RidiculousRides

A rare Aston Martin that may have been used as an unmarked police car in the sixties has been found after half a century hidden in a garage. The DB24, built in 1955, was discovered at a property in Gloucestershire and is believed to be worth £250,000 when fully restored. The classic car, which became famous as the model driven by James Bond in Ian Fleming’s novels, was bought by a car enthusiast who intended to work on the engine when he retired. Instead it was covered by a sheet and forgotten by its owner, and was forgotten.

A collection of 36 corvettes – some of them extremely rare - are in the process of being restored to their former glory after they were hidden away for more than 20 years. The Corvettes were originally won in a competition organised by music channel VH1 in 1989 and were then sold to German born graphic artist Peter Maxx. The thick layer of dust that has covered the cars for more than 20 years has actually protected the paintwork meaning some of them need little in the way of restoration. When the restorations are complete the new owner Scott Heller will attempt to sell the collection in its entirety to one lucky bidder.

CAR-lover Corey Jones has customised his Camaro with a massive set of 32-inch rims. The 32-year-old, who works at Excalibur Motors in Joliet, Illinois, has been building custom cars for six years. Corey got his first car at age 17 and since then has owned over ten custom cars - but considers his green Camaro his best build to date. He believes his car, which features rims twice as big as the standard set, has inspired his hometown of Chicago, USA to join a new car culture.

MOTOR-mad Irvin Gordon entered the record books when his beloved Volvo clocked up more than THREE MILLION miles. And incredibly the 70-year-old's runaround - which he bought in 1966 - has NEVER broken down. The retired school teacher bought the coup for £2,675 after a three hour test drive with a friend. He averages 60,000 miles a year - but can do as many as 100,000 miles. Last October Irvin was awarded a Guinness World Record for his accomplishment.

A NORMAL Fiat has been modified to allow the driver to travel BACKWARDS. The unusual transformation by Harpeet Devin is an eye-catching alteration on the roads of Bhatinda, India. The vehicle has four gears to drive in reverse and just one to go forwards. He has even fitted an ambulance siren to alert other drivers and pedestrians and added headlights to the rear of his car.

THE watery city of Venice has banned cars but one lucky driver traverses the town in a Ferrari – made out of WOOD. Livio De Marchi spent five months whittling a block of pine into a Ferrari F50 – an Italian car fit for the Italian canals. The craftsman carefully carved the famous logo, rims and brake lights into the wood and added a Yamaha boat engine to power it through the water. The eye-catching vehicle, which weighs 2000 pounds, is a solitary motor in Venice’s waterways packed with gondolas, yachts and floating taxis.

WHEN Jonathan found this Jaguar E-Type it was in very bad shape. He predicts it hadn’t been used for 30 years; not much was worth restoring but he saved the original engine and tub. He says these elements gave it the originality it needed. Other than this there isn’t a bolt on the car that he hasn’t replaced. He calls it an “analogue car in the digital age” because when you’re connected to the road you can smell the burnt fuel and the hydraulic power steering makes it feel like the car is a part of you. “It’s probably the most fantastic classic car I have ever driven." It’s perfect for cruising through town late at night and turning heads. With bright red seats, the interior is just as attention grabbing as the outside.

These car enthusiasts take their wagons to the next level with insane customisations.

MEET the father-and-son car restorers who turn rust to riches by buying, selling and fixing some of rarest cars in the world. This week Lance's metalworking skills are being tested by a crash-damaged 1960s Porche which has been stripped back to bare metal by its owner. Merlin has taken on a 1984 Mercedes 380SL - and reveals the pros and cons of buying cars on the internet.

MEET the father-and-son car restorers who are turning rust to riches by buying, selling and fixing some of the world's rarest cars. Lance, 52, a former panel beater for Rolls-Royce, is the go-to guy for bespoke classic car restoration - while Merlin, 20, specialises in sales and acquisition. Some of the rarest cars treated at their businesses in Brentford, west London, can be worth upwards of £15m. This week Merlin has two Chevrolets in stock, and while one is barely roadworthy, the other, a 1969 Chevelle, is one of the best examples in the country.

