Neck Breakerz

The New Kid On The Block - Dominique Seefeldt

2012-08-13T08:10:00.000+02:00

Hi, folks! As a proud new member of the Neck Breakerz team I would like to introduce myself

to you followers as well as to the team itself.

My name is Dominique, I am 22 years old and live in Germany.

In the daytime I work at a Mercedes-Benz dealership, which sure as hell has fueled my addiction to something I would like to call

"The Car Life".

I would like to tell you how I got into car photography.

And while writing this I hope that I won't bore you all to death with it.

When looking back, I guess it all started with the day I got my driving license.

Believe it or not, beforehand I really wasn't a car person at all.

But with that tiny little piece of plastic freedom in my pocket it all flipped around.

Unrelated to my automobile passion I always had a great interest in the art of photography.

With my father being a passionate photographer himself I got to fiddle around with his equipment quite early and was soon nagging to get my own memory-catching device.

So my parents got me a little point-and-shoot camera for christmas and I was happy to be able to start snapping away.

But with the lack of motives to capture the pursuit of my new found hobby was shortlived and so I dropped it shortly after.

Another thing that changed instantly with me obtaining my drivers license and getting my first car.

I started cruising in my 2002 VW Polo and kept looking for great locations to take some pictures of my four-wheeled lady. But soon I got to know the limitations of my little point-and-shot camera and started to dig deeper. So I bought my first DSLR and started to learn all about the witchcraft that occurs when you hear that magic clicking of the shutter.

A fellow photographer much wiser than me once wrote that in his oppinion a photograph is like a painting - it is never really finished. So I dug deeper once again and started to throw around the controls of the famous Adobe Photoshop.

I wanted to see how I could improve my pictures even more.

With my new acquired knowledge about apertures, shutterspeeds and all the other clutter I began to make contact to the other car-lunatics and started to visit car-meetings nearby.

Little did I know that soon I would be traveling thousands of kilometers

to visit the gatherings of car-enthusiasts throughout half of europe.

Even though the whole car-scene may be an awesome thing on it's own, there is more to it.

Through my photography I had the opportunity of meeting a whole lot of purely awesome people

of which a part now belongs to my closest friends.

Most of these people I probably would not have met,

if it wasn't for me and my little Volkswagen being out there,

trying to get some good pictures.

Now, after babbling you all to death, let me give a quick round up of what to expect in the near future.

Next stop on the road to automobile greatness is a meeting with the rising crew "Grounded".

Since Wörthersee 2012 these guys have surely made themselves a reputation.

Shortly after that I am going to visit the M.I.V.W.-Event in the Netherlands, one of the top-notch events in europe.

And for all the admirers of the more exotic cars, there is a little Porsche goodie in the works aswell.

As for now, all I am left with is to thank you for reading my litte self-introduction

and wish you a good time checking out this blog.

Getting to know our Photographer and HR: Divan Shepherd

2012-08-10T09:45:00.000+02:00

My name is Divan Shepherd, I am 27 years old, born on 1^st August 1985(my birthday just so happened to be a few days ago J )

Most people know me by all the Honda's I normally shoot, but that’s mostly because the majority of my friends drive Honda’s and the community is very large in Cape Town, South Africa.

I started taking photos about 4 years ago, I wasn't really into it before, I used to just take a few pics here and there with a 4.1mp point and shoot Kodak that my wife had at the time. Once I started seeing pics from Hasback photography, it just hit me that I needed to get into this. I bought my 1^st camera, a Nikon D3000 with a kit 18-55 lens kit. The day I got my camera just so happened to be the same day Adeeb’s black Honda Civic got finished off which is almost a replica to the Hasback civic. We took a few pics and from there onwards my passion has kept growing more and more. I later moved over to a Canon 500D,which I later sold about 5months ago and I upgraded to a canon 600D. Zac and I have known each other for a while. We shot together for State of Stance covering the S.A scene for them. I haven’t studied photography at all, basically everything I know is self-taught or I learned from friends. Currently I do my own photography part time. I also shoot for Max My Ride Magazine and have been a member for Neck Breakerz since it started a few months back. I also cover the HR side of things so if you feel like you're up to being part of the team, be it as a photographer or a writer, you can hit me up on divan@neckbreakerz.com

Cheers guys enjoy some of my photos

Wrenched: Status and Nostalgia

2012-08-08T08:06:00.001+02:00

Custom Car, Truck, and Bike show

Sponsored by O'Reilly Auto Parts and Richmond Petroleum, INC.

Although there are multiple shows and Cruis-ins a week in the area, most don't include the rat rod type. Originating in the 1920's, the rat rod was a more affordable option to the appealing and polished custom hot rod. Keeping the idea of function over form in mind, parts were stripped to relieve dead weight from the cars to ultimately go faster. But with 20 horepower engines, you could only achievement so much.

With the release of the Model A, the Flathead V8 came abundantly used on these rods meant to be driven fast and driven mean. Depending on their taste, a rat rod could look completely unfinished with a lot of work ahead to one, but another could think that its perfect with its rusted out back end dragging the ground.

Think Pink

2012-08-06T01:00:00.000+02:00

Why pink you ask ?? Well that is a question a lot of people have and keep asking Radu about his choice of wheel color. This particular Mk4 has been a trend-setter for the scene here in Romania, be that it just so happened to be the first VW in Romania on air-ride, the insane 10J rear wheels or even the matte-grey paint job. One thing is for certain Radu has never been about following the pack and strives to bring something new and fresh to the table.

Radu has owned this car since 2007 with the idea of keeping it a daily but plans soon changed when he purchased the air ride and the car has kept evolving each year to its current state. The modifications on the car, some subtle and some more evident to the untrained eye are a unique mix of things that set his car apart from the rest.

