Petrolicious

Not even a near-death experience in his first E30 M3 could stop Rob from returning to his God’s chariot roots. It wasn’t just the analog-driving connection he sought, but the deeper, unspoken family connection this DTM hero represents. That chance would thankfully arise once more, but not in the way he would expect.

For many, the Porsche 911 is the pinnacle. For Patrick, the 968 offers something better—a balance between performance and practicality. As a passionate transaxle collector and enthusiast, Patrick found purpose in this car and the community it represents.

Dave will be the first one to tell you his 1967 Shelby GT350 isn’t period correct. But when it comes to ticking the boxes of what truly matters, concours rules don’t even make the list. This Ford is more than a restoration; it’s the embodiment of perseverance, sacrifice, and a vision he held onto for decades.

In Stuttgart, you were supposed to pick a side: Porsche or Mercedes. Jürgen Claus never did. Instead, he became obsessed with a car he only glimpsed during bike rides, a fleeting shape that disappeared as quickly as it arrived. An Alpine 110. The A110 wasn’t built with the obsessive precision of a Stuttgart engineer. It was built by French hands, refined through trial and error. In 1973, when the World Rally Championship was officially founded, the A110 took its first title. This is the story of how finding a real Works Alpine become one man’s obsession.

The Renault R5 Maxi Turbo isn’t a car you ease into; it’s one that sizes you up, tests your patience, and punishes hesitation. It was built for a time when winning meant rewriting the rules, and even now, decades later, it still carries that same defiant energy. With a 1.5L turbo engine mounted where the groceries used to go, this Group B legend makes you earn every bit of speed. Juan Carlos Fernandez brought this Renault R5 back to life because some tributes are worth the work.

The Datsun 240Z was Japan’s bold declaration, proof that a sports car could be affordable, beautiful, and exhilarating to drive. But just as kaizen, the philosophy of continuous improvement, defined its creation, it also calls for its evolution. MZR Roadsports is not rewriting history. They are refining it, taking the Z beyond what Nissan had time, budget, or resources to achieve. With bespoke craftsmanship, modern engineering, and an obsessive attention to detail, MZR builds the Z that was always waiting to exist. This is not just restoration. It is a relentless evolution.

There’s something special about reviving a car that rewards you for the effort, and this 205 GTI is proof that the right car finds you when you need it most. For David Steca, his Peugeot 205 GTI was more than just a project; it was a perfect fit, both philosophically, and functionally. If he'd been around to buy one in the 80s, this car would have been his obvious choice, the working man's hero, a youthful, eager hot hatch built for back roads and tight Parisian streets. Today, it’s his daily driver, brought back to life with patience and grit, and given a fresh purpose.

A Porsche is meant to wear its use. In Miami, Lab Eleven shows how they take air cooled 911s and rebuild them with that in mind. No gimmicks, no bloated horsepower figures, no desperate attempts to turn something raw into something akin to a gilded lily. Just a sharper, stronger, and more honest version of what was already there.

"If a car sits too long, it starts to die." That is the ethos at Lab Eleven. Somewhere along the way, the restomod scene turned into a competition to build the most expensive cars and coffee accessory. Lab Eleven refuses to play that game. These cars are built for the road, not the showroom.

The heart of the M5 came from the legendary M1, a race-bred straight six that made it the fastest sedan in the world. Every part had purpose. Every motion translated to the road. Hands rotate pinions. Feet push throttles. Levers engage gears. Just like the chain, crank, and pedals on Alex Yust’s bike, everything connected, everything responding by muscle memory.

Jean-Philippe Duval has spent decades restoring Porsche 356 interiors with the same care and precision as the craftsmen who built them the first time, but now with the luxury of time. Every stitch, every seam, and every detail is done by hand using the right materials and techniques, without shortcuts.

Ferdi Porsche sits down with Petrolicious to discuss the revival of the historic ice races in Zell am See, the vision behind F.A.T. International, and the future of motorsport. From skijoring behind motorcycles in the 1950s to Dakar-winning Porsches sliding across the ice today, the F.A.T. Ice Race has become a global celebration of speed, heritage, and design. Ferdi shares his thoughts on Porsche’s family spirit, the role of architecture in his process, and his search for the next generation of racing talent.

This Ferrari Daytona Spyder is a rare classic that challenges the way we think about restoration. Instead of being over-restored, this European-spec Daytona was preserved to keep its history alive.

What’s it like to tame a Porsche 962 on public roads? Gen Shibayama’s Koenig 962 is a former Group C race car that bent the rulebook on the track and then bent it again to wear plates. Built by Kremer. Reborn by Koenig. It is loud, violent, and barely civilized. This is not a tribute or a replica. It is the real thing, with just enough added to fool the government into letting it loose. A Le Mans legend doing something it was never supposed to do

This isn’t just another restored classic. It’s an MGA coupe built to feel alive. Velocity stacks howl with every throttle input, and the bumpers are gone, because weight is king, and feeling is everything.

