In the podcast crew’s absence this week, we bring you a remastered version of episode 118. We talk about a Saab record holder, the “full mileage discount,” how much raw performance can be had for under $40k; scary prospects from AMG and Aston Martin, the ideal four-Porsche driveway for value seekers, and what’s in store for the first-year Bentayga.
By the early 1960s, the horsepower wars were in full swing among American automakers. As we discussed earlier this week, Ford’s FE big-block V8 was evolving, Pontiac’s Super Duty 421 was tearing up the strip, and Chrysler’s “Max Wedge” 413 was on the horizon. The 409, famously enshrined in song, was Chevrolet’s ace from 1961 to 1965, when it was phased out by the mighty 3-9-6 porcupine-headed Mark IV V8.
Welcome to the Weekly Weird and Wonderful, our list of the 10 most notable vehicles to appear on BaT this week in our estimation (along with a few more that we couldn’t bring ourselves to exclude). We are up over 1,000 auctions at the moment, so the vehicles below are just a few dishes out of the all-you-can-eat buffet that is our live auctions page, where you can gorge yourself on even more automotive content once you’re done here.
It’s hard to believe that this is our fourth release of new BaT merch for 2026! A small, dedicated team of BaT staffers has been very busy stocking the Gear Store shelves with fresh new designs, and as you can tell, they are pretty darn good at getting it done. Here are two sporty new items to keep you comfortable indoors and out as the weather warms. Behold, the BaT Performance Hat and Polo!
In the history of Mopar performance, the Hemi hogs the spotlight—but Chrysler selected the 413 Max Wedge for their first foray into Super Stock and Factory Experimental drag racing. The “B” engine, with its wedge-shaped combustion chambers, phased out the first-generation FirePower and FireDome hemis in the late 1950s, and as the horsepower wars heated up in the early years of the 1960s, a new high-deck, high-compression version known as the RB (Raised Block) “Max Wedge” was introduced to power the factory Eliminator entries.
WINNER’S ANNOUNCEMENT:
We’re back to announce the winner for our Question of the Week, where our winner will rest on their laurels and accept a $25 credit for a hat or T-shirt from the BaT Gear Store.
This week, we asked: What’s your favorite desert racer?
Thanks to everyone who hucked a nomination into the sandbox! Bill Stroppe’s Baja Bronco and custom-built Bronco dubbed “Big Oly” were mentioned equally this week, so we turned to the thumbs to break the tie. With a cumulative 23 likes as of this writing, the winning nomination is Big Oly! BaT member @Newport_Pagnell was the first to it:
“The king, Big Oly
https://bajabronco.com/bigoly/“
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Newport_Pagnell commented on Question of the Week: What’s Your Favorite Desert Racer?—WINNER’S UPDATE
This week we talk about the Farley Pantera, PR advice for auto execs, and Randy’s recent trip to Japan: Skylines in the wild, tiny Kei cars, backing into parking spaces, Cal-look Beetles, Tokyo Drift lookalikes, and a visit to the Tamiya model store. Next up, watchlist highlights including a former resident of our very own BaT HQ.
When we are choosing organizations to partner with, our main criterium is: does the partnership add something of interest or value for the BaT community? In the three years that Michelin North America has been partnered with BaT, they’ve gone above and beyond—awarding dozens of sets of free tires in monthly contests, at BaT events, and through our annual holiday giveaway blitz.
Welcome to the Weekly Weird and Wonderful, a curated list of the most interesting and unusual vehicles on BaT this week. For the sake of brevity, we can only feature a handful—there are plenty of chips left in the bag, i.e. over 1,000 other auctions currently live on the site. So if you’re still hungry when you finish this feature, head on over to our live auctions page for even more automotive fun.
April isn’t even over, and we’re back with another batch of new arrivals in the BaT Gear Store! As the warmer weather ramps up, our stalwart group of BaT staffers are holding it down and have rolled out the fifth merch release of 2026, featuring a fresh take on our Dickies work shirt and a new cotton twill ballcap in two colors. Check them out below!