@Madrias Storm Streetfighter
US and A. You know how whole world talks about everything (well…we are in car related forums so let’s focus on that) being huge in states….well they are not lying. Big guy called Luke told me he singlehandedly put a 16 liter V12 under the hood. I was about to give him a lecture about metric system and lites not being equal to cubic inches but than he popped the hood. Murica!
Plush sofas. Yeah not seats. Sofas. And plenty gauges. It looks like every cylinder has its own. But it’s all beautifully machined out of single piece of alu. Cool. B&O speakers. Sweet. Then I fired up the monster. Why on earth would you want 10k$ sound system with that engine?
Boat drives smoothly, until you press the laud pedal. Let’s just say I was in 4th gear, doing 100mph and rear tyres were doing probably around 130mph. Yeah there are no electronic nannies here.
Manliness is dripping from that massive grill. I feel like Al Capone who has murderd a ww2 pilot and put his plane engine in his cabrio. Maybe this is an offer I can’t refuse.
@Fayeding_Spray VBR 911 Tiger
I like bi butts and I cannot lie…
Porsches are always nice and VBR guys make some great points: no need for huge power, full package for half the price and a sweet ass… Porsche. I’m very interested.
Bucket seats, alcantara steering wheel, basic radio, all spot on. Keys in, V6 sound, spot on. Pulls nicely, very linear delivery but than just when I fell some power I hit the limiter. Why? Traction is good but car is behaving strangely. Rear end wants to step out even if there is not much power… It feels like…
Like it needs some tuning. Not just the suspension, the engine as well. Given the specs car should be very friendly but it’s not. It’s like that for half the price I’m getting half the quality… Hmmm although tuning this car could be very fun since it’s a great platform.
@DeusExMackia Erin Merna Touring
There always comes something good from UK when cars are involved. And Erin is as British as it gets.
Tea. That’s the first thing I got when I came to headquarters in Nottingham. Not a brochure, maybe specs, pictures… no. Handshake and tea. Quick briefing and power point later, historical piece of art is shown.
“Can I drive it now???”
“Emmm… That’s priceless show piece so no. But we have one waiting for you in our Top Secret facility… just down on A52 third exit, you’ll see old airport. “
2.4 V6 revving to 9700rpm. Very well tuned suspension providing old-school touring car like handling. A bit soft so you can feel the weight transfer and grippy as fuc… Performance is in today’s hot hatch territory and it feels right. Merina brought me a big smile on my face (yeah that’s a fact).
Looks. Heritage. Soul. Sound. Merna Touring has it all. Extremely well judged machine. The attention to details stunned me. If I had to have only one car for the rest of my life… this might be it.
@Urbanliner Daiki Thrust Revival
Lights go up, lights go down…
This is serious bit of kit. Pushrods, carbon, 450hp going to rear biased awd… you know Daiki is talking real business with Thrust. I really like how apart from tiny CC brake disks there is no hint of what’s under white pearl carbon panels. Manager told me that they spent weeks tuning the suspension and that turbo engine. Well if we would said months, I would easly believe him. Man even aero is perfectly balanced so you know you can rely on car when pushig hard.
@nerd VanCar 1500 V6
“Psssst… hey psssst… want some candy….khm I mean restomod….want some fun…I heard you are looking for nice ride maan…well I’ve got a van for you…real nice you know, come inside…”
So I went to take a look at some guys van… don’t ask me why. Curiosity maybe…or is that stupidity? I’m mixing them up…
From outside… well it’s a va… 325 front tires??? “aa yes yes… for grip you know… when you want to have fun…eeee come inside…” And there they were. Lazyboy 2000 chairs…9 of them. “this is nice, no?” I don’t know what to say. Well actually I do. I’m happy to be alive cause that thing have no brakes what so ever. A lot of character…
@oppositelock GSI Citadele
Citadel has a true American presence. And I like it in black. It’s made to sail the roads. It’s made so well in fact you do not notice when you are cursing at 200+ km/h on desert stretch…not to mention it could do 320. That’s 200mph in something that weights the same as your house.
Fit and finish are ok but I expect more of a unique car made especially for my taste.
@phale Pearlite Stramline
Pearlite Stramline looks great. You cannot go wrong with 356 body and some subtle touches. Interior is lifted from original but remade so everything is super smart and responsive. It also have great performance…that is in a straight line. Having 125 front tiers means it understeers heavily and rock hard rear suspension, compensating for inline 6 in the back, means that you are hopping around. I know a restomod is something for an occasion but I don’t want that to be only stationary car shows and drag races. Shame, first impression was realy great.
@rcracer11m Aqueos
The glorous shape of a coup. 9 out of 11 would bang.
This car has 2 personalities:
First, looking just at front grill/bumper and lower back and driving it to 4500rpm. It’s nice and classic to look at, quiet, efficient, nice to drive.
Second, you look at that hood, side grill, side exhaust and whale-tail and you floor it. Valves open, LSD hooks up, clever electronics let you have a lot of fun but keep you alive… Vtec yo!
Money spent in right places. I mean come on 840 hp from magnesium V12…I admire that. Worth a second visit.
