Why you should buy this car: The new M5 is a supremely capable corner carver with epic thrust available at the top of the rev range. It s as close as you ll get to a four-door Ferrari — at least until the Aston Rapide and Porsche Panamera blow into town.
Read MoreExterior Design * The Brits call them Q-cars, after the WWII's Q-ships: civilian boats equipped with hidden firepower. The Q-car s real world realization — a nice normal everyday sort of vehicle that Jolly well isn t — offers definite advantages to the points-challenged driver. Well, it looks as if B has jettisoned the M5 s Q-factor in pursuit of some bizarre, gang-related aesthetic. (Must you grab your crotch like that 007?) It s a crying shame, but there it is. Mustn t grumble.
Read MoreInterstate 95 from Warwick to Providence is cop alley. The RI state police headquarters lies just off the highway; troopers can nip out, nab a pad of speeders and still have time to get a proper cup of coffee. Discretion being the better part of staying out of jail, I drove the new M5 down this stretch of road at 70mph with the SMG (Sequential Manual Gearbox) in Drive, plushly suspended, conservatively horsed, Solo license protector on stun. Great stuff: luxury appointments, JJ Cale, smooth ride
Read MoreWhy you should buy this car: You live in a world of snow, sleet, rain and loose gravel; you love BMW s, you don t have kids, you don t drive fast and you re never, ever going to sell your car.
Read MoreExterior Design *** Thanks to Bavaria s blingtastic Bangalization, the 325xi Sports Wagon s perceived size and aesthetic appeal depend entirely on the viewing distance, angle and time of day. It looks big, then small, then sporty, then clunky It s the MC Escher of lifestyle station wagons. Is that a good thing? Let s just say the 325xi Sports Wagon s design is interesting — in the sense that you never quite know if you like it or not.
Read MoreNormally, I couldn t care less whether or not a car has four-wheel-drive. The weight penalty exacted by all those extra bits and pieces only affects the performance of the most anemic vehicles. Even if buyers only use the extra traction provided by variable four-corner oomph to rocket out of a snow-covered parking lot a couple of sale days a year, even if it s just the thought that counts, why the Hell not? You pays your money, you reduces your chances of death and dismemberment. But the BMW 325
Read MoreWhy you should buy this car: The Cayman S is the world s safest, best handling sports car.
Read MoreExterior Design: *** The Cayman is more color sensitive than Constance Ramos. In silver, it looks like a baby Boxster wearing a bowler hat and a pair of bell bottoms. In black, she s a bad-ass pocket rocket in skin tight 501 s. Saying that, in any hue, the Cayman s front angle is unrelentingly bland (there s a reason all head-on publicity shots are taken from the tarmac) and the rear three quarter is killer. As good as it is, Porsche should have spent the bread to recapture the 550-ness of the o
Read MoreAfter driving the new Porsche Cayman S, I reached one inescapable conclusion: it s woefully underpowered. Don t get me wrong: Porsche s mid-engined marvel is a crushingly competent sports car that laughs at its direct competitors and smirks knowingly at the heavy hitters. The German/Finnish two-door goes like stink, handles like a dream, stops like bullet striking Kevlar, looks cool, sounds mean and doesn t punish daily drivers. But there s no question that Porsche s hardtop Boxster needs anothe
Read MoreOur new buddy Ryan happened by a GM soir e in the Rocky Mountains, at which the company's new, turbocharged Ecotec direct-injection mill was the most honored of guests. Luckily, he brought along his digicam
Read MoreVolvo's press office fired off its customary blizzard of photos and data, as the company's new S80 was revealed to the masses, ahead of its proper unveiling at the Geneva motor show next month. Among some visual updates, the new flagship will get the the same Yamaha-sourced V8 as the XC90 SUV, as well as a new, 3.2-liter inline six that produces 232 hp and 236 lbs.-ft of torque — plus an adjustable chassis that matches to driving conditions. Pics and full press release after the jump.
Read MoreLike an Amazon addict with no semblance of an outside life, the Forbsies are up to their old Listmania tricks. This time they take on, brand-by-brand, 2005's best-and-worst-selling cars and trucks in America by nameplate. The list is after the jump. If you want to sit through their Safari-hobbling, interminable slideshow, you can always check their site. After all, it includes stats, prices and pretty, pretty pictures, too!
