The vets vintage car blog

    IL Tempo Gigante — now that’s Norway’s own big‑time folk‑hero of a hot‑rod, loved by dang near everybody up there, especially the die‑hard car folks. Kjell Aukrust sketched her out back in the late ’60s, and she got made immortal in that 1975 movie. Then in ’76, Ivo Caprino went all‑in and built a full‑scale version, sittin’ on a 1966 Cadillac ambulance chassis with the license plate BL 50000. She might look like somethin’ straight outta the 1920s or ’30s, but truth is she’s a child of the ’60s and ’70s — kinda like those Panther De Ville and Excalibur Phaeton rigs from the same era. Panther De Ville even showed up in them Cruella De Vil movies in ’96 and 2000. You could compare her to them Mercedes Gazelle replicas from the ’70s too — but honestly, IL Tempo Gigante is bigger, badder, louder, and meaner. No point comparin’ her to foreign junk when she’s in a league of her own. The bodywork came from Ermanno Martinuzzi, the tech from Jan Michelsen, Odd Høie, and Svein Mar...

        Ford Sierra XR8i — now that’s some real-deal South African hot iron right there. Even if she rolled outta the bottom end of Africa, this was the only Sierra that ever felt truly American at heart. Packin’ a 5‑liter Mustang V8 and wearin’ more U.S. muscle‑car attitude than European family‑car manners, she was one mean machine. Shame they didn’t ship a whole mess of ’em up to Norway and the rest of Europe back in the ’80s — or anytime after, for that matter. Folks would’ve gone wild for ’em. But partner, here’s the truth: ‘Drive a Ford Sierra XR8i like a true Boer named Johannes, and you’ll be the straight‑up king of every Ford or Sierra meet across the Norwegian countryside come summertime.’ ”    

                    Rolls‑Royce The Beast — now that’s one wild, fire‑breathin’ monster of a machine. She’s packin’ a full‑blown 27‑liter V12 Rolls‑Royce Merlin Meteor engine, same kinda heart they used in Spitfires. Built first by Paul Jameson back in the ’60s, then turned into a full‑on legend by John Dodd — the man who carried that whole masterpiece on his shoulders ’til he passed in December 2022. Way back in the late ’70s or early ’80s, that big ol’ Beast even caught fire drivin’ home from a car show in Sweden. Folks say the show was such a hit that King Carl Gustaf himself invited John Dodd over just to lay eyes on the machine. Rolls‑Royce once dragged Dodd into court tryin’ to make him yank off the Rolls‑Royce grille and badge. He lost that fight, so nowadays she wears a ‘JD’ logo instead — John Dodd’s own initials sittin’ proud where the RR used to be. She started out burgundy red with a real Rolls‑Royce grille, but today she’s ...