It Came From eBay Hell: The Geo Storm Pickup You Never Knew You Wanted

Few names in automotive history make the average car enthusiast’s skin crawl like, “Geo”. Geo was General Motors response to the growing number of Japanese and South Korean imports that had invaded the U.S. market. Essentially taking the most boring and insipid models from Suzuki, Toyota and Isuzu and building them stateside, Geo embodied the whole, “Who Gives A...” attitude that has made GM so reviled by some.

The Geo Storm was essentially an Isuzu Impulse stripped off all the things that would have made the latter an appealing proposition to the enthusiast: Lotus tuned suspension, turbocharger and AWD. What was left was essentially a four-cylinder sedan with two less doors and a vaguely sporty body. Still, it was a big seller for Geo and GM, no doubt leaving the corpse of Colin Chapman rolling in his grave.

And so it was, from the depths of eBay Hell, a “1 of a kind” Geo Storm pickup truck. Behold the myriad of features such as a sliding rear window with “WWII Bomber Girl mural”, gullwing T-Tops and custom 17-inch rims. A fourth generation Camaro-style front end, red white and blue “Patriotic paint theme”, a Chevy Chevelle SS hood cowling and a shaved tail gate handle complete the exterior package.

The car retrains Isuzu’s 12-valve engine and 5spd manual transmission, the former of which has recently had a comprehensive tune-up. It’s hard to poke too much fun at the seller: a civilian combat veteran hit by some family health problems. All told it’s a good conversion and the price – US$13,000 – could be a lot worse. Check out the pics (and video) and leave your voice your opinion below.

By Tristan Hankins

Source: eBay

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Phantom of the Chrysler: Rolls Royce Makeover for 300 Sedan

Adding to very long list of Chrysler 300 models turned into Rolls Royce or Bentley clones that we've shown you over the past few years is this two-tone burgundy-goldish example, which is said to have been snagged in the city of Tangier in Morocco by a reader of the Autogespot forums. Follow the jump to check out one more picture of the car and to leave your thoughts in the comments section.

Photo source: Autogespot

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Bugatti Veyron Replica Crafted from BMW 6-Series Coupe [Video]

Discovered by one of our regulars on Youtube is this walk-around video of a Bugatti Veyron replica. Even though we've seen a ton of Ferrari and Lamborghini replicas, for some reason, the VW Group's flagship supercar hasn't been a hit among enthusiasts of the sort, so it's not very often that we stumble upon generic Veyrons.

The poster of the video claims that this faux Bugatti is based on the BMW 6-Series Coupe. While we can't be 100 per cent sure about the claim due to the low quality of the video, the interior of the replica does indeed look like its sourced from the Bavarian model. Watch the video right after the jump.

Hat tip to Ed!

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Mitsuoka Updates Galue Limousine, Based on Nissan Teana

There are coachbuilders and coachbuilders. And then there's Mitsuoka, a Japanese company that believes in bettering a vehicle's appearance by collecting styling bits from here and there. Memorable creations include the Mazda MX-5-based Himiko Roadster, the Ford Mustang-based Galue Convertible and last but not least, how can we not forget the fish-faced Orochi...

In its latest venture, the Japanese coachbuilder has updated the design of its Galue Limousine, a four-door sedan built on the newest version of the JDM Nissan Teana sedan.

We weren't able to decipher much from the Japanese-only press release, but looking at the photos it appears that Mitsuoka reworked the car's front (which continues to fuse styling elements from classic British cars) and rear ends. Talking about the Galue's buttocks, is it me or are those tail lights look eerily similar to the ones found on the Fiat 500?

The new Galue Limousine is offered in several trim levels and two engine options, a 2.5-liter and a 3.5-liter V6. It goes on sale in Japan on November 12, with prices ranging from 3,680,000 to 5,284,000 Yen (approximately US$44,700 to $64,200).

*Correction: The Galue is based on the JDM Nissan Teana and not the Fuga as previously noted

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BMW 330i Coupe Revived from the Brink, Returns as E46 Pickup Truck

One member of the E46fanatics forum has recently proven just how much of a fanatic he is by creating this E46-based modern El Camino. The most surprising aspect is that its creator spent less than $10,000 total on the project.

Starting out with a totaled E46 330i Coupe (optioned the ZHP performance package, no less), forum member bodycustom1 originally intended to just repair the car. Then his father walked into the shop gave him a different idea: lob off the remains of the rear end and tack on the bed from a Chevy Colorado.

Instead of keeping the bed separate, which was the original idea, the project snowballed a bit and now includes a more fabricated and streamlined body with a custom rear window, shortened sunroof track, and BMW gas cap integrated into the shortened bed (the width was A-OK).

This may enrage BMW purists all day long, but other car fans out there should be able to move beyond the "destruction" of this BMW coupe and see a nice utilitarian vehicle that was saved from the crusher.

By Phil Alex

Source: E46fanatics , Via: Jalopnik

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