Innehållsförteckning för Spring 2017 från Fast Car

“I spotted a massive alloy wheel out the corner of my eye…” Once upon a time, there was a beautiful, tattooed girl called Mel. Mel is the sort of girl who has a big heart and a lot of love to give. She is never one to turn her back on someone or something in need of care. So much so, she has got into a bit of an adoption habit. I’m not talking about taking in a little bunny with a gammy eye, or nursing a disgusting pigeon back to full health. I’m not even talking about giving poor orphaned kids a new home. No, Mel loves adopting unloved cars. She takes them under her wing, fixes them up, gives them a new lease of life and then…

DAMPFHAMMER HALLSTATT, £TBA What we’ve got here is not only a stunning variation on the classic five-spoker, but it’s yet another cast wheel for 2017 from a firm known more for its utterly bat-shit custom forged rims. Over the past season or two crazy forged Dampfhammer designs like the Zermatt and Fleischwolf have been spotted on a select few show-winners on this side of the Atlantic. But it’s the European car market in the USA where they have really made their name. Basically, when these guys drop a new hoop you can forget them making waves. Over there they just prepare for a full-on tsunami! The awesome-looking Hallstatt though, is all about the firsts. It’s their first off-the-shelf cast rim for starters, but it’s also the first aimed more at…

Circu Bun Van Bed, £34,000 Apart from any bed sporting Margot Robbie bollock naked and covered in whipped cream, we’re guessing this has to be the most awesome bit of bedroom furniture ever conceived. Okay, so the Bun Van may be designed specifically for kids, but sod that, we definitely want one too (to be fair Midge, you’ll fit – Jules). I mean, just how cool is this thing? Way too cool for some spoilt, snotty-nosed little urchins. Of course, it’d probably be cheaper to take off your roof, hire a helicopter and drop a real VW camper in your bedroom. But where’s the fun in that? Hand made in Portugal by bespoke Magical Furniture designers, Circu, this limited-edition item features everything from a built-in sofa and desk to a…

It’s hard to imagine today’s scene without Auto Finesse, the coolest UK brand in car detailing. This is even more amazing considering they didn’t even exist six years ago. Now their products are sold world wide, and their presence and influence is felt at shows across the UK and Europe. We caught up with managing director James Batty for a good old yak about cars, car care and fast food.… FC: Auto Finesse has been trading for five years now. How did it all start? James: “Well we are moving in to year five with the products, but it all started back in 1999, cleaning and detailing cars. We then made some products to sell as kits with our valeting services and it all kicked off from there, as everyone…

It seems nowadays that a lot of tuners are throwing the phrase ‘one off’ around at any chance they get. One off custom exhaust. One off headers. One off suspension kit. One off insert a part name. Let’s face it, it’s a buzz word that we as customers and enthusiast look for in a build. It adds that special something we are constantly looking for. That rarity. Knowing the fact that we have the only one in the whole world! If we’re honest, it’s probably a one off as a result of trying to install something that was never designed to fit the car in the first place. No, the one off we are truly seeking is something that’s actually designed for its intended purpose and then, you have the…

If you’re on Instagram, or one of the many social media platforms adopted by most petrolheads, chances are you would have heard of, or at least seen, the work of EMP Performance. Not a week goes by without them, or one of their very happy customers, posting pictures of what can only be described as exhaust fabrication porn. You know the stuff. Pictures of beautifully built back boxes, stunningly crafted TIG-welded pipes with beautifully flowing multicolour beads and lovely, lovely big shiny tips (You’re making me horny here – Midge). You see when it comes to exhausts, EMP are not just any old company. Nope, these guys really are at the top of the exhaust building game, and one of the UK’s best Powerflow dealers. So when it came to…

Choosing a new project isn’t always easy and often raises multiple points for discussion. What’s the fuel consumption like? Can it be tuned easily? Is the missus going to hit the roof when she sees it? Chances are every new project you’ve embarked on has been relatively well researched beforehand – it’s just the smart thing to do. I mean, you don’t just buy a 15-year-old V12 Mercedes over text from a stranger 150 miles away ’cos you’ve seen a video on YouTube you want to emulate, right? No points for guessing who has. But the big arrow hovering above me saying ‘numb nuts’ should clear up any confusion. But let me try and explain the method behind this madness… This wasn’t just any YouTube video. This was an M&S…

