Auto Mobiles

For 2008, the Chevrolet Equinox would be coming with a new V6 engine, a report from the New York Times disclosed. These power units made in China would be used by General Motors’ most popular vehicle in the North American auto market.

The engine has the capacity to produce 185 horsepower. This is the very first engine unit that is made in China and is used in a vehicle manufactured in the United States. According to General Motors, the V6 engine is not only powerful - it is also quiet and makes vehicles run smoothly. The car maker also boasts that with the 2008 Chevy Equinox using such an engine, the vehicle would be able to be far better than other competition.

An expert in the industry has mentioned that General Motors’ decision on using a China-manufactured engine is actually an experiment to see if they would be able to cut down on costs with regards to producing a vehicle.

Ryan and crew over at the Jalopy Journal and the H.A.M.B. have been playing the Lost and Found game recently with some extremely interesting vehicles. For instance, he knows all about the above land-speed racer, with its hand-formed steel body, full-race flathead, Connecticut origins and Bonneville dreams, but has been able to turn up little about its fate since then.

* Ryan then followed up that post with photos from Geoff Hacker looking for information on a pair of Detroit-based customs, similar in overall shape, but differing in details and in drivetrains. Again, Hacker has the information on how they were built, but doesn’t know where the customs made off to in the last four and a half decades.

* Then H.A.M.B. member povertyflats posted up several pictures of this abandoned bus that he found. The only substantial clue he reported was its aluminum skin, and even then, many buses used aluminum to cut down on weight. On the one hand, it looks like a wide Divco or similar urban delivery vehicle, but on the other hand, every boxy truck looks like a Divco to those unfamiliar with old trucks and buses.

* Getting back closer to the traditional rod focus were member Pure Hell’s photos of the Benham and Aicher Hisso Special drag and salt flat racer that used an Hispano-Suiza 718-cu.in. V-8 engine cut in half to make a slant-four. A couple other members added more photos, which only serves to increase the car’s cool factor. Gotta wonder what that sounds like at full roar.

* And finally, neither lost nor found, but still worth a mention if only because we’ve mentioned it here before, The Cisco Kid finished the bodywork on the Stukabaker (which now seems to have taken on the name of the Stude Coupester) and, showing he’s not afraid to let it all lay bare, he painted it black. Looks like it could be on the street and at the shows this summer.

Posted Apr 22nd 2008 10:29AM by Michael Harley Filed under: Trends , Marketing/Advertising , Driving Oil company advertising is apparently much more effective than we had originally thought.

Click to view the Pontiac G8 Sport Truck in high resolution 10,000. That's not a sticker price and it's not a production number.

Research into 1950s fiberglass cars, both kit and independent production, sorely lacks. There’s a little bit on the Kellison, a little bit on the LaDawri, and not much beyond. Thus, we can understand why Stephen O’Brien doesn’t know much about the fiberglass-bodied car in the above picture, even though he owned it for a brief time in the mid-1950s.

In the 1955-56 time frame, when my hair was black and I was an instructor pilot at Williams AFB in Phoenix Arizona, I saw a very good looking sports car with a fiberglass body in a used car lot and immediately purchased it. It had beautiful flowing lines, with the front fender lines sloping along the body to the rear fenders. One most distinctive feature was the fact that in each front fender, just forward of the cockpit on each side, was a spare tire fender well. In my case the right (passenger) side was used for the spare. I placed a drain at the bottom of the left (driver) side and used it as a receptacle for cold beverages. The thick fiberglass was a good insulator.

This car had a six cylinder engine with a two carb manifold. The side doors had an electric button under the door that you could touch with your toe to open the door. It had a plastic removable top that I don’t remember ever using. I have fond memories of the car, and covered routes with it throughout Arizona and Southern California. My next Air Force assignment was to Del Rio Texas, and I also drove the car there. However, somewhere along the way I traded this car in for an XK 140 Jaguar. I have never, before or since, seen another similar car.

We’re pretty sure it’s some sort of Glasspar, though with a modified grille area. Perhaps a Series II Woodill Wildfire?