The car has been subject to a huge amount of custom body work be it the boser hood, smoothed side moldings, smoothed front and rear bumpers with 25th anniversary add on's, the stubby mirrors and the bootlid that just rounds it all off. All the custom bodywork was perfomed the team at Ghetto Tuning.

The airride system from GAS is an added bonus helping him to drive around at a decent height and with the flip of the switches the car haunches down perfectly.

Another shocker are the FK wheels on this car which have been painted more times than he likes to remember and are currently fuchsia pink.

Wheel specs are 18''x8J front and 18''x10J rears running Falken 225.40.18s all round. Helping him get that flush fitment upfront with just the right amount of poke at the rear.

A few of the subtle mods that I mentioned earlier be it the stealth controls for the air-ride or the bullet shell door pins, its this attention to the finer details that completes the car for me.

And a short video we put together for your viewing pleasure

ThinkPink from Nico Di Folco on Vimeo.

A short film I put together whilst shooting Radu's Bagged Mk4.

I must thank Radu for the opportunity to shoot the car because as with all things in life he is planning on moving on to bigger and better things and the Mk4 has been put up for sale. I wish him all the best and I'm sure whatever his plans are for the future they will surely be mind blowing and a scene changer for sure.

Radu would like to thank his friends (they know who they are)who helped him throughout the build!

Exterior Mods:

Custom Boser Hood

Custom hatch

Shaved rubstrips

Molded 25th Anniversary kit

Door handle recess filled in

Hell Depo Mk5 look headlights

FK LED tail lights

Stubby mirrors

18'' FK edition2 wheels 8J/10J

Matt Grey Paintwork

Gas Airride System

Interior Mods:

Seat Arosa Healight switch

Bullet shell door pins

Leather Interior.

Engine:

1.9 TDI remapped by RBN

Air Lover

2012-08-03T01:00:00.000+02:00

Now the story to this one is interesting, when Neck Breakerz started I attended Motor Mania 1 and this is where I first laid eyes on Shakeel's Caddy. Everybody read his registration, "O SO LOW", and we all thought - "man this must be a joke". Little did we know that he had recently done a full Air install. He then lowered the Caddy before everyone's eyes and needless to say the way that Caddy lay frame was a first for many who witnessed it, even for me.

I had been trying to track this scarce work of art down for probably a good three months, talking to friends, random people and even to event organizers. I was in luck because at BMW vs VW I stood again face to face with the Caddy but sadly the owner was nowhere to be found, I packed up my hopes of ever getting to do a feature on this hypnotic ride.

It had been about another month of searching and I happened to get together with a close friend who I began expressing my admiration for the Caddy, as I spoke his face lit up and he told me he knows the guy. I wasn't short of being overexcited and he said it wouldn't be a problem to get him for a shoot.

Low and behold a few weeks later I got in contact with Shakeel and the shoot was arranged.

Its 1995 model that he got when he swapped his Toyota twincam for it but things didn't always look so good for this caddy. He says it was white and very ugly with a huge canopy riding saddle at the rear.

It would be simple for him having been in the car industry for many years, the first step was to change the doors for the newer full window doors and give the car new life with a good respray in black and also adding a new spec dash.

With new paint the caddy had started to turn heads and before long it was featured in VDUB magazine a few years back. After the feature, Shakeel wanted more out of his project and power was first on the agenda. It simply boiled down to getting a 1.8 20v motor and run a cable shift transmission accompanied by diktator to have the whole set up run smoothly. It ran flawlessly but Shakeel quickly got bored and changed the set up throwing in a T3/T4 turbo, 600cc injectors, decent down pipe and full exhaust system. Power figures were brought to an impressive 187KW's but was this enough? Shakeel begged to differ and explained "I wanted more."

He imported candy apple paint and after 20 coats of the new color it looked superb. With the paint looking all shiney and clean, Shakeel knew the interior left to many hints that it was a 95 model. He picked a set of E90 BMW seats and it just stuck so good that he went and did his dash in cream white.

Having his own company that deals with custom mods, he couldn't help but take it a bit further so the doors were shaved and a complete remote set up was installed (talk about convenience). It was then time for a little detail, he molded out his door panels in fiber and covered in red leather to complete the entire Candy Apple feel.

Shakeel named his company "Lowrider Customs" and the caddy had no low rider written on it. He took pretty much the final step, so that his company would be represented in the proper fashion, by installing front bags and doing something of his own for the back. "Now we can drop it like its hot," exclaimed Shakeel.

He also assured me that it took lots of funds to get the caddy where it is today and the hours put into it came with lots of sweat and tears. He is currently busy with a fully customized Nissan Hard body that should be due for release soon to the public.

The Cabin set up isn't to busy as he set out for simplicity and style.

Shakeel says as it is the motor has been built for power and surely needs some tidying up but with the ideas he has in mind this wont be the last we see of this Caddy. As a matter fact it wont be the last time we see some of Shakeel's work on NeckBreakerz.

Doesn't quite lay frame but you would need James Bond to get under that sump.

14" CTi wheels would be the platform to start with and having it stepped out to 15" just gives this wheel a whole new role to play.

He even made the effort to come out to the shoot with a bike that kept us drooling right through the shoot with so much carbon fiber its a sin.

