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• Classified Moto Honda CB750F Superstrada Engages in Four-play

  In Motorcycles / By Tom Anderson / 7 May 2013

  

  The Honda CB750 is widely credited with being the motorcycle for which the term “superbike” was coined. Prior to the model family’s 1969 debut, engines like the CB750’s muscular overhead cam (DOHC starting in 1979), transversely-mounted four-stroke inline-four was strictly the domain of high-priced exotics and racing motorcycles. But because American Honda dealers told Soichiro himself that their customers wanted bigger and badder bikes, the company brought this four-pot powerhouse to market for the highly-competitive starting price of $1,495 ($9,233.71 in 2012 money).

  As a result of all these significant achievements, part of us is inclined to believe cutting up a CB750 is straight-up blasphemous. But the other part of us, upon seeing this highly-customized 1980 CB750F from Classified Moto called “Superstrada,” wants to place a piece of duct tape over the first part’s mouth. Why is that?

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• British Man Builds Frankenstein F1 Racer

  In Sponsored / By Staff / 26 April 2013

  

  A Formula 1 fan from Brighton in the UK has built a full-scale racing car in the shed at the end of his garden. The car, which needed £8,000 in parts and took four years to build, is modeled on a 2001 BRA Honda 003.

  Perhaps most remarkable of all is that Kevin Thomas, the dedicated craftsman, has absolutely no engineering experience whatsoever – or formal training. He hand-built the replica without using a manual or the internet and taught himself to work with carbon fibre. The latter is especially impressive because he managed to get the side-pods from a Williams-BMW F1 car to fit the engine cover from a BAR, which is no mean feat.

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• 2013 IndyCar: Takuma Sato Takes Long Beach Grand Prix Becoming First Japanese Winner

  In Motorsports / By Andre Ravinowich / 22 April 2013

  

  The famed streets of Long Beach saw history take place this past Sunday. Takuma Sato, driving the No. 14 Foyt Racing entry won the 39th Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.  Sato led 50 out the 80 laps on Sunday’s race, the most he has ever led. After 52 IndyCar Series races, this was only the 3rd podium finish of his career in the series. He finished the race under yellow, followed by Graham Rahal after Tony Kanaan crashed on Turn 1 with only 2 laps to go in the race. Justin Wilson finished third, followed by Dario Franchitti in fourth.

  Sato, who spent 6 years in Formula 1 before moving to IndyCar, was the first Japanese to ever win a race in the IndyCar Series. He returned home to his native Tokyo on Monday, to a hero’s welcome, on the cover of every major newspaper in Japan. Sato had qualified fourth for the race, but quickly moved up the field. He passed Will Power to take the lead while Power made a pit stop on Lap 31 during one of the race’s many full-course cautions. He is now second in the IndyCar standings, only 6 points behind leader Helio Castroneves.

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• The Top 25 Homologation Specials of All Time

  In Featured / By Tom Anderson / 18 April 2013

  

  Purpose-built racing cars – be they single seat open wheelers, sports prototypes, dragsters or any other automobile whose sole reason for being is to compete – have always inspired awe and been capable of extraordinary performance. But when it comes to truly connecting with the fans in the stands, these thoroughbreds are no match for production-based (even if it’s just the shape of the body) machinery. The idea of watching a particular car win a race and then walking out to the parking lot and driving home in or driving to the local dealer to check out an identical (save for some safety and performance equipment and a whole heap-o-decals) car holds widespread (if not universal) appeal.

  Of course, to stand a better chance at winning on Sunday so they can sell on Monday, manufacturers load their showroom-bred competition models with go-fast bits. However, many sanctioning bodies used to require (though, sadly, very few still do) that those same upgrades to be fitted to a certain number of the street-legal models Joe Bloe can buy, meaning the factories have to sell what are known as homologation specials in order to race that model. The annals of automotive history are brimming with such four-wheeled entry forms, yet we’ve managed to pare that manifest down to the 25 fastest, coolest and most outrageous ones ever to wear a license plate.

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• Review: 2013 Acura ILX Premium 6MT

  In Road Tests / By Ari Cox / 12 April 2013

  

  Acura has had a tough run during the past decade– from working through a styling identity crisis to peddling an arguably uninspiring lineup of vehicles to dealing with the financial fallout precipitated by the latter. But that hasn’t stopped the company from taking a long, hard look at their performance and making a concerted effort to re-establish the brand, which has come on especially strong the past two years. The most recent example of these efforts can be clearly seen in the all new 2013 Acura ILX Premium.

  We can’t help but call up memories of the Civic-derived Acura Integra when thinking about the ILX. In 2002, the exalted Integra was discontinued as Acura tried to switch the brand’s market perception from premium beer to elegant wine. And while models like the TSX attempted to fill the void, the sheer size and weight of that vehicle led to its instant disqualification as an enthusiast favorite.

