After earning the unthinkably prestigious title of "America's Next Top Car Blogger" and doing weekends for the last 20 months, I have made the extremely tough decision to leave Jalopnik.

The increasing difficulty of the balancing act between my full time job, obligations to Jalopnik and general existence has made the choice to give up doing weekends an unfortunate but necessary one. Although I sincerely hope this will not be the last post I ever write here, this is it for now.

I want to thank Ray for giving me the chance to write for my favorite car blog, Matt for always helping me out when I needed it and all of you for reading and responding to my posts. It has truly been awesome getting to use my 26 years of automotive obsession for something besides filling my yard with gas guzzling vehicles older than I am.

I'm looking forward to seeing Jalopnik continue to grow in a new direction with Matt at the helm and I wish my replacement (more on this shortly) the best of luck. I'm also looking forward to finally having a little free time. First order of business — waking up my '57 Plymouth from its nearly two year hibernation.

(Tom has been a wonderful addition to Jalopnik and it's a little hard to imagine the weekends without him. Because of his high level of autonomy (possible because of his high level of skill), the weekends were the only time I got to read this site and not know what was coming next. For this reason I'd have preferred if Tom had given up his life, responsibilities, cars, et cetera for Jalopnik. He chose having a life. I think him for his almost two years of service and wish him the best with his project cars. — Ed.)

An unidentified driver with an unknown motive drove their Nissan Altima over a California beach and directly into the ocean Friday afternoon.

Witnesses say the man was screaming "This Is My Beach" and yelling his social security number while he drove erratically down the beach and into the ocean.

The incident occurred on Cherry Beach around 3:30pm Friday. Impressively enough, the driver managed to make it into four foot deep water before the car died. The failing Altima wasn't the end for the unidentified man though.

He escaped the immobilized car and continued swimming into deeper water before lifeguards were eventually able to catch him. They returned the man to shore without incident and detained him until Police arrived. A passenger also involved in the aquatic adventure successfully fled by land.

Although the beaches were crowded when the rogue Nissan appeared nobody, including the unidentified driver, was injured in the bizarre incident. The sea-going Altima was eventually fished out of the water using a backhoe and a tow truck.

[Long Beach Press-Telegram]

We don't know where or how it happened, but thanks to these pictures found on EnglishRussia we now know exactly what happens when a truck full of crushed stone dumps itself and its weighty contents on your parked car.

It's impossible to even tell what this car was before it received an unwelcome rock shower and size reduction from this tipping truck and its. Luckily it was unoccupied so it appears the car will be the only victim of this odd crash.

Whatever the cause of this crash, it just appears to be another in a long line of reasons we wouldn't put ourselves or a vehicle we care about anywhere close to the Russian Roads.

[EnglishRussia]

The driver of a Black Lamborghini Murcielago lost control and crashed into an Italian motorcycle dealership outside of Como this past week.

Two men were in the Lambo when the car suddenly lurched, crossed the opposite lane and crashed into "Valli Motorrad" which specializes in BMW motorcycles.

Although neither of the two occupants of the car were injured in the crash according to La Provincia, the Lamborghini did quite a bit of damage to itself and a line of motorcycles parked outside the dealership when it collided with the building.

Considering the insurance nightmare this crash surely created, we'd guess the cracked up supercar is just the beginning of the crash related expenses for this Lamborghini owner.

(Hat tip to GTspirit!)

Photo Credit: Luisa Caldera

How do you turn an iconic British economy car into a serious FWD performance machine? From the looks of this Mini currently listed on Ebay it appears a very good answer to that question involves stuffing a 170hp engine from a Yamaha R1 underneath the hood of the tiny car.

According to the listing for this 1970 Austin Mini, there is a British company specializes in repurposing the high revving engine and sequential transmission from an R1 motorcycle as Mini power in the style seen here. The seller claims 40 Yamaha powered Minis have been built, but this is the first running and driving example in the US.

We can't even imagine exactly how much fun the rev happy engine of the R1 is in the sub 1500lb Mini but we would absolutely love to find out. Listening to the seller's description of the driving experience is enough to sell us—

"The car is the fastest FWD car I've ever been in. The butt pucker factor is HIGH once you get above 7000 rpms and it will stretch its legs all the way to 12,500rpm."

Certainly the kind of experience we're looking for from a FWD compact car.

