All pictures are of the the latest and greatest drone, General Atomics’ Avenger (Predator C).

General Atomic’s first generation of drone was the Predator then followed by the Reaper (Predator B).

The Avenger is far superior to any other drone including those of Lockheed and Gruman.

Full stealth

Maximum speed: 460 mph

Endurance: 20 hours

Service ceiling: 60,000 ft operating altitude

Armament:Internal weapons bay, 3,000 pounds capacity. Capable of carrying AGM-114 Hellfire air-to- surface missiles, GBU-24 Paveway III bombs, and GBU-31 and GBU-38 JDAMs.

Length: 41 ft

Wingspan: 66 ft sweep angle 17°

Power plant: 1 × Pratt & Whitney Canada PW545B

The 20 hour endurance and the 60,000 ft.operating altitude are nearly unbelievable. The Avenger costs $10,000,00 to build in comparison to an F18′s $30,000,000. All drones are remotely flown by specially trained jet fighter pilots with one assistant.

We’ve found 4 more Girl NHRA drivers who more than deserve to have their pictures on www.AmericanCarsAmericanGirls.com

In alphabetical order we have:

Anne Hansen

This is her first year in the NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycles but Anne has been racing motorcycles professionally, both road racing and the drag racing, since 1998.  She owns her own race team, AHR, which is kind of unusal but very cool. Currently she is tied for 24th in the points standing in the Pro Stock Motorcycle division.

Off the track, Anne leads a full life. She is  a client relations manager and Registered Professional Reporter for Fusion Reporting in Atlanta, Ga, a spokesperson and talent on TV/radio, print ads for a number of car dealerships and a certified Les Mills Body Pump instructor. Physical fitness is her watchword, and she takes every opportunity to keep her mind and body sharp with running, swimming, aerobics, weight training, and outdoor sports. Interestingly she lists her birth-date as 06-13-??. I’m saying 35 years old.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGwgePJtA20

Grace Howell

Grace Howell returns as the driver of the Cunningham Motorsports Mustang Pro Stocker for the 2012 season. She drove in six of the last seven events in 2011.

Grace started racing professionally in 2002 when she was 16. After being successful in various drag racing venues she now finds herself in the big time.I hope she can stay there. She is currently 21st in the points standings in the Pro Stock division.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5ADvLBVh9o

Hillary Will

Hillary started drag racing in 1997 at the age of 17. In  2004 she became a professional. Hillary finished the 2006 season in 10th place in the Top Fuel championship points. She currently drives for the Dote Race Team and holds the 15th place in the Top Fuel points championship.

Hillary is a 2002 Magna Cum Laude graduate from Wheaton College and was a scholar athlete as a springboard diver.

Hillary’s pictures look like she’s eighteen, but assuming the 17 years old in 1997 is correct, that makes her current age 32. I wish I had that problem.   

This is a scary video.        

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLqF1QALfjk

Leah Pruett

The last time we wrote about Leah, she was Leah Pruett-Leduc, had blond hair and was racing in the Pro Mod classification. This season she is Leah Pruett, is a brunette but is still racing in Pro Mod. Leah is a very competitive 4th in the 2012 points championship and is very much in contetion for the 2012 Pro Mod championship. Compare the 2011 and 2012 pictures. I couldn’t find a video for the 2012, brunette Leah Pruett.

2012

2011

The thing that really caught my eye was the Ascend low rolling resistance. The lower the rolling resistance the better the mpg. While I’m on mpg I recently read that cars driven by Americans are burning up almost 1 BILLION gallons of gas a year because so many of us are over weight.

The Ascend was developed on the race track which will mean excellent handling and braking characteristics. All this plus the Ascend lasts 20 percent longer than the conventional touring tire.

The Ascend wil be produced at Yokohama’s Salem, Va., plant. Initially the Ascend will only be available in applications ranging from crossover vehicles, to passenger cars and minivans. I would assume the Ascend will be available for performance cars in the not too distant future.

First a clarification of what is what. If a Mustang has a name with Mustang in it, like the Mustang Shelby GT500, then the Mustang came direct from the Ford factory. If a Mustang only has only the Shelby name attached like the Shelby 1000 then the Mustang went from the Ford factory to Shelby American for mods and upgrade.

The Shelby 1000 and the Shelby 1000 S/C are 50-state, street-legal cars. They are the high performance dream of founder Carroll Shelby. If you want one here’s what you do. Go to your Ford dealership and order a 650 hp, $55,000 Mustang Shelby GT500 and have the dealership deliver your GT 500 to the Shelby American facility. Then send Shelby American another $150,000 to get the 950 hp Shelby 1000 or $155,000 to get the 1,100 hp Shelby 1000 S/C. The S/C is suppose to be for the track only. You get much more than the hp increase. The Shelby 1000 models are upgraded and modified in every possible way. The Mustang Shelby GT 500 is advertised to have a top speed of 200 mph. It will be interesting to see top speed figures for the Shelby 1000 and 1000 S/C. It will also be interesting to see how many are sold.

