Why you should buy this car: You're an American Jeremy Clarkson, a mix of power freak and schoolboy, looking for an icon that'll turn heads on the road (or track) and — most importantly — lavish you with more horsepower than you think you can handle. That, plus you have a family to lug around and earn slightly less than the Sultan of Brunei's personal shopper.
Read MoreWhy you should buy this car: Some people still care about buying American, and maybe you're one of those people. Even if you're not, the Caliber is a solid all-around people- and cargo-hauler for a pretty affordable price. Plus, it will keep your fitness water cold for when you get back from that killer mountain bike or kayak trip, brah.
Read MoreExterior Design: ***** From that mean n' nasty front end that's slung so low to the ground your sister could use it to press her garters, over the hood scoop and all the way back to the tips of the dual-exhausts, you either love it or you hate it. We love it.
Read MoreExterior Design: *** Unlike the polarizing design of the Dodge Magnum, the Caliber goes for universal opinion. Unfortunately that opinion is not very good. The Caliber does, however, succeed on two fronts: It's not girly, nor does it have the bland, jellybean-space-shuttle shape of other hatchbacks like the Mazda5 or Honda Fit.
Read MoreYou've already read the review of the Jeep Compass (or at least you looked at the pictures). Well, the Dodge Caliber is a Jeep Compass with a Dodge grille grafted on. Actually it's the other way around. I'll just say the Dodge is the car DCX was supposed to build, while the Jeep is the botched-nose-job twin that made it to production because it "did well in the clinics."
Read MoreFire up any vehicle that breaks the 400 hp threshold — no matter who makes it — and you know you're in for a hoot. But it takes more than an engine tuned by ADD cases to create a car that's truly exciting — one that makes cartoon wolves turn and whistle as it lopes by; one that morphs the schlub behind the wheel into Steve McQueen. You guessed it. The Dodge Charger SRT-8 is most definitely that type of a car.
Read MoreWhy You Should Buy This Car: You are passionate about driving. You like embarrassing Solstice drivers. Power slides are your thing. You drift in your sleep. You understand that for the money, this is the best car on the road.
Read MoreThe BBC's just released a statement across the wires that they'll be postponing the upcoming season of Top Gear. "We would not think of finalising plans for the next series without discussing it with everyone involved," the BBC said in the statement. "When it is suitable, the team will do this and we will announce a new transmission date." This came after co-host Richard Hammond, who suffered serious injuries in a 280 mph Vampire jet-car earlier this week, was moved from the "really-fucked-up
Read More"Richard is winning his fight. And now mine begins. To make sure that he has a show to come back to." -Jeremy Clarkson
Read MoreWe've spent the past few hours scanning the Brit press to bring you the latest news on Top Gear's beloved little "Hamster." We found a lot of speculation and rumors out there, but as the family's not releasing any specific details yet, we've precious little to tell you other than of course...speculation and rumors. So we'll toss out some of the best of that and see what sticks:
Read MoreThe Beeb's got a new report up with some blurry crash scene footage, some stock footage of the Vampire jet-car, and Clarkson arriving at the hospital. It's not much folks, and it's rather boring, but it's the latest we got. [Hat tip to Dan]
Read MoreHere at Jalopnik, where we have most definitely gone all-Hammond, all-the-time, we wanted to provide you with the latest update from our friends at the Beeb, who now report:
Read MoreWe've got the first confirmed good news of the evening — the BBC is now reporting a hospital spokeswoman statement on Top Gear's Richard Hammond as being in "stable condition." The Beeb's also reporting some more from first responder Dave Ogden, a private emergency rescue contractor first on the scene (pictured at right):
Read MoreAccording to the paragon of plebian pulp, London's Evening Standard, after our earlier report of the 280mph car crash in the Vampire jet-carTop Gear co-host Richard Hammond is
Read MoreSky News is reporting Top Gear's Richard Hammond was:
Read MoreWe were talking to a rallying pal of ours last night about Top Gear's attempt to cross the country in under 32 hours, 57 minutes. He laughed and said that they were woefully unprepared. Their Michael Harvey agreed in his post-blast wrap-up, commenting, "[We] went in to this horribly unprepared and kinda put all our faith in the Jag getting us here, which it absolutely would have done had we been less shambolic."
