Carroll Shelby; A True American Icon Passes

Many of you may have read that the legendary Carroll Shelby died this past Friday at the age of 89. His life was full of accomplishments that any Hoon here on this site would give anything to have lived, but be careful of what you wish for. He may have been many things: An accomplished Racing Driver, a successful Race Car Builder, and a producer of some of the most memorable performance cars of the 60s, 70s, and today. However, along the way there were many health issues that have taken a toll on the man and his family. This is not the time to dwell on those issues, but a time to look back on the man and his accomplishments…

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Hoonobituary: The Classic Lada 2107 Riva

Nothing lasts forever even cold November rain, especially in the world of automobiles. The production of the classic Lada 2107/2105/2104, or Riva as it was called by some Capitalist pigs in other parts of the world, has stopped. To be more specific, only the production of the 2107, easily identified by its fancy big grill, has stopped. The 2105 has been out of production for some time and the 2104, which is the station wagon version, will be assembled until the end of the year. 

Introduced in 1980, based on the Fiat 125, which was a larger version of the 124, it has become one of the most iconic Russian cars of all time. Produced since the 1980 and powered by a variety of shitty engines, it went through its thirty-two year life cycle relatively unchanged, unlike the country where is was produced. 

Instead of going on about this Lada’s depressing history, which was pretty much summarized above, I choose to remember the classic Lada in pictures, after the jump. Let’s pour one out for Commie friend: often unreliable, mostly awful, frequently misunderstood, always charismatic. Rust in pieces old friend, but may you stay in our memory as another symbol of very important political and historical era. 

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Saab 9-5 – It’s a Drag, Isn’t It?

2008 Saab 9-5 and the Griffin badge.

When asked for a comment on the untimely death of John Lennon, Paul McCartney famously replied with the titular phrase, still at a loss of words. The death of Saab, however, comes as no surprise for anyone at this point.

Little more than a week after I snapped a few pics of a new-shape 9-5, it’s time for Saab to finally file for bankruptcy. It’s been a terrible year after a more uplifting first quarter; after relentless and increasingly more tiresome heave-hoing between Swedish Automobile, GM and various Chinese ventures, this morning Victor Muller took the papers in for Saab to be euthanized.

In this article, I take a detail-level look at a late model from Saab’s product portfolio – yes, the Dame Edna 9-5. It’s a drag queen, isn’t it?

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Hoonobituaries – Margie Petersen

If you are an auto enthusiast, then you’ve almost certainly picked up a Petersen publication. If your penchant leans more toward two wheels, you’ve probably also read a review, or ordered a helmet from out of one of Petersen’s magazines. Teens, gun nuts, loner fly fishermen, there seems not a hobby or obsessive advocation that Petersen didn’t support at one time or another with a  glossy niche magazine, and supporting both her husband, that publishing company, and many philanthropic causes was Margie Petersen. Widow of company founder Robert, Petersen passed away last week at age 76, following a long struggle with breast cancer.

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