All Episodes 2011 - 2024

This is the story of a '66 Buick Special convertible that had been abandoned in Arizona in 1978 by the family of Rick Pewe, editor of 4-Wheel & Off-Road magazine. In 2011, the guys from HOT ROD Magazine, in conjunction with Rick, spent four days bringing the car back from the dead with plans to drive it home from Phoenix to Los Angeles. This is part 1, with the hacking fun the guys had rescuing the car. Look for part two, loaded with road-trip hilarity. The story is printed in the September 2011 issue of HOT ROD Magazine.

This is the story of a '66 Buick Special convertible that had been abandoned in Arizona in 1978 by the family of Rick Pewe, editor of 4-Wheel & Off-Road magazine. In 2011, the guys from HOT ROD Magazine, in conjunction with Rick, spent four days bringing the car back from the dead with plans to drive it home from Phoenix to Los Angeles. This is part 2, loaded with road-trip hilarity. The story is printed in the September 2011 issue of HOT ROD Magazine.

Here's a special bonus for fans of our Roadkill show! It's a question-and-answer session with hosts David Freiburger and Mike Finnegan of HOT ROD magazine, and they address issues raised by fans of the show's Facebook page (Facebook.com/RoadkillShow). The guys also take you on a small tour of the HOT ROD shop and reveal the work being done on some of your favorite projects from past episodes of Roadkill: the Muscle Truck and the Hemi '55 Chevy. You'll also get a peek at two future project cars, and if you wait for the credits to play, you'll see a hint about the next full episode of Roadkill.

Roadkill Nation, powered by Dodge, is a special bonus episode—a Roadkill take on a competition reality show. We hosted a contest where Roadkill fans sent us videos to convince us that they should be among the eight winners who would be flown on an all-expense-paid trip to Los Angeles to visit the Roadkill headquarters, hang out with Roadkill hosts David Freiburger and Mike Finnegan, and race against them in brand-new, 707-horsepower, Dodge SRT Hellcat-powered Chargers and Challengers as well as 645-horsepower Dodge Viper SRT supercars. The fun competition is a battle to win the Mike Finnegan-built titanium trophies as the fans are paired into teams for the figure 8 in Hellcat Chargers, the dragstrip in Hellcat Challengers, and the autocross in Viper SRTs. In the end, it’s really about the tire smoke. And don’t worry, there are still 12 episodes of regular Roadkill this season…the Roadkill Nation show is an extra, 13th episode for 2015.

This holiday season lose the yule log, forget the fireplace and gather the family ‘round for a new holiday tradition - ROADKILL’S SMALL BLOCK BLAZE!

With less than 48 hours until the big showdown in Pomona, Finnegan and crew face a major set-back after a shocking discovery on the dyno.

This holiday season lose the yule log, forget the fireplace and gather the family ‘round for a new holiday tradition - ROADKILL’S SMALL BLOCK BLAZE!

Here's a special bonus for fans of our Roadkill show! It's a question-and-answer session with hosts David Freiburger and Mike Finnegan of HOT ROD magazine, and they address issues raised by fans of the show's Facebook page (Facebook.com/RoadkillShow). The guys also take you on a small tour of the HOT ROD shop and reveal the work being done on some of your favorite projects from past episodes of Roadkill: the Muscle Truck and the Hemi '55 Chevy. You'll also get a peek at two future project cars, and if you wait for the credits to play, you'll see a hint about the next full episode of Roadkill.

On the premiere episode of Roadkill, HOT ROD's David Freiburger and Mike Finnegan head to El Paso, TX with money and a mission - to find a car they can buy, fix up, and drive back to Los Angeles. The catch? They only have $1500 bucks to do it, and they need to sell it on eBayMotors.com before they get home! ep001

David Freiburger and Mike Finnegan build a clone of the 1968 Ford Ranchero that the magazine ran in the very first Baja 1000, then head north for Alaska. But sometimes when you hit the road, the road hits back, and their ambitious journey quickly transforms into the road trip from hell. Undaunted by sleepless nights, multiple breakdowns, derailed plans, 0-degree weather and the lack of a passenger-side window, the guys create an adventurous win from a comedy of errors. It's American road tripping at its best... and worst. ep002

David Freiburger and Mike Finnegan join Fred Williams and Rick Péwé of Peterson's 4-Wheel & Off-Road magazine to compete in the infamous Cheap Truck Challenge. Riding into battle with a modded 1979 Bronco, they face-off against a rock-ready 1980 Toyota Pickup and a beastly 1987 Chevy Suburban in a cash-strapped quest for ultimate off-road glory. ep003

David Freiburger, Mike Finnegan and a carsick dog drive a '69 El Camino 500 miles from home (on seven cylinders) to change an engine in the parking lot of Summit Racing. ep004

David Freiburger and Mike Finnegan spend 24 crazy hours with a 1930 Model A Rat Rod and a 2012 Lamborghini Aventador to find out which wildly impractical, larger-than-life car attracts the most attention. ep005

David Freiburger and Mike Finnegan go head-to head in an epic driving competition that's really just an excuse for some hilarious, needless car bashing. The victims are two parts cars for HOT ROD magazine projects: a '90-something Dodge conversion van that will give up its 360 V8 in the name of hot rodding and an '87 Buick wagon that was intended as a chassis donor... but after this, maybe not. Let the battle begin! ep006

Freiburger and Finnegan do unspeakable things to a '74 Jaguar XJ12, one of about 4,700 made. Namely, they cut a giant hole in the hood and install a Weiand 6-71 supercharger and twin Holley carburetors on the 350ci Chevy V8 that was already installed in the car when it was purchased for $1,000. But things can never be easy, so the supercharger installation is staged in the parking lot of Gotelli Speed Shop in South San Francisco. Then the duo hits the road, making their way to Sacramento Raceway, where they can finally unleash "The Draguar" at the strip. ep007

David Freiburger and Mike Finnegan hit the road on a quest to build a car they've both dreamed of for years: a '55 Chevy Bel Air sedan set up like a '60s Gasser and powered by a Mopar 426 Hemi. The guys drag out a '73 GMC Suburban that they'd never driven more than around the block (did you expect anything else?), then use it to pick up a bare '55 Chevy body in California before heading north for the 1,000-mile trip to Lincoln City, Oregon. That's the home of Jim Meyer Racing, the chassis builder that helps the guys turn the '55 into a wicked looking hot rod in a single day. There's no fail in this episode of Roadkill! Well, at least nothing terminal. ep008

David Freiburger and Mike Finnegan hit the road with 500 of their friends for Drag Week. It's the most brutal test anywhere of real drag-racing, street-driven cars, as the competitors hit the road for 1,400 miles to race five times at four different drag strips in five days in a battle to post the lowest average elapsed time at the end of the week. The winner is crowned the HOT ROD Fastest Street Car in America. ep009

There's endless burnouts and powerskids as David Freiburger and Mike Finnegan of HOT ROD magazine are on the loose in Australia with 727ci of Sonny Leonard hemi-headed madness. The massive big-block makes 1,275 horsepower between the fenders of a 2006 Holden HSV VE Clubsport R8. In American, that's like a Pontiac G8. This display of overkill is the product of "Gup," the promoter of the Powercruise series of events in Australia, New Zealand, and Minnesota (USA) where tire smoke is the rule. On the show, you'll see tire fire from Gup's infamous "Elvis" '74 Holden HQ, from his 727ci Clubbie, from a 1,500ci diesel semi truck, and from Downunder's most throttle-happy petrolheads on both coasts. The miracle is that Freiburger and Finnegan aren't still in an Aussie jail. Of course, that might have been less punishing than the 30-hour flight home. ep010

David Freiburger and Mike Finnegan of HOT ROD magazine fly out of town, buy a car from a junkyard, make it run and drive, do burnouts, add nitrous, drag race twice, almost die, and the auction off the car at the end. The scene begins at CTC Auto Ranch in Denton, Texas, where the guys score a '67 Plymouth Barracuda with a 360 V8, but without a carburetor, interior, glass, or brakes. By the time they sort out a number of other

Freiburger and Finnegan are out to discover which used cop car they like best, the Chevy Caprice 9C1 or the Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor P71. Of course you expect nothing but the most professional, scientific analysis from these guys, and that includes a day doing donuts and bashing into stuff on pavement, tire explosions, a road trip to the desert, camping, thrashing on dirt roads, and a finale that just might create a new form of low-buck off-road motorsport. ep012

The boys reignite their desire to go Ice Racing in Alaska! If you remember episode 2 of Roadkill, Freiburger and Finnegan hit the road in a '68 Ford Ranchero with a wild goal: to drive 3,600 miles from Los Angeles, California, to Big Lake, Alaska, to go ice racing. Somehow, they instead found themselves in the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Now, 14 months later, the guys are trying it again. The Ranchero's engine was freshened up and reinstalled just days before the second attempt. The goal: to run the ALCAN Highway on the way to the ice races with the Alaska Sports Car Club outside of Anchorage in Big Lake, Alaska. Will they get it done this time? ep013

The last episode of Roadkill told the first half of the story of Freiburger and Finnegan's second attempt—and this time, you can bask in the suffering and victory as they finally reach the goal. But how with their 45-year-old muscle car fare in an ice race with the Alaska Sports Car Club? Watch to find out. ep014