Dan Maly’s 1983 Volvo 242 Turbo Intercooler is one of only 500 homologation specials built to qualify Volvo for FIA Group A touring car racing. In 1985, the Volvo 240 Turbo shocked the motorsport world by winning the European Touring Car Championship—beating BMWs and Alfas at their own game.

Alan Thornton challenges the obsession with resolution by embracing reduction. His use of halftone printing transforms model cars into large format automotive art, from vintage Formula 1 legends to modern hypercars like the Aston Martin Valkyrie. Through fine art photography rooted in precision and restraint, Thornton reveals the true shape of automotive design.

Marc Wnuck wasn’t looking for an Alfa Romeo Giulia. He wasn’t really looking for anything at all. A quick search for a silver car with a brown interior turned into something else entirely. What he found was a Giulia 1300 Super. What he built was personal, an outlaw but not a tribute, not a restoration, and not a trend piece.

Inspired by the one off 1963 Low Drag E Type “49 FXN,” Marco didn’t just recreate a car. He built a machine to disappear into. Every bolt, every gauge, every sound—intentional. Fighter jet switches. Side draft Webers. A silhouette born for Le Mans and resurrected for the road.

Imported from Japan and built to be driven, this Toyota Supra tears through the French countryside, far from the streets where its legend was made. In France, the Mk4 was never part of the local story. But Stan Mosser is changing that. With a twin turbo 2JZ under the hood and no fear behind the wheel, this car lives its legacy with every wide arc and full throttle pull.

This Land Rover Series IIA doesn’t come with a provenance packet or laminated spec sheet. It’s a relic of oral tradition, passed from one survivor to the next. No air conditioning. No Bluetooth. Just mechanical honesty and the ghosts of a thousand miles.

This isn’t just a Porsche 911. It’s a 964 Turbo, flawed, analog, overbuilt, and misunderstood. Shot on the edge of Dubai, where contradiction defines the landscape, this film follows a car that doesn’t quite belong anywhere. That’s what makes it perfect. Built by Manufaktur 964 in Germany, this 3.3-liter air-cooled turbocharged 911 finds rhythm on sand-dusted roads that lead nowhere. A mirage with a turbo-tail and a heartbeat.

It’s not a Ferrari. It’s not an Alfa Romeo. But it stands among them. The Dagrada Giannini 750 Sport is the only known survivor of a postwar Italian racing car built by a one-man workshop north of Milan. Lesser known than Ferrari or Alfa, but just as much a part of the foundation that shaped Italian motorsport. Lighter than a 356. More connected than a Miata. Once raced by a WWII ace. Still driven today.

Paul Lefevre, a surfboard shaper from Normandy, brings his philosophy of reduction to one of the most iconic driver’s cars ever made: the BMW 2002. Built almost entirely from carbon fiber in his Costa Mesa workshop, The Honey Badger is a raw, lightweight expression of function over excess. No insulation, no trim, no apologies. Just a daily-driven 2002 stripped to its core and reimagined through the hands of a craftsman.

The Honda S2000 was built to scream to 9000 rpm. Some people still hear it. Jean-Marc didn’t buy his. He earned it, fixing broken cars with his father, learning patience one busted knuckle at a time. This isn’t just about a high-revving VTEC hero. It’s about what Honda built into the S2000, and what it takes to truly understand it.

Mattia Biagi’s 1981 Husqvarna WR430 two-stroke is more than a vintage enduro. It reflects the same process he lives in his studio, where raw materials, heat, and risk become form only through focus and repetition. No electronics. No safety nets. The bike demands the same full attention his art requires. Every mistake belongs to him. Every success too. For those drawn to classic engineering and the satisfaction of shaping something with your own hands, this is why old machines still matter.

The 1973 Alfa Romeo GTV 2000 doesn’t need to shout. Giorgetto Giugiaro, still early in his career at Bertone, shaped this Alfa with balance instead of angles. Before the DeLorean, before the wedge era, there was this. A car that feels light, eager, and honest in a way modern cars can’t fake. Quentin LeBlond knows every quirk—how to nurse the gearbox, where the old red paint still peeks through under the hood. His kids know the starting sequence, passed down like a secret. Some cars age into museum pieces. This one stayed alive. Classic Alfa Romeo. GTV 2000. Giugiaro design. Bertone coupe.

A triple cream 1976 Cadillac Eldorado cruises through Los Angeles with quiet authority, its 8.2-liter V8 barely whispering beneath the hood. With just 190 horsepower, it was never built for speed, only for presence. Once a symbol of American luxury at its most unapologetic, the Eldorado now feels like an artifact from another world, one where comfort and scale mattered more than performance. This particular car, unrestored but deeply cared for, traces its roots to a boyhood memory in Italy and now lives out that dream across California pavement.

