In America, we have a long legacy of gigantic automobiles. From Cadillac to Lincoln, and not only the luxury brands. Before the worth of an auto was counted in Miles Per Gallon and the amount of recycled materials it was built from, our roads flowed with many great whales. Your grandparents drove a “boat” and even today some still do. Have a look at Automopedia’s 10 favorite BIGGEST rides. Let us know what you think (we know you will) or if we missed any other road-worth beasts.

10. Hummer (Civilian Model)

Arnold was one of the first to privately own a Hummer Civilian Model – better known these days as H1. Hummer became the pinnacle of self-righteous American motoring. Sizing up at a weight of 8,114 lbs it’s no light ride. Of course, every suburban mom on both the East & West coasts needed one, who cares if it holds enough gasoline to get you to the next station?

9. Cadillac Escalade

Tony Soprano wasn’t the only Escalade driver – but he, and Bob Dylan, made them famous (Yes, Mr Dylan, anti-establishment icon, pimped Caddy’s in a commercial). Escalade’s 5,800 lbs curb weight is kinda on par with other classic rides from GM’s make – but hell, it sure ain’t no Coupe Deville!

8. Oldsmobile Toronado

Remember Oldsmobile? Even if you do the Toronado is a somewhat obscure vehicle from the deceased make. With a production run that began in 1966, Toronado’s have become a hot commodity with classic car collectors (CCC’s as we call them around here) – especially the 70′s models. Toronados held a massive wheelbase for a 2-door coupe of 119.0 in – and unfortunately died out quickly in the early 90′s, soon to be followed by the entire brand.

7. Cadillac Eldorado

Another icon – of the American automotive type that is. Hunter S. Thompson drove one in Las Vegas, Boss Hogg chased them Duke Boys in another – Eldorado means Cadillac to many enthusiasts. In its 49 year run (1953–2002) Eldorado has had TTops, fins, and almost always a drop-top. Built like a tank and truly a beautiful beast.

6. Buick GSX

Buick GSX variants were actually high-performance sport conversions of popular coupes like the Riviera and Wildcat. Basically, take an already huge, steel car like an early 70′s Riviera and drop a 340 to 400 cubic-in. engine in it. We’d like to point out the “Slayer” tag on this particular one above.

5. Ford Gran Torino

Before Clint Eastwood shot up foreigners for trying to steal his, the Ford Gran Torino was a massive “intermediate car” produced by Ford Motor Comp. on and off between 1968 and 1976. With an average curb weight sizing in between 3,000 & 3,500 lbs, Gran Torino still had a top speed fast enough to encourage its adoption into NASCAR.

4. 1960′s Lincoln Continental

Best known for its limo-size and suicide doors, the third-generation Lincoln Continental has become a favorite ride of Rockabilly punks and car show participants. It’s massive length of around 220 in. and width of just under 80 in. leaves us wondering how many SMART cars you can fit in a ’64 Continental. The best part(s)? How about the 460 cu. motor and a convertible 4-door – nice!

3. Hummer H2

Ok, H2 is smaller then the original civilian Hummers, but really, did we need another? H2 still clocks in at 6,614 lbs – and also gets just as crappy gas mileage as its predecessor! Yeah, it’s easy to jump on the anti-Hummer band wagon, but hell – even the band wagon gets a better mpg rating.

2. Ford Excursion

First you thought Explorer and Expedition were unnecessary SUV’s from Ford – well look back a few years at Excursion. This massive soccer-kid hauler was only produced from 2000 until 2005, and weighs almost as much as the H1 (7,190 lb to be exact). One of the only pluses of Excursion is that it was an American made diesel option vehicle.

1. Cadillac Fleetwood

All big-car-bashing aside, who doesn’t love the old school 1950′s Cadillac Fleetwood? Its massive wheelbase and curb weight of around 5,000 lbs makes it perfect for a Presidential Limo or mafia cruiser. Fleetwood was produced continuously from 1947–1996 and saw a one-year resurrection in 1999.

The night before Halloween is traditionally known as Mischief Night (Devil’s Night or Trick Night depending on where you live in the world) – and a large supply of Extra Large Eggs and toilet paper (the cheap stuff, stays stuck in wet trees better) are essential. As a disclaimer, Automopedia is NOT telling teenagers to go out and egg their neighbor’s $80,000 automobile, but if they’re not smart enough to leave it in the garage on October 30th, aren’t they asking for it? Let’s have a look at some the cars that deserve a good bit of harmless vandalism.

The Car You Won’t Notice Anything Done To Them:

1979 Chevette or “Shitter” as it’s less commonly known.

Late 1980′s Ford Taurus

Late 1980′s Mercury Sable

AMC Pacer…What the hell’s AMC?

1982 DMC DeLorean – Egg it all you want, with stainless steel, yoke wipes right off!

1986 – 87 Plymouth Reliant K

Plymouth Prowler – Is it a hot rod, a coupe, or an old people’s car? Just buy a PT Cruiser already

To be egged/TP’d on principle alone

Rich Man’s Wheel – Don’t Leave Them On The Sidewalk Tonight:

Any BMW 7 Series – You can put your kid through college with what you paid for this thing

Mercedes Benz – We mean, just say the name – you WANT to do something to it

Any New Ford Mustang – Why not buy a restored original?