Read MoreA decade or so ago, a left-leaning English newspaper writer could insinuate himself into the heart of America s liberal elite, send anti-American diatribes back to his champagne socialist admirers, and nobody on this side of the pond would be any wiser (so to speak). In these days of the Internet (and CSI), a hack can t get away with anything. So when professional Bush-basher Paul Harris decided to tell the UK Observer s audience How the US fell out of love with its cars , it was inevitable that
Read MoreThis is a real e-mail we received. We are not making this up.
Read MoreDrivers in the UK will soon get the fruits of Honda's major driver-assistance initiative, with an Accord fitted with two automatic control technologies. These handy li'l devices comprise Honda s Advanced Driver Assist System (ADAS), which includes its Lane Keeping Assist System (LKAS) and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC). LKAS uses a tiny camera in the rearview mirror to monitor the car's lane position, and actually steers the car if it strays from the center. ACC (available in the US's 2006 Acura
Read MoreAmong devotees of the Nissan Skyline — that storied, right-drive runner we Yanks have only been privy to on the gray market — stories of such beasts stroked to 1,000hp are as common as edamame. This one, a particularly potent road racer, however, gets its gumption not from a Nissan V6 I6, but from a Brabus-tuned Mercedes aluminum V12 upcranked to 6.7 liters, with four (count 'em) turbos. All that hardware is hooked to a OS Giken 6 speed sequential. Close Skyline watchers may note this specimen s
Read MoreMan, you know, we're really thinking that Orwell was right, especially about his native land. Eggheads in the land of bangers 'n' mash are making predictions that the entire nation's transport system will be controlled by RFID-receptive "network clouds" (aren't there enough goddamn clouds in Blighty already?) that will direct the routing of vehicles running on autopilot by 2056. We're really glad that we'll be like 81 then and won't notice, so long as they keep our wheelchair's IV buddy on a Joh
Read MoreYou know, although we like Corvettes, and we love certain Corvettes, we've never really seen eye-to-eye with just about every 'Vette owner we've ever met. Sure, some of 'em are nice enough and all, but there just tends to be something off about 'em, by and large. Not like, "stab-you-in-the-eye-with-a-napalm-dipped-canap -knife" off, but off nonetheless. So it's not surprising that some retiree from US Steel pitched a fit and challenged Jay Leno's Toronado to a race after the guy saw Leno instruc
Read MoreThis week at Treehugger: Biodiesel starts flowing at Brazialian gas stations; a couple sets out on a road trip to set the Guinness World Record for fuel efficiency by driving around the world on less than 50 tanks of gas (they re currently on tank number four); a 330 MPG diesel concept car that is so ugly it s beautiful; and Toyota s hybrid language Superbowl TV ad for its hybrid Camry.
Read MoreWhatever happens in Vegas, whether it stays there or not, GM hopes it'll lead to more sales of its cars and trucks. The company is building an "autotainment" amusement park featuring two test-drive courses near the Las Vegas strip, on which conventioneer and high roller alike can test drive GM's cars on two separate courses. One, an off-road adventure (pictured), features a loop over dirt terrain and obstacles including inclines, ditches, moguls and water troughs, where visitors can flog a Humme
Read MoreWe reported recently on Axl's fraud lawsuit against Beverly Hills Classic Cars owner Andy Cohen, and now Waxl's lawyer has released a statement to the media on the matter. Check it after the jump.
