Why you should buy this car: Although the '06 Altima is not quite "the cure for the common car" (I'm going with the Pagani Zonda), it's about as peppy a family four-door as money can buy — especially now that the '07 refresh is on its way and big discounts on '06's are on offer.
Read MoreExterior Design **** If Star Trek fans can get all excited about a Klingon ship's cloak of invisibility, I can give four-stars to the Altima for being the LAC (Least Objectionable Car) in the mid-market family sedan segment. My favorite (if that's the right word) part of the Altima's design is its relatively low hip-height; it gives the car a gentle hunkered-down look. The final star is withheld because the Nissan logo enjoys pride of place dead center in the Altima's snout, and man, does it loo
Read MoreWhat would Donald D. Winnicott drive? Although the English psychoanalyst shuffled off this mortal coil in 1971 — a year when gas-guzzling dinosaurs roamed the earth and the Bandit had yet to be smokied — one wonders if the originator of the "good enough mother" would have opted for a "good enough car." You know, a set of wheels that provides what the driver needs, but leaves a time lag between the driver's demands and their satisfaction, and then progressively increases the gap. A car not entire
Read MoreExterior Design ** The Yaris Liftback's design represents a conflict between "small is beautiful" and "man is that ugly." If the detailing was halfway cool, I'd cast my lot with the willing-to-be-crushed-like-a-bug-for-my-art camp. But it isn't. The slight creases flanking the Yaris' front logo are all kinds of ludicrous, and someone missed the "shrink to fit" label on the headlights. In fact, the small Toy is one of those rare machines that looks best from behind — which is probably just as wel
Read MoreEgghead that I am, I've always had a bit of a problem analyzing mainstream Toyotas. The damn things are so stunningly unobjectionable that criticizing them is the reverse equivalent of complaining that Beethoven's Ninth is too loud. Just like the Corolla or, um, what is it? Best-seller... Oh what a feeling... Camry! Just like the Corolla or the Camry, the Yaris hatchback goes (yes really), stops, turns, brakes, carries people and stuff, doesn't cost much to buy or run and doesn't break. Of cours
Read MoreWhy you should buy this car: The FJ is an extremely capable off-roader. It's an urban style statement. It's an extremely capable off-roader that's an urban style statement. And it's cheap.
Read MoreExterior Design ***** It's so ugly it's beautiful. It's so beautiful— no wait. Although the FJ's front end has a wonderfully butch (if kinkily Playskool) H2-meets-old-FJ-on-the-dark-side-of-town look to it, the Toy's side profile is the strangest combination of angles, textures, shapes, proportions and lines I've seen since I dropped mescaline in the produce section of my local supermarket. I believe the English call this kind of queasy mix of wildly disparate design elements "a dog's breakfa
Read MoreWho the Hell thought of the Labradoodle? Letting a Labrador and a Poodle do the wild thing — on purpose — strikes me as about as advisable as marrying off Adriana Lima and Pee Wee Herman. Or, if you prefer, building a hard core off-roader and tarting it up to look like a hipster's Hummer. But hey, if General Motors feels free to unleash a retro-styled Corvette-powered convertible pickup truck in the midst of a Titanic plunge towards Davey Jones' locker (note to those who've never read The Advent
Read MoreWhen I scheduled the Volvo C70 for a week of testing I was expecting a vehicle that, as a man, I'd be ashamed to be seen in. You know, like a Mini Convertible (just kidding!). Instead, I've actually been converted to the simple styling of the hard-top drop-top. With the roof up, it's actually quite an attractive coupe and from the front it almost looks...muscular? That can't be the right adjective can it? Let me check the thesaurus. Yep, that's right, it is indeed muscular.
Read MoreHere we go boys and girls, it's Sunday — and that means FinalGear's got all you need for a fix of Top Gear. We're not going to ruin things for you, but if for some crazy insane reason you're not going to head over there to download the episode, hit the jump to snag the summary from Top Gear's website to find out what you're missing. Trust us though — it's not only spectacular, it's brilliant.
Read MoreAlthough his friends have christened it "The Economino" we've decided to re-dub Ron Armintrout's homebuilt Ford-van custom job "The Econochero" in the interest of truckcar correctness. Regardless, according to Ron's pal Bob, the man uses the thing every day on his Bose auto parts route, and to us, that's the proper utilization of a Camino. We applaud your audacity, Ron. Riverton, IL should celebrate Ronchero Day every year. It's only fair, non?
Read MoreWow, we were totally so thinking about this one today — wondering when our greasy little fan-boy hands were gonna be able to find leaked spy pics from the set of the live-action Transformers movie. Thanks to a friendly neighborhood fan-site, our comic-book wet dreams have been granted — they've got the first pics from the set — and they are epic. First we have a Saleen Mustang dressed up with a Decepticon insignia. Despite some problems we may have with that — because everyone knows Deceptic
Read MoreThe pollsters never quit. Anytime we've been metricked to death, they come up with another metric to measure us by. This time around, it's buzzworthiness. And since we could care less about Gen Y (sorry, Ray), and the boomers annoy us to no end (sorry, Farago), we're gonna focus on Generation X, whom, as our friend Lew once succinctly put it, was "raised by rockstars."
Read MoreOh, Sweet Peet D. When we were first starting out in automotive journalism, we read you religiously. You were indeed one of the few guys at the time who called it like you saw it, while we were caught in a mishmash hell of parts payola that only got worse the more we attempted to tell it like it was. And then you left to work for DCX. And then you were back! But in the meantime, the world had changed. Nick Denton and Jason Calacanis had launched blogs, which you sneeze at somewhat derisively.
