I’m currently flying to Phoenix. As I stare aimlessly through the seat back in front of me, awaiting my complimentary child-sized Coke Zero, I noticed my hands. They’re lightly stained with dirt, grease, and grime from working on cars. The sides of my pointer fingers have become dried out, probably from being in contact with…
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Oregon is among a handful of states that don’t allow kei vehicles to be registered for use on public roads. However, there’s now a group that is advocating to have this changed. The group, JDM Oregon Advocates, is organizing for a move to allow kei cars to be road-legal there and to have a level…
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Here’s one of those things that only gearheads would probably notice, but like … how? How does a super-wide high-performance tire end up in the gutter like this? This isn’t a donut spare tire on a wheel from a Toyota Camry or a 1988 Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera. It’s certainly not a blown-out carcass from an…
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At Crankshaft Culture, we say we’re United By Horsepower; we’re all gearheads no matter what we drive or ride. The power of this bond can be seen in some very unique ways, and sometimes even potentially lifesaving ones. Such is the case with Team Truck Melanoma. This organization seeks to spread awareness of melanoma, one…
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When I was a kid growing up in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota, University Avenue was the prime cruising spot. When I was in my early teens in the early 1990s, I went to this place for the first time with my buddy, Dan. I often think this is where I really found…
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Style and trends are a funny thing. There’s always this desire for retro, whether we’re talking clothes, music, or automotive styling. Currently, ’80s and ’90s style is in, and the nostalgia can hit hard. Heck, we own three 1990s Mitsubishis. But some people are making caricatures of these retro rides, going way overboard—even more overboard…
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The Specialty Equipment Market Association show, or SEMA as it is better known, showcased thousands of interesting, crazy, oddball, awesome, and some just plain obnoxious rigs this year.
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“You modified a Toyota Yaris? Why bother?” Yep. Heard that one before. “You drove from Oregon to Colorado in that?” [points at our Suzuki Sidekick and trailer] Uh huh. Got that multiple times. When talking cars, some peoples’ eyes glaze over when I’m telling them we have a customized Toyota Yaris as our “go kart,” and a lifted…
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Ford guys. Chevy guys. Truck guys. Lowrider guys. Drifters. Overlanders. Hot rodders. Jeepers. Big trucks. Micro cars. Many of these are opposites on the automotive spectrum, but they all share a commonalty: an automotive passion. Whether lifted or lowered, on dubs or on 37s, supercars or subcompacts, as automotive enthusiasts, we all share the same core passion, just…
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