One of my favorite words in the English language is the term “kitbash”. I learned it when I was building model cars as a kid. The premise is simple: with a few exceptions, a model kit has you build the plastic car in a certain fashion per what’s in the box. But maybe you don’t want to build what’s in the box. Maybe you want to build something pretty wild. Case in point: last winter, I built my first model car in about twenty years, a 1980 Plymouth Volaré Road Runner (MPC’s “Fuzz Duster” kit, to be accurate.) You could build it stock, or you could build it into a disco street machine. I didn’t want either…I wanted the ratty 1980s teenager’s car look. That meant raiding slot mags and tires from a box of random parts I found at a swap meet, a 340-6bbl engine meant for a Challenger T/A, and chopping up the suspension mounts to lower the car up front for the proper stinkbug stance. Total cost for me: a couple of razor blades, a new scar on one finger from where the blade slipped, and a few extra dollars. Nothing to it.
This 1977 Toyota truck is like most Japanese-sourced small pickups that found their way into the country: a good little two-seater pickup that was a lot more durable than most people initially gave it credit for. Stock ones are little buzzing machines that’ll get the job done. Do I have to tell you that this one isn’t stock? Really? Note the footprint…it’s all Ford Crown Victoria suspension. Note the engine poking it’s way out of the hood. A true junkyard turbo LS build…not a “1,000 horsepower on cam and valvesprings” deal, just enough to make the tires disappear with judicial throttle application. This is a build for the Roadkill $3K Hooptie Challenge, and it’s a proven setup. It drove from New England to Tucson, Arizona and back without major incident or failure. It looks like a poor man’s Kaido racer (what you might better know as a bosozoku custom) and sounds like a high schooler in a Camaro at two in the morning. A pure kitbash if there ever was one. Check it out below:
Thumbs up! This guy is alright. We can all sit around and cry about the cost of this game, or we can look around and gather stuff that’s available and make something of it. Just like long ago with flatheads and model A’s or 55 Chevies in the 60’s. This guy gets it, and his views on life are refreshing.
Surprise surprise – yet another heap of LS powered shit to spoil my morning…