Read MoreFor a mere 19% over the MSRP of a base Lamborghini Gallardo (or around $208,000), you too can roll with the viscounts. Lamborghini will build only 150 units of its Gallardo Privilegio, a veritable showcase for the Audi brand's range of factory customization baubles. (The Titanium Cassiopea rims and carbon ceramic disk brakes alone are probably worth the extra $35,000.) Offered in two shades of black, dubbed in Latin to confuse the crowd of goth kids who may have gathered nearby, with matte-black
Read MoreAccording to a friend of ours, the OnStar lady is a liar. She told him there were only six ethanol stations in Iowa, when apparently, there are around 45. Still, according to MarketWatch, there are only about 700 E85-dispensing petro-palaces in these United States, which works out to an average of fourteen per state. 206 of these are in Minnesota. Which then leaves a little over nine for every other state.
Read MoreThe Forward Control Jeeps were built from 1956 until 1964, which actually puts them ahead of the El Camino in the truckcar sweepstakes. Although it's debatable whether the FC is actually a true Camino, based as it was on a light-truck chassis rather than on a car frame or unibody, reader Mark's tale of how he went to great lengths — and strained his relationship with his soon-to-be wife — to snap these photos for us while on holiday in Indy swayed us. Click through for his tale.
Read MoreLet's just put it this way: We never made it to Webelo status, so "Be Prepared" was never fully burned into our consciousness as though by a hot brand on the flank of a longhorn. And since we don't have an Automotive News subscription, we can't give you details on this one. But apparently, Mitsubishi is considering withdrawing from the American market if the new crop of redesigned vehicles don't sell. Mitsubishi: we have a proposal for you. Click through for salvation, whoaaooh.
Read MoreGM CEO Rick Wagoner, all about currying "love ya" points with the massive network of GM dealerships, just dropped the following letter about a little shake-up hitting the RenCen. Specifically Troy Clarke, the prez of the growing GM Asia Pacific division since 2004 will be moving over to the not-so-much-growing GM North America division to head the stuck-but-maybe-turning-around team at the RenCen. Sounds like fun — especially cause Rick's been running the whole show by himself for months now.
Read MoreSam Hornish Jr. won the Indy 500, and here's how he ended up making Marco Andretti look like, well, a 19-year old rookie. He qualified first, but a seemingly un-passable Dan Wheldon dominated most of the race with Hornish sitting back around third. Then — distaster struck. During a late-race pit stop a fuel hose got jammed in the car, broke apart, and spilled fuel all over the pit lane. But oh wait, it got worse...
Read MoreSo here's our concept. I'm eating in the corporate hospitality suite — Austin's watchin' the race and I'm watchin' via Austin — all through the wonders of instant messenger. Here' s our convo:
Read MoreThis is the part where Ray went crazy. And we don't mean the crazy like the crap we pulled earlier in the day. You see, being in a parade is much different than watching a parade. You have unimaginable powers. The whole crowd is watching you, and they're just waiting to be excited. I learned this when Ray hopped aboard the parade car while it was still moving and proceeded to whip the crushing sea of humanity into a near-bloodthirsty frenzy. Just watch it and be amazed. Also, keep in mind that w
Read MoreOne of the big events on Indy Weekend is the IPL 500 Festival Parade, and yeah, we were there. Actually we weren't just there we were in the parade. We might have even flashed a "You're with me, leather" Deadspin logo on ESPN. Someone needs to check the TiVo and get back to us, asap. Also, Ray is maniac. But we're getting ahead of the story, check out part 2 if you want to get to the good stuff. In the meantime, here's a post of my random thoughts while watching the greatest show in Indy...on
Read MoreWe are live from the Speedway! Ray is focused, and my hangover hasn't kicked in yet so the day is going swimmingly. And while Mr. Wert chronicles all of the faces that are being rocked by the Jalopnik crew, I am here to steep you in the history of this grand facility and the super collosal extravaganza that takes place every Memorial Day weekend. Actually, I'm going to tell you what I picked up from track historian Donald Davidson, seen here at the start of our tour.
