Wartburg on your Wartburg so you can rally while you rally

Kamil Kaluski April 17, 2012 Caption This

My grandfather-in-law was a man who never met a project that was too big. Giusappe, or Joe, didn’t talk much so when he did, people listened. I don’t recall the details of the conversation anymore but it was something about my inability to complete some project de jour that my wife tasked me with. I will remember for the rest of my life when Joe, at a tender of 100, came up to me and said “if you don’t have the right tool, improvise”

Improvising was perhaps what some East Germans were doing when they needed to transport their rally car to the race. I don’t know the details behind this image, but the 2-stroke Wartburg could not have been much of a competitor to anything more than a Skoda or a Polonez, and it sure as hell wasn’t much of a transport vehicle. Nonetheless, when the pride of a government owned company, and therefore the whole nation, depends on your ability to deliver something that resembles are race car to a race, only the best will do. If the best is not available, you improvise.

[Image: Wikipedia and Jim's site]

10 Comments

Truck Thursday: Caption This!

Kamil Kaluski April 12, 2012 Caption This, Hooniverse Truck Thursday

Caption with the most +s by midnight PST wins… something, I do not know what. I’m sure Jeff or Jim got some swag from NYIAS, I know I didn’t.

[Source: DailyMail.co.uk]

48 Comments

Friendly Rivalries: Ferrari vs. Lamborghini

Greg Kachadurian December 7, 2011 Caption This

There are plenty of well-known rivalries in the automotive industry, but few are as famous as the nearly 40-year-old competition between Ferrari and Lamborghini. This rivalry is still going strong to this day, and with the introduction of the amazing new Lamborghini Aventador, one Atlanta area owner decided to have a bit of fun with his new baby. It’s always good to have a bit of fun amid a heated competition, isn’t it?

Image Credit: Ben Kretz

15 Comments

The Toop Bloog Phootooshoop

Jeff Glucker November 18, 2011 Caption This

I'M A PILOT

We asked yoou too make with the funny… and yoou did. Whoo made the moost funny? Crushing the coompetitioon with 41 vootes (as oof the mooment I am writing this oout) was Scandinavian Flick with the image shoown aboove. Coongrats Flick, yoou win the Jeep hat and a set of glooves. Click past the break foor an image shoowing ooff your fabuloous prizes! Alsoo, email me (Jeff@Hooniverse.com) with yoour address, thanks!

26 Comments

Photoshop Contest – We’re kind of a big deal… even when we’re not

Jeff Glucker November 17, 2011 Caption This, Car Shows, LA Auto Show

I am on my way back up the 405 for another round of LA Auto Show walkapalooza and free beer-athon. Yesterday, however, yours truly was invited to go on the air LIVE! with NBC-LA. That’s a fairly large market for those of you keeping score at home, and I wasn’t invited to represent Whatchmablog or AutosAwesome90001.org. Nope, they wanted Hooniverse, Charles and gentlemen.

The spot went off without a hitch, and you can watch it here: http://www.nbclosangeles.com/the-scene/cars/Hooniverse-Auto-Blog-LA-Auto-Show-133937293.html

My favorite part? That they listed me as a Blooger. Feel free to look that one up on Urban Dictionary.

Have fun with this screengrab. Please Photoshop the hell out of it. The best ‘chop (as judged by votes in the comments) will snag a bit of Jeep swag. We have a hat and a set of gloves that Kamil thought he was stealing from the Jeep event he attended. They were actually free but we didn’t have the heart to tell him after he went on and on about his daring heist.

Have fun. We’ll have another LA Auto Show update for you later in the day, but we promise to keep things light with regards to LAAS coverage. Hell, the only thing we showed you yesterday was a rather cozy Sprinter, which is where me met the Lava Girls. Not porn starts as it turns out…

171 Comments

Man’s Best Friend Helps a Friend in Need

Kamil Kaluski November 17, 2011 Caption This

Give us your best caption. The one with most the ”thumbs up” by midnight PST will win a fancy memory stick.

Jo Schmo delivers. Via: eWRC.cz.

38 Comments

Porsche 904 in an early FIA crash test certification process

Bradley Brownell November 8, 2011 Caption This, Nostalgia, Vintage Racing

The Porsche 904, officially known as the “Carrera GTS”, made its first public racing appearance at the 1964 Daytona Continental race. The 4 cylinder powered racers made a fairly inauspicious start to the season. Failing to finish at Sebring would not help the situation, though it would set up the scenario for a perfect come-from-behind overall victory at the Targa Florio that same year. High speed stability, light weight, and fuel efficiency helped propel the diminutive sports car through the Sicilian countryside to take the win. This, along with a class victory at the Nurburgring and at the 24 hours of Le Mans combined to solidify the 904’s reputation among Porsches as more than a pretty face.

Less than a year prior to the 904s spectacular series of victories, Ferdinand Alexander “Butzi” Porsche was putting pen to paper, designing the Carrera GTS. Naming the car his greatest success, Butzi has always loved the purity of the design, and admitted that, due to time crunches, very little changes were made from the clay model to the production vehicle. The 1964 FIA GT championship season was fast approaching, and the Carrera Abarth was having trouble continuing to hold the class under it’s thumb, necessitating a sleeker, more aerodynamic shape mated to the 1,966 cc powerplant. Butzi was required to perform in the design studio, and he certainly stood up to the challenge.

Prior to setting foot on a race course, though, the beautiful 904 had to be crash tested to pass FIA certification…

13 Comments

Cars and Coffee … now with more oil!

Jeff Glucker October 19, 2011 Caption This, Car Shows, Cars and Coffee

Friend-of-Hooniverse Leo is one of the main shooters for the visual delight center that is CNCPics.com. Every Saturday morning, Leo wakes up early (or sometimes simply doesn’t go to sleep the night prior), and hauls his lanky ass down to Irvine to capture images of amazing machines.

At a recent Cars and Coffee, Leo snapped the above photograph of (what I believe to be) a particularly polarizing Ferrari 330 GT 2+2. On one hand, you can get a sense of the beauty found in the various folds and bends of the metal, while on the other hand your brain and wallet weep at the potential repair bill staring back at the owner from that shimmering lake of oil.

Feel free to add a caption in the comments section. I’m going to start things off with real easy with “Cars and Crying”. Surely you can do much better.

[Source: CNCPics.com]

120 Comments

Cam-Am Roadster Proves Little People Can Go Three-Wheeling Too

Kamil Kaluski September 27, 2011 Caption This, Two-Wheel Tuesday

To put “Three-Wheel Tuesday” out of its misery once and for all, here is a Cam-Am Roadster. We see you rollin’ Mr. Little Person, we ain’t hatin’…

36 Comments

Six Baby Squirrels Under The Hood Go Racing

Kamil Kaluski September 27, 2011 Caption This

After two track driving school sessions at Watkins Glen, an event participant complained about the car feeling a bit underpowered. When he opened the hood to investigate, he found acorn leftovers and critter poop all over the engine bay. Upon further examination, it was determined that six baby squirrels had turned the car’s airbox into their home and had been smuggled from Toronto through the U.S. border.

Source: OneHotLap.com

45 Comments