Is it a Snowmobile? is it a Car? Is it a SnowCar, No..what the hell is it?

Okay, the Amphicar was weird, but this? This is every bit as weird in my opinion.

This may be a joke or a photoshop chop job... Can anyone shed some light on this? It looks like something out of a live action Dr. Suess movie. Very Midwestern, but specifically the part of midwest America where they ice fish. Brrrr! It looks safe though...totally safe. My only question is ..how do you stop it? Hope those rear tires have good tread remaining.  Sweet ride!

Ed Roths Orbitron

Here is one of Ed Roths famous custom creations - The Orbitron.  

A Masterpiece concept car if there ever was one... very futuristic and mod. 

A truly original creation from the mind of Ed Roth...

This is the kind of car I day-dreamed about when I was young. 

Impractical? Yes.....Awesome? Hell Yes!

No you Dittin'!

If the McBillboard from the previous post wasn't bad enough, I present... 

The Yoo-hoo Racer!       

Really? I mean...Really!? 

What's next, product sponsored drive-bys? 

At least you don't have to worry about someone else having one, AND I hear they're easy to find at the mall. Also available in pink-trimmed Strawberry version.

Seriously...?

Sometimes you just have to ask why?  What on earth would possess someone to turn their car into the unofficial McDonalds Funland Cruiser? I hope the owner of this uniquely repulsive car at least gets some type of discount at the Drive-Thru for driving this mobile McDonalds billboard. 

At least it appears to have a good suspension, which is pretty much essential for picking up those "big boned" ladies in the Micky D's parking lot...

 And I hear that the available Grimace package looks even sharper.

Yeah dude...I'm not really lovin' it all that much to be honest.

Happy Father's Day!

Hey Happy Pappy's Day to all of the Pappys of the World. This post is dedicated to one of the coolest cars ever conceived, designed by everyone's favorite TV dad - Homer J. Simpson! 

The Powell Motors "Homer"

The Homer featured two bubble domes which essentially blocked out the backseat noise from quarreling siblings, great for those long road trip vacations. It had oversized cupholders for those Big Gulps from 7-Eleven (or Quickie Mart).  It also featured three horns which played La Cucaracha, because in the words of Homer himself - "you can never find a horn when you're mad!" 

Right on, Homey!

Is it a Car?...Is it a Boat?...no, it's Amphicar!

Yep, you guessed it.  In this case the name Amphicar does not deceive, this car was made to drive on land as a car, and go through water like a motorboat. Amphicars were produced from 1961-1968, and were created in Germany by "eccentric" designer Hans Trippel. My guess is he figured - "Some people don't have time to care for a boat and a car..., why not combine them into one fantastic amphibious vehicle?!"

Although this was an extremely innovative concept, the actual car was neither good on land as a car, nor good as a boat in water, and would frequently stall while in the water,  especially after corosion set in and leaks were sprung. In any case, none of these would be considered a favorable quality for any vehicle, especially an amphibious vehicle of this nature.

Holy Horsepower Batman!

You gotta love the Batmobile.  If you ever get the chance to check out the old Batman Series from the late 1960's you really should. When I was young I took it all so seriously, but this is funny stuff, made for adults with an unmistakeable 60's flavor.  The Batmobile was a bitchin' ride too!

The video above features some clips from the series featuring the Batmobile. I always figured this was some sort of modified Cadillac, but it was actually created from a concept car called the Lincoln Futura. 

Retro Thunderbird Advertisement

Here's a cool retro T-Bird Ad.  The T-Bird was one of the coolest car designs of it's time.  Created to compete with the Chevrolet Corvette, the Thunderbird was cheaper to produce, and actually outsold the Corvette by a substantial margin.  The T-Bird line began as two seaters, later morphing into larger four seat cars.

It was marketed as a personal luxury car as opposed to a sports car, but was no slouch in the horsepower department, sporting a 312ci V8 engine, with a four barrel carb and dual exhaust. A classy sports car that could haul...very cool!

High Octane Tees for sale now!

Wanna see some awesome Hot Rod and Muscle Car T-Shirts?  Check out HighOctaneTees.com!

www.HighOctaneTees.com! 

Featuring a great selection of high quality T-Shirts featuring classic muscle cars and retro hot rods from the golden days of auto manufacturing.
Shirts are $19.99 to $24.99 and are available in a nice variety
of sizes, colors and designs.

Great Speed Racer Episode

When I was ten years old, school would let out around 2:30 in the afternoon and I would take the bus to the stop that was the closest to our family home.  At that point I would sprint approximately 10 blocks to get home in time to watch the final 20-25 minutes of the Speed Racer cartoon. No VCRs or DVRs in those days.

Anyway, I would get home completely out of breath, and my Mother, knowing what a huge Speed Racer fan I was, would already have the TV warmed up ( it was the 70's) and Speed Racer tuned in to our COLOR TV.  

Ah yes.....good times my friends. You have to admit that the Mach 5 was a bad M-effer though. I was also very intrigued by Racer X, who later turned out to be Speed's brother. He was a mysterious dude for sure. I never got the mammoth car concept though, I mean it wasn't so much a car, as it was a train on rubber tires. Whatever.                    

Check out this cool Speed episode.

Ed Big Daddy Roth

Ed Roth, born in 1932, was the King of the Custom Car Culture Scene  (a.k.a.Kustom Kulture) in Southern California in the 1950's and 1960's. In addition to creating the Rat Fink comics and other far out artwork,  Ed Big Daddy Roth was also well known for creating some unbelievable custom show cars, such as the ones pictured below.

A man of multiple talents, Roth initially started out as a custom car painter and detailer, specializing in pinstriping and lettering.  He then branched out into customized air-brushed t-shirts, which took off to the point where he was able to mass market them quite successfully.

His shirts are famous for outrageous hot rods, and the wild looking monsters often seen driving them.  He was also one of the top custom car designers of his era, and even had models of his cars created by Revell for the hot rod model hobbyists. If you who played with Hot Wheels as a child, you will probably be familiar with some of Roth's designs on some of the popular miniature toy cars.

To learn more about Ed Roth and his unique life story, Click Here!

Here are a few of Ed Roth's custom car creations.

The Beatnik Bandit

The Orbitron

The Outlaw