Tag: Apex Online Find

Facebook Find: This 1980 Z28 Camaro Is Throwback Greatness I Would Drive Like A Boss

This 1980 Z28 is pure awesomeness. I didn’t know I wanted one with sidepipes on it until I saw this but man do I ever! If I bought this thing I’d put the trim back on the nose, reinstall the lights, and then find a set of stock seats and a better steering wheel for it. The small block would get just enough love to sound awesome and then I’d swap a TKX 5-speed in it from American Powertrain. I mean seriously, this thing would get all the chicks. Or at least all of them that remember the 1980s. LOL

This thing isn’t perfect, but the patina is pretty good and the stance is right. I dig the Torque Thrusts, but there is also a part of me that thinks this thing would be extra right if it had a set of Cragars on it. The whole car basically needs some love, but to me it looks like a weekend with a couple friends and this thing would be a fun driver. What do you think?

CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE ORIGINAL AD.

The seller says it runs and drives but isn’t road-trip ready. I have a feeling it’s Chad road trip worthy, so if one of you buys it and pays for the gas and whatever parts are actually needed, I’ll drive it to you and document the whole adventure right here on BANGshift!

Rough Start: 1972 AMC Javelin Dirt-Tracker With Endless Possibilities

Dec 20, 2021Apex Online Find, BangShift APEX

Rough Start: 1972 AMC Javelin Dirt-Tracker With Endless Possibilities

If you’ve been around BangShift for quite some time, then a wave of nostalgia is about to hit you. Right about the time CarJunkieTV went below the waves around late 2008, there was a fire sale of the projects that were still on the repurposed building that had hosted the venture. Among the rolling stock on the property was a 1969 AMC dirt-track car that needed to be re-homed. Brian Lohnes decided that he wanted the shell of a Javelin and with the help of Freiburger and six willing participants, the infamous Red Ball Express venture moved that car coast-to-coast in early February, 2009. In fairness, that car was ROUGH. Lohnes has told me how brutally bad it was over the years, yet I still wanted that car badly when it went up for sale. Got that history?

Now, look to the present, and in particular to two cars I suspect you know well: the “General Mayhem” Dodge Charger that Freiburger owns now, and the “Death Metal” Charger that Mike Finnegan owns. Other than being 1968 Dodge Chargers, those two Mopars have one other thing in common: they started out as clapped-out shells and were built into greatness. When you have nothing to worry about, you can only build upwards. Or, in Mike’s case, you take the wrong turn at Alburquerque and wind up with a chimera that looks Dukes-ready but sounds like it belongs in the psych ward section of the NOPI Nats. Whatever. The point is, you have an open canvas.

So, to the topic I bring up: this 1972 AMC Javelin. Yeah, it’s the bigger brother to that ideal 1969 car that Lohnes sent off to pasture many years ago. But it’s rocking a damn-near-identical paint job and looks ready to battle it out on a track somewhere. And that might be for the best, but there is a huge part of me that would love to see it converted into a street-going monster. There’s no engine. There’s just a basic race car interior. There’s a fuel cell, and there’s enough suspension to get the project started. Pick an engine, any engine, and stuff it in. AMC 304? Cheapest small-block Chevy you can find? Hellcat crate engine? You can’t go wrong. Just fill the wheelwells with enough rubber to look right, be prepared for dirt and asphalt racing, and remember the famous words of Mark Donohue: “If you can leave two black stripes from the exit of one corner to the braking zone of the next, you have enough horsepower.”

Facebook Marketplace link: 1972 American Motors Javelin

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Money No Object: The 9,000 RPM Vauxhall Chevette, With Honda S2000 Power

Over the years, Chad has loved to take the piss out of me and my weird car choices. Fair enough…I do like a lot of oddball, left-field cars that leaves most people scratching their heads and asking themselves, “Why…?” But today, I feel like it’s my turn, because Chad has a kink for go-karts. Okay, not exactly. He wants a Chevrolet Chevette. Yeah, you read that right: Chevette. T-Car. The Impotent Vette. The GM T-car might have made for a great world platform that many cars were based off of, but here in America, they came in two main flavors: Chevette and Pontiac T-1000. Yeah, we know about the Isuzu I-Mark and the relationship to the Isuzu Piazza/Impulse, but when was the last time you saw either one of those? I know what his build plan is for a Chevette if he ever finds one of the little pipsqueaks, and if he finishes it up, it will be a rad little thing. But in the meantime, I think I could spare him a bunch of build time and offer up an alternative:

This pissed-off little creature is the Vauxhall variation that was sold in the United Kingdom. Minor differences in trim, new nose, no stupid big bumpers, and a body kit straight out of a chav’s daydream. And let’s not forget the two cannons out back that seem to invite police without flowing an ounce of air…it looks tiny but it looks like it’s ready to fight to the death, like a chihuahua that is working through ‘roid rage and the final result of eating some spicy peppers. The body kit is hiding some fairly stout rubber, so what’s the point of it all?

Familiar with the Honda S2000? If not, let’s sum it up in one sentence: 240 horsepower at 8,300 RPM and a fuel cut at 8,900 RPM. This thing revs like a sport bike and has to be lighter than the already svelte 2,800 pound Honda that donated the good bits. This is a hot hatch done to the nines, British rust be damned, and the interior is the Honda’s, plonked out and fitted up, leaving the Chevette as a two-seater with a still-useable hatch area.

Imagine ripping gears at over 8,000 RPM while Mustang and Camaro owners proceed to knock themselves in the bollocks with their dropped jaws. Now imagine how this angry little licorice drop does in the corners, or at an autocross, or a time attack.

Paging Chad to the courtesy telephone, please…

Bring A Trailer link: 1982 Vauxhall Chevette