By Alan Franklin / 05.15.2013
5 Comments

Two syllables and four little letters carry the saga of a Muscle icon, and represent the peak of America’s home-grown, big-cube performance war of the 60s and 70s—a task all out of proportion for such a cute and friendly word. Perhaps a more fitting title would have been “Acrimonious Violator” or “Destructive Thunderfist”—yep, the 426 Hemi was a mean bastard with a friendly name, like if Carlos the Jackal had instead called himself “the Corgi”.

By Petrolicious Productions / 05.15.2013
3 Comments

For pedigree, rarity, style, fun, and bucketfuls of the old car quirks that we all love, there’s not much that can beat a Lancia Scorpion (née Montecarlo), bang-for-the-buck-wise. This 1976 model is claimed to be the recipient of a recent respray in factory white, and with a scant 61.5k miles from new, it’s pretty Pininfarina-penned lines saw only roughly 1,700 miles of road a year—a feat requiring quite a bit of restraint from its previous three owners from new.

By Alan Franklin / 05.14.2013
4 Comments

Inline fours, straight and V-shaped sixes, bent eights, tens, and twelves are the popular kids of engine design, their many strengths and accepted weaknesses allow them first-round draft status to the automotive-engineering-and-design dodgeball team nearly every time. Ferrari 512BB and Testarossa are quite well-versed in animal husbandry and think the world is flat, but are too well-bred and wealthy for anyone to dare not invite them to the party.

By Petrolicious Productions / 05.14.2013
1 Comment

Eastern Europe isn’t typically the first place one associates with the original, Issigonis-era Mini, but that’s exactly where enthusiastic collector Balázs Linczmayer resides, in beautiful Győr, Hungary. Below, we ask him what it’s like to restore, own, and drive a British icon in such an exotic and unexpected locale.

By Petrolicious Productions / 05.14.2013
14 Comments

Mid-engined Italian exotica is the ultimate ownership dream for many of us, but sadly, for the vast majority it will remain a dream. Provided, however, you’re willing to sacrifice 12 cylinders for eight, and aren’t embarrassed by the idea of being out-dragged by decade-old V6 family cars, it doesn’t have to. We explore a couple of bent-eight beauties from the undisputed kings of sports car drama, Ferrari and bitter cross-town rival, Lamborghini. Which seventies supercar would you choose?

By Petrolicious Productions / 05.13.2013
5 Comments

In 2008 aartist Markus Haub began his “Racing Legends” series of work. Concentrating on racecars of the '60s and '70s, a rich and exciting era from which to draw inspiration, Haub’s pieces combine the realism and detailed eye one would expect of a dyed-in-the-wool Petrolista, but with the elegance and impressionistic slant of a true artist, elevating his paintings beyond the somewhat heavy-handed and overly-literal style typified by most automotive-themed artwork.

By Petrolicious Productions / 05.13.2013
31 Comments

We are in beautiful Italy from now until June 15. Though we already have a number of shoots and projects lined up that we're sure you'll enjoy, we do have some time to take on even more, which brings us to our question for today: What should we cover in Italy? If you or someone you know here wants to be featured in a video or photo shoot, or you know of some interesting events, garages, or other venues, please let us know.

By Alan Franklin / 05.13.2013
2 Comments

The fifth-ever Peking to Paris rally will be held this year from May 28th to June 29, stretching 9,300 miles across two continents and eight countries, through some of the harshest and most remote terrain on Earth. Funny how such an infrequently-run race rates in the mind with such legendary and long-running endurance events as the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Isle of Man TT, and Dakar—such is the incredibly heroic nature of what is possibly the most difficult of all long-distance races.

By Petrolicious Productions / 05.10.2013
2 Comments

VW’s known for some spectacular vintage advertising, ads which were instrumental in their success as a viable large-car alternative in America. During this time, the Type 2 was merely an inexpensive workhorse (as illustrated by these print ads and brochure images), designed and developed long before its days as a counter-culture icon, a time when the idea of a 21-window bus fetching nearly six figures was simply inconceivable.

By Petrolicious Productions / 05.10.2013

We’re all pretty much just grown-up kids, our enthusiasm and excitement for shiny, loud, fast things a remnant of the childhood wonderment that many of our less-fortunate adults have sadly lost sight of. After all, how many of us refer to our wheeled pride and joys as “weekend toys”? Of course, the love of actual toy cars is still very strong for many of us as well. In that vein we introduce this week’s Crave-able collector items, vintage Schüco vehicles of varying types.

By Petrolicious Productions / 05.10.2013
1 Comment

Picture an informal meet-up of vintage car enthusiasts, parked on the street outside a café are old 911s, Lancias, a Maserati or two, a Fiat 131 Mirafiori, lots of American Muscle, Alfas, a Ferrari 308, a Kermit-green 2002, and many, many others. A wide variety of different shapes, sizes, makes, and eras represented and everyone’s smiling and having a good time in anticipation of a great drive with like-minded gearheads. Where do imagine such an idyllic scene taking place?

By Petrolicious Productions / 05.09.2013
12 Comments

Bespoke 1950s and '60s GT cars are some of our favorites. The hand-fashioned detail and high-style design typified by cars of this segment are simply beyond comparison with anything made since. Coachbuilt in France and among the most exclusive cars of its day is the Facel Vega FV. Our other offering is a Maserati 3500 GT, the gorgeous A6’s replacement and Maser’s first attempt at the gran turismo market it later fully embraced. If you had to make a choice, what would it be?

By Alan Franklin / 05.09.2013
6 Comments

The S600 was Honda’s first mass-marketed car, and was heavily based on the previous S500, of which only just under 1,400 were made. Offered as a roadster or a less-common coupe, both were tiny, with dimensions similar to those defined by Kei car regulations, but were not actually of that class. Brimming with imaginative engineering wrought on a miniature scale, the S600 was heavily inspired by Honda’s contemporary work with motorcycles and Formula 1 racecars.

By Petrolicious Productions / 05.09.2013
1 Comment

You already know we love the Lancia Delta Integrale for all its raw, box-flared aggression and sharp-suited style, and though much of the flying elephant’s history is either common knowledge among petrolista, or at least easily attainable through a quick browse of the internet, a lot of its behind-closed-doors history is much less well-known. Enter the subject of this week’s Crave, a very well-reviewed, informative, and entertaining read titled “The Story of a Champion”.

By Petrolicious Productions / 05.08.2013
8 Comments

Many of us inherited our enthusiasm for cars from our fathers, a lucky handful may have even been handed down one of dad’s prized old machines as a reward for reaching one of life’s milestones—chances are, though, it wasn’t a Ferrari. Petrolicious friend and frequent commenter Matthew Lange lives and works in southeast England, where he ekes out the occasional fair-weather drive in his beautiful 365 GTB/4, a car with an interesting family history, of which he graciously shared with us below.