Read MoreWe have a feeling that Emil Rensing may behind this. And seeing as he and his wife Keri own an RS4, a Neun Elf and one of those good-for-nothing half-breed Gallardo SEs (the baby Lambo's precision is sullied by what the Italians refer to as "passion," but true believers in the power of wafer-sliced-micron-thin tolerances understand as an excuse to drink grappa on the job), he's obviously a believer in the power of fine German engineering and workmanship. (And yes, as a citizen of the EU, Belgian
Read MoreWhile on the Bullrun, we met a man named Peter Kolb, a man whose obsession with German precision knew no boundaries and brooked no imprecise nonsense. Peter's vehicle of choice? A white GT3RS with red trim. But now, there's a new GT3RS, available in orange or green. Undoubtedly, each individual horsepower is precisely tuned for laserlike corner carving, and altogether, the 3.6L flat six contains four hundred fifteen precision-lubed equines. Peter is undoubtedly giggling like a schulm dchen. [Gal
Read MoreLike linguistic differences among cultures, the new Twingo Concept, which foreshadow the successor to the current Twingo, haven't quite made the leap forward to the US. And why not, we ask? Especially since the concept marks the expansion of the Renault line-up into a whole new area for the Carlos Ghosn-led French manufacturer, an area becoming the new hotness here in the US — the sexy that is crossovers. Ok, so it's not sexy, but it certainly was garnering a lot of attention from the foreign pr
Read MoreOne of the cars most highly anticipated among Jalopniks, the production Volvo C30 hatch, was feted this morning in Paris. It'll be introduced in Europe, where the company expects to sell 3/4 of its target of 65,000 cars per year. Who's it for? "These are customers who move between their homes, the office, meetings, the gym, and to their favorite spots around town at a fast pace," H kan Abrahamsson, Project Director for the C30 said at the press conference. He added, "But don't let all those frig
Read MoreFirst concept out of the gate today here in Paris came from the world's biggest automaker, and while the GM heavies were busy talking about silliness like the impending conclusion (October 14th, remember to mark it down in your datebooks, kiddies) of the GM-Renault-Nissan talks (or as Carlos Ghosn's been calling it "One automaker to rule them all") we were all about the pretty new thing sitting on the dais. It's Chevrolet's WTCC Ultra (World Touring Car Championship), and it's "what a muscle car
Read MoreWe just returned to the Jalopnik hotel compound after a night eating various hors d'oeuvres and amuses bouche, sipping pink champagne and watching Audi f te its new 911-fighter, the 4.2-liter, 420-hp V8 R8 coupe. Interestingly, Audi announced the R8 will be available in two transmission setups, six-speed manual and Audi's new R Tronic sequential-shift gearbox, which is fitted with a joystick gearshift on the center console and paddles on the steering wheel. Audi refers to the R Tronic system, wh
Read MoreFrom the outside, the Chameleon concept looks like a pristine, classic 1964 Volkswagen bus. On the inside, it's a complete technology showcase created by Volkswagen of America's Electronics Research Lab in Palo Alto. The drivetrain is all electric, powered by lithium polymer batteries — those surfboards on the roof are lined with flexible solar panels for extra juice. The interior is a museum of tech: an interactive digital instrument cluster with embedded touch pads, digital audio and video, a
Read MoreYesterday, during the press conference revealing the ad campaign for the 2007 Chevrolet Silverado, we asked a question about some images we'd seen in one of the spots — titled "Anthem." Specifically, we asked if "the imagery used in the 'Anthem' piece was finalized." The response we received from Kim Kosak, Chevrolet's general director of advertising and sales promotions, was that they were "99% final." It's amazing then that the ad we received this morning titled "Anthem" and described by a Che
Read MoreJust when did the aha moment come to Mercedes engineers? Who was the first to say, "Hey, why can't we just scrub diesel exhaust with a pee sprayer"? Then again, the Krebs-Henseleit cycle really does sound like something that would go on inside a German car. But however the technology was developed, the urea-injection system is Mercedes's best hope to make its cars road legal in the important markets of California, New York, Connecticut and others with the strictest emissions stadards. As Automot
Read MoreYesterday morning, a group of journalists (and one of us bloggers) were treated to some good ol' American shock n' awe as we had an opportunity to take in the musk of Chevy's new marketing blitz for the 2007 Silverado pickup. The truck's already been called "the most important product release in General Motors history" by the General's spinmeisters, and Chevy PR chief Terry Rhadigan was bringing in the big guns from the General's ad agency, Campbell-Ewald to show their stuff — and on top of a
Read MoreGood thing we didn't include the Smart Fortwo in our latest reader poll of what we should cover in Paris. Turns out, the company's not unwrapping the new little 'un in the city of lights. Buried in the lower third of a press release from DaimlerChrysler today came word the redesigned Fortwo — the one that's coming to the US — "is not on show in Paris," and that, "The world premiere will take place this year, at a location outside of the trade fair circuit." Outside the trade fair circuit? Do the
Read MoreLaughing at others' misfortune is more fun, and sounds way better in Japanese than in English.
Read MoreWorldly auto spy Hans G. Lehmann caught the new Audi TT roadster, top up and sans disguise, in an undisclosed location. It's the first variant of the new generation coupe to break cover, and it'll likely show up ahead of the long-speculated S version. The shots confirm the company indeed decided to save weight by putting the kabosh on a rumored Karmann-built retractable hardtop, though we're still not ruling out a bra made from two coconut halves.
Read MoreFoMoCo invited us down to Duke's Restaurant in Malibu to drive the Shelby GT500 Convertible, the Shelby GT and most righteously right-on of all, the Hertz Shelby GT-H along the beautiful Bo Stefan Eriksson/Mel Gibson/AC Schnitzer Memorial Highway. After a few minutes spent gawking at all four cars (they had both kinds of Shelby GT — the black and the white) parked against the backdrop of the Pacific Ocean, it occurred to us just how ludicrous it is that Ford is sitting on the pole in the race to
Read MoreSaying too much about this short but completely awesome clip would just spoil it. Suffice to say that the driver's reaction is priceless.
