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• The Top 10 Modified Tuner Cars of 2012

  In Lists / By Tom Anderson / 31 December 2012

  

  Exactly 12 months ago, we assembled a list of the 10 tuner vehicles from 2011 that really floated our proverbial boat. Privately, we didn’t think that 2012’s crop of tuned and modified cars, trucks and SUVs could top that of 2011; however – and this is a rare New Year’s Eve treat for you, boys and girls – we are happy to admit that we were wrong. This past lap of the sun has seen the automotive aftermarket assemble some of the fastest, most powerful, and most visually striking machines to ever turn wheels.

  Thus, you can imagine how hard it was for us to narrow our selection down to 10. But that’s exactly what we’ve managed to do, and as you’ll see, the list covers a wide range of manufacturers, tuners, and vehicle types. Will 2013’s top tuner cars be even more amazing? We’re thinking yes. From all of us to all of you, have a happy and safe New Year.

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• The Top 20 Car Themed Bedrooms

  In Lists / By Tom Anderson / 20 December 2012

  

  Rare is the child who does not want to personalize his or her bedroom to better reflect his or her interests. And for almost anything you can think of that kids are into, there’s a wide range of things like bed sheets, wallpaper, rugs, furniture and other things with which they can personalize their personal spaces. One of these interests of children (mostly boys, it must be said) is, of course, cars.

  However, some kids don’t outgrow bedrooms decorated in an automotive motif. Some grown up gearheads refuse to expunge their Formula 1 fixation or Audi addiction from the place they rest their heads, and instead embrace it. It is for these people that we have collected the following 20 pictures of car nut bedrooms. Some are for kids and some are for adults, but all are likely to fill your dreams with the sounds of screeching tires and screaming engines. And folks, those are the best kinds of dreams.

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• The Definitive Top 50 Gearhead Holiday Gifts of 2012

  In Lists / By Tom Anderson / 14 December 2012

  

  ‘Tis the season once again, party peeps. And no matter which holiday you choose to celebrate – Christmas, Hanukah, Kwanza, Festivus, Enrique the Magic Crawfish’s Birthday (It is too a thing!), etc. – chances are it involves the giving of gifts. This begs not one but two questions: What to get for other people? And what to request from others for oneself?

  We hope to provide answers to both of those questions by way of the following gift guide. Hopefully one of these 50 (which means it’s twice as good as last year’s…right?) items will float the metaphorical boat of you or your Secret Santa (or your belief system’s analogue thereof). If not, we suppose cash and/or gift cards will suffice. *cough*You unimaginative heathens.*cough*

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• The Top 10 Gearhead Documentaries of All Time

  In Lists / By Tom Anderson / 19 October 2012

  

  Last summer, we compiled a list of 25 movies that should be required viewing for car buffs. We hope you’ve been able to watch at least some of the movies we named since then, because we’re about to tell you about 10 more movies you’ll want to put on your “must watch” list.

  You see, we pointed out in the intro of last year’s article that we were excluding documentary and non-fiction works. We did that for two reasons: One, to leave more room for fiction movies and two, to avoid being accused of favoring one genre over another. Now, the documentaries finally get their turn in the spotlight. However, since there’s one motorcycle-centric flick on the following list, we’re calling them gearhead (as opposed to car nut) documentaries. Here they are.

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• The Top 20 Craziest Fancy Car Replicas

  In Lists / By Tom Anderson / 5 October 2012

  

  Rare is the car buff that doesn’t have at least one supercar crush. Traffic stopping looks, endless parades of aural aphrodisiacs shooting out of the tailpipes, and acceleration, braking and cornering capabilities that have the same effect on your inner ears as if you put them in a hardware store paint mixing machine will do that. Sadly, very, very few of us who would love to have a supercar can afford one.

  But don’t cry, Little One. Thanks to the world of replica and kit car building, you can at least have the visual appeal of your favorite six-figure pavement torturer for a fraction of the price. In fact, some of these four-wheeled cover bands are constructed from downright dowdy hoopties you can find stacked 800-deep when searching your local Craigslist page. Don’t believe us? Make the jump to read about our 20 favorite zero-to-pretend-hero autos and see if you’re still whistling the same tune.

