Tag: HISTORIC

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

Apr 24, 2021Apex Video, BangShift APEX, BangShift News, FUNNY STUFF, HISTORIC, MISC, Videos

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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Barn Find 1932 Ford: A Hot Rod Build From The 1950’s That Was Never Finished But Ultimately Pulled From The Barn For A New Lease On Life

Feb 03, 2021HISTORIC, MISC, Videos

Barn Find 1932 Ford: A Hot Rod Build From The 1950’s That Was Never Finished But Ultimately Pulled From The Barn For A New Lease On Life

Eastwood’s Parked series is kinda cool, and this is one of the stories from it. The idea behind the series, titled Parked – Automotive Adventures, is to have you hot rodders out there submit your stories of cool automotive adventures. There is no production crew, there is no script, just you sending in an email to tell them about your adventure. They choose some cool ones, get photos and video, then shoot a skype video with you telling the story of your find or whatever. In this case, Brant Halterman is telling a story of a mysterious 1932 Ford that had been forgotten, but not forever.

This barn find all starts from stories that a friend of his dad’s would tell, of his 1932 Ford 5-window coupe and the adventures surrounding it. When Brant’s dad passed, it wasn’t very long before the friend did too. And then one day there was an ad online for a 1932 Ford. When he saw the photos it didn’t even register in his mind, but after talking to the seller he realized he was talking to the family of his dad’s friend and that this was the 1932 Ford he’d been told about for years.

I’ll let him tell you the rest of the story, and show you where it was and how it got out of that little old barn. If you have your own story to share with the gang at Eastwood, then for the love of god send them a message and see if you can get your story told on Parked. All you have to do is email them at [email protected] and make sure to tell them that Chad from BANGshift sent you!

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For GREAT deals on a new or used Honda check out Riverside Honda TODAY!

The Toyota Man Cometh: This Review Of The 1993 Toyota T100 Was A Wildly Prescient Look Into The Future

Dec 30, 2020BangShift News, BangShift XL, HISTORIC, MISC, Videos, XL Truck News, XL Videos

The Toyota Man Cometh: This Review Of The 1993 Toyota T100 Was A Wildly Prescient Look Into The Future

It was monumental news when Toyota said that it was going to step up its truck game in the early 1990s with the addition of the T100 model. This was going to be a small-ish truck that was kind of in its own size class. They had done their marketing studies and determined not only what their own loyal Toyota buyers wanted but also what many people who were intimidated by larger trucks wanted to buy.

Their answer was the T100 which was first sold here in 1993. This MotorWeek review is pretty good because it really shows the truck in an honest light. It was “lesser-than” the half ton trucks and even had some short comings when compared to rigs like the Dakota and others. It was short on power, it was pretty slow, and the interior was cramped, but what it did and what they correctly recognized it as doing was to lay the foundation for Toyota’s truck expansion and while that expansion took years and years, it was the long game that ultimately paid off with the Tundra which has been a success for the company.

The neatest part of this video is the end where they basically read the tea leaves of what Toyota is going to do regarding larger trucks in the US market. They debuted the Tundra about 5 years after this truck hit the market and it had V8 power, larger size, and has been sold now for two decades. The Tundra did not harm the Detroit companies in ways that may feared. Lots of Tundras, like T100s find buyers who are already Toyota loyalists and want a truck that it’s “too much” for their tastes.

The T100 really started the whole process.

Press play below to see this interesting review of the 1993 Toyota T100 –

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For GREAT deals on a new or used Chevrolet check out Allen Gwynn Chevrolet TODAY!

Stocking Stuffer: The Absolutely Epic Jason Plato/Matt Neal Interview Inside Of Renault Williams

Dec 27, 2020FUNNY STUFF, HISTORIC, Videos

Stocking Stuffer: The Absolutely Epic Jason Plato/Matt Neal Interview Inside Of Renault Williams

For a kid with a strong racing fascination in the mid-to-late 1990s, you essentially had two outlets if you wanted to see good action on television: TNN and Speedvision. (I’m sure ESPN showed something in between other sports, but I couldn’t be bothered.) TNN was where you went to see NASCAR highlights, swamp buggy racing, automotive shows at the time, and the occasional tough-truck competition. Speedvision, when it hit our cable provider in 1996, was where you went when you wanted a taste of the weird and the unknown. Much to the irritation of my parents at the time, I would be wide awake at three in the morning with the television on, the volume cranked just high enough that I could hear something, watching British Touring Car racing. I loved the stuff, because in my developing mind, it had three things NASCAR just didn’t have: real, identifiable cars; road courses instead of one sweeping oval; and drivers with personalities and tempers that didn’t hold back because it would look bad upon their sponsors. If anything, it seemed like the sponsors were gently pushing their wheelmen to be a bit more…how should I phrase this?…hands-on when it came time to solving disputes.

Over the years we’ve shown you great action from the BTCC, including the absolutely infamous incident at Silverstone in 1992 that saw middle fingers flying on live television coverage and body panels getting smashed in like it was a banger race and not a touring car run. That was the early 1990s…by the late 1990s the two gentlemen that are being interviewed by Jonny Smith were point and center in what many saw as a bitter rivalry. Jason Plato and Matt Neal were names you heard regardless of when you tuned in for a race. Their personalities are so different, yet the same in many aspects. For years these two have battered and bashed their way around tracks, have found themselves in front of the officials and the cameras alike for their antics, and have somehow managed to be friends, even after threatening to kick the shit out of each other after big crashes.