Hummer H2 – Because it’s a Hummer

Ford Excursion – You could start a college inside this thing

Smug Rides – Too Pretentious To Leave Alone:

Toyota Prius – So smug people get vanity plates with their average MPG on it

2008 Porsche Cayenne – You bothered combining a Porsche with an SUV?

Since the days of MTV’s Pimp My Ride we’ve seen some bizarre monstrosities hit the streets of cities big and small. And we all had that time when you or your high school kid wanted a two-foot tall spoiler bolted to the trunk of their boxy Nissan Sentra, thinking it looked good. Well, we have to tell you, it didn’t – In fact, you look like a tool. There’s a certain finesse one needs, an attitude, in order to pull off a totally awesome pimped ride without looking like that skinny white kid from The Offspring’s Pretty Fly, For A White Guy Video. We’re not sure whether or not the rides below count as “dope” or “mad hot” or whatever you darn youths are saying these days. Some of them probably couldn’t be taken seriously if you had members of the Bloods behind the wheel. But you have to think someone loved these beasts, because pimping your ride don’t come cheap.

Pimp Them Rides!

Pimped Out Caddy School Bus

This pimped Cadillac SUV-turned-school bus has been a staple of the internet for almost as long as Banana Phone. We’re guessing it’s an Escalade – but we remember this lowered bus being around long before Cadillac started that sport utility’s run. Unfortunately, this van isn’t rockin’ – and looks more like the short bus.

Suburban Pimp Classic – Acura Integra

You know the guy – he’s short and a little thick, probably as pale as your grandmother’s underarms, but seriously considers himself a thug. And thanks to movies like Fast and the Furious with Paul Walker he’s pretty much been vindicated. And he almost always drives a dropped down, supped up Acura Integra (sometimes it was a Honda Civic – but under all the fins and paint who can even tell anymore?) You don’t see too many spinner hubcaps on these puppies, but there is always a loud coffee can exhaust that would wake you as he dropped off your self loathing daughter at 1 am.

Japanese Pimped Trucks

It’s actually huge in Japanese trucking culture – these anime looking semi’s can haul cargo, live stock, lumber, and contain more lights than the New Jersey Boardwalk in July. It’s probably hard to get any work done with people gawking at your truck, or maybe that’s just the point. These rides are part of a “Truck Art” movement in the far east.

Pimp Your Soccer Mom – Lowered Minivan

Face it, your mom is not the coolest chick in the neighborhood. Maybe you could convince her to lower that Dodge Caravan and put some spinners inside those Firestone tires she got from Sears Auto. The first day of school you’ll ride up and impress the hell out of all those 5th graders. Then every day after that you’ll probably be laughed at or beaten up.

We are still trying to figure out if that pimped minivan is Photo Shopped.

Raised Monte Carlo

Monte Carlo’s with hydrolics and ridiculously over sized rims are am American as apple pie and hookers on East 47th St. (trust us, they are still in Manhattan). The low rider/hydro culture seems to have a love for those late ’70′s thru mid ’80′s boxy GM models. I mean don’t we all want to be as bad ass as Denzel from Training Day? “You’re in the office baby.”

Pimp That H2

Hummers are pretty much only good (at least anymore) for having ludicrous auto-video systems put into their trunks. With fluctuating gas prices you’d pretty much have to park your H2 in the garage and never move it again. This ride pimper has some great ideas, notice his subs in the rear doors. And is that a flat panel HDTV? Hope the security system in that truck includes tasers and starving pit bulls.

Pimp Your X-Wing – Star Wars Toyota Tercel

Katie Horn is probably one of the cutest Star Wars geeks (we use the G word with all love Katie) we’ve ever seen online. She’s so dedicated to her passion for all this Lucas that she transformed her Toyota Tercel into a X-Wing. It may look sloppy at first, but she’s got some great detail on this ride – those black smudges are actually blast marks from other…umm…fighters? Ms. Horn, you are a Real American Hero (even if you are not American).

Pimp My…Turtle?

We have absolutely NO idea why this was created or what it is – aside from the obvious VW New Beetle/Bug transformed into a turtle. Gives new meaning to the term “I’ve got a turtle head pokin’ out.”

Bonus – Best Pimped Car Accessories

Pimp My Muffler – Exhaust Spinners

As if your hole-punctured exhaust is not loud enough, there’s more glam to add with a spinner you can pop right on the end. Don’t expect to pass an inspection with it.

Pimp My…Shit, my XP crashed again!

Ok, seriously, how many speakers, monitors, gaming systems and hard drives do you need in one vehicle? Just hand your keys over to a chop shop and save yourself from a possible pistol whipping.

Get Fuzzy

Any good pimp needs his plush lavender interior.

Hybrid vehicles. They’re a huge topic right now in the car world, and everyone is getting riled up about them. But what’s the big deal? Over 300,000 hybrid vehicles are running on American roads today, and the number rises everyday. How does a Hybrid car work? How safe are they? Why should I drive one? How much do they cost? Which companies make them? Will they really save me that much gas in the long run? These were the questions running though my head, and here are some of the answers I found.

Many people know that Hybrid cars are better for the environment than regular cars, but do they really know why? Hybrid engines combine two sources of power: a rechargeable battery and gasoline. They are also built smaller to accommodate the 99% of the time that you’re not going up a hill or accelerating quickly. When acceleration is needed, however, the battery provides the car with an extra boost of power. Some hybrids, like Ford’s new Escape Hybrid SUV, can run up to 25 miles per hour before the gas engine even kicks in. Another thing that’s pretty sweet about Hybrids is that when you stop, so does the engine. Well, the gas one at least, the battery is what keeps the car running, even though it doesn’t sound like it is. It took me a while to get used to this with my Civic Hybrid, but after a while you learn to appreciate the quiet. This video gives a detailed inside look into Toyota’s Prius.

So, sure, the hybrid has all this technology in it, but does that make it as safe as a regular gas running vehicle? yupp. And while you might think you look fly in your new Hummer, guess again. Green vehicles are currently and will continue to be a hot trend in the US. Can you really take someone with a 35 gallon gas tank seriously as temperatures and gas prices continue to rise? Show your intelligence to the world and be seen in a hybrid vehicle today! Now that’s sexy.