We've all seen the legendary Bullitt car chase I'm sure, I'm guessing both version of Gone In Sixty Seconds have passed your eyes at some point.  How about the lesser known but cult movies?  Vanishing Point, yup seen that, how about Two Lane Blacktop?  Sure you have.  Car chases and action sequences are one of the markers of 'car films'.  However car chases are spread liberally around Hollywood to provide that bit of extra spice to movies, here are a couple you might not have seen and the reasons they are great.

Against All Odds

I'll not hear a word said against the mighty Phil Collins title track, it is genius, FACT!  However this movie sticks in my head for different reasons.  Growing up I remember seeing a "How Stunts Work" TV show which featured this chase/race scene, my mind was blown by the frantic weaving in and out of traffic, the swerving of on coming vehicles and the great growl the Ferrari made, all in the days before they just CGi'd it together.  It left an impression, I've still never seen the whole movie though.
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Cobra

Sly Stallone shoots people and swears in this clip from 80's rebel cop film, apparently originally intended to be Beverly Hills Cop, but this script went for a more explosive, serious approach.  Most importantly it features a 1950 Mercury Monterey sled, which is a touch unusual for a movie of any era, let alone the 80's.  The chase has everything that you expect from a car chase, cardboard boxes, plenty of needless skidding, a car that seems to repair itself between cuts, a car park, it is all in there somewhere, and no one can shoot straight.

The Gumball Rally

Now this is hardly an unknown movie, the prototype for The Cannonball Run, Charles Bail delivers a coast to coast car race based on the original legendary Gumball event.  Whilst a lot of people have heard of this movie not a huge amount of people have seen it, so in order to pique your interest check out the clip above, it is almost as much fun spotting the background cars as it is watching the main action.

Of course there are loads more car squences out there, so it may be a subject we revist, what are your favourites?

Well here it is, show season is under way, with the flurry of shows at the start of April until we brave the rain and wind at the end of season shows in October.  We could pretty much find an interesting car event to go to every weekend, and occasional week day, of the summer.  In recent years our particular niche of 'retro' as a show description has grown, whilst the word pops up all over the place in show names there are really three main shows in the UK aimed squarely at 'us'.
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Retro Mania - 5th and 6th June, Weston Park, Shropshire.
Price - Weekend, on the gate £15.00 Adult / Child £6, in advance Adult £12 / Child £5 , Sunday only Adult £7 / Child £3.
The most northerly of the shows in the calendar is also the first and the newest.  Running in parallel to the Dubmania event Retro Mania promises a weekend of all kinds of modified classics, with camping available on the 5th and evening entertainment it is a great excuse to meet up and have a party before the main show day on the Sunday.  The team behind Retro Mania are also the people behind the excellent Ultimate Dubs, so they know how to put a great show on.  Last year was sadly a victim of our inclement summer weather in the UK, with the met office promising a long hot summer this year we're sure this is going to be a roaring success.  You can check out more information on their website.


Retro Show - 17th and 18th July, Santa Pod, Northamptonshire.
Price - £15 per person on the gate £12 in advance for Sunday, Weekend £25 on the gate, £20 in advance.
In some ways the oldest of the shows here, it evolved from the defunct Retro Cars Show and had a few format changes over the past couple of years.  Last year it return to being a Sunday event and has proven to be a reliable show to visit for track action and club stands.  With the Saturday being a RWYB day as well it means if you head up for the weekend you can get your car down the strip until you shatter your diff or smash a piston through your bonnet, nice one.  Additionally to the cars Retro Show also has scooters and bikes in attendance, as well as evening entertainment for those staying the weekend.  www.retroshow.co.uk


Retro Rides Gathering - 8th August, Haynes Motor Museum, Sparkford, Somerset.
Price - £7.50 per person on the gate, £5 in advance
It is difficult for me to be unbiased about The Gathering as we're quite involved with it, but I will try.  After a few years shifting from venue to venue The Gathering has finally settled at The Haynes Motor Museum, with a good sized show field, a track and the museum it has found a good home.  Action comes courtesy of the track with RWYB sessions running all day, there is a good diverse range of club stands and invited cars to keep people happy.  For the past few years the weather has been kind to The Gathering making for a nice relaxed weekend in the sunshine.  Camping is available but not widely advertised, so check their Facebook page for details. www.retroridesgathering.com



The great thing about these three shows is that they are far enough apart that you can pretty much easily attend each of them, also they are each such a different type of show that you won't be having repeated experiences.  Whatever you do make sure you get to at least one and support your UK show organisers, it really is hard work!

