Tag Archives: MISC

Awesomely Weird: This 1970s Chevrolet Parts Film Stars Evel Knievel And Literally Makes No Sense


Awesomely Weird: This 1970s Chevrolet Parts Film Stars Evel Knievel And Literally Makes No Sense

We’re guessing someone lost their job for this one. You are going to watch this 1970s Chevrolet parts film which stars Evel Knivel and makes literally no sense at all. The theme of the film is “conflict” and it is illustrated by a series of scenes where animals eat other animals, black and white movies are shown, and Evel Knievel jumps stuff on his motorcycle, sometimes crashing, sometimes not. Throw in a dose of 1970s Anchoman-level hilarity with a bikini-clad woman, and you have yourself one of the most singular odd things we have ever seen.

Make no mistake, Knievel would never turn down a gig, especially one with Chevrolet that likely was a great payday for reading some cue-cards. The company definitely did not hire him for his suave acting ability because this dude is straight up stiff while narrating the action. By action, we mean the bizarre things we are shown on screen.

Oddly, while Chevrolet parts are mentioned a handful of times there’s barely (if ever) a Chevrolet car shown as a prop in the film. This whole thing is some weirdo theater of the mind that was likely schemed up by an executive’s kid. “Hey Johnson, get my son a job in the media department and let him run wild!”

Obviously, Knievel was majorly famous at this point and his star only grew bigger. Note that he mentions that someday, “I’ll jump a mile….” we all know how that quest ended.

You have to see this one to believe it.

Press play to see the weirdest Chevrolet Parts video ever made, starring Evel Knievel!

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Candy Paint Job Tech: Here’s How To Do Amazing Candy Panel Paint. The Serape Mexican Blanket Paint Job.


Candy Paint Job Tech: Here’s How To Do Amazing Candy Panel Paint. The Serape Mexican Blanket Paint Job.

Custom panel paint, candies, flake, and the like are often found on custom motorcycles, lowriders, and customs, and regardless of whether it is your favorite or not, and regardless of the color and style, everyone stares and appreciates what must have went into painting something like that. The truth about paint jobs like that is the time and effort that goes into them is mostly in the layout and masking of the thing. With so many layers and colors and graphics involved it can often take a hundred times longer to mask it than it takes to spray it. But there is a lot of skill that goes into spraying candies, pearls, and heavy flake. But how exactly does it really happen?

Well lucky for you, Time Warp Custom Paint is going to show us. This is a tutorial if you will and one that you can use to inspire you to get out and paint something yourself. Now I have to think that with a few spray cans and some time you could practice certain elements of this before you ever got into the good stuff, but regardless I think this could be something fun and it makes me want to try it out. I wonder if doing something like this on an old hood would be cool for the inside of the shop. Hmmmmm

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Ever Wonder Just How Strong A Set Of Jackstands Really Is? Watch As They Are Put Through Their Paces In A Giant Hydraulic Press


Ever Wonder Just How Strong A Set Of Jackstands Really Is? Watch As They Are Put Through Their Paces In A Giant Hydraulic Press

We always take jackstands for granted, because they are one of the go to safety items in every garage. When there was a recall on some of them from Harbor Freight last year it was crazy how many people were up in arms. I have lots of Harbor Freight jackstands, but none that fell under the recall, no pun intended. With that said, we all throw a set under the car and climb under without much concern as long as they are sitting flat when we let the jack down on them. And nobody ever thinks about just how much load is on them or how much load they are rated for.

With most weight rated items there is a safety factor. I’ve been told this is 3 times the rating, but I’m not sure if that is true. So just how much will a jackstand hold up compared to its rating? And does the design really matter? Are aluminum stands really strong enough to use with your muscle cars, trucks, etc? Watch this video and you will find out just how strong they really are. And just how catastrophic their failure can be! The destruction ends with a broken window in the hydraulic press room.

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Hot Hatch History: This Look Back At The Hot Hatches Of The 1970s Is Great – No, The Golf GTI Was Not First


Hot Hatch History: This Look Back At The Hot Hatches Of The 1970s Is Great – No, The Golf GTI Was Not First

The idea of a “hot hatchback” has been part of the automotive landscape from the birth of the Mini-Cooper and this video from the fine folks at Goodwood which outlines the history of the concept and all the foundational models of the 1970s is spectacular. There’s something fun about a fast little hatchback car and buyers have bought millions and millions of them over the years. The Golf GTI is absolutely the most famous hot hatch of the early days but it was not the first one out. Companies like Simca, Renault, and others threw into the concept of the sports minded small car before the Germans definitively defined the genre of car.

We look at the automotive landscape today and so few of what we look at has any sort of sensical relationship to things that were made in the 1970s but the hot hatch backs still have the same DNA they always did and they are better in so many was than they ever were.

As a guy who spent a few years in college racing a hotted up VW Rabbit with my friends in the SCCA, perhaps my opinion is biased to the value and entertainment of these little things but the video below tells a really cool story in a very well laid out, researched, and appealing delivery.

Automotive history is the best history.

Press play below to see this cool video on the history of the hot hatchback!

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It Could Be You: This 1949 Chevrolet Film Explained The National Car Shortage And How They Were Fixing It


It Could Be You: This 1949 Chevrolet Film Explained The National Car Shortage And How They Were Fixing It

This is a pretty amazing thing to watch and something that seems incomprehensible to put into the modern context. As we have talked about before, by the late 1940s car companies were in a really bad spot. People wanted cars that they simply could not make. After the nation transformed itself into an armory and car production basically stopped in the early 1940s, a massive swell of demand for new cars built over the ensuing years. That well broke over top of the industry once the war was over and there was not a single company that could keep up. This film by Chevrolet attempts to explain the situation, mitigate the situation, and let people know that they are doing the best they can to get things patched up.