Read MoreAfter all the build-up, Ford s Black Monday had a distinctly grayish tinge to it. The Blue Oval Boys bad news bash was pretty much what everyone expected: 30k factory jobs, 4k managerial position and 14 factories scythed from Henry s North American operations. The fine print was, of course, exceedingly fine. To wit: no mention was made of the United Auto Workers (UAW) contract, which guarantees that not one Ford assembly worker will find themselves on the street without a significant payoff. If
Read MoreThe word came down today, just as Toyota said it would last week. A Toyota Camry will join all the other jellybean-shaped nondescript racers on the Nextel Cup and Busch Grand National starting grids beginning in 2007. It's not the first Nascar entry for Toyota — in addition to the Craftsman Truck Series, which Toyota joined in 2004, it also ran a car in the Baby Nas, the four- and six-cylinder Goody's Dash Series in 2000. Expect the new guys to catch a load of hellfire from those unhappy with To
Read MoreFor about 30,000 Ford workers in North America, the company's Way Forward restructuring plan announced today involves being shown the door. Ford's plan, announced just minutes ago, includes the shuttering of 14 plants in the next seven years, with seven of them closing as soon as 2008, including St. Louis, Atlanta, Wixom, Batavia, Windsor Casting, and two to be named later. Ford hopes to achieve around $6 billion in material cost savings by 2010, in its bid to get back in the black. Click throug
Read MoreIt's a wacky, mixed-up, topsy-turvy world, where motorcycles are powered by car engines and cars powered by, well, you know. In the case of the Hot Rod Hawg, it's a Harley Twin Cam 95 mill nestled in the engine bay of an old-school Bill Smith Model-T rod. No word on price, but the car's builders will hook you up anyway if price is of no consequence, Rocker-fella.
Read MoreOur secret Barrett-Jackson correspondent caught up with Richard Earl, grandson of famed GM designer Harley Earl at the auction in Scottsdale this past weekend, where he was monitoring the bidding on two vehicles that bear his grandfather's penmanship. With the elder Earl's design legacy featuring prominently among collectors' must-haves, what does Earl the younger think of Detroit's modern-day designs in context of their 1950s-era heritage? Can the Big Three regain their dominance without a more
Read MoreOur boy in Detwa, Ray Wert, has access to some high-placed sources in the Ford administration. Tomorrow morning, as is widely known, the company's going to announce its plans for restructuring, including the immediate pink-slipping of white-collar execs as in, "Okay, Chumpkin, thanks for your years of service, but we're flushin' ya down the toilet. You're gone, as of now. Have your desk cleaned out ASAP." The more interesting part of the news after the jump.
Read MoreOne Barrett-Jackson attendee and fan of the Ferrari Daytona replica sounds off re: our correspondent's portrayal of one of the kit cars on the block. The exact quote was "Crockett and Tubbs wouldn t be caught dead in this cheesewagen."
Read MoreYou know, we'd been remiss in checking in with Fang Huang lately, master of languages, the kitchen and motors. So we thought we'd check in on the guy (for some reason, we're suddenly thinking in Paul Teutel, Sr.'s voice). He put up a new video on changing a fan belt, and I gotta tell ya, it was awesome. Paulie I and are good with the bikes, y'know? But Mikey's Matador really needed a new fan belt, and Fang Huang's advice really helped out a lot.
Read MoreIs this the next Toyota Tundra pickup? It is if you believe one of our tipsters, who sent in this shot via the super-secret black-ops auto press leak network. It could be a pre-embargo shot of the Tundra, ahead of the Tundra's upcoming unveiling at the Chicago auto show next month. The sculpted hood is a dead ringer for that in the spy shot from earlier today, if that's any indication. We'll know more in a couple weeks.
Read MoreA reader came through with a shot taken during the naked photo shoot cops in Detroit busted up at the Cobo Center this past Monday night. As you can see from the bepixled image, enlarged from postage-stamp size, she's naked and that's definitely the Challenger concept. Now we can get some sleep. [Thanks, Tim.] [UPDATE: Crap! It's a Fake!]
Read MoreAkron, Ohio the place where BMWs go to die. Matthew Muller, 35, an Akron resident, got tired of his 1997 BMW. He blew the engine and proceeded to rent a backhoe (the Ultimate Digging Machine) which he used to bury his non-functional 1997 Bimmer in his father s backyard in October of 2002. He claimed the car as stolen and cashed the insurance company s nice fat check for $20 large.