Read MoreAustin and I have our bags packed full of pork rinds, coors light and our good friend Jack — well, that's a lie — we actually finished our good friend Jack well before we packed up. But we'll bring Jack with us though, kind of like our own little mascot / friend / trainer to keep us company for the trip. It'll be adorable. But since you'll be without us for the next couple of hours while we're on the road to our first post-able pit stop — here's something to keep y'all company. It's a little
Read MoreWhen GM announced the mileage ratings and price of its 2007 Saturn Green Line earlier this week, and positioned it against its gas-only competitors (price-wise as well as mileage rating), we wondered if we should take a tally of said competitors' EPA ratings for 2006. We quickly lost interest in that project, but that's ok because Cellounge picked up the slack, even including hybrid vehicles. With rated mileage of 32 in the city and 27 on the highway, the Vue won't be far from the top of the lis
Read MoreGet out the cigars, Land Rover's birthed its long-awaited new, twin-turbo TDV8 diesel engine, which will show up in the 2007 model-year Range Rover, the company announced today. The 3.6-liter mill, which produces 272 hp, replaces the company's 2.7-liter diesel V6 and employs a new Compact Graphite Iron (CGI) technology to make the block not quite as light as a pencil, but lighter than rival oil burners', according to the company. The new Rangie also will get the Terrain Response feature introduc
Read MoreWe've got a problem with windshield wiper solution — don't manufacturers know at 95 mph, the fluid just flies right over the windshield and on to the car behind us? Apparently the windshield wiper washer fluid solution kings of Prestone are looking to at least provide us with an easy way to experience what it would be like if we could actually use their products on our own vehicles. They've gone and dropped a decent chunk-a-change into a new online-only awareness campaign to do it. Prestone's
Read MoreMustang fanatics with an extra $20,225 (plus shipping and handling and installation; void where prohibited) in their fanny packs can turn a stock GT into a 415 hp monster (that's about $176 per horsepower over the GT's stock 300) with a few choice mods from the boys at Roush. It's by way of the Roush Stage 3 kit, the centerpiece of which is its engine-boost components including "ROUSHcharger" kompressor and intercooler, plus new intake manifolds and air induction system, topped off with a recali
Read MoreLet us preface this post by saying we wish we were Lithuanian so we could have a wonderful Lithuanian name. Alas, the closest we ever got was going to school with Amanda Zibners, who is half-Latvian. Which is to say, we didn't get close at all. Vidmantas Sungaila was pulled over 60 miles from Vilnius for driving down the center of the road. He'd been drinking brews for breakfast and was merry as can be. He also had double the amount of alcohol in his system that's generally considered lethal, ye
Read MoreA Jalopnik tipster say's he's seen the reportedly upcoming, super-skunkwerks-secret BMW "X6" crossover CUV/four-door "coupe." (Could it be be the car BMW's planning to unveil at the British International Motor Show in July?) He says, among other things, that the spec image of the X6 created by Auto Motor und Sport's artistes (above) is "somewhat of a close resemblance, but in a way doesn't even come close to what I saw." Still, if the following account doesn't sound exactly like what's been repo
Read MoreYou know kids, oldsters call custom wheels mags for a reason. Because they were made of that most awesomely lightweight and flammable metals, magnesium. We remember once hanging out at a Miller Welding booth during a trade show with a guy who did a lot of mag welding. "How do you do that without the whole thing going up in flames?"
Read MoreIn our occasionally - occasional "Rental Car Reacharound" series, we (and our readers) comment on vehicles we've rented. Got a rental car story? Keep it to 500 words (or less, or maybe a couple more) and send it to tips@jalopnik.com. In this installment, Davey G. weighs in on the '05 Honda Civic LX sedan he rented from Enterprise at Oakland Airport over the weekend.
Read MoreSo we understand the auto industry's got this proclivity towards randomly changing advertising messages — sometimes at the drop of the hat — usually though, it's much more random than that — a hat you can actually see falling. We also understand how difficult it is for advertising folks and public relations folks to understand each other — and sometimes there's a tendency for Ad folks to kinda jump off the reservation a little bit — but for G-D's sake, can someone in GM's PR shop please talk
Read MoreOf all the sleazy little quid pro quos practiced by the mainstream automotive press — undeclared first-class junketeering, advertising that looks like editorial, editorial that looks like advertising — the long-term test car is the most offensive. I'm sure editors can think of 500 reasons why it's OK to "test" a Ford GT for a year. I can think of one good reason why they shouldn't: It clouds their editorial judgment. IRS auditors note: Buff books like Motor Trend are some to the worst offenders.
Read MoreNormally we leave the geekin' on gadgets to our Gawker-y friends at Gizmodo — but we couldn't pass up the chance to post on this critical intersection of autos and the pimping of beige box PC's. What we have here is a customized PC from PCRides.com — an outfit which, as the name suggests, has computers modded out in a way designed to make our circuits sizzle and our pistons pump. They've started with Dodge's muscle-y goodness — and you've got your choice of Magnum, Charger or Viper SRT10. And
Read MoreAmerican Inventor winner Janusz Liberkowski's got a decent chunk of change to play with after winning the show's $1,000,000 prize for his innovative "new to the world" spherical baby survival seat concept. The seat's definetly innovative — we've no doubt of that — what with it's ability to support a baby's head and neck regardless of what direction a car is hit. But more importantly, you can say goodbye to the need to tightly lash in your child — the seat takes care of that problem for you —
Read MoreWe've never been able to get into the show Lost. Try as we might, we just weren't able to get a stiffie for the ABC show. But maybe we just didn't realize how the show about island survivors of a mysterious plane crash could possibly find an automotive tie-in. Maybe we weren't looking hard enough. We totally aren't able to explain this one, so we'll let the run-on sentences of Deanna Zammit of AdFreak do it for us —
Read MoreLooks like profits ain't the only thing down at the Big Three — ad spending is following the trend. For the first quarter of 2006, the only automaker of the triumvirate making a "Bold Move" has been FoMoCo — but their spot tv spend was only up to a respectful $187 million. That additional money may have been necessary for them to make that amazing Kelly Clarkson song. We kid — that extra coupla million came out of the "crappy song" line — not the "tv ad buy" line. More numbers for other autom
Read MoreThe General's Veep of sales, Mark LaNeve sent a memo out to the General's dealer network this week, where he finally revealed the secretive moves GM began "several months ago" to realign the field and support organization for the not-so-spritely General. It looks like the General's gonna be moving to three Regional Sales and Marketing Managers (RSMM) — one for Chevy, one for Pontiac-Buick-GMC and one for GM's "Premium" brands plus Saturn — in each of GM's five regions. That's a heckuva lot of
Read More[Introducing... Jonny Lieberman, Jalopnik's latest Man from Q.W.E.R.T.Y. — ed]
Read MoreBritney Spears picked a bad day to have another li'l blooper with the baby. The pop singer accidentally bobbled her little Feder-spawn on a New York City street as she walked to her car — baby in one hand, glass of something in the other. The tarty pop star's loose-fitting low-rise jeans snagged on her sandal heel as she exited her hotel — handlers in tow. Luckily, little Sean Preston escaped injury — for now. But at least California's democratically-elected legislature is on the case today.
