging from a 50’s era Land Rover series truck to an 80 something Audi Coupe. Frequent trips across the pond to visit friends somehow netted him the permanent use of an early AMG Hammer wagon to toodle around the German countryside. You think that is cool? Just ask Johnny how that car got him some seat time with one of those Schumacher boys!

Unlike some of the rest of us here in The Garage, John actually has some literary training to back up his automotive ramblings. Even still, I’m happy to say I caught a couple of typos in his debut post! During his recent trip to Sweden, John had the opportunity to spend some time with a pair of new Saab’s and even visited the koenigsegg and he’ll be sharing his thoughts on both. Unfortunately, his camera went awol so we’ll just have to make due with some shots from those manufacturers.

Editor’s note: Herr Heintzman just provided a more appropriate photo of himself on track during a spring tarmac event at Shannonville Raceway

If there are two cars that define the spirit of the sports car racing in the Sixties more than any others, they must be the Austin Healey Sprite and the Triumph Spitfire. It might even be safe to say that more racers got their starts in these fun and affordable cars than all of the others combined.

Friend of The Garage, Paul Chenard, was recently commissioned to create this wonderful piece by Mike Gee from British Columbia. That’s Mike leading the way in his Spitfire at Western Speedway on Vancouver Island in 1964. Chasing him, with the inside line, is Dan Sherwood in his brand new Mk II Sprite.

Absolutely the essence of North American racing in the early Sixties!

If you’ve got a favorite photo of your car in action or you’d like to pick up one of Paul’s existing works be sure to visit Automobiliart.com

As Autoblog  continues to get news of the 2010 GM Online Order/Reference Guide, we here at The Garage will continue to keep you informed. Last week we reported the Chevy Cobalt SS 4-door will not live to see 2010, but the coupe will continue on for now. Read on for the obituaries…

Pontiac G6 GXP

By now we all know that 2010 will be Pontiac’s last year of production as a brand, but the fact that the top range G6 GXP won’t make it to the end says alot where GM’s performance division went wrong. With the G6, Pontiac was moving away from the body cladding, scoops and spoilers that made the Grand Am a joke, but they went a little too far in the other direction. The car’s smooth, soft contours have a peculiar shape from any angle. 
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Aaron Von Minden took a drive to check out the progress on the interior of the Merc when what to his wondrous eyes should appear but a gasser approaching in the driver’s mirror. This was taken on Route 46, the same road where James Dean met Donald Turnupseed.

Riding a bike. Ice skating. Racing. Some talents just stick with you, if you had the talent to begin with. Herschel McGriff has talent.

4 NASCAR wins. 5 poles. 31 top tens. Winner of the first Carrera Panamericana. Oh yes, he started racing in September 1945. Yes, McGriff has been at this racing stuff for a really long time. In case you were wondering, he is 81 years old. He’s going racing again!

McGriff will begin his season at Infineon Raceway for the Toyota/Save Mart 350 and is entered in the NASCAR Camping World Series West for 2009.

For Herschel McGriff racing is like riding a bike!

Thanks to our good friend Gary Faules for the tip.

While browsing the 2010 online order guide for Chevy dealers, Autoblog discovered the Cobalt SS four door has been quietly deleted from the 2010 Cobalt line. Granted, the Cobalt is about to enter its final year of production, but it seems a shame to see such a nice little package go. For a little over $23,000USD, you had a 260hp turbo four at the ready. The Garage reviewed a Cobalt SS Coupe and confirmed the car is a hoot to drive. 

There are a lot of hot sport compacts on the market, and given American buyers aversion to hatchbacks, I thought the Cobalt SS four door would hold a lot of appeal to young families seeking speed and practicality in an affordable car. Still, the competition was strong-the other four door sport compacts competing against the SS were the Honda Civic Si, VW Jetta GLI, and Nissan Sentra SE-R. Critics of the Cobalt decried an interior not on par with its rivals, and the airport rental car stigma of lesser Cobalts.

Call it a one-year wonder, as the Cobalt SS four door was just introduced as a 2009 model. The SS Coupe will be available in 2010.

Our friend Lou Galanos was at the Classic Motorsports Mitty at Road Atlanta recently and came across (pun intended) this sign. To get the Full Monty, check out a slideshow of Lou’s full set after the break.
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While the kids might disagree, the tuner car culture has it’s roots firmly planted in the history of hot rodding. Take a run of the mill car, tear it apart and tweak it till is suits your own vision. The styles and the canvas may have changed a bit, but the substance remains the same. Fortunately for all of us, there are some amongst us who are still envisioning classic style.
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