David Freiburger claims that this road trip on this episode of Roadkill is the most stupid thing that he and Mike Finnegan have ever done. Freiburger wanted to do a Jeep trip, so Finnegan bought an old Willys flatfender--one that had been turned into a two-wheel-drive rat rod using some very sketchy fabrication. The guys made it semi-safe, then hit the road to drive to the Desert Bar in Parker, Arizona, where they sold the Jeep to a guy for the price of their bar tab. ep015

It's fun with Leaf Blowers. Experts on the Internet said it would never work. That's never stopped Freiburger and Finnegan, and this time on Roadkill the guys put the theory to the test: can hardware-store leaf blowers supercharge an engine and make power? Step one was buying a '78 Monza Spyder with a 305 V8 and a four-speed stick. Step two was to take it to the shop of HOT ROD Drag Week racer Jeff Lutz to tune it up, swap the engine to a 350, dyno test it with five leaf blowers, and do a whole bunch of needless burnouts. Step three was to drive the Monza to Willmington, Ohio, for the East Coast Timing Association's Ohio Mile event, a standing-mile race where they'd find out if leaf-blower power adds up to more speed in the real world. The outcome? Who really cares? Because on Roadkill, it's always about the adventure. And more burnouts. ep016

A tank squashes a Prius to smithereens! It runs over that junk without even noticing. That's all you really need to know about this episode of Roadkill, but if you jump straight to the tank carnage you'll miss a bunch of cool stuff. Like when Freiburger and Finnegan attempt a shootout between a Toyota Prius hybrid and a '75 AMC Gremlin, trying to prove that the Gremmie is more of a greenie. It was all fun and games until the Prius engine let go on the race track in a ball of flame. Because Roadkill. After that, you've gotta see the guys once again embrace their own Kryptonite: flat-towing. Yup, as it turns out, dragging a dead Prius with a lighter, smaller Gremlin ends real badly. But in the end, the Prius is wafer thin and the Gremlin's still on the road. Still want to jump right to the tank smash? Don't be that guy. ep017

A Vette-powered stepside truck. Nitrous oxide. Honda Trail 70s. Drag racing, and lots and lots of burnouts. Those are the basic plot points on this episode of Roadkill, as Freiburger and Finnegan have big fun with retro trail motorcycles on their way to revitalizing a long-neglected HOT ROD magazine project vehicle and road-tripping it to the eighth-mile drags. The vehicle is the Muscle Truck, a '74 Chevy shortbed stepside beater powered by an all-aluminum Corvette LS6. It also has a Turbo 400 transmission, a Gear Vendors under/overdrive, a Ford 9-inch with 5.13 gears, and the most wicked sounding exhaust ever. The goal is to get thrown out of the dragstrip for going too fast without a rollbar, then race the minibikes instead. How much nitrous can the Muscle Truck take? ep018

It's Freiburger in the Super Bee versus Finnegan in the '67 Camaro as the guys make the trip from Los Angeles to Salt Lake City and back to go race at the Midnight Drags at Rocky Mountain Raceways in hopes of running the Bee on nitrous for the first time since the Hemi was installed. Which car will work best over 1,500 miles of mayem in three days? ep019

Finnegan builds an 1,100-horsepower big-block and Freiburger brings a Camaro that he's run 261 mph at the Bonneville Salt Flats. Put 'em together and it's a recipe for win, right? If you think so, you're probably not a Roadkill regular. It turns into an entire adventure just getting there, and gets more interesting from there. ep020

It's always a good idea to buy a car off the Internet sight-unseen, right? That's what a friend-of-a-friend of Roadkill did with the kustom Merc—and maybe he made an even worse decision when he allowed Freiburger and Finnegan to wrench on the thing and deliver it to him. This deal was set up by a Roadkill fan, Jim Norman of Norman Vinyards in Paso Robles, California. The road trip involves the '69 El Camino from Episode 4, The Dog from Episodes 4 and 17, lots of burnouts with the guys from Hot Rod Ranch and plenty of fun with Alex Gambino of Gambino Kustoms

Freiburger and Finnegan attack the low-buck endurance race called 24 Hours of Lemons. Not content do do this ridiculous race in a reasonable car like a little handling-oriented import, the race car of choice is a one-owner '73 Plymouth Fury that Freiburger bought for $200 before setting it on fire a few times and then gutting it into a race car. The truth behind the scenes of this episode is that much of it was shot almost a year ago, and back then the guys didn't want to air it. You'll have to watch to see why. But now, in 2013, the story came full circle in a way that it only can on Roadkill, and so here we finally present the whole story. ep022

Freiburger and Finnegan think this is the best episode so far! It's the longest, too. This show has it all: a Mad-Max-vibe 1968 Dodge Charger built with motorhome parts, sideways Dukes-style action, lots of low-buck wrenching, hilarious snafus, and cameo appearances by the Macho Grande from episode 8, the '66 Buick Special convertible from a pre-Roadkill episode, the ramp truck from episode 20, and the Fury from episode 22. Enjoy the last Roadkill of 2013! ep023

More than any other episode, this Roadkill reveals what it's really like to work at HOT ROD Magazine. Follow along to get the behind-the-scenes dirt on how we pulled off the Roadkill Live engine swap in the Crusher Camaro at the 2013 Performance Racing Industry trade show, then watch the 2,400-mile trip home from Indy to LA in the Crusher Camaro--including visits with Funny Car Racer Tony Pedregon, Steve Schmidt Racing Engines, and Finnegan's dad! It all ends with a session at the drag strip where the Crusher went quicker than it ever has. ep024

We celebrate with a 44-minute special that includes details on what's become of every Roadkill project car since the start, plus a big-action showdown of 9 of the popular survivors. As a bonus, we invited Motor Trend hosts and editors Jonny Lieberman and Carlos Lago to come make fun of us. Make sure to hang to the end for the big nine-car drag race and some hellacious tire smoke! ep025

What do you get when you cross a rusted 1971 Datsun 240Z with a Chevy 4.3L V6 and a turbo from a Ford Power Stroke Diesel? The Rotsun! During Roadkill Episode 25, Freiburger and Finnegan revived the Rotsun expecting it to dominate in the 9-car autocross showdown of previous Roadkill project cars. It also needed to beat a 2014 Kia Rio 5, but failed to do so with the Rotsun shamefully breaking down before completing a decent lap. So in this episode: revenge. After swapping in the mismatched turbo and making nearly 400 rear-wheel horsepower, the guys head to the autocross at the Goodguys 5th Spring Nationals in Scottsdale, Arizona and mingle with fans on their way to a rematch with that dastardly Kia. ep026

Chevy runs deep! This time Freiburger and Finnegan find out just how deep as they visit the infamous sinkhole that opened up inside the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky. To do it Roadkill style, the guys find the worst Corvette they can buy, get it running after sitting for six years, break auto parts, experience gators firsthand, and visit the Corvette assembly plant. Finally, they try and convince the Corvette Museum to let them leave their '75 Stingray behind......inside the sinkhole. ep027

Remember the drag racing '74 Chevy Muscle Truck from Roadkill Episode 18? It's back, but with a twist: it's gonna become a true dual-sport ride for surf and turf, shedding its drag slicks for Super Swamper Boggers and hitting the sand dunes...hard! And to prove that a lowered, two-wheel-drive pickup can dominate the dunes, Freiburger and Finnegan set up a shootout with Fred Williams from the Dirt Every Day series on the Motor Trend channel. Fred brought out his '69 VW Baja Bug from DED Episode 23 and went head to head with the Muscle Truck on the beach at Pismo, California. The Roadkill/HOT ROD Magazine Muscle Truck is a '74 Chevy C10 shortbed, stepside, with a GM LS6 crate engine (like the all-aluminum V8 found in a C6 ZO6 Corvette). It's stock other than a small crane cam, midlength headers, and a new addition for this episode: MSD's Atomic EFI (the truck used to run a carburetor). The Atomic setup is atop a BBK intake manifold, and uses a stock LS1 throttle body. That legendary exhaust sound comes from 3-inch pipe with 4-inch Dynomax Bullet race mufflers. The truck's transmission is a JW Turbo 400 backed by a Gear Vendors over/underdrive unit. And it really needs overdrive because the Ford 9-inch rear carries 5.13 gears and a spool. The suspension features dropped spindles and Ridetech Strong Arms and air bags up front. In the rear, two leaves were removed from the stock spring packs, they were flipped under the axle, and traction is delivered by Caltrac's bars. ep028

In Episode 8 of Roadkill we introduced you to the greatest engine swap project ever—a Hemi into a 1955 Chevy Bel Air. Nearly two years later, we finally get Mike Finnegan's Mopar-powered Tri-Five on the road, but not without a few problems along the way. Blown head gaskets, frayed wires, and severe sleep-deprivation are all overcome as Finnegan, Freiburger, and friends push to get this polarizing project car running again in time for an epic road trip. The BlaspHEMI '55 Chevy rides on a Jim Meyer Racing Gasser tube chassis with Viking coilover dampers and Firestone Cheater slicks out back. Up front the car has a tubular straight axle, parallel leaf springs and tires small enough to fit on a VW Bug. The rear axle is a John's Industries 9-inch with 5.43:1 gears. The Hemi began life as a 528ci Mopar crate engine, which Finnegan rebuilt with a 0.030-inch overbore, ported aluminum heads, and a Comp Cams solid roller cam. The mill is topped off with a Hilborn stack injection system with EFI controlled by a FAST EFI ECU. An Aeromotive Stealth fuel tank and pump provides the fuel while MSD provides the spark. The engine is backed by a Tremec Magnum six-speed manual gearbox with an American Powertrain installation kit and a twin-disc clutch. The car was wired with a Speedwires kit and the guys built their own fenderwell headers using parts from Hedman. To save weight, the original steel front clip was swapped out for a lightweight fiberglass tilt front end from Unlimited Products and the windows were replaced with lexan parts from ProGlass. The rollcage is a 10-point arrangement built from chrome-moly steel and TIG welded to the floor and frame. To save a ton of time, High Tech Auto Wraps covered the car in flat black vinyl instead of paint while the last of the parts were installed onto the car. ep029

