My FH5 Log: Junkyard Dogs

The Forza Horizon 5 American Automotive series update is littered with old-school American cars out from the junkyard and into the Horizon Mexico playground, a swarm of flies attracting a cesspool of vintage American cars.

As the American Automotive series update is wrapping up, let's check out the cesspool of old-school American cars that littered through the Horizon Mexico playpen.

The Wet Season playlist brought us the fifth-generation Plymouth Belvedere, the only model to come with the 426 Chrysler Hemi Engine and the one that scored Plymouth's podium sweep at the 1964 NASCAR race in Daytona, with one of them driven by the legendary Richard Petty.

The Storm Season playlist brought us the first-generation Pontiac Firebird, the first chapter of Pontiac's equivalent of the Chevrolet Camaro, as well as the second-generation Chevrolet Nova, in Super Sport trim with the Turbo-Fire 327 cu in V8 engine producing a power output of 350hp while mated exclusively with a 4-speed MT.

The Dry Season playlist brought us the Pontiac GTO "The Judge". Known for its funky logo and stripe decals, The Judge is powered by a 6.6L V8 Ram Air 3 engine that produces over 361HP of power output while mated to a Hurst shifter, heavy-duty suspension, wide tires, and a rear spoiler. It is the ultimate sports spec car made before the GTO was laid to rest.

Lastly, the Hot Season playlist brought us the fourth-generation Lincoln Continental luxury sedan, the first in the Continental lineage to feature suicide doors.

I've sent these junkyard dogs on a short trip through four new sprint races introduced in the American Automotive series update; the Línea Costera Sprint, the Aeródromo Sprint, the Marigold Sprint, and the Vista Del Mar Sprint. These four new sprint races will serve as the litmus test for these American vintage cars to flex their muscles as they scat through the competition in style. Want to see these dogs in action? Let's roll the tapes...

What do you think? Do these scavengers make you fall in love with old cars? I bet you are because your gut tells you to have fun with these junkyard dogs fresh from being junkyard scrap and into the Horizon Mexico sandbox but wait, there's more.

As it turns out, the vintage prize cars from the American Automotive update weren't the only stray dogs littering around the Mexican landscape. In fact, there's one junkyard dog to end them all...

What you're looking up here is the DeBerti Shop Rod, which is included in the game's American Automotive DLC Pack. Based on the 1961 Ford Econoline, it's been stripped off, lowered, made it right-hand-drive, and jammed with a Coyote engine paired to a Reid racing 4L80-E transmission with an ATD reverse manual valve body, producing 850hp of power output.

I got to sample it on an oval track to see if the Shop Rod from DeBerti is the hot rod in a van body. Let's roll the tape.

It's a hot rod, alright. A hot rod in a van's body.

This latest cesspool of old-school American cars proves that a game like Forza never stops jamming old cars to younger players who never heard of them. There are Gen Z players out there and showing them old cars is like slapping dog poo on their faces. In the end, this is how they roll.

When sleeping dogs lie, they'll come back to cause havoc another day and these junkyard dogs proved their point. We can expect more junkyard dogs littering around Horizon Mexico even before 2023 ends and 2024 begins and what a living nightmare our Gen Z players will experience.

The fun's just getting started...

My FH5 Log: An American Welcome

Forza Horizon 5's Horizon Holiday series update brought back four American-made machines in the stable; three classic muscle cars and a limousine. Let's get to know about these four American oddballs while we're at it.

Obtained from the Wet Season playlist is the AMC Javelin AMX. The variant is known to be "the closest thing you can buy to a Trans-Am champion". It's got a 401 cu in (6.6L) V8 engine producing 335HP of power while mated to a four-speed manual, which is not much by modern standards but in the era of muscle cars, it's downright glorious to get tempted at.

Obtained from the Storm Season playlist is the Plymouth Fury, the infamous car as seen in the Stephen King masterpiece, Christine. First launched in 1956, the Fury is a sub-series of the Belvedere and when improved for the 1958 model year, it sports a 350 cu in (5.7L) Golden Commando engine with two four-barrel carburetors producing 305hp of power with ten more for the fuel injection option, which was sadly recalled. There are various Plymouth models at that time aside from the Fury to use the Golden Commando engine.

Obtained from the Dry Season playlist is a Cadillac XTS that was converted into a limousine by Royale. Based on the XTS flagship sedan, the folks from Royale, a Cadillac Master Coachbuilder, spent countless hours converting it into a limousine fit for high-profile personalities. It comes in two different versions such as the normal 70-inch version and the five-door 70-inch version.

