Tag Archives: Round 2
A Somewhat Spiffier Bunny
Trying to make something exciting out of the everyday can be difficult. Let’s face it, plain white bread is okay, but it’s not the kind of thing you really pine for on a daily basis. That same kind of responsible utility typified cars of the Automotive Dark Ages, driven partly by the rise of the […]
Chicken Tax-Evading Off-Road Machine!
When it comes to the automotive world, it takes quality or innovative products to help a company survive. (Notice that the two don’t always go together!) By the time the late 1970s had come along, the burgeoning small truck market was being dominated by imports, both captive and direct. Subaru, always a niche maker in […]
Brat Update 3: Sit Down, Dress Up (and Hold On!)
With the bodywork complete and the engine and chassis done, it was time to get things really underway on the BRAT. This meant getting the interior done, and getting the body into paint. Normally, I’m used to interiors taking quite some time. However, being a pickup, and a small one at that, the BRAT doesn’t […]
Brat Update 2: Topless on Bottom
When last we left off, I said that the next update would the engine and chassis. Never one to be a liar, this update covers those two items. As you’ve seen, the BRAT is something of a challenge to build correctly. Sure, there was a lot of body work to do, but how did the […]
More Retro than Deluxe
For those interested in loser cars, everyday cars or just non-supercars, there isn’t a car that’s much more of all of those than the much venerated (or is that reviled? ) Ford Pinto. This most basic of cars offered by Ford during the ’70s is a true nadir in so many ways, and its reputation […]
BRAT Update 1: Grind that Body!
Sometimes, you have no choice but to work with what you’re given. When it became apparent in the mid-‘70s that small trucks were going to be a thing, a lot of makers jumped on the bandwagon. Most companies, by 1980, had some kind of small truck to offer. In a lot of cases, it was […]
Slot Mags and Shotguns. Pick Up Your Toys!
All good things must come to and end, and so it was with the once-illustrious “Chevy Nova” nameplate. Bowing out in 1979, the final Nova was a de-tuned, lacklustre ghost of it’s former self. Now, MPC had always had a way to taking outdated models and making them into something fresh and new, or at […]
So Close, and Yet so Far (Out)…
The ’70s were a dark time for automobile lovers, what with gas crises and the neutering of all motoring fun. However, there was one segment of the automotive hobby that refused to give in to the doom and gloom – Vanners! Vanners and Vannin’ kept the good times rolling, literally, throughout the Automotive Dark Ages. […]
Wheezing off into the Sunset
The end of the ’70s saw the final nails driven into the coffin of automotive excitement and performance. The Gas Crisis and government-mandated emissions standards choked all the fun out of driving. However, as the sun set on what had been a glorious chapter in the history of the car, a few car makers were […]
Pinto Update 2: Body Issues
I’m sure that the words “Pinto” and “Fundamentally Flawed” are already permanently linked in the psyches of anyone who follows automotive history or grew up in the ‘70s. Ford’s “explosive” issues with the Pinto runabout/hatchback/Pacer-wannabe-whatever-it-was are well known and oft-mocked, even today. Thankfully, the wagon versions of Ford’s desperate econobeater were a bit better, at […]
The Sprue Lagoon 