# Cult cars



## a_majoor (1 Aug 2012)

Reading this Jay Leno piece reminded me of my first car, a SAAB 99 Turbo, purchased for no better reason than it was the "coolest" car in the parking lot (everyone else was buying Cameros and Firebirds). Sadly, when SAAB was purchased by General Motors, the brand was mismanaged into the ground. Trying to sell Saab's alongside Saturns made no sense from any perspective that I could see, and rebadging Chevy Blazers with the SAAB grill and emblem (along with various other vehicles from different companies) certainly did not make these vehicles SAAB's.

For me, the essence of SAAB was the fact they were essentially designed by aircraft designers with extra time on their hands ("Hey Sven, come over here. We're going to build a car!"), and the way a SAAB was designed and built reflected a sheer love of engineering for its own sake, rather than bean counting. The only other car company I ever encountered with a similar philosophy was Citroen, and that identity was erased when Peugeot bought them out. SAAB has changed hands several times now, but I don't see them coming back as a car company. Pity:

http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/jay-leno/vintage/long-live-saab-jay-leno-remembers-the-quirky-carmaker-9989519?click=pp



> *Long Live Saab! Jay Leno Remembers the Quirky Carmaker*
> Yet another company is trying to pick Saab up off the scrap heap and revive the marque. But the Saab that Jay Leno knew and loved is gone. Here's why it's worth celebrating the achievements of this weird but innovative automaker.
> By Jay Leno
> 
> ...


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## medicineman (2 Aug 2012)

So this didn't make it into the cult car list?


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## a_majoor (3 Aug 2012)

For certain values of "cult", I would imagine..... >


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## X Royal (5 Aug 2012)

medicineman said:
			
		

> So this didn't make it into the cult car list?


I remember those. Had one.
1976 & even had the optional bigger motor of 258 ci.


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## a_majoor (23 Sep 2012)

Some real cult cars from the 1930's, at the height of the Art Deco movement. Poetry literally in motion:

http://www.nydailynews.com/autos/glory-days-automotive-design-bugatti-voisin-vehicles-nissan-cube-gallery-1.1164882?pmSlide=0


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## jollyjacktar (23 Sep 2012)

:goodpost:  +300 

I'm in love with those.


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## OldSolduer (23 Sep 2012)

How about the white 1970 Dodge Challenger from the movie Vanishing Point?

I believe it was supposed to have a 440 ci engine with a six pack on it.


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## a_majoor (28 Jun 2013)

The Mustang that might have been. Having to choose between a mid engine sports car or a '68 "Boss" Mustang would actually be a difficult choice...

http://www.wired.com/autopia/2013/06/the-mustang-that-never-was/


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## a_majoor (4 Aug 2013)

While not a car, this electric motorcycle demonstrates some of the limits to what is possible. The bit about how long it takes to charge using a 110 V outlet should be a warning for anyone who seriously is advocating for electric cars; imagine an entire neighbourhood "plugging in" for the night...

http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-reviews/first-drives/2014-mission-rs-electric-motorcycle-first-ride-review



> *First Ride: 2014 Mission RS*
> A game-changing electric tour de force.
> 
> By Wes Siler August 2, 2013 / Photos by Kynan Tait
> ...



Regular readers should know my particular hobbyhorse for electric vehicles is the Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC), which can convert thee chemical energy fo hydrocarbons directly to electrical energy. Exchanging the battery pack for an SOFC and fuel tank should provide the same performance (the electric engine does not care where the power is coming from) with lower weight and the range and conveinience of a gasoline powered motorcycle. The only other bike that made a real point of grouping everything in order to concentrate and lower the center of gravity prior to this was the ELF-E raceing bike (which even had the fuel tank _under_ the engine in the interest of a low COG).


