This Dorky Kid Is Really Cool, Actually

Jack Baruth
by Jack Baruth

“It fuel starves on left turns on about… seventy Ohms.”

Now that is not something you hear every day about a “tuner car”, is it?

DRIVE’s Matt Farah checks out a homemade contraption consisting of a late-first-gen RX-7 and a five-liter Ford V-8. (The old five-liter, mind you, not the Coyote mod motor.) “Never a dull moment,” he says, and he’s correct.

The owner, Corbin, is a modern example of a recurring American character: The Kid In The Garage Building His Own Hot-Rod Car. Since we’re in 2013, he’s an awkward Asperger’s case hiding behind sunglasses instead of a James Dean wannabe with a pack of cigarettes rolled up in his shirtsleeve, but the dynamic is the same. Built, not bought; invented, not acquired. Watching this video is a great way to wash the taste of the Magnus Walker hagiography out of your mind. Check it out, and leave a comment so the DRIVE team knows you’re watching.


Jack Baruth
Jack Baruth

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  • MBella MBella on Feb 15, 2013

    Absolutely love how he just doesn't care about anyone else or what they think. Well done!

  • EspressoBMW EspressoBMW on Feb 15, 2013

    I must get a shirt like the red one he is wearing!

  • Rpn453 Rpn453 on Feb 16, 2013

    "What would it take for you to agree to test drive a car that makes nearly 400 hp, weighs less than a Mini Cooper, and was built by someone barely old enough to vote, in their parents' driveway?" The keys? Doesn't look like it even needs those. So I guess just some instructions on starting it. Awesome car. Sounds great. I suppose the major drawback is that it appears he spent about the same as my buddy recently did on a mint 12k mile 2008 RX-8 40th Anniversary Edition, not even including his labor. This RX-7 is definitely cooler though, for whatever that's worth. "My other ride is your mom." Ha ha.

  • RatherhaveaBuick RatherhaveaBuick on Feb 19, 2013

    Love it. He built a modern version of a a Rat Rod, and he doesn't give a fuck. He reminds me of Giovanni Ribisi's character in the original Fast and The Furious movie...especially the way he talks.

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