Let me take you back a few months, to just before the Christmas turkey blowout and the bucket of vomit that seems to accompany every good New Year celebration (you speak for yourself, Son – Initial G). It was mid-November and we – that’s Jules and myself – were nearly two weeks into a rather epic American roadtrip. We’d already seen the modifying extravaganza that was the SEMA show in Las Vegas. We’d taken the Extraterrestrial Highway north all the way to Utah, just to walk on the hallowed Bonneville salt flats. Shooting cars in LA and racing up California’s Pacific Coast Highway was a blast, but now we were in deepest, darkest LA County, looking for a legendary workshop, a place that came highly recommended by more than a…

In case you’ve gone without internet for the past decade and are unfamiliar with just what Fueltopia is, let us give you a little history. Established for over 10 years, the brand has now come to represent some of the most exciting new drag racing/gymkhana/drift motorsport series in the country, including Barrel Sprint, Formula G and the insane European Burnout Championship. But what about the times when the drivers aren’t shredding rubber and making clouds for the cameras? Why does the automotive fun have to stop there? This is where Fueltopia’s ‘Offline’ events come in: monthly meets held at London’s legendary Ace Cafe, where modified car fans can rub shoulders with some of the front runners of the aforementioned motorsport disciplines. The second instalment of this year’s events was made…

There’s nothing wrong with mundanity, if that’s your bag. Some people just don’t want the hassle of thinking about things too much, so they go with the mainstream and move on to the next decision. These are the people who paint the interior walls of their houses in default magnolia to save choosing a colour. Who stick on a Coldplay CD when they’ve got mates round because they just want a generic, anonymous background noise they can ignore. And who pave over their gardens because flowers and shrubs require decisions to be made. Their lives are simple and uncluttered. They’re also not very interesting though, are they? Where’s the satisfaction in living an unremarkable life, never having the imagination to rock the boat? You’ve got to roll the dice a…

When you do things right, people won’t be sure you’ve done anything at all.” So said the universe itself in a particularly insightful episode of Futurama. Subtlety, you see, is so often the key to satisfaction – people like it when things just work, and work well. You don’t have to be radical to spread joy. It’s basically the opposite approach to what Trump’s up to. Instead of steamrolling, shouting and bullishly forcing change, it’s far more elegant to whisper under the radar. And that’s the cornerstone of Az Riz’s success. Az is, as you might have guessed, the owner of this creamy-smooth E92 3 Series, and he’s gone for a full-on OEM+ aesthetic here. OEM+ is a term that gets banded around a lot these days, with people retrofitting…

In every generation, there exists those people with the desire and skills to craft things with their own hands. Perhaps it was passed down from a grandfather, or perhaps it’s simply an old soul living in the modern day? One thing we do know is that craftsmanship is making a comeback. Nostalgia’s not old. A new approach with traditional values. The art of the skilled hand has never been more important. The Mirror Bright Polish Company was founded in 1901 by Frank Meguiar Jr, to perfect the finishes on fine furniture and the newly introduced automobile. That passion continues today and in 2017 Meguiar’s is hugely excited to launch a special line of products that protect and accentuate your car’s finish, derived from over 110 years of experience, research and…

“I feel the need… the need for speed!” A quote guaranteed to irritate the hell out of anyone who works with planes for a living, as airborne militaristic endeavours in real life have very little to do with the super-camp posturing of Top Gun’s USAF. Indeed, the RAF have always conducted themselves with rather more dignity and, as the menacing black SEAT here serves to illustrate, a simmering aura of no-nonsense authority to boot. It’s a sense of focus that the car’s owner, Liam Gunby, is keen to impress upon us. “I’m not into sports. I have no other hobbies. It’s all about the cars,” he says. “I’ve loved cars my whole life. At school I’d sit in class reading Fast Car and chatting to my mates about what we…

No, not me. I shower everyday (well, most days anyway). I am of course talking about my E92. And to be fair, I wash her a lot more than once a year. It would be criminal not to. But I do like to have one massive annual cleaning session, where everything gets a good old-fashioned spit and polish. And as it’s the detailing special there is no better time to get stuck in. To celebrate this I decided to treat myself to a new detailing kit and some high quality microfibres from the gods that are Meguiar’s, which should see me through the 2017 show season and beyond. Meguiar’s have one of the largest product line ups in the business, and it just got bigger with their new Mirror Bright…

Named after a desert wind, the original 1974 Scirocco was developed as a successor to the gorgeous but seriously outdated Karmann Ghia. It took the functional Mk1 Golf platform and turned it into something sleek, swoopy and sexy. And in 2008, VW decided to have another crack at it. The modern Scirocco, based on the Mk5 Golf platform, is a genuinely beautiful thing to behold, being that most rare thing among modern motors: a car that actually looks pretty much the same as the concept car that heralded it. The move from 2006 IROC concept to 2008 production model involved basically just slapping the correct badges on and stuffing a warranty in the glovebox. They’re decent value now too. Originally retailing from £21,535-£31,225 (depending on spec), you can pick one…