It's 2,600 miles, 530 cubic inches, 700 horsepower, six speeds, 17 mpg, and two fun visits with some friends from TV. Last time, on Roadkill Episode 29, we finished our Chrysler-Hemi-powered 1955 Chevrolet gasser in about two weeks of thrashing (it's the same car you saw us take, as a bare shell, to Jim Meyer Racing in Oregon in Episode 8). On this latest episode, we drive it around the block once, then hit the road on a 2,600-mile journey from Los Angeles to the kickoff party of the 2014 HOT ROD Power Tour in Concord, North Carolina. On the way, there's the breakdowns you expect from Roadkill, plus two surprises: a stop at Midwest Street Cars with Justin "Big Chief" Shearer and Shawn "Murder Nova" Ellington from Street Outlaws, and another with Rutledge Wood from Top Gear USA. ep030

One of the most incredible junkyards in the history of junk is Turner's Auto Wrecking in Fresno, California—and on this episode of Roadkill, Freiburger and Finnegan hit those 100 acres of vintage sheetmetal and go spelunking for gold! After considerable debate, the guys select a 1950 GMC shortbed truck that had been off the road for 26 years and jam to get it running and driving for the trip home to Los Angeles. At least there was a 50-percent victory. Watch as the guys revamp the Jimmy inline six, panic over a wrecked master cylinder, sweat their cajones off for four days, and explore one of the greatest old-car stashes ever! ep031

In this extra special episode of Roadkill, Subaru's all-new 2015 Legacy goes head-to-head with three of Roadkill's most famous project cars in tests of agility. Can the efficiency and traction of Subaru's Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive outrun the horsepower of the 1968 Ford Ranchero, the 1968 Dodge Charger "General Mayhem," and the turbo-Chevy-powered '71 "Rotsun" 240Z? You'll find out here in Roadkill's longest and most action-packed episode to date, as the guys thrash the cars mercilessly on a figure-8 obstacle course, at the DirtFish Rally School, and in a wheel-to wheel chase through a post-apocalyptic neighborhood. Roadkill is presented by Dickies, Built to Work. ep032

This time, Freiburger and Finnegan were out for a gearhead vacation, heading from the NHRA U.S. Nationals in Indy to HOT ROD Drag Week in Tulsa, but they had no car to drive. Posting on the Roadkill Facebook page was all it took to get fans to bring about a dozen cars for the guys to consider buying. After a struggle, they ended up letting a 5-year-old pick the car for them: a '67 Ford Country Sedan wagon. Next it was hanging on the starting line with mega-team owner Don Schumacher and other stars of the NHRA, a road trip that involved getting threatened by an old man with a steel pipe, and a final destination with the action of HOT ROD Drag Week. A past Roadkill co-star ended up winning that race overall, and you'll also watch as Larry Larson sets the record for the single quickest pass of all time for a street-legal vehicle. ep038

Has it been that long already? Yup, we are 34 episodes deep into this thing we call Roadkill and although this episode might seem like we are mailin’ it in, we are in fact not slowing down at all. This is the good stuff, the moments that didn’t make the cut because we just couldn’t fit them in, and the inside dirt on what really happens when we hit the road with 20 bucks in our pockets and a headful of good ideas. Sit back, pop open a few cold ones, and take a trip down memory lane with Freiburger and Finnegan as they reminisce on puking dogs, smashed hybrids and why nobody seems to like it when they drive to Alaska.

We hack the entire body off a C4 Corvette, cage it, and call it a race car! Freiburger and Finnegan fulfill a dream that began four-plus years ago when they first wrote the "Vette Hack" article for HOT ROD magazine, slicing 900 pounds of ugly fiberglass off of a 1985 Corvette to prove that it would handle better in the autocross. Less weight means more acceleration, better cornering, and better stopping. The idea is proven once again here as the guys add a 350-horsepower rat-rod engine, rebuild the trans, remove more weight, and make it rigid, safe, and stylish with a full rollcage. Next, they head into a shootout with a 2014 Corvette upgraded by Lingenfelter Performance Engineering with an Edelbrock blower, Kooks headers, and Corsa exhaust for a wicked-sounding 640 horsepower. And then, of course, there's the off-road mayhem. The Vette Kart rocks! ep035

The boys are back to kick off Season 4 with their most epic engine swap to date! This time Finnegan and Freiburger drag an old Rogers Bonneville jet boat to a local Southern California lake behind the Muscle Truck, a lowered 1974 Chevrolet C10 pickup that's powered by a Chevrolet Performance LS6 crate engine. Once at the lake, they proceed to remove the engine from the truck and install it into the boat, hoping to do a little drag racing during the Tom Papp Memorial boating event. As usual things don't go as planned but the guys still manage to have fun involving an outhouse, shower curtains, scummy water and a trailer hitch. Oh yeah, did we mention that after going boating Finnegan and Freiburger still had to take the engine back out of the boat and re-install it into the truck to get home? ep036

This episode of Roadkill is stuffed with speed parts donated by sponsors. That ought to make the install easy, right? Not when you decide to embark on a road trip from Phoenix, Arizona to Wichita, Kansas in January in a station wagon that’s missing a few windows and you want to install the parts along the way. Finnegan and Freiburger are at it again taking the hard way out by fixing up a 1969 Buick Wagon during a brutal winter road trip where they spent as much time hanging out in parking lots as they did hotels. Why? Well there was a kid in Kansas who wanted to trade them his Cavalier for their wagon and they didn’t have the heart to bring him the POS without churchin’ it up a bit prior to delivery. We don’t want to spoil the party, but it does look and sound a tad different before they reach Kansas. ep037

Roadkill is now powered by Dodge! To kick off the sponsorship, Finnegan and Freiburger called for some brand new 2015 supercars: the 707-horsepower Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and Charger SRT Hellcat, plus a 645-horsepower Dodge Viper GT. Why? For an epic thrash, of course! This video has more tire smoke than you've ever seen from these cars, plus a big, irresponsible surprise at a motocross track. There are guest spots from Carlos Lago from Motor Trend, Fred Williams from Dirt Every Day, and pro drifter Tony Angelo. None of these guys should have been handed the keys. And by the way, we used the Hellcat red keys the whole time. ep038

Here’s a premise you haven’t seen before from the Roadkill guys: this time, Freiburger bought a car without Finnegan knowing, and Finnegan picked the road trip without Freiburger knowing. Result: the Monster Carlo! It’s a 1980 Chevy Monte Carlo lowrider with full hydraulics—perfect for lifting it up high to fit some Super Swamper off-road tires for a desert excursion to Las Vegas, where the guys meet up with the fans for a party at EBC Brakes. Along the way there’s failure, winning, more failure, three-wheeling, hopping, fire, sparks, dirt, and more psychotic laughter than you’ve ever seen in a single episode. #BecauseRoadkill. Thanks for the support from EBC Brakes and Optima Batteries! ep039

We present a new Roadkill project car: the Crop Duster! It’s a 1970 Plymouth Duster that Freiburger forgot that he owned—a result of multiple trades with a buddy, and at least 5 years of neglect in the dirt of a grape farm. Once he was reminded of the car, and with a 440 Mopar big-block sitting on the shop floor (salvaged from the General Mayhem ’68 Charger), it was evident what needed to happen. Freiburger and Finnegan headed up to the farm run by Steve Dulcich, editor of Engine Masters magazine, to drag the Duster out of its moss-covered indignity and attempted to get the 440 in the car and running, driving, and doing smoky burnouts within five days. Along the way, the trio did engine upgrades, butchered some headers, built a homemade driveshaft, cobbled together a used exhaust system, did some halfhearted bodywork, and executed other mechanical feats the likes of which you’ve come to expect from Roadkill. Then it was off to the chassis dyno and the drag strip. Hate to break it to you, but the fail in this episode is minimal! Thanks for support from MSD Performance and from Optima, the new Official Battery of Roadkill! Make sure to check out the new Roadkill.com. ep040

Mike Finnegan and David Freiburger revive Roadkill’s finest, boosted European and Japanese road machines: the “Draguar” 1973 Jag XJ12 with a supercharged 383ci Chevy small-block, and the “Rotsun” 1971 Datsun 240Z loaded with a Chevy 4.3L V6 and a turbo from a Ford Powerstroke diesel. With this kind of sophisticated equipment in play, there was only one logical story line: a shootout with Motor Trend’s top test driver, Randy Pobst–past winner of the 24 Hours of Daytona, plus dozens of other class wins and sports-car championships. With that kind of talent on board, it’s obvious that the guys will have to work hard to reduce Pobst to Roadkill’s level. But fear not, Roadkill fans, F&F have a plan to come out on top, and it’s as solid as Montezuma’s Revenge. ep041