It should come as no surprise that a wild Mini with this much custom work done with it is going to have a hefty price tag attached to it. Although we're hardly experts on the Mini market, we know the $33,000 asking price is pretty steep even for one this awesome. Further down in the description the asking price does drop to a more reasonable $25,000 although we aren't sure if its supposed to be in there.

Pricey or not, we imagine regardless of whatever the next owner eventually pays a few redline blasts down the highway in this wild Mini will erase any lingering traces of buyer's remorse.

Hat tip to UW Huskies - HuckNroller!
[Ebay]

Mercedes had their slightly disguised CLS 63 AMG Shooting Brake Test Mule on hand at last weekend's Goodwood Festival of Speed to tease the model to the large crowd of car lovers and do a few excellent burnouts.

Shortly after officially introducing the standard CLS wagon at Goodwood, Mercedes rolled out this thinly disguised CLS 63 AMG Shooting Brake test mule for the hill climb event. The car was driven by former DTM champion and current AMG ambassador Bernd Schneider.

As we revealed early last week, the CLS 63 AMG Shooting Brake will feature a 5.5 liter twin turbo V8 capable of producing 549 horsepower and 590 lb-ft of torque. All that power is packaged in a stylish wagon capable of either 23 mpg or producing smoke shows like the one seen here on demand. We want one bad.

Hat tip to Bob!

When you think of a limited edition luxury car, a Volkswagen Beetle likely isn't the first vehicle that comes to mind. In fact, it might be the last.

In order to change that perception and boost slowing sales of their Beetle, Volkswagen introduced this limited edition "luxury model" in the mid 70s. After adding corduroy seats, metallic paint and a sunroof to the Beetle, it became the oddly named LaGrande Bug.

Volkswagen wasn't done yet though. In order to boost their image of true luxury they hired Zsa Zsa Gabor to say how much she loved all of the luxury touches while her mother expressed her approval of the estimated 33mpg fuel economy.

Despite the accents, the corduroy seats and the weird names, we'd say Volkswagen and their socialite spokeswomen still didn't fool many people into thinking one of the most popular utilitarian cars ever made was suddenly a limited edition luxury vehicle.

Blame it on our love of all things station wagon, but after stumbling across this custom Cadillac station wagon we couldn't stop thinking about the wagons that should have been.

This weekend we want to know what vehicle you think should have left the factory as a station wagon? Perhaps you've seen a one off custom coachbuilt example and dreamed of having one without the one off custom price tag. Maybe you just know a certain car would look good as a wagon even if you've never actually seen it done. Either way tell us about the car you wish had been built as a wagon.

This one is simple for me, I wish the E28 5 series BMW had been built with a wagon option. While a few were put together by custom coach builders, the E28 never left a BMW factory as a station wagon. With lucky E30 3 series enthusiasts counting days until they can start importing 25 year old station wagons, I can only wish importing a euro E28 wagon was a reasonable and somewhat affordable option.

What car should have been built as a station wagon?

Photo Credit: ovide/MYE28.com

The LeMay Museum in Tacoma, Wa shot itself to the top of many gearhead's must see list when the massive facility officially opened in early June.

Luckily for those of us still waiting for the right excuse to visit the Northwest, eGarage put together this excellent preview of a few of the attractions at "America's Car Museum".

After getting just a glimpse of the gorgeous vehicles contained in the multi-story 165,000 square foot building, it's hard not to get excited at the prospect of seeing some of the amazing 3,000+ cars in the museum's collection in person.

[eGarage via Autoblog]

Cadillac didn't make a station wagon in 1985, but if this coachbuilt example is any indication we think they should have. There's no shortage of custom station wagons built from cars that never left the factory with a long roof option, but few end up looking as good as this Fleetwood Station Wagon currently on Ebay.

This custom Caddy was modified by Moloney Coachworks in Illinois for the owner of a California horse track back when it was new. The car has a low-mileage (16,151 miles currently showing) California existence to thank for its excellent original rust-free condition. It is believed by the current seller to be the only one of its kind.

Even putting aside our admitted love of most RWD GM products of the 1980s, we'd say this custom wagon came out better than most. The lines of the big Cadillac combined with the a roof section stolen from a B-body station wagon of the same era result in a car that looks like it could have and should have been built.