One of our favourite things that the internet brings to us here at Retro Scene Mag is a glimpse into the different motoring cultures around the world, without having to leave the comfort of our sofa.  Above you will find a clip from the home of big power drag cars, the U.S. of A.  The rest of this entry will bring you a selection of videos from across the globe, all with one thing in common, a love of modified cars.
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First stop a long hall flight to Thailand for some drag racing.

Next stop a quick hop over to Japan to check out what they are chucking down the strip, is it a 180sx or a 240z?

We'll stick around to check out Rising's amazing Sunny.

Now we need to borrow rmad's occasional time machine and head to Sweden in 1976 for what those guys were up to on the strip back then.

With that we'll pack up our travel bag, but promise to return again.  Next time we go travelling though we'll be checking out South and Central America.

Hot rods are one of those things that are supposed to be an individual expression, which is why people get a little vexed when they see row on row of identikit rods at shows.  Building a stand out '32 Ford or Model T now days is going to be harder as they have such a long history of being rodded with such a diversity of modification.  One of the best ways to make sure your modified car stands out is to choose a different base model, choose something with the right basic shape, but enough individuality to make is stand out.  Don't choose a '34 Ford, choose a 1933 Hupmobile Model K.
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Once again we find ourselves looking to Sweden, this time the car came to our attention via the excellent Street & Strip magazine.  Luckily for us names and car models don't require us to know Swedish and the internet is a handy tool for finding stuff.  The car has been built by Nordlund racing and is reputed to be the world’s fastest Hupmobile.  Sitting on its original chassis the guys at Nordlund have dropped in a 454 Cubic Inch Chevy engine with a blower strapped onto it which, as far as our rather basic Swedish tells us, kicks out around 650 bhp.  The car is fully stripped down with a rather solid looking roll cage fitted to the interior, the dashboard is more functional than pretty.

Looking at the pictures you'll immediately notice the rat styling on the car, this is genuine patina from having been sat in a field before Mikael Nordlund picked it up and decided to go racing in it.  The rear wings have grown a bit wider with new metal being welded in, the grill has gone and the front arches have gained large holes, we're assuming for heat dissipation, or maybe they were just rust that had been cut away.  The Hupmobile's roofline gives it a natural rake and an almost chopped look which suits hot rods, being four door however it does sit as quite a long car.

For all its rat look and obvious leftfield nature Nordlund Drag Racing have built a very capable, serious, drag car out of the Model K, as you can see in the video below.

Once again the Swedish provide us with a high powered interesting approach to hot rods and customs, keep up the good work.

It had been eight years since I'd last been to an aircooled VW show and as Brian from the mighty Volkszone reminded me this is really a trip to remind me of my roots in this whole car thing.  This time I was an outsider, I didn't know what to expect, who was building what, who the new names where or what the current trends in the VW scene were. An interesting journey or rediscovery was ahead.
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For many it is easy to dismiss the aircooled VW scene, due to its size there is no shortage of similar cars and when a style or trend takes hold it can spawn a whole sub culture with hundreds of cars very quickly.  There were plenty of cal look, resto cal look and rat look cars and vans in evidence alongside a variety of standard cars. Things do keep moving forwards though with new twists on older ideas and some fresh new ideas taking shape. The steampunk inspired black beetle lurking in the third hall was a particular stand out car, along with Bug Box's(link) full size Sand Scorcher.

The VW Drag scene continues to build cars that are not only fast but look great, with Outlaw Flat Four continuing to lead the charge.  The show attracts an international crowd and attendance, in fact this cross border swapping of ideas and show attendance is one of the cornerstones of the VW scene, both air and water cooled, bringing in new ideas and a friendly rivalry.  The twisted VW Brasilia off roader a case in point for some international new thinking attending the show.

