Hey!!! Pick on somebody your own size!

Britain's newspaper, The Daily Telegraph, has invited its readers to nominate and vote for the "100 Ugliest Cars of All Time." Results of their voting were reported last week -- 20 cars per day for five days -- with an appropriate drum roll leading up to the ugliest car of all time. (Not surprisingly -- the Pontiac Aztek was listed as the ugliest car of all time. It was interesting that the Edsel, a car that was the butt of jokes for years, didn't even make the list.)

We find it somewhat mean-spirited, that minicars were over-represented in the listing. Minicars that made the list included:

• Trabant (16)
• Citroën Ami 6/8 (33)
• Reliant Regan/Robin (37)
• Wartburg 353 (39)
• Hillman Imp (45)
• Smart fortwo (48)
• Citroën 2CV (56)
• Perodua Kenari (66)
• Nissan Figaro (70)
• Lightburn Zeta Sedan (71)
• FSO Syrena (72)
• DAF Daffodil (73)
• Bond Bug (78)
• NSU Prinz (82)
• Renault 4 (83)
• Citroën Visa (85)

Perhaps we shouldn't be surprised. These ratings come from the same people who appreciate the humor of Bennie Hill and enjoy meals with the odd names of: kippers and mash or "Toad in the Hole". (And what's with Blood Pudding anyway?)

Berkeley Sets Record at Bonneville

A much-modified 1959 Berkeley set a new land speed record at Bonneville ten days ago on August 20th. "Bonner's Bad Berkeley" is a regular competitor on the salt, and conditions were favorable enough this year to allow Bonner Denton to put down a 298.983 mph run on the long course -- breaking the old record of 254.135 mph.

I don't know about you, but I'm pretty excited when I can coax my Berk to exceed the speed limit.

(The photo was taken at Bonneville in 2002 -- posted on The Big Red Truck From Texas website. I'll post a follow-up with 2008 photos when they come online.)

We are the Champions (Microcar Literature)

That could be the title of this Champion catalog illustration. The German Champion 400 had a 2 cylinder 398cc engine, but todays feature is about this nice little catalog. If you don't have room for restoring and housing a collection of full size cars, gathering together some literature might be up your alley. The hunt for some elusive Scootacar brochure can be exciting. There are lots of hidden treasures out there, start your search.
http://www.mclellansautomotive.com/

Trash or Treasure: Minicars in the fields

I've been told on numerous occasions that it wouldn't make sense to run a "Rusting & Resting" column, because there just aren't that many cars out there anymore.

Well...if you go to "forwardlookguy's" site on Flickr you will see that there are plenty of cars out there. (Admittedly, some of them are in less-than-pristine condition.) Over 500 cars are pictured -- including many minicars (Crosleys, Metropolitans, Prinzs, and Renaults), so there are more than enough to go around.

The copy on his site reads:

All the vehicles in this set are for sale by Mack Waugh, 1640 New Franklin Road, Lagrange, Georgia. His phone number is 706-884-4242. He really wants to sell all of these before he has to crush them. Please call him if you are interested in something.

Who's going to be the first one to come home with a "treasure" from Mack Waugh's field?

It's not a Fiat, It's not a Fiat, It's not a Fiat

Yesterday we featured a HOT one, today it's a stock one. We're talking ZAZ here folks. The kid seems to be frustrated, and wouldn't you be if everyone kept comparing your car to a Fiat 600. For more pics click -

http://www.mindspring.com/~corvair/zaz.html

Red Hot Red Rod (It's a Fiat - NOT)

Looking like a modified Fiat 600 this Russian minicar is a wild Red rod. The Zaporozhets was like the Fiat, an inexpensive form of transportation for "the people". For a bit more information about other Zaz automobiles -
http://red-hot-rods.com/Page.aspx?pID=74

Venture One step beyond

The other day we had a leaning race car from years ago, here's one from today. But this is a modern machine that's a 100 mpg, 100 mph blast. The Venture One is part bike, part microcar and all fun. Taking a turn in this wild ride is dramatic to say the least. see more at http://visforvoltage.org/forum-topic/motorcycles-and-large-scooters/1009-venture-one-electric-hybrid-motorcycle