Despite our views on the subject, production of this full-size luxury station wagon was unfortunately, at least to our knowledge, limited to this example. That means if you can't live without a full-size Cadillac station wagon from 1985, you better start bidding on this one. Currently the high bid on this example is $12,000.00 with the reserve still not met.

[Ebay]

When you think about automotive safety the occasionally explosive Ford Pinto is hardly the first vehicle that comes to mind. Having said that, a stock Pinto in decent condition would be infinitely safer than the destroyed Ford seen here.

A Minnesota State Trooper recently spotted and pulled over this vehicle while it was on U.S. Highway 52 in Koochiching County. You read that correctly, not only was someone driving this destroyed Pinto on a public road, they were operating it somewhere close to highway speed.

We've witnessed our fair share of cobbled together automotive disasters, but this wagon is likely the worst we've ever seen still being used on a public road. From the lack of any floors to the when-is-this-going-to-break-in-half stance, we can't imagine someone would risk driving this at speed.

According to a Minnesota State Patrol spokesperson it was the tire shown wedged behind the driver's seat that was actually holding it in place. The safety violations continue with the unique marine gas tank setup positioned where there was once a passenger seat—

"A hose ran from the gas can, out the passenger window, around the front and under the hood, and 'rigged up to the engine,'"

If you can put aside the obvious safety risks to the driver and anyone else on the road anywhere near this thing, there's almost something admirable about the insane commitment and stupid lengths someone went to just to keep this car going. It seems the MSP had a slightly different take on the efforts employed by the rusty Pinto owner though.

After being pulled over last Sunday, the unidentified driver of this rolling death trap was cited for several violations including unsafe equipment and not having a Minnesota Drivers License. Perhaps more importantly the Pinto was impounded by Police—finally bringing a long overdue end to the vehicle's (barely) functional life.

Hat tip to Tony!
Photo Credit: Minnesota State Patrol
[KAAL-tv.com]

If you were looking to blow through borders, get in low-key pursuits with "enemy agents" and perform narrow ramp water crossings the 1975 Pontiac Trans Am was the car for you. At least that was the premise of this amusing vintage advertisement.

Although the enemy Rover was pretty cool it was no match for the Trans Am—at least according to this commercial from 1975. We don't doubt the Pontiac had a slight advantage but a little more spirited driving and a better attempt at the suspiciously T/A sized ramps could have really upped the entertainment value of this vintage ad.

Having said that, we actually can't come up with many better new automotive options from 1975 in which to give unarmed enemy agents their walking papers and arrive in style at a trench coat rendezvous than the Trans Am.

A nine year old Swedish boy armed with an Airsoft gun stole an electric car this past week in the Gothenburg suburb of Kortedala. According to witnesses the young boy yelled "It's Loaded" and pointed the gun at nearby adults during the car theft.

Horrified bystanders watched as the nine year old tried and failed to break into one car before successfully getting behind the wheel of an electric car and fleeing the scene. Unfortunately for the young car thief the electric vehicle he chose (not pictured) had a top speed of only 18 miles per hour.

Concerned drivers who witnessed the theft followed the boy at a presumably slow pace for about ten minutes before the inexperienced driver crashed at a rotary. Amazingly after crashing the car the boy tried to flee the scene. He was caught by one of the drivers chasing him and held until police arrived at the scene.

The unidentified nine year old is too young to be officially charged with the various crimes he committed last Tuesday so the matter will be handled by Swedish social services. Call us crazy, but something tells us this might not be the last criminal act this young car thief ever commits.

Photo Credit: frankh
[TheLocal.se]

With all of the myth that surrounds the Delorean DMC-12—from its ability to travel through time to its founder's questionable fundraising techniques—-it seems a little odd to see it advertised like any other car.

That is however exactly what we have here, a typical vintage advertisement featuring the less than typical 1981 Delorean and some seagulls. What better way to advertise your gullwing door equipped car than to show it with its less than majestic avian namesake?

While the Delorean may have been one of the most awaited automobiles in automotive history, once they arrived that buzz didn't exactly translate into staggering sales figures. Approximately 9000 Deloreans were built over two years before production was halted at the end of 1982—shortly after founder John Delorean was arrested on drug trafficking charges.

Prince Albert II of Monaco announced his decision to "reorganize" the massive 100+ car collection his late father Prince Rainier III amassed over the course of his life. Evidentially this reorganization involves sending 38 of the cheaper and less desirable cars to auction with No Reserve.