In the club area plenty of variety was on display, Trekkers, buses, Type3s, Beetles, Porsches and more obscure VW kits made their way to the show.  Trade wise the event was very well stocked with traders, just about everything you could need for your project was present.  Upstairs there were handy how-to presentations that have no doubt got a bunch of people ready to break out the tools and tackle jobs they wouldn't ordinarily do.

The show was busy, as ever, which is the only real down side to the event, getting photographs with the way the cars are parked up inside and the amount of people there can be very tricky, but then the point of car shows is to check out the cars, not to just take photographs.  The car park provided a whole lot to look at too, with a range of cool VWs as well as other makes being present.  Having a gap between events certainly means going in with fresh eyes, but I won't be leaving it for eight years next time.

You can view all of out 150 photos from the event on our Flickr photostream.

We always like to recieve product news here at RSM, it is even better when it is a new film, particularly about a car sub culture that is difficult for us to see first hand in it's native habitat.  So we were very happy to get information sent to us about Dustin Volo's "Volo : The Cars, The Culture & The Camera".
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Dustin Volo is one of the most celebrated and accomplished photographers within the low riding culture. His childhood love for photography has led him to take pictures of some of the most creative built automobilles of the last 20 years. The documentary, “Volo: The Cars, The Culture, & The Camera” presents his entire photography career, as well as his lifetime passion of low riding.

The 18 minute documentary covers Volo’s love for cars, his admiration for the low riding culture, and his career as a professional photographer. The documentary was directed by Reggie Reagor and produced by DRG Films. The production company has just completed the projects “A Love Supreme: U-N-I & Ro Blvd. The Documentary”, Those Chosen’s “Soundclash” music video, and El Prez’ “Floss Angeles” music video. Each of the 3 parts of the documentary will be released online over the next 2 weeks.

Check out the trailer

Volo: The Cars, The Culture, & The Camera Documentary Trailer from DRG Films on Vimeo

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You can check out more of Volo's work at www.elvolo.com. For more information, please log onto www.drgfilms.com.  We'll be keeping an eye on this one for sure!

It will come as no suprise to you that we do love a good retro super car here on RSM, one of our favourites being the De Tomaso Pantera, Italian style matched with American muscle is a great formular for and interesting car.  De Tomaso produced many other sexy wedges during the last four decades, however they also had a hand in some slightly more consumer level cars, most notably the De Tomaso Innocenti.
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Innocenti as a name has a history that stretches back to 1920, initially a company that built industrial machinery it changed direction post World War 2 and produced Lambretta scooters for many years.  In 1961 Innocenti started to produce a licensed version of the BL Mini, in 1972 British Leyland took over Innocenti completely.  Sadly for Innocenti, which was a hugely popular brand in its native Italy, this resulted in the company getting caught up in BL running out of money and being nationalised in 1975.  Step forward Alejandro de Tomaso to save the day, and the company.

Rechristened Nuova Innocenti, the company started to produce a Bertone designed five seater in 1976, still on the Mini underpinnings.  The engine produced a respectable 71bhp being closer to a Cooper 'S' in tuned than a standard mini.  The car looks more like a shrunk down Golf than a Mini the hatchback allows the boot to be larger than a mini, but the slightly larger seats mean less leg room and a more cramped interior.  To our mind this car has everything, very modable for more speed with its reliance on mini parts, cool boxy 70’s styling, a super car name on the badge, and that little bit of Italian throw into the mix, fantastic.

Contemporary reviews of the car found it to be a great drive, possibly superior to the comparable standard Mini.  Which makes us even sadder that it was never officially imported to the UK, any you see in the UK are private imports.  They turn up on Italian ebay occasionally, so keep you eyes out.

What followed the Innocenti mini was equally as cool, in 1984 the line ceased production and De Tomaso struck up a new deal with Diahatsu to provide the under pinning’s for the follow up. The Innocenti 650 and 650SE were based on the Daihatsu Charade with a 617cc 2 cylinder engine, later the Mini 3 would come along with a 3 Cylinder engine, running production through to 1992.  Innocenti finished as a company in 1995, but have left us a legacy of some cool cars to hunt out.