Read MoreBrabus introduced its tuning kit for the new Mercedes CL-Class this morning, and as per usual the horsepower figures are suitably unreasonable. The top-line kit will get Brabus's "AMG who?" package, which adds twin turbos to and boosts displacement of the 5.5-liter V12 to 6.3 liters (an inside joke the AMG boys surely get), sending horsepower into the 730 hp range. Torque? How does 974 ft.-lbs at 2,100 rpm grab you (yeah, like Godzilla grabbing a powerline), though it's electronically limited le
Read MoreAccording to the triumvirate of Bloomberg newsies — Jacqueline Simmons, John Lippert and Jeff Green — the man at the head of the wannabe-number-one is casting his net about looking for someone else to be a part of his team, and he's likely snared a big fish out in Dearborn, MI. That's right, now that family guy Bill is no longer as much on the scene, and the GM idea's not coming to pass, he's beginning to gaze longingly at the glass house. Just be careful Carlos, don't gaze too long, you migh
Read MoreWe'll not put anything past Michael Bay — because when Michael Bay finds something he likes, we feel like he'll use it and use it and use it again until it's worn, busted and ready for demolition. Kind of like Detroit's old Michigan Central Train Station. It's a set spot Bay's used once before for a scene from his movie "The Island" — and it would appear based on reports from Detroit's WDIV, he's looking for a return engagement at the beginning of October to see if he can't beat the shit out
Read MoreNot since the debut of the Cordoba has a small Chrysler given you so much of what you needed. The TC by Maserati was the zenith of K-platform technology and truly a force to be reckoned with. You can have your Allant s, your Reattas, your etceteras and similars. But the Chryslerati? Now that, friends, predated the '70s-retro trend by close to a decade. No reserve, currently at $1,500. Plus, according to the seller, "This 1990 Chrsler Tc by Maserati is considered by many to be a collectible." And
Read MoreSo what's GM got against Daniela Cicarelli? In fact, why's the General and the former Maxim cover-girl even intersecting in the same story? Our sex-obsessed and never-ever-ever safe for work sister/brother site's got the scoop for us:
Read MoreSomething covert's going on in Austin, TX that could have EV-car nuts dribbling Spirulina smoothies all over their hemp dickies in anticipation. In a shadowy corner of the city, a company called EEstor — founded by ex-managers at Xerox PARC and IBM — has reportedly developed a battery substitute that could spark a revolution in electric cars. Flush with seed money from tech angels Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, the company's ceramics-based power storage unit, it's said, won't materially degra
Read MoreThe Nihon Keizai Shimbun's reporting this morning Toyota plans an increase in production of the Prius hybrid in Japan by 50% in 2007 — that's a jump to around 300,000 of "the little hybrid that could." With Toyota currently manufacturing the hybrid almost completely in Japan and with reports in the past that the production costs are exceeded by the price the automaker from the land of the rising sun sells them for, we're wondering how ToMoCo now thinks it's gonna make money on them — economie
Read MoreFoMoCo's Lincoln brand's released pricing on their new CUV hotness, the MKX. The base model will start at $34,795 and the AWD model hits the showroom floors at $36,445. Our first reaction, after the obligatory bugs bunny double take, rubbing of the eyes, and yelling of "Zoinks!" was to question the reasoning behind the MKX's almost $10,000 differential in price from the Ford Edge, it's badge-engineered CUV-cousin. Other than fine corinthian leather, what do you get for the money you work hard
Read MoreSay it with us now — Twoor...ahg. Toor...ahg. No — Twoor...ahg. Toor...ahg. No! Whatever, forget it — it doesn't matter. It's only how you say the VW SUV's name with the new face. That's right, the new for 2007 Volkswagen Touareg sports a pretty new look, and although it goes live next week at the Paris Auto Show, we've got first shots of what the new V-Dub SUV'll look like. So feast your eyes on the new grille, bonnet, front wings and bumper — plus the new headlights and mirrors. The butt-e
Read MoreOur travel-obsessed brother site is currently running a poll to determine the "most masculine city." It's pitted two titans of the automotive world, Detroit (where they're thought up, designed and once in a while, manufactured) and New York City (where they're pundited, criticized and marketed from), obviously as two of our editors are from the respective metropolitan areas, it's time for a round of Point-Counterpoint between our Chief Editor Mike Spinelli (representing New York City — or rou
Read MoreNo, Mitsubishi's newest release into the Japanese market won't be making FoMoCo cringe in its collective boots — that number's correct. Instead, what Mitsu's hoping to do is make up for the sale size differential with some bold styling which makes the new truck look like...like...wtf is that thing anyway? Not only is it aqua blue, but there's weird lines on that thing that make us want to alternately vomit and cuddle up with it. Ok, more the vomit part. And what's that weird dongle-like thing
Read MoreThe blokes at Lotus are preparing for a veritable product blitz that will bring three new models to market in the next five years, including the new, long-awaited Esprit-replacement flagship. According to the company, the two additional models will include a vague mid-market entry set to launch in December 2008, along with a high-performance model created with Lotus parent, Malaysia's Proton, coming in May 2008. Despite rumors the Esprit flagship was coming next year, the company says the Esprit
Read MoreWe're still not sure exactly how the story about Toyota expanding production 40% globally and 20% here in the United States, which we reported on Monday only today seems to be resonating in the auto press. Well, ok, maybe it's because yesterday ToMoCo President Katsuaki "Ken" Watanabe told media folks the automaker plans to expand production in order to meet sales demand they're expecting to reach 9.8 million in sales by 2008. But that's not stopping people from speculating Toyota'll make the
Read MoreSome people are lovable despite their certifiable nature. Case in point — a musician we know recently pitched a ridiculous fit, throwing chairs, spitting at people, and threatened to move to the Lone Star State. We're slightly scared of the guy, but he's generally been quite nice to us. Not that niceness is always the way to our heart, but we're talking total package here. Here, then is another insane man that we adore, although we have never met him, and nor do we know if he has a penchant for
Read MoreFor those readers who don't follow the rather esoteric sport of land speed racing beyond Andy Green's speed-of-sound blast or the Beach Boys' ode to Craig Breedlove; who've never gone down to a local dragstrip just to see exhibition runs by jet dragsters after sitting through a bunch of ten-second Sportsman cars, Richard Hammond's accident may have been a bit of a head-scratcher. As in, "What kind of hoon would build such a machine?"
