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.

Source: eBay

Is the Cougatti Just the Purtiest 2002 Mercury Cougar you ever did see?

Sure, most people would love to have a Bugatti Veyron; sadly, at over a million bucks a pop we're talking a vehicle that's slightly out of reach for most consumers. Thankfully, one man and eBay have rectified this issue with something we'll call a Cougatti (or Bougar).

Based on a 112,000-mile 2002 Mercury Cougar with a V6 and automatic transmission, this one-of-one Cougatti has a starting bid of $89,000 and no takers as of this writing. Potential buyers get all the body work, 20-inch wheels, angel eye HID headlights, LED tails, two gas caps (one functional), and power windows/mirrors.

No pics of the interior just yet, but the seller says it is "in progress" and "very close to being ready for upholstery".

Is this cross-bred creature a crime against humanity or a bargain basement show car? Leave your comments down below.

Link: eBay

Ford Sues Ferrari Over F150 Formula 1 Car Moniker, the Italians Hastily Change it to the F150th Italia

In order to celebrate the 150 years that have passed since the unification of Italy, Ferrari recently chose to name its newest Formula 1 car the “F150”. It seems that Ford wasn’t too impressed with the patriotic gesture and sued the Italian maker over the race car's moniker. The Blue Oval claimed that it closely resembled its own F-150 nameplate, thus causing “irreparable harm” to the trademark.

According to the paperwork filed in Detroit, the lawsuit also referred to Ferrari’s www.ferrarif150.com website and accused the Italian company of cyber theft and trademark infringement.

Ford aimed to prevent the use of the F150 name in the United States, and expected Ferrari to give up any revenue and profits earned through the disputed nameplate in the States.

Furthermore, under the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act, which protects against trademark infringement due to the use of confusing Internet domain names, Ford wanted $100,000 in damages.

However, Ferrari reacted quickly and today changed the F1 car's name to the “F150th Italia”, which was first used in a routine Formula 1 test report posted on the Ferrari website.

The report stated that “the first day of testing for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro got off on the right foot at the Cheste circuit, near Valencia. Before the lunch break, Fernando Alonso completed just over 200 kilometers at the wheel of the Ferrari F150th Italia”.

Later on, Ferrari released an official statement as well, available below.

By Csaba Daradics

[Ferrari Press Release] The name of the new Ferrari Formula 1 car

Maranello, 10th February - On the subject of the name of the new Ferrari Formula 1 car, the Maranello company wishes to point out that it has sent a letter of reply to Ford, underlining the fact that the F150 designation (used as the abbreviated version of the complete name, which is Ferrari F150th Italia) never has, nor ever will be used as the name of a commercially available product – indeed there will definitely not be a production run of single-seaters. In fact, it has always been the case in the history of Scuderia names, that they represent the nomenclature of a racing car project and are linked to a chronological order with a technical basis, or in exceptional cases, to special occasions. This year, the decision was taken to dedicate the car name to a particularly significant event, the 150th anniversary of the Unification of Italy, an event of such great importance that the Italian government has declared, for this year only, a national holiday.

For these reasons, Ferrari believes that its own contender in the forthcoming F1 championship cannot be confused with other types of commercially available vehicle of any sort whatsoever, nor can it give the impression that there is a link to another brand of road-going vehicle. Therefore it is very difficult to understand Ford’s viewpoint on the matter.

Despite this and to further prove it is acting in good faith and that it operates in a completely correct manner, Ferrari has decided to ensure that in all areas of operation, the abbreviated version will be replaced at all times with the full version, Ferrari F150th Italia.

Sources: Ferrari, Detnews & Autoweek

A Nissan Silva Coupe with a Schizophrenic Personality

In October of 2010 we brought you a Toyota Soarer / Lexus SC that had been transformed into an abomination with a Mercedes-Benz CLK DTM front end and a Nissan 200SX rump. It was bad, but I still liked it better than the snooze-mobile that was the ‘91 Soarer / CS.

Well, from the same website that brought us that automotive mullet comes yet another creation that’s been refashioned into something else. This time its a Nissan Silva. This particular freak of coach building features a Mercedes-Benz rear end (or at very least the taillights) and Nissan 350Z front end. The result is less than impressive.

I don’t know what’s worse – the matte white that makes the car look like it’s still in primer or the cacophony of weird vents jutting out of the plastic snap-on bodywork. Despite the owner’s best efforts, the rear bumper clearly doesn’t fit, jutting out beyond the rear wheels and necessitating the addition of those awful rear bulges. Mitsuoka could do better with a Nissan Micra and papier-mâché.

Though don’t take my word for it. Study the pictures and deliver your verdict in the comments section below

Russian Customizer Turns a Jaguar into a GAZ-21 Lookalike

Previously on Carscoop, we’ve seen Pontiac Fieros turned into “Fierarris”, Toyota Soarers adorned with Mercedes-Benzes off cuts and some others too hideous to even mention. For the most part, it’s a case of turning a boring, mainstream car into something that resembles a high-priced exotic if you’re squinting through grease paper with the sun in your eyes and have lost a lot of blood.

What you rarely see is something exotic transformed into something that some people would call mundane. That’d just be silly. Never to be one to shy away from a challenge, the Russians have done just that: taken a Jag and turned it into a GAZ.

Originally this car was a 1993 Jaguar XJ40 with an automatic transmission and a 3.2 L V6. Its exterior has been adorned with the grille, head- and taillights, unique side vents and boot emblem from a ‘70s Volga. It’s not quite in the same league as the BMW 6-series derived Volga V8 Roadster or the Porsche Cayenne-based “Lenin-mobile”, but it’s still an impressive transformation.

No awkward shutlines, no weird overhangs: it just goes to show, when it comes to customization, the Russians know their craft. Maybe the results aren’t always attractive or tasteful, but they’ve got the engineering and mechanical side down pat.

To understand why this was done, you need to understand what the GAZ M21 Volga or GAZ-21 means to Russia. Over there, it’s as ubiquitous and well liked as the Mini, Checker cab or Citroen 2CV are in their respective nations. So it’s no surprise that Volga owners shower a lot of care and attention on their cars.

Working-class Americans used to aspire to own Cadillacs. Working-class poms used to aspire to own Rovers. And in Russia, working-class Russians aspired to own a GAZ. It’s that simple. Check out our gallery and let us know your view in the comments section below.

Source: eBay