Latest news with #FordFalcon
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Hot Wheels tour coming to Detroit with chance to see your custom car as die-cast
Got a cool ride that might make an awesome Hot Wheels toy car? Now might be your chance to make that a reality, or at least check out some potential candidates for die-cast fame, at what is billed as the world's largest traveling car show. This weekend, the Hot Wheels Legends Tour heads to metro Detroit, the fourth stop on the U.S. leg this year. Those who register their custom build will have a chance to compete and possibly see their creation turned into a Hot Wheels die-cast that will be sold around the globe. The local winner moves on to the national semifinals, which will determine who represents the United States in the finale. Last year's winner — a significantly modified 1968 Ford Falcon named 'La Liebre' — hailed from Chile. Judges included Jay Leno and Gabriel "Fluffy" Iglesias. The event, which is in its eighth year, began initially as a way to honor the legendary die-cast line's 50th anniversary, according to Bryan Benedict, key principal designer at Hot Wheels, who spent five years on staff at Honda but also worked in design for auto suppliers at automakers including Ford, General Motors and Chrysler. Shifting from design in the automotive industry to the world of Hot Wheels opened up a universe that's 'way more fun,' but Benedict still gets to explore his passion. 'We eat, sleep and breathe cars,' he said. Benedict said the enthusiasm at the tour stops is 'through the roof.' The event runs from 8 a.m. to noon May 31 at the Walmart at 7555 Telegraph Road in Taylor. The show is free and open to anyone. There's also no cost to register a vehicle online for the competition, although slots are limited based on the size of the parking lot. Hundreds of unique vehicles are expected. Special items will also be for sale. Vehicles are judged on three criteria — authenticity, creativity and garage spirit. They need to make a bold statement and should show commitment by the owner, not just that someone was willing to put up some cash. Sometimes you see a custom car, and you know 'that's a Hot Wheels,' Benedict said. Contact Eric D. Lawrence: elawrence@ Become a subscriber. Submit a letter to the editor at This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Hot Wheels Legends Tour heads to Detroit area
Otago Daily Times
22-05-2025
- Otago Daily Times
56yo convicted after doing burnouts outside suicide prevention charity event
Men will be boys. A trio of Southland men, one aged 56, were convicted of doing burnouts outside a charity event for suicide prevention. Shane Thomas Dallas, 56, and Cody Shaun Simpson, 27, were both before the Gore District Court yesterday, each charged with sustained loss of traction in Mataura in February. Christopher Illingworth, 36, was charged with dangerous driving for attempting to do a burnout in Main St (State Highway 1) in front of oncoming traffic, after exiting the same event. On February 16 an event called Fcuk Suicide was organised by Deep South Customs, the police summary said. A car convoy travelling from Invercargill and Dunedin to the Falls Hotel in Mataura raised money for mental health and trauma support organisation The Broken Movement Trust. The organiser discussed the possibility of doing burnouts in the carpark with hotel management, but it was opposed. Between 1.30pm-2.30pm, Dallas exited the venue in his Ford Falcon, doing burnouts and sliding along Main St. He admitted the burnouts to police but said there was not much smoke coming off the tyres. During the same timeframe, Simpson did a burnout while exiting the venue in his Ford Falcon, the summary said. He later told police he helped host the event before "stupidly" committing the offence. Illingworth drove an unregistered, unwarranted stock car into Main St in front of oncoming traffic and tried to do a burnout, narrowly avoiding the traffic and members of the public. He told police he was trying to prove the stock car would not be able to do a good skid. In court, defence counsel for Dallas, John Fraser, said his client accepted the behaviour was "silly". It was a "spur of the moment" thing which Dallas regretted. He had a previous conviction for sustained loss of traction in 2008 as well as one for disqualified driving in 2003, and "quite a few" demerit points, Judge Mark Williams said. Counsel for Simpson, Scott Williamson, said his client had no prior convictions and was going to be affected greatly by disqualification as his elderly parents relied on him for transport. The judge said Illingworth's last driving offence was in 2008 and he also had quite a few demerit points. Given his previous history, he fined Dallas $350 and disqualified him from driving for six months. Illingworth received the same penalty and Simpson was fined $250 and disqualified for six months. Deep South Customs owner, who wished to remain nameless, said in a statement they did not appreciate their business being linked to something that happened after the event and "decisions made by grown men that had nothing to do with us". The burnouts lasted for over an hour, outside the Mataura Police Station, and they did not understand why the authorities did not not stop them sooner.
