Meet Dick Eytchison and his '65 Chevelle autocrosser

There are few things we love more than seeing well-sorted classic cars being put to task. It seems we're in good company on that front. Dick Eytchison shares our belief that, "you just don't appreciate them unless you get out there and drive them."

Over the years, Dick has whipped his 1965 Chevrolet Chevelle sedan into an autocross terror. With a breathed-on 383 crate V8 spitting out around 400 horsepower, the Chevelle has no deficit of grunt. Of course, getting a mid-sixties muscle bruiser to sprint in a straight line has never been an issue; it's getting the machine to go right and left that's the challenge.

The 68-year-old weekend racer ditched the factory rear end for a stout Ford nine-inch with a Truetrac limited slip, and a set of Baer brakes on all four corners bring the machine down from speed. Up front, 13-inch rotors get pressed by four-piston calipers, while the back axle makes due with a couple 12-inch discs.

A full suite of Hotchkis goodies, including A-arms, sway bars and spindles, help keep the machine planted, as do Bilstein shocks on all four corners. The finished product looks right at home dodging cones. We dig it. Check it out in the video below.

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Former Confederate Motors designer wants $500k to build three LSR bikes, document the process

Out of the workshop of Birmingham, Alabama-based Confederate Motors has rolled several revolutionary bikes. JT Nesbitt designed the G2 Hellcat and the Wraith, two of the company's first models. Made of aircraft aluminum and carbon fiber, the $100,000 Wraith set a top speed record of 166.45 mph in its class at Bonneville in 2008. And now, Nesbitt has left Confederate to start his own company, Bienville Studios in New Orleans, to work on automotive projects. But he still likes motorcycles.

Nesbitt believes as much in the craftsmanship of a bike as he does the mechanics and engineering. Which made him a perfect fit for a Kickstarter project with Manifest Digital, a Chicago graphic design firm.

The goal of the Bienville Legacy Kickstarter project is to raise $500,000 in one month to fund the no-holds-barred creation of three record-setting bikes. Once the funds are booked, Nesbitt will begin putting together the bike you see above using only the highest grade aluminum, titanium, chrome-moly and carbon fiber. Without worrying about costs, profit margins, investors, hard-to-please customers and a bad economy, the team will be free to experiment however necessary to, as Nesbitt says in the video, create "... the fastest f***ing motorcycle ever built in this country."

Exotic materials will lend the bike lightness, while the power will come from a Motus 100 cubic-inch, 160-horsepower V4. As a side note, Motus, also located in Birmingham, was co-founded by another Confederate designer, Brian Case.

The $500k will also pay for "Tempus Veritas Revelat" (Time Reveals Truth), a documentary being shot of the bike build as well as for taking the three bikes to Bonneville for the attempts to break land speed records in three different classes.

A Kickstarter pledge of $15 or more will get investors a free download of the finished documentary. Several pledge levels above that, at $10,000, is a choice of two packages. First is the opportunity for you and 12 of your friends to work with the build team to create the bikes in New Orleans. Your other choice is a "long weekend" apprenticeship and permission to take a bike out for a ride.

Interested? Might want to hurry. The Kickstarter project has a long way before reaching its $500k goal, but its pledge window closes Oct. 22. Check out the project's video by scrolling down, then if you're interested, head over to Kickstarter.

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Up close and personal with David Higgins' 2012 Subaru WRX STI Rally Car [w/video]

Riding Shotgun With The Five-Time Rally America Champ



There's nothing quite like the sound of a high-strung boxer engine in full rage. Each dip of the throttle sends the opposed four-pot barking and popping like some sort of caffeinated prehistoric beast as David Higgins shoots his very unique 2012 Subaru WRX STI through a tight section of chicanes on the back side of the DirtFish Rally School's 315-acre playground. He's traveling at the approximate speed of a Japanese bullet train, if bullet trains spent the majority of their time sideways and on ball bearings.

An hour ago, this car was cleaner than a sundress on Sunday.