Read More• 'Surf City USA' pops a woodie. [The Mercury News] • Hyundai? No, hybrids. [The Korea Times] • Doctor, doctor — we need help — reigning in all of these health care costs. [Freep] • It's like the 'British Invasion' for Michigan. Except instead of British, they're Japanese. Oh, and instead of an Invasion, they're being invited. [Freep] • Ethanol drives us to distraction too! [NYTimes] • We know we popped one over 'kei' cars in the past — but we didn't realize the 'i' comes standard with iPod N
Read MoreOne trend among gearheaded, sick-minded hoons who love Q-ships is taking Ford Fairmonts and hopping them up with selections from the vast aftermarket cornucopia of parts aimed at Fox-bodied Mustang enthusiasts. National Coach Products decided that the world needed a fiberglass-bedded Fairmont Ranchero and called it the Durango. There's a Durango on eBay. There's a world of speed parts out there. It's up to you to put two and two together. [Thanks to Pete for the tip.]
Read MoreIn a fit of self-promotion — and who wouldn't do the same? — Livernois Motorsports created a new modded-out Mustang project car with which to highlight its technical expertise: A relatively nondescript Mustang GT that hides an 800hp, NOS-equipped monster mill. Starting with a mere exhaust upgrade, nitrous insert and CNC heads the boys persuaded the formerly stock GT to run a quarter-mile in 11.86 seconds at 117 mph. Were they content? (Please, if you had all those toys lying around, would you go
Read MoreChrysler's VP of Public Relations, Jason Vines tossed a grenade in the direction of a certain other automotive blog today in a post over at The Firehouse, Chrysler's media-only blog. Earlier today, Edmunds Inside Line quoted Vines as saying Dodge has yet to make a decision regarding the future of the company's Challenger concept — despite rumors on several SRT and Challenger enthusiast boards that the project was already underway. AutoBlog called Vines' comments a "questionable PR move." Uh oh.
Read MoreThe internets have been ablaze this week with all sorts of rumors surrounding the upcoming Transformers live-action film. What we've heard so far is it'll be a Dreamworks project, directed by Michael Bay and executive produced by Steven Spielberg. Latest rumor-mongers have told us it'll star Jon Voight and Bernie Mac — but the cast is still being...well...cast. Also, in a post today on Michael Bay's blog, he claims the film'll be teased up with a teaser trailer on July 4th of this year — and the
Read MoreBMW's don't burble. Except for one: the last-generation M5. The instant you fire-up the previous gen Bavarian four-door (codenamed E39), its powerplant burbles with all the subdued menace of a late 60's muscle car. Unlike the M5's American homonyms, the uber-sedan's mellifluous melody doesn't foretell a great deal of sound and fury signifying nothing but straight line acceleration — although there's nothing wrong with the M5 in that department (0 to 60 in 4.7 seconds). This Armani-clad beast can
Read MoreLong ago, there was a magical place in Buena Park, California called MovieWorld: Cars of the Stars, owned by a pair of brothers by the name of Brucker. Ed Roth worked there. Von Dutch lived in a bus on the property, and although the museum closed in '79, the Bruckers' stored collection contained some fabulous artifacts of lowbrow art history. Our friend, mentor, and sometime-collaborator Mike LaVella of Gearhead, covered last weekend's auction of the Brucker collection and kicked us down a bit o
Read MoreWe reported the other day that Hummer's killing the H1, and now we've received the announcement to dealers from a reader. One of us here at tha Jalop has the take that AM General was making more cash with an all-mililtary production line. The other part of it, we're sure, is that GM wasn't making a helluva lot off of H1 sales. Either way, we still think it was a wrongheaded move. After all, before it was the H1, the lumbering beast was known as "The Hummer." Click through for the communiqu .
Read MoreI'm not a big fan of bait and switch. For example, Automobile's June cover features the Bugatti Veyron's bodacious butt with the tease "Coast to Coast in the USA." In fact, Editor-in-Chief Jean Jennings drove the Bug from one side of Florida to the other. AutoWeek's editors may not practice this kind of morally reprehensible despicably dishonest deceit, but there's no question that they're willing to skirt the line between what they know we want and what they've actually got. Dozens of AW covers
Read MoreTax incentives, and any economic development tool, are one of the messy things folks don't like to talk about much. Politicos love to talk about the results (jobs, jobs, jobs) from the various economic development tools but none of 'em want to really get into the nitty-gritty details on what these toolsets are (tax breaks, cash grants, infrastructure) or how they work — for fear of a perception of pandering to big business at the expense of the peons. The truth is that Economic Development (o
Read MoreCompanies that supply imagery to nav-system providers are in a race to add reality to the mix. Okay, not so much a race as a really long, boring drive around the world, covering every single street. One Dutch firm is sending out an assault force of camera-strapped vans into the wilds of Europe to too just that, and they're collecting hundreds of gigabytes of video each week. Sounds like a tedious job. At least they have a map to guide them.