Otago Daily Times
21-05-2025
- Otago Daily Times
'Stupid': 56yo man did burnouts at Southland charity event
Men will be boys. A trio of Southland men, one aged 56, were convicted of doing burnouts outside a charity event for suicide prevention. Shane Thomas Dallas, 56, and Cody Shaun Simpson, 27, were both before the Gore District Court yesterday, each charged with sustained loss of traction in Mataura in February. Christopher Illingworth, 36, was charged with dangerous driving for attempting to do a burnout in Main St (State Highway 1) in front of oncoming traffic, after exiting the same event. On February 16 an event called Fcuk Suicide was organised by Deep South Customs, the police summary said. A car convoy travelling from Invercargill and Dunedin to the Falls Hotel in Mataura raised money for mental health and trauma support organisation The Broken Movement Trust. The organiser discussed the possibility of doing burnouts in the carpark with hotel management, but it was opposed. Between 1.30pm-2.30pm, Dallas exited the venue in his Ford Falcon, doing burnouts and sliding along Main St. He admitted the burnouts to police but said there was not much smoke coming off the tyres. During the same timeframe, Simpson did a burnout while exiting the venue in his Ford Falcon, the summary said. He later told police he helped host the event before "stupidly" committing the offence. Illingworth drove an unregistered, unwarranted stock car into Main St in front of oncoming traffic and tried to do a burnout, narrowly avoiding the traffic and members of the public. He told police he was trying to prove the stock car would not be able to do a good skid. In court, defence counsel for Dallas, John Fraser, said his client accepted the behaviour was "silly". It was a "spur of the moment" thing which Dallas regretted. He had a previous conviction for sustained loss of traction in 2008 as well as one for disqualified driving in 2003, and "quite a few" demerit points, Judge Mark Williams said. Counsel for Simpson, Scott Williamson, said his client had no prior convictions and was going to be affected greatly by disqualification as his elderly parents relied on him for transport. The judge said Illingworth's last driving offence was in 2008 and he also had quite a few demerit points. Given his previous history, he fined Dallas $350 and disqualified him from driving for six months. Illingworth received the same penalty and Simpson was fined $250 and disqualified for six months. Deep South Customs owner, who wished to remain nameless, said in a statement they did not appreciate their business being linked to something that happened after the event and "decisions made by grown men that had nothing to do with us". The burnouts lasted for over an hour, outside the Mataura Police Station, and they did not understand why the authorities did not not stop them sooner.
Otago Daily Times
21-05-2025
- Otago Daily Times
Three men convicted of burnouts
Men will be boys. A trio of Southland men, one aged 56, were convicted of doing burnouts outside a charity event for suicide prevention. Shane Thomas Dallas, 56, and Cody Shaun Simpson, 27, were both before the Gore District Court yesterday, each charged with sustained loss of traction in Mataura in February. Christopher Illingworth, 36, was charged with dangerous driving for attempting to do a burnout in Main St (State Highway 1) in front of oncoming traffic, after exiting the same event. On February 16 an event called Fcuk Suicide was organised by Deep South Customs, the police summary said. A car convoy travelling from Invercargill and Dunedin to the Falls Hotel in Mataura raised money for mental health and trauma support organisation The Broken Movement Trust. The organiser discussed the possibility of doing burnouts in the carpark with hotel management, but it was opposed. Between 1.30pm-2.30pm, Dallas exited the venue in his Ford Falcon, doing burnouts and sliding along Main St. He admitted the burnouts to police but said there was not much smoke coming off the tyres. During the same timeframe, Simpson did a burnout while exiting the venue in his Ford Falcon, the summary said. He later told police he helped host the event before "stupidly" committing the offence. Illingworth drove an unregistered, unwarranted stock car into Main St in front of oncoming traffic and tried to do a burnout, narrowly avoiding the traffic and members of the public. He told police he was trying to prove the stock car would not be able to do a good skid. In court, defence counsel for Dallas, John Fraser, said his client accepted the behaviour was "silly". It was a "spur of the moment" thing which Dallas regretted. He had a previous conviction for sustained loss of traction in 2008 as well as one for disqualified driving in 2003, and "quite a few" demerit points, Judge Mark Williams said. Counsel for Simpson, Scott Williamson, said his client had no prior convictions and was going to be affected greatly by disqualification as his elderly parents relied on him for transport. The judge said Illingworth's last driving offence was in 2008 and he also had quite a few demerit points. Given his previous history, he fined Dallas $350 and disqualified him from driving for six months. Illingworth received the same penalty and Simpson was fined $250 and disqualified for six months. Deep South Customs owner, who wished to remain nameless, said in a statement they did not appreciate their business being linked to something that happened after the event and "decisions made by grown men that had nothing to do with us". The burnouts lasted for over an hour, outside the Mataura Police Station, and they did not understand why the authorities did not not stop them sooner.
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Why Is This Carbon Fiber BMW 2002 Worth $200,000? Because It's Incredible.