LANCE and Merlin look at two Aston Martins in very different conditions. One is a rare V8 Vantage X-Pack 580X, one of only a few hundred made, which despite only having 30,000 miles on the clock is having some engine trouble. The other is a shell of a 1960 Aston Martin DB4 which Lance will be using as the base for a Zagato replica, an 18 month project that will test his skills as one of the country's leading metalwork experts. It cost £250,000, the engine is being built by Aston Martin at a cost of £100,000, and the finished car should fetch over £1 million.

MEET the father-and-son car restorers who are turning rust to riches by buying, selling and fixing some of the world's rarest cars. Lance, 52, a former panel beater for Rolls-Royce, is the go-to guy for bespoke classic car restoration - while Merlin, 20, specialises in sales and acquisition. Some of the rarest cars treated at their businesses in Brentford, west London, can be worth upwards of £15m. Today, Lance and Merlin show us the features of a historic Ferrari, which has been brought into Romance of Rust to have its leaking windscreen resealed.

A man has built an incredible upside down truck that looks like a flipped-over vehicle. Rick Sullivan spent six months and $6,000 building the topsy-turvy truck from the parts of two separate vehicles. The road-legal car is created from a 1991 Ford Ranger pickup truck with a 1995 F-150 pickup truck body placed over the top - upside down.

A PAIR of father-and-son car restorers are turning rust to riches by buying, selling and fixing some of the world's rarest cars. Among the classics Lance, 52 and Merlin McCormack, 20, have worked on included John Lennon's iconic white 1965 Rolls-Royce Phantom and motor's worth £15m plus. Testing their mechanical know-how, Lance and Merlin have found themselves the go-to guys for bespoke classic car restoration. Other rarities to have been treated at their garage in Brentford, west London, include Captain America's shield used in the 2011 blockbuster, and a scratched windscreen of a 1950s Ferrari. Their current project is one for Merlin - pulling his dad and their business into the 21st Century and getting themselves on Facebook, Instagram and other social networks around the world.

MEET the father-and-son car restorers who are turning rust to riches by buying, selling and fixing some of the world's rarest cars. Lance, 52, a former panel beater for Rolls-Royce, is now the go-to guy for bespoke classic car restoration - while Merlin, 20, specialises in sales and acquisition. Some of the rarest cars treated at their business in Brentford, west London, can be worth upwards of £15m. This week Merlin's classic car dealership Duke of London needs a permanent home, and Romance of Rust is running out of space and has a two-and-half-year waiting list for restorations. To cope with demand, Merlin has ambitious plans to expand both businesses

After a team of explorers got into transport difficulties on an expedition to Antartica in 2008, they set out to create a 6x6 vehicle that could handle everything the Antartic threw at them. The AT44 uses a Toyota Hilux as its base vehicle, with the tyres at 44 inches and weighing a whopping 6280lbs. The AT44 6X6 is powered by a three litre diesel engine running on jet fuel so it can cope with temperatures as low as minus 75 degrees Fahrenheit. The truck carries 750 litres of fuel plus a further 1400 litres in barrels.

Feast your eyes on some of the most unusual cars these inventors have to offer.

MEET an ultimate off-road RV Matilda that has been customised from an ex-British Army Leyland DAF T244. Matt Payne, a former office worker, has always dreamt of exploring the wildlands of Outer Mongolia and the Gobi Desert so in 2016 he quit his job, sold his house and possessions and created the ultimate off-road RV. He named the RV ‘Matilda’ as he liked the old Germanic meaning; ‘brave warrior.’ Matilda is so impressive that it turns heads wherever Matt drives it. The car has a 5.9L Cummins engine, weighs 23,809lbs, has 145 horsepower, 335L water on board, and 6-speed transmission. Speaking to Ridiculous Rides, Matt said: “I built Matilda for off-grid travel anywhere in the world, crossing deserts, carrying enough food, fuel, water, to survive.” He added: “The best thing about living in a truck is the constantly-changing view. You might be in the middle of the Gobi Desert or by the beach in the Black Sea; she represents freedom. No matter where I am in the world, I’m at home.”

