Latest news with #HotRod
The Drive
3 days ago
- Automotive
- The Drive
Check Out This Weird SOHC-Converted Chevy Small Block for Sale
The latest car news, reviews, and features. If the only thing holding you back from a GM V8 swap is some sort of social-media-hardened dislike for overhead-valve (OHV, aka pushrod) motor designs, Bring a Trailer may have just the thing for you: a single-overhead-cam-swapped small block Chevy V8. It's not some oddball motor from a limited-production race car, but a garden-variety 327 with a purpose-built SOHC conversion. Pretty wild, huh? According to the accompanying Hot Rod article, the upgraded motors were good for 350 horsepower after the cam swap alone—or about the same amount you got from the L84 package engine in 1963, and that was the top-of-the-line engine with mechanical fuel injection. The low-compression (and carbureted) version offered only 250 horses. Sure, the power's nice, but there are plenty of other ways to get that from a small-block V8 without performing a lobotomy. Why go through all the trouble then? An overhead-cam engine benefits from a tighter valvetrain package with less reciprocating mass. Pushrods are simple, but they're long and heavy, and along with the rocker arms, they both contribute a good bit to an OHV engine's overall parasitic losses and limit their ability to rev higher. The overhead-cam setup eliminates them from the design while also allowing for lighter valve springs, and less mass is always good when you're trying to make top-end power. This particular conversion kit was produced by Pete Aardema. If that name rings a bell, that's because he's always doing something crazy with internal-combustion engines. Remember the land speed record car we featured a while back with a home-built V12? Yep, same guy. While a conversion kit is certainly less ambitious than a home-built engine, this thing is nonetheless impressive. It's effectively a bolt-on upgrade, and it even preserves the factory camshaft to continue functioning as a distributor drive. This could all be done with the heads in place, and all signs point to it being completely reversible. In this case, you get the kit pre-installed on this 1963 Chevrolet 327. And for such a novelty, it's pacing to go for a bit of a bargain. Those numbers always go up near the auction's end, of course, but this little bit of obscurity may not necessarily fetch top dollar. Got a tip? Send it in: tips@
Time Out
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
What are those colorful sculptures popping up around the Upper West Side?
If you've recently strolled up Broadway uptown and thought, ' Wait, was that giant pink blob always there?', you're not hallucinating. Five vibrant, large-scale sculptures have officially taken up residence on the Upper West Side, courtesy of a new public art installation titled Broadway Hubbub. The eye-catching outdoor exhibition, which opened Friday, is a collaboration between sculptor Carl D'Alvia, the Broadway Mall Association, NYC Parks' Art in the Parks program, and Tribeca's Hesse Flatow gallery. The works are scattered across five central Broadway malls, stretching from 64th to 117th Streets, specifically at Dante Park (64th Street), Verdi Square (72nd Street), 79th Street, 103rd Street and Columbia University -adjacent 117th Street. View this post on Instagram A post shared by HESSE FLATOW (@hesse_flatow) The sculptures are part of D'Alvia's Liths series, known for blending monumental scale with playful, human-like forms. Made from aluminum and coated in gleaming auto paint, the works range from 5 to 12 feet tall and boast names like Hot Rod and Tandem. Think monolithic meets whimsical—more Calder in a wind tunnel than classical marble god. 'I've always seen these large works being out in the world with us,' D'Alvia said of the project, in a statement released by the gallery. 'Itinerant characters who slouch, bend and wander… while holding a sort of sculptural mirror up to us.' And what better runway than Broadway itself? 'There's only one Broadway,' he added. This is the 15th installation in the Broadway Mall Association's Art on the Malls series, which has brought bold, contemporary sculpture to the leafy Broadway median since 2005. Past artists have included Chakaia Booker, Frank Benson and Sean Scully. The BMA, which maintains the 83 central malls from 70th to 168th Streets, aims to use public art to reflect the eclectic neighborhoods of the Upper West Side and beyond. The Broadway Hubbub sculptures will be on view through November, so you've got time to take a stroll and a selfie or two. Whether you're a seasoned art lover or just passing by on your coffee run, it's worth looking up: Broadway's got a few new characters—and they're anything but subtle.
