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 We had originally made a reservation through Hertz for a full size SUV, so I’m thinking perhaps we’d be getting a Tahoe or and Expedition or something.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…

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.

This past week was spent participating in the Fireball Run Transcontinental Road Rally and going in I wasn’t sure what to expect. You see Fireball is set up a bit differently then rallies like the Bullrun or Gumball 3000 as it is marketed as an “Adventure Rally”. (see below)



(September 25th - October 4th ) Fireball Run 2: Back to the Track, will have an 1980’s themed auto rally. 100 teams comprised of some of the most successful people on the planet embark on a 3500 mile 9 day transcontinental adventure of a lifetime. The 2008 event will start in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and will zigzag through the coolest parts of America to finish in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The Fireball Run is a highly interactive live action “game” and America is the game board. The safe and sanctioned event also incorporates race track competition events.



All rallies have their good and bad points and Fireball Run is no exception. First the good: Fireball Run works in conjunction with: “Child Rescue Network - http://www.childrescuenetwork.org/” and the main mission during this event is to help locate missing children. Each team is assigned a missing child whose information and photo are placed on the side of their vehicle, they are also given 1000 flyers with the same information to hand out to people and place in restaurants and gas stations along the way. Everyone in the rally takes part in this - no exceptions.



The rally also follows a “scripted” route that takes you to some interesting places. For instance - we visited the grave site of Buster Brown… you know, the shoe guy and toured the Coca-Cola Museum in Vicksburg, Mississippi. Now, are these “exciting” places… well no, but believe it or not they were pretty cool and places that one most likely would never go to otherwise because they really are off the beaten path, I mean hell… we had to take a dirt road to get to ole’ Buster’s grave. The high light of the trip though would have to be when we went to a home for foster children. We pulled up and received a welcome from these kids like I have never seen - we provided them with the worlds biggest hot wheels box and they provided us with a memory that will last a lifetime.


All rallies, Fireball being no exception over promise and under deliver. For instance, the tag line for Fireball Run is: “Back to the Track” which just wasn’t true. We spent part of one day at the Louisiana State Patrols proving grounds, the event was advertised that we would in fact be racing against the troopers themselves… did this happen - um no. We then went to perhaps the WORST autocross course in existence and were told to wear goggles that simulate a state of drunkenness… WTF and why? This is not fun and a total PITA. The only good events were another autocross and then a track event at Gratten Raceway in Belding, Michigan, however these events were scarred by limited runs and the fact that only one person per team could drive, yet before the event we ALL had to obtain some crappy BS track certification from a group I’ve never heard of and buy track suits.



Keep in mind also that Fireball is more than 10k cheaper than Bullrun or Gumball. This is a selling point, no doubt, but also falls into the: “You get what you pay for” class. The crowd at Fireball is also at bit less adrenalized. The crowd was a bit older and somewhat subdued as were the events and the overall energy just wasn’t up to par with what we’re used to. HOWEVER, the rally did accomplish what rallies are supposed to do, that being to introduce you to other like minded individuals who are entrenched in the car culture - Fireball did this to the 100th degree. We met some great people who we are already planning other events with.



All in all I would rate Fireball Run as a 6 out of 10. It’s ok and you’ll have fun, just don’t expect to be blown away by anything in particular.

Here we go again… it’s time for one more rally in 2008. This time TEAM ANGRY will be partaking in the “Fireball Run Transcontinental Road Rally”,  from Baton Rouge, LA to Grand Rapids, MI. 

(September 25th - October 4th ) Fireball Run 2: Back to the Track, will have an 1980’s themed auto rally. 100 teams comprised of some of the most successful people on the planet embark on a 3500 mile 9 day transcontinental adventure of a lifetime. The 2008 event will start in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and will zigzag through the coolest parts of America to finish in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The Fireball Run is a highly interactive live action “game” and America is the game board. The safe and sanctioned event also incorporates race track competition events. 

This time around TEAM ANGRY is sporting some new faces and some new hardware. Coming to the table this time is Carmine “Mr. BOOM BOOM” Dell Aquila and John “Johnny Boy” Sigismondi driving a 478 rwhp Corvette Z06. This puppy is simply BADASS and has some pretty cool bells and whistles that we just can’t disclose to the public yet. 

Then there is Christine and Marash Elezaj, the father and daughter powerhouse that simply can’t resist kicking automotive ass whenever humanly possible. They’ll be rolling in a 300 hp,  4WD BMW 335XI. You may in fact want to check out this months “Billboard Magazine” because Kristine is in there… she’s got a voice like an angel and a right foot like an anvil… seriously, this chick is no joke behind the wheel.

Last but not least we have yours truly, Mike Musto rolling with Mr. Todd Ford. Last rally we both had a bit of trouble with our rides.  First our ‘69 Daytona shredded a front wheel and then Todd’s Ferrari F430 blew a transmission. But now where back and both rolling a COMPLETELY revamped ‘69 Daytona that we’ve overhauled since our debacle in Bullrun 2008. All in all this should be one hell of a run as TEAM ANGRY is once again going with a take no prisoners attitude. So, with that being said, I would stay tuned and check the site over the next two weeks because we’ve got 3500 more miles to cover and 60 other teams to give a beating too… 

I just spoke to Greg Cecil who is one of the men in charge on the Volt Project yesterday. I am the co-host of the “RPM” radio show on Maxim Magazine channel 108 on Sirius Sat. every Thursday from 2-3pm eastern time and he was our guest.

