Yahoo! Picks - bringing you the best of the Web since 1995

There are always a few intrepid folks who aren't satisfied with mass-produced products. These tinkerers always look to improve upon or tweak items churned out by assembly lines.

Ryan Fulcher is one of those dudes. A self-confessed "dabbler" who became interested in hybrid car technology when he bought a Honda Insight back in 2000, he's become the man behind EAA-PHEV. Those seven letters are music to the ears of anyone who's interested in breaking away from the gas pump. His Electric Auto Association/Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle site is a repository for information related to converting hybrid cars into plug-ins.

Why on earth would you want a car you could charge in a wall socket? For starters, you might like getting 100 miles plus per gallon of gas. In fact, Ryan's currently getting that sort of MPG in his modified Prius Blue. The oh-so-knowledgeable Mr. Fulcher was kind enough to put on the brakes for a bit and chat with us about electric vehicles, his site, and how it all began...

Hey Ryan, how did EAA-PHEV get started?

I was the Webmaster for SEVA (Seattle EVA) and it spawned out of the hybrid pages I was writing for the site. Read the full profile...

Vans get a bad rap. Nowadays, the huge haulers bring minivans to mind. And though minivans are many things, cool isn't one of them. Stressed-out suburbanites aren't the only blemish on the van's side panel, either. Think "Silence of the Lambs." Creepy, windowless, faded, dented vans still prowl the roads of cities across America. What if we could return to an age when vans were the sweetest machines on the street? Thanks to this awesome compendium of van advertisements, we can! Turn back the clock and browse this collection of over 200 print ads for vans, van accessories, and van customization. Luxuriate in swivel chairs, customized wing doors, and most importantly, ultra-fresh paint jobs. The '70s were salad days for van lovers, but you'll also find the simpler models of the '60s parked around back. Either way, you'll be transported back to a more innocent time when vans were the ultimate in street-wise self-expression.

It's not uncommon to have some detailing done on a car when you buy it. But to arrange for massive wings to shoot off your vehicle's hindquarters? That's not something you see every day. And as far as the car aficionados at U.K.'s Top Gear are concerned, it's downright "dodgy." That hasn't stopped them, however, from soliciting photographic evidence from across Europe and around the world of the utter "carbage" some people are willing to drive. Motor through this dealership of daring and you'll see such exuberantly modified rides as a saccharine pink fake Ferrari; the bastard child of a hot rod and a snowboard; autos with monster wheels; teeny, tiny baby cars; and at least one jet-powered jalopy. There's no background on who's doing this to their cars, but we did glean one generalization: Owners of the old Volkswagen Beatle like to hack their cars—over and over and over and over again.