Read MoreOne of the things we love about Jalopnik is hearing from or somehow reconnecting with our heroes. When we were a BMX-obsessed squirt on a Redline RL20 II and later an Auburn CR-20R, our favorite magazines were BMX Action, Freestylin' and later, Go. Bear in mind that the guys who put these mags together were a formidible crew that included artist Andy Jenkins (who proudly represents Pedro), filmmaker Spike Jonze, Jackass director Jeff Tremaine and former Grand Royal editor Mark Lewman.
Read MoreBrock Yates is one of the more divisive figures in automotive journalism. In fact, we feel like a redundant dunce in even saying that, but whatever. Still, we were really shocked when Sweet Peet D. mentioned that Csaba Csere had let Yates go. To us, being thirtysomethings, Yates is more an icon of Car and Driver than David E. ever was. He was the magazine's mascot; he was one of the primary reasons we got into automotive writing. We didn't always agree with the cut of his jib, but we almost alwa
Read MoreKen Block and Brian Scotto are nearing the end of their One Lap of America, and they're celebrating in style by hooning it up in a Target parking lot in Sheboygan in preparation for their morning adventure at Road America tomorrow. Below, Scotto recounts his first on-track session of the One Lap, during which he manages to both embarrass and redeem himself.
Read MoreJalopnik's totally all about the edgy, funny and intelligent stuff — whether it's VDub's GTI MKV Fast ads, or the Safe Happens Passat Jetta commercials. Crispin Porter + Bogusky looks like it may have hit another VDub out of the park with their newest Passat ad dubbed "Low Ego Emissions." We dunno if they're trying to get all up in the whole South Park "smug" thing or what, but the ad is pretty damn good. Interestingly enough, there's already been a change to the creative — apparently it was jus
Read MoreDrew Hoffman, a 28-year-old Georgetown University law student was out doing what kids do — trying to impress the ladies. However he did what most kids aren't stupid enough to do — rev up his brand spankin' new Infiniti and zoom past the GHW Bush CIA Headquarters on the George Wash. Parkway at a lift-off speed of 126 mph. Prosecutors say this may be the fastest anyone's driven a car on the parkway — and maybe even on federal asphalt. The aspiring attorney pled guilty to one count of reckless e
Read MoreSo, as we plopped down to check out the new GM ad 'Then Again, Now Again' last night — we found ourselves stunned to see a GM "mini-reveal" — it appeared to be a Caddy, and with some kind of CUV-like shape. We tried to figure out what the hell this piece of hotness the McCann Erickson team dropped into the ad at GM's behest, but were stumped — we hadn't seen it at any of this year's auto shows. Then, it dawned on one of us — isn't that the Imaj concept from the 2000 Geneva Auto Show? We don't
Read MoreDelphi's kinda like that kid in class who never seems to be able to get his math homework in on time, with assignment after assignment piling up on top of each other. One day, the kid finds himself with a seemingly insurmountable mountain of homework and missed assignments to do. And then he's gotta choose — do all of them in a week-long orgy of work or run off with his buddy Visteon to smoke a joint and eventually drop out of school, wandering aimlessly through life from one dead-beat OEM to
Read MoreWe think it was ironic Jim Press, the newly minted President and Chief Executive of Toyota Motor North America, was scheduled to speak at today's Inforum luncheon at the Atheneum Hotel in Detroit. Especially because the only reason he was speaking as Prez rather than as President of Toyota Motor Sales USA was because of the alleged dalliances of the previous Chief Executive. We're of course talking about Hideaki Otaka, alleged to have made repeated, unwanted Clinton-esque advances against his
Read MoreOur guess is it must be pretty cool to be a CEO. You get a big plane, a nice office, chauffered car and stock options — musn't forget the stock options. Basically, everything you could ever want out of a P-Diddy (or whatever he's calling himself these days) music video — maybe even ho's — who knows. But there's this one day out of the year where you gotta go to this thing called an "annual shareholder meeting" — and it's here where we actually feel a bit of sympathy for these titans of the in
Read MoreNothing gets our geek-freak on like survey results, filtered and cross-referenced by demographic group. Now, new such data-on-blogger action is out from Harris Interactive and Kelley Blue Book, under the banner of the AutoVIBES Demographics series of reports. (Is it getting warm in here?) One segment, an analysis of which new cars carry the most buzz-worthiness among consumers, revealed domestic cars are among the most talked about vehicles on the market — with only two imports making the list.
Read MoreHaving lived in the western United States our entire time on the planet, we forget how actually close things in the eastern half of the country things are. For example, although it was exhausting, we thought nothing of driving from the East Bay to Portland, which is the next major city after Sacramento up I-5. And that's over 700 miles. So when Scotto drops the science that it's 650 miles from Virginia to the next stop on the One Lap of America in Indiana, it gives some sort of geographical paus
Read MoreBrian checks in while on the road and says, "A'ight man... We got 10 hours of driving ahead of us... I am not sure if this is fun anymore." Somehow, if Jawbreaker's "Tour Song" (which Scotto ref'd jokingly yesterday) was part of the broader cultural lexicon, the easy way out of this post would be to just say, "Cue 'Tour Song' and read on." Screwit. Y'all have iTunes. Cue "Tour Song" and read on.