New Photographer Bio: Steve Dyer

2012-08-01T08:57:00.000+02:00

New Photographer Bio: Steve Dyer

Greetings, my name is Steve Dyer and I'm from the United Kingdom. I'm 21 years old, born on 9th April 1991. My car life started back in 2007 when I was taken on as a trainee at a SEAT main dealer after graduating from the college. I have now left the trade and carry out welding repairs on cement mines worldwide. From what it seems, I am the only member of the Neck Breakerz team not rolling in a VW. After a recent purchase, I am currently driving a Nissan Fairlady Z (350z) imported over from Japan. Over here in the UK the group of people I hang around with go by the name of CableTie Racing - a group that build their cars for a purpose be it Drift, Drag, Track or Hard parking at many of the meets across the UK. Please don't think for one minute that I only represent the JDM brands here in the UK, as I often find my self chilling with people from all back grounds of the car scene, so expect a vast array of different makes and models.

My photography and filming background doesn't fall far from a very 'Guerrilla' style of shooting - just grabbing a camera and seeing what nature and the world that rushes by has to offer. So hopefully you will enjoy what I'm covering and shooting and if you're from the UK and can recommend a show/meet you think is worth covering my email is at the bottom of the post.

My 'Z33' not long after purchase
Below are a few recent photos from a meet and some photo shoots I have done
Dream Car: Got to be one of the following three; Nissan R34 GT-R, Porsche 996 or an Audi R8
Fav Food: Pizza
Fav TV program: Top Gear or Fantasy Factory
Fav Website: As I'm part of 2 UK based owners clubs has to be either Cabletieracing.net or JDM-register.co.uk
Mac or PC: Never used a Mac so PC
Fav OS System: As I used it all and everyday at work and home will be Microsoft windows
Canon or Nikon: Canon
Spare time Hobby: Building Cars & Driving cars , Going on track days be it drift,drag or time attack, film making and photography
Gear list: Canon EOS 550D ,Olympus E500 but also use GoPro and a Panasonic SD40 and SD900 for filming and various mounts

Steve Dyer

stevo.dyer@gmail.com
https://www.facebook.com/steve.dyer.50

VR FRESH

2012-07-30T08:33:00.000+02:00

Finally got some time to do a shoot of Bård's fresh 2.3 VR5, its gone through a lot of style changes under his ownership and this is the latest style.

Bård is a well known person in the Norwegian scene with his big smile and funny comments and always being in a good mood. This Golf was a demo car for Reiger Tuning Germany and has made an appearance in the catalog.
Bård and his brother Thomas have good connections with the guys from Reiger, so when Bård found out the car was for sale he just had to have it.
The car is a very unique car here in Norway with its VR5 engine and lots of horsepower.

- Henrik

In the rear he fitted the VW emblem with functional trunk opener boot lid, SRS-Tech R-Line bumper and US spec GTI rear tail lights and a custom exhaust.

Front bumper is the clean Jubileum style from SRS-Tech, blacked out headlights and grille without emblem. He then welded shut the recess for the emblem in the hood, and ordered the front bumper without the recess for the emblem.

M3 mirrors and black painted roof for really set things off.

The rims are 8x18j and 10x18j Porsche rims with 215-35-18 and 225-35-18 Falken tires. Brembo big brake kit in the front and HPS Air Ride system

Nice little poke you got going in the back

Scirocco R-Line steering wheel and carbon cover surrounding the cluster

Recaro Pole position seats, custom floor mats with Clown Custom embroidered on them, custom red alcantara roof-liner

R32 side skirts, tinted turn-signals and tinted windows for the right look, also equipped with great plates to get the rear wheels centered in the wheel well.

Perfect fitment in the rear

JDM AFFAIR

2012-07-27T01:00:00.001+02:00

I met Dean at a meet we arranged earlier in the year, not knowing him at the time but after seeing his car it could only have been faith that I had to feature this clean JDM example.

After approaching Dean he had gladly agreed to me doing the shoot, a month had past and me and him had discussed very little as to when we would be getting the shoot done. I finally found the time to do it but Murphy's law struck and the shoot was postponed and so another week for him to wait so that I could get myself sorted. With me having everything in order I made the cal and just like that we were back on track.

He tells me this is the short sweet story of how the JDM affair started "Honda was a brand I fell in love with in school, I had the opportunity to go in a friends honda civic vtec. The sound / high revving spirit and handling had me hooked way before I even had my licence.

Its rare to see a EG sedan in this condition but he assures me it wasnt always this good for him "I managed to get a really beaten up 97 honda ballade 160i as my first car, with 370 000km on the clock and pretty much everything broken, i still drove that car with a grin" He then traded in the beater Ballade for his first ever V-tec but when the V-tec kicked in, he wrote the car off in just 4 months of owning it.

Its got that stance look down to say the least, it oozes that JDM street feel that so many people love subtle would be the only way and it surely worked.

"This Honda of mine was never meant to amount to anything" he tells me smiling "It was purchased as a non-runner , a temporary set of wheels" With this originally being a 150i it would have been sold if anybody had approached him so that he could get his hands on another V-tec but the shape had struck him as very interesting and from there he moved onto getting the indicators done in amber a set of fifteen inch wheels, finally getting his panels all done in one color a result of the car having a black fender and a bad paint job.

150i's are not to say the best, Dean had got so tired of his he did a motor swap "I figured converting to Fuel injection would be the answer, and so I bought the necessary components, landed up purchasing a sohc vtec 1600 motor in the process"

As it Turned out the motor was junk "ran bearings after 5000km, but even so Vtec had me hooked"

After his experience with the motor that ran bearings, he decided to do it properly this time around and with the help from Jared at Ian Brown Engineering they proceeded to do another lump swap. They also had a spare dash that to be fitted plus exhaust which was all done in one entire weekend "it was so worth it"

The first drive of the car was open headers(no exhaust) with a smokey cabin, no indicators, lights or any form of electronics besides ecu and engine working.