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## a_majoor (18 Oct 2013)

A great slideshow of _analog_ sports cars: ones with little or no automtion (traction control, electronic or automatic gearboxes etc). Entries range from the Dodge Viper to the Mazda Miata, and Lotus, Porsche and Ferrari all have entries as well as Toyota(?) Who woud have thunk?

http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/news/vintage-speed/10-great-analog-sports-cars?click=pp#slide-1


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## Pte. Jay (18 Oct 2013)

Thucydides said:
			
		

> Some real cult cars from the 1930's, at the height of the Art Deco movement. Poetry literally in motion:
> 
> http://www.nydailynews.com/autos/glory-days-automotive-design-bugatti-voisin-vehicles-nissan-cube-gallery-1.1164882?pmSlide=0



I agree. You can really see the time and passion put into designing those 1930's Bugatti's and such. Fine curves and a flowing design. Looking at cars such as the Nissan Cube, those are gimmick cars. I can picture the design team of that car, 2 AM, fast food wrappers laying on the table, struggling to meet the 8 o'clock deadline. That said, there are some beautiful cars on the road today too though.


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## mariomike (18 Oct 2013)

Babe Ruth's last Lincoln:
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2012/10/babe-ruth-lincoln-628.jpg


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## a_majoor (10 Jan 2014)

A '49 Cadillac at Pikes Peak. Follow the link for hte video:

http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-videos/1949-cadillac-pikes-peak-better-than-coffee


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## a_majoor (29 Jan 2014)

100 hottest cars of all time? You decide:

http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/news/fuel-economy/the-100-hottest-cars-of-all-time#slide-1


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## a_majoor (2 Feb 2014)

And more art deco cars at an exhibition:

http://www.sportscardigest.com/sensuous-steel-art-deco-automobiles-photo-gallery

Enjoy


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## a_majoor (9 Feb 2014)

Modified VW pickup trucks do a cross country run across Russia from Moscow to the Bering Sea. Sadly even the stock version of the truck isn't available in North America:

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/02/06/volkswagens-beastly-pickup-breaks-off-roading-record-on-the-way-to-the-olympics/



> *Volkswagen’s Beastly Pickup Breaks Off-Roading Record on the Way to the Olympics*
> Feb. 6, 2014 10:30pm
> Elizabeth Kreft
> 
> ...


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## a_majoor (15 Feb 2014)

Perhaps not to surprisingly, Bugatti also dabbled in aircraft design, at one point working on an aircraft to attack the world airspeed record. As an expression of the engineering and art deco aesthetic of the time, the 100P was an exquisite flying sculpture, but alas, was never flown due to the intervention of the Second World War. The world air speed record was achieved by the Germans with the rather brutish ME-209, which was essentially an engine with a small airframe wrapped around it, hardly elegant or even particularly advanced for the time. Now a team has used the plans and drawings to recreate the 100P:

http://www.roadandtrack.com/go/news/finishing-bugatti-dream-100p



> *Finishing Bugatti's dream: the completed 100P's public debut*
> A 1930's technological marvel comes alive.
> 
> By Eddy Eckart February 12, 2014 / Photos by Mullin Automotive Museum
> ...


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## a_majoor (8 Mar 2014)

The return of Saab! We will have to see how this will turn out:

https://globalconnections.hsbc.com/global/en/articles/sweden-saab-restarts-car-production?utm_source=outbrain&utm_medium=click&utm_content=1&utm_campaign=global+gc+2013



> *Sweden: Saab restarts car production*
> 
> Economist Intelligence Unit
> Saab has restarted production at its Trollhattan factory in western Sweden today, two years after its bankruptcy and subsequent takeover by National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS), a Swedish-Chinese consortium.
> ...


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## a_majoor (18 Mar 2014)

The British are masters of irony indeed. The writers of this regulation must have been fans of Monty Python or Yes Minister:

http://www.roadandtrack.com/go/news/new-legislation-would-ban-the-jaguar-e-type-from-downtown-london



> *New legislation would ban Jaguar E-Type from downtown London*
> England tries to excommunicate its icons and golden geese.
> 
> By Max Prince March 17, 2014 / Photos by Newspress UK
> ...


