Corona with fizz

From Mitch Allread of California. A 4.0 litre V8 Lexus motor sits in what was a ’68 Toyota Corona. With a background in supplying kit for NASCAR teams, it does have a Brick Yard- track car aesthetic.

Automotive designers / stylists have distinct skills and a particular aesthetic ability compared to product designers. If you ask a product designer to style a car you end up with a large product with wheels rather than a moving sculpture that can have soul. I get the feeling that this is the kind of result you would get if you asked a product designer to design a Hot Rod – but in this case the result is exciting – after all, in the end everyone knows product designers are better looking and more intelligent than automotive stylists !

Engine Punk because: its an unusual approach to Hot Rods from an unexpected choice of base car.

Images sourced from www.hotrod.com

Morgan at Le Mans

Well, I went to Le Mans this year and there was this Morgan celebrating 100 years of the marque at the British Sports Car Welcome at St Saturnin. It's actually a French built 1934 Darmot but according to the accompanying blurb it had a 1233cc Harley Davidson fitted.


I love the little aerofoil below the sump!

Best of all, though, was the boat tail bodywork.

The diagonal stripes of wood are taken through to the dashboard.


Note the French registration - 72 denotes the department of Sarthe which contains the Le Mans circuit.

"Punk" cars.

To demonstrate the breadth of the term "Engine Punk" here are two examples of "Punk" cars. One is from a group of people from Southern France (I think - let us know if we are wrong) and the other from an Automotive design student from The Royal College of Art in 2004 - can you guess which is which !

The Ford Punk was by Linda Andersson of the Jaguar Advanced design team. It was based on research that people found contemporary car design to be bland - as a friend of mine always says about the obvious "no s**t Sherlock". (images from http://www.diseno-art.com/).

The other car has traffic cones on its roof !

The 205 Punk car

Engine Punk because .... its got a mohican.

The Ford Punk concept

Engine Punk because .... its got Punk in the title and is based on a six shooter.

Official apology

Ok .. "I'm sorry". The last post wasn't up 10 minutes when a call came in to say we had gone soft and "if thats engine punk I'm a girl guide". I was just jelous 'cos certain people are going to Le Mans and I'm not. To make up for it here's a motor with Le Mans in the name that hopefully can be called "engine punk" - not only a Pontiac Le Mans .. but one with an engine that was probably not on the original spec ! (the Le Mans seems to be a common base for some great custom and hot rod work - if you do some simple searches for it).

Engine Punk because .... the engines too big to fit, not built for doing the shopping and your old Aunt Mabel wouldn't drive it (unless she's maybe the local Hells Angels chapter secretary).

Le Mans in the name....

To highlight the Le Mans 24hours this coming weekend I thought we should look at a few potential engine punk examples with "Le Mans" in the name - I'm sure there are many more, but these will do for a start.

Daytona Le Mans Edition

1976 Moto Guzzi le Mans

A 1930 DuPont Model G Le Mans Speedster

Coming soon, cars with "Oulton Park" in the title (maybe not..).

Engine Punk becase .... not really is it? but the DuPont has an interesting story behind it concerning the son of the founder of the DuPont company - a rebel without a cause from the 1930's.

If Nick Hob (The Horsepower Whisperer himself) had a Porsche..

--it would be this one. A chopped and bare aluminium 356 body, 914-6 chassis and a mid-mounted 3-litre 911 engine. Built by Australian Jeff Dutton in 1992 and for sale in California.
Pictures from www.fantasyjunction.com

Engine Punk because .... its a one-off built for going fast and looking good, with an aesthetic that's not exotic sports or taken from the race track but something else that's kind of post-apocalypse urban, if you know what I mean. Designer-Mad Max.