He says that you couldnt get the smile off his face or the look of horror from those that he drove past from the deafening sound..

Future plans, "better suspension setup, some 16" rims and getting the car on the track where it belongs"

Here is just a list of what Dean has had done.

Model:

93 Honda Ballade 150

Engine:
1800 DOHC VTEC (B18c)
Rybro Poly insert engine mounts
Rybro 2.5" Cold air intake
2.5" custom exhaust

Interior:
Honda Del Sol front seats
DC2 dash, cluster, consoles

Exterior:
EG hatch front bumper
Mugen Lip
Volk CE28n reps 15"

Suspension / Brakes:
Skunk 2 Sleeves + Koni Yellow shocks
uprated vtec brake

Its got that stance look down to say the least, it oozes that JDM street feel that so many people love subtle would be the only way and it surely worked.

VW Audi Club Norwegen main meeting 2012

2012-07-25T01:00:00.000+02:00

So it was that time again to meet up with the rest of the VW Audi Club Norwegen at Vaaler Raceway.

The weather was not on our side this year, but it was a great time and a great opportunity to meet old friends from around Norway.

A lot of new builds this year, and the quality on the cars are just increasing for each year. Its nice to se the increasing builds with Air Ride and fitment in focus this year.

Extremly nice Audi A6 with air ride and nice stance

static lowered A4 with S4 styling, incredible beutifull car.

VW Helios on mkVI Golf GTD looks so right

Incredibel Jetta V with BBS Super RS

Kristian parking hard with his beautifull Golf V, full R32 kit from SRS-Tech

Really famous Passat CC here in Norway, owned by Haavard. The stickerbombed rims made a whole lot of fuzz on the internett forums. I think it looks good

Audi S3 eninge in this little Lupo makes it uneblivable fast around the track.

Look at that stance

Beautifull family hauler

Nice Golf II just imported from California

Beautifull Skoda Octavia RS, static on 20" Audi fat fives. Owner has just had it rebuilt to become a Facelift, and it looks so good

Midwest Mayhem

2012-07-23T07:30:00.000+02:00

The 6th Annual Midwest Mayhem Custom Car, Truck and Motorcycle show presented by Lucky's Autosports has come to be one of the largest shows in Central Kentucky. Held at Lexington's Masterson Station park, the show is catered to all tastes and styles anywhere from the lowrider truck scene to classic American muscle cars. Along with the wide variety of automobiles, a huge 18 wheeler stage hosts bands and DJs all day long.

Although the temperatures were through the roof reaching a sweat-breaking 105 degrees, friends and families came out to show their support and admire the efforts put into the vehicles.

Other than music and vendors, contest were held to keep the party alive throughout the day including Best Import, Best Engine, Longest Distance, and "The Lowest of the Low".

Chrome finish HRE's? Yes Please

And when the days all over, everyone heads out to the Austin City saloon where theres free admission with a Mayhem ticket for the afterparty lasting through the night and into the morning.

Drag Wars 2012

2012-07-20T09:28:00.000+02:00

Sundays are for relaxing but the 1st of July it was a day to prove that your mods were better than the next guys. VW GTi Club and Audi Club of South Africa were the hosts of Drag Wars 2012 along with VAGtechnik, FR&RTuning, Unitronic and so many more.

As to see the hosts were pretty much into german cars it wasn't a surprise to find that the the parking areas and stands around for the day just screamed das auto with an overflow of VAG. The day was action packed, the smell of tires, race fuel and clutch surely gives you the feel for the cars ripping up the tarmac.

.:R32 turbo MKIV

Our founder and owner of www.stickermuch.com busy at one of his other ventures...

Summer Tuning Fest 2012

2012-07-18T01:31:00.000+02:00

This past weekend myself and the rest of the crew from Ghetto Cult set out on a 250 kilometer trip from Bucharest to the Summer Tuning Fest in Craiova. The event was held at the Transfrontalier Exposition Centre and was kindly organised by Midnight Racers. The event had everything from fully blown rally cars, to super bikes, to off-road cars, car audio and show & shine beauties.

The event was held in this stunning 1600sq/m building and with the weather on our side, there was only good times to be had by everyone.

Here are a few pics on the way to the event, all in all we were a 10 car convoy backing up traffic at any hop, pothole or speed-bump.

An absolute treat at the event was Toyota bringing out their brand new 86 GT. This car has so much potential!

I must say the guys are really pulling out all the stops as there was no shortage of amazing split wheels, clean engine swaps/bays and big horsepower cars.

Hamman M3 for the BMW fans

New spec corsa on BBS Rm's was a sight to behold..

A small collection of the amazing wheels at the show.

If you like a clean engine there were numerous stunning examples

K20 swapped EK hatch was super clean!!

For all the rally and function>form guys..

This amazing Cielo is Bi-motor running 2 C20XE's!!

One hardcore 'Busa

Numerous amazing interiors

Theo's Crazy DelSol

The car audio guys weren't playing around.

The lovely ladies that attended the event.

And the car of the show, Mihai's Bagged Mk2 Vr6.

I must say well done to the organizers and sponsors for holding this great event!!

New Photographer Bio: Jonny Keihäs

2012-07-17T08:13:00.003+02:00

Hi everyone, I'm Jonny and I live in Finland. I'm 21 years old, born on November 24, 1990. I started photography as a hobby in 2007 inspired by my now ex-girlfriend and decided to buy a DSLR. It was an Olympus E-400 and of course it was so cool compared to the old HP pocket camera I was used to taking pics on.

