With only a few weeks left in 2013, it’s that time of year again where all of the crazies that spend untold hours behind the viewfinder of a camera in order to bring you BangShifters the best coverage of car events from around the nation get to kick back and relive all of our favorite memories from the past twelve months.

I’ll admit that I’m a bit of a slacker compared to some of the other guys in terms of how often I’m out shooting (I’m convinced that at least one or two of them haven’t slept in months in order to deliver as many photos as they do), but I’ll be starting off this series with a recap of my second season as a BangShift contributor.

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Vermonster 4×4

It’s becoming somewhat of a tradition that every February Brian will shoot me a text at some unholy time of night telling me that he has an adventure in store for us that coming weekend. This always means two things: 1) I’m going to spend at least ten hours freezing my ass off in some God-forsaken corner of New England 2) It’s going to involve some sort of ridiculous truck or tractor, similar to last year’s Thump Truck.

While I was right on the money on the first point, nothing could prepare me for my first experience with a Trar:

Part car and part truck, it’s the automotive equivalent of a drunken one-night stand in a gas station bathroom, only with 50% more grain alcohol and 100% more questionable welds.

This event was basically the “Mud life” (This is a serious lifestyle by the way; I’m pretty sure that it’s like Fight Club and I’m breaking some sort of rule by even mentioning it by name) version of the circus, with tug-o-wars, a 4×4 obstacle park, snow/mud drag racing, and trar jumping action all going on at once. Crazy? Yeah. Totally worth the three hour drive? Totally. Will Brian and I need to grow giant lumberjack beards next year in order to pass for one of the natives? I’m already starting mine.

 

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The “Deathmobile” RX7

I’m just going to come out and ruin the rest of this blog item by saying that of all the cars I shot this year, this was my favorite. There are a few others that were in the running, but the RX7 wins for being the most violent and pointless thing that I have ever seen. Its sole reason for existence is to scare old women and murder tires, much like our own Chad Reynolds.

Enough of my yakking, here’s a few more photos of this beast:

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2013 Ford Taurus SHO

With the warmer weather, press cars from the Big Three started rolling into the BangShift East Coast headquarters, starting with a 2013 Taurus SHO (It may look a little pedestrian, but this car hauled the mail. It also may have seen a little air under the tires at one point during the test drive, but you didn’t hear that from me.):

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2013 GMC Denali and 2013 “Hot Wheels” Chevy Camaro

Not to be outdone, General Motors then sent along two vehicles, one to out-luxury the SHO and the other to kick its teeth in performance-wise.

First was the 2013 Denali, which is best described as a Five-Star hotel on wheels (Which didn’t stop us from doing a burnout or two. This is BangShift after all):

Brian liked this truck so much that he actually cleaned it, which is saying something if you’ve ever been within smelling distance of the guy (Let’s see if Brian is reading this…)

Next up in the one-two combo from GM was the Hot Wheels Camaro, which is literally a toy come to life (Brian’s kids were flipping out when they saw this in the driveway).

Yeah, we did burnouts in this one too:

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2014 Ford Mustang GT

Rounding out the press cars that I got to shoot for the year is the 2014 Ford Mustang GT. Of all the newer cars that we cruised around in, this one got the most attention; I’m sure that the electric green paint had nothing to do with it.

There were a couple of false starts:

…But we eventually had this car ripping around corners around corners as well:

I also found out that I have a passing resemblance to the cartoon character Jimmy Neutron:

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Buford Autocross

In-between feature cars, we also managed to squeeze in some Autocross time with Buford as well.

Cue the “One of these things is not like the others” song:

The family that autocrosses together, stays together.

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2013 New England Dragway NHRA Hot Rod Reunion

This year was also my first time shooting at an NHRA event. This is the bread and butter for many of the other BangShift contributors and I can see why: After witnessing my first Nitro pass, I’m hooked.

I had such a great time that I really had trouble selecting only a few photos from that event. My “Must Do” list for next year definitely includes shooting at as many drag racing events as possible.

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Pro-touring Chevelles and Autocrossing Jeeps

Finishing up the year, I also tracked down the owner of this bitching Chevelle that I spotted on my ride to work (And walked two miles back to go check out…Seriously.) Expect to see a full feature on this car soon.

Brian and I also spent some quality time with what is now my favorite Jeep of all time:

Expect to see much more on the XJ-R Jeep very soon.

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1987 Monte Carlo LS

Oh, I also completely succumbed to my G-body addiction and brought home the nerdier brother of my SS. I hope they get along.

I’m convinced that I’ll be able to keep this car a daily driver, while my wife gives it less than a year until I relegate it to “full time project car” like the other Monte. Anyone want in on this bet?

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So, there we have it! 2014 is going to be a huge year for BangShift.com, and I’m looking forward to being a part of it. Happy Holidays everybody!