Read MoreFoMoCo's released pricing on the product the Dearborn-based automaker's already called the "key" Bold Move to fiscal stability. That's right, it's the Ford Edge — the CUV with a Gilette-blade on the front-end, and you can get it into your grubby little hands for just $25,995. And in this "under $26,000" SE package, you'll get such amenities described in the release as a "center console," an "audio input jack" and of course the aforementioned "Bold exterior styling" sometimes known as "Hi, I'm
Read MoreCalifornia's Attorney General, Bill "Sue First, Sue Second, Sue Later" Lockyer filed a lawsuit today against a group of automakers he's calling "The Big Six" — General Motors, Toyota, Ford, DaimlerChrysler's Chrysler Group, Honda NorAm and Nissan NorAm — in an effort to "hold manufacturers liable for the damages caused by greenhouse gases that their products emit...and the adverse impacts on California." We're also hearing Bill "Trial Lawyer" Lockyer next plans on suing Joe Rogan for pollutin
Read MoreYesterday at Silverstone, the flying Dutchteam, Spyker MF1, revealed the Formula One livery for its M16 racers. The scheme will combine The Netherlands' national color of orange with Spyker's adopted silver. The colors will fly on October 1st, when the team takes over where Midland left off at the Chinese Grand Prix. William the Silent would be proud.
Read MoreThe Veep who swings long and hard when he's talking politics, was decidedly flaccid today speaking in front of the National Auto Dealers Association (NAMBLA). The former oil exec spent a lunch hour praising the greatness of all-ah the auto design coming out of the automakers, and spent very little time speaking on anything substantial like the recent plant closings and job cuts now underway at FoMoCo and the General. And by very little time — we mean zero time. So why's Dick even meeting with
Read MoreLame. Seriously. In fact, we haven't seen an idea this lame since the silliness that is each year's "Dream Cruise Edition" PT Cruiser. We're not even going to dignify this by writing about it. If you're seriously interested in an all-black Chevy HHR called the "Fall Limited Edition" there's a press release after the jump. Normally we'd also tell you there's more pictures after the jump, but it's so lame the General didn't even bother giving out more than one picture of the li'l 4-banger with
Read MoreThe AP's reporting, by way of the Detroit News, FoMoCo Director Sir John Bond, the former HSBC chief exec, is being paid the princely salary of $25,000 per day to serve as a consultant to Chairman Bill Ford, Jr. Although Sir John's total fees under the deal are capped at $262,500 every 12 months and his role is to act as Chairman Ford's consultant for a day and a half near each of the seven regularly scheduled board meetings held every year, it's still a hella lot of money. So what's he suppo
Read MoreNow we've all seen the tide turn, smashing the SUV against the rocks like a third-world fishing boat. If you drive one in Europe, you may as well have set off a dirty bomb in a schoolyard - such is the naked aggression towards the forest-burning, baby-seal-clubbing chariots of death.
Read More"Hope is not the best business strategy." -Dieter Zetsche, September 19, 2006
Read MoreLast year at the Frankfurt show, BMW tuning house AC Schnitzer unveiled a radical take on the 6-Series that seemed spectacularly over-flamboyant to have been created by a bunch of German guys. It was called the Tension, and it divided the Frankfurt into two camps, the delighted and the disgusted. But it was just a concept. Now, just about exactly one year later, the production kit is out. They're only converting 50 6-Series models into Tension Street tuners, so act fast. Or look away. Click thro
Read MoreThe man only known by the moniker of MyNameIsIRL steps up and makes a compelling argument as to why the IRL and Champ Car shouldn't merge. He posits that a merger would tilt the series in favor of Cosworth (which Champ Car maven Kevin Kalkhoven controls), that Champ Car fans won't watch oval races anyway, (which is likely true, besides the Indy 500), and that Americans prefer watching three-wide oval action.
Read MoreAwesome! Newsweek wants to compile a list of 20 women leading their fields. The downside? Well, we picked up an issue of the magazine the other day and it felt a bit light. Has the diluted ad revenue that seems to be endemic across the print-publishing board these days inspired the elimination of the copy desk? Or having interviewees whose finest skills may not be at the keyboard write their own stories? Case in point: Danica Patrick's profile in the September 25th issue of the august newsweekly
Read MoreAs quickly as Automotive News dropped the bomb this AM of talks back in July between FoMoCo and the General over a possible alliance, the Wall Street Journal, just as quickly shot the fun down. The financial-centered paper claims:
Read MoreToyota today unveiled the all-new 2007 Tundra full-size (as opposed to kiddie size?) pickup truck at a press conference at the new Toyota Technical Center in Ann Arbor, MI. With an overall length of 209.8 inches for the standard bed and 228.7 inches for the long bed, this is one big-ass truck — bigger than last year's model by an inch and a half on the standard bed, but a whopping seven inches longer on the long bed. That's nice, yes — but we've heard now from three different folks the new t
Read MoreWe've been asking that question since the New York Auto Show, when we got our first look at the Opelization of the Saturn brand. Take, for example, the PreVue (hint, hint) concept based on the Opel Antara, Sky Redline based on the Opel GT and new Aura sedan based on the Opel/Vauxhall Vectra. It would appear Saturn's San Francisco treat of an agency, Goodby, Silverstein and Partners, heard some other folks asking the same question. Whoever they heard, the commercial's the latest part of Saturn's
Read MoreBuick PR man Dave Darovitz is pushing an event featuring Tiger Woods (we can hardly contain ourselves) and GM's CEO Rick Wagoner (oh god, we've lost it — sorry) right before the LA Auto Show to introduce the production version of Buick's new "luxe" CUV, the Enclave. The e-mail we received included the above picture and the media advisory for the event, along with Dave's suggested caption:
Read MoreThe General answered BMW's media win last week with a hydrogen-car announcement of its own, yesterday. Chevrolet is launching a fleet of 100 Equinox fuel cell vehicles in 2007, creating what the company says is the world's largest hydrogen-powered fuel cell fleet. The SUVs will find homes with customers in California, the New York metro area and Washington, DC. It's all part of something GM calls "project driveway," which may or may not refer to the place such SUVs will be parked as their driver
Read MoreHere's the press release so you have it first. We're still reading and digesting...plus one of us still needs to put pants on. More analysis shortly from us, even less analysis after 9:00 AM from FoMoCo:
Read MoreSo we're starting to come to the conclusion here there's two parts to this whole Way Forward plan — part one is to do like GM did with GMAC, and raise money by selling off Aston Martin and pieces of Ford Credit. We're hoping we'll find out more about that part tomorrow morning. But hopefully, the influx in cash will in turn help provide money to take care of the second part, and that's the whole UAW buyout plan. We've actually got more information on the buyout plan below the jump.
