It’s been a long time between updates, but here’s a selection of shots from last night’s screening of the classic American Graffiti at the Coburg Drive-in.

The film was screened as part of an event organised by the Melbourne-based Fuel Magazine, and in that scenario, you know exactly what to expect: hot rods, classic muscle cars, and plenty of them.

But first, here’s the trailer for the film:

Now, onto the photos.

For me, the real highlight of hot rods is not the overall package, but rather the little touches, the small garnishes and chrome decorations. Read on.

Check out all of the full-size photos here on my flickr page.

One of my friends, Dan, loves to tinker with cars. A lot of my friends do, actually, but Dan always has something on the go. He generally sticks to Mazdas, but he’s also got a fantastic Volkswagen Beetle that he’s kitted out in true ‘ratrod’ spec, and we all love it.

His birthday was earlier this month – the day after mine, in fact – and we thought it would be great to buy some junker off the ‘net, deliver it to his house, and enjoy his reaction.

Tony had come across this unloved first-generation 1977 Honda Civic five-door for $200, and we decided it was the perfect choice; it was no Mazda, but it was old – ideal for Dan – and it was cheap – ideal for us.

More photos through the link.

The day began simple enough, with Joel dropping his $1.80 packet of donuts on the ground before any of us had even had a bite. Top work.

Joel and I arrived first, and within 10 minutes, the rest of the guys – and Tony, with Dan’s new Civic – had arrived.

And here she is: 1200cc engine, two-speed Hondamatic transmission, black-taped speed stripes, a tank of premium and brand-new door cards.

Glorious.

I’m told that PBS radio station sticker was placed there to cover the holes left after someone stole the badge that was there. Now we’re concerned that if we remove the sticker, the car might collapse in a heap.

Lichen adds character.

The temptation to paint the horn buttons red and write ‘NOS’ on them was difficult to overcome, but we managed.

Star gives a speed boost and allows you to drive through other motorists, flipping them on their head and causing them to lose all their coins.

Those brand-new door cards I mentioned? Still wrapped in plastic. Getting visions of my grandfather’s couch…

Ryan applied a racing number to the roof. I asked about the relevance of the number 4: “well it’s got no round bits. Easy to tape…”

Above: the highlight of the day begins as Tony rolls up to the home of Dan, who suspects nothing.

And now; the video of the handover.

Above: Here’s the brilliant bit; Dan and this little Honda both rolled off the assembly line in the same month, of the same year.

It’s all smiles on the outside, but you just know that on the inside, there’s only “Oh, god.” But don’t worry mate, we even got you a repair manual.

For the wrong engine…

But wait, what’s this? The first modification, and all within 30 minutes of taking ownership!

Dan had found some roofracks on the side of the road a few weeks earlier, and he figured he’d see if they’d fit the Civic.

Perfect.

V.

This week’s test car is the 2011 FPV GS, the entry-level offering in the Ford Performance Vehicles line-up in Australia.

Powered by a locally-modified and supercharged version of Ford America’s 5.0 litre ‘Coyote’ V8, the GS offers a heady 315kW and 545Nm of torque.

The new engine replaces Ford Australia’s long-serving 5.4 litre ‘BOSS’ V8, which developed 290kW and 520Nm of torque.

Honestly, if I was Ford, I wouldn’t even bother bringing the XR8 back. This thing is priced alongside the Holden Commodore VE SS V, and makes a bucketload more power. It’s just one big bag of win.

Hell. When I was in high school, the car every kid wanted was the Holden Special Vehicles (HSV) GTS. Power? Well, in the mid 90s, the king was the VT Commodore-based GTS, and it made what at the time was a huge 220kW through its Australian-produced 5.7 litre V8.

Good times…

I’ll have my review online at TMR sometime in the next two weeks.

v.

It’s been a warm and humid day, but with Melbourne being the faux-tropical environment that it loves to be during Summer, we’ve been copping flash rains for the past few hours.

I wandered past our open front door, not long after the rain stopped, and was greeted by a stunning sight; steam pouring off the road as the briefly-returning Sun began to bake the tarmac.

The hero of this photo is of course the Peugeot RCZ, this week’s test car. I’ve got the automatic version, which is a good 30kW weaker than its manual sibling, but it’s nonetheless a decent drive. It will certainly appeal to those merely searching for a good-looking car.

Although I don’t personally find the RCZ all that attractive, it turns more heads than any car I’ve driven in a long time. Very nice interior, I must admit.

Dropped into the launch today of Fuel Magazine Australia’s fifth issue, at hot-rod mob Rancho Deluxe in Collingwood.

Some fine, fine rods were on display. Kudos to the guys for putting on a top show.

Incidentally, Rancho Deluxe has a little cafe in the workshop that’s open every Saturday, so it’s worth getting in there to grab a coffee and see what projects they’re working on.

More shots after the break.

Now, on with the cars.

Love the warping of my face.

Time again for the monthly ‘end of month meet’ for the JDM Style Tuning forums, which I help run.

This month’s event, held on this Saturday just past, will probably be the last one at Docklands for a little while. As our numbers grow, the number of troublemakers increases – and so does the presence of security or, worse, the police.

No police this month, but the car park’s security did show up. They were quite good about the whole thing, but in the end it’s all private property and we need to look at organising a meet that doesn’t rely on using a government- or privately-owned venue for our gatherings.

For next month, we’re considering a drive out to the country, with lunch at a pub or restaurant somewhere. We’ll see how that goes…

I caught up with some old friends and made some new ones last night, with a couple of folks coming down from Sydney to check out the Semi-Permanent design conference (I really need to go to this eventually).

Justin and Christina made the trek down to Melbourne, and because they own the online JDM Style Tuning and VWGolf.net.au communities, we organised an impromptu joint meet between the two groups.

Sadly, as is generally the case in cold old Melbourne, not many guys could dig their balls out of their vaginas to join us and it was a pretty small outing in the end. Certainly wasn’t boring though.

In a bid to play with my new toy some more, I jumped in the car and went for a drive to my nearest suburb still likely to have places open and lit at 9pm – Box Hill.

By the time I got there, I was feeling a bit peckish – my dinner plans were scrapped earlier in the night – and then I remembered that a friend of mine is super keen on a particular burger joint in Box Hill; one of the few non-Asian stores in Box Hill actually, haha.

This friend reckons these burgers qualify for that classic ‘unknown, unassuming burger joint that makes the best burgers ever, and most people don’t even know it exists’ status that some lucky little well-operated places manage to attain.

Jake, it was a good burger dude, but it was far from magical. You need to get out more!

A couple more shots after the jump.

Some poor kid seems to have lost her Dora-covered Croc. Still, from all the bad juju the Crocs brand seems to carry among the hip social elite (I’m lookin’ at you, Friedy), the kid’s probably better off now.