Y’all are going to have to bear with me on this one cause it may be a long blog. I spent the last ten days driving across the continental United States on a scouting trip for the upcoming Mother Lode Road Rally which runs from May 15th to the 22nd of this year. We started in Chicago, IL and made our way west to our final destination of San Diego, CA some 3,100 miles later.

Obviously one immediate concern about driving across the United States in the dead of winter was the weather. We simply had no idea what the elements were going to bombard us with. So we set out to get the right vehicle for our journey west.

Before we even left things started to get funky. We had originally made a reservation through Hertz for a full size SUV, so I’m thinking perhaps we’d be getting a Tahoe or and Expedition or something. But when we arrived at the Hertz counter at Midway Airport we were informed that we were getting a KIA Sorento. I will put on my flame suit now because I must say that this vehicle is nothing but a monumental pile of… well… lets just say it’s not very good.

I am sure that it’s safe and has good rating, but from a drivers perspective… woof! What a slob. First off the parking brake is positioned right next to the drivers right leg and actually digs into your thigh every time you go around a corner. Just a bonehead design in my opinion. The rest of the interior was standard economy SUV—cheap plastics covered with vinyl that try to convince you that you’re driving a more expensive vehicle. Sadly, it doesn’t work.

Driving the Sorento was even more disappointing, as this thing has absolutely no road feel whatsoever. Seriously, the steering wheel feels completely detached the front tires. Not exactly a confidence-inspiring vehicle. So we knew it had to go. Fortunately I was picking my brother up at Chicago’s O’Hare airport where there was another Hertz location. I got my bro and his luggage and headed to the counter.

Before I forget though let me mention that there were three of us on this trip. I’m 6’4”, 240 pounds.  My brother at 6’0”, 230 and our friend Ashlie is 5’3” and is about as chunky as a paper-weight. We also had ten days worth of luggage crammed into four large duffel bags, one big backpack and three normal carry on size pieces to boot. That combined with our emergency roadside and first aid kits and two bottles of washer fluid meant that we were loaded to the hilt.

The Sorrento is advertised as having 242 hp and 262 pounds torque. Pretty decent numbers, actually. Problem is, I think it’s a lie as the little KIA was struggling to cope with simple on-ramp entrances and small hills. As I said earlier, it had to go. For those of you out there that own one, well… God Bless. Use it for what it was meant for, that being a suburban family utility buggy that gets little Jimmy and Sally to soccer on time and gets the groceries home safe. For all others on the fence about this thing, keep reading and I’ll tell you what to get.

Now, back the Hertz counter. If you want to get a new car and/or upgrade, simply tell the people at the Hertz counter that the car is f*cked up. We did and it worked like a charm. I told the nice lady that little Kia pulled to the right at speeds above 60 mph and shook a little. No, problem she said, and preceded to get us 2009 Ford Explorer.

I am actually a big Explorer fan and have in fact owned three of them over the years. They’re big, have nice interior appointments and plenty of power. Problem with this particular one though was that it was only two-wheel drive, something we didn’t realize until we were about 20 miles from the Hertz dealer. Crap.

After one more trip to Hertz and with the woman apologizing again (this time it was warranted) we were treated to a 2008 Nissan Xterra.

Now most everyone has seen the Xterra commercials—they generally have people mountain biking with kayaks on their backs and eating granola. Honestly, not my cup of tea. I mean, I don’t mountain bike or kayak, but I do like the occasional granola bar and in fact had two with me. Thus I felt qualified enough to pilot this thing on our journey.

To be continued…

Over a year ago when I decided to start work on our 1969 Dodge Daytona, I got a call from former wrestler, pro-football player and auto-maniac Bill Goldberg. Bill was the host the Bullrun TV show that I was a part of, so when I found out he was building a 1970 Plymouth Superbird in conjunction with Year One, I was obviously curious about the project. Well, the project was unveiled and seeing the car in person just doesn’t do it justice. The guys at Year One worked with Goldberg’s vision of a true Nascar Superbird and created a truly spectacular car. The best part though… no one is keeping this baby as it’s being sold at Barrett-Jackson this January for charity. Check out the video link to get a better idea what I’m talking about.