Read MoreDespite the completion of today's FoMoCo board meeting, there's no official word yet from the Dearborn-based- and-still-Number-2 automaker on version 2.0 of the company's Maotastic Way Forward plan. The automaker's instead got a press conference planned for early tomorrow morning (issuing a release at the ungodly hour of 7:00 Am — have they no decency?!). But for those of you who simply must have that information now — like if for instance you're an employee of FoMoCo or you know, have your l
Read MoreToby Keith's still a Ford Truck man. Apparently that's all he drives; he's got no boundaries and won't compromise (ka-ching). Although if Bob Seger's career is any indication of what'll happen once a former truck ad-man loses favor with the automaker, he'll be driving a Porsche and a Nissan pickup in no time. But for now, Keith is FoMoCo's big-time big truck man — and he's still the star in the most recent of a set of six new FoMoCo commercials for 2007 Ford F-150 and Super Duty trucks. This fir
Read MoreEarlier this week Bloomberg News reported GMAC, the finance subsidiary of the world's biggest automaker, was looking to seek some capital the old-fashioned way. No, not by inheriting it...the other old fashioned way...borrowing it. The New York mayor's trust-held News company reported it might be selling its first bonds in two years once a group of buyout firms purchases a stake in GM's big financial services unit. That's because GMAC's debt certificates have rallied from the junk-yard status
Read MoreWord on the street and on the Reuters wire is that FoMoCo will be releasing Way Forward 2.0 — a plan rumored to seek a 30% cut in costs on the white-collar side of the NorAm business. The rumors are also that they'll be seeking those cuts primarily through staff reductions — first through voluntary early retirements and if that magic number isn't reached — through involuntary retirements. This is on top of FoMoCo's already announced plans to cut 30,000 factory jobs and close 14 plants by 2012
Read MoreAlthough FoMoCo already has Electronic Stability Control (ESC) standard on all Ford mid- and full-size SUV's, and they've got ESC standard in all small SUVs and all CUVs in 2007 — they're taking things one step further by expanding the go-straight technology to every Ford, Lincoln and Mercury small car and truck by 2009. That means every single vehicle in the three brands will now have the technology standard — and we'll have to hope FoMoCo's system is more like Ms. Doubtfire — keeping things
Read MoreWho knew the problems a Pope can cause to two of the biggest and baddest Bavarian auto companies. Both BMW and Audi have been bickering like two catholic school kids over which automaker has the right to supply the official car for the six-day visit by Pope Benedict XVI. But after weeks of back-and-forth, folks over at the AFP claim the solution to the impasse came by a combination of divine and bureaucratic intervention — with the Munich Archbishop's office finally being forced to step in an
Read MoreThe above's an ebay auction of a hot rod rat rod show car only Ricky Manning, Jr., (or possibly Harold Butler, founder of Denny's — but we think he's been dead since well before the introduction of the "Skillet Sensation" ) could love:
Read MoreEef. Reading this article simply annoyed us. Apparently, the decline of Western Civilization is upon us, and ethanol's not gonna cure the blues. Then again, we pretty much already knew that, at least not at this point. But meanwhile, Lester R. Brown is complaining that this new obsession with biofuels will kill our food supplies. But when the American government is handing out subsidies to farmers to keep them working, we wonder if the biofuel boom isn't both a boon to them and America's taxpaye
Read MoreWe've been updated on the mysterious flambe incident involving what we thought was Hulk Hogan's Lamborghini Diablo VT. It seems it was the Hulkster's not-so-Hulkish son, Nick...it also seems it wasn't Hulk's Lambo. That actually makes sense as we're not so sure he can afford it, unless that reality tv show starts to make some major bank. But, according to a post on supraforums (where we've been told little Nicky's a member) the following's the real story:
Read MoreOn the subject of whether the Gemballa-tuned Porsche Cayenne has too much horsepower compared to the base Cayenne Turbo, one Australian Porsche expert says "you can't kill yourself any worse." Truer words may never have been spoken.
Read MoreBMW today revealed its Hydrogen 7, the alternative-fuel model and outgrowth of the company's CleanEnergy project that was recently spotted (and photographed) amid road testing. As expected, it's a flex-fuel configuration, with modified version of the corporate 6.0-liter V12 that can swich from gasoline to liquid hydrogen fuel (liquid, cryogenic hydrogen, the company says, offers much higher energy density than the gaseous stuff).