Hiram Ce Wang didn’t grow up around vintage cars. In mainland China, they barely exist. Registration laws and emissions crackdowns erased almost everything with a carburetor. But now, years later, he’s found connection in an unlikely place: a 1989 Alfa Romeo Milano Gold. The Milano was never meant to be famous. Renamed from “75” to “Milano” for U.S. buyers, the car landed in the final days of Alfa’s independence, before Fiat, before the end of rear-wheel drive. And under the hood? One of the most beloved engines in Alfa history: the Busso V6.

Sébastien Berchon didn’t grow up on track, but something changed in 2015 when he stood under the glass dome of the Grand Palais and saw a row of Jaguars. A year later, he was racing a 400 horsepower Jaguar E-Type flat out across France in Tour Auto. This isn’t a vintage car parade. It’s five days of real competition with no pace notes and no margin for error. This is the story of a man chasing history in a car built for speed, with he and the car battle-tested on the roads and circuits of France.

Kyle Barnes’ 1967 Ford Mustang isn’t restored—it’s resurrected. This is a classic Mustang with original patina, rebuilt mechanically to handle rallies, long road trips, and everything in between. No fake wear. No trailer queen. Just a real-deal vintage Ford Mustang driven hard and maintained with care. Every dent tells a story. Every scratch stayed. It’s not a show car. It’s a 1967 Mustang notchback that still lives on the road. Built for driving, not collecting. Preserved the hard way. If you’re into real Ford Mustang builds, original patina, or just seeing a classic car used the way it was meant to be, this one’s for you.

Our Peking to Paris series is back, and this time it’s free for everyone to watch. In episode one, Kurt leaves Los Angeles behind for one of the biggest adventures of his life. Behind the wheel of a Porsche 912, he sets out on an 8,500 mile journey from Beijing to Paris. He stripped the car down and learned it inside out, knowing that when something breaks in Mongolia or Kazakhstan, he will have to keep it alive himself. Episode One of Peking to Paris begins the story of grit, dust, and endurance across some of the toughest roads on earth.

Before the first mile, there is the build. Episode Two of Peking to Paris takes us into a rented garage in the San Fernando Valley, where Kurt Gerhart’s Porsche 912 is stripped bare and built back for 8500 miles of dust and broken roads.. In a quiet garage deep in the Valley, every choice matters. Fuel. Tires. Paint. Suspension. All of it aimed at one thing: survival. It is long days, dirty hands, and the quiet knowledge that the car has to be ready or it will not survive. The rally has not started yet, but you can already feel the weight of it pressing in.

Before the world wakes, Goktug Sarioz steps into the stillness of dawn and into his 1994 Lancia Delta Integrale Evo II. Painted in a yellow that rivals the morning sun, it is the final evolution of a Group A legend. Designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro, the father of the hot hatch, it blends rally bred performance with architectural honesty. Six consecutive WRC titles cemented its place in history. Decades later, it still carries that spirit. More than a car, it is moving architecture.

In this episode of Peking to Paris, Kurt Ghart takes us on a journey through his 8,500-mile adventure from Beijing to Paris, reflecting on life, passion, and the pure simplicity of cars. Discover his love for Porsche, the hands-on approach to car mechanics, and the life motto that fuels his drive: "Keep it simple stupid." A true testament to the beauty of simplicity and craftsmanship, Kurt’s story is one of overcoming fears and embracing life to the fullest.

Where battleships were once built, Kindred now restores vintage machines for the road. Inside the old Mare Island shipyard, the scale and grit of its past remain. The work is deliberate. Frames from old Broncos, VW buses, Scouts, and pickups are stripped to bare metal, inspected, and rebuilt with precision. Safety and reliability are modernized, while the lines and details that define each vehicle’s era are preserved. The goal is not to create museum pieces, but to send these machines back into the world ready for decades of use. From shipbuilding to roadbuilding, the mission here has always been to last.

Kurht Gearhardt takes us behind the scenes of his 8,500-mile Beijing-to-Paris adventure, exploring the art of air-cooled Porsche engines, the thrill of building and restoring cars, and the friendships that make every journey unforgettable. From technical insights to personal reflections, watch engine specialist Richard Dick get to work and meet Kurht’s daredevil friend Stacie B. London.

Built in the mid 1990s for a single client with an unlimited budget, the Lotec C1000 is one of the most mysterious prototypes ever created. Powered by a twin turbo Mercedes V8 and promising four digit horsepower, this one off hypercar claimed a rumored top speed of 268 mph. Unlike the McLaren F1, Ferrari F40, or Porsche 959, the C1000 never entered production and vanished into obscurity for decades. Now fully restored, it returns as a ghost of excess: a carbon fiber Mercedes powered prototype that remains unmatched in its exclusivity, power, and legend. Discover the story behind the world’s rarest hypercar.