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And what’s that funny looking two-tone car everyone is looking at? Stay tuned for the full interview once our video guy gets it all mixed together.

If you’re a Mopar fan, there are certain movies that you must see. Dirty Mary Crazy Larry, Phantasm, Dukes of Hazzard, Joe Dirt, Cannonball (the orignal), Blues Brothers, and of course Vanishing Point. In this flick Kowalski tried to run from the cops in a white Challenger R/T while totally jacked up on uppers. If you’re really fine cinema, this movie is not for you. If you like Mopars, car chases and cool nude scenes with a hot blond chick on a motorcycle, then you must check it out. Anyway, below are the pics of one of the original movie cars in Mopar Alley, complete with movie make-up and and battle scars. Enjoy.

One car that there is no shortage of at SEMA is the new Dodge Challenger. Without exaggeration, there are no less 40 of them here, each with different modifications. There are widebody Challengers, lowered Challengers, blown Challengers and race replica Challengers. Execution is the key with this car, and there is a very fine line between great and gaudy. Most of the customizers have done a great job, however there are those select few that have missed the boat entirely. One thing for sure the custom car community seems to think the Challenger is second coming of Christ, so with that being said hopefully Dodge will sell enough of them to keep Chrysler from going down the crapper.

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Subaru loyalist rejoice! Your mountain rescue vehicle has arrived. This thing is actually pretty badass considering it started life as a new Forester. Fender flairs, a warn winch and some crazy suspension mods have turned this mild-mannered grocery getter into a mean mountain rescue unit. Obviously, Subaru will never make this, but the cool thing, as with all concept cars and trucks, is they give the consumer ideas. Good ideas.

I’ve been here at SEMA 2008 for 22 hours and, it’s all pretty impressive. First the sheer number of exhibitors is off the charts. Big rigs, trucks and cars are rolling in by the minute and the overall vibe is pretty cool. What I am very interested in seeing is the upcoming market trends. We all know I’m a muscle car guy, so rest assured, that’ll be the majority of what I’ll be bringing to the table. Since I also dig the SUV’s I’m rolling with those as well.

Customizers are everywhere at SEMA, and on the way to the convention center this morning one car from one of the best in the business caught my eye—and unfortunately, not in a good way. The new Dodge Challenger is out in force at SEMA, wearing many different outfits. This one, however, looks as though it was put together from a parts bin, and I hate to say it, but I think famed customizer George Barris may have had something to do with it. Every custom bit seemed to be thrown together as a non-functional afterthought. From the big bulbous carbon fiber hood scoop, to carbon fiber trunk overlay to the spoiler that was—GULP—cut in half. The wheels were up from the stock 20’s to 22’s and honestly didn’t do a damn thing for the car. The inside was even worse with a cheesy looking red leather overlay on top of the stock dash.

Now, please don’t think I am hating on Mr. Barris—the man is legend, but with this one I think he may just have missed mark. What do you think of it?

 Well, I’m at SEMA. Right now people are getting ready, tents are going up and displays being readied for the start on Tuesday. This is my first time at SEMA, and going in I had a pretty good idea of what to expect. First off, SEMA is flippin’ HUGE. There’s somewhere in the neighborhood of one million square feet of stuff to be seen over the next four days, and honestly, I’m not sure if I’ll actually get to everything.

Right now most of the outdoor cars are in place, and by outdoor cars, I mean the ones not good enough to go inside. This is not to say they are bad, quite the contrary. Some of the cars are simply fantastic, while others are simply design exercises. One thing that struck me right away, however, was that not too many of these cars look truly roadworthy. It’s one thing to cruise around the parking lot, but I’m not sure if I’d jump on a cross country trip in one of these things.

Big wheels are still prevalent, but it seems like the bling is subsiding and giving way to powdercoating and brushed finishes. But again, it’s only the first day, so we’ll see. Stay tuned.

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