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• The Top 20 Driving Shoes in the World

  In Gear, Lists / By Tom Anderson / 5 September 2012

  

  While a person’s arms and hands are heavily involved in the process of driving a car in that they handle steering and changing gears, these upper extremities don’t deserve all the glory. After all, without legs and feet to work the gas, brake and – when applicable – clutch pedals (as well as occasionally provide bracing for the driver’s body under heavy braking or cornering loads), you’d just be able to adjust the angle of the front wheels and stir the gears in the transmission. Yes, there are modifications available for folks without usable limbs south of the equator, but the overwhelming majority of automobiles in their natural states demand operators with paws up high and down low.

  So it’s no surprise that since the feet are tasked with such critical tasks as telling the car to go and stop, there are literally thousands of styles of shoes on the market that profess to provide optimum comfort, maneuverability, tactile feedback (e.g. letting the driver feel the brakes starting to lock up, or the clutch approaching the verge of its bite point) for their wearers. But which articles of motoring footwear are among the elite? Find out after the jump.

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• The Top 20 Coolest Taxis in the World

  In Lists / By Tom Anderson / 24 August 2012

  

  Long before the advent of the internal combustion engine, someone came up with the idea of using a wheeled vehicle to carry people to where they wanted to go in exchange for money or some other form of payment. But if you ask us, it wasn’t until the dawn of the automobile and its first use as wheels-for-hire that the taxi truly came of age. Today, motorized cabs are pretty much a part of the scenery in every major city on earth.

  Unfortunately, the vast majority of taxis are based on plain, unexciting vehicles possessing as much soul as a washing machine filled with soybeans. However, if you want your fare to buy some flair, there are some decidedly enticing options out there. Not convinced? Check out these 20 cool cabs and get back to us.

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• The Top 10 Cars Named After Race Tracks

  In Lists / By Tom Anderson / 9 August 2012

  

  One of the best ways to add some sizzle to a new model is to name it after a race track. Even if it isn’t an overtly sporty vehicle, bestowing upon it the name of a motorsports venue can at least make it sound less dull than it is. Of course, some vehicles are just so lame that not even the name of a racing circuit can save them. Yes, we’re talking about you, Chrysler Sebring and last generation Pontiac Le Mans.

  But what about the speedway namesake rides at the other end of the scale, i.e. the crème de la crème? We were able to name at least 10 top flight autos that happen to have autodrome monikers. Here, in no particular order, they are.

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• The Top 50 Coolest Artistic Car Renderings

  In Lists / By Tom Anderson / 3 August 2012

  

  It used to be that, when customizing a car, the only rendering of the final product you had to work with was in your mind. Maybe you had a simple hand-drawn sketch, or a photograph with annotations, but there wasn’t any way for other people to see a realistic looking forecast of how the project would look when you were done.

  The arrival of Photoshop and other image manipulation computer programs, however, changed all that. Suddenly someone with a couple hundred bucks, a flash memory card reader and/or flatbed scanner, and a working knowledge of his or her chosen program and its capabilities could alter a car’s looks without even setting foot in the garage. And 3D modeling programs like Maya let you create a model of a car and view it from any angle. In celebration of humankind’s almost limitless ability to create lifelike automobiles in the virtual space, here are 50 vehicle renderings that made us go “Whoa!”

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• The Top 10 Racecar Driving Celebrities of All Time

  In Lists / By Tom Anderson / 25 June 2012

  

   

  It is often said that if you want to make a small fortune in motorsports, start with a large fortune. Superstar athletes and A-list entertainers tend to have large fortunes, and over the years dozens have spent portions of those fortunes on racing endeavors. Some have even been the proverbial nuts behind the wheel.

   

  Unfortunately, most of the celebrities-turned-racing-drivers over the years have split their time between being rolling chicanes and crash test dummies. And often, they left the sport almost as soon as they entered, chasing the next hobby that tickled their fancy. But a few stars have jumped into the racing world with both feet, exhibiting the powerful one-two punch of unflappable commitment and talent comparable to that of many pros. So here, in no particular order, are 10 of the most impressive celebrities ever to strap on a helmet and take a green flag.

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