Read MoreWe re four days into the annual big dog Barrett-Jackson auction. Since Speed has dropped WRC coverage in favor of MORE Nascar, the B-J auction is the only redeeming programming for an entire network. We watched a GTX reproduction go for $118,800 last night. There was enough paintwork on the front end to suggest that the car had been hit more times than Joe Louis. The list of cars sold so far reflects a pretty serious desire on the part of rich guys in Overhaulin polo shirts and short shorts to b
Read MoreLongtime Jalopnik reader Phil (you may know him as ThnderbltDoherty) spotted what could be Nissan's upcoming upmarket sedan and Avalon beater, based on its Japan-only Teana, at a Starbucks in downtown Boston. The white-and-silver test mule had been spotted earlier this year during hot-weather testing in the Southwestern US, giving away its market intentions with left-hand drive and a plausable business case interpreted by a writer from The Car Connection. Without further ado, TD:
Read MoreOur friend Spence did a great post on the lost cars of his Mt. Washington neighborhood over at Leftcoastbreakdown, a blog which is required reading if your interests lean toward Los Angeles, queerdom, politics, religion, rugby and/or cars. He suggested that we do some lost-car postage of our own from the other side of LA. So this morning, bearing in mind Watt's comment that "Pedro's kinda weird because it faces east, which is why all my pictures are of sunrises instead of sunsets," we took a rid
Read MoreUK car site Pistonheads confirmed James Bond will indeed drive an Aston Martin in the upcoming "Casino Royale," and that the car will be a new model called the DBS. No word on whether the DBS is a new Vantage replacement or a special edition of the current Vanquish featured in "Die Another Day." Actor Daniel Craig, who will play 007 in the film, has already taken the car for a top-secret test drive, but isn't expected to talk because then AM boss Ulrich Bez will expect him to die.
Read MoreIt s hard to believe a German car maker would follow the advice of Winston Churchill, but there it is. If you re going through Hell, Winnie admonished his admirers. Keep going. Translation: If your flagship suffers from an overdose of kludgy electronics, add some more. To its credit, Motor Trend s undercapitalized, unattributed, parenthetical (first test) mercedes-benz s550 grasps the electronic nettle from the git-go. To its shame, the buff book never once uses the r word. But if questions abou
Read MoreDodge's Challenger concept just edged out Chevrolet's Camaro concept in a recent poll of Jalopnik readers to determine the best update on a retro theme shown in Detroit. Now, AutoWeek is reporting on Dodge's, ahem, challenges in building the Challenger for production. Unconcerned with the potential for demand following gas prices in either direction, the D-Boys are in the "examining the business case" stage. They'd better get on the stick because we're entering the "Slowly. Losing. Interest." st
Read MoreNooooooooooo! Ferrari is fighting for the life of its most popular model, the F430, in the US, Edmunds Inside Line is reporting. The government has yet to decide whether or not to issue the company a waiver so it can continue selling the cars in the US, despite that the model has been deemed not to meet all of the Feds' airbag requirements. (According to the NHTSA, the F430 provides inadequate crash protection for small children and some women [very small women, we'd imagine]). A denial would me
Read MoreIronically (at least in the Alanis Morissette sense) the latest US government energy bill, which went into effect this year, will soon favor hybrid car producers who are not Toyota. According to The Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPACT), signed last August, the tax credit buyers receive for purchasing a hybrid car begins to phase out after an automaker sells 60,000 of the eligible vehicles between January 1, 2006 and the end of 2010.
Read MoreCulture and design blog electro^plankton made the $100,000 connection between Suzuki's PX concept and Arthur Radebaugh, an illustrator whose flying cars and bubble-topped cities reflected how people of preceding generations envisaged transportation of the future (i.e., now). Suzuki showed its PX prototype at last year's Tokyo motor show, its retro-futurist vibe — particularly its aluminum streamlining and art-deco touches — pulled nearly wholesale from Radebaugh's works. It's still cool to see a
Read MoreEach year during the NAIAS Industry Preview days, AutoWeek hosts a Design Forum with big names in car design. At the end of the day, barring any deaths from excessive usage of words ending in "ism," the magazine announces its favorites of the year s cars on display. This year, the Forum looked at Iconic Design, awarding Carroll Shelby the inaugural AutoWeek Lifetime Achievement Award. Click through for the Forum's other award recipients.
