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Around the tracks: An amphibious Suzuki Jimny, Paul Walker’s BMW E30 M3 and a 300km/h joy ride

Plus, Group B Lego recreations and a Lada with a machine-gun exhaust pipe.


When we’re not creating it ourselves, the CarAdvice team spends a lot of time finding and consuming motoring content from all over the world.

Here’s a handful of the photos, articles, videos or social media posts that most caught our eye last week. Some of them are brand new, others have been online for a while.

Enjoy them – just not too much, okay?


1. Paul Walker's BMW E30 M3 is up for sale

Late Fast and the Furious star Paul Walker amassed an impressive car collection before his tragic death in 2013, and seven years on, one of his beloved collectables is being auctioned off again.

As highlighted by Driven NZWalker's incredibly well-kept BMW E30 M3 is up for sale on eBay (of all places) for a not-unreasonable price.

The 1991 M3 has a 2.3-litre, four-cylinder petrol engine and 21,320km on the odometer. It's located in The Colony, Texas, where an anonymous seller is asking for a starting price of US$149,980, or AU$232,077.

Sadly for us Aussies, the car won't ship to Australia, but it's still fun to window shop. Check out the listing here.


2. This Lada Shorty with a very unique exhaust pipe

We've covered the antics of Russian custom car shop Garage 54 before – most recently when when they put tiny wheels on an Hummer H2 – and their latest project certainly maintains the quirky factor.

This time around, the creative Russians have bestowed a custom Lada Shorty with an exhaust pipe that looks a hell of a lot like a machine gun, and even spins like one too.

The finished product is straight out of a spy movie and we pity anyone stuck driving behind it – it looks lethal (it's not, thankfully). You can watch the full transformation below.


3. These Lego photos recreating iconic Group B moments

While the coronavirus lockdown has been an undoubtedly challenging period, there have been some silver linings in the form of the creative exploits that have emerged from the isolation.

One such example? Freelance automotive photographer Dominic Fraser's so-called 'Lockdown Lego Collection'.

"During lockdown I decided to create LEGO scenes inspired by iconic imagery from the time," Fraser explains on his website, where you can buy a series of Lego scenes recreating iconic moments featuring the Audi Quattro S1's Group B racing run.

Fraser's attention to detail has resulted in the Lego iterations being fairly spot on – below is an example of one of the real photos compared to one of Fraser's Lego photos. You can see more here and buy one of the prints for £35, or AU$66.


4. This Canadian teenager's super-fast joy ride in a Mercedes-AMG C63

We do not condone speeding at CarAdvice, but we were fascinated by a story out of Canada this week, where local police claim they recorded "the fastest speed they'd ever heard of" from a teenager taking his dad's Mercedes for a joy ride.

In a video posted to Twitter, Ontario police sergeant Kerry Schmidt said he was "speechless" after one of his officers stopped a 19-year-old male travelling at 308km/h with another 19-year-old male in the passenger seat.

"This is absolutely egregious for anyone to be going those kinds of speeds ... the speed limit is 100km/h, when you're going triple the speed limit, I don't even know where to begin with that," Sgt. Schmidt said.

"Driving your dad's car, coming back from a cruise with your buddies ... [it] is beyond words."

When the officer pulled the teenage driver over, the Sergeant said drivers in surrounding traffic were honking in delight that the offender had been apprehended.

Photos posted to Twitter by Ontario Police later revealed the car in question was a Mercedes-AMG C63 coupe.

The driver had his licence suspended for seven days, his vehicle impounded for a week and was charged criminally with dangerous driving and street racing.


5. The Suzuki Jimny goes amphibious

Given the current craze for all things Suzuki Jimny, there have been plenty of modified versions coming out of the woodwork, from utes to Land Rover Defender tributes.

The latest modified version, however, really pushes the boat out (excuse the pun). YouTube channel Carfection has showcased the Dutton Surf, a Jimny-based amphibious car from UK kit-car maker Dutton that doubles as an actual boat.

According to Motor1, it has four wheels and apparently uses all of the Jimny's usual mechanical components plus a water jet propulsion system.

Founder Tim Dutton claims the jet-ski-like creation has crossed the English Channel twice. You can watch a full breakdown on the Dutton Surf below.


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Susannah Guthrie

Susannah Guthrie has been a journalist for over a decade, covering everything from world news to fashion, entertainment, health and now cars. Having previously worked across titles like The New Daily, Elle, Harper's Bazaar, People Magazine and Cosmopolitan, Susannah now relishes testing family cars with the help of her husband and two-year-old son.

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