THE owner of Britain's fastest street-legal car has vowed to reclaim it's title as the quickest in the world - after being knocked off his throne by an American team. Andy Frost's Red Victor 3 held the World street legal quarter-mile speed record for more than two years but was disappointed to see it finally overtaken by Larry Larson in September. But Andy, whose powerful vehicle can go from 0-60 in under a SECOND, is refusing to back down. Andy's Red Victor 3 currently carries a 3000 plus horsepower V8 engine that, from a standing start, can help it hit speeds of 226mph over a quarter-of-a mile. These photographs were captured at Santa Pod Raceway in Bedfordshire.

WHILE millions of film fans dream of owning Bond’s Aston Martin or Bruce Wayne’s Batmobile, Ollie Wilkey has turned his movie car fantasy into a reality. The self-employed inventory clerk, 25, from Keynsham in Somerset, is the proud owner of a DeLorean Time Machine – the iconic vehicle made famous in the Back to the Future series. The car was built in Florida by an ex-NASA engineer and Universal Studios constructor, and later bought by his friend Luke, from Leeds, UK, who sold it to Ollie in February 2014 for a five-figure sum. Although sadly not capable of traveling back to 1955, the “screen accurate” DeLorean features everything from a flux capacitor to a Mr Fusion Home Energy Reactor. And when the souped-up vehicle reaches 88mph, it activates a special time travel sequence, including lights and sound effects. Ollie runs a business renting the car out, but still finds time to take the DeLorean for a spin - and the car never fails to attract hordes of appreciative onlookers.

SEVENTEEN-year-old Rosalee Ramer is the youngest professional female monster truck driver in the United States. While most teenagers are just learning how to drive, Rosalee, from Watsonville, California, has been jumping and crushing cars for three years. Rosalee, who became pro at just 14, has been interested in monster trucks since she was a toddler.

WITH most vehicles, taking a wrong turn into a nearby lake would require an embarrassed call to your insurer. But for the Panther, the wet stuff poses no problem - as it can make the switch from car to boat in just 15 seconds. The amphibious vehicle, which can hit speeds of 80mph-plus on land and up to 45mph in water, is the brainchild of Californian manufacturer WaterCar and has become a status symbol for everyone from Silicon Valley billionaires to the crown prince of Dubai. The firm's Python model shattered the world record for the fastest amphibious vehicle back in 2010, but was never made available to the public due to high production costs. WaterCar began taking deposits on the $155,000 Panther on July 2013 and now have an 18 month backlog.

From their solid body to their stylish eye-catching look, these trucks certainly won't go unnoticed.

TWO YEARS of hard work has given rise to an incredible modified Volkswagen Beetle named Maria. Liam, from Great Totham, England, fell in love with the Beetle after watching The Love Bug at the age of five and since then he dreamt of having his own Herbie. Years later, the car fanatic bought the Beetle and two years ago, with the help of an inheritance from his grandma, he started modifying the car. The car has an Air-Cooled 1493cc engine, air ride suspension, 15 inches wheels, 4-speed transmission and can reach a top speed of 80mph. While the body of the Beetle has been modified with an extended hood, trunk and fenders, it’s the interior details that reveal why this car is so special. Liam has built his family’s history into it with custom pieces crafted as a tribute to his dad and grandpa who have passed away. He has even named the car Maria after his grandmother. Speaking to Ridiculous Rides, Liam said: “The car means an awful lot. It’s kind of an extension of myself and a memorial to family members that I’ve lost over the years.”

When he found a 1974 Cadillac station wagon on Craigslist, Brian, of Volo, Illinois was astonished to discover it had previously been owned by Elvis Presley. Brian couldn't help falling in love with the Cadillac once owned by the King of Rock and Roll himself. The new owner told Ridiculous Rides: “It’s a piece of Americana and it’s a great piece of history.” The car was custom built for Elvis and Brian even carries a copy of the invoice complete with The King’s signature to prove it. He said: “You’re sitting there touching the steering wheel that he touched, sitting in the seat that he sat in: amazing.”