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What Is a Belly Tank Racer? Drop Tank Cars and Lakesters Explained
Little lozenges with wheels and a view port zip along a dry lake bed. They show up in drawings and logos. They pop up at local car shows and land speed events. People call them belly tanks, tankers, or drop tanks, and they are associated with vintage dry lakes racing. But where did they come from, and why do they look the way they do? Belly tank racers are a mix of WWII aircraft leftovers and hot-rodding ingenuity. They’re part of the early days of hot-rodding but are still in use today. Let’s start with where they came from. Answer: the sky. See all 13 photos What is a Drop Tank Car? The drop tank was designed to extend flying time by acting as a portable fuel cell that could be dropped once empty. That way, the pilot could more nimbly engage the enemy. They’re also know...
Love at First Sight: The Top 10 EDM Artist Logos
When it comes to launching a successful music career, banging tunes aren’t the only factor when it comes to success. Instead, especially in the digital age, music often must come alongside a strong visual brand built around an eye-catching and memorable logo. This rule is especially relevant in the world of electronic music, as bold, captivating visuals and signature artwork are must-haves for any producer with a live show. Logos are emblazoned on merch, splashed across fan art and featured on album covers—and, if all goes well, permanently displayed on fans’ bodies as a tattoo. Have you ever connected with another audience member at an event over your mutual love for an artist? We’ll bet it was because one or both of you were sporting their logo. In shor...
The Dirty Nil Want You to Smash Your Phone and Crank Their New LP, Fuck Art
Luke Bentham was taking painting lessons in a community center when inspiration struck for the new Dirty Nil LP, Fuck Art. “There’s this old man sitting at the back of the class, and he’s such a whiny asshole,” the singer-guitarist tells SPIN. “He keeps putting his hand up, and he’s like, ‘Um, my bushes don’t look like your bushes.’ And the teacher’s like, ‘OK, well, don’t worry, Mr. Gallagher. Take your time; you’re just learning.’” After several rounds of bellyaching, an exasperated Mr. Gallagher threw his paintbrush on the table and muttered, “Fuck art.” The story had Bentham’s bandmates — drummer Kyle Fisher and bassist Ross Miller — in stitches. But once the laughter subsided, they knew they’d found the title of their third studio album, which follows 2016’s Higher Power and 201...
Exit Interview: Poppy on Canceled Tours, the New ‘Sonic Vibe’ of Her Next LP
Poppy vividly remembers her 2020 “Mission Impossible moment.” The pop-metal shapeshifter was gearing up for a European tour behind her acclaimed January LP, I Disagree, when her manager broke some unfortunate, pandemic-related news. “I got the call right when I was about to fly [over there],” she tells SPIN. “We were like, ‘Do you think we can get in and get out, just do the U.K. and come home?’ It was maybe four hours later, they were like, ‘Oh, the borders are closed.’ That phone call was crazy for me and will always stick in my head.” Like most musicians, Poppy suffered some tough breaks this year, including a postponed North American tour opening for metal giants Deftones and Gojira. On the bright side, she was able to “flow” through the insanity: performing (safely) on a WWE broa...
Dance Music Artists Soundtrack Stories from Award-Winning Journalist’s Book, “The Outlaw Ocean”
Multi-decade journalist Ian Urbina has launched a music project to soundtrack his investigations throughout international waters, what he calls the world’s “last untamed frontier.” According to Urbina, there are 56 million people who work offshore. However, their work is rooted in a harsh environment that most are unfamiliar with. The Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, who has written extensively for The New York Times and has contributed to The New Yorker and The Atlantic, among others, puts specific focus on the lifestyles led by those working at sea and the underreported crimes that take place. Titled after his book by the same name, The Outlaw Ocean Music Project came to form through a simple premise—to create a musical interpretation of the written work. What st...
Little Tikes Cozy Coupe: First “Car” for Many Has Roots In Real Car World
The holidays get us thinking about toys, and when car people think about toys, a few things are bound to come up. Hot Wheels and Matchbox, sure—maybe even Micro Machines. But for a younger (and broader) set of kiddos, the Little Tikes Cozy Coupe might have been the first car in their life. Maybe it was in yours. It’s not possible to quantify the impact these early car toys had on budding enthusiast psyches, but we can peek into the origin and evolution of this timeless kick-powered toy. Its iconic shape isn’t merely friendly and aesthetically pleasing—it’s also far more clever than it would first appear. The original Cozy Coupe prototype was the brainchild of Jim Mariol, a designer who had a stint in auto design. There’s a fantastic profile of Mariol by the Universi...