The fact that an Italian supercar maker would chose a GM, LSX series engine for their car is just further proof of how really great this American designed and built engine really is.

Spada Codatronca Monza actually has some serious Italian blood coursing through its veins. Ercole Espada was once chief stylist for Zagato, a very influential and famous Italian automotive design company. He moved on to design Ferraris, Alfa Romeos and Lancias, just to name a few. A few years ago Esprada and his son started SpadaConcept, an industrial design company. One of their projects is the Sprada Codatronca Monza.

The roadster packs a LS7, 7.0-liter V8, supercharged, Corvette engine. The Sprada Monza weighs in at 2,600 lbs, the show car features a stripped-out cockpit with Sabelt buckets and full data acquisition system centered around the F1-style steering wheel. It rides on a fully adjustable suspension with OZ Ultraleggera wheels, Pirelli PZero Corsa tires and Brembo brakes with the same ABS system employed in the FIA GT3.
  

 SpadaConcepts say these factors add up to a 0-62 mph time of 3 seconds flat and a face-shredding 208 mph top end. Pricing is approx. $450,000. I honestly don’t know what one would do with this car other than buy it and take it to your collection. I know that’s what I’m going to do.

I met Tammy Drinnon at the Smoky Mt. MOPAR Show and we scheduled a photo shoot at the English Mt. Dragway later on in the summer. After the photo shoot with Tammy at English Mt. Dragway I proposed the idea of Miss ACAG to Tammy and her husband David. I explained to both of them that the accepting the title would mean instant international fame, more money that could ever imagine. But it also would be all time consuming job with the travel, TV, movies, and talks shows. Tammy and her husband looked at each other as in disbelief and just walked away. I heard her husband mumble something to Tammy as they were walking away. I think I heard the words “crazy and physco”.

Pamela Sue Anderson continues to call me about the job but I’m holding out for Tammy. Here’s why: Tammy’s AWESOME, Tammy’s SOMKIN HOT, Tammy’s SMART, Tammy’s BOOBS ARE REAL (I think) and Tammy is AMERICAN CARS. Watch the video as Tammy set’s up her husband for his pass in his Charger and CRANK UP THE SOUND.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x84-mCo83uA

It just further verifies Wayne Gretzky’s words of wisdom ”You’ll miss a 100% of the shots you never take”

The 1967 Pro Street Nova is Tammy’s favorite car of all time. The Nova belongs to Robert Spencer and runs: 408 c.i. Chevy small block, full tube chassis, power glide transmission, Ford 9” rear end with 4.56 gear, best e.t. 6.90 and the Nova is street legal. Three fourths of the pictures I took of Miss AmericanCarsAmericanGirls, and I took a lot, was with the Nova. I also really liked the Nova. I don’t think GM made a bad looking muscle car in the sixties and the electric blue paint job is just gorgeous.

The 1980 Dodge D50 belongs to Tammy’s husband’s uncle Kenny Drinnon. The truck runs a 440 c.i. MOPAR, 727 transmission, 8 3/4 rear-end with 4.56 gears, best e.t. 6.84 @107 mph. Kenny owns Drinnon Auto Repair in Morristown, Tn..

English Mountain Dragway

 Dodge offically unveiled the new 2013 SRT Viper GTS at the April, 2012 New York Auto Show.  The new Viper will be branded SRT Viper and not the Dodge Viper. The power of the new 2013 SRT Viper GTS comes from the rather large,  8.4-liter natural aspirated aluminum V10 overhead-valve engine. The engine will make 640 hp and 600 lb.-ft. of torque. I read in AUTOWEEK magazine that the new Viper is a  front mid-engine layout. A little unusal. This makes for the near perfect 49/51 rato of weight distribution.

The power is sent that  to the rear wheels via a TremecTR6060 six-speed manual transmission with a 3.07 final drive ratio. The engine’s maximum speed is 6,200 rpm.  Top speed has been estimated at 205 mph. Its chassis is 50% stiffer will reducing  new Viper’s weight by 100 pounds. The 2013 SRT Viper comes with a carbon fiber and aluminum body, which has a drag coefficient of just Cd 0.364. The 2013 Viper is also a lot safer than its predecessor is. It’s now equipped with electronic multistage stability control, traction control and a new 4-channel anti-lock brake system (ABS).

To improve the handling of the SRT Viper, Dodge equipped with an improved suspension system, which features an aluminum “X” brace under the hood,. The new Viper comes with Bilstein DampTronic Select shock absorbers, which offer two settings, for the street and for the track. Also for better handling, the SRT Viper is offered with standard Pirelli P Zero, Z-rated tires, or optional Pirelli P Zero Corsa and will be fitted with 355 mm by 32 mm discs on all four wheels, together with forged brake calipers. From the pictures it appears the rotors are carbon fiber.

If all the above isn’t enough the new Viper will have a factory backed team in the AmericanLe Mans Series (ALMS) in 2013.