Roadkill powered by Dodge is the show all about ridiculous beater cars. 24 Hours of LeMons is the racing series all about ridiculous beater cars. Match made in heaven! Roadkill is now the sponsor of LeMons, so you’d think the guys would be really good at the LeMons endurance racing series for cars built for $500. Instead, well…watch the episode. Finnegan and Freiburger tag a couple of friends to join them in racing at LeMons with the Rotsun, a 1971 Datsun 240Z powered by a Chevy 4.3L V6 boosted with a Ford Power Stroke diesel turbo. The Rotsun has never once completed an episode of Roadkill thanks to mechanical breakdowns, so it seemed like the perfect car for an endurance race. ep042

See the very first running, driving vintage muscle car powered by a 707-horsepower, supercharged, 6.2L Hemi engine from a 2015 Dodge SRT Charger Hellcat! The car is the General Mayhem, Roadkill’s 1968 Dodge Charger. In this episode, the Hellcat-powered General Mayhem is built and drag-race tested in preparation for a cutthroat drag race with a reality TV show at the first-ever Roadkill Nights event, where a makeshift drag strip was created in the parking lot of the abandoned Silverdome football stadium in Pontiac, Michigan. More than 10,000 people showed up to watch! And there’s a surprise, as the Mayhem’s younger brother is revealed! ep048

It’s a project-car mishmash this time on Roadkill, powered by Dodge. It starts out Roadkill enough, with Finnegan surprising Freiburger with a ’50 Ford 2-ton truck that the guys thrash to shorten up into a bobber rat rod. Somewhere along the way the truck gets named Stubby, then Bob, and then it really doesn’t matter because the junk doesn’t get done in time to race from Atlanta to Wisconsin for the Car Craft Summer Nationals show. But the guys have to be there anyway. Watch as they thrash to fix the Hemi-powered Blasphemi ’55 Chevy Gasser, then cannonball to Wisconsin in Roadkill’s ’69 El Camino only to show up late. But there’s Roadkill fun anyway, with action on the autocross and the drag strip. It’s kind of a big mess, but a lot of fun as usual. Because Roadkill. ep044

Freiburger and Finnegan travel to Santa Rosa, California, to drive a crazy '74 Mazda RPU mini-truck all the way back to SoCal, where they'll compete in Optima's Search for the Ultimate Street Car Challenge. The Mazda is an oddity, originally powered by a rotary engine but later converted to Olds Toronado front-wheel drive drivetrain sometime in the late-1980s. With a 455ci big-block and '69 Toronado transaxle slid between the rear frame rails, the seller claimed wheelies and 10-second ETs. However, Finnegan and Freiburger quickly discover their $5,000 mini-truck has more style than substance. Can they hang with the big dogs at the races? ep045

The Roadkill guys finally did what they've been planning for three-plus years! Long ago they bought a late-model circle track race car and planned to drive it to the Deep South, but the car could not be insured because it had no VIN. Solution? Install a body that has a VIN! That's exactly what you'll see in this episode, as a 1970 Chevy Monte Carlo is transformed into the beast now known as the Nascarlo! It even drives on the street! And races on the dirt track! But suffice it to say it does not all end well. ep046

In this episode you’ll see a huge road trip that includes Freiburger-versus-Finnegan showdowns with crazy burnouts in the General Mayhem and General Maintenance; drag racing with the Blasphemi, General Mayhem, Draguar, and Vette Kart; and road-racing in the Vette Kart and General Maintenance. It’s all part of Roadkill Takes America, presented by Dodge, an event that was held in August of 2015.

A ’71 Ford Crew Cab 4x4 tow truck. Yeah, exactly what Finnegan and Freiburger need in their lives. In this episode of Roadkill, powered by Dodge, the guys trek to Colorado to meet up with cool fans who sold ’em the homebuilt, 460-powered tow truck that instantly became known as Harry Tow, or Harry for short.

Roadkill is powered by Dodge, which honestly has nothing to do with us needlessly destroying a Chevy and a Ford in this episode. It’s the mullet-car showdown, a battle of dirt-cheap beaters: an SN95 Mustang V-6 and a third-gen Camaro with a 305 that’s so gutless it might as well be a V-6. Don’t worry, neither one of these junkers was worth saving, but we prove that a couple of guys with some useless cars can have a whole lot of fun throwing caution to the wind in full-thrash mode on an off-road racetrack. Good air! And when parts finally fall out of the engines, Freiburger’s Jeep comes out to put the mullet cars out of their misery. Enjoy this throwback to the early days of Roadkill: It’s just like the van vs. wagon thrash battle (Episode 6) and the cop car shootout (Episode 12).

Roadkill survived 50 episodes! In that time, we’ve built a whole lot of cars, and in this episode we’ve got a shootout of the 10 that are still running and driving (and that have appeared on the show since our similar competition for the 25th episode).

Roadkill powered by Dodge brings back a Mazda pickup powered by a 455 Oldsmobile in the bed! In this episode of Roadkill, the guys pull out all the stops to push the Mazdarati into 10-second territory by doing a top-end rebuild in the staging lanes of a dragstrip, road-tripping on HOT ROD's Drag Weekend event, and then making one heroic pass with the nitrous button pushed!

Bam! Stubby Bob goes big-time in this episode of Roadkill, presented by Dodge. In episode 44 of Roadkill, Mike Finnegan and David Freiburger took a 1950 Ford F6 dump truck and shortened the wheelbase to just 102 inches so it would look freaky-cool—but the truck wasn’t road trip–ready by the end of the show. This time, the truck is transformed by a supercharged big-block Chevy in the back with a Gearstar 4L80E transmission and a V-drive from a boat—all set up like a ’60s dragstrip exhibition wheelstander. But as the buildup continues, the big question is whether the weight balance and the massive dualie tires will really allow the truck to jerk the wheels off the pavement or not. The answer is some action you can’t miss. Roadkill is supported by Optima Batteries, CRC Industries, Lincoln Tech, Cooper Tire, Pioneer, and Jegs! We also thank Weiand, Gearstar, and Slims Fab Farm for help with parts for this episode.

We literally hack a '56 Buick Century out of a thorn bush it’s been sitting in for 25 years, then continue slashing as we attempt to mount the body on a '73 Corvette chassis. Oh yeah, we hacked up that car, too. Watch for more Sawzalls, weed whacking, and plasma cutting per minute than any other episode of Roadkill.

The guys made a trek north to Oregon to hang out at a Mopar-and-llama farm to revitalize the winner of a Facebook coolest car contest, a 1970 Dodge Challenger that used to dirt-track race in the '90s.

Finally, a diesel swap on Roadkill! Fans asked for it, but they couldn’t have seen this coming: the victim is a 1991 Cadillac Brougham, now converted into the swingin’ Broughammer with a Cummins turbodiesel! Join Freiburger and Finnegan with special guests Tony Angelo and Lucky Costa from the Hot Rod Garage show as they hit Colorado, dig through a private junkyard, and emerge with black-smoking, tire-churning, sky-launching power. Roadkill is powered by Dodge—this time, literally!

Roadkill Nights is an event series with legal drag racing on Woodward Avenue in Pontiac, Michigan. Follow along as we take our clapped-out 1970 Dodge Challenger dirt-track car to the Mopar Nationals in Columbus, Ohio, buy a bunch of questionable speed parts from the swap meet, install them on the spot, and road-trip to Pontiac Firebird 400/four-speed car, Mike Finnegan’s dream machine.

What if you could have a supercharger on any car, any time? In this episode of Roadkill powered by Dodge, that was the plan with the Roadkill Boost Caboose, a trailer with an engine that powers a centrifugal supercharger that sends boost to the tow vehicle! And, it’s not just any tow vehicle -- it’s the long-lost Roadkill 1978 Chevy Monza Spyder from episode 16 that was boosted with five leaf blowers mounted under the hatch. This application of boost is a few notches more absurd, but does it really work? Watch as David Freiburger and Mike Finnegan head to a secret high-speed, high-tire-smoke test facility to find out.

On this episode of Roadkill powered by Dodge, both David Freiburger and Mike Finnegan get their dream car! Who wins that game is up to you: Is it Finnegan with his 1968 Datsun 520 mini-truck, or Freiburger with his 383-powered 1971 Plymouth Road Runner? One thing's for sure, the Datsun delivers a lot more suffering, and no one can believe it's more reliable than the Road Runner. Don’t miss the special guest appearance by Fred Williams from Dirt Every Day!

Roadkill fans always ask to see a competition with hosts David Freiburger and Mike Finnegan going against each other, so we finally deliver it in Episode 59 of Roadkill powered by Dodge! The idea was to have each guy buy a car for $1,500 and enter the Optima Ultimate Street Car Invitational in Las Vegas. But there was a catch: the cars could not be American-made. Finnegan ended up with a 1974 Honda Civic—now known as Laphonda—and Freiburger had to go rear-wheel drive with a rotary-powered 1985 Mazda RX-7…but then the whole thing went “Roadkill” in a huge plume of Honda smoke. The story ends up with burnouts, road-tripping, engine explosions, engine swapping, racing, and, as usual, thrashing around in the desert. That’s a lot of fun for $3,000 worth of cars.