Sliding open a garage door in sunny Costa Mesa, California, to reveal a pair of aging BMW chassis, Paul LeFevre's life these days is a far cry from his origins in Normandy, France. But long before he reached the Golden State, LeFevre's destiny of of building high-end Bavarian restorations was already beginning to set. "I built some American cars in Europe before I moved here. I had a '68 Fairlane and then a '64 Ford Falcon," LeFevre explained in an interview with Road & Track. " I had an E21 in France, and I really wanted a [BMW] 2002, but I never had a chance to buy one in France because they were pretty expensive back in the day. And they were all rusted out." The Frenchman moved to California back in 2016 to pursue a career in surfboard production, hand-crafting the wave-riding vessels out of the very same garage in Costa Mesa where his BMW builds began. But it was his lifelong yearning for a 2002 that kick-started his new business, Son of Cobra. After finding a 1972 BMW 2002 in Verona Red north of Los Angeles — and surviving a harrowing drive back to Orange County without properly functioning brakes — LeFevre set off to improve the nearly 50-year-old coupe. Which, in turn, birthed his joint BMW restoration and surfboard building shop. At its core, Son of Cobra is focused on squeezing every drop of driver feedback and capability from the 2002 platform. The beginning of this process takes a well-kept 2002 shell and strips it of its steel and aluminum body panels in favor of carbon fiber ones. Initially, LeFevre was using a fiberglass provider to shed weight but found the distributors too unreliable and the weight loss negligible. Peering over a Son of Cobra structure is, well, awe-inspiring; the sheets of structural carbon fiber are eventually hidden underneath an Alpina-inspired widebody kit that is also made of carbon fiber. Curb weight is reduced to around 1800 pounds by the time LeFevre is finished, with the 2002 shedding around 400 pounds in the build process. "Basically, I wanted to have a 2002 race car feel on the street without the bad things. Just keep all the good things. So a very low and very lightweight car with a very high horsepower ratio. Keep it minimal, but still keep it comfortable," LeFevre said. "I started with the hood, because the hood was one of the heaviest parts of that car, especially carrying all that weight on the front. I ended up doing the whole body." The addition of all that carbon fiber wasn't just about losing a few pounds. Improving the structural rigidity of the 2002 chassis was key for the rest of LeFevre's dream build, which included a complete overhaul of the steering system, transmission, pedal box, and engine. It was honing the steering system that took the most effort, as LeFevre explained simply that upgrading the stock system wasn't going to cut it. After many rounds of trial and error, he settled on a steering rack from a late-model Ford Escort, but this swap comes with its own challenges, too. "We can still find them to rebuild and reinforce, so it's easy to source. The problem is that it requires a lot of modification on the subframe, on the steering arm, on the steering column, the firewall, and the pedal box. A lot of people ask me if I was able to sell a kit, but it's just so many little details and too many parts involved. It's a whole thing," LeFevre said. Other than the bastardized steering rack, Son of Cobra is all about taking the idea of OEM+ building to the next level. Power is delivered to the rear wheels via either a stroked-out version of the stock M10 powerplant or an E30 M3-sourced S14 engine. Both powerplants offer the pleasure of wringing out a raspy, hyperactive BMW inline-four, but the overhauled M10 is what LeFevre is most proud of. Working with a local engine builder, LeFevre turned the 1.8-liter, barely 100-hp inline-four into a 2.3-liter, 180-horsepower beast. The notable boost in power is worthwhile on its own, but LeFevre says that customers who opt for the M10 benefit from a more factory-spec weight distribution. Even so, he admitted most customers opt for the exotic S14 engine. Becoming a Son of Cobra customer is, as you might suspect, an exclusive club. LeFevre chooses his customers as much as they choose him, and there have only been five complete builds to date. There's an interview process and a setting of expectations that LeFevre has to establish before moving forward; the process of finding a proper 2002 shell is getting harder by the year, and finishing the build doesn't cost quickly or cheaply. Those who pass the test are granted access to owning what appears to be the BMW 2002 equivalent of a Singer-customized 911. "I'm selecting only the nicest cars I can find, and that's getting a little hard," LeFevre said. "I like to provide the donor, so that the customer doesn't have to hunt for a car and bring me a car that I can't do anything with." "I like to select my customers, too, because there's a big variety of people out there. And then I feel like my customer is part of the family, and more in a friendly zone than on the business side. The customer and I have a really strong connection to get that car back [to life]." So, what's the grand total for a Son of Cobra BMW 2002? It all depends on what engine you opt for and how you want the interior adorned, but LeFevre said all five of his customer builds so far have run about $205,000. That's a lot to pay for what was once a 50-year-old BMW with not much performance to its name, but the Son of Cobra is absolutely more the sum of its parts. That's a good thing to have established... especially when LeFevre is turning his attention to a new chassis, the E9, soon. You Might Also Like You Need a Torque Wrench in Your Toolbox Tested: Best Car Interior Cleaners The Man Who Signs Every Car