If there is one thing you can be sure that the Tokyo Auto Salon delivers, it’s uniqueness. The show is as unique as the market it attempts to promote. Varied, eccentric, at times surprising and confusing, but always with an underlying purpose of fun. Every year it presents a different feel, dependent on the cars and styles that are most prominently exhibited. But 2017 didn’t really have that. There was no one big thing, no one new style that everyone jumped on. But rather an evolution of the whole tuning and aftermarket scene as a general, with a variety of shops and brands doing a variety of different things. And that’s good because it keeps the industry we love so much alive and moving forward. From a tuning perspective, people…

3SDM 0.09, From £POA The alloy machining maestros at 3SDM have been storming the scene of late, with their new multi-piece wheel range. So much so that we thought this little beauty was another sweet forged offering when it first dropped a couple of weeks ago. In fact Midge even included this one in last issue’s wheel special as a forged design, causing all sorts of last-minute problems on deadline week. The bloody tool. Still, in the little fella’s defence, with its special cut steel lip and contrasting range of matt finishes, the new 0.09 can easily be mistaken for an expensive custom forged rim, even if it’s far more reasonable on the price front. There may be a spot of sexy forging involved, namely the centre cap with its…

Laser Survivor Socket, £20 Anyone who’s ever seen our Jules trying to take off an alternator with a hammer (Now hang on, that was only once – Jules), will know that having the right tool for the job is everything. Well, the thing about the Survivor Socket here is that it’s nearly always the right tool. It’s certainly pretty damn useful. Designed to get a grip on any nut or bolt between 9 and 21mm, even when they’re damaged or broken, this could be a handy addition to any toolbox or even the perfect glovebox companion. It’s certainly preferable to lumping around a whole selection of spanners and sockets in the boot. Petrol is expensive nowadays you know. www.lasertools.co.uk…

Over the years I’ve been fortunate to visit many businesses in the automotive industry across the globe. En route to companies I’ve not previously visited, I tend to paint a picture in my mind and ponder the important things, such as, how long will it take for the kettle to boil? Admittedly, the thought of testing suspension on the road or at the track sounds much more exciting than going for a walk around a warehouse facility on the outskirts of Leicester. That is until I arrive at said ‘warehouse’ and meet Aaron Quilter, who indecently offers tea immediately. Aaron is Bilstein UK’s Aftermarket Manager. Having been at the UK company from its early beginnings in 2000, Aaron is very proud to be what is known internally, as a ‘Bilsteiner’.…

Being an internationally renowned automotive snapper (you mean chancer – Jules), my job is to make feature cars look as best they possibly can for print. It’s like photographing people. You need to be selective, highlight the best parts and avoid the less than perfect attributes. But this Corsa is different. It doesn’t have bingo wings, acne or an embarrassing tattoo. Peel back the layers and if anything, it just gets even better. Try as you may to find a neglected component on this car, but the answer will be nein! And that means no, not nine. It’s a German car remember. As it happens, the owner just happens to be German too and his name is Christian Theegarten. We met Christian at the world famous Opel Treffen show in…

Something had been troubling me about the Honda. I’m infatuated with almost every aspect of it. The handling, the steering feel, the sound, the manic nature of the engine, the way you seem to be plunging deep into the fiery pits of hell in a runaway minecart when the rev needle sweeps past 6,000rpm. But there’s one thing the EP3’s famous for, which somehow wasn’t really working for me: the gear-shift. Don’t get me wrong. There’s nothing up with the gearbox itself. I’m talking about the tactility of the shift, the way it feels as you snick from gear to gear. The weird BTCClike placement of the gearstick positions it a mere hand-span away from the steering wheel, and this should help to make your shifts quick and decisive. But…

BEN TIMEWELL’S CIVIC TYPE R FC says : Inspiration comes from everywhere. This statement couldn’t be truer for Ben Timewell and his awesome EP3. He decided to spray his Honda bright yellow because he liked the colour of the springs on his coilovers. Not the most orthodox way of deciding on a colour change, but definitely one that has paid off! Its colour isn’t the car’s only inspiring modification either. This Type R is full of them and boasts a tasty tech spec of goodies including OZ Racing rims, Stuke aero, and a Skunk exhaust. Not to mention Ben’s great taste in audio products. He’s obviously a connoisseur of sounds. SPEC: CIVIC TYPE R MAIN MODS Full respray in yellow; OZ Racing Leggera wheels; Yokohama AD08r tyres with Ray’s valves;…