Read MoreIf you're not a motorsports engineering wonk you've likely never heard of Al Melling; but if you're a fan of old Lola V10s or late-model TVRs, you've most assuredly heard one of his engines at full rip. Now, the 60-year-old is creating a luxury brand empire that includes high-end motorcycles, speedboats, fashion clothing and enough accessories to choke a squad of Jersey Shore teens. Of course, we only care about this venture because Melling has vowed to build a relatively affordable ultra-sup
Read MoreOne Texas sheriff, who apparently has some Boss Hogg—level municipal bux at his disposal, engaged German tuning house Geiger Cars to build him the fastest Hummer ever. The Geiger boys responded by adding their signature supercharger, engine-mod and software setup to the H2's 7.0-liter mill, creating a 700hp monster with 667 ft.-lbs of torque. They also wrapped 28" of chrome jewelry in Kumho tires, lowered the ride height and otherwise tricked out the suspension and brakes. Now the H2's on its wa
Read MoreAnd no, we don't mean Delphi wants the federal judge to screw the UAW in the back seat of a Chevy Aveo. Rather, Delphi today in a New York courtroom done dropped the equivalent of a steel gauntlet to the floor, basically daring the UAW to ready the dogs of war. And that's totally what the UAW's likely to do after Delphi asked for a federal decree allowing them to void their union contracts if the bankrupt supplier can't reach an agreement with the union to cut jobs and slash wages. So yeah, t
Read MoreRVers who don't want to be stuck in some KOA rugrat camp or cavort with card-carrying members of the Good Sam club at the Perkins buffet have a new option for off-road motorhoming. It's the Octamog, an eight-wheeled camper built on the frame of an Escaro SS-300 8x8 off-road utility vehicle. Still in the build stages, the Octamog's been fitted with a cab from an Isuzu/GMC heavy truck and its rear area can be equipped for all manner of layouts including cargo hauling, mobile office or RV setups. C
Read MoreOur pal Austin is currently on assignment for another pub, driving from one place to another, a la Nicholson in About Schmidt, only sans Winnebago. But we got talking about the early-to-mid '90s while he's been in transit, and agreed that the time was the beginning of a renaissance in cars. We owned a '90 Acura Legend for years, and it reminded us of Jeremy Clarkson's musings on the Mitsubishi Starion: "Do you know what this feels like? It feels like a car. A car that you would go into a showroo
Read MoreThe B-52's were wrong. The relatively sedate, B-bodied Plymouth Satellite didn't come from Planet Claire. It was the '71 Buick Riviera. I'm sure GM design supremo Bill Mitchell inhaled copious quantities of pink air before penning the infamous "Boat-tail." Drawing inspiration from '30's Auburn Speedsters and his own work on the 1963 split-window Corvette, Mitchell's team created one of the most interesting American cars of the 20th century. Whether that's "interesting" as "what do you think of m
Read MoreYesterday, Scotto regaled us with the tale of Ken Block's car crapping out, no doubt leading Block to lament in a Rollins-esque tone, "Hey wait a minute! My Subie doesn't work!" To which Scotto undoubtedly replied, "It's broken!" But in true never-say-die-die-my-darling fashion, the boys from Vermont SportsCar showed up with a new mill, wrenched all night and got the boys back on the road to Georgia, where according to the man they call "Brinskan" via BlackBerry, "Ken just raced and finished his
Read MoreDespite the warm hotness that is the CTS-V, the words "Cadillac" and "small" go together like "male porn star" and "small." Cadillac obviously forgot to learn that lesson back in '81, when they released the "Cimarron by Cadillac". The badge-engineered Chevrolet Cavalier — complete with in-line four and four-speed manual — was the smallest, nastiest, most heinously over-priced Cadillac ever produced — followed closely by its replacement, the Catera. (People watching Saturn's decaying orbit should
Read MoreSo Scotto finally gets down to brass tacks and sends in his first track report from the Cannonball Baker One Lap of America, and it's a lengthy-ass doozy that ends up with Block blowing the STi's motor the first day out. Oopsers. According to our extremely tall friend, the car is fixed and they're ready to hit it. Exploding Subies are so better than donks, Brian. Click on for the continuing story of Block and Scotto's play with madness.