Later I updated it to a E-520, but nowadays I have a Nikon D7000. I'm still getting used to it as it's only been a month since I bought it. My favorite type of photography must be car photos or just "hanging-around" photos when chillin' out with my friends at the garage or so.

Dream Car: I've always been into VW's and there seems to be no ending for it.

Fav Food: Pizza

Fav TV program: Family Guy

Fav Website: There's a lot but probably the Finnish stance website called nopokemonshit.com

Mac or PC: Mac!

Fav OS System: OS X Snow Leopard

Canon or Nikon: Nikon

Spare time Hobby: Cars, Fixie, Photography (of course), having fun with friends

Gear list: As said it's only been a month since i bought my Nikon, so yet only Nikon D7000, Sigma 17-50mm f 2.8 and a battery-grip.

Fav Gadget: Lumia 900

Jonny Keihäs

jokeihas@gmail.com

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pifuphoto/

https://www.facebook.com/PIFu90

Blue Pearl...

2012-07-16T08:02:00.000+02:00

Hi all, firstly I would like introduce myself as its the right thing to do. I am Henrik Haugen and I'm all the way from Norway. No-one really knows much about the scene that is evolving here, and up until today I'm sure none of you have really known anything about the modding scene in this side of the town...

Today, I would like to bring you something that I consider to be under-overplayed (yes that's right, under-overplayed is a word!).

Some might say - "why another VW on the blog?". Well, you can say what you will, VW has been the selected modding platform for many years and will probably still be for years to come. So now comes the part where we show you why it's a VW feature again, as VW's creates artists.

The fact that most people start out with modding a "played out" car as some might call it, makes the next person work so much harder in actually building an unique "played out" car versus the previous one's seen floating around on the net.

Jon Christian is one of those artists. He has the incredible ability in taking the smallest detail and turning it into the most artistic feature on a car. Take look at the wrap for example, it takes some serious thinking to get everyone to love something new versus the largely commercial matte black phase. This is what Jon is all about - finding that small thing that sets his so called "overplayed" car apart from the rest.

Here's some specs on Jon Christian`s Golf VI 2012 2.0TDI R-Line

Suspension

Airlift performance rear bags

Airlift slam series frontstruts

AccuAir E-Level management

5 Gallon aluminum tank

Two 400cc VIAIR compressors to get the tank filled up rather quickly

Interior

The door trim, trim around the navigation and the trim around the

inside door openers painted in gloss black.

Exterior

The car is wrapped in matte pearl blue winyl.

Blacked out badge and grille

Gloss black roof

Plaid pattern behind the rear blacked out badge

Tint all round

Engine

Software

Downpipe

Custom exhaust with two new exit's for stock form look.

Jon took his TDI and made it into an OEM+ King, R-line mixed with GTI kit.

Tucking up front and sitting flush in the rear is his game.

Running on air makes getting the correct "stance"(waffle) somewhat of a tricky affair, with sorting out offsets and planning the correct fitment of wheels and tyre combo to get it as low as possible without having to chop the frame.

Small 3 globe daytime runners hidden almost.

Oem R-Line sideskirts and rear spoiler, custom R-Line diffusor with custom

exhaust.

Oem GTI E35 front bumper and R tail lights.

Rocking a four door isn't something most would do, but this is a show piece stating that 4 doors aren't always for moms...

Smoked reflectors for a sleek look.

It's all these small things that sets the car apart from the rest, making it not just another played out G6 on air but rather a piece of art to sit and view on your desktop for weeks.

BBS LS 8,5x18 et30 up front, with 205/40-18 falken and 9,5x18 et32 with

215/40-18 falken in the rear.

R-line LED tail lights for that more aggressive look.

New photographer : Henrik T Haugen

2012-07-13T09:37:00.000+02:00

I'm now a new member of Neck Breakerz, as a contributor with photos from mostly the VAG scene here in Norway.

I'm a 26yr old man that lives in cold Norway, in a small town outside of Oslo, and I've always been fascinated by cars and photography. I work as a construction worker during the week and photograph cars on weekends. I've been photographing cars for almost 5years, not really trying to aim high, but just capture cool cars with crisp pictures.

This is my chance to show you all a little bit of the current VAG scene here in Norway, and I'm sure it will impress a lot of you guys. Got some big events coming up in Norway the next months, from aircooled to watercooled cars, and also got some appointments on cars that are well worthy for this blog.

My first car was an old Audi 80, and from there it's been escalating with a lot of VW's, from an early Derby to my current car, a Golf 6 on air ride, the one here before you.

Some more pictures I have taken over the years.

Looking forward to contributing to this awesome blog.

Peace out.

Motorfest 2012

2012-07-11T08:19:00.000+02:00

On the 30th of June, Trade Route Shopping Center played host to Motorfest 2012 hosted by JHB Parties, as we all know that JHB Parties is coming up strong and their events are never disappointing.
Rizo Kan the man behind this awesome line up of events has something so good going for him that his events are always packed, besides the fact that he always has a new trick up his sleeve every time we attend an event and we all know for a fact this wont be his last time impressing us.

We attend Motorfest 2012 and we could only anticipate a great day ahead, as usual the morning always makes for a slow start but it quickly picked up with people streaming in by the dozens. There were wheels, sound, merchandise and even air brushing displays, not forgetting the great cars that were inside the venue perimeter.

All I can say is, Rizo we waiting for the next one!

Allie.

Rizo(right) making sure everything is in order with the music.

Wheels, even though reps still nice to see a selection...

The owner of this car is very creative, believe it might look like other Citi's but believe me its not.

Old school V8 hot rod.

Double bumper beetle came around and had a few extra's to it.

Eurohoodride boys pulled through to show off some new merchandise.

