Volo Museum Sale: Get Your Mirthmobile Here
The Volo Auto Museum in Volo, Illinois, has a lot of prominent cars for such an obscure place. In fact, they have so many that they're clearing some room. So, if you've ever wanted to put your butt in the same seat once occupied by Mike Myers, Volo can make it a reality, getting you into the Mirthmobile from the film Wayne's World for $14,998. That's a lot for a Pacer. A Stude used in the 1989 Batman movie can be yours for $29,998, and if you really want to go big, you can pay $49,998 for a '95 Mitsubishi Eclipse from The Fast & The Furious-$45,000 or so more than its trade-in value.
Volo's clearance sale is ongoing. Volo is located 50 miles north of Chicago and the museum is open seven days a week ($7.00 admission). For info, call 815/385-3644 or visit volocars.com, and have your checkbook ready.-John Pearley Huffman
The Drag Radial Controversy
A few months ago we announced that Rick Head of Innovative Turbo had taken the ultimate e.t. for a drag-radial car: 7.66 at 186 mph. We failed to mention that he did it on Mickey Thompson ET Street Radials, and the guys at M/T begged for clarification. Why? Not just for the free plug, but because the M/Ts are in the middle of a battle in the drag radial marketplace that started when NMRA (the same body sanctioning the new Car Craft Street Race) refused to allow M/T radials to compete in radial classes. The NMRA says Mickeys would stink up the class, basically because they are too good. Sure enough, when the PSCA on the West Coast had M/T as the spec tire, everyone went three-tenths quicker. The M/T is an evil, sticky meat.
The big question is, what's the point of drag-radial racing? It's already established that it's not for average street rubber. So who decides how sticky a drag radial is allowed to be? And, when other rumored drag radials come to market from other bigger, more heavily funded companies, will they be allowed to race? Do sticky tires ruin the intent? Watch the controversy play out in the coming year.-David Freiburger
A Four-Banger SS?
Breaking tradition and all that is holy, Chevy has done it: The SS badge is now worn by a four-cylinder compact car. It's the '05 Chevy Cobalt SS, and we'd like to see it with rear drive and a V-8, a statement we can make because it's true for everything, including most plants, animals, and geological features. But on its own terms, the Cobalt SS is a breakthrough. It is, by far, the best front-wheel-drive car Chevy has ever built.
Based on the Delta architecture of the Saturn Ion and Opel Vectra (unibody, front MacPherson struts, rear semi-independent torsion beam), what separates the Cobalt SS coupe is the guise of performance: an Eaton-supercharged Ecotec 2.0L, DOHC, 16-valve four making 205 hp with a five-speed transaxle and optional limited-slip, plus a 4.05:1 final drive. In the front-drive-twerp class, Dodge's 230hp turbocharged Neon SRT-4 remains the car to beat. The more expensive all-wheel-drive Subaru WRX STi and Mitsubishi Evo VIII are quicker, but none have suspension tuning any better than the Cobalt's. It was developed by engineer Mark Stielow-the same guy who built all those street machine Camaros including CC's '93 Real Street Eliminator winner-and effectively exploits the Pirelli PZero P215/45R18 tires. It might be better if Chevy knocked some weight out of the car's 2,806 pounds.