Read MoreWith the exit of Charles Dubow from Forbes and his new focus on deks and heds at Business Week, there's just been a lack of really good list-age out there. Dubow, as we remember, was in charge of wealth-porn — the top ten lists of stuff we'll never be able to afford. Well, who needs 'em anyway? We can make our own — or at least our intrepid readers can — we're actually too busy getting over our hangovers from the night prior to come up with anything even remotely smacking of "creative," "tale
Read MoreJalopnik reader and friend of friends John Morgan sent us a link to his pics he took of the Gumball as it made the rally made its way through the American leg of the round the world rally. These Salt Lake Pics seem to show less crowds than those found in Europe — but what appears to be lacking in numbers is more than made up for in — errr — enthusiasm? Anyway, check out our gallery of teaser pics here and then head over to his site for the rest — also our latest Team Polizei update after the
Read MoreAmerica, the land of the home and free of the brave...or home of the free and braves lived on the land...or home of the land that's free — something like that — anyway, the Gumball 3000 is here on American soil, and we've got all the updates coming live and correct from our friends in Team Polizei. In T.P.'s recent update we've got all sorts of tales of vandalism and rumors of a secret weapon. So hit the jump for that and to check out our semi-exclusive video from the shores of Thailand. Enjo
Read MoreAfter numerous tips flooding our inbox about an electric racer that can beat the Bugatti Veyron we decided to get off our asses and post about it. Apparently, dot.commers are investing in lots of new businesses including boutique carmakers. Ian Wright, an entrepreneur from New Zealand, has crafted a race car that runs on a quarter ton electric battery, and that's it. It hits 60 mph in 2.9 seconds and we only know that number because the reporter says the Veyron i's "half a second faster" than th
Read MoreIf you watch Access Hollywood as much as we do (just Spinelli really) you would have seen Tom Cruise's crazy tour of New York City the other day as he visited three premieres in one day. But the kicker was he drove, flew and "cruised" to them in all manner of vehicles including a new Saleen Mustang S281. Now, he also stood on the hood of a new Cadillac Escalade with co-star Laurence Fishburne but if you were an automaker would you rather see a mega-celeb in leather jacket racing your sports ca
Read MoreDave's Rally Report #8 There was no other car I wanted to drive as badly at the rally than the Ford Shelby GT500. This was the baddest of the bad that you could take on the track (the Z06 wasn't allowed out for fear of extreme journo hoonage) and it was not seen in the staging area often because it was always on the track. Ford even brought Hau Thai-Tang to do drive-alongs with reporters.
Read MoreDave's Rally Report #7 One car I wasn't able to take on the track was the new Lexus ES350. That's ok because this silent sedan is meant for the road, not the track. And the other day Lexus announced its starting price at $33,170. For those folks that don't care about driving excitement and want a luxury car for the best price, it is hard to beat, or even compete with, the ES.
Read MoreJason Junkers (we like to refer to him as Ju-88) and his dad cracked up their Viper during the Euro leg of the Gumball. But wealthy, experimental jet-set and no trash that they are, they hopped a plane back to NYC and hopped in a Ferrari 360 to rejoin the rally when it hits Salt Lake. Jason dropped us a line to let us know that the other Gumballers are on notice. Gumballers, you're on notice. The Crazy 88's recount of Team #72's Gumball adventure so far is after the jump.
Read MoreFarago inexplicably lets go of a Porsche test and hands it over to Jonny Lieberman. The front end does not come unglued. The ass end does. Repeatedly and controllably. We will also not call The Loverman a hack driver, despite his self-assertion in the review. The boy is good. We usually hate riding shotgun, but with the exception of flying up an alley in his pseudo-rally car (and that was mainly due to what other folks might do), we felt perfectly content to check out the nubiles while he pilote
Read MoreDave's Rally Report #6: I'm not sure if I should be using the "reverend" tag or "rabbi" tag both handed to me by Farago. Since I'm not that religious regardless, we'll just leave off the title. Anyway, one new thing at this year's rally was the fact a couple of manufacturers brought out professional race car drivers to ferry journos around the track in their supreme machines. Cadillac had Andy Pilgrim in a XLR-V and BMW had the youngen' Justin Marks behind the wheel of the M5.
Read MoreHenry Rollins once had a spiel from the late '80s on how he puts Daryl Hannah's name on the list for all of his gigs, hoping that she'll walk by and say something to the effect of, "Wow! Henry Rollins! That sounds wild! I'm gonna check that out." And while, as revealed in today's podcast, 3/4 of the current operating staff aren't supposed to rock the leche con carne (although at least one has a penchant for cheeseburgers), the other 1/4 has been a vegetarian for the last eleven years. He also ow
Read MoreWell, looks like Team Polizei has the scoop on the details — the who's, the what's, the why's and the other stuff — of the crash reported on early this morning. We've now received confirmation the purple Lambo in the accident was a part of the "Flash" team and the white Murcielago involved is still able to carry on, despite getting the snot kicked out of it. All this and a side-trip o the Former Socialist Republic of Burma after the jump. And oh yeah, we got more pictures below — but remember
Read MoreWe are so totally obsessin' on the whole Bold Moves advertising campaign Ford started on American Idol — and that makes sense to us, cause American Idol is totally all about the like, big and bold moves. We mean, it's so like, ground-breaking and stuff. We can't even imagine that like, anyone could ever want to watch anything else. Especially with like, Kelly Clarkson singing and stuff for Ford — she's like totally hawt in that Mustang and she's so old school from season one! We mean, that's
Read MoreEvery journalist was ogling one car at the rally, the new Jaguar XK and XK convertible. I don't think any of the other cars were as universally appreciated as the new Jag. Sure everyone wanted to drive the Ford Shelby GT500 but the Jaguar was constantly being poked, prodded and photo'ed when it had any downtime in the staging area. I stopped drooling and took it on the track.
Read MoreDavey G. here. I'm week late or so in posting this. But car guy and Thrasher Magazine publisher Fausto Vitello has died. I never had the chance to meet Fausto, but he was one of the ones to give LaVella a shot, who gave me a shot, which led Spinelli to give me this shot. I grew up on bikes and skateboards, and though I admit that I had Trackers on my first real skateboard, the old Wade Speyer deck I still ride now and then has Indys bolted to it. And of course, Fausto owned Independent.
Read MoreReverend Dave Rally Report #4 This headline is misleading. There's no reason for me to match these two vehicles other than I had the cool photo of the Mini in the sideview mirror and the fact that the two cars are routinely purchased by guys that take them to the track. Neither one would be my choice.