This is the episode fans of Roadkill and Mighty Car Mods have been demanding for two years! It’s also a bonus episode of Roadkill powered by Dodge—the 13th installment of the 2016 season! David Freiburger and Mike Finnegan finally got together with Marty and Moog of Mighty Car Mods, Australia’s most popular YouTube show for gearheads. The four guys came to an agreement: RK would build the most American car possible for the MCM blokes, and then Marty and Moog would assemble an absurd icon of Mighty Modding for the Roadkill boys. Both teams gave all: Roadkill jammed together a 1969 Chevy Impala stuffed with the supercharged, 489ci big-block Chevy that was formerly in the Crusher Camaro; and Mighty Car Mods hacked the Subarute out of a hapless turbo WRX. There’s no way to imagine the fun that explodes across the language barrier when these four get together for some killer burnouts and mad skids!

Back in 2015, Roadkill hosts David Freiburger and Mike Finnegan went on the annual Hot Rod Power Tour road trip with a bunch of Roadkill project cars and shot a video for a Hot Rod show that never came to be. As a result, this lost episode of Roadkill powered by Dodge has not aired until now. And while this show does not have exactly the same production quality or format as a normal Roadkill episode, it’s Roadkill-y enough that we thought we should share it with you.

This episode of Roadkill powered by Dodge features a special guest cohost, JP magazine editor Rick Péwé, who has been doing barn-find rescues and road trips with David Freiburger since before there was a Roadkill. Freiburger and Péwé are at it again here, revisiting a 1946 Willys flatfender Jeep they first pulled from the fields of Utah back in 2001. The engine blew up a few miles into that trip 16 years ago, so the Jeep was left untouched in Freiburger’s garage for at least a dozen years—until now. After uncovering the Willys from piles of long-forgotten speed parts and boxes, the guys give the engine a super-cheap rebuild, fix up the brakes, and hit the road. Will the Roadkill curse strike even with Péwé at the wheel? We think you know the answer, but don’t worry—nothing will stop the team from big action with a small Jeep. Roadkill is back to normal with cohost Mike Finnegan next time. Though, come to think of it, this Jeep boondoggle is pretty normal for Roadkill, too.

The 24 Hours of LeMons people have a new rally series, and Roadkill powered by Dodge and sponsored by Optima Batteries, Jegs, Lincoln Tech, EBC Brakes, Pioneer, CRC Auto, and Cooper Tires, is down! Instead of the normal LeMons endurance races for dirt-cheap cars, the LeMons Rally is a road rally -- a time/distance challenge with ridiculous sights and contests along the way. In this episode, Roadkill signs up for the LeMons Retreat From Moscow event, an 1,800-mile trip from Moscow, Pennsylvania, to Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama. The guys fly into town, buy a 1978 Lincoln Continental that’s been shortened from a four-door to a two-door (and formerly driven by an Elvis impersonator), and hit the snowy roads—with the expected Roadkill breakdowns, waffle wars, and off-road thrashing along the way.

Roadkill is powered by Dodge, but on this episode, the world’s most revered rust bucket gets powered by a used Ford 5.0L Mustang V-8 with a Power Stroke diesel turbo! Our old 1971 Datsun 240Z earned its fame with a junkyard turbo on a Chevy 4.3L, but that V-6 finally failed us for the last time and we kicked it to the curb because the crankshaft broke in two during the 24 Hours of LeMons race on Episode 42. We heard Ford 5.0L V-8 blocks break in half at 500 hp, and what better vehicle to test that theory than the Rotsun? We scored a beat-up Fox-body Mustang for $1,500 and threw the engine and trans into the Rotsun, along with the ol’ used turbo that was made for a Ford Power Stroke diesel truck. But the big question is: Will the Rotsun finally fail to fail? Find out on this episode of Roadkill.

In this episode of Roadkill powered by Dodge, it’s a legit shootout of the performance potential of two hot project cars: the legendary Rotsun 1971 Datsun 240Z that was stuffed with a Ford 5.0L and a Power Stroke turbodiesel on Episode 64, and the 1969 Chevy Impala that’s loaded with the 489ci, supercharged big-block Chevy that used to be in Hot Rod magazine’s Crusher Camaro. Mike Finnegan sides with the Rotsun and David Freiburger bonds with the Impala as each guy heads separately to the chassis dyno to discover power numbers that remain a secret to the other host. Next, there’s a 500-mile road trip to Tucson Dragway for a heads-up showdown. Will the Impala run as quickly as it looks? Will the Rotsun fail to fail for two episodes in a row? You’ll have to find out by watching the bloodthirsty power showdown in this episode of Roadkill.

An abandoned Mach 1 is a dream find! In this episode of Roadkill powered by Dodge, David Freiburger and Mike Finnegan head to Colorado Auto & Parts in Englewood, Colorado, and visit the Corns family—builders of the crazy radial-Cessna-powered 1939 Plymouth truck you’ve seen all over the Internet and in Roadkill magazine. Colorado Auto is a giant you-pull-it yard with heritage back to 1959—with a good stash of vintage cars that have been there for decades. One of them was a 1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1 that had been melting into the ground since 1980. But 37 years of neglect are not daunting to Roadkill, so the guys figure out how to get it running and driving. First, they’ve got to deal with 37 years of raccoon poop, which is just part of bringing the Disgustang into the Roadkill fleet of project cars.

On this episode of Roadkill powered by Dodge, we do the Tire Rack One Lap of America race the Roadkill way: buying a 1969 Pontiac Firebird that hasn't run in 17 years, changing every mechanical bit of it in three days, and then hitting the road for action! We do all this while assembling one of Mike Finnegan's dream cars—a first-gen Firebird—to conjure up bygone days of blasting around in his high-school buddy's car. Tony Angelo from HOT ROD Garage joins us for long days of wrenching and longer miles of driving on the Roadkill quest to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

The Tire Rack One Lap of America 2017 was a race involving 19 events at 8 tracks over a 3,500-mile road trip. Can you imagine Roadkill surviving that unscathed? No! If you saw our last episode you know that Mike Finnegan's 1969 Pontiac, which we built in three days, blew up an engine early in the race. Along with guest hosts Tony Angelo of Hot Rod Garage and Elana Scherr from Roadkill.com, Finnegan and Freiburger dive in to fix the Pontiac engine and hit the road to redemption! Roadkill is powered by Dodge, and it's easy to see why when Tony caps it all off with merciless drifting in the Challenger SRT Hellcat that Elana and Freiburger were using to stomp the One Lap tracks.

One of the cheapest ways to go racing is to buy someone else’s abandoned project car, and that’s exactly what happens on this episode of Roadkill powered by Dodge. But do the guys get what they paid for? This time, “the guys” are Roadkill regular Mike Finnegan and guest cohost Tony Angelo (normally the host of HOT ROD Garage on the Motor Trend OnDemand). Roadkill’s David Freiburger will be back on the next episode, but he may be happy to have been absent for this misadventure with a 1977 Chevy El Camino that was a gutted, old, eighth-mile drag racing bracket car. What could go wrong with a simple 350ci Chevy engine and TH350 automatic transmission? Plenty, at least when Roadkill shows up with a mother-bottle of nitrous oxide! Roadkill is supported by Jegs, Optima Batteries, CRC Auto, Lincoln Tech, EBC Brakes, and now ESAB Welding & Cutting!

On this episode of Roadkill powered by Dodge, it’s the return of two popular, Mopar Hemi-powered Roadkill project cars: Mike Finnegan’s “Blasphemi” 1955 Chevy Gasser and David Freiburger’s “Rumble Bee” 1970 Dodge Super Bee. This time the guys are headed to the annual Roadkill Nights event powered by Dodge, in Pontiac, Michigan, with legal street drag racing on Woodward Avenue. Having lost to Gas Monkey Garage in 2015 and then handing a win to Mike Musto in 2016, the Roadkill crew knew that the surefire way to win in 2017 was to race one Roadkill car against another… but of course it’s never that easy. Follow along with a slew of victories and defeats in cars that are very important to the hosts. Blasphemi is Finnegan’s favorite car ever and its supercharged, 535ci Hemi takes a real beating in the episode. Freiburger’s Super Bee has been with him for 35 years, yet in this case he’s compelled to blast it with nitrous through its 484ci Hemi for the first time. Need a history lesson? Blasphemi has been in Roadkill Episodes 8, 29, 30, and 47. The Rumble Bee was in Roadkill 19 and 25.

What's the best way to build a great off-road car? Buy a used desert racer! That's exactly what happens in this episode of Roadkill powered by Dodge. With an urge to go rallycross racing, David Freiburger makes a sight-unseen purchase of a 1973 AMC Hornet that raced Baja in the '80s and finished the NORRA 1000 a couple of times before being parked circa 2012. When Mike Finnegan showed up, the guys found out the 360 AMC engine ran almost too good and, despite a thorough thrashing in the desert, the Hornet failed to fail! But is it able to outrun a Dodge minivan at a real rallycross event? You'll have to watch this episode of Roadkill to find out.

One of the most epic Roadkills of all time is Episode 52, where we took a 1950 Ford dump truck, put a blown big-block Chevy and a Gearstar 4L80E trans behind the cab, powered it through a V-drive, and did a monster wheelstand that nearly killed Mike Finnegan. But does that stop him from trying again? No! On this episode of Roadkill powered by Dodge, Finnegan teams up with guest host Tony Angelo to revamp the truck we call Stubby Bob. With a new front axle and some added safety equipment, the guys hit the highway (yes, on the road with open zoomie headers!) to drive to the nostalgia drags at Eagle Field to try for wheelie distance. But then the Roadkill curse punches them in the face multiple times until they finally emerge victorious and lay down some scenes that will forever secure Stubby Bob as the most heroic dump truck of all time. You won’t want to miss this episode!

