Track.One shop build

UPDATE: A new build thread link has been added to the bottom of the post.

It’s been waaay too long since the last garage build, so to bring it back I thought we’d change it up from the previous features which were based on private dwellings, and showcase a garage built for commercial use. After completing a magazine worthy EK coupe, Mike from Tennessee turned his hobby into a business by starting up his own workshop. Instead of renting out a dingy little factory somewhere with a blocked toilet and faulty electrics, he decided to build his own damn shop from the ground up.

I bring you, Track.One…

Continue reading “Track.One shop build”

Saab 93 + Viper V10

Not a day goes by that I’m not grateful for the crazy people out there who are willing to tackle insane driveline swaps. I mean seriously, at what point in your life do you sit there and think to yourself “You know what, I think I’m going to put a Viper V10 into a Saab 93 wagon?”. Pure insanity, I love it.

Thanks to Paul JDMST for submitting.

Continue reading “Saab 93 + Viper V10”

Vauxhall-powered, carbon-clad ’72 Mini

Car magazines have been a long-time love of mine. From a very, very young age I have thoroughly enjoyed flicking the glossy pages and seeing all kinds of custom cars in print, it has a certain feeling that the internet just can’t reproduce. But as good as magazines are, they leave a few voids, and one of those is that due to their limited space they only show you the finished product of a car. If you’re reading this, then like me, you want to see how a car was built. Every now and then the correct planets align and during your online browsing you manage to stumble across the build thread of a magazine feature car. That’s exactly what happened to me the other day during my daily perusal of STANCE|WORKS. I recognised this Mini instantly as the cover car of an issue of RetroCars I have at home and couldn’t wait to dive into it to see how the little “brick” was pieced together.

Continue reading “Vauxhall-powered, carbon-clad ’72 Mini”

’31 Ford Model A

It’s been a while since the last hot rod build, so I think it’s time we sink our teeth into some vintage American iron. I can’t help but be extremely jealous when I see such talented folk create a car with their bare hands from such a depleted starting point. Scooter, the talented fabricator behind the build, certainly knows how to piece together a good ‘rod and document with very nice photography. Make sure you keep your eye out for some text links posted on the first page of the thread, which will take you to some other (earlier) threads of the build process.

Thanks to Pingar for the submission.

Continue reading “’31 Ford Model A”

V12 MGB-GT

When you’re sick of autocrossing your stock Porsche Boxster and you have an MGB and a Jaguar V12 sitting in the garage, you’d do what any sane and rational human being would do and throw the V12 in the MGB, right? Well that’s what Mark from Canada did, creating a custom chassis & rollcage to hold both the Jag powerplant and the severely lightened MGB body. A Ford 9″ diff get’s the power to the 13″ wide slicks, while pushrod coilover suspension and a 4-link rear end help with cornering. I think it might just be a bit more fun than his Porsche, just maybe.

Thanks to David for submitting.

Continue reading “V12 MGB-GT”

Ford GTX1 Hard-Top

Who do you go to when your 1-of-38 Ford GTX1 Roadster needs an OEM quality hard-top? Kip Ewing, that’s who. This is the kind of work I’d only expect to see on a TV show like Rides, so you can imagine how flattered I was when Kip emailed me directly to share some of his amazing work. With the build processes utilising carbon fiber, mold & tool making, clay sculpting, 3D scanning + modeling, and other high-end manufacturing techniques, this build blurs the lines between aftermarket and OEM.

Continue reading “Ford GTX1 Hard-Top”

School’s in! V12 Diablo replica

Dave from Stance Is Everything must be the hardest working guy in the automotive blog network, every time I check his site there’s a bunch of new posts and updates, which is much more than I can say for myself! I remember reading an older post of his where he reminisced about the influence his old high school auto-shop teacher had on him, and I thought to myself how cool it would have been to have a teacher who was in to cars, let alone actually have auto-shop available as a class (my school never provided it). Fast-forward to last week, Dave put up a new post about the most recent work his old teacher has undertaken, a tube-frame Lamborghini Diablo replica powered by a BMW V12. Sure beats the usual Pontiac Fiero based replicas, talk about stepping it up!

Continue reading “School’s in! V12 Diablo replica”

One very Swift lemon

I’m not sure if you’re familiar with the 24 Hours of Lemons races, but to be very brief the official site describes it as “A nationwide series of endurance races for cars that cost $500 or less.” That $500 includes the purchase AND building costs. The entries are very interesting, the teams are hilarious, and the whole deal raises money for charity. So now that you’ve got a run-down on the competition, let’s see just how far you can stretch that $500 budget with a bit of know-how, a lot of had work, and a sense of humour. This frankenstein hatch-back started out life as a Geo Metro (a.k.a. Suzuki Swift to my fellow countrymen, hence the title), which was gutted and then had it’s rear end violated by some Ford V6 goodness from a Taurus donor car, awesomeness ensues.

Continue reading “One very Swift lemon”

VTR1000 Streetfighter

It’s been a couple of months since the last bike build, so I’ve dug this Honda VTR1000 out of the submissions list. While streetfighter bikes aren’t really my 2-wheeled style of choice, (I’m more of a cafe racer or bobber man myself, which doesn’t really count for much since I don’t even ride) there’s no denying the amount of work invested into this build, nor the impact of the finished product. The completed bike was also very popular amongst it’s peers, winning the 2009 Streetfighter Buildoff hosted by CustomFighters.com.

Thanks to Mike for submitting via email.

Continue reading “VTR1000 Streetfighter”

Bentley EXP Speed ​​8 replica

One very dedicated Swedish builder has been spending the last 3 years creating his own Bentley Speed 8 replica. By taking a 1:18 scale model and having it scanned in 3D, he was able to recreate the body shape in full-size and drape it over a hand fabricated tube-frame chassis. With a 4.2lt Audi V8 sitting behind the two lucky occupants, this home-made creation will surely have the performance to back up supercar looks. At the start of the thread there appears to be a twin-turbo setup in the works, but sadly it disappears later in the thread, so let’s hope it makes a return somewhere down the track. After you see the home-made CNC machine & plasma cutting table, you’ll agree with me when I say “chalk up another build to the crazy Scandinavians!”

Thanks to Ger from Ireland for the submission.

Continue reading “Bentley EXP Speed ​​8 replica”