I’ve spent a few years trying to spot one of these things to no avail.. and wouldn’t you know it, I spotted two in the same week! The first was a completely thrashed black car in Phoenix, this was the second (on the other side of the country). As you can see it’s in excellent condition. Continue reading
Have you heard? The Lamborghini Countach is back.
This is my own observation, but it feels like I’ve been seeing the car everywhere lately. It’s been mentioned in Motor Trend’s Aventador vs. Rat Rod video, it’s been featured on Petrolicious, and oh yes, Jay Leno has one. On top of all that, I’ve even spotted three of them in the past year at my local Cars and Coffee cruise-in.
The Countach was the catalyst that sparked the modern supercar era. It is one of the most ridiculous, over-the-top designs to ever come out of Lamborghini’s factory. The car’s abundant vents, scoops, and giant wing make it look like a fighter jet with wheels. And who could forget those vertical doors!
It basically goes something like this. I was born in the mid 1980’s. My family hauled my brother and I around in the back seat of a 1979 Ford Thunderbird until the mid to late 1990’s. Continue reading
I spotted this car a few weeks ago during a trip to San Francisco. I didn’t think much of it, just another old Ford wagon from the 80’s. I completely forgot that I had taken the picture until recently when I was sorting through them all. After spending a bit more time researching than I expected I finally figured out what I was looking at.
This is the 1982 Ford Granada wagon and, as I have learned, there are a handful of interesting things to note about this car. For one, it was only made for a single year. It’s part of the second generation of the Ford Granada, which only saw two production years before being tweaked with a new front end and sold as the LTD. The first year had only coupe or sedan options, the wagon came about for the final year. Continue reading
There is a basic principle of engineering that affects all cars: in order to make an engine produce more power, you need to add more fuel and more air. Adding more fuel is the easy part, but adding more air can be challenging. That’s why automakers use turbochargers to boost the incoming air, which in turn boosts the power output of an engine. This is particularly effective on smaller engines.
Turbochargers have been standard fare on Saabs, Volvos, and high-end Nissans for decades. One car manufacturer that has kept their distance from forced induction is Honda. However, they did experiment with it during the “turbo craze” of the 1980s.