Read MoreMazda released a statement yesterday indicating that vehicles aboard the fubar'd car-carrying ship, Cougar Ace will not be sold at dealerships as new. But — and here's ther part where you feel around for your wallet — repairable cars would be "made available for sale as used cars through Mazda's dealer network in the U.S. and Canada." Of course, that doesn't mean the company will sell damaged goods, but it does likely mean the factory warranty won't be in effect. Still, for transparency's sake,
Read MoreAn Enzo has gone up on eBay's UK site at a starting bid of 99 pence. According to the Guardian, the supercar is destined to smash the current eBay/Blighty record of 103,000, a princely sum fetched for hatchetface-incarnate Margaret Thatcher's purse. And you know what? It probably will. Deal of the century, kids! Start bidding! [Thanks to Daniel for the tip.]
Read MoreThree years ago, we were living in the former California state capital of Benicia and left the house two hours early one morning to make a photographers' meeting at Sears Point prior to the Dodge/Save Mart/Polska Ciabatta/Sharper Razor/Faster Pussycat 350 Presented by Thurston Howell III and Hank Chinaski. Eighteen miles? No probalo, right? Probalo. It took us three-and-a-half hours just to travel the 18 miles to the track. Meanwhile, folks on motorcycles were passing us on the shoulder of Highw
Read MoreChevrolet aficionados may remember the first fuelies as having nothing at all to do with fuel cells. Now, GM has decided to brand its Sequel hydrogen-electric SUV as a protocar of the people — a plebean Chevy rather than a relatively rarified Cadillac or Saab. The announcement comes at the head of a major media push that will include a press driving event in California today. We've got a previous engagement to attend to (hmm, Pert or Johnson's Baby Shampoo?), so we can't make it, but the boys wh
Read MoreGAZ, the Russian automaker, announced at the Moscow Auto Show (who knew!) this past week the arrival of a new SUV that appears to include some style elements not entirely its own. In fact, depending on which direction you're looking at it, it looks alternately like an H3, a Jeep Commander and a Nissan Xterra. Although none of us speak fluent Russian, we were able to consult one of our friends to find out whats up with this GAZ-guzzler. Here's our back n' forth IM convo, along with more pics
Read MoreThe General's West Coast PR maven Diedra Wylie, in an e-mail to reporters and editors of a number of university newspapers, offered a free trip to Vegas this past weekend — with ten Universities reportedly accepting the trip. The program reportedly focused "on car customization culture which is relevant to young adults" and billed as a "great learning opportunity for young journalists." Yes, we'd agree — it's a great opportunity in how to take a free trip and meals from one of the world's lar
Read MoreIt's approaching the middle of September. Kids are going back to school, the leaves are beginning to turn, football's on the tube and most importantly — it's time for FoMoCo to deliver to the world its second iteration of the Maoist Way Forward, to explain how Ford's gonna survive to see next autumn. With new President and CEO Alan Mulally making the transition from "plane guy" to "car guy" and Bill Ford moving from CEO, President, Chairman, COO, All-Powerful, etc to just plain Chairman — we'
Read MoreOne of the most storied automotive films ever, er, filmed, Claude Lelouch's C'etait un Rendezvous has been cloaked in mystery since the moment it was released. Was it one of Lelouch's F1 racing pals behind the wheel of what often was assumed to be a Ferrari 275GTB? Was it Lelouch himself? No, no and yes. No, it wasn't a racing driver, the car was a Mercedes 6.9 that the director still owns (the Ferrari was dubbed in to add to the thrill factor), and yes, it was Lelouch behind the wheel.
Read MoreIf you haven't yet sampled the advice of the ladies at Ask Patty, you'll probably want to after reading this. It's an advisory panel of women automotive experts headed up by NASCAR rubbing-is-racin' driver Deborah Renshaw. And lucky for us, they've gone ahead and done an interview (which we kind of feel may require a follow-up interview...or two...of our own) with the lube-lovin' ladies of the self-proclaimed "first all-female owned and operated fast lube shop." The name of the Easley, South
Read MoreWe just got the press release from the company selling off the sons and daughters of jets — and Saab's '07 US lineup has a starting price of $26,915 with a top out at $43,120. Although it may seem it's a few grand higher than the 2006 pricing entry point of $23,710 — it's really about the same, because that was including the 9-2 model, which as the release notes, was discontinued cause the General sold off its share of Fuji Heavy Industries. Sorry kiddies, that means a touch less brand-engine
Read MoreWe stopped by Ford's media site today, we were greeted with the above graphic (obvs that we added the "WTF?" part) and a press release proudly beating its chest over FoMoCo's entry to the CUV market — the Ford Edge and the Lincoln MKX. The graphic proudly states "Ford has an edge on growing CUV market." The only problem is that neither the Edge nor the MKX have made it to market yet, so wethinks maybe the only Edge FoMoCo's talking about is the razor-sharp horizontal line representing sales o
Read MoreInfiniti senior VP Shiro "Touch Your Customers" Nakamura says the next G35 coupe will closely resemble the coupe concept Infiniti unveiled in Detroit. If you'll recall the flowery verbiage, that means the "highly massaged" surface treatment of the concept hearkens a more "aggressive, seductive and precise" G35, when it emerges in mid-2007. Uh oh. Isn't that what the French said about Mata Hari?
Read MoreMitsubishi's sending its facelifted Pajero SUV across the transom at the Paris show later this month, and hey, it looks exactly like the shots in that Japanese magazine we saw last month. Shocking. Read the press release after the jump.
