"The word California is sprinkled with stardust. It's a crucible of dreams for some, hell on earth for others. Whatever you feel about it personally, it's a place where the tectonic plates grind each upon each, creating untold energy that "
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Art Fitzpatrick: Original Mad Man
"Art Fitzpatrick created in his work for the advertising campaigns of American car companies some of the key images of the chrome-clad dream of the American automobile. Influx caught up with an irrepressible artist who helped define the way that "
The Cult of the Café Racer
" Ok, I know. A true café racer shouldn't have anything as pretentious as a French accent anywhere near it. And alright, I know as well that at least the engine on a true 'Caff' racer should have been milled in "
Porsche Poster Art
" Somewhere out there is a world where speed is just speed and cars are just cars. But I don't live in a world where that is true. Sometimes here at Influx towers we can twist ourselves into contortions trying to "
Dreams of the Perfect Microbus
" When VW introduced their Microbus concept at the geneva show of 2001, there were ripples of excitement through the bus-loving universe. The VW transporter series, which evolved from utilitarian wagon for the post war impoverished, through to icon of hippie and "
Name and Shame
"Giving a Japanese product a western name is sometimes thought to add cachet; the danger is you end up with a random selection of Janglish words that only add ridicule to an otherwise blameless model. Here are some of our "
AMC Pacer: Shakin’ dat (American) Ass
" The American Motor Company, which came up with the highly attractive AMX GT concept in 1968, the shooting brake-style lines of which informed a generation of nearly-classic, never-quite-made-it American motors, was always troubled company. Why? It tried to bring innovative concepts "
Friday Lunchtime Semiotics
"We're becoming a little obsessed with deconstructing the way cars are marketed and advertised. It's clear to us that by studying the way cars are represented by the hipsters in slick haircuts is the best way to tease out stuff "
Cool Caravans?
"Caravans get a bad press, particularly from people whose passion is motoring. When you look at it objectively, they should be a good idea. You get to experience the freedom of the open road without having to spend appalling nights "
Gangster Lean
"Everyone loves a gangster movie. And there can't have been many gangster flicks that didn't feature a healthy garage full of bad-boy motors. Right from the beginning of the movie industry cars have been icons loaded with meaning. When representing "
A Car Designed for (Group) Sex – or Just a Windup?
" Now, we at Influx are no prudes. Hell no. And we understand intimately the visceral relationship between cars and the libido. There's not many of us here at Influx towers in fact who haven't associated the throbbing power of a "
Glamour Wrought in Steel
" One of the perfect things about classic cars is that unlike the human body, or a loved one's face, they retain the glamour they were born with. That glamour may oscillate in intensity, and the nature of that glamour alter "
1969 Redux – key moments from a key year
" 1969. There was something in the air. Fifty or so years ago the tectonic plates of history were grinding each upon each. Man was landing on the moon whilst the Vietnam war had taken a turn for the worst after the "