One of the most popular Roadkill shows of 2017 was Episode 66, where David Freiburger and Mike Finnegan pulled a 1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1 out of Colorado Auto & Parts, a junkyard where the iconic muscle car had been sitting unused since 1980. Getting it running and driving for some big action was fun, but there was one thing lacking: the road trip. It’s time to fix that! The Mustang now known as the Disgustang sat ignored for many more months until the start of this episode where the guys planned to head north from California to the DirtFish Rally School nearly 1,300 miles away. This is Roadkill, so you can guess how far they made it before catastrophic failure—but you also know that Roadkill is virtually unstoppable, so eventually the trip becomes an epic drive with visits to gearhead destinations, including junkyards and an abandoned dragstrip. See it all in this episode of Roadkill powered by Dodge.

Surprise! Fans assumed we’d do this for the 75th episode of Roadkill powered by Dodge, but we jumped the gun and served it up here in Episode 74: yup, it’s a Roadkill project-car showdown at DirtFish Rally School. This location became famous on Episode 32 when Subaru challenged Roadkill to a showdown and we went head-to-head on the rally course with a Subie versus the General Mayhem 1968 Dodge Charger. It made for some of the best action scenes in the history of Roadkill, leaving fans demanding more. So, on this episode, the General Mayhem is back—complete with its new 707hp drivetrain from a 2015 Dodge Charger Hellcat. We also brought a number of other cars chosen loosely because they have appeared on the show since the last project-car showdown on Episode 50. You’ll see the off-road Hornet from Episode 71; the Disgustang from Episode 66; the Crusher Impala from Episodes 60 and 65; Laphonda from 59; the frame-dragging Datsun mini-truck from 58; the Mazdaratti from 45, 50, and 51; and Nascarlo from Episode 46. Time for big action on Roadkill.

This is Roadkill, powered by Dodge! Way back in 2010 before Roadkill was even a thing, hosts David Freiburger and Mike Finnegan built (or unbuilt) the Vette Kart, a 1985 Chevy Corvette that was stripped to nothing but a chassis and powertrain to save weight and go fast for cheap. The Kart contraption was first seen on Roadkill, Episode 35, and later on Episode 47, and it inspired a legion of people to build similar rides. The Vette Kart has proven itself on the autocross, big track, and dragstrip, and now the guys are bringing it back to round out its motorsports accomplishments with sand-dune blasting and Roadkill’s least-predictable stunt yet: skiing a car, which means driving on two wheels! Joining the guys for the adventure is stuntman James Smith, a ski-car specialist. He thinks Roadkill picked the worst car possible for learning to ski, and after watching the episode, you’ll probably agree. Roadkill is supported by Jegs, Pilot Auto Transport, Optima Batteries, Gearstar Transmissions, and EBC Brakes.

Is it the effort that counts? If so, Roadkill powered by Dodge wins again on this episode! In the early ’50s, the first dedicated drag-race cars were ’rail jobs—vehicles stripped down to nothing but the frame and drivetrain to build the lightest setup for speed. Applying that concept, David Freiburger figured that a big-block pickup would make a great modern-day ’rail job. He scored a cheap GMC Crew Cab, and things got out of control in a way that ended up with Lucky Costa, Steve Dulcich, and Calin Head helping to lay the groundwork of a monster before Mike Finnegan showed up to zap the whole thing together. Then Freiburger and Finnegan drove the mid-engined, road-going dragster 500 miles to the Roadkill Zip-Tie Drags at Tucson Dragway. All we can say is the whole thing performed as expected. Or at least probably as you expected, not so much for Freiburger.

Here’s another episode of Roadkill powered by Dodge, this time with special cohost Tony Angelo alongside Mike Finnegan. Why? Because those two guys really needed a do-over after they joined up for Episode 69 where they rescued a 1977 Chevy El Camino drag race car from a barn and attempted big-nitrous action on the eighth-mile dragstrip. The result was a transmission fluid spill that can still be seen from space. This time the guys got together to install a new Gearstar automatic trans and attempt a road trip to the Merrill Ice Drags on a frozen river in Wisconsin. Will they make it? Will they be victorious? Or will we find out what engine oil looks like on ice? Find out on this episode of Roadkill, which is supported by EBC Brakes, CRC Brākleen, Tire Rack, Gearstar, and Optima Batteries.

A 440-powered Suzuki Samurai? Yup! This episode of Roadkill powered by Dodge features David Freiburger and guest host Steve Dulcich achieving a long-held Roadkill dream: building a car entirely out of a junkyard. The result is a ludicrous Suzuki Samurai tiptop powered by a 440 Chrysler big-block out of a B300 1-ton van. After stepping among scorpions, rattlesnakes, and junkyard dogs at Hidden Valley Auto Parts in Arizona, the guys actually get this abomination running and driving. But will it even do a burnout before the rear axle shatters like glass? Find out in this special all-junkyard episode.

This is about a good ol’ road trip in random, unreliable junk! On this episode of Roadkill powered by Dodge, David Freiburger and Mike Finnegan wanted to buy a car sight-unseen and take a big adventure. The vehicle turned out to be a 1966 Ford Econoline flat-face pickup with a lot of rust, a worn-out 289 V-8, and a full-’70s stance, but it had one flaw that would trump all others: no hood to remove when it overheated, which it did—a lot. Stumped but never stopped, the guys overcame all obstacles and managed to see the Volo Auto Museum and the old Joliet prison for some Blues Brothers movie flashbacks before realizing they’d never make it from Wisconsin all the way into the southeast as they’d planned, so they ended it in glorious Roadkill fashion.

Celebrate Father’s Day with this special extra episode of Roadkill powered by Dodge! There’s big action as David Freiburger and Mike Finnegan scheme some chaos in hot-rodded pickups. They invite Steve Dulcich from Roadkill Garage as well as Lucky Costa and Tony Angelo from HOT ROD Garage to join in. The plan: pure fun and clean comedy with a rallycross, dirt drags, autocross, donuts, and burnouts for distance! The players: Freiburger in the 630hp longbed ’67 Chevy from Roadkill Garage, Finnegan in the OG Roadkill ’74 Chevy C10, Dulcich in his Mopar Muscle Truck, Costa in the HOT ROD Garage Crown Hick, and Angelo in the HOT ROD Garage ’67 shortbed. Watch these five fathers living it up sideways and smokin’!

Mike Finnegan has had Charger lust since his childhood exposure to the General Lee on The Dukes of Hazzard, so he recently bought a 1968 Dodge Charger that had been wrecked when new, then hacked into a circle-track race car, all highlighted here on this episode of Roadkill, powered by Dodge. The car was abandoned in 1970 before ever making a lap and has lasted 48 years in as-built condition, complete with giant Ford truck drum brakes, eight-lug wheels, a Willys rearend, a water-pipe rollcage setup, and a freaky suspension configuration. After securing the time-capsule beater at his Georgia wrenching facility, Finnegan went to work alongside buddies Tony Angelo, David Newbern, and Daniel Boshears as they installed a fresh 383 big-block and a Silver Sport Transmissions’six-speed swap along with plenty of other stuff required to drive the Charger to Indianapolis to visit the car’s original builder! Then, to finally fulfill the car’s destiny, Finnegan and Angelo wrap up the revival with some hot laps at a homemade circle track.

Would you take a 50-year-old car from a junkyard and motor it to the 14,115-foot summit of Pikes Peak in Colorado? No, that’s why Roadkill is here to do it for you! Follow along as Freiburger and Finnegan return to the site of the Broughammer diesel Cadillac buildup (episode 55) and select a weed-riddled 1967 Chevy Biscayne with a 283 V8 and a two-speed Powerglide transmission—the perfect cruiser for brutal mountain roads. Once the car is on the road it turns to a gearhead vacation as the guys blast around a long-abandoned road-race track before heading to the mountain that’s been the scene of the Pikes Peak International Hillclimb since 1916. There are some Roadkill repairs along the way, and seemingly a big victory…or is it?

Ranking as one of the most ridiculous Roadkill episodes of all time—and yet still powered by Dodge—this is a tale of David Freiburger, Mike Finnegan, and Steve Dulcich taking a vacation to Alaska for the Fourth of July to visit the legendary celebration in the remote area of Glacier View where they throw cars off a cliff for the sheer hilarity of it. The guys buy a couple of really worthless cars, have some fun beating on them, and then toss them off a cliff only to realize that their hope of fixing them and driving them away were completely delusional. But the story ends with another fresh automotive discovery that may eventually find its way onto a future episode. This is gearhead fun that you gotta see.

