Roadkill

Extreme Elco Engine Swap!

David Freiburger, Mike Finnegan and a carsick dog drive a '69 El Camino 500 miles from home (on seven cylinders) to change an engine in the parking lot of Summit Racing. The story goes that Finnegan's wife's grandfather bought this1969 Chevy El Camino brand new, and it's been passed down through the family, finally to her. It's a solid car, and the suspension has been hopped up, but the all-original 350 engine was smoking like a freight train. That didn't stop the guys from limping it from Los Angeles, California to Sparks, Nevada, where Summit Racing has a fully-stocked warehouse. Summit sells every speed part and replacement part on Earth, including the 420hp, 383ci crate engine, so the logic was that the guys would save time on the engine swap because they could walk right into the store instead of driving to a parts store multiple times, as they would have back home. So how long will it take a couple gearheads to change an engine outside in a snow flurry? Will the EPA shut them down before they can finish? And what happens when you let a carsick dog ride shotgun?

Rat Rod vs Lamborghini Aventador!

On this episode of Roadkill, HOT ROD's David Freiburger and Mike Finnegan spend 24 crazy hours with a 1930 Model A Rat Rod and a 2012 Lamborghini Aventador to find out which wildly impractical, larger-than-life car attracts the most attention.

Thrash Battle! Van vs Wagon

On this episode of Roadkill, David Freiburger and Mike Finnegan go head-to head in an epic driving competition that's really just an excuse for some hilarious, needless car bashing. The victims are two parts cars for HOT ROD magazine projects: a '90-something Dodge conversion van that will give up its 360 V8 in the name of hot rodding and an '87 Buick wagon that was intended as a chassis donor... but after this, maybe not. Let the battle begin!

Release The Draguar! Building a Blown Jaguar Rat Rod

On this episode of Roadkill, Freiburger and Finnegan do unspeakable things to a '74 Jaguar XJ12, one of about 4,700 made. Namely, they cut a giant hole in the hood and install a Weiand 6-71 supercharger and twin Holley carburetors on the 350ci Chevy V8 that was already installed in the car when it was purchased for $1,000. But things can never be easy, so the supercharger installation is staged in the parking lot of Gotelli Speed Shop in South San Francisco. Then the duo hits the road, making their way to Sacramento Raceway, where they can finally unleash "The Draguar" at the strip.

426 Hemi in a '55 Chevy!

On this episode of Roadkill, HOT ROD's David Freiburger and Mike Finnegan hit the road on a quest to build a car they've both dreamed of for years: a '55 Chevy Bel Air sedan set up like a '60s Gasser and powered by a Mopar 426 Hemi. The guys drag out a '73 GMC Suburban that they'd never driven more than around the block (did you expect anything else?), then use it to pick up a bare '55 Chevy body in California before heading north for the 1,000-mile trip to Lincoln City, Oregon. That's the home of Jim Meyer Racing, the chassis builder that helps the guys turn the '55 into a wicked looking hot rod in a single day. There's no fail in this episode of Roadkill! Well, at least nothing terminal.

Surviving HOT ROD Drag Week!

On this episode of Roadkill, HOT ROD's David Freiburger and Mike Finnegan hit the road with 500 of their friends for Drag Week. It's the most brutal test anywhere of real drag-racing, street-driven cars, as the competitors hit the road for 1,400 miles to race five times at four different drag strips in five days in a battle to post the lowest average elapsed time at the end of the week. The winner is crowned the HOT ROD Fastest Street Car in America. It's long days and short nights but that's nothing new for the Roadkill guys! We know THEY will survive, but will the competitors?

727 Cubic Inches and Australian Tire Smoke!

On this episode of Roadkill, there's endless burnouts and powerskids as David Freiburger and Mike Finnegan of HOT ROD magazine are on the loose in Australia with 727ci of Sonny Leonard hemi-headed madness. The massive big-block makes 1,275 horsepower between the fenders of a 2006 Holden HSV VE Clubsport R8. In American, that's like a Pontiac G8. This display of overkill is the product of "Gup," the promoter of the Powercruise series of events in Australia, New Zealand, and Minnesota (USA) where tire smoke is the rule. On the show, you'll see tire fire from Gup's infamous "Elvis" '74 Holden HQ, from his 727ci Clubbie, from a 1,500ci diesel semi truck, and from Downunder's most throttle-happy petrolheads on both coasts. The miracle is that Freiburger and Finnegan aren't still in an Aussie jail. Of course, that might have been less punishing than the 30-hour flight home

Junkyard 'Cuda Rescue, With Nitrous Oxide!

On this episode of Roadkill, David Freiburger and Mike Finnegan of HOT ROD magazine fly out of town, buy a car from a junkyard, make it run and drive, do burnouts, add nitrous, drag race twice, almost die, and the auction off the car at the end. The scene begins at CTC Auto Ranch in Denton, Texas, where the guys score a '67 Plymouth Barracuda with a 360 V8, but without a carburetor, interior, glass, or brakes. By the time they sort out a number of other mechanical woes, they're off for some burnouts and some racing at North Star Dragway, right next to the Auto Ranch. Then it's a 300-mile drive to Houston for the NMCA Lone Star Nationals race. But, as you've come to expect from these guys, that doesn't exactly go smoothly. But then they add NOS nitrous and it makes everything ok as they hang out with Jeff Lutz and Tim Reed from HOT ROD Drag Week right before they have to sell the car and hit the plane home.

Chevy vs. Ford Cop-Car Thrash Battle!

On this episode of Roadkill, Freiburger and Finnegan are out to discover which used cop car they like best, the Chevy Caprice 9C1 or the Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor P71. Of course you expect nothing but the most professional, scientific analysis from these guys, and that includes a day doing donuts and bashing into stuff on pavement, tire explosions, a road trip to the desert, camping, thrashing on dirt roads, and a finale that just might create a new form of low-buck off-road motorsport.