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Gene Winfield, ‘Blade Runner' Custom Car Designer, Dies at 97
Gene Winfield, a custom car designer for films such as 'Blade Runner' and 'Robocop,' died on March 4. He was 97. The news was confirmed via his obituary on Winfield became known as the 'King of Kustoms' after working on some of Hollywood's most iconic cars. He opened his first custom shop in the 1940s and his career spanned over eight decades. Over the years, he became the go-to man when Hollywood needed cars, especially futuristic ones. He worked on the 'Super Car' in a 1967 episode of 'Bewitched.' The car became known as the Retractor and appeared in an episode of 'Star Trek: The Original Series' as Jupiter 8 and an episode of 'Mission: Impossible.' It also became Catwoman's Catmobile in 'Batman.' Winfield also designed the vehicle used in 'Get Smart' and customized a Piranha for 'The Man from U.N.C.L.E.' His custom vehicles were featured in 'The Last Starfighter' and 'Robocop.' Perhaps his most recognizable cars were seen in 'Blade Runner' for which he created the flying cop cars known as 'spinners.' According to HotRod magazine, he was born in Springfield, Mo., and was the youngest of six children born to Frank and Virginia 'Ginny' Winfield. The obit says he bought his first car at age 15, a $75 1928 Model A coupe that he painted dark blue. He customized that and installed dual antennas and foxtails, even though the car had no radio. The hot-rod community bestowed accolades on him including the National Hot Rod Association's Lifetime Achievement Award. Best of Variety New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week Oscars 2026: First Blind Predictions Including Timothée Chalamet, Emma Stone, 'Wicked: For Good' and More What's Coming to Disney+ in March 2025
The Independent
07-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Andy Samberg apologizes to Backstreet Boy for awkward bathroom encounter at SNL50
Both the Brooklyn Nine-Nine star, 46, and the Nineties boy band were invited to perform as part of Saturday Night Live 's 50th-anniversary concert special, which celebrated the legendary artists that have graced the sketch show's stage over the years. 'I was being ushered around for rehearsal by a woman who was working for the show,' Samberg recalled on a recent episode of The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast that he co-hosts with Meyers and his Lonely Island comedy partners Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer. 'I was like, 'I really have to go to the bathroom' — number one, everybody relax — and she was like, 'You need to be on stage now! You need to be on stage now!' And I was like, 'Okay!'' he shared. The Hot Rod star was quickly escorted to the bathroom, where he ran into a member of the five-piece vocal group before they were supposed to take the stage for a performance of their hit song 'I Want It That Way.' 'Obviously it's a hit for them, but it was a big thing on Brooklyn Nine-Nine,' Samberg explained, referring to one of the sitcom's cold opens 'where we have the perps in a lineup singing that song.' 'One of the Backstreet Boys was about to go into the bathroom, and she was like, 'He needs to go! We need him on stage!'' he continued. 'And he was super nice, and he said hello, and he was like, 'Oh, we're doing your song!' 'cause he knew the thing about Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and I was like, 'Oh, that's so awesome.'' As it turns out, Samberg's bathroom emergency turned out to be for nothing. 'I went to the bathroom, quickly left, went out on stage, and then stood there for 45 minutes,' he said. 'And Backstreet Boys went on and rehearsed before us. And I was like, 'Aw, man, he must think I'm a piece of s***.' So anyways, I apologize for that.' The comedian later identified Kevin Richardson as the Backstreet Boy he cut in front of. SNL50: The Homecoming Concert, which premiered February 14, saw Samberg take the stage alongside Lady Gaga, Bad Bunny, T-Pain, and Eddie Vedder to perform a medley of his Lonely Island songs, including 'Dick In a Box' and 'I Just Had Sex.' The live special also featured a slew of musical icons, such as Dave Grohl, Chris Martin, Ms. Lauryn Hill, and Miley Cyrus.