Read MoreWe can't stop giggling about the poorly-translated Geely brochure; especially the page featuring the MR (Sport), a car that features such avant-garde amenities as an alloy wheel, a high braking light, electric rear mirrors, a backup radiator, and most mysteriously of all, the vaunted anti-collision rod. Wanting to share this piece of amazing automobilia with our readers, we asked our pal James, "Is there a Geely CD?"
Read MoreToyota American senior vice president Don Esmond introduced the 2007 Camry by emphasizing the car's feel-good features, like something called Sericin (not to be confused with Serin, which kills almost instantly), and an HVAC system that filters out fungus, odors and other allergens. Extracted from silkworm cocoons, Sericin is a fabric coating that moisturizes and prevents chafing (hubba hubba). As for the Camry Hybrid — the major news of the day — it'll sport a new, 2.4-liter gas-electric mill p
Read MoreApparently to show off the Jeep Wrangler Rubicon's ability to drive slowly through large panes of glass at low speeds, DCX drove one through the window here at Cobo. So now you know. It is indeed possible to drive a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon through a large pane of glass at a low rate of speed. We're anxiously awaiting the "Jumping a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon into the second floor of Detroit City Hall" demonstration, scheduled for later this afternoon.
Read MoreEnduring an interminable lite-rock fusion band with a violinist was bad enough. Got even worse when dude started to sing; the fact that they were hidden behind a scrim and backlit in blue? Probably a blessing. Something vaguely disconcerting about the way the chick on the fiddle was rocking out during her solos; left us feeling we were stuck in the ill-at-ease described so vividly in Camus' The Fall. Finally, blessedly, came LaSorda. Tom LaSorda.
Read MoreFord just took the wraps of a big locomotive of a honker of a monster of a throbber of a brobdingnagian beast of a pickup. The F-250 Super Chief, which inherits the wind, inherits the earth, inherits the legacy of the Mighty Tonka F-350 and inherits the name of a classic AT&SF locomotive, without inheriting the train's sleek and sexy styling. Instead it resembles a Union Pacific DD35. FoMoCo's touting it as the world's first Tri-Fuel vehicle, allowing it to run on E85, gasoline or hydrogen.
Read MoreThough Toyota is launching its new, retro-inspired FJ Cruiser to rekindle the flame of the original Land Cruiser FJ40, affection for the original Japanese jeep has never really waned. TLC of Van Nuys, California has built a business around restoring old Cruisers and keeping customers' workaday models running. Now, the company is launching a nearly bang-on replica of the original FJ40. Dubbed the Icon, the modern take on the classic is hand built and is powered by a GM 350ci crate motor producing
Read MoreWhile the automobile industry gorges on gorgeous, unveiling wild and sexy concept cars in LA and Detroit, the real business of the car business grinds on. GM enters 06 with its financials on the crash cart side of perilous, and it ain t anything a turbo-charged two-door with all the luggage capacity of a grocery bag is gonna fix. Almost all the General s chips now rest on the little square marked GMT900: their new(ish) SUVs and trucks. So, is it a hit? Motor Trend s persistently undercapitalized
Read MoreBoss Wendelin Wiedeking and his gang of Really Serious Guys have already led Porsche out of the Black Forest, transforming it from a specialty carmaker to a specialty carmaker with boxcars of cash, and on to a specialty carmaker that owns a major part of industrial albatross (and family business) Volkswagen (ok, one out of two ain't bad). But Porsche isn't letting up — the company has a raft of new cars on the way. German Car Fans grabs its crystal ball and looks at what's to come from Stuttgart
Read MorePropellerhead design guy Chris Bangle's earned his fair share of grief over BMW's most recent aesthetic direction. And even he admits that he could've picked a better name than "flame surfacing" for the look of the latest Bimmers. We also think the 6-Series is ugly. But having said that, we think that Bangle's one of the most fascinating, divisive and influential figures on the automotive scene today, so the morning speech that Bangle was scheduled to give was probably our #1 must-attend of the
Read MoreThe trek up from Pedro to the Convention Center took a tad longer than we expected this morning, and missed arriving in time to catch Jay Leno's arrival onstage in a Z06 Daytona pace car, which he'll pilot during the next running of the 500. The paint job was stupid. Mark LaNeve played straight man to Leno's goofball, and after saying that he thought bi-fuel vehicles would go over well in California because he has a lot of friends that're bi, he went for the biggie in the run-up to the launch of
Read MoreWe checked out the Ferrari press conference this morning, and were particularly stoked on Brand Manager-type Antonio Ghini's comments on the marque to the effect that although they've grown to sales of over 5,000 units worldwide, they're still the same. We've known some who complain that new Ferraris don't have the character of the older cars. Well, no, but the Cayman doesn't have the character of a 550 Coupe either, but it still seems like a damn fine ride to us.