Witness the epic return of the Roadkill Draguar on a journey from the Roadkill Nights event on Woodward Avenue in Michigan all the way to racing at the NHRA Nationals in Minnesota! This episode of Roadkill powered by Dodge kicks off with the fourth annual Roadkill Nights event at M1 Concourse in Pontiac, Michigan, where 40,000 people show up to see us drag race on the famed Woodward Avenue, experience Dodge Thrill Rides, race in Demon simulators, and check out all the radical cars. There’s also nitro-powered dragster and Funny Car burnouts on Woodward and a celebrity showdown in new Hellcat-powered Challengers, both of which involve National Hot Rod Association star drivers Leah Pritchett and Matt Hagan. We figured that we allow them to destroy our track, so why shouldn’t they let us run at an NHRA event? The two drivers and NHRA were all willing, so we repaired the Draguar with a fresh Gearstar trans and road-tripped it 800 miles to Brainerd, Minnesota, to the NHRA Lucas Oil Nationals, where we ran the Draguar against Pritchett and Hagan in new Dodge Challenger 1320s! The results are guaranteed to surprise you in one of the most action-packed episodes of Roadkill ever. Besides, Fast N’ Loud’s Richard Rawlings wrecks a new Hellcat, and who wants to miss that?

On this episode of Roakill powered by Dodge, the Vanishing Paint Challenger is back on the road with an upgraded suspension and it’s ready to dominate the autocross! David Freiburger and Steve Dulcich rekindled their love for the VP Challenger on Roadkill Garage Episodes 34 and 36, and now they are putting it to the ultimate Roadkill road trip test. They’ve entered the Tire Rack SSCA Solo Nationals in Lincoln, Nebraska, a mere 1,700 miles away. Is there any better way to break in a new build? The guys hit the road, camp under the stars, shoot off fireworks, and work out roadside repairs in their most fun road trip yet. Will they make it in time to compete in the ultimate “Game of Cones” and can they keep it running well enough to hang with national competitors? Tune in to find out!

It’s a Roadkill challenge like no other. David Freiburger and Mike Finnegan are joined by Motor Trend originals' hosts for an all-out war on tires on this episode of Roadkill powered by Dodge. Watch as Head 2 Head and Ignition’s Jethro Bovingdon, Junkyard Gold’s Steve Magnante, HOT ROD Garage’s Tony Angelo and Lucky Costa, and Roadkill Garage’s Steve Dulcich all join the guys for two epic days of tire destruction on both a road course and on the dragstrip. We know the Best Driver’s Car winner, but who is the “Best Driver of Cars” among these maniacal motorheads? Will the Roadkill guys be able to drive a new Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye without destroying it? Will Bovingdon be able to drive a Roadkill car without contracting tetanus? What will blow up first, the racers’ egos or whatever car Angelo is driving?

The Road Runner is a highlight of Plymouth’s B-Body platform, sought after by many a hot rodder and collector alike. It’s valuable classic muscle with parts that can be worth more than the whole. Luckily, on this episode of Roadkill powered by Dodge, that’s the case as David Freiburger and Mike Finnegan have found the world’s only C-Body Road Runner, a bent-up, crescent-shaped B-Body that had an unfortunate encounter with a light pole. Most people would toss this derelict daily driver to the junkyard, but not the Roadkill guys. They take it from an undriveable scrapheap to a driveable scrapheap in a matter of days. The wounds on this car are far deeper that what’s on the surface, and Freiburger and Finnegan have to use some real Roadkill ingenuity to bring it back to life. The rear suspension and driveshaft were crumpled beyond recognition, and the engine broke free of its mounts and pushed into the radiator. Almost every panel on the car is bent, and the body makes its own right turn, leaving the wheelbase with a difference of more than seven inches side to side. After fabricating their own suspension mounts and fixing everything to the best of their ability, the guys get the car back on the road. But if just getting it rolling again isn’t enough, Freiburger and Finnegan take it to a dirt track to see if its “enhanced” stance makes for better right turns.

The rear-engine, 455 Oldsmobile–powered Mazdarati mini-truck is back! David Freiburger and Mike Finnegan couldn’t run it into the 10s on the dragstrip on Episode 51 (even though the previous owner claimed it would). Now they’ve decided to throw more at the little truck that could. On this episode of Roadkill powered by Dodge, the guys give it another shot by rebuilding the engine, repairing the transmission, and adding a bigger nitrous kit, of course! After a road trip back to Tucson and a series of dragstrip failures, will the Mazdarati finally prove its worth? Or will Freiburger and Finnegan have to finally give in to the fact that they may have been lied to?

For years Mike Finnegan has wanted to build a 200-mph Cadillac, and now David Freiburger has finally agreed to make it happen…or at least get it started. Step one is to acquire the right Caddy, which they found in Northern California—a 1961 Cadillac deVille. After purchasing the bubbletop sight unseen, the guys decide to go on a Roadkill road trip to Georgia. First, they’ll have to make it run and drive, as it’s been sitting for close to a decade. You know—normal road trip material. With some issues right out of the garage and dreams of replacing the 390 V-8, they hit the road for adventure. All is well except one major flaw: The Caddy is far too nice and extremely reliable. With concerns of failing to fail, the guys decide to pick up another Cadillac project Freiburger had stuffed away: a Cadillac 500 engine wrapped inside a ’73 AMC Gremlin. Will the Caddy Gremi give them the adventure they’re looking for? Will the 500 replace the 390 someday? Find out as the guys introduce two new projects to the Roadkill fleet.

What happens when you take the front half of two separate four-wheel-drive vehicles and combine them into one? David Freiburger and Mike Finnegan are back in the junkyard to answer that question and make one of Freiburger’s dream schemes come to life! With two engines, four driving wheels, and two steering wheels, is it twice the fun? One thing is for certain: no qualms over who gets to drive—that’s until the guys enlist the help of NHRA Top Fuel Driver Leah Pritchett, who shows impressive prowess with the reciprocating saw and a lack of self-preservation when she agrees to drive this carnival ride. Will it do amazing donuts, drive sideways, or just break in half? Find out as the guys have more best days at work ever on this episode of Roadkill!

The Mazdarati is forever gone but still in our thoughts—so much so that David Freiburger and Mike Finnegan figure they could fill its void by taking the He Hate Me ’66 Ford Econoline and make it a rear-engine monster. Maybe this one will actually run 10s! With a 500ci front-wheel-drive powertrain donated (stolen) from Dirt Every Day’s twin-engine 4x4 Eldorado, the guys truly improve everything about the rusted, worn-out, and hated Econoline—that is, except for reliability and driveability. After shortening the wheelbase and eliminating the desire to ever run a quarter-mile for fear of death, the guys bring in Steve Dulcich to help finish off the Econorado. Meanwhile Finnegan takes the Blasphemi to the NHRA Winternationals for a grudge race against Jon Chase of Hoonigan in his ’55 Chevy Gasser. In the end, there’s really only one question: If the Econorado won’t run 10s, will it do stoppies or maybe even wheelies? Check it out on this episode of Roadkill.

Back on Episode 78 of Roadkill, David Freiburger and Steve Dulcich built the Super Sammy—a junkyard-rescued Suzuki Samurai that they crammed a 440 Chrysler big-block into right where it sat in the middle of the junkyard. Now they’re back to actually hit the road and find out why Suzuki never offered this engine combination from the factory. After some minor fixes and replacing the stock rearend with a better-fitting yet still undersized match for the 440, they make the Super Sammy “roadworthy” and head out for adventure. Will the police agree with the guys’ acceptable level of roadworthiness? Will the new rearend make it 500 miles without exploding? Will Dulcich tame the ThermoQuad and make the Sammy do epic burnouts? Find out the answers to all of these questions, and more, in this junkyard road trip adventure on this episode of Roadkill!

Roadkill has always been dedicated to the artistry, styling, and raw beauty of all things burnout related. David Freiburger and Mike Finnegan have long considered themselves masters of “burnout-ology,” yet they have never actually entered a burnout competition…until now. Armed with what’s left of a rusted-out ’76 Camaro—a parking lot mini spool upgrade and spare tires—the guys set out across Texas to show how to “scientifically” get the best burnouts. With a desire to win and a stronger desire to kill some tires, the guys enter the burnout competition at the Spring Break Jam car show in South Padre Island, Texas. They know how to do burnouts, that’s a given…but the real question is: Will the Camaro’s engine hold together longer than its tires? Find out on this episode of Roadkill.

On season 2 episode 3 of Roadkill’s Junkyard Gold, Steve Magnante found a 1964 Ford Galaxie 500 XL that absolutely needed to be rescued. Why? Because it’s a 390ci big-block with four-speeds of goodness, of course! This beauty has been sitting neglected for decades, and now David Freiburger and Mike Finnegan are determined to get it back on the road. With a little sweat, dirt removal, and some junkyard parts, the guys manage to get the 500 XL up and running. Funny thing is, though, most cars end up the junkyard for a reason, and they soon find out why this Galaxie was cast far, far away. After a few miles, the car begins to smoke worse than any car in the history of Roadkill. Will the guys make it to their destination, or will they end up performing a parking lot engine swap? Find out on this episode of Roadkill.

David Freiburger and Mike Finnegan are always out to determine the best bang for your buck when it comes to a beater under $3K. This time, it’s a four-vehicle shootout in all of the most important match-ups: We’ve got Chevy versus Ford, truck versus car, and old versus newer! With the stipulation of finding the best vehicle for someone in high school, the guys went with one four-door V-8 and one pickup each. Freiburger chose newish with a 2006 Crown Vic and a 1999 Chevy S-10. Finnegan went vintage with a 1972 Ford Maverick and a 1976 Chevy LUV. From there it’s an all-out battle using the classic Roadkill measuring stick of drag racing, burnouts for distance, dirt circle driving, and autocross. Which beater is best? Find out on this episode of Roadkill.

