MattKendrick.com

A while back I did a post about the owner of Papa John’s getting his beloved 71′ Camaro back. Now you can own a diecast of the same car. It’s all part of an ongoing campaign. The diecasts are licensed 1:64 scale models produced by Johnny Lightning. They feature the rare gold and black paint scheme. They even sport a Papa John’s pizza delivery sign on top. Each blister pack is serialized. Very top quality stuff. But what’s even sweeter, part of proceeds go to Toys for Tots. Not to mention a free medium cheese pizza to boot. Not bad for five bucks. Find out more here.

The weather is getting colder and it’s time to start picking up old indoor hobbies. One of my hobbies is building model cars. I thought it would be interesting to look on YouTube for some videos to get new ideas. Boy was I in for a treat. I came across a channel called “Cancars.” This guy has some interesting stuff. He specializes in making junkers and junkyard dioramas. In the video below he shows a neat trick on how to make car seats show wear and rips. This video also shows how to simulate rust on models as well. Check it out!

Got a thirst for online drag racing? You might try out Nitto 1320 Legends. You buy a car, build it and race it. You can walk through some tutorials to earn quick  cash to begin tuning your car. You can race against other people, as well as race against the computer tournaments for big cash. Make friends and join clubs as your street credit builds.

Starting out you can choose between of two basic cars. One being a Acura Integra the other being a Scion tC. Both have a decent amount of parts to choose for them. As you progress you gain access to  more cars and parts. The racing is based on a quarter mile strip (hence 1320 feet from the title). Tournaments are setup for bracket racing. Street races against other players can be bracket or heads up.

The controls are a little bit different than most driving games. Keys W and S, serve as upshift/downshift. The mouse controls the throttle.  You can also use the mouse to brake as well. Next to the brake button is the clutch adjustment option (high/low). There are no controls for steering. But then again for a drag racing game you don’t need much.

It isn’t the flashest racing game you’ll ever see. It doesn’t pack in a lot of muscle cars. But it sure is fun and not to mention “Free”. I’ve spent a fair amount of time tuning my Scion tC. I’m now running high 13’s in the quarter mile. Not impressive. But it’s consistent for bracket racing. Till next time, see ya out on the track. Check it out at http://www.nittolegends.com

I’ve heard many stories about people selling things they love to better themselves.  Not too often do those things come back. But that’s not the case for one lucky Camaro owner, John Schnatter the owner of Papa Johns.

If you’ve ordered Papa Johns in the last few months, you know the story about John selling his beloved 71′ Camaro Z28. The car was sold to help build the now multi-million dollar corporation we know today. John featured the story on the cover of pizza boxes as part of a campaign to help find the car. The initial finder’s fee was $25,000, but was raised to a quarter million to speed the search. Earlier this month the car was found in Flatwoods, KY.

According to an article on Jalopnik.com, John got back more than he bargained for. The current owner, Jeff Robinson had made a few wild modifications. The biggest being a big block engine that makes over 800 horsepower. With additional new wheels/tires plus some other parts, the car completes the quarter mile in under 10 seconds. However Schnatter has plans to restore it back to the street car he remembers. He also has some of the original parts for the car as well. A man with a vision. The monster motor will go back to Jeff Robinson. What a sweet deal for both. Now all is well and ends well. Jeff Robinson is $250,000 richer and Papa Johns Schnatter has his smoke’n Camaro back.

Yesterday I was surfing around on nbc.com and came across Jay Leno’s Garage. As you may know, Jay Leno has stepped out of the late night spotlight. However Jay, is following his passion for cars through this new show. Jay is a car nut and private collector of many different rare and custom rides. Sounds a lot like me (the car nut part, without the collection). Anyways, what caught my eye was a video on the 2009 Hurst Challenger.

Hurst is a company known for it’s shifters. In my opinion, they make some of the greatest shifters on the planet. After driving my brother’s Hurst equipped 67′ Chevelle, I can say that with experience. He has the V-Matic 2 model, for automatic, with normal and ratcheting modes. Hurst has also been known for building special edition cars. Their first custom production car was the 442 Hurst Olds back in 1968. This would be the first of many special edition cars. Jay Leno shows us this new rare 2009 Hurst Challenger. Check out the video below of this sweet ride.