1950 F-1 Custom Built Pick Up/mild Custom Rod on 2040-cars

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Watch this lead sled go rallying in Finland

Custom cars generally fit into neat little boxes in terms of how they are used. For example, you're unlikely to see a modded Corvette going rock crawling; it's just not what it's made for (though we bet it'd look awesome, for a minute). In the same way, chopped, channeled and customized '50s hot rods aren't really meant to go racing. They look great and go fast, but they are generally more cruisers than sports cars.
However, if this video is any indication, the people of Finland don't adhere in these stereotypes, because this rodder is happy to play in the dirt with his lead sled.
According to the video, the driver is a member of the Ford-Freak Club of Finland, and he clearly knows how to have some fun. Possibly inspired by his country's great rally drivers, he gets the tail way out going around this gently curving gravel track. The stunt is somewhat reminiscent of the stock cars races on the sand at Daytona Beach, and this is probably close to what it sounded like too. Scroll down to watch a very cool Finn getting his hot rod a little dirty.

2015 Fisker-Galpin Rocket Quick Spin [w/video]

There is no shortage of fast Mustangs these days. Roush and Saleen will tune your ordinary 'Stang into something really special. Ford itself offers hot coupes like the new Shelby GT350. Don't even get me started on the endless aftermarket catalogs full of bolt-on whats-its and performance upgrades. Standing out within the huge crowd of tuned Mustangs is hard to do. But you'll definitely notice this one. "I always wanted to do a Mustang," Henrik Fisker told me as we walked toward his latest creation, the Rocket, parked outside the Inn at Spanish Bay in Pebble Beach, CA. The man knows a thing or two about design, after all. He penned the BMW Z8, as well as the Aston Martin DB9 and V8 Vantage. But this Rocket is, well, ugly. The rear end isn't totally terrible, and those 21-inch wheels are sort of cool, but taken as a whole, it looks like it swallowed something it doesn't like the taste of. But beauty is in the eye of the beholder – or perhaps, the creator – so we'll let Mr. Fisker explain why the car looks the way it does. See the video below for his brief design walkaround. If you can get past the looks, there's a world of performance to unleash, thanks to the boys at Galpin Auto Sports – the same folks responsible for the GTR1 I drove last year. The Mustang's 5.0-liter V8 gets a 2.9-liter Whipple supercharger that improves output to 725 horsepower (the torque figure isn't available), and the car's suspension has been thoroughly reworked to help put all that grunt to the ground. It's very good, yet very familiar. Let me explain. Driving Notes Like the stock Mustang, it's really easy to drive. The car fires up with a growl, you move the shifter into first gear, and the action of engagement is as solid as it is in the normal 5.0-liter car. Both the clutch and throttle have a progressive action, so it's super easy to launch the Rocket (sorry). Once you get going, there's a ton of power to unleash. It doesn't smack you in the face right up front, though – the power delivery is smooth and linear. Easy to manage, too, thanks to that slick six-speed manual transmission. Credit Ford (and Getrag) for making a manual that's able to handle so much extra grunt. That said, the Rocket feels like your typical fast Mustang. It goes like hell in a straight line and there isn't a ton of steering feel. Galpin retuned the electronic power-assisted steering, but it's still too light considering the added power of the car.

Chip Ganassi Racing switches to the Ford EcoBoost-powered Riley Daytona Prototype

Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates (CGRFS) announced yesterday at Ford's SEMA press conference that it will field a Ford-Riley Daytona Prototype with the 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6 in the 2014 United SportsCar Championship (USCC). CGRFS is the second team to commit to the new Ford-Riley car, behind Michael Shank Racing (which has already used the racecar to break a 26-year-old top-speed record at Daytona International Speedway).
"Over the last 10 seasons we have been able to experience a great deal of success in Grand-Am," Chip Ganassi says, "and now with the dawn of the new United SportsCar Championship we feel that Ford power will be a key ingredient to writing the next chapter of our sports car program."
In the last Grand-Am season, CGRFS raced a BMW-Riley Daytona Prototype. The team has won seven Daytona Prototype championships, all in the past ten years. Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas return as the team's prototype co-drivers, and will attend their maiden race in the Ford-Riley at the Rolex 24 at Daytona in January.