Read MoreGM picked the Los Angeles show today to launch its redesigned GMC Yukon XL and Chevrolet Suburban SUVs — the latest of its GMT-900 full-sized trucks for 2007 to break cover. If the press releases give any indication, the Yukon is the slick, powerful one and the Suburban is its safer than milk counterpart, with a "360-degree perimeter safety system" that includes roof-mounted head curtain side air bags with rollover protection, front-seat safety belt pretensioners and traction control. We love ma
Read MoreDGJ here. Stepping away from the editorial "we" for a second, here's an admission other that for a select few cars (examples: 907, 917, 914, 356, 355, 959), I've never been big on Porsches. That said, the boys and girls from Weissach far and away had the best display at this year's Los Angeles Auto Show. That said, it's a easy when you have your own room. But they really did it up, blowing up promotional materials from the past and hanging them above current models. For example, a Mark Donohue/9
Read MoreLooking similar to the Iosis concept Ford unveiled in Frankfurt earlier this year, Ford's new Reflex concept will make its debut in Detroit next week. As AutoWeek reports, the Reflex is powered by a diesel-electric hybrid-drive system — incorporating a lithium-ion battery pack — which Ford says can produce 60 mpg as installed. A novel all-wheel-drive system combines the front-drive hybrid system with an electric motor driving the rear axle. Designers employed scrapped athletic shoes as an insula
Read MoreRay over at DetroitWonk was out and about today when he spotted a CRD-powered Dodge Caliber. With his friend manning (or womanning) the camera, they chased down Dodge's Neon replacement. While the diesel Caliber's been bandied about for Europe, and it could just be hometown testing, we wonder if it may well yet make it to US roads. Ray commented to us that the driver didn't seem too happy, and at one point reached 70mph in a futile effort to avoid the long lens of the Wonk.
Read MoreReader Brian of Canada , apparently desperately wanting to get into Farago's Between the Lines series, takes matters into his own hands here, ginning up some kind of slightly disturbing tale of a man, his mother and a Bugatti Veyron test drive. Read the whole sordid tale after the jump.
Read MoreWith the Dodge Caliber on its way down the pike, it's fitting that American Car Fans would uncover some spy shots of its badge-engineering mate, the Jeep Compass. Taken during cold-weather testing in Northern Europe, the shots indicate a vehicle similar to the concept unveiled in Frankfurt last September — albeit dressed in its finest leather-daddy attire. Production of the four-banging front/all-wheel-drive crossover (Trail Rated, huh?) will reportedly begin in mid-2006 for the 2007 model year.
Read MoreThese days, Sports Car International (SCI) is a serious playa. Editor Erik Gustafson has upgraded his publication s output across the board; his glossy car mag now hunts with the big dogs. In fact, SCI s clean-room layout, automotive eye candy and spade-calling editorial make the buff books look like timid, doddering, mutant Chihuahuas. So how does SCI No. 172 tackle the big Kahuna, a.k.a the Bugatti Veyron? While the competition has set the bar at limbo levels, it s up to SCI freelancer Jeurgen
Read MoreThe spy photos were right in one regard — no supercharger in the Solstice GXP. It won't be powered by an LS2 either, but Pontiac announced today the upcoming Pontiac Solstice GXP will still be a much more significant runner than its base-level sibling. Pontiac is outfitting the GXP with a turbocharged Ecotec 2.0-liter direct-injection mill (GM s first DI engine offered in North America). The numbers are impressive: 260hp and 260 lb.-ft. of torque — that's 2.1 horsepower per cubic inch of displac
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