The most prolific era of the American muscle car started in 1970, when growling engines, screeching tires, and acrid blue smoke were lit in the night by the glow of a thousand red taillights. 1970 was also the year the original Dodge Challenger was introduced. And while its place in muscle car history could be argued ad nauseam over a sea of Pabst Blue Ribbon cans, the Dodge Challenger made its rep exactly as its name suggests—by bullying its way through a pack dominated by Mustang, GTO, Camaro, Chevelle SS, and even its own big brother, the Dodge Charger.
One surefire way to start a fight: tell a gearhead that the newest generation of Chevrolet Corvette might challenge the sports car supremacy of the Porsche. It’s the type of argument that will probably end with a tire iron to the head. It’s also true. The new generation of Chevrolet Corvettes have ushered in a whole new approach to building the American sports car.
The Corvette Sting Ray and the Aston Martin DB5 were unquestionably cool. Over the years, Toyotas were affordable and reliable, but never quite cool. Then, at the 2002 New York Auto Show, the auto giant introduced the Scion, a vehicle so boxy and weird it had to be cool.
In 1926, when the Ducati family formed its company with a group of investors in Bologna, Italy, they were seeking to cash in on the burgeoning radio transmissions industry. Less than a hundred years later, Ducati has revolutionized motorcycle design and made sexy sport bikes the ride of choice for a new generation of bikers.
The Toyota Prius hybrid might do it for Leonardo DiCaprio and Cameron Diaz in Hollywood, but it's not going to fly with the wide array of Americans, from NFL players to PTA members, looking for something bigger and badder. And that's the riddle of the alternative-fuel auto marketplace: we are not a one-size-fits-all culture—as the tattoo community knows quite well
No brand is more American nor, over the long haul, more successful than Harley-Davidson. So it's not surprising that the massive passion for big noisy bikes and wild open spaces has been translated into a prolific all-American palette of tattoo art. And while the most popular Harley ink incorporates traditional themes like swooping eagles and shields of stars and stripes, a survey of the newest Harley-Davidson lineup makes it clear that the next thing to turn up in Harley-inspired tats should be flowing lines, flexing contours, and the color black.
The rock icon turned horror maestro sheds the ghost of John Carpenter in his Halloween sequel and discusses why you’d better make it quick if you have any plans to get him back in the tattoo chair.
Metalcore kings Killswitch Engage blow up the formula with their latest album
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