The Ford Indy Speedster V8 was built by Bill Lindig and the team at SO-CAL, it’s a testament to classic, race-ready hot rod building and we like it a great deal. The chassis was first conceived by Jackie Howerton, an accomplished second-generation race car driver and lover of all things race car related.

The remarkable titanium and ceramic-coated frame made from 1-3/4 x 0.120-inch 4130 chromoly tubing is a master-class in chassis engineering, the torsional rigidity is far above what we’re used to seeing in the V8 powered world of drag racing hot rods. Howerton designed the Indy Speedster to have sprint car-influenced handling with the necessary tweaks to be at home on the street and out on the salt.

As with most hot rods, this car is powered by a V8, in this case it’s a 450hp Art Chrisman built 353 inch aluminum small-block Ford V8 with triple Holley carburettors and Howerton-built, titanium ceramic-coated headers. Power is pushed to the rear wheels through a Center Force clutch, an aluminum flywheel and on into a BorgWarner World Class five-speed transmission. The car itself weighs in at 1,925lbs and has a weight distribution of 45/front 55/rear and has a total wheel-base of 110 inches.

Those who have had the pleasure of riding in the Indy Speedster rant and rave about things like cornering ability and braking performance, two concepts almost unheard of in the open-wheeled world of classic hot rod building. The interior of the car has been modelled on the minimalist cabins of 1950s race cars, the use of leather, aluminium and chrome gives it an almost steam punk feel – if Bill Lindig doesn’t wear a flat cap and a monocle while driving the Speedster, I’ll be very disappointed.

When Bill was asked what his plans were for the car, he responded;

“Following a few events in SoCal I intend to bring it to our country home in Kerrville, Texas, which is in the heart of the Texas Hill Country. Fire it up and drive, drive, drive; driving it on the curvy asphalt backroads. This race car–inspired hot rod with its torsion suspension is a fantastic driver. It puts your heart in your throat.” – Bill Lindig -

Via our friends at Street Rodder Magazine.

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Vintage watches have a look and a style all their own, unfortunately the vintage straps don’t age so well and often look pretty ghastly once they pass their 15th birthday. The solution to this of course is to keep the watch and replace the strap, this is where Worn & Wound come into play.

Worn & Wound is a NYC based watch strap and accessories maker specialising in classic leather straps that’ll suit almost any watch you throw at them. This strap is called the NYC NATO Brick Full Grain, it’s made from full grain leather and can be ordered in either 20mm or 22mm sizes.

Click here to grab yours

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This is the last surviving Riva Ariston Cadillac, only 19 Cadillac-powered Riva Aristons were ever made and this one has been a resident of its native Italy since it was sold there 57 years ago.

Named ‘Slughi’ this vessel has hull number 101 which makes it just the second one ever made, it’s fitted with a 250hp, 365 cubic inch Cadillac V8 engine and though its top speed isn’t listed, it has enough power to get the owner into all sorts of trouble should he decide to drop the hammer in the vicinity of the marine policia.

Slughi was put into storage in the 1960s and was only discovered in 2004, the man who discovered her was master marine carpenter and expert yacht restorer, M. Guastini and he set about a lengthy restoration that would take a number of years to complete. The original Cadillac V8 was restored with serious attention to detail, the upholstery was restored to its original pattern, the bottom was replaced and reinforced, as on many old Rivas, for safety and handling purposes.

The boat is now in immaculate condition and is expected to go for between €180,000 – €220,000 when it crosses the auction block with RM Auctions as the Villa Erba sale on the 25th of May 2013.

To learn more or register to bid, visit RM Auctions here.

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If the electricity running into your house stopped tomorrow, what would you do? Obviously you’d need to drink the beer in the fridge before it got warm, but after that you might want to find out what’s going on, which is where this AM/FM radio comes into play.

The Red Cross Safety Hub by Eton has a handcrank on the side that allows you to charge it manually, you can also plug your Apple/Android phone or tablet into it and charge them directly from the crank. It’s equipped with an AM/FM/NOAA weather radio receiver as well as a flashlight, USB charger (to charge other devices), aluminium handcrank and red LED beacon.

Grab yours here

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The BMW R80 ST is a fascinating little piece of motorcycling history, it was the street-going version of the iconic dual-sport BMW R80 GS – the first in the long line of world famous BMW GS dual sport bikes of which over 500,000 have been made. The R80 ST didn’t enjoy the popularity of it’s sibling, only 5953 units were produced between 1982 and 1984, despite this there is a dedicated little community of ST enthusiasts who’ll talk your ear off about the benefits of the R80 ST – I just spent an hour on the phone with one of these people whilst I was researching this article, so I’ll try to condense the dialogue into the paragraph below.