The Monster Energy drink boys pulled through and gave out some free energy drinks.

This two door E30 was piloted by a 16 year old girl that becoming a real crowd favorite and its not just because she is a lady she does it better than some guys.

Wannie well known spinner and MC of the show was given a car to see if he could make it do what an E30 was born to do.

Wheels are becoming the best accessory to have, we all saying no to rice and yes to wheels!

Timothy's MK1 forever getting new touches.

Now this car is not always around but when its around you know its there!

It was packed for sure so many people, you couldn't help but feel the love.

Turbo mini rocking no hood, now that gangster.

Best wheels trophy sponsored by Sly of MAG - NIFICENT, shows South Africa taking steps into some international presentation. Now if you had the best wheels this would be the ultimate prize to show off!

Diamond in the rough, standard polo Mk2 chilled out in the parking lot.

Magic's In The 'Air'

2012-07-10T07:30:00.000+02:00

Nowadays the scene as we know it has become super competitive with everyone trying to better everyone else's ideas or cars. Finding people that are truly passionate about cars is like a breath of fresh air and this was truly a treat for me when I arrived at United Wheelers; 'The Hala' as they call it.

As soon as I walked in I received a very warm welcome and the owner Seba then apologized for not having the beetle outside since there was another car on the lift that could not be moved right away. He then invited me to share some food and drinks with the guys. To say I was blown away is an understatement having met the man for no longer than five minutes.

I automatically felt right at home talking about some of the air-cooled cars that family members own and even had a interesting discussion about the different air-cooled cars we have back home in South Africa. It truly is refreshing to be around guys that are not just about what car has the best paint, or is the lowest, or has 500 plus horsepower; just genuine down to earth good people.

So I decided to take a walk around and everything in the yard has so much character...old air-cooled parts strewn everywhere alongside beetles, old T2 buses - one of which had actually been turned into a portable bar - and a few Karmann Ghia's in different stages of reconditioning, it truly is a site to behold.

This is Seba's 1956 Beetle and everything about this car catches your attention. Real old school air-cooled flavor for you.

Whilst Seba and the guys moved cars around to get the beetle out my eyes caught sight of this awesome T2 van from 1976 running a fuel injected 1.7l boxer, it sounds amazing.

The interior is an absolute blast to be in...everything has been changed out, the seats fold down to make a bed and there is nothing electrical left as even the windscreen wiper is used manually.

Once Seba got the beetle fired up and moved it outside, I took advantage of the weather and snapped a few pics.

The man himself hard at work...

I must thank the guys from United Wheelers for inviting me to their garage and for the very warm welcome. They blew me away with their genuine passion for all things automotive and their belief that following their passion doesn't require vast amounts of money, but dedication and enthusiasm.

Check out their blog you wont be sorry http://unitedwheelers.blogspot.ro/

VW Cult Classic 7 - The Cult is growing.

2012-07-05T07:49:00.003+02:00

The word cult means different things to different folks. A cult usually starts small and grows into something bigger. Cult members go out of their way to spread the word and induct new members and so on and so on. Sound bad? I guess it can - unless we are speaking about the VW Cult Classic Show. It started off with 30 or so cars in a little parking lot in Coopersburg PA, put together by Josh from NothingLeavesStock. Year after year the Cult continues to grow. Attendees come back not for the Kool-aid but for a refreshing change from your standard car show. Its more of a gathering of friends and family that seems to take over more and more of the park setting each year. Attendees gather to hang out eat great food, to park with ever growing numbers car lovers and of course their cars.

This year marks the 7th anniversarry of the Cult Classic. In previous years the show was participant judged, but this year was changed to panel judging due to the overwhelming work involved in counting ballots. The show has never been about winning trophy's, but with some of the coolest custom awards I have ever won, its easy to see how some would take winning one seriously. More on that later.

My day started with the 5th annual "Blue Sign" Cruise to Cult Classic. We originally set up the cruise to induct our friends from the North.

We had a mini cruise to the "Blue Sign"

We were greeted by some awesome cars that had arrived earlier than us.

The lot continued to fill up.

Before long we were on our way.

Empty roads make for a great Sunday cruise.

With the cruise part done, we set up camp and began to see what was here.

Rust and Oceanic Blue.

Yes, I am a sucker for a super clean bunny on BBS's.

Anti-Low? Sure looks like fun to drive.

I loved this interior. Different, but not overdone.

We decided to enter the mini cabby instead of the Cosmic Bunny this time around.

The "everything else" category was the biggest I remember. It brought out some interesting rides.

This Datsun quickly reminded me why I love old Japanese cars.

Auction to benefit Moses' family. He lost his life in a car accident and all proceeds were to go to his family. Donations came from industry, friends, family and business establishments near and far.

Where else to you have a chance to bid on freshly redone RA's?

I donated one of my own pictures "Caddy's in the Twisties" to be auctioned off to help the cause.

Cult has become known for its unique awards. Sure its not about the awards, but owning one is a treat. Panel judging this year assured that one could not sway the votes by stacking votes. I chose this year to enter my little girls miniature cabby as a joke.

To our surprise the cabby took home one of the coveted awards. She was very happy to receive her award from Josh himself. The show was another great day. I look forward to see what next year holds.

Eat Sleep Boost!

2012-07-03T11:41:00.002+02:00

Its goes without saying that the Volkswagen Golf Mk V is surely carrying the GTi moniker well. Having been launched mid 2006 on US soil, it was a hit from the word go!

To find a stock Mk V around your neighborhood is pretty easy and very often you will find some with a different style of wheels. When I met Nishal, I happened to be walking past his car and what really caught my eye was the blue around the grill area - take a closer look and you WILL find yourself watering at the mouth!