Mazda’s Logo, Like Its Stable of Cars, Has Evolved Over 100 Years
2020 hasn’t been totally terrible—among other things, it marked the 100th anniversary of founding of the Toyo Cork Kogyo Company, which we now know as Mazda. Jujiro Matsuda was an engineer in Osaka, and in 1920 he came home to Hiroshima to open a new company that manufactured cork. His first logo was a red circle with a broken horizontal line, which Matsuda intended to indicate his desire to contribute to the world. See all 22 photos Toyo Kyogo transitioned to manufacture of heavy machinery in 1927, and in 1931 they produced their first vehicle, the Mazda-Go three-wheel truck. The vehicle was named for Ahura Mazda, a Zoroastrian deity whose name literally translates to “god of wisdom,” and whose name had a happy similarity to Matsuda’s own. In 1934, Toyo Kyogo devel...
Daewoo’s Epic Flop Wasn’t the End for Its Cars
Remember Daewoo? The third South Korean automaker snuck quietly onto the American scene in 1998, with three models and a sales plan that involved college students hawking the cars, Avon-style, to their friends. So what ever happened to Daewoo? The dealers disappeared in 2002, but their cars are still very much of a presence here in the U.S. Here’s what happened, and why. The New Daewoos Are in Early This Year Daewoo certainly got an auspicious start. While Hyundai and Kia both started with a single model (the Excel and Sportage, respectively), Daewoo started with a comprehensive lineup of three. The entry-level Lanos was available as both a two-door hatch or a four-door sedan, powered by a 105-hp 1.6-liter engine. With power steering, antilock brakes, power windows and power loc...
Build Your Own Roadkill-Style Muscle Truck for the Street or Strip
It is a simple formula really: Take a common American pickup truck, stuff in more power than it deserves, and have fun. Between the Roadkill and Roadkill Garage shows, we have assembled a triple play of fast haulers, appropriately identified as the original (Chevy) “Muscle Truck” the “Mopar Muscle Truck” (MMT) and the “Ford Muscle Truck” (FMT). See all 20 photos These trucks quickly became fan favorites as a group and individually, and continue to appear in Roadkill related content and at Roadkill events. The common thread is that all are short-bed stepsides from the late 60’s to early 1970s, built for street performance and all-around vehicular mayhem. Aside of their similarities, each of these muscle trucks has its own personality with distinct d...
The Sterling 825: A Pseudo Honda and One of the Worst Cars in History
Some “terrible” cars weren’t actually terrible, and rides like the AMC Gremlin and Ford Mustang II have an undeservedly reputation for being bad. But some terrible cars truly do deserve every ounce of scorn sent their way, including the ill-fated Anglo-Japanese mashup at the center of this piece, the Sterling 825. It was a car that had every opportunity to be great, but turned out to be one of the worst cars ever sold in America. Honda and Rover—an Unlikely Partnership Back in the 1980s, the Austin-Rover Group—refugee from the wreckage of British Leyland—had found some success in its home market by selling rebadged Hondas, first as the Triumph Acclaim and later as the Rover 200. ARG needed a replacement for the aging full-size Rover SD1, and was itching to get back i...
The Weird and Wonderful AMC Rambler Marlin Was a Concept Car Come to Life
The Rambler Marlin remains a rare sight in the world of classic cars, but the car’s utterly unique appearance makes them a welcome visitor to any venue. Naturally, that time we heard the Marlin Auto Club was holding a “Gathering of Marlins” at the American Motors Owners Association (AMO) International Convention in Rockford, Illinois, we had to check it out. An even 10 Marlins—mostly 1966 models for their 50th anniversary—turned out for the Gathering, and a pre-production Rambler Tarpon clone even dropped by the AMO’s big show the second day. We also got a chance to talk to artist Vince Geraci, head of the American Motors Corporation’s design studio in charge of of the AMC Marlin, who gave a brief presentation on the car. See all 7 photos Marlin Preh...
Celebrate the Holidays in Questionable Fashion With the 5 Best Remixes of Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You”
Social media and modern meme culture are responsible for the resurgence in popularity of many nostalgic songs, movies, and other pop culture motifs. Perhaps none of those resurgences was bigger than that of Mariah Carey‘s polarizing holiday number, “All I Want For Christmas Is You.” You hear it in every grocery store. In Tik-Tok videos and tweets. In your mother’s house, on the low-quality, ripped-from-YouTube, burned CD that you made for her in 2003. In your nightmares. Now, hear it five more times, but with 808 drum samples and Eurobeat supersaw synths, too. Get ready to celebrate the holiday season in very questionable fashion with the five best remixes of Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You.” DIMITRI VEGAS & LIKE MIKE VS. BRENNA...