@thecarlover SDS Jetstream
When some says “We can give a Veyron run for its money, eh…” you do not expect THAT. Nice big 60’s coup. Those big rims seem suspicious… but I’m sure that’s a joke. Some sort of Canadian joke. Maybe French Canadian…. Who knows. And then some buddy pops the hood and wuola, 9L V 12 with Garret race turbos. “She’s got 2000HP, eh.” This way to the old airport…
Let’s just say, with all the nannies off, 250kph, foot to the floor and I was burning rubber. ARE THEY MAD?!? This is so addictive. Do I even care about all the luxury inside? This thing has got enough torque to speed up earth rotation. So no. But is it driveable in the real word? Sadly no. But I’m still in love. Or maybe just addicted, what’s the difference.
@BobLoblaw Montauk J body
It’s already night in Michigan but I can still see the Montauk muscle car. Oh, street lights you would think. No. I can see it because it glows in the dark. Literary.
J Body reminds you of its muscle car roots on every step. Mmmmm proper V8 burble. That’s the only music I need. A lot of V12 in this restomod journey, but nothing beats the sound of well-tuned V8. Sport seats, hard ride, weak brakes but it’s all about the V8. The only thing that’s not pony car like is handling. It corners well, very well. I feel like this could be a 2016 Mustang 350 rival, not a restomod classic. Well apart from its presence…
@Darkshine5 Taipan 350
Classic Japanese inspired profile shape, fiberglass body and a short responsive V6. Sound like a perfect recipe for a sports car…so why auto box? Australia…it’s all upside-down there… Weird looks since the popups from the original are replaced but I like a classic rear end.
You know how according to internet everything in Australia is trying to kill you? Not the case here. Taipan is super friendly. Grippy of the line with rear biased awd, linear in corners due to non-aggressive rubber and very stable at speeds. Shame the quality isn’t up to standards others established.
@Sillyworld MoonBow Stradale
I heard something about small company Moonbow doing restomods and stuff… but the real kicker was that they are located in Milan. You know what is near Milan? Monza. Oh yeah. And what comes from a place near that piece of passion must be good.
The sweetest cars are the ones build only for homologations. And with a hit of Lancia 037, that’s what Stradale is. Italians kept it raw, pure. No aids apart from ABS, so muflers apart from something to get through registration. Power on and V6 feels natural, unrestricted. Work the sweet 6 speed cog hard and it’s fairly brisk too. Driving this car on warm sunny day in Alps, that’s what motoring is all about.
Moonbow Stradale really is a car from the rich past with today reliability…It’s really a peach.viva l’Italia!
@Sanguinity Firenze Concept
Who doesn’t like the British MG roadster? It’s an all-time classic. Naterally than when I saw the picures of Firenze I knew I must get to the UK…wait a minute. French are building this? They must be crazy.
One cannot imagine how low and little this car is in person. Such a sweet machine. Even sweeter when it’s powered by 460hp V8. Having less than a ton means that this is a rocket, one could argue even that it’s a dead trap. That’s not the case as I experienced when applying full brakes. My eyes popped out and my brain hurts. 100-0 in less than 30m. How is this possible you ask? French being French they put 325 tires on all four corners. This means horrible steering and following road chambers. Shame. Also why put high end Bose system in a small lightweight V8 loud monster is above me. Maybe to calm yourself down from massive G’s this car can pull.
@TR8R Cruzer V8
Rally. Enough said. Cruzer V8 looks and sound like it should.
Why oh why would you cut the engine when it’s now even on the peak power? Such a loss… and having 7 gears with last one ending at 260… It all looks to me like guys from the island build a car with the parts they just happened to have and then went to the pub and forgot about testing it…Otherwise a great car. One of the nicest all handmade interior, spot on and nicely tuned suspension. Then again the quality… I think they just went to the pub.
@asdren Revera NR evo
I was very surprised that well known and established company like Revera would produce a restomod. When they did, I had no doubts that ze Germans would do it right.
NR evo is spectacular. Real road presence and those LED’s contribute to a mean look. German precision is seen from every angle, even on the inside, where hand stitched leather is dominating. In every measurable way EVO is incredible, almost too good to be a restomod. It’s a modern car.
Sadly in non-measurable way it’s not that flawless. Engine has some funky curve and rear end is quite snappy. Ok for an old car, but not so much for a ful on modern 3sec to 100 sportscar. Hmmm…
@HighOctaneLove Bogliq Mouse Gti
The idea is the sigle most important aspect of…well I don’t know but something for sure. And that’s one hell of an idea.
Words cannot describe the awesomeness that Gti is. Apart from being mandatory Bogliq-blue, only hood scoops and exhaust stand out, so nothing specially on the outside. However the Mouse has the most advanced drivetrains I ever witnessed. Its build materials and quality are F1 spec. I have never felt such a precise gearbox. 1.1 4 banger revs happily over 10rpm producing 165hp and in that small shell you feel every one of those horses.
With 640kg and full on front chamber, driving is as fun as can be. I feel like a kid… a one happy stress-less child.
This is it! I hope you enjoyed it!
5.) rcracer11m
4.) thecarlover
3.) HighOctaneLove
2.) Sillyworld
1.) DeusExMackia
It was really a close call but here it is. Top 5 were really topshit! Congrats!
5th place, I may win this at some point.
Congratulations to the winner!
Ah, I had the feeling I wasn’t gonna win this one. 16L V12 is a bit… crazy.
2000 hp is crazy too… close, but still too crazy 