The blown 383 small block Chevy powered ‘74 Jaguar XJ 12 known as the Draguar is back! After sitting neglected for far too long, Freiburger and Finnegan have decided to put a new heart in the disabled Draguar in true Roadkill fashion. They are back the Summit parking lot in Sparks, NV - the site of their original extreme parking lot engine swap fiasco from episode 4 of Roadkill. And if giving the Draguar a new heart wasn’t enough, the guys also follow up on a lead to fill the void of the stolen Mazdarati. Will this nostalgia trip lead to a rebirth of mini truck greatness, or just more epic destruction of Summit’s pavement with unbelievable Draguar burnouts? Find out in this episode of Roadkill!

Ever dreamed of having a new ride every day of the week? David Freiburger and Mike Finnegan live that dream Roadkill-style, as they trade their way through the 25th HOT ROD Power Tour! Each day the guys trade away their junk for new junk and attempt to make it to the next stop on the tour. Needless to say, their trading skills don’t land many upgrades, but the big question is: Will they make it all the way or end up on the side of the road with only a single red paper clip? Watch this episode of Roadkill to find out!

How many times have David Freiburger and Mike Finnegan been burned by rescuing a car from a junkyard? Too many, but this time it’s a total win! Steve Magnante found an awesome ’71 Pontiac T-37 at L&L Classic Auto in Idaho, on Episode 15 of Roadkill’s Junkyard Gold and now he’s led the guys to rescue this treasure. After finally learning their lesson, Freiburger and Finnegan take the time to “do things the right way,” taking proper precautions to revive the motor that’s 38 years stagnate. “Spoiler” alert—it doesn’t all go smooth. After many speedbumps, the guys finally get the T-37 running, visit an Evel Knievel landmark, and even find out that their engine is something even better than they thought. What’s under the Pontiac’s hood? Find out on this episode of Roadkill.

When is taking untested, unreliable junk on a road trip a bad idea? Eh, maybe 90 percent of the time, but not when you have a buddy who’s up for weathering any storm by your side. On this episode of Roadkill, Mike Finnegan and Tony Angelo take on a big adventure in a little truck. Sight unseen they buy a mid-’70s Chevy LUV mini-truck and hit the road, enduring miles of electrical problems, epic torrential downpours, water in the engine, and floods, and yet they still manage to install nitrous on the wee four-banger. Will Angelo blow it up, or will it do the longest nitrous burnout in Roadkill history? Find out on this awesome Roadkill adventure.

Eight years ago, David Freiburger and Mike Finnegan started a little Internet show where they played with cars so you could point and laugh. Now 100 episodes later, they’re back to their roots. On this episode of Roadkill, Freiburger and Finnegan revive the premise of the first episode: throw a dart at a map and hit the road looking for adventure. This time, however, they’re taking to new heights with a bigger map and a four-door Dart. Where will they end up? What’s the car that started all that is Roadkill? Can a ’76 318-powered Dodge Dart beat the terminal velocity of a 2013 in a quarter-mile? All of these questions and more will be answered in the 100th episode of Roadkill!

Surprise again! Remember when we did the last project car showdown for Episode 74 instead of 75? Well, we’re keeping up with the chaos by serving up this one for Episode 101 instead of 100. You knew we wouldn’t let you down and not deliver a Roadkill-style showdown around another milestone. On this episode of Roadkill, David Freiburger and Mike Finnegan bring their best Dodge project cars out to the M1 Concourse for the annual Roadkill Nights event powered by Dodge in Pontiac, Michigan. This time it’s a road course, skidpad, and drag racing with seven favorite project cars. And since this is an all-Dodge showdown, we had to bring out the Mopar man himself, Steve Dulcich, to partake in the action. Will he lose the course and kill maximum cones? Find out on this epic showdown!

If the 1955 Chevy with a Hemi we call Blasphemi is known for three things, they would be going fast, being awesome, and breaking apart! On this episode of Roadkill, the Blasphemi delivers on all three as Mike Finnegan and Tony Angelo take on HOT ROD Drag Week. It’s the most brutal five-day test of real drag-racing, street-driven cars, as competitors race five times on four drag strips while driving over 1,000 miles in between, battling to post the lowest average elapsed time at the end of the week. Last year Finnegan was the runner-up in his class. This year? Well, you might have already heard the results, but what you haven’t seen is the epic adventure, the carnage, and the struggle it takes to survive! See how it all unfolded right here on Roadkill!

If there has been one car in the Roadkill fleet that absolutely never fails to fail, it’s the 1971 Datsun 240z rust bucket known as the Rotsun. From the beginning, the Rotsun has let Freiburger and Finnegan down over and over, whether it be at autocross events, drag races, shootouts, or even 24 Hours of Lemons. However, it’s the one car the guys can never quite give up on even though it’s fulling deserving of desertion. Over the years it’s had a variation of power plants, it’s latest being a junkyard turbocharged 5.0 Liter V8 pulled from a fox body Mustang. Now on this episode of Roadkill, Freiburger and Finnegan attempt to get the Rotsun back up and running after years of neglect, by finally fixing its independent rear suspension issues and attempting to drive it to SEMA. Will the Rotsun fail to fail? Will it break more axles or will the axles break the guys?

Why would you purchase a 1971 Ford Torino Wagon with a Cummins 12-valve diesel engine swapped in it? Because your name is Mike Finnegan and you thought it would be an awesome vehicle to use to tow your newly purchased Toyota mini truck home with, of course! But why would you grab Tony Angelo and have him help you take the Torino from a manageable 300-ish horsepower to over 800 galloping horses? Because Cleetus McFarland challenged you to a diesel swap drag race duel - you know a normal day in the life of Roadkillers! That’s right, in this episode of Roadkill, Finnegan and Tony take a diversion from their road trip to take on Cleetus in a diesel swapped Ford vs Ford drag race…but spoiler alert, all the real Roadkill action takes place as they take the Torino to new levels of ‘hot mess’. Hold on tight, this one’s a roller coaster!

What’s better than racing a cheap beater? Picking the worst possible beater and making your friend drive it. On this episode of Roadkill, Freiburger and Finnegan buy each other their worst automotive nightmares and put them to the test against Steve Dulcich in an epic showdown! Finnegan rides high, Freiburger works through some “cosmetic” damage, and Dulcich rampages through fire.

Where’s the best place to drive a ‘86 T-bird powered by a 302 V8 topped with a 6-71 Blower and welded gears? Across the frozen tundra of the northern USA of course! On this episode of Roadkill, Freiburger and Finnegan take the T-Bizzle on a classic road trip with plenty of fail. Follow along as the guys reveal a new project car and pull off the most patriotic burnouts in Roadkill history!

While we’re all at home let’s look back at favorite project cars and find out what’s going on with them today. On this episode of Roadkill, Freiburger and Finnegan come to you from their own garages to give you the Top 10 Project Cars of Roadkill. Ever wondered what happened to your favorites, or what the guys really think of them? Find out all that plus what the future holds for them now!

Freiburger and Finnegan clean out the wheels stashed in the garage by slapping them on a neglected '66 Dodge D100 Utiline truck and hitting the road. As the guys quest to find the perfect 440 for it, the only real question is, will you love this truck as much as Freiburger?

Freiburger scrounges his parts pile to put together a killer 350 V8, while Finnegan and David Newbern add some power upgrades to the mini truck's four-banger. The pandemic might be keeping them in separate garages, but it doesn't change the Roadkill "work with what you got" mentality!

Freiburger and Steve Dulcich finally find out who has the better cheap 4x4. For years Freiburger has touted the superiority of the Suburban, while Dulchich rallies a Durango. Now they'll settle it in an off-road challenge -- for pinks!

Mike Finnegan and Tony Angelo have a build off and race like no other! Tony transforms a shell of an '85 Monte Carlo into a beast, while Finnegan makes Newbern's Nova run with Ramp Truck parts. It's three days of wrenching, two tracks, and one unbelievable race!

Finnegan and David Newbern rescue an unbelievably mint '67 Pontiac Firebird. This Crusher Camaro look-alike has been stowed in a barn behind a dragstrip for almost two decades. Now the guys battle old parts, downpours and other issues in order to get this old drag car racing down the track once again.

Ready for a scenic, 1,300-mile road trip in questionable junk? Freiburger and Dulcich hit the road in the '68 Wreck Runner, a four-speed, 383ci clone made from the scraps of a '68 Road Runner and a '68 Satellite. It only has a few little issues, so why not hit the road to sort 'em out?

From the moment the '67 Firebird was plucked from a barn next to a drag strip, you've been asking for this race. On this episode of Roadkill, Finnegan and Newbern take the bird on an 800-mile road trip to race Freiburger and Dulcich in the Crusher Camaro. The question isn't just who will win, it's will they even make it to the strip?

On this episode of Roadkill, Freiburger and Finnegan take on Dulcich and Newbern in a circle-track car shootout. On Episode 108, the guys picked up a beaten blue Duster circle-track car and promised a shootout. Now they're at a rally course in Texas to pit it against the Faster with Finnegan dirt-track Camaro.

Freiburger and Finnegan rediscover and road trip the 440-powered 1971 Chrysler Newport eight-door airport car they found back on episode 106. Nothing says winter road trip fun like taking 24 feet of rusted out, floorless junk from Fargo down south to some warmer climates and dirt tracks!