Bike zorst at the 2009 Calstock Bike Show

I don't know much about this bike beyond that I like it. Other show goers at this bash said the owner had a blue Mohican but that didn't really mark him out from the crowds at the show. It's obviously an engine from the oil cooled Suzuki GSXR family but it's got a rear rotor disc and very wide front fork yokes that suggest that a fatter front wheel will be appearing soon.

The tail end looks so clean. It's just a back wheel and a startling wheel arch - not so much a hugger as a mugger. Very arch (where arch is an adjective - clever, sly, mischievous, roguish.)



But what really makes this bike stand out for me is the exhaust. Bystanders assured me that it wasn't as loud as it looks although it could never be said to be quiet. Anyway, loud pipes save lives.

This is a custom zorst made by someone who knows how to make a proper job snake pit of pipes in a new place.

Enegine Punk - because it looks illegal when it's really just challenging preconceptions.

Juice my Lemon

Not having a telly, I never saw this show but car artist Steve Saunders produced this Allegro speedster for the show in 3 days. Called the All Ego, it was originally a 2 door Allegro saloon and an 1100cc version at that i.e. the slowest of the slow. Steve doesn't make any preliminary drawings - he just sets to with a grinder and produces whatever shape he has in his mind's eye.

The All Ego is by no means his first creation. Steve's been doing this sort of thing for years. In October 2008 he had a clear out of his art car collection and the All Ego sold for 5,500 GBP.

I first stumbled across his work at a Custom Car Show at the Cornish Colliseum at Carlyon Bay in the early eighties. He'd turned a Citroen CX into a Manta Ray -0 that's the fish not the Opel. I'll try to find some images of this car dreckly (good Cornish word).

Steve described "Juice my lemon" as a cross between the American program “Pimp My Ride” and “The Benny Hill Show”. His vision was of a speedster, which involved strengthening the car to allow for the removal of the roof, re-modelling of the front and rear, adding a pair of faired-in headrests and a chopping the windscreen. Deep side air scoops, “angel eye” head lamps and slim, curved Fiat rear lamps complete the look.

Steve has been dubbed an "automotive alchemist" for turning base things into gold and is featured on the Car Design News website.

Max Girardo, Managing Director of RM Auctions European Division, described Saunders' work as as rolling works of modern art, which is close to the rolling sculpture interpretation of Engine Punk. "It is drivable art in the truest sense", he added.

Engine Punk - because it turns the most unlikely thing into an object of desire (and is probably the most expensive Allegro ever). And because Max Girardo nearly said so.

Photos from Serious Wheels

Separated at birth.

My mate Simon let me know about this car posted on the Pistonheads site – its squeezes a Honda engine, CR-V drive-train and MX-5 suspension into a Mini form. There have been loads of Mini adaption’s and conversions but this one really appeals from the visual as well as the functional perspective – it also reminds me of the old Minis from Scalextric in the 1970's. I don’t know why that’s a good thing, but it is!
It comes from a company called Mini Tec, the kit costs $2695 and can potentially give you 400bhp via all four wheels. There is an odd video in the snow on the Pistonhead site but much more interesting ones on the Mini-Tec site.
Scalextric Mini image from Dans Garage !

Engine punk because: Its outrageous and rather than miniaturise yourself to fit into an old Scalextric Mini you can get one of these.

Souped up Citroen with a difference

I really like this - it's a Citroen LNA, which most Anglo-Saxons would know as the Peugeot 104ZS. The Talbot Samba and Citroen Visa are also close relations. The LNA had a developed version of the 2CV flat twin that should have gone into the old Tin Snail but for some reason never did. So if you want to soup one, howdya do it?

According to the advert on the Subito.it site, you insert a 1300cc flat four from a Citroen GSA.

Compared to some absolute abortions produced from the Max Power brigade, I like the tasteful body mods, too. It's just wild enough and still looks like a Citroen LNA but sits on the road nicely.

And I especially like the wide three stud wheels. Are these specially made?

It's for sale, too, at 2000 Euros. Good thing I don't live in Italy.

Engine Punk - because an Italian has shown Citroen what sort of car they could have built thirty years ago.