In Episode 5 of Petrolicious’ Peking to Paris series, Kurht and Derek prepare their Porsche 912 for an 8,500-mile journey across continents. From family fabricators to hard-earned lessons in life and racing, their story captures the passion and craftsmanship that fuel this adventure. Follow along as preparation meets purpose on the road from Beijing to Paris.

A Porsche 912 that had been left outside for years, rust working into every seam, stripped of its panels and left for dead, still held just enough of its shape to be worth saving. It was the kind of blank canvas Drew Hafner had been waiting for.

Kurht Gearhardt readies his Irish Green Porsche 912 for the legendary Peking to Paris rally. From California roots to Mongolia’s roads, this is a story of family, heritage, and determination to drive tastefully across continents.

Attention to detail threads through everything we build and everything we care about. Sometimes it is survival. Engines, bridges, airplanes, race cars: their margin for error is measured in lives. Other times it is about love. A polished bolt head, a stitch sewn straight, a surface sanded smooth. Small gestures that say you were there, that you cared, even if no one ever sees it.

Episode 7 of Petrolicious’ Peking to Paris series, “Up to Snuff,” dives into Kurht’s Porsche 912 rebuild. Upholstery specialists craft new houndstooth seats, while the engine is stripped, checked, and rebuilt to withstand the world’s toughest rally. This chapter reflects on Porsche’s timeless simplicity, cultural roots in craftsmanship, and the deep love that fuels every mile.

Rally wasn’t dead, but it was barely breathing. Then Subaru shocked the world back to life with gravel flying, blue paint glowing, and McRae, Burns, Sainz, and Prodrive rewriting what was possible. The 22B STI UK was built as the road-going celebration of that dominance. Wide arches, gold wheels, and a hand-built 2.2 turbo gave it the presence of a championship car let loose on the street. For Robert Jackson, chosen as one of the few owners, the moment he wrapped his hands around the Nardi wheel was unforgettable — the beginning of a lifelong bond with Subaru’s rarest creation.

A rust-bucket 240Z becomes the weapon of choice for Chris and TJ on the legendary Peking to Paris rally. With lessons learned from past mistakes, they return with a new strategy and a drive to conquer half the world in a classic car. From garage rebuilds to rally briefings in England, this episode shows what it really takes to attempt the impossible.

A faster horse. That was the promise when the Ford Model T arrived, and for a time it was everything. It carried families, powered farms, and gave people freedom in miles instead of footsteps. Built in the millions, it reshaped the world and gave ordinary people mobility. Today, Larry Kosilla has his pick of modern and classic performance cars, but sometimes he chooses his 1923 Model T. No electronics, no gas pedal, no safety net. Just oil, iron, and ritual. More than a century later, it still runs, still matters, and still demands respect.

Freedom off-road, lessons in Baja, and the importance of knowing your car. Derek and Jamal put their Porsche 912 to the test on a run to Mexico, preparing for the ultimate challenge: Peking to Paris. From skid plates and suspension to hand-painted numbers, this episode proves why simplicity and trust matter when the road gets rough.

Most of life plays out in the in between. For Rashod that space revealed itself through a Florida Green BMW 1600 he dragged out of a garage after 17 years. It was cracked, faded, and temperamental, but it forced him to focus, to learn, and to see beauty in what is unfinished. The car carried him from South Central roots through Atlanta’s tuner years and back to the canyon roads of Los Angeles, where it became more than transportation. It became a way to connect, to tell stories, and to build something lasting.

What begins as a test run to Baja for a Porsche 912 quickly becomes a defining chapter in the journey. After engine trouble forces a last-minute swap, the crew sets out from Los Angeles at 3 a.m., crossing the border at sunrise and pushing through a 16-hour drive to Guerrero Negro. Along the way, they confront the unpredictability of classic rally cars. Sometimes you can go a thousand miles without issue, other times you can’t go ten.

Most dream cars are chased. This one wasn’t. Quinn Peterson’s Honda Z600 wandered into his life like a stray dog, flaws and all. Over time the car and driver blurred into each other, proof that some of the most meaningful machines are the ones that find us.

Three thousand miles of Baja roads, one sick co-driver, and a handmade rally car built to take it all. Derek and the team head south toward Toto Santos for a true endurance test, long days behind the wheel, mechanical surprises, and a few perfect moments of quiet beauty along the coast.

Dante Dagostini spent ten years building his Fiat 131 by hand in a small Utah garage. What began as a rusted shell became a carefully crafted homage to the original Abarth homologation cars that defined rally in the late 1970s. Every weld, stitch, and turn of a wrench reflects his patience and respect for the analog era of motorsport. In a world of quick builds and instant gratification, his work stands as a quiet reminder that time and persistence can still shape something meaningful.