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• Cave of Wonders: Bangkok’s @Speed Garage [Video]

  In Fast Forward / By Tom Anderson / 26 February 2013

  

  Ever had a project that gradually escalated into something that was much nicer (read: more time, effort and expense invested) than what you had originally planned? That’s what seems to have happened with A-Thummanoon Pornrojanagoon’s garage. The Bangkok resident (who is known to his friends by the exponentially-simpler moniker A) initially just wanted a place to store his collection of vehicles and parts. But as you can see in this video, it became something far greater by the time he was through.

  The shelving for wheels and other parts, the windows and tall ceilings are certainly garage mahal material. And the vehicles that occupy the space – which include a couple of vintage Mercedes-Benz sedans, an Alfa Romeo 2000 GTV, and a gaggle of JDM legends led by a first-gen “Hakosuka” Nissan Skyline GT-R – certainly reinforce the building’s petrolhead Valhalla status. But as A is quick to point out, the thing that (a la the Dude’s rug) really ties the room together is the sense of community he and his car-guy friends have. Whether they’re wrenching or just hanging out, A and his associates use @Speed Garage as a place to celebrate their most significant common bond, and each other. Kinda makes the physical objects inside seem less significant, huh?

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• A Fistful of Yen: A Honda Type R Clone Double Feature [Video]

  In Fast Forward / By Tom Anderson / 22 February 2013

  

  Few vehicles will girdle a JDM fanboy’s loins like a Honda Type R model. Over the years, the name has been applied to Civics, Integras, the mighty NSX, and even the occasional Accord. Sadly, only the first gen Integra Type R ever made it to this side of the Pacific, and even then it was wearing a different nose and Acura badges. The rest of this revered clan has remained in Japan, or in some cases made it to Europe or elsewhere. But not North America. Boo, hiss, repeat.

  However, a couple of enterprising Albertans have delivered Honda’s global and Canadian product planners a giant “Screw you…please!” in the form of two great white Type R tributes. An Acura RSX has been transformed into a second gen Integra Type R, while an Acura CSX (a Canada-only curiosity that formed the basis of the Japanese-spec eighth gen Civic Sedan) has been turned into a JDM Civic Type R homage. And in case that wasn’t enough, both have been lowered, fitted with bigger wheels and tires, body kits and, in the case of the RSX-cum-Integra, what sounds like a supercharger. Yeah, we’re starting to see what all of the folks who worship at the Temple of VTEC are constantly droning on about.

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• Sebastiao Guerra SG-01 Honda FX650 is a Dual-Purpose Done Right

  In Motorcycles / By Tom Anderson / 21 February 2013

  

  When selecting a starting point for a custom bike, not very many dual-purpose motorcycles get the nod. It’s not that customizers are necessarily against the idea of these two-wheeled SUVs, but getting them to look lower and more athletic than stock is a considerably more involved process than it would be with a superbike or even a tourer. Using them as the basis for a custom café racer simply isn’t worth the trouble.

  However, no one passed this advice along to Sebastiao Guerra, or if they did, he’s decided against heeding it. The upstart customizer from the Portuguese capital of Lisbon has, against the odds, managed to transform a 1999 Honda FX650 into a stubby naked street beast called the SG-01. So what has Sebastiao done?

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• Chill out with Formula 1 Legends and Fresh Moods’ “My Face” [Video]

  In Fast Forward / By Tom Anderson / 8 February 2013

  

  Considering the name and nature of chill out music (the relaxed, almost ethereal subgenre of electronica), it seems counterintuitive to pair a song that fits that category with footage from what was arguably the most glamorous – and dangerous – period in the history of Formula 1 racing. Yet that’s exactly what the folks behind Fresh Moods, a limited edition reissue of a chill out compilation LP of the same name, did. The gentle, meandering rhythms and gentle (compared to more aggressive electronic music subgenres like dubstep and trance) “instrumentals” and “vocals” actually mesh with the sinewy, largely uncluttered F1 cars of the late-‘60s and early-‘70s. And the kaleidoscope of vibrant colors doesn’t hurt, either.

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• Twenix Motorcycles Honda GL200 “Dolores” is a Magnificent Motorized Memorial

  In Motorcycles / By Tom Anderson / 23 January 2013

  

  For many Indonesian motorcycle buyers, the Honda GL200 Tiger is an object of desire. The sporty styling, economical 200cc four-stroke single and Honda durability are all appealing by themselves, but when these attributes are combined on the same bike, we can see why some many inhabitants of the South Asia nation want to ride the Tiger (in the literal sense, not the sense to which R. James Dio, Esq. was referring).

  Jakarta resident Arya Pratama is one of the many Indonesians who have fallen for the GL200’s charms. But he didn’t buy this 1994 example as a bent-framed, oil-leaking basket case for $400 with the intent of leaving it stock; rather, he wanted it transformed into a sinewy, retro cool café racer. And when his friend, customizer Rionasta “Rio” Achiel of Twenix Motorcycles was done with it, Arya’s Tiger was exactly that, and something more.

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