The Tragic Tale Of The Frankenstein Tesla Model S That Burned Down [UPDATE: You Got Us]

We all love a good project car story. It’s delightful hearing about that restored MG or the track-reborn Miata. This is a story about a . It all started in January 2016, when YouTuber purchased a flooded black Tesla Model S for $14,000. He named it Dolores and it became...

Sep 13, 2025

Watch This Guy Battle An Engine Fire With A Yard Sprinkler

How’s your day going? Bad? Is it “you lit your engine on fire and now you’re trying to put it out with a lawn sprinkler” bad? What you’re looking at here is a humble car vlogger’s adventures in automotive maintenance and modification. This YouTuber on documents some things he’s done...

Sep 13, 2025

A 3,000-Plus-Horsepower Nissan GT-R Just Wrecked Another Quarter-Mile Record

I thought I had seen the end of it last March, when AMS Performance’s Alpha G GT-R at 196.27 mph. I thought wrong. This past weekend, ran its own GT-R at the Woodburn Dragstrip in Oregon. On the car’s third run, it hit a quarter mile in 6.88 seconds at...

Sep 13, 2025

I Am Oddly OK With This Aston Martin Malibu Zagato

The email came in on our tips line with the subject “Because Jalopnik likes the wonderful & weird.” And you know what? I opened it up and found that it was absolutely true. This Chevy Malibu is both wonderful and weird! As the guys from car customization shop, , tell...

Sep 13, 2025

Here's What It Cost Me To Drive My Rebuilt Nissan 300ZX Twin Turbo Over Four Months

It’s been nearly four months since I last checked in about my I’ve been trying to drive the car more often, because that’s what cars are for: to be driven. I can report that it has been a solid vehicle overall. Yes, solid... aside from it randomly not starting and...

Sep 13, 2025

My $1 Oldsmobile Might Be The Best Car In My Fleet But I Still Have To Destroy It

I bought my because I needed a sacrificial vehicle for a diabolical project I have planned. The problem is, after getting this Alero’s “Quad 4" engine running beautifully last weekend, I’m having second thoughts. Should I destroy what might be the best vehicle in my fleet? I should clarify that...

Sep 13, 2025

What Are You Wrenching On This Weekend?

It’s the weekend. Hopefully you’re not at work at anything except an engine or a gearbox that needs some TLC. Show us what you’re up to. Me? Sadly, I’m not up to much. Still haven’t bought a car since my move to New York City. And it sucks. I’m desperate...

Sep 13, 2025

How A North Carolina Mechanic Home-Brewed A Cadillac Seville Into An Epic Car Hauler

I just got off the phone with David Kohn, a mechanic from Boone, North Carolina, who used a bunch of brilliant home-brew methods to turn a Cadillac Seville into a flatbed car-hauler. Here’s how he concocted this genius bit of automotive glory. Back in 1998, David was having issues hauling...

Sep 13, 2025

Here's Why Engine Oil Filters Are So Fascinating

On a shelf in my garage sits a truly shocking collection of oil filters, including those for cars I don’t even own. I’m not sure I have a good explanation for my obsession, other than simply that oil filters are beautiful contraptions. Here’s why. Before you judge me, hear me...

Sep 13, 2025

This $800 Jeep Grand Wagoneer Hasn't Run In 12 Years And It's My New Off-Road Project

Two years ago, I used junkyard parts to turn a into an off-road beast. Then I rebuilt a farm Jeep, took it on a 1,300 mile road trip, and wheeled the crap out of it at Moab. Now it’s time to introduce this year’s project: an $800 Jeep Grand Wagoneer...

Sep 13, 2025

Tell Us About A Time A Simple Repair Job Turned Into A Total Shitshow

Last night, I spent three hours freezing my ass off in a rainy, windy department store parking lot because a simple repair job turned into a nightmare. Look at that picture above, and you’ll have a decent idea of the mess I was in. I had just asked my friend...

Sep 13, 2025

I Accidentally Put Diesel In My Car's Gas Tank! What Do I Do Now?

It’s springtime! Time to start working on your project car, learn a new wrenching skill, learn how things work under the hood, or just spruce up your daily driver. All month, we’ll be looking back at our best informative, maintenance and DIY articles from Jalopnik’s near 20-year history to...

Sep 13, 2025

I Can't Stop Watching These Two Guys Try To Revive A Truck That's Been Abandoned For 26 Years

Two guys in Iowa found a 1965 Ford F-250 that had been abandoned in the woods since 1991. The video series showing how they got the dilapidated pile of junk running and driving is totally captivating. I’ve always been a fan of , because compared to a lot of other...

Sep 13, 2025

Why I'm Trading My $1 Oldsmobile For A Totaled 2003 Kia Rio

A few weeks ago, from a friend who just wanted the non-running junker out of her driveway. My plan was to destroy the car in an upcoming video series, but those plans have now changed; I’ve decided to trade the N-Body sedan for a ruined 2003 Kia Rio. I have...

Sep 13, 2025

Nine Scary Ways That Your Automobile Can Fail

It’s Halloween, the perfect time to talk about things that haunt us: like parts failures that can cause us to lose control of our vehicles. Here are the scariest automobile failure modes I can think of. I’m going to limit this list to somewhat-common types of mechanical mishaps, since there...

Sep 13, 2025