Lastly, it's the AMC Rebel "The Machine" that was obtained from the Hot Season Playlist. This car was originally introduced as a sub-model of the Rambler but AMC went ahead and call it The Machine. Built for the road and for the drag strip, The Machine is powered by a 6.4L V8 engine producing 340hp of power while mated to a 4-speed Borg-Warner manual gearbox and AMC Twin-Grip differential. 

Having obtained those four returning machines in the game, it's time to give these Horizon Holiday prize cars an American welcome. Roll the tapes.

This is what you call "an American welcome".

Enjoy your new rides, boys and girls, because as 2023 kicks in, be ready for January's FORDZATHON series update featuring Ford-related challenges, returning Renaults, and the arrival of an MG6 that Britain didn't get.

Until then, have a happy new year, and keep on driving.

My FH5 Log: The second-generation Barracuda

Ah, America. Land of the overpowered muscle cars. With their massive displacements, loud grunt, and muscular looks, muscle cars are what made America great. With muscle cars like the Mustang, Camaro, and Charger made America great, there are some forgotten ones that deserved to be appreciated and one of them is the second-generation Plymouth Barracuda.

Having obtained one of the most forgotten American muscle cars in history straight from FH5's Series 9 Storm Playlist, let's get to know more about the second-generation Barracuda, the one before it became the Cuda.

Launched as a 1967 model year car, the second-generation Barracuda still carries the same bits and bobs as the Plymouth Valiant just like its predecessor. Running on an A-body and offered in coupe, convertible, and fastback, the second-generation Barracuda features a range of a Slant-6 and a couple of V8 engines. Seen here is the Formula-S variant powered by a 383ci V8 Super Commando engine that produces 300hp of power. This variant was introduced in the 1968 Model Year.

Although less appreciated than its Cuda successor, this second-generation Barracuda has a lot of questions that need to be answered and with that, it's time to let its rough side out with a little dirt race against other muscle car enthusiasts who are not afraid to get their muscle and pony cars dirty. Send in the tape.

Mud, sweat, and gears. These ancient muscle cars sure love to go all-out in the name of Lady Liberty.

Although it has less appreciation than the big names in the muscle car era, the Plymouth Barracuda is proof that it was the rising star in the golden age of muscle cars, despite being classified as a pony car. What? Muscle cars and pony cars are different, you know, but you get the point and thanks to its Barracuda's NSD approach, it evolved into the Plymouth Cuda we know and love and fought its way until the very end. Quite an interesting story, eh?

Anyway, enjoy your new ride, and happy America day!

My GT7 Log: Know Your Legends - The Plymouth Superbird

Let's get to know about the legendary cars that are hard to get in Gran Turismo 7's Legend Cars not only because of their extreme rarity that appears once in a blue moon but also their outrageous price tag that takes almost forever to save one. Today, let's get to know about the Plymouth Superbird, an iconic stock car built for the road and track.

Despite calling it the twin car of the Dodge Charger Daytona, the Superbird is basically a Road Runner underneath because Plymouth never made a sibling car to the Dodge Charger. Both the Superbird and the Charger Daytona sported an extended nose and a massive rear wing but the shape of the roof is what separates these two models apart. Under the hood, the Plymouth Superbird can be fitted with either a 440 Super Commando, a 426 HEMI, or a 440 six-barrel engine. It is limited to 1000 units in order to comply with homologation regulations for stock car racing.

The Plymouth Superbird will have a one-lap, time attack around the Goodwood Motor Circuit. Let's find out how fast this is. Roll the tape.

It did it in 1:40.043, which is impressive for a stock car built for oval racing.

What other hard-to-get legendary cars should I drive next? Stay tuned for more.

Forza Horizon 4: Christine strikes Horizon

A bad weed is a lot harder to kill and so is the infamous car as seen in the Stephen King masterpiece, Christine, known as the Plymouth Fury comes haunting down the streets of United Kingdom in the world of Forza Horizon 4. With the infamous title car in my trophy case, there's so much to tell about this horror movie car in so little time to let's make it short before I go.



While the Fury was famed for being a horror movie car in a Stephen King masterpiece, Christine, there's a quick history about this Plymouth. First launched in 1956, the Fury is a sub-series of the Belvedere and when improved for the 1958 model year, it sports a 350 cu in (5.7L) Golden Commando engine with two four-barrel carburetors producing 305hp of power with ten more for the fuel injection option, which was sadly recalled. There are various Plymouth models at that time aside from the Fury to use the Golden Commando engine.



