The history of sports car is so filled with home builts that one could not possibly have heard of all of them. The west coast of North America seems to have been a hotbed for home builders who wanted to market their creation. So goes the story of the La Dawri Conquest.

From the ebay listing:
The LaDawri Conquest was designed and built by Les A. Dawes of British Columbia, Canada and is recognized as Canada’s first fiberglass sports car.

More of the story and photos after the break
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Regular readers have seen some of Coop’s shots of Old Crow the belly tanker. This week, Coop spent some quality Friday the 13th time in the home of the lake racer. I just love the intake stacks on this roadster, but there are just so many other great toys that you’ll have to visit Coop’s Flickr page. While you’re there, have a look around for Coop’s April Flores captures. Yummy!

Car enthusiasts love concept cars. Journalists love concept cars. Chrysler loves to build concept cars! In fact they are dedicated to building the Coolest of Cool concept cars. In reality, every designer and every manufacturer thinks that their concepts are the coolest. Not every concept is a driver though and the Chrysler boys and girls try to make most of them runners. the even get them out on the road for journalists to have a go at. Not long ago, one lucky guy got to take the new Challenger down a drag strip!

It has been 20 years since Chrysler began taking this approach and they are pretty proud of some of those cars. Rightfully so, as a number of the cars on the list went on to production and a full model life. Viper, Prowler, Ram, Neon. These and more have been important to Chrysler fans all over, not to mention the company.

More images and press release after the break
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Back in the good old days, it was pretty common for European manufacturers to offer stripped down sporting versions of their regular road cars. For a long time, the fun side of things vanished as corporations tried to be politically correct or something. Lately though, the design gods are bringing the fun back. Case in point, the Audi TT clubsport quattro concept. Borrowing styling cues from sixties era speedsters, this is one hot looking machine.

Be sure to visit our gallery full of images

Audi press release with all the details after the break
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Regular readers here in The Garage know that I’ve got a soft spot for the Nissan’s twisty warrior, the 350Z. In stock form it’s one of the best all around sports cars I’ve ever driven, besting many cars that cost more than double. This season, Nissan is upping the ante with a hi-po version that’s decked out with the full line of Nismo upgrades.

Beginning with the cosmetic stuff, there is a full aero package that was inspired by the factory Super GT Championship winning cars. This body kit doesn’t only look good though, as it provides additional downforce at high speeds that will be most welcome on lapping days.

One of the great things about 350Z owners is that many of them actually do take their cars to local track days. The Nismo is even better equipped for the track, with a tweaked suspension, free breathing exhaust and big Brembo brakes to slow things down. Horsepower is up to 306.

Read the full details from Nissan after the break
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Here in The Garage, we’re all about the history. Most manufacturers realize the value of their heritage and Audi is no different. This year they are celebrating 75 years of the four rings as the company symbol. It’s been 75 years since 4 manufacturers joined forces to become Auto Union AG. This combination of Audi, Horch, Wanderer and DKW produced the second largest auto manufacturer in Germany. If you’re lucky enough to be in Essen from March 29 to April 1, be sure to spend some time at the Techno Classica show, where Audi is showing a number of vehicles from all 4 partners.

Read all the details from the Audi press release after the break
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So maybe The Garage is a couple of weeks late posting on this, but yours truly is learning to use new technology. FTP??? What the hell is FTP? So now I know how to get things into a gallery, now we just need to make them prettier!

Our man on the west coast, the guy from the Savage Speed Garage was at the Grand National Roadster show a couple of weeks ago. That’s Aaron’s ride up above. This sweet beast won a Gearheads Club Award. In the new gallery, there are pics of a copper coloured 32 Roadster, built by Troy Ladd at Hollywood Hotrods. Some of you may have seen pics floating around the blogosphere a few weeks ago of a belly tanker that Coop did some work on. Well, we’ve got some pics of the finished product and this thing is just too cool.

Be sure to click through and visit our newest gallery and choose GNShow.

Watch tomorrow for another gallery of Aaron’s photos.

So here I was, checking e-mail and minding my own business when that Aaron guy sent me even more teasers to get me wound up on this quest for a totally irrational new project. The proprietor of Savage Speed is showing of his new roadster project, which is powered by nothing less than a Caddy flathead. If I’m not incorrect, this is the same Caddy mill that did time at Bonneville before finding it’s way into Aaron’s living room.

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Following up on it’s groundbreaking Carbon Roadster, TC Kline Racing has shown it’s newest in house creation, the Carbon Coupe. While details on the Coupe are sparse to date, the real thing has been spotted on track by those guys over at Axis of Oversteer.

The incredible Carbon Roadster weighed in at only 2680 lbs, with 346 hp and was capable of generating 1.06 g of grip. Add the torsional strength and aerodynamics of the coupe body and this car may just prove to be unbeatable.

Read last year’s press release for the Carbon Roadster after the break.

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