CYNHO -- Woodill Wildfire

It's not often that you hear of a car dealer founding his own company, but that is what happened with Blanchard 'Woody' Woodill.  He was a Dodge and Willys dealer in Downey, California, and he decided to make a special sports car company.  So, in 1952, the Woodill Wildfire was introduced.  His original plan was to make some factory cars and sell the others as kit cars, but that didn't work out, and as far as we know, only 9 were actually made at the factory.  The Wildfire used a fiberglass body from Glasspar, a speedboat company later to be renowned for its fiberglass expertise.  This was on 1952, remember, two whole years before the fiberglass-bodied Corvette came out, and more than half a decade before fiberglass kit cars became popular.  The Woodill Wildfire wasn't especially popular, and only around 290 kit cars were built, which makes the Wildfire a very rare car, the factory-built version being even rarer.  But even rarer than the Wildfire kit car is the Woodill Brushfire.  No, it's not another kit car that Woodill made before the company folded in 1956.  No, the Brushfire was a kiddy car.  That's right, a pedal-driven kiddy car.  No word is given on how many of these little guys were built, but Ill bet they're rarer than the Wildfire kit car.

Coolest car wheel designs ever

Everyone loves good wheel designs on a car.  So, here I have complied some of the best ones out there.  Enjoy!

 Alfa Romeo Giulia wheel

 Aston Martin Valkyrie wheel

 BMW M1 wheel

 Chevrolet C2 Corvette Stingray wheel

 Dodge Viper wheel

 Ford GT40 wheel

 Genesis Essentia Concept wheel

 Lamborghini Countach wheel

 Lamborghini Reventon wheel

 Lamborghini Sesto Elemento wheel

 Lancia Delta Integrale Evo wheel

 Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren wheel

 Pininfarina Battista wheel

 Porsche 918 Spyder wheel

 Saab 900 Turbo wheel

 Tesla Model 3 Aero wheel

 Lexus LF-30 Electrified Concept wheel

 

 Alpine A110 wheel

 BMW M1 Hommage Concept wheel

 Holden/Isuzu Piazza wheel

 Maserati Boomerang wheel

 Rimac C_Two wheel

Mercedes-Maybach S-Class wheel

 Spyker C8 wheel

Pontiac Firebird wheel

CYNHO -- Nouvoyage Limousine Tender 33

There have been numerous attempts at amphibious vehicles, some more successful than others, these being cars such as the Sherp, Amphicar 770, and the WaterCar Panther.  But in 2012, Nouvoyage unveiled the Limousine Tender 33, a luxury yacht combined with a land vehicle.  The Tender 33 was named so because it was 33 feet long.  Nouvoyage claimed it could go up to 28 knots (32mph) on water, and 85mph on land.  It could seat up to 14 people, with a customizable interior, bunks, a kitchen, and everything you could possibly want it a luxury yacht that small.  Nouvoyage even said that they had made a 'reliability breakthrough' on the Tender 33, as amphibious vehicles (except for the Amphicar 770 and the Sherp) are notoriously unreliable.  But, as you may have guessed by now because of my use of past tense verbs, it never went into production.  And so far, there have not been any similar amphibious cars produced.

Cool Car Award goes to.....The Brabham BT46B!

I'm a fan of cars.  I admit it.  And I'm also a fan of cars with fans.  I mean, every car has at least one fan (for cooling), so that means that I am a fan of all cars.  Which is what I said.  Oh, forget it.  But what I am talking about here is a car with a fan on the back.  No, the fan doesn't power the car, but it does something cooler; Creates downforce.  Downforce is very important when you're an F1 car, and that is what the BT46 was.  An F1 car.
          The BT46 was made in 1977 for the 1978 F1 season.  When first conceived, it had a few design problems, one of which was the cooling system.  The prototype car had flat panel heat exchangers in the bodywork of the car, to eliminate the need for a radiator.  However, the car had only 30% of the required cooling area, and had serious overheating problems, so the prototype project was abandoned.
          A modified version of the BT46 still raced in 1978, however, in the Swedish Grand Prix, and won, with the famed F1 driver Niki Lauda at the wheel (of course).  The use of downforce creating fans was outlawed in F1 racing later on, but it wasn't that year.  After the first race, however, Brabham withdrew the BT46B, never to race it again.

Interesting features of the Brabham BT46B
1.  It became known as 'the fan car'.
2.  It used an Alfa Romeo flat-crank V12 engine.
3.  It was designed by Gordon Murray, the same person who designed the incredible McLaren F1, and who is also working on the Gordon Murray T.50, set to be unveiled later this year.
4.  It was one of the first cars to use carbon in the brakes.
5.  The later modified version actually did have radiators, one in each nose piece, and eliminated the heat exchange panels.
6.  Brabham first claimed it's fan was for cooling, when in reality it was for creating a vacuum under the car to produce downforce.  Brabham tried to keep the fan a secret at first by covering it with a dustbin lid, but it was soon discovered, and the other race teams protested, saying that the fan flung debris on the other cars, although this was actually untrue.  The car was finally allowed to race after quite a bit of debate.
7.  The car was withdrawn in 1978 as a result of the head of Brabham, Bernie Ecclestone, was running for Formula One Constructors Association president, and while he did go on to win it and become president, that didn't change the fact that the BT46B never again saw a public race track, which isn't very fair.