According to the DailyMail, Artcurial Motorcars will auction the surprisingly affordable selection of cars on July 26 in Monaco. The oddball collection (which can be seen here in its entirety) includes everything from a 1971 Fiat 500 to a 1943 GMC CCKW 3A1 6x6.

Our personal favorite is the 1983 Mercedes-Benz 500 SEC AMG which looks the most to us like something previously owned by the Prince of Monaco. According to the auction catalogue the car was custom ordered new by Prince Rainier with the Dark Blue finish, a custom steering wheel, a lowered suspension, custom AMG rims and a custom dark blue leather interior. The car currently only has 8408km and is expected to sell for between €15000 and €25000.

It doesn't seem like Prince Albert has any regrets about thinning the collection he built with his father—at least not according to the auction catalogue. The Prince explains—

"Together, we established a private collection of classic cars which is particularly close to my heart. I now wish to add some new models to the collection."

Hat tip to Dan!
[DailyMail]

While practicing for the X Games RallyCross event yesterday driver Marcus Grönholm crashed and lost consciousness. The crash is the second serious accident that has occurred during practices for today's RallyCross finals.

According to a witness account on ESPN.com and the video seen above, it seems Grönholm was setting up for a turn when he crashed into an exposed light pole base. The driver was unconscious but breathing after the accident and was transported to a nearby Los Angeles hospital.

Since then, the driver has woken up but is still undergoing further testing. Grönholm, who was a favorite to win this afternoon's RallyCross final will not be competing. After two serious crashes in two days during practice, we can only wonder what will happen during the actual event.

[ESPN]

A new Viper means a new Viper GTS-R for track duty. As you can see from this teaser SRT has been busy undertaking the enviable task that is testing a race spec GTS-R at Virginia International Raceway.

The race spec Viper is being tested and tuned ahead of its debut in the American Le Mans Series later this year. According to GTspirit, the GTS-R will feature an intake restrictor to make it comply with the ALMS engine size and displacement rules.

Even with the intake restrictor we're sure the GTS-R will be an absolute beast when it makes its track debut. If you need further convincing take a look at this SRT teaser footage and listen to the glorious noise coming from the GTS-R.

[GTspirit]

When you think of a traditional custom car it's hard for anything but a 1949-1951 Mercury to come to mind. Because of their longtime status as preferred custom platform there is certainly no shortage of nicely executed chopped Mercurys from this time period.

Having said that, we haven't seen one that appeals to our personal taste in some time quite as much as this one in some time. Chopped and lowered, this Mercury has the right look without any of the extra nonsense that always seems to attract itself to custom cars.

Underneath the hood is the original flathead V8 and although the steering column has been shortened five inches it still has the manual shift for the three speed overdrive transmission. The wide whitewall tires are brand new and we actually kind of like the yellow powdercoated steel rims.

It might not be a revolutionary car but the mixture of original flathead/three on the tree and mostly period correct modification is just right. It would seem from the bidding we aren't the only ones fond of this super cool custom Merc. With a few hours left on the auction bidding has reached $22,000 which is—judging by the $25,000 buy-it-now price—awfully close to the reserve.

Is this the perfect custom 1950 Mercury? Obviously the answer depends on taste, but we'd say it's certainly the closest we've seen in a while.

[Ebay]

One of the great things about the automotive world is the fact there is no shortage of different kind of cars to learn about. With this in mind we want to know what car previously unexplored car you are currently the most intrigued by.

They might be out of your price range, you might not even have any real desire to own one or you might in the midst of developing a bad case of needing to own one, but what unfamiliar automobile have you been most interested in recently? What is your current automotive curiosity?

My current automotive curiosity is the wide body Mitsubishi Starion/Chrysler Conquest TSi . I've always been fond of the ridiculously 80s looks, but a recent desire to learn more about turbo 4 cylinders has me thinking of one of these for the perfect platform for a turbo 4G63 build.

I couldn't know less about anything DSM or four cylinder so I doubt my wide body dreams will ever become a reality. Even so the prospect has made for plenty of entertaining car searching and forum reading while trying satisfy my Station/Conquest curiosity.

What Is Your Current Automotive Curiosity?