Read MoreDue to a fourth-quarter cracked piston discovered by the machinist who was repairing the engine, this is not the second installment of our buddy Scott's Karmann Ghia rebuild. However, for petrolheads in general and Porsche/VW fetishists in particular, this may very well be more interesting. Starting in about 1950, German toolmaker Hazet, who for decades has built custom tools for the likes of Porsche and Mercedes-Benz, began producing little round, plastic toolkits for Porsche 356s and VWs. Why
Read MoreWell, one of us here in the Great Lakes State is in the midst of a quick two day jaunt out to Ann Arbor, the far left of center automotive universe. Since we were out here, we decided we'd check in on a fellow auto blogger and see how he's doing in his new digs at the Road which endlessly is Winding. Chris Paukert, formerly of the autoblog which must not be named, has been beknighted by David E. Davis as the new blogmaster (which sounds even more dorky than dungeonmaster or even the newer web
Read MoreAs the long-ass photo thread after the jump attests, Renault released shots of the Nepta concept it's bringing to the Paris show later this month. You can see that the long rear overhang introduced in the teaser shot this morning is still there, verifying the earlier shot's, er, veracity. It's also got more LED lighting than Times Square on New Year's. The four-seater GT cabriolet is powered by a longitudinally mounted, direct-injection 3.5-liter V6 gas producing 420 hp — offering (to those five
Read MoreWe were always under the impression that if you get a DUI, your car gets impounded — even if you're Paris Hilton. We dunno if there's a clause in the law for celebs like Paris — or maybe the law is if you're found guilty — regardless, we don't remember what happened last time. We kid. Either way, we didn't think you could just get someone to pick you up in your own car after you post bail, which is what seems to be happening with celeb-whore Paris Hilton. Is this video proof of another case of t
Read MoreIt's not like there's never been a Porsche RS60 Spyder replica before. Lots of hand-built specimens with double-digit horsepower are out there, some stitting rather pretty atop a VW Beetle chassis. But if the replicists at Chesil Motor Company remain true to form, the Chesil RS60 could be at the head of the class. Sporting a spaceframe chassis and an air-cooled flat four expected to produce 180 hp, the fiberglass-bodied replicar (sorry, reproduction model) of the Sebring-winning Porsche 718 RS 6
Read MoreLate last night, Paris Hilton was pulled over and arrested by LAPD while "driving erratically" in Hollywood. An LAPD spokesperson claimed she "exhibited the symptoms of intoxication" and Hilton performed a field sobriety test, which she failed, leading to her arrest and subsequent charge with a DUI. Hilton's spokesperson, Elliot Mintz, went on to claim that police detected merely the California minimum B.A.C. level of 0.08%, and "[Hilton] was driving home from a celebrity appearance at a char
Read MoreThere's no secret that we love the DIY, screw-'em- between-the-buns action of old racing. And we also understand that bucks-up automotive competition, even at the lower echelons, has a serious cost-of-entry barrier. But this crap is just getting ridiculous. We were perusing Autoextremist's "The Line" section this morning, and despite the fact that he rails against the corporate nature of NASCAR, he still falls into the trap. While quoting Marco Andretti on his victory at Sears Point saying, "I'v
Read MoreThe Sweet One is on the boil today, laying out a multi-point plan for the Great Leap Forward due to the new Honcho-appointment brouhaha. We actually agree with every point Peet makes except one, and it's a doozy: "The commercial airplane business and the car business have exactly zero in common, although Wall Street was positively gushing over Mulally's appointment - but this 'bold move' might just have trouble written all over it, so for now, let's just say it's a giant 'we'll see.'"
Read MoreYes, there were Catalina Safaris, Vista Cruisers and Sport Suburbans, but when anyone thinks of the classic American station wagon, thoughts drift to the Ford Country Squire. Less-remembered, however, is its not-as-deluxe brother, which didn't feature the stylish faux-wood so popular in the day. While the Squire is desirable as a reminder of '60s/'70s kitsch, the Sedan was actually a pretty great-looking car. Pictured here is a '68 example, and while the '62 Catalina Safari remains, in our mind,
Read MoreWe were all excited a few weeks ago after the results of our poll asking folks if they wanted Chevy to bring on the return of the old Bob Seger "Like A Rock" song / slogan as they herald in the new GMT-900 based pickup trucks. We found a whopping 49% of you answered "Yes! Dude, that song defines Chevy trucks." — with the response of "It's a fucking truck. Just tell me how much it hauls and shut the hell up." at 37.6% the only close contender. We were all set to begin our holy war against the
Read MoreSo we travelled downtown to hear what Slick Rick Wagoner had to say outside of the RenCen, and since we had another meeting down in the D — we figured we'd be able to kill two birds with one stone — and hell, maybe even lob a couple of questions at him while we were at it. So while we there, we ended up listening to the press conference and we kinda feel like the General should have called this the "everything and the kitchen sink" warranty plan, because we kinda feel like they were sitting a
Read MoreThis week at TreeHugger: In a push to bring plug-in hybrids to the people, Plug-In Partners launches a national campaign to rally support for these evolved hybrids. Biodisel has become such a high-profile fuel choice, people are going to lengths to tell the world what's in their tank. General Motors, which has made a name for itself as an ethanol pioneer, keeps getting EPA favors for selling flexfuel cars, most of which will never taste a drop of biofuel. One of Toyota's "killed" RAV4 EVs fetche
Read MoreSo Big Bill Boss is stepping aside (sorta) to let Alan Mulally take a shot at the helm of FoMoCo, but what's going to happen to Bill's hand-picked management team? He's elevated folks like Mark Fields to run NorAm operations, Anne Stevens to COO for the Americas, and he's even brought in folks like Steve Hamp as his Chief o' Staff. Hamp's prior job was a 27-year career at The Henry Ford museum in Dearborn, MI. Although that's not to say that Bill's Bold personnel Moves haven't been good ones