Anyway, enough for the quick info because it's time for me to atone for my sins by driving one of the famous cars to appear in a horror movie and see if it lives up to its horror movie fame. Let's go, Christine.



Job well done, there's nothing else I can say.

Enjoy your new ride.

Forza Horizon 3: Prowling

Forza Horizon 3 isn't more than just sampling the best cars of your choosing, it's about living with the cars from the times you emerged with and if you were kids of the late 90's, you are familiar with America's modern take of the hot rod, the Prowler.



This is Plymouth's preparation for the 21st century of automobile and while it draws inspiration from past hotrods, it features a bespoke body featuring an aluminum space frame because none of their existing materials from their existing lineup would work in the creation of this unique but short-lived roadster. The Prowler I had is an improved version of its 3.5L V6 engine producing 253HP of power while mated to a dismal 4-speed automatic gearbox that doesn't match the performance of European sportscars it faces.

Despite being Plymouth's flagship sports car, the Plymouth brand was discontinued from 2001 and it was sold as a Chrysler Prowler thereafter until the Prowler's production discontinued a year after, with a final limited edition model of 300 cars painted in special Candy Deep Red body color.



The Prowler may be a disaster for Chrysler despite having sealed in a mausoleum as a time capsule somewhere for marketing reasons and the driving feel doesn't match the dynamics of its European opposition but for the sake of nostalgia, there are limitless possibilities of reminiscing the good old days of your youth while driving the Prowler. It may not be enough to create some audience impact when you drive it but when it comes to creativity and originality, you got to hand it over to the guys behind the Prowler and despite being short-lived and being the rarest cars in American roads, it's still a beauty to behold.

While I'm still on my break after all the Horizon Australia glitz and glamour I gave for the cars I've encountered throughout this epic journey, I took the unsung American hero to a night stroll with the kids on the block, giving me the ideal moment to understand how a Prowler shows its first impression.





It may not be a first impression as I hoped for but like a Pink Floyd gig, the Prowler is all about wowing the crowd with its originality that sets the cars apart and it doesn't matter if this car wasn't made to tackle against Europe's finest because even if it's no good, the Prowler still wows the hearts of drivers with its unique impression that has the wink and smile of Charles Bronson on a diner break.

Forza Motorsport 6: Night Prowls

One of the cars featured on Forza Motorsport 6's eBay Motors Car Pack is what I believed to be a 21st century take on those classic open-top hotrods. It's called the Prowler, and despite its flaws, it remains a future classic that is very rare to see on today's roads.



Heavily inspired from the hotrods of the pre-war era, the Prowler is a unique roadster featuring a signature chassis, which is different from existing production components, featuring an aluminum space frame.

Powering it is a 3.5L V6 engine which develops 214HP but in 1999, it was replaced with a more powerful version which develops 257PS of power while being mated with a 4-speed automatic.

There is a trivia that since its launch, a Prowler was sealed in a mausoleum as a time capsule somewhere in Oklahoma and experts are looking forward what would a Prowler look like when it was sealed when the time capsule is opened in the not too distant future, when it will be returned to Chrysler.

Although intended to be Plymouth's flagship sports car, the Plymouth brand was discontinued from 2001 and it was sold as a Chrysler Prowler thereafter until the Prowler's production discontinued a year after, with a final limited edition model of 300 cars painted in special Candy Deep Red body color. A total of 11,479 units have been produced from 1997 to 2002.



Although the 4-speed automatic gearbox sounds like it's one of the key faults why the Prowler failed to keep up against most sportscars, it's still a quick car to drive. It's so quick, you might never noticed that there's someone got his clothes stuck at one of its doors and pops up unexpectedly. Quite a surprise, eh?

Imagine if that's you driving in one of these, some guy thinks that your Prowler looks cool and then you explain all about your ride, including the fact that its V6 engine is fuel-injected, and you get off after saying bye to that fellow.

Anyway, enough chitchat for that, because even though its performance is somewhat lacking, the Prowler is one of the good definition of a grand tourer like in the case of the BMW Z8 I drove in-game.

You may find that its abilities hadn't been used properly at first but you'll be able to unlock its hidden potential beneath its bespoke chassis as I shall now demonstrate by driving round Daytona's road course...at night because it's like referring to the AC/DC song Night Prowler. Shazbot, Nanu Nanu...



Can't believe this is the first time making an impression with this future classic in the nighttime but I'm very glad that this Prowler really is a great car to enjoy it the more you use it to find its hidden potential beneath its hotrod looks.