Behind The Ultimate Builds

Hello there fellow Speedhunters readers! For those who don’t know me, my name is Anthony Crivelli and I’ve been running Build-Threads.com since its inception back in 2005. While I might not hunt pure speed, what I do hunt is builds of all types. I try to feature the best build threads from around the world, whether they be cars, motorbikes, or garages. I am fortunate to be asked again to grace the Speedhunters pages as a guest writer. If you’re interested you can check out my previous guest posts.

The Speedhunters team have kindly asked me to put together this post to showcase some builds with their very large and formidable audience (that’s you!). So I’ll share with you what I think are 10 of the best builds from the last few years. You can click on the title of each one to be taken through to the site. I hope you enjoy!

Espace

Renault Espace/Lexus LS400

When you see the almighty forward-slash in a title, you know you’re in for a good build. It’s my punctuation mark of choice to separate two cars that have been morphed together. In this case a Renault Espace people mover has had its floorplan removed in order to drape it atop a chopped-up Lexus LS400. What you end up with is possibly the world’s coolest 1UZ-FE-powered soccer van.

Invision

Invision Prototypes Scratch-Built SportsCar

Most people, myself included, think of a build thread as a journey – a journey that usually starts with a complete car at the beginning. But for those who possess more talent on their little finger than I have in my whole body, the start of a build thread often begins with a sketch and a piece of metal. I’m talking about the metal artisans at Invision Prototypes and their scratch-built mid-engined sports car.

Binky

Project Binky Mini Cooper

After a long day in the office, I often find myself immersed in the guilty pleasure better known as YouTube to simply enjoy my automotive hobby. The ‘Project Binky’ Mini Cooper is one of the funniest and most informative video builds I’ve seen. These crafty Brits are somehow stuffing Toyota Celica GT-Four running gear into the little Austin Mini shell.

Part 1 is above and there’s already five more in the yet-to-be-completed series.

Qashqai

Nissan Qashqai GT-R

While the car world is swooning over the Infiniti Q50 Eau Rouge concept and praying Nissan will drop the VR38DETT into something other than a GT-R, modified car fans like you and I know we don’t need a manufacturer to do it for us. While an R or S-chassis car would be a great contender, I just love that this unassuming light-SUV was the recipient of the AWD twin turbo driveline, creating a pseudo-GT-R that the whole family, including the dog, can enjoy.

Chevelle

NASCAR Chevelle

I bet by now you’re just honkin’ and hollerin’ for some good ol’ American iron! This build constantly brought in the ‘likes’ when I first posted it, and it’s incredibly easy to see why, as it appeals to our most childish desires as car people. Lurking underneath that very recognisable ’69 Chevelle silhouette is actually a 1999 NASCAR chassis. It sounds like wild folklore – a story you’d likely hear at your local watering hole, spun by the old man sitting in the corner – but no, it’s very true, and all documented for your reading pleasure.

Fiesta

Fiesta Cosworth

Every hot hatch owner dreams of transforming their buzz-box into a fire-breathing monster, but very few actually see that dream through. While most people realize you can trade up to a faster platform for much less coin, there are a few nutters out there who stick to their guns and go the whole hog. The word I chose to describe this Ford Fiesta build was ‘bonkers’, and I think it deserves that title. It goes from FWD diesel to AWD turbo Cosworth-powered, with a smattering of JWRC bodywork and plenty of race car fabrication.

BMW-wagon

LSx E39 BMW Wagon

‘Relaxing’ doesn’t really sound like a word you’d associate with a build thread, but that’s exactly how certain threads can make me feel if they’re put together right. If the photography is sharp, the updates flow well, and the author knows how to string a sentence together, I get a very calming sensation from reading them. While LSx swaps are a hot topic in both the ‘for’ and ‘against’ camps, no one can deny the appeal of this now GM-powered E39 and the quality of its very balanced transformation.

HondaCity

Honda City Turbo II

With the recent sale of a Hakosuka Skyline fetching a record price, there’s no denying the current appeal of Japanese classics. But what about the regular guys like you and I who can’t shell out eye-watering amounts of money to get our JDM fix? I think a need for real-world relatable content is what has made this build so popular. It’s just two regular guys spending their free nights and weekends wrenching on this boxy retro hatch. The aim of the game isn’t a concourse restoration, but simply to get a unique car back on the road and enjoy driving the pants off it – something many of us part time garage-dwellers can relate to.

Triumph

Triumph TR6… or Z06?

You might think that stuffing all the good bits from a Z06 Corvette into a Triumph TR6 is an impressive enough feat in itself, and that’s because, well, it is! But for me, my emotions changed from envy to awe when I learned the owner/builder is wheelchair bound. The fact that he hasn’t let it stop him from achieving his goals gives me a great boost of enthusiasm every time I read it, and makes me want to stop complaining about lack of time/tools/space, step into the garage, and get to work.

