Hooniverse interviews Wayne Carini

Inspired by Bradley’s interview with Graham Rahal, I decided to conduct a series of my own interviews with people from within the automotive industry. My second victim interviewee is Wayne Carini, owner of F40 Motorsports and the host of Velocity’s Chasing Classic Cars.

I would like to point out that this interview stuff is not easy. The venue that we were at did not allow for a more candid conversation, such as the one which Bradley conducted with Graham. The future ones will be better, practice makes perfect.

[Lead image: Boston.com]

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Hooniverse interviews John Krafcik

Inspired by Bradley’s interview with Graham Rahal, I decided to conduct a series of my own interviews with people from within the automotive industry. My first victim interviewee was John Krafcik, the president and chief executive officer of Hyundai Motor America.

I would like to point out that this interview stuff is not easy. The venue that we were at did not allow for a more candid conversation, such as the one which Bradley conducted with Graham. Admittedly, in my semi-perfectionist way, I also did not prepare well for this interview. The future ones will be better.

I hope.

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Vandals destroy ’56 Studebaker and ’25 Model T

Seeing a good portion of our readers are in Canada, perhaps you could help this guy out. Some asswipes broke into the barn of one Don Keltie, 63, near Edmonton. The said asswipes went for a joyride in Don’s recently restored Studebaker and when it got stuck in the mud, they did the next dumb thing… they set it on fire. 

They were not done however. They also took Don’s 1925 Ford Model T (pic after jump) and decided to vandalize it. If anyone near Edmonton knows anything about this… well, the proper thing to do is to call the Police but I have some other ideas which would prevent similar behavior from those individuals in the future. Pics and video of poor Don talking about his beloved car after the jump. 

[Source: edmontonjournal.com]

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Video: Speed:Sport:Life tackles Bring Your Own Big Wheel AKA BYOBW

Rob Krider is a man who’s obsessed with racing. This friend of the Hooniverse has graced our virtual pages in the past, and we’ve witnessed first hand just how focused the man can be. We’ve shown you his autocross antics, and our own eyes got to see him flip a car during a 24 Hours of LeMons race, which was the best LeMons finish ever, by the way. Now, Rob has turned his attention to a new form of motorsport… well, that’s not entirely correct. This is a sport, but there are no “motors” other than the human body and the pull of gravity.

The event is called Bring Your Own Big Wheel, and it takes place in San Francisco. This event, which happens on Easter Sunday, got its start way back in 2000 courtesy of a man named Jon Brumit. Over the years, more and more Big-Wheel-loving folks joined Mr. Brumit as he tackled the second curviest street in the world. Now, the attendees number in the hundreds, and the streets are lined with cheering masses. We’re going to add the qualifier that those cheering masses are most likely drunk, but we’d probably be drunker if in their shoes.

Rob and his Krider Racing crew found the appropriate racing machine, packed up the trailer, and pointed their truck north towards the city by the bay. Thankfully, they also brought cameras. Click past the break to see the awesome mayhem of BYOBW.

[Source: Speed:Sport:Life]

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Wagon Wednesday: Find This Stolen ’57 Chevy Wagon from Ham Lake, MN

This yellow and white ’57 Chevy Wagon was stolen from the garage of a man who spent five years restoring it. It was supposedly stolen by a man who ran from the cops after they tried to pull him over for driving a stolen pickup. The man manged to run away and supposedly hid in the garage of the house where this Chevy was parked. The poor Chevy was just a victim of circumstance.

A classic yellow Chevy wagon, a loud one at that, pretty audacious choice for someone trying to blend in. Let’s hope it gets recovered and is returned to the owner and the thief gets shot his hands cut off arrested. Another picture after the jump.

UPDATE: The car has been recovered in St. Paul with only minor damage.

[Source: myfoxtwincities.com | Thanks for the tip Jon! ]

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Found In The Forums: Love Lost…And Found Again

Ever faced a repair that was going to cost more than your old beater was worth?  Hooniverse Forums user tbrand has.  In his case, it was his wife’s beater.  What was the logical thing to do?  Sell the car and put the repair money into a down-payment on a new car?  Perhaps.  However, when it comes to hoons’ cars (in this case, the wife’s car), logic doesn’t always win the argument.

Click through for more on how a timing belt, an Australian movie star, and a stroke of luck helped Mr. and Mrs. tbrand come full-circle. 

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Plastic Predator – 2001 Volvo S60

Yes, it’s a Volvo underneath all that.. work. This 2001 S60 was spotted – and re-spotted – by a photographer friend Joose P, who did an excellent job on the Dacia Duster review photos earlier.

The S60 is not one of the cars one would expect to receive a Predator-style plastic/glassfibre makeover, but with this petrol blue example it has been the case. Make the jump for more photos and video, too.

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Norwegian Trucking Disaster

In case your Monday morning is/was an uneasy one, here’s an intense video to make it seem more bearable in comparison. On Sunday, in Leirosen, Norway, a truck rig being towed up a hill got a car-width too close to the roadside barrier and plunged down the mountainside – taking the tow truck with it.

Using the words “Make the jump” can be ill-fitting here, but do that to see the video.

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Square Holes Made Easy

A machine that drills square holes? Be still, my heart!

Good morning Hoons.

I have a profound love of tools of all kinds, especially those tools that make a difficult or nasty job much less so. One common nasty task that I encounter on a regular basis, so I’m sure that everyone else does too, is the need to make square holes in parts for whatever device that I’m currently constructing. It’s a true pain in the butt and I dislike it with a passion. It takes an inordinate amount of time to complete a clean job of it, and it’s far too easy to muck up the sizing and alignment of the sides of the holes.

So imagine my delight when I came across this ad from a Japanese company for a tool that drills square holes in metal. It’s about bloody time I say, and I want one that I can hang from a tool belt and drop on my foot.

There are two short videos after the jump that demonstrate this rather nifty device.

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What Makes an Enthusiast Car? Read This Review of a Cute Ute to Find Out

Image Swiped from TheTruthAboutCars.com

As enthusiasts for kinda crappy but kinda awesome cars of days gone by, we wrestle with a problem. For me, this is the “Mustang GT Problem” (read Señor Bowman’s take on the 2013 here, by the way). Which is to say, the new pony outruns all but the most recent supercars without the supercar price or cost of ownership. Flipping it around, the number of unsporting vehicles with more power and faster 1/4 mile times than my genuinely awesome ’06 WRXagon grows by the week…but I’d still rather row the five speed behind the boxer than float along in a 270-hp RAV4. What gives?

As an engineer by hereditary genetic defect training, setting abstract semi-paradoxes to words isn’t my strong suit. Luckily, The Truth About Cars’ Jack Baruth did the job. Oddly enough, in a review of Mazda’s latest compact crossover.

Yes, we’re making you jump.

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