During the deal with Diahatsu it turns out the De Tomaso were partners in a bid to make a Charade Group B car, which the guys at 7tune have a great entry on that is well worth a read.

© David Biene

Hot rod culture, the bedrock on which our scene was built. We owe a great debt to those that came before and tuned their cars for thrills and spills on the street, drag strips or salt flats.  What is amazing about hot rod culture is that whilst we've moved far beyond the original it has still remained a strong scene in and of itself, nearly seventy years on.
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Testament to this is the current gallery work of photographer David Biene, a professional photographer who has spent five years submerging himself in Europe's hot rodding scene.  Finding that for most it is more than just a car in the garage, it is a way of life.  Then again we know this, because it is our way of life as well.

© David Biene

The Hopped Up Exhibition at Proud Gallery in Camden runs from the 24th February to 11th April 2010, from home to track and everywhere in between the exhibition takes images from David's coffee table book which has now sold out.  Featured here are a few of the images from the exhibition.

We are certainly going to take a look and support the work that has been put into this and the people putting photographs of modified cars into galleries.  We're also going to try and track down a copy of the book ...

© David Biene

© David Biene

With the age of the internet the concept of show seasons has kind of faded a little, whilst we may not be able to head out through the wind and rain to any big shows in our own country we can live vicariously through others via the internet.  We've covered the New Years Meet in Japan before, but this year it seems there is much more online for it and quicker than in previous years.
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We don't usually find that much in the way of Japanese car shows covered on Flickr, unless it is someone visiting for a specific show, however the photostream of noritamaco has a great set of photos from this years New Years Meeting as well as other meets, mainly for bubble cars and other microcars.

Japan's own Photozou is a much more reliable source for Japanese car show pictures, if you know what you are looking for.  This is where we found this set of 242 pictures including a range of photos from the car park and outside the event.

Hobidas auto brings us a wide selection of images, with a lot of interesting non-Japanese cars being shown in attendance at the event.

Finally the old reliable Minkara has a load of photo galleries to go through, our favourite of which is this one, across the first three pages of the top level gallery are links to thirty sub galleries, lots to look through.

Every year we say we'll get back to Japan,.. maybe this will be that year, or perhaps we should wait until next January!

Every year I look forward to seeing what the Grand National Roadster show throws out in terms of prizes and show cars, this year’s selection of cars on the show floor seemed to be exceptional, there has been a whole bunch of coverage elsewhere that we aren't in a position to match, check the bottom of this post for a whole load of links.  We're here to talk about the winners though, but not the winning car.
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I'm going to say this straight up, I wasn't that happy with the winning car for this year’s show.  I'm sure on many levels it is excellent and exemplifies something that the judges were looking for, but to me it did press my buttons.  You don't get to build a GNRS winner without having built a few cars before hand, so I always like to check out the history of the people that place in the big prize.  Scotts Hot Rods were the winners this year and their past rides are pretty interesting, particularly this Truck Speedster.

Original a 1956 Chevy Truck the guys at Scotts had bought it to use as a shop hack, fate had other plans though.  The Learning Channel was filming seasons one of its 'Rides' TV series and asked Scotts to build something, this speedster truck is the outcome.  If you can find Season 1, Episode 6 of Rides you can see the full build up with the people behind it.  In the mean time Scott's Hotrod and Customs website has a bunch of build up pictures, some of which you can see here.

Called Heavy Metal the truck is an all out custom job, the stock frame rails remain, but cross members, transmission, air bag suspension, brakes, and LS1 engine are all custom.  The body work has been cut, smoothed and shaped into submission with the whole lot sitting on custom billet wheels, 18" at the front 20" at the rear.  The whole speedster look works well on the truck a great piece of out the box thinking.  Probably not the most functional pickup you will ever see, but certainly one of the most unique.

Custom and Classic Trucks have a feature with excellent photographs in which is well worth a read.

You can also see more build up pictures at the main Scott's hotrods site.

As for Grand National Roadster Show coverage, this thread on the Retro Rides forum, has a whole bunch of links for you to check out.