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## Colin Parkinson (22 Mar 2014)

I owned landrovers for all my life and 2 Rangerovers. A 1990's ex-military Defender can fetch between $15,000-$29,000, crazy money.


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## a_majoor (22 Mar 2014)

Porsche ups the ante again with a hybrid LeMans car. A 550 Hp V4 motor....?

As they say in the article, look for some of this tech to appear in a 911 soon.

http://www.wired.com/autopia/2014/03/porsche-919/



> Porsche’s Glorious, Next-Gen Hybrid Racer
> 
> By Damon Lavrinc
> 03.07.14
> ...


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## a_majoor (6 Apr 2014)

An odd finding in the Tesla Model S. Perhaps the most intriguing part of the article is how Tesla discovered the car was being "hacked"? Are Teslas communicating with the company over the Internet without the owner being aware of this? If so, why?

http://jalopnik.com/the-tesla-model-s-is-basically-a-good-looking-it-depart-1558372928



> *The Tesla Model S Is Basically A Good Looking IT Department On Wheels*
> Jason Torchinsky
> 
> It's pretty well known that modern cars are full of little computers talking to each other. This internal network, known as the CAN bus, is pretty specific to cars and as a result is pretty unfamiliar to most people. Tesla, of course, loves to be different. And by different, I mean not different. Hear me out.P
> ...


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## a_majoor (18 Apr 2014)

The past of the Ford Mustang. Some are interesting in an....interesting....way:

http://www.wired.com/2014/04/mustangs-that-never-were/#slide-id-729231



> Ford is celebrating the Mustang’s 50th anniversary, and as much as we love the original GT350 and the sublime second-gen Boss 302, we’re utterly fascinated by some of the Mustangs that never were.
> 
> Automakers create dozens of design studies, concepts and prototypes when developing a new car, and dozens more over the course of its life. When a car’s been around half a century, a lot of ideas wind up on the cutting room floor, and they provide fascinating glimpses into what the designers were thinking, what avenues they were pursuing. Some of them discarded quickly–the world definitely did not need a four-door Mustang(!)–and soon forgotten. Others, the Mach I concept of 1967, yielded ideas that shaped future models. And some were simply flights of fancy, like the ridiculously sexy Mustang Milano that Ford really should have built.
> 
> Ford released a trove of drawings and photos from its archives, and we dug through them all to offer the craziest and coolest Mustangs that never were. Click full screen to get the full story on each image and let us know your favorites down in the comments.


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## mariomike (5 Nov 2016)

Thucydides said:
			
		

> An odd finding in the Tesla Model S. Perhaps the most intriguing part of the article is how Tesla discovered the car was being "hacked"? Are Teslas communicating with the company over the Internet without the owner being aware of this? If so, why?
> 
> http://jalopnik.com/the-tesla-model-s-is-basically-a-good-looking-it-depart-1558372928



Responding to a crash involving a Tesla Model S?  Watch out for the giant explosion & hard to extinguish battery fire.

Tesla Model S battery explodes in a giant fireball after fatal crash.
https://www.inverse.com/article/23281-tesla-battery-explodes-indianapolis-crash
The cells were "firing off almost like projectiles".


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## a_majoor (30 Mar 2017)

One man decides to create his own dream car inspired by 1930 era Art Deco roadsters and limousines:

http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-shows/geneva-auto-show/interviews/a33056/the-eadon-green-black-cuillin-is-an-admirable-dream-project/


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## a_majoor (29 Oct 2017)

A street legal car with a 2700hp motor? Capable of "almost" reaching 300 mph? (For perspective, Land speed record cars of the pre WWII era, using modified fighter aircraft engines putting out similar horsepower were hard pressed to reach 300 mph.....)

http://www.roadandtrack.com/motorsports/a13100567/street-legal-ford-gt-hits-292-mph/



> *Watch This Street-Legal 2700-HP Ford GT Hit 292 MPH*
> Nearly 300 mph in a car with a license plate. That's outrageous.
> JOHNNY BOHMER RACING
> 
> ...


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