Read MoreAs part of our ongoing, though altogether unplanned, series of N rburgring driving videos, we present an opposite-lock master piloting a RUF Porsche 911 CTR "Yellow Bird." At least two Jalopniks remember vividly the late-1980s Road & Track issue that made the "roof 911" a term of endearment, after the Porsche Alois Ruf created embarassed every other supercar in existence (Lamborghini Countach, Ferrari Testarossa, Porsche 959 alike) to nail 211 mph, a spectacularly high number for the time. (That
Read MoreThe White House yesterday claims to finally have decided to meet with US automakers in a meeting that's been scheduled and re-scheduled and now re-scheduled yet again, this time for after the mid-term elections. The boys n' girls at the center of the beltway finally confirmed to the Detroit News yesterday that "the White House and the Big Three automakers have agreed that it would be best to meet after the election." This comes later in the day after Michigan Guv Granholm urged Bush to:
Read More• FoMoCo's new face. [Freep, Detroit News; NYT] • But is FoMoCo's new face a "Bold Move" or a "Risky Move?" [Detroit News] • Oh Noes! Not Pesto's restuarant — anything but that! [courier-journal] • The General's gonna make its warranties longer, and reduce those incentives. Yeah, we've heard this one before. [Bloomberg]
Read MoreWell, we showed up at the studio as requested, and before the time requested and were rip, roarin' 'n ready to go. Unfortunately, the studio we were taping at wasn't — and we didn't make it on to the air tonight. And though the title may suggest it, we've no reason to believe it had anything to with anything but the storms in the area or some other techical difficulty — although you best watch out Mr. Mulally — cause we're hip to your game if it was sabotage. But whatever the reason, whether
Read MoreJohn O'Quinn, who made a bundle in a tobacco lawsuit, was the subject of one of our sadly-neglected Schadenfriday! posts a while back after losing over a mil to an ex-con employee. But that apparently can't stop O'Quinn, who dropped $500,000 on a charity Gallardo autographed by Regis Philbin and Paula Abdul, among others. He also added to his papal vehicle collection, picking up a 1938 Cadillac Town Car used by Pope Pius XII to sit next to John Paul II's old Escort, as well as the Batman Forever
Read MoreThe General just released the media marketing strategy for the GMC Sierra, and it's filled with all sorts of marketing buzz terminology about how it's designed to "leverage a non-traditional marketing platform designed to reach today's savvy consumer beyond the traditional thirty second television advertisement." So in english it appears GM means that it'll be using a mix of not-so-much interactive internet ads — paired with the acknowledged Hail Mary of advertising — "football-themed TV prom
Read MoreThe US states with the most stringent emissions requirements — California, Maine, Massachusetts, New York and Vermont — say Mercedes's E320 Bluetec is not clean enough for prime time. That's a kick in the tailpipe to Merc, which in a recent press release called the E320 CDI the "cleanest diesel vehicle in the world." The problem is, diesel generates more nitrogen oxide gases than gas engines, and although Mercedes's Bluetec system uses a combination of scrubbers in the car's exhaust system — an
Read MoreWhen the PR team atop Dieter's head at the NorAm world HQ of the German-American hybrid realizes that there's been pictures of some new Mopar goodness leaked all over the interwebs, trust us — someone'll pay — especially since it's well before the supposed release at this year's Paris Auto Show at the end of the month. But if they're looking for a culprit, they'll probably want to start with Name Already In Use over at the SRT Forums, who snapped pictures of what appears to be the new 2008 Do
Read MoreLooks like we got to find out what kind of sweetness the Pontiac Solstice could have been if it had a hard-top, and a huge-ass Superbird-like spoiler on the ass — that's right, it'd be the alt-form of Autobot super-stud and former Porsche 935 Turbo, Jazz. And with him on film, the boys at TMZ.com have picked up film of the yellow-n-red-cross'ed out Hummer that's the alt-form of Autobot medic, Ratchet. But that ain't all they caught on tape...
Read MoreFor those of you who never did time in the Bay Area, we'll lay it straight out: when the Bay Bridge is closed, the normally bad traffic goes from indigestion to amoebic dysentery. And to demolish the old Western Approach to the hoary gray workhorse (and actually our favorite bridge anywhere (yes, we love you, too, Vincent Thomas, don't worry)), CalTrans has shut down the eastbound lower deck of the structure, causing traffic toward Oakland to either divert south on 101 to the San Mateo Bridge, o
Read MoreWe've often fired off random missives that blast our hometown of Sacramento. It's too big, sprawling and expensive with too few offered cultural opportunities for such a large place. But that said, our Sacto-native, multiple-Deuce-owning uncle Noel couldn't believe it when we told him that we'd most likely never move back there, commenting, "I'd never live anywhere else!" But the fact is, the town does have a few things going for it. The Sacramento Bee is probably the second-best paper in Califo
Read MoreOur friend Luis Illades once posted a bulletin on Friendster, back during the short-lived Friendster Epoch, that sounded like it should've been read in the Ultimate Telemundo/Traffic Reporter voice. We notified him of this. Bear in mind that Luis is a homosexual punk rock drummer from Tijuana who claims that he makes world-class ceviche, with a total Alta California accent. He wrote back that at one point he actually had worked as a radio traffic reporter on a Spanish-language radio station. Som
Read MoreLast August, the folks over at the RenCen in Detroit were all atwitter over the fact they couldn't keep supply in stock to keep up with demand for all of those cheap employee pricing deals. It turns out that was a very good thing — cause it lets them say they were up this August over the same month last year. Thus, the General ended up selling 363,521 light vehicles here in the US — compared with 349,806 a year earlier — and that's a 4% increase. True, there was one more day this month — but
Read MoreLooks like FoMoCo's dropped the whole "keepin' it real" graphic and headline thing they had going for them last month, and it's good to see them returning to the obfuscation of months past. We mean, with a headline like:
Read MoreThe Domestic-ated Level Field