Photo Credit: aldenjewell

Usually when someone decides to turn a car into a truck in the style of an El Camino or a Ranchero, the vehicle they take the sawzall to isn't particularly rare or desirable.

Whoever decided to create this custom El Nomado started with a 1956 Chevrolet Nomad that is both rare and desirable. We have to assume this conversion occurred before collectors had fully recognized how cool the stylish two door station wagons built between 1955 and 1957 are.

Either way, to the likely horror of many tri-five Chevy enthusiasts, someone "in California" decided this Nomad would look better with a custom truck bed—this El Nomado is the awesome result. As you can see where there was once a smooth roofline is now a utilitarian bed complete with a hilarious custom panther carpet.

Honestly based on our love of sacrilegious custom cars and vehicles with the El Camino conversion we were sold on the El Nomado as soon as we saw it. The fact it is pretty nicely executed, has a 4 speed manual and is being sold by a father/son pair that put together a ridiculous video to promote it just makes this car better (Warning: NSFW language).

Although we admit we are among the assortment of "weirdos, quacks, shitheads and freaks" identified by the seller as potential buyers for the El Nomado, but we're still a little skeptical of their price. It appears from the video the car was recently purchased at an estate sale presumably for quite a bit less than the current $19,999 asking price.

Having said that, if you really can't live without an El Nomado we aren't sure we can think of a cheaper way to get one.

[Ebay]

There are few concepts more prone to disaster than an exotic car test drive. Combine a salesman staring down a large payday with a driver determined to push the limits of an powerful unfamiliar car and things like the fiery crash you see here are bound to happen.

What is particularly perplexing is the fact it was a McLaren MP4-12C that was being driven this past Wednesday in Germany when this test drive went wrong. Surely the car's 616 horsepower is enough to get any driver in trouble, but the McLarens amazing engineering has resulted in a car that is almost too comfortable and easy to drive for some.

Even so, it certainly appears from these pictures someone found the limit of the MP4-12Cs advanced traction control and tuned suspension outside Munich last week. According to GTspirit, the driver of this McLaren lost control of the car and hit a tree. The car was wearing dealer plates at the time of the accident.

After the McLaren hit the tree it roasted itself in rather dramatic fashion. Both occupants of the car managed to escape the car before it ignited. While we'd guess it's a death sentence for this MP4-12C, the two people in the car sustained non-life threatening injuries.

We can only wonder if a test drive ending in this kind of fiery carnage is actually enough to change the mind of this potential McLaren buyer.

[GTspirit]

A Single-Seat 4.5 Liter Supercharged "Blower" Race Car became the most expensive Bentley to ever cross the auction block when it sold yesterday for an astounding £4.5 million ($7.05 million).

The car, which was famously campaigned by Le Mans winner Sir Henry "Tim" Birkin, sold at an auction held as part of this weekend's Goodwood Festival of Speed in England.

In the late 1920s and early 1930s this car was a regular sight at the banked Outer Circuit at Brooklands. Amazingly in March of 1932 Birkin drove the supercharged 240 horsepower Bentley to 137.96mph—at the time a circuit record.

The Telegraph explains how Birkin described the surface of the Outer Circuit after the record setting run in the Bentley—

"There are bumps which jolt the driver up and down in his seat and make the car leave the road and travel through the air."

The previous record for most expensive Bentley sold at auction was held by a Speed Six from the 1920s which sold for £2.8 million in 2004.

[Telegraph]

Ever wonder what would happen if a car didn't make it over one of those rather pointless jump ramps featured in the X Games RallyCross event? 21 year old Finnish driver Toomas Heikkinen found out yesterday during practice for the event and the answer is a little painful to watch.

After coming up short on the 70 foot gap, Heikkinen's Ford Fiesta rally car had a head on impact with the ramp and then flipped upside down into the gap. As a finale the car's fluids set on fire while the injured driver crawled out of the car.

Still, after watching this crash, we'd say this rally driver was pretty lucky to escape with only minor injuries. Heikkinen broke his left ankle and had complaints of abdominal pain as a result of this dramatic crash. Because of his injuries, Heikkinen will not compete in the X Games RallyCross finals on Sunday.

UPDATE:According to a tweet from British Rallycross driver Liam Doran the jump that Heikkinen injured himself on will be converted to a table top for today's final event.

Hat tip to For Sweden!
[ESPN]