Confederate Motorcycles just debuted its new Hellcat X132 motorcycle, and boy, is it a beauty!

The X132 is all about the mechanical beauty of a motorcycle. There’s obviously a lot of technology here, but it’s in the design and not the number of electronic devices that can be bolted on. That includes the billet aluminum engine case where almost all other motorcycles use a casting and the stainless steel bolts used throughout.

Of course, if you want one for yourself, you had better get in line with your wallet handy. The Hellcat X132 is going for 45 grand and up, and while the first 25 or so are already called for, production is only going to be two or three bikes a week. Now that’s what we’d call taking advantage of the laws of supply and demand!

You can check out the website here, and if you are interested, here’s the full press release from Confederate Motorcycles:

Confederate Motorcycles Unveils Third Generation HellcatBIRMINGHAM, Ala., Dec. 2, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Confederate Motors, Inc. (OTCBB:CFED), makers of handcrafted heirloom motorcycles, unveiled their anticipated third generation Hellcat today. Drawing on the first and second generations’ distinctive drag race architecture, the company’s new X132 Hellcat advances that architecture with innovative engineering and avant-garde design. The result is yet another iconic machine that challenges the paradigms of the American motoring landscape.

The company’s founder and CEO, H. Matthew Chambers, described the new Hellcat by saying, “This is the motorcycle we were conceived to execute when I founded the company 21 years ago. I have every confidence that we have delivered all we ever dreamed of giving.”

Named after the legendary F6F Hellcat fighter plane of WWII, the X132 Hellcat is the result of an uncompromised design and manufacturing approach. The centerpiece of this approach is the Hellcat’s billet aluminum case. Instead of the usual casting method, the Hellcat’s case is machined from two blocks of billet 6061 aircraft grade aluminum. Chambers said, “This new case unites America’s best Vtwin technology and America’s superior powertrain technology into a singularity. Although this is the most expensive material selection and craft methodology, it is simply the best approach for maximizing strength and guaranteeing permanence.” Confederate’s lead designer, Edward Jacobs, said, “We’ve always dreamed of designing the core of the machine. For the first time in our 21 year history, we’ve been able to do that with the unitized case of this new Hellcat. The result is the first pure and undiluted Confederate.” The company’s uncompromised approach does not end with the case. “Because we design and craft each Confederate motorcycle to be a multi-generational heirloom product, we require that each component, from the carbon fiber wheels to the smallest stainless steel bolts, be of the highest quality, no matter the cost. Our clients deserve nothing less,” said Clay Morrison, the company’s Director of Marketing.

With over 40 units already pre-sold, the company is set to begin production in January at a rate of two units per week. Pricing for the X132 Hellcat is set at $45,000 through February 29, 2012. The price will rise to $49,500 on March 1, 2012. Orders may be placed online at www.workandcycle.com.

For the past the 21 years, Confederate Motors, Inc. has designed and crafted uncompromised heirloom motorcycles for the motoring purist. For more information, please visit www.confederate.com.

I don’t know the last time I’ve actually read Autoweek magazine, but their website is still pretty cool.

Just saw this video they posted showing a behind-the-scenes look at the Mustang Boss 302S race cars being made.

What happens when you combine a fancy car auction with unsecured floor tiles? Rich people dominoes!

Shout out to Death Machines for spotting this winner.

First of all, I’m glad she’s OK.

Now with that out of the way, this old lady’s story just doesn’t add up. She says she had to get into her Dodge Neon from the passenger-side door because another car was parked too close on the other side. While sliding across the seat she guesses she “did the key or hit the gearshift .. I don’t know what happened.” Amazingly, just that little bump somehow managed to put the car into reverse, accelerate hard enough to damage another car, put the car into a forward gear and accelerate hard enough to crash through a gate and into a pool. Or maybe she just has no business driving.

Check the video out for yourself.

The General has just taken the wraps off its new chassis that will be raced in the Grand-Am Series next year, and it’s a looker.

Unlike most of the cars racing in the Prototype class, the 2012 Chevrolet Corvette Daytona Prototype features a lot of styling cues from the current road-going Corvette.  What do you think of the look?

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The downturn in the economy (How long have we been saying that now?) has been hard on the performance parts manufacturers. But at least we finally have some good news:

Demon Carburetors ceased operation in February of 2011, and it looked like the carburetor manufacturer many drag racers depend on was gone for good. But Demon has just announced that it is ramping up production once again. Carburetors should be available to the public once again by mid December.

Initially, Demon will produce its 650, 750 and 850 Speed Demons with both mechanical and vacuum secondary options. At first, the carbs will be fitted only with down-leg boosters, but other styles should also become available eventually.

In its heyday, Demon Carburetors were a fairly common sight at the drag strip and on some high-end street machines. But the world is moving faster and faster toward fuel injection. Now we have excellent bolt-on fuel injection systems for all types of engines that are self learning and don’t require any programming on a laptop.

What do you think Demon has to do this time around to be successful?

ESPN has produced an excellent video on this year’s racing at the Bonneville Salt Flats. They’ve concentrated on some of the big dogs like the Team Nish and Poteet and Main that are going for the big numbers, but there’s also some pretty cool motorcycle racing too.

Definitely worth checking out.

I recently had the opportunity to shoot the World of Outlaws World Finals event held at The Dirt Track at Charlotte Motor Speedway in early November. I’ve included a few select shots from the event and included them here.

Hope you enjoy.

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Every year car builders from around the country unveil some incredible vehicles at the SEMA show. This year was no different–and just like every year there were also plenty of awful, outlandish and outright weird vehicles, too.

MSN put together a slideshow of 10 of the most outrageous vehicles displayed at the show this year. My personal favorite is the ’56 Caddy with a huge blower built by Xcaliber Auto Restorations.

You can check out the full gallery from MSN here.