F40

Ferrari F40 LM Restoration

The one. The only. The Holy Grail. The almighty Ferrari F40 featuring in its own in-depth build thread restoration. This is easily the most popular car I’ve ever featured, and also the most work for me as a blogger. Ferrari Chat is a forum that requires membership to view images posted within threads, but I thought this restoration deserved a larger audience. With this in mind I contacted the owner and sought his permission to re-host all of the text and images on Build-Threads.com, and much to my excitement, he agreed. I think we’re really lucky that the owner of such a universally adored car has not only gone to the effort of documenting the restoration process, but is also willing to share it with the world. Personally, I don’t see this build thread being topped for a long, long time. If you know of any amazing builds that you think could be a contender, I’d love to hear from you in the comments below.

That’s it from me! I hope you enjoyed these build story snippets and I thank you for taking the time to read my ramblings. A big thank you also to the Speedhunters team for allowing me to do this guest post.

Anthony Crivelli
www.build-threads.com
Build-Threads.com on Facebook

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1

we need more of this! :D

3

I wonder if any of these builds will end up having a full feature here. I am sending positive vibes for this to happen. Without a doubt the most interesting builds I have seen in 2014. Better than any Gatebil build of this season and that is strictly and exclusive my personal opinion...

4

ShaunElizabeth Absolutely.  We are working on more that we are sure you will love!

5

@TROLLS ROYCE We are feeling the vibes, TROLLS, and working overtime to bring the most interesting features from all over.  Stay tuned!

6

Wow, I used to always see this LSX E39 in my neighbor. It passed me one day coming out of a toll and I nearly lost my hearing. Great car.
I was always curious what wheels those are.

7

Yes! YES. Anth is such a hard worker on Build Threads so awesome to see him get some shine time. I've lost hours of sleep based on late night surfing of his site.

8

Was honored to have my car featured back in the beginning of 2011 (F20c RWD CRX).  If you want to do a follow up let me know, I stopped updating threads a while back, but the car is currently making 470rwhp and getting the bugs worked out on the track.  Next season is going to be a big one for this car.

9

AaronWeir Still can't believe I have yet to see this in person...

10

September is quickly shaping up to be the "#Built not bought" month

11

renault espace conversion is the sh!!!!!!t

12

Love the body swaps!

13

http://www.rolston.me/NewSite/New_Z_Blog/New_Z_Blog.html

insane car once it's done. less than 2000 lbs, more than 700 hp.

14

Anthony your build threads site is amazing!!!! Great work. Keep it up.

15

Great work Anthony, always inspiring seeing what people are capable of and you do such a great job of showcasing it for them. I need to get you some more pics of what HoonTV have been up to :)

16

Good work, Anthony Crivelli!

Build-Threads is one of my three daily go-to automotive websites (with SH and Engine Swap Depot) and I really like what you showcase.  Also really digging the Garage Threads site you have going on too.  While I do not have the space to build a brand new garage in my backyard, I may try to trick out my current garage / man cave before I start my next engine swap project.  
Keep the inspiration coming!!!

17

that website its not loading. im the only one?

18

Anth!!!

So good to see you back on Speedhunters! As usual, great stuff.

19

@TROLLS ROYCE It's happened before. That's actually how I first met the Speedhunters and eventually came to work for them, all thanks to Anthony featuring my build thread here.

20

wow

21

The Chevelle went to its first show two weeks ago

22

Project Binky is by far my favourite for two reasons; the fantastic attention to detail and execution of fabrication and secondly the videos are fantastic!

I've also been a long time visitor of build-threads.com, awesome site.

23

AaronWeir do you have the link to the page? wouldn't mind checking it out!

24

More Muscle SpeedHunters please, here I present you all the best car I have ever driven just because the feelings it gives you, the raw-tuff responces, we race e36's m3, ACS3 but driving my dad 69 Camaro +750 HP has no comparison as with the all the American Muscle

25

Gigg44 schon ne coole sache ^^

26

The Lexspace is due to get nitrous too at some point. It's also somewhat closer to finished than in the pictures here. There's a full build thread on PistonHeads but it really does deserve a proper feature at some point.

27

DevBizkit yessss. The old espace got great lines.

28

Dude, that Ferrari build.... I get the point that it's probably a 7 figure investment, but that's a hell of a way to invest it... Unbelievable...

30

If the guys building the honda city II Turbo are reading this, strangely, I have an original radio in really good condition, a mudflap and a really tidy steering wheel for one sitting on my desk right now and it's theirs if we can sort out getting it to them. Awesome to see someone doing something with these brilliant little boxes and saving yet another from the scrap heap.

31

And four axel/too small to be hubcaps.... Things.

32

Thanks ever so much for choosing our crazy little build: Project Binky. The response has been way beyond anything we could have imagined. Thank you! Richard, Bad Obsession Motorsport.

33

omg.  looking forward to the qahsqai GT-R and the F40 LM articles.

34

The F40LM article is definitely worth a read! I've been a casual to buildthreads.com for a while and I'm always impressed! Thanks for the variety!

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