The Volt is a very interesting car and he was very quick to point out that it was NOT a hybrid but an “Extended Range” vehicle. You can charge it with a 220 or 110 standard outlet with a full charge w/ a 210 being done in about 3 hrs. where a 110 will take about 8 hrs. The first 40 miles of use will be done solely on electric power, no gas. After that there is gas a engine that will recharge the batteries. However the Volt’s wheels are ONLY powered by the electric motor, never by the gas engine. Once the 40 miles of electric charge runs out fuel economy will be that of an average 4 door sedan. He would not go into details about that or the price of the car.

All electrics in the car run off the batteries - even the heaters are electric. All in all it’s a really cool piece of technology. Batteries are said to have a 10+ year life span as well. If you do a 40 mile commute you can essentially run to work, charge the car and run home for about .80 cents… this thing is pretty cool. 0-60 is about 9 secs. with a top end of around 100 mph. Styling is “ok” as a lot of thought was put into the aerodynamics of the car to make it as efficient as possible. All in all a really cool little scoot from GM.

Yesterday I did something that I generally do not do… attend a car show. I brought the Charger because its more fun to drive than my 118,+++ mile Mercury Villager, however I had absolutely no intention of being judged and or entering the show.  We rolled up to the entrance, I paid my $20 bucks and told the attendant that I would like to pay to park on the show field as it was safer then parking in the standard lot, he said “ok” and we proceeded to park amongst the other cars. Now, at the entrance they generally give you a little card to fill out with your cars statistics but having no interest in being judged we just stuffed it in the glove box and proceeded to park. We then ran through the basic car show routine which is to buy a bottle of water and an overpriced pretzel and walk around to see the other cars.

We covered the show in about an hour and then proceeded to sit down with some friends and BS over what we had seen. No sooner did we sit down when I saw two judges scoping out the Charger. They looked over, under and around it logging little notes and their books and making comments to each other. Anyway, one of the judges noticed me notice him, came over and asked if I owned the car - “Sure do”, I said.  Then he asked where my information tag was and I explained to the judge that I had no interest in having the car judged and that we just came to see the other cars - this for some reason tweaked him a bit and he told me that if I did not get judged that I would not be able to get judged at any future show that was run by whatever the organization was that ran this show.

I told him that was fine and that again, I was only there to view the other cars. He then proceeded to tell me that he put a sticker on my windshield and took down my name in the record book so that if I did in fact try and attend another car show by this group that I would be ineligible for judging. When I explained that I didn’t care he got offended, wrote down another note in his little book, said a few words to one of the other judges, gave me the stink eye and walked away.

My question is, why would one do this? Why would you purposely ban someone from a show who had no intention of being in the show in the first place? If anyone out there can explain this to me please let me know because I don’t have a clue.

So, you want to build a custom car huh? Well, let me just start by saying that you’d better do some research before you jump in head first. I get A LOT of people telling me that they are thinking about building a car, but in reality they have absolutely no concept of what it takes to actually do this. They think that the shiny red tool box in the corner of their garage is all they will need to make a SEMA show car. They’ve generally read some magazines about how someone built a car for $4000.00 out of junkyard parts, a little rattle can paint and some upholstery work from their Mom and think: “Hey, I can do this… no problem. I’ve got the skills, I got the drive and I’ve got a red tool box. DONE!”

Oh how wrong they are. Being a backyard mechanic is one thing and by this I mean you’ve changed some brake pads, done some oil changes and maybe even installed a stereo or two. Being a true customizer is something totally different as you are generally creating something from nothing. That means taking parts that we’re never meant to work together and making them work together. It’s a bitch and one that constantly bites back.

MR. ANGRY INC.  just finally put the wraps on project “ANGRIER” and let me tell you something. It was a long road to get to this point, 15 months to be exact and all along the way things fought us. From simple electrical issues, to broken wheels, to suspension components, etc… Oh and lets not forget about the money, ALL the money. A good rule of thumb, if you decide to embark on a project is figure out your budget then double it - do this and you may come in on target.

All in all building a car is a truly rewarding experience and if the outcome is what you want you will be thrilled in the end. Just keep in mind that the project will cost you more than just time and money… don’t believe me, ask anyone who’s ever done it.

Good luck people.

Over the past week I’ve been selling a bunch of items here and there to try and make a little loot. Once such item is my old BMW M5. You see it was getting up there in age, performance was still everything it ever was, but since I just started my business MR. ANGRY INC. and needed the capital it had to go. I checked all the other prices on used M5’s on the net and then low-balled all of them by 3 grand. By doing this I sold in the car in about 40 minutes. A gentleman called, we struck a deal and POOF!! M5 is sold. 

Now this is where is gets interesting you see after I posted it sold I began multiple emails from other M5 owners telling me how I was doing “them” a disservice by selling my car under the normal value and that by doing this I was actually dropping the values of their cars… WTF? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

These are emails from people I don’t know and yet they feel the need to tell me how the sale of my car affects them - simply amazing. I sell my car, take the hit and the rest of the jackass peanut gallery out there decides I’m to blame for decline in prices of an 8 year old German muscle car. 

Ladies and Gentleman… you frickin’ kill me. Now go out and there, do something productive and stop wasting my time your BS comments - Schmucks…