Read MoreReverend Dave Rally Report #3: Since there were so many amazing vehicles at the rally you'd think it wouldn't be hard getting seat time in any car you wanted. Not so dear readers. The particularly hot cars were rarely seen in the staging area they came in and left so quickly. You had to wait like a hawk for the ones you really wanted to get in. Luckily, as popular as the new M4 was, it didn't elude my right foot for long and it is now one of my new loves.
Read MoreReverend Dave's Rally Report #2: One of the surprises of the day was the fact that the VW GTI really lived up to the all the hype. It really is fast. It really can handle a track day in stock form. And it thoroughly squashed the Civic Si just like my comrades at mph said a few months back.
Read MoreMy mysterious absence yesterday can now be explained. Every year a group of journos from the Midwest get together at Road America in the wilds of Wisconsin to test the latest offerings from the automakers. This year there were more cars than ever and the weather was more than kind. Early in the morning it looked like the damp track would see more rain but luckily the automotive gods smiled on us and we had perfect driving conditions all day.
Read MoreAn initial look at Toyota's sales numbers released yesterday sounded great for the gunning-for-number-one Japanese automaker — sales were up 8.5% over the same period last year — and that was with last year's extra selling day. But teased out of those numbers is something interesting. Despite a rise in gas prices during the month of April, the gas-electric hybrid Prius saw a drop in sales of 24.6%. That's absolutely huge! But that seems totally contra-indicative — why did it happen? More afte
Read MoreOur embedded reporter and Polizei Team Captain, Alex Roy, let us know early this morning the teams have reached the halfway point in the round the world spectatcular called the Gumball 3000. The drivers have all reached Thailand and are now waiting patiently for their cars to arrive. And by waiting patiently we mean partyin' like rockstars. But most notable in today's morning report is that it appears other teams haven't done the necessary legwork for the American leg of the rally — you know,
Read MoreJohn-Francis Musial kicks down the latest from the Gumball 3000, which our Team Polizei boys are currently leading. We wonder if Alex is considering having the grill-fish mounted on the rear package tray of the Bentley. We think that would rule. Meanwhile, McMerc alternators apparently suck harder than a turbocharged Dyson. Click on for John-Francis' wrap-up.
Read MoreThe Weltpolizei managed to get the fish out from all up in their grill and popped over to Belgrade Aerodrome from the twin cities of Buda and Pest. And now the 144 Bentley's all up in a cargo plane and headed for the land of larb, pad phed tofu and underage sex-for-pay. The latest report after the jump. And Alex, when you get back, could you send us one of those hot yellow Team Polizei jackets? We kind of need one. After all, being reflective and authoritarian is our bidness.
Read MoreLincoln's mojo evaporated on November 22, 1963, when President John F. Kennedy's brains flew out of the backseat of an open-top 1961 Continental. On that fateful day, the brand (and the country) lost its swaggering insouciance. Sure, fancy schmancy Lincoln luxobarges roamed America's highways and byways during later decades. Many of these gas-guzzling behemoths were technological triumphs (of a sort). But Lincoln's cool had vanished, followed, eventually, by its swagger. By now a Lincoln is n
Read MoreOk, there are totally some tell-tale signs you're a rabid reader of Jalopnik. One of our girlfriends would use some big and doctor-y word like "symptoms" — like it's some kinda disease. Well, y'all know who you are. You're the ones at the auto companies showing up ten minutes late for work cause ya overslept yer alarm clocks after a night of booze, babes and blow. You're the funny kid in the back of class. You're the one ridin' low in a pimped out camino. You're more than likely 18-42 and in
Read MoreDelphi, in a move smackin' with stupid, decided to piss the UAW off a li'l bit. Our friends at The Car Connection are reporting that Delphi has begun advertising for replacement's at the not-quite-union rate of $10 an hour at its Athens, Ala. steering parts plant. The ad (which we're still lookin' for) has provoked just a wee bit of controversy, due to Delphi's UAW contract requiring the bankrupt parts supplier to hire workers for a minimum wage of no less than $14 an hour. A reduction below
Read More"I just wish I caught him doin' it, ya know? Oh man, I'd give anything to catch him doin' it. It'a been worth his doin' it, if I coulda just caught him, you know what I mean?"
Read MoreWell we've got our third official update from John-Francis Musial , the "official" Team Polizei Correspondent, as reported to him by Balla' Polizei Team Captain Alex Roy, currently on ze road. It all sounds so exciting — but not so much for one of us, who's stuck in a Bruegger's Bagel in lovely East Lansing, MI — now with free wifi! The report's after the jump, but remember to keep checkin' back in with us for all of your semi-official Gumball 3000 updates. And look ma, we even have a mini-si
Read MoreGM must really be in trouble. When Car & Driver feels free to give the new Impala SS a black eye, the balance of power has shifted away from The General and towards... the reader? Nah, couldn't be. Maybe America's favorite automotive buff book simply got to the point where they couldn't gloss over one more crap car without writing the word "crap" a thousand times— and they knew that type of review would alienate their arthritic audience. In any case, old habits die hard. The headline over C&D'
Read MoreThe insanity of racing exotic, highly tuned cars across Europe is well documented and this year's Gumball 3000 rally is no exception. Some celebs are involved including Tony Hawk and a team of four in a Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8. We have first hand reports coming in from Team Polizei with Alex Roy and Michael Ross behind the wheel of a "highly modified" Bentley Continental GT. Here are the first two updates, and keep checking our Gumball 3000 page for further updates throughout the rally:
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