Every now and then I get a bit of a “wow” moment when a build finds it’s way to my inbox, and this rally car restoration is definitely one of those moments. The thread first takes you through the competition history of the car, before we begin the build with a very tired and damaged shell. With a donor car brought in for parts and panels we get taken along for the ride as years of automotive archeology are uncovered with every layer of paint sanded and spot weld drilled out. The owner/builder shows off his skills in everything from body work, fabrication, painting and composites. The car doesn’t look to be finished just yet but the thread is up to date.
Thanks to John for submitting. Not enough small French hatchback action for you? Try the Citroen and Peugeot tags.
I’ve been a long-time fan/follower of Pete and Dave from Speed Academy, two very entertaining Canadians with a knack for building fast cars (and building them the right way!). This video series centers around completely transforming a family members car from a very tired econo-box into a track-ready fun-machine. My favourite part (apart from all the building, of course) is the guy’s reactions once they hit the track and realise what they’ve created. If you haven’t seen any Speed Academy content before and you like high quality street and track cars, I really encourage you to check out their other video projects, such as the Mullet Mustang, RA24 Celica, Porsche 930 and many more.
Fun fact: Pete is also the owner/builder of the LS-swapped S13 I posted back in 2011!
It’s been a minute since I’ve featured a bike build, that’s for sure. This one was sent in by Grant, and is chock full of highly detailed and very intricate home-built fabrication. The owner mixes a great amount of DIY fab work, from sand casting to CAD, and even creates a wooden forming die to bend stainless steel. I’ll admit, most of it goes way over my head, but it looks damn cool and I’m jealous as hell of the bucketload of talent on show. If you like machining, welding and lots of shiny metal, you best get in here.
Late last year I was contacted by the team at An Italian Garage to inform me about their amazing project that was in production, and now it’s finally time to share it with you. It’s a series of short documentaries focusing on Italian classic car brands, with each season concentrating on a single brand. Season 1’s subject is the little-known brand called IsoRivolta, and episode 1 concentrates on – but is not limited to – their 7ltr Iso Grifo sports car. This is a beautifully shot video, with rolling images that will make you want to move into a little garage in the hills of Italy (if you didn’t already). Everything about it is just great, the music fits perfectly and the stories from the owners and mechanics will draw you in. This is not a quick ‘news feed’ video, but something you should sit down and take some time out to properly enjoy. I can’t wait for the following episodes and seasons.
I’ve owned my car for around 8 or so years now, and in that time it’s been in a perpetual state of modification/restoration. One area that I’ve neglected over that time, apart from a change in steering wheel, is the interior. This isn’t unusual for most people, but it doesn’t make sense for me as my dad is an upholsterer! I’m hoping to change that this year, and the first area I attacked was the seats…
I’m not sure what to say about this one, I’m pretty gobsmacked! If you like Formula 1, engineering, and…uh…old Volvos, then this one’s for you. What we’re looking at is a Volvo 360 with a turbo AND supercharged power-plant, peppered with an assortment of genuine F1 parts like wings, diffuser, wheels, hubs and wishbone suspension, built by a Mr Peter Schmidt. If you’ve seen Speedhunters latest post, you might have seen the finished product already, but I think the build thread is worth a mention too. I’m sure they’ll do a spotlight on the car soon, so we can see the completed car in detailed hi-res shots. I’ll be sure to update this post with a link once that happens.
Thanks to Jasper for submitting. Click Here for more Scandinavian builds. Click Here for more Volvo builds.
The remnants of a Datsun240Z, a late-model engine swap, a whole lot of tubing, and a slathering of carbon fibre thrown in for good measure. This is a complete ground-up build if I’ve ever seen one. The thread actually started in 2009, so there are a few dead links, but all the oily bits are still there for us to enjoy.
You can check out the owner’s website here: Z-car. Thanks to Geoff for submitting (waaay back in 2014!).
Davide Cironi, an Italian Youtuber who seems to get his hands on a whole assortment of desirable cars, get’s the chance to drive an Alfa Romeo 155 DTM in anger. What an opportunity! The man certainly has a way with words, and even though those words are in Italian, the subtitles get the point across just fine. Along with being gifted with the art of story-telling, the man can also drive! His channel is definitely one to follow, as he thrashes everything from exotics to hot-hatches, and is also building a turbo V6 powered Countach replica.
One of the things I enjoy about this site is keeping in contact with some of the great craftsmen out there who grace these pages. One such person is Cameron, the man behind the 205 Hillclimber I featured way back in February of 2013. Cameron got in contact recently to tell me that he’s now working for himself, having started SaloonLibre, and is now part-way through another race-spec Pug build. If you remember his previous work, then you’ll need no incentive to read on, but if you haven’t, well, I’ll let Cameron’s own description be your guide: “The basic spec is a mid-engined RWD 2-seater using a Formula Renault engine (192bhp F4R) and Sadev sequential transaxle, carbon-kevlar T16 silhouette body, some Clio suspension & brake bits, and around 750kg kerb weight”
There seems to be a new trend on Youtube of people ripping off every image from a build thread (many of which are plucked from this site along with my post introductions) and uploading them as a slide-show in their entirety. They are generating thousands of views and reaping advertising dollars from other people’s hard work without so much as listing their source (unless they are forced to). I find this very opportunistic, dishonest, and downright rude.
I never once pretended to be an original content creator, but what I have never done is rip people off. Since 2009 this site has always been about being a ‘preview’ to a build thread, giving you – the reader – an introduction to the build and 10-20 summarised photos, before linking you to the original source if you are interested in reading more. The only exception to this rule was the F40LM restoration, of which I personally contacted the owner and asked his permission before re-posting his build here.
At the end of the day the decision is yours, but I hope you understand the difference between what I do, compared to what these (yes, there’s more than one) channels are doing. I hope you join me in celebrating the creators, the hard workers, and the people who care enough about what we love to stop mid-way through working on their car, bike or garage to take photos or video. One man who’s praises I’ll never stop singing in this regard is Jack Olsen, and he’s just released a new video about his ever-popular 12 Gauge Garage. So please, don’t take the lazy way out, find the real-deal guys and girls out there like Jack and make them the ones you give your attention, respect, and your views to.