The cacophony can likely be heard all the way from Snoqualmie Valley to the hipster bars in downtown Seattle, but situated as I am in the passenger side of the car, all I hear is the rush of gravel pelting the machine's underbelly and my own laughter. Higgins has just sent his hyperactive triceratops pirouetting around a teardrop-shaped hairpin, pivoting the nose on a group of photographers at the apex. He took time to give the group a friendly thumbs-up before grabbing another gear and leaving them all in a cloud of Washington State silt.

An hour ago, this car was cleaner than a sundress on Sunday, meticulously prepared by the guys at Vermont SportsCar. We caught up with the team who built the machine that Higgins drove to his fifth Rally America Championship win last month for a look at what makes this car so damn fast.

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How to tell if your $600 Craigslist Subaru has bad struts

There is no excuse for this Subaru's suspension. There are so many ways to check for bad struts bounce on the bumper, feel the tires for cupping, or just note the nautical motions as you go down the road.

Whoever owned this Impreza before rally racer Brianne Corn picked it up for $600 completely ignored all the signs of impending suspension doom. Or, like any normal person might do when your Subaru starts doing random donkey kicks, they just put the thing up for sale.

In spite of the danger, or perhaps because of it, this old boxer looks like a hoot in its own right. Keep reading to see the video.

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Red Bull releases re-edit of F1 car in Lincoln Tunnel with only engine sounds

Just like any vacation, Red Bull Racing had plenty of fun last month when it did a little sightseeing in New York City and New Jersey. First, the team stopped and got a photo op with the New York skyline while playing The Star-Spangled Banner and then it took to the streets of New Jersey driving along the proposed route of the 2014 Grand Prix of America (you know, if it actually happens). Every good trip must come to an end though, so the team heads to the Lincoln Tunnel for the final video of Red Bull's trip, which is just as fun to watch as it is to listen to.

Red Bull Racing teased us with this video last month, but now we finally get to see its RB7 Formula One racer tearing through the tunnel connecting New Jersey and Manhattan. The 1.5-mile long tubes usually see daily traffic of well over 100,000 vehicles, and we're sure there's never been such a powerful car (or so little traffic) commuting underneath the Hudson River. The best part is that the car's engine provides the only soundtrack.

Check out the video below to see and hear what it's like to let a Formula One car loose in the Lincoln Tunnel.

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Peugeot 208 Type R5 rally car looks fast sitting still

Last week, we were able to bring you all of the details regarding Peugeot's new 208 Type R5 rally car, but there was only a shadowy teaser image with which to illustrate the pre-production rally titan.

Thankfully, with our meticulous shooters combing the floor, we now have a good long look at the Peugeot 208 R5, which the French automaker confirms will race next year in series like the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, European Rally Championship and the National Championships.

The 208 R5 is, of course, just as racy as we'd hoped, with a wheels-at-the-absolute-corners stance, huge white shoes wearing hometown Michelin rubber, a sizable rear wing and sporty graphics as far as the eye can see. Don't get used to seeing it in quite so gleaming a shade of white, however, as this one little guy is destined to get dirty, fast.

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Remembering legendary motorsports journalist Chris Economaki [w/video]

Legendary motorsports journalist and racing commentator, Chris Economaki, died late on Thursday evening at the age of 91.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1920, Economaki began working for National Speed Sport News at the tender age of 13, selling copies of the magazine. He worked for the publication in jobs as diverse as delivery boy, correspondent and publisher, and was named Editor in 1950. Economaki's column for the magazine, "The Editor's Notebook" was published for more than 50 years.

In later years the journalist began a career in broadcasting, serving as a commentator for ABC's Wide World of Sports and covering such racing highlights as the Indianapolis 500 and the Daytona 500, among many others. Economaki also appeared as a commentator for CBS Sports, ESPN's Speed Week, and Motorweek Illustrated on TBS. In total, his massive career covered every corner of motorsport, across the globe and spanned eight decades.

Brian France, CEO of NASCAR, said this of Economaki, "The passing of Chris Economaki is a tough loss for me on both a personal and professional level, having known Chris throughout my life. Many people consider Chris the greatest motorsports journalist of all time. He was, indeed, 'the Dean.'"

Scroll down to see a few videos of Economaki at home on the racetrack. In the first, Economaki talks with Dave Despain about the best driver he ever saw, and in the second, he adds insight to a special presentation about the 1965 12 Hours of Sebring. Good stuff, all.

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