The R80 ST had a few technical adjustments over its more off-road focussed brother – the ST’s suspension had shorter spring travel, the front tire was a 19″ model and the bike was fitted with road tires front and back. The ST had a shaft-drive and a single sided swing-arm with a monoshock, the total weight of the bike was just 180kgs (396lbs) which led to it having remarkably road good handling. Coupled to this lighter weight was the benefit of the boxer engine, this gave the R80 ST a very low centre of gravity, the twin cylinder 797cc engine produced 37kW (50hp) and 59Nm of torque.

The closest thing to official performance figures give the ST a 0-100kph time of 5.7 seconds and a top speed of 164kph, the top speed can apparently be squeezed up to 174kph if you don’t mind doing a Rollie Free and lying prone on the seat with your head tucked in behind the dials.

This heavily modified R80 ST was built by Fuel Bespoke Motorcycles in Spain, they’ve taken the ST back to it’s genetic roots with a scrambler conversion and the result is one of the best looking retro-off-roaders we’ve featured this year. Fuel built the bike for a customer who lives in the Austrian Alps and wanted a motorcycle for trail riding that had a little more character than the plastic-and-graphics modern off-road bikes.

Fuel set to work by stripping the bike back and adding a Kawaski KZ750 fuel tank, they then bolted an old Ural suicide shifter to the side of the tank and connected it to the choke mechanism. After this they added a Tomasselli handlebar, a classic trial headlight, a BMW K75 front fork with custom triple tree, a Motogadget speedometer, a Wilbers 632 rear shock, a 2-into-2 Hoske exhaust, Continental TKC 80 tyres, a solo seat designed by Fuel then built by X-Sits and a slew of other smaller mods.

The finished bike is a genuinely beautiful off roader that I’m sure will have no trouble navigating the trails of the Alps this summer, if you’d like to see more from Fuel you can click here to see some of their other work.

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This art deco era Douglass Automatic Pocket Lighter is a beautiful throwback to a time when cigarettes were good for you, hydrogen airships were thought of as a good idea and Charlie Chaplin was the only celebrity with a toothbrush moustache.

The lighter still works well and was recently refurbished by the seller, it lights first time and can be refilled with both lighter fluid and flint with ease.

Grab yours here

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The 1972 Ford Capri RS2600 Group 2 Competition Coupe was the car that cemented the reputation of the Ford Capri as the ‘European Mustang’, the ’72 RS2600 won the European Touring Car Championship at the hands of Jochen Mass – the ’71 RS2600 had also won the ETCC in the hands of Germany’s Dieter Glemser. These back-to-back wins gave the Capri some much needed racing DNA and led to the car being offered for sale in South Africa, Australia and the USA.

Each 1972 Ford Capri RS2600 Group 2 Competition Coupe was fitted with a Weslake-developed V6 engine with special all alloy cylinder heads, Kugelfischer fuel injection and dry sump lubrication giving it approximately 320hp. The cars were lightened with glassfibre panels replacing steel units and a ZF five-speed gearbox was standard equipment.

This Capri has Avon racing tyres on BBS rims, Bilstein shock absorbers all round, polyurethane silent block suspension bushes, race-spec Plexiglas side windows, Unibal suspension joints all round, Watts linkage at the rear, a limited-slip differential, a 60-litre ATL racing fuel cell, Aeroquip fuel and brake lines, a Sparco Evo racing seat, a 6-point harness and a Sparco automatic fire extinguisher – all of this is FIA homologated.

It’s believed that less than 100 RS2600 Capris have survived through to the modern day, making this car a hell of an acquisition for anyone keen on vintage racing, especially when you consider that it’s expected to go for between $45,000 – $58,000 USD. If you’d like to bid on her you’ll need to go to The Spa Classic Sale on the 25th of May 2013 Click here to visit the official lot listing.

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This laser-cut stainless steel iPhone stand by Baughb Labs has been designed to hold the phone in both landscape and portrait mode, it also angles the base of the phone to bounce sound off the desk which noticeably increases the volume.

The stand also holds most other smartphone models and is small enough to avoid adding clutter to your workspace, each one costs $39 USD and so far as we can tell, they’ll last forever.

Grab yours here

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The West German 500cc Motorcycle Grand Prix was to be the last race to be held in West Germany, a year later in 1990 the Berlin Wall had come down and the race was simply titled The German Grand Prix”.

The race was held at the world famous Hockenheimring, interestingly it was one of the first races to see riders using carbon brake discs – a feature that’s now commonplace across most forms of high-level motorsport. If you have 46 minutes spare you might want to make yourself a cup of coffee, turn up the volume and hit play. You won’t regret it.

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One of the most significant problems I have with my current apartment is the total lack of motorcycle-related paraphernalia. This is largely due to the veto that was implemented in 2011 by the United Nations of My Girlfriend, sadly my requests for a reconsideration have all died in committee.

The poster above is 1500px x 1000px in size, making it a great desktop wallpaper if your computer’s resolution is lower than that, otherwise you can grab the original poster from the Etsy seller here.

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