Merry Christmas, BangShifters. Once the wrapping paper gets cleaned up and the kids are off with their new goodies, sit down and watch these two. It’s worth it.

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Watch Al Hofmann Run The Table At The 1995 NHRA Finals And Needle John Force The Whole Tim He Does It

Dec 01, 20201320 Drag News, 1320 Videos, BangShift 1320, BangShift News, HISTORIC, MISC, RACING & ACTION, Videos

Watch Al Hofmann Run The Table At The 1995 NHRA Finals And Needle John Force The Whole Tim He Does It

If there is one thing we know it’s that one of the most fun parts of drag racing in the 1990s was the rivalry between John Force and Al Hofmann. No, Hofmann did not get around Force for a title during his reign of terror but he did beat him enough on race weekends to officially be a pain in his ass and the fact that he so loved doing it and telling the world that he loved doing it made the scene even better. In 1995 Hofmann finished second in the NHRA funny car points and seemed poised to really make some big noise in 1996. It did not necessarily work out that way but for this moment in time captured here on video, Al Hofmann was coming into John Force’s life like a freight train through his living room.

You are going to see Hofmann take on and take down Tony Pedregon, John Force, and then Cruz Pedregon all on the same day and in that order. Tony P almost got him, he puts an all-time gate job on Force, and Cruz has had so many problems that they had to go get a body from the NHRA Top Eliminator Club ceiling which was hanging there for decoration!

Wild and wooly times at the NHRA finals…which we hope will be back in Pomona next year.

Hit the image of smilin’ Al Hofmann to see his triumph at the 1995 NHRA Finals –

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The Race Car That Wasn’t But Is Now! The Story Of The McKee-Chevrolet Mahyra Is Funny And Awesome

Background Lesson: The 1980s Front-Drive Offerings In The Name Of Performance

Look into the past and also you will certainly see a lot of ghosts of cars and trucks past, vehicles that were meant to make an effect. Some did, some didn’t. They were all over, then all of a sudden they were nowhere to be located except in the most forgotten edges of the whole lots in BFE, U.S.A. Several of these automobiles might’ve been the first evolution for markets that existed later in life, if it had not been for producers that didn’t take them seriously. In fact, scratch that … also if they did, the market really did not. But allow’s check out the topic …

Remember the Dodge Daytona? No, not the Charger … the front-drive K-car that attempted like heck to offer the Fox Mustang and the third-gen F-bodies something to think of. Considering that Chrysler had actually directly run away Death’s scythe simply a few years ago, it was impressive that the company had actually cranked out a proficient hatchback coupe front-driver that had style, power, as well as sexual magnetism. If it had not been for the torque steer, Mopar was on the same level for yet another very early take on hot FWD performance, along with the Shelby GLHS Charger and Omni, the Shelby CSX, as well as various other hot takes. Mopar got Shelby to fine-tune their autos and also you would certainly assume that with the hot turbocharged 2.2 L 4, that they would certainly’ve remained a little longer than they did.

The Ford EXP is more challenging to quantify, however you need to recognize: these points were EVERYWHERE for many years, before they all unexpectedly transformed to dirt as well as ceased to exist. The EXP never ever truly tried to be a real efficiency device … you either got one with a touch of luxury flair, or one with a touch of sporty flair. And also unlike the Daytona, the EXP was a two-seater, which was a problem unto itself when it concerned guaranteeing it. Yeah…two-seater equals sports car, regardless of just how mundane the origins are. It’s an Escort inside out, bug-eye or AeroEXP, and the advantages and issues of that base hemorrhaged via. The EXP did have something going for it: for the dimension, it was properly able to be used for an all-around everyday usage. You had a significant cargo area, you had an engine that would relocate … kind of … and also if you really did not try to kick it about, you had a proficient, cost-effective car that really did not look negative.

Historical Drag Racing Video: Mario Andretti Drag Racing For The Only Time In His Life At Connecticut Dragway!

May 14, 20201320 Drag News, 1320 Videos, BangShift 1320, BangShift News, HISTORIC, MISC, RACING & ACTION, Videos

Historical Drag Racing Video: Mario Andretti Drag Racing For The Only Time In His Life At Connecticut Dragway!

This right here is some stuff! The first part of the video seems to date from the first half of the 1960s but the last half comes from 1968 and there’s one really specific way that we know that. This is rare footage of Mario Andretti drag racing for the only time in his life at Connecticut Dragway in 1968.

You will see him landing on the strip in a little Cessna, hanging out with the trophy queen and ultimately see him making laps in a Mustang on behalf of Tasca Ford! Andretti ran a match race against track owner Frank Maratta who is driving a Camaro prepared by Norwood Chevrolet. To double down on the awesome, the car that Andretti is likely a Tasca KR8, the car that the production Cobra Jet Mustangs were based off of! Surely they would not have stuck Mario in some 390 powered Mustang, right? He got the good stuff we’re sure.

There’s plenty of other fun stuff to be seen here in the form of wheel standers and loads of awesome cars but the real story if Mario. Recently on television he talked about this particular day and his memories all these years later are 100% spot on, the video proves it! You will see him fly in around the 13:00 minute mark and his runs against Maratta are shown around the 15:00 mark.

Drag racing history in living color!

Press play below to see this amazing footage from Connecticut Dragway!

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