Just think about the fact that basically every supplier that was making parts for Chevrolet was then making parts for the war. The place that was making door handles was likely making something else so when Chevy needed door handles, they couldn’t get them. Master cylinders, headlight bezels, etc. It was not because they weren’t willing to build cars, they literally could not get the parts.

This is a really interesting educational strategy that was employed by Chevrolet. Rather than simply tell everyone to hang on a second, they went the extra mile to show people what the concerns and issues were and how they were going to remedy them. Just an interesting moment in automotive history.

Press play below to see this 1949 Chevrolet film, “It Could Be You” –

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It’s The Van, Man: This 1975 Chevrolet Promotional Film Hawking Vans Is Pretty Awesome


It’s The Van, Man: This 1975 Chevrolet Promotional Film Hawking Vans Is Pretty Awesome

What’s old is cool again, right? In many ways that line is the truth for all automotive enthusiasts who love the machines that carried us around decades ago, but the van world is booming right now. Classic vans hark back to the 1970s decade when they became a massive subset of the aftermarket and developed their own culture around them. This video is not so much about the vanning counter culture as much as it is about the primary market Chevrolet was trying to reach, the practical one. No shag carpets here but a study in why these vehicles were great for local cargo hauling and other work.

It’s weird that we’re kind of at the end of the traditional van era, most models have been discontinued in favor of smaller, European-style low floor jobs like the Ford Transit and others. There’s something great about the full-framed, tough as nails vans that we all grew up with, though.

We’re not sue if this video was shown by dealers at the dealership, sent to large fleet customers or what but we’re telling you right now that we want that red and white cargo van with loads of horsepower and an engine swap right now. Funny how the yeoman vehicles of the past become the cool stuff of the present, right?

Press play below to see this 1975 Chevrolet promotional film hawking vans!

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Plan Your Build: This Video Goes Through the Best G-Body Suspension Upgrades

The GM G-body platform is one of the most popular and most easily modified in all of the enthusiast world. But because of those two things, there’s lots of questions that need to be answered and lots of directions that a builder can take. What do you want to do with the car? Do you want to go drag racing? Do you want to go to the autocross course? Do you simply want a car that drives better on the street? All of these are totally options and the crew at QA1 know that.

As good as the G-body chassis is for hot rodding, the modern options for suspension components from QA1 are even better. You can have your cake and eat it to in 2020. Looking for that flat, rock hard cornering for the track days but not for driving your kids to a cruise night? No sweat, adjustable shocks will get that handled. Looking for make a weapons-grade autocross car but want to be able to maybe hit the strip now and again? They have the packages developed to make it all work and make you smile every time you drive your car.

If you have a G-body or are going to build one, you need to watch this video. It will help you with the direction of your project and with some ideas on what components to use!

Watch this cool video that talks through the best G-body suspension upgrades!

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A Legend In His Own Words: This Feature On Smokey Yunick Is So Awesome As He’s The One Telling The Stories


A Legend In His Own Words: This Feature On Smokey Yunick Is So Awesome As He’s The One Telling The Stories

There’s few things more awesome than seeing old video of a legend telling their own stories. Yes, this is a relatively short clip, lasting a total of about five minutes but it’s fantastic as we get to hear Smokey Yunick talk about his racing career and accomplishments. We’re pretty sure that this video comes from the old show, “The Exciting World of Speed and Beauty” which was Sunday morning must see TV back when we were kids.

Heck, we might have watch this show when it first came out but we definitely did not understand or appreciate the man who’s featured here back then. How could we? You have to know the guy’s story a little, know the guy’s attitude a little, and know the guys’s brilliance a little to really be enthralled with Smokey Yunick. It’s one of the funny things about being a racing legend, right? Outside the walls of the race track your life is pretty obscure. Inside the walls of the race track, you are a rock star of epic proportions.

Make sure you watch this one to the end because when Smokey starts showing off the engines, you’ll be as impressed as we were that he actually kept all this stuff! An amazing five minutes with one of the most awesome racing legends in American history –

Press play below to see this awesome short feature on Smokey Yunick in his own words

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Monster Truck Mid-Air Collision: This Is One Of The Wildest Things We Have Ever Seen! 10 Tons Of Wreckage


Monster Truck Mid-Air Collision: This Is One Of The Wildest Things We Have Ever Seen! 10 Tons Of Wreckage

There’s always something awesome about seeing a “first”, right? We don’t me a global “first ever” we mean a, “Oh damn, never seen that before!” moment. We suspect you’ll share the same reaction that we had while watching this incredible monster truck mid-air collision between Snake Bite and Red Solo Truck on the beach at Wildwood, New Jersey back in 2016. It’s a combo of some interesting elements that make this one of the neatest monster truck videos we have seen in a long, long time.

The first element is the course itself. It is a back and forth snake-like affair and it is long! Right there on the sands of the beach in New Jersey, you can see an amusement park in the background and there’s not a single car to be crushed. There are jumps and obstacles but no cars to crush. Watching the big trucks slide and maneuver through the corners is really fun. The tires float on the sand nicely and the “inside/outside” layout of the turns makes it a really fun back and forth course where it seems one truck is ahead but the other makes time rapidly when on the inside of the corners.

The big table top jump is the finish line and in this video, both trucks get there at the same time and they are trying to fly over it in the same airspace. The contact and tumble is wild, made more dramatic by the fact it happened at dusk and the added flying sand is awesome.

Both guys walked away. The trucks seemingly did not.

Press play below to see this insane mid-air monster truck collision!

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