Classic Motor Carriages Gazelle Kit Car

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Although I feel my automotive proficiency is fairly well-rounded, there are a couple gaps in my knowledge. I understand that nobody is perfect, so I try not to beat myself up over the fact that I can’t make myself get into anything European or Japanese made before the mid-eighties, I’m not up to date on current supercars (hypercars? what are they calling them now?), and street rods all just look like the same ZZ Top album cover to me.

I also have a bad habit of  calling everything that that looks really old but not American either an Excalibur or a “Cruella de Vil Car”, depending on whether I am talking to a car guy or not. So when I saw this old lady barreling down the 17, with a death grip on the steering wheel and, I’m imagining, a cartoonish twinkle of determination in her eyes, taking a folding card table somewhere, wearing a rain poncho underneath her jacket, on a very hot, very dry day in Phoenix, I just assumed that I had just seen an Excalibur. A Cruella de Vil car.

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2000 Cadillac Deville DTS (Thermal) Night Vision System

Remember the commercials for Cadillac’s night vision system a few years back? Much like GM you probably forgot all about them. Well, the next time you spot a 2000-2005 Deville with what appears to be a stolen crest from its (dark grey) grill go in for a closer look, that’s where they mounted the camera for that night vision setup. I came across this one at Biosphere 2, which seems like the perfect place to spot old future-technology. The idea with this system was that for (only) $1,995 you could keep yourself aware of whatever night time danger may be ahead by projecting a live feed from a night shot camera onto your front window.

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FrankenProbe

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The owner of this car seemed kind of weird. He was nice, but it seemed like he was really downplaying the car for some reason. I can’t understand why though, it sure seems pretty impressive to me. I mean, there’s a fucking gigantic hole cut out of the hood. I found a video on Youtube of him running a 10.24 in the 1/4 mile. That’s seriously fast for a car that starts out life as well, sorry to any of you MX-6/Probe fans, a little bit of a turd.

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Chevrolet Twin Turbo V8 Hot Rod

I ran across this Chevrolet hot rod at a church car show in Glendale. While I like the twin turbo V8 engine and the wide rear tires, there are a lot of details about the truck that leave me scratching my head. Take the sword sticking out of the driver’s side fender for example: what’s that all about?

From the back, we can see the huge aluminum wing which I think looks too new on such an old truck body. Why is it installed backwards? Is it an aesthetic thing, or does the owner really not realize that it’s backwards? The “Jesus Saves” taillights obviously reflect the owner’s personality, and while they are definitely an original idea, it’s not one that I am a fan of.

The utter simplicity of the twin turbo installation here is pretty cool. However, the flex pipe exhaust and various dice pieces accenting the engine bay make this thing look more shoddy than “DIY cool.” Don’t get me wrong, I really want to like this truck! However, the owner has gone overboard with personal touches that I feel don’t really blend together.

Still, I bet it goes like hell when he puts the pedal down!

SEMA 2012 Sneak Preview

The editors here at Generation: High Output are pleased to announce that we will be attending the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) trade show in fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada this fall.

For the automotive aftermarket industry, this is the biggest event of the year. This massive trade show packs the Las Vegas Convention Center with over 2,000 exhibitors, 60,000 attendees, and of course, hundreds upon hundreds of customized cars, trucks, and other vehicles.

So what can you expect to see at this year’s show? For business owners, there is a full schedule of both free and paid workshops and seminars about various topics in the automotive industry. These include industry trends, business management, customer service, and Internet marketing. Continue reading