The feel to the car is aggressive. Nothing can be labeled as over done, yet it still remains classy.

Nishal has always had a love for cars - and having the urge to modify them, he really wanted a Mk V GTi with silver being the only color of choice. When he finally got around to getting the car he did a small performance mod running stage 2 software. Like most guys with modified cars, he became used to the power and wanted more so the general option was to go with a full K04 set up done by a buddy of his.

Wheel wise he opted for a set of 18" PDW hoops, and with the ride height not being the most ideal,

H 'n R springs were installed to bring it closer to the earth.

With the K04 conversion on the cards, it was guaranteed there would be small things that still had to be done, so Yoshen from Unitronic was brought on board to do the necessary.

Evoms intake, S3 cooler, S3 injectors, Devils Own meth kit, Forge twincooler, Wotbox and full exhaust with R32 diffuser make quite the ingredients for one of South Africa's fastest GTi's. It didn't stop there however - it finally ended with him doing full Neuspeed pulley kit and a last visit to Yoshen to do stage 2+.

And so, together, all the ingredients of this recipe brings you one fast and mean looking Mk V!

Enjoy,

Allister.

COOLIN: Brandt's B6 A4 tucking some Rotiform Nues

2012-06-28T08:15:00.000+02:00

Have you ever sat and pondered how you may have gotten involved in the automotive scene, or who introduced you to what it meant to have a passion for cars? Was it a family member who got you started, say maybe your dad or grandfather, maybe it was a close group of friends that sparked this interest. We all got started with this shared passion in many different ways and no one way is greater than the other.

Brandt is one of those guys whose passion was bred deep within his family ties. Brandt's grandfather has been restoring Volkswagens for the past 50 years at his shop Amsleys Auto Body. This is where Brandt got started and when I say started I mean started super early. He began learning this trade at the early age of 14 when he began working for his grandfather and uncles at the shop. He quickly learned the basics around the shop and within a short time built and restored his first car. Of course that first car was a 69 bug. Did you expect anything less from a guy raised into an aircooled pedigree. Brandt has become quite the body expert. He continues to work at his grandfather's shop where he does some routine customer jobs but specializes in full restorations projects. He has quite a few under his belt including some karman ghias, westfalia's, and of course the good ole' bugs.

But just because Brandt was brought up within such a deep Volkswagen heritage, that didn't stop him from venturing into different genres of the car scene. He ran deep in the JDM scene for awhile with a well done RHD Honda CRX which he of course did the majority of the hard work on. He has also tried his hand in the Jeep scene and even tried to keep it classy in an 84 Cutlass Supreme. Lets just say, Brandt has been around the block a few times.

Brandt is now putting most of his time and motivation into the B6 Audi A4 Quattro pictured above. He has slowly been working on the Audi for the past year or so, but as of recently it has snowballed and he has put some major work into it. The car originally was lowered on Tein coilovers but Brandt got the itch to go air last year while at H2O in Ocean City. With the help of Bagriders, Brandt got himself setup with Airlifts struts and Accuair Management with the E Level system. It took little time for Brandt to get the new suspension installed and he made sure to achieve the lowest of lowness. With the B6 body Audi platform, it is essential to notch the areas under the hood for the upper controls to tuck into when fully aired out. Brandt took the knowledge he had and performed this job without any problems and also took the extra time to make sure to make it look as clean as possible when the hood is popped. Next thing in line to set the car apart has to be the wheels. Now some may think the Rotiform NUE's are beginning to be a tad bit played out but the 19s tucked under the arches of Brandt's Audi complete that simple and clean look he was trying to achieve.

Now a lot people would stop there and be content with their work but not Brandt. He soon realized the car was lacking some go fast goodies. Next in line was a brand new KO4 to up from the stock KO3. But he didn't stop there and bought the recommended supplemental mods in order to get the most out the new turbo. Now there are quite a few software upgrade options out there for the KO4 but Brandt went with United Motorsport's software. The new software called for larger 440cc injectors to make sure the car was receiving the correct amount of fuel. The last remaining engine modification was a custom intake setup with a 3" MAF. With all this new power being put down, the stock clutch unfortunately decided to start slipping. A new stage 3 clutch will be making its way into the quattro tranny in the very near future. Now with the go fast goodies buttoned down, the interior was next in line. He kept it rather modest and decided to re-wrap the headliner and pillar pieces in tan suede material. There was one last thing the car needed. Brandt being a body guy, he decided the 9 year old paint could use some freshen up. One of the many perks of being a certified autobody technician is that you can re-spray your car whenever you want. He decided to re-spray the car the OEM color and also shaved the trunklid while he was at it. The question is, how long will it stay the OEM color? To finish off the exterior, Brandt modified a Cupra R front lip to add a little more aggressive look up front.

Brandt has done an amazing job with what he has done with the Audi. There is nothing outrageous, such as bright colored wheels or one off paint color, about his car but what makes it such an eye-opener is how damn clean and simple this car is. I am going to leave you with one last thought to ponder over, never forget how your passion for the automotive scene began or who introduced you to this scene.

Minty Fresh Mk3 Vr6 behind the making of the video

2012-06-26T07:58:00.003+02:00

A shoot of a video.
The behind the scenes coverage.
I really want to start doing videos, but with life being life, I never had time in contacting a person with a nice car to try my 1st video. Luckily Adrian messaged me and asked me when can I shoot his car again.
Adrian owns a mint(no pun intended) fresh Volkswagen Mk3 Jetta Vr6. So I decided lets do it, I went to go pick up Jason and another friend of mine to head of to Stellenbosch, a bit of a drive, but if you want nice locations you have to drive out. Once we got there, I was amazed to see how Adrian's car looked since I saw it the last time that I did the magazine feature on it.

When we got him at the garage he told me he is busy bouncing all around the show while driving, he set the car down by about 85mm, but said he didn't mind it. You'll see in the video exactly what he means by this LOL.
His car is fitted with Traxion Coilovers, 57mm Profit exhaust, cold air induction, 4bar fuel pressure regulator, 17 inch BBS RS Replicas and Thule roof rack, other than that the car is Stock.

We didn't have to drive around much to find these 2 suitable locations. As we started off, I must say I found it really tricky to shoot video with a DSLR if you don't have the right tools, but we will get there soon.
I hope you guys like the pics and the video(my 1st time at it). Learned a lot through doing this video, next time I hope to better it.

Enjoy the pics and Video
Divan

Adrian's Mk3 Jetta Vr6 from Divan Shepherd on Vimeo.

Boost Junkies Dyno day.

2012-06-22T08:27:00.001+02:00

I'm usually always late for a show, but that's all just a time and family juggling issue but I always like to attend up and coming crew events. So I know all of you must be thinking 'he must have been on time for this one" you have it wrong I was late again. Enough about my time issue.

Boost Junkies, it's pretty simple the next thing that comes to mind are turbos and really fast cars without even having to search far for an explanation. Now events are coming up strong this year and we all try to attend as many as possible, but this is the one I would make sure I was at, as I am close friends with a lot of the boys who organized this Dyno Day. It would simply go without saying that I was bound to enjoy myself , with me being one for speed but not having the balls to do these things myself, they suite other people better.

Now doing an event of this sort is nothing to be fancy about, its all about power no fancy dribble. Its a mine is bigger than yours contest, a battle field for modders who thought they got it all this morning.

When I got to the K.A.R performance where the event was being held, it was packed, the smell of fuel and exhaust fumes set off my high for power. This was going to be no gentleman's game.

Allie

V8 T Bucket, a grown mans toy for sure.

Slammed VR6 also took to the rollers.

Built for style and family cruising, this is not for speed.

JDM styled supra, It never moved the whole day while I was there.

APR tuned Seat Leon FR.

Twin Turbo VR6, its a dream I know.

Unitronic boys were definitely happy with their cars, pushing the 20v limit.

As usual he has different wheels again.

Simply just right, V-Tec yo!

This E36 was definitely a shocker, never read a book by its cover.

Aprilla with NOS mmmmm I wonder?

This BMW showed up last but wasn't a disappointment putting up 493.9 whp.

To check results from the Dyno Day check out http://www.boostjunkies.co.za

Neck Breakerz joins forces with VAGscene.

2012-06-20T08:38:00.000+02:00

Its with great pleasure that we at Neck Breakerz announce, that we have joined forces with VAGscene.

"Where culture meets lifestyle" is the emphasis of what the V.A.G. scene is about. German cars are their passion and they live it every day. The team at VAGscene live and breath what we car enthusiasts know to be the scene.

VAGscene has to put together a very skilled team to bring us an all new scene development platform. They help people all around the world connect with each other in a whole new way.

VAGscene is your bridge into what's what in the world of anything VAG related, the content they offer is nothing short of breathtaking. They have joined with the likes of Air Society, SEM Motorsport, Klutch Republic, Fuel Riders and Montreal Audi Club to mention a few.

Steve Da Silva (Business Development, Marketing), Paul Bars (Marketing & Media) and Alex Crousset

(Web Developer, Design) are the people behind VAGscene, read into their backgrounds and you will find that this is an all star team that couldn't be put together better than this!

Neck Breakerz.

This is a link to VAGscene Episode 1, which gives a better view on what VS has to offer.

http://www.vagscene.com/72_vagscene_episode_1.html

Become part of the scene and join VAGscene,

Follow them on Facebook:

facebook.com/vagscene

Follow them on Twitter:

twitter.com/VagScene

CLICK HERE to join the VAGscene community now!

All pictures in this article are property of Paul Bars and the VAGscene team.

Bucharest Wheels Arena

2012-06-18T10:53:00.000+02:00

This past weekend I had the pleasure of attending the Bucharest Wheels Arena Show. A show that had a bit of everything for any kind of petrol head could want crammed into one event for 3 days and 3 nights. The variety of things you had to see and take part in was next-to-none, be it the drifting or motorcycle stunts. Off-roading and dirt bikes, Car expo and sound off and to top it off live bands so you weren't lacking anything!!

It was a real scorcher with 3 beautiful sunny days and I took full advantage of it!! Here are a few snaps I took for your viewing pleasure.

Nico.

Super clean interior!

And after the sun set I snapped a few night shots

Borrowed Love

2012-06-16T09:43:00.001+02:00

Borrowed Love from Zacdaniel on Vimeo.

This is my first Video.

I am still new and made a few screw ups with regards to the slow mo as I didn't know to record at 60fps to make it smooth.

The Quality is not that good as I think the old canon isn't up to do video.

Made by myself but next time I will get someone to help out with the car whilst I can record as driving and doing video doesn't work to well. One man band not to cool haha...

Theme:

The car is owned by Aldo Rollandi and we borrowed it to do this video of it and in the end I fell in love with it.

That's where Borrowed Love come to light.

Was shot with:

Canon 500D with Magic lantern

Canon 20mm f2.0 lens

Manfrotto tripod

A rig with wheels

Edited in Sony Vegas Pro 11

Music

Band - Arcade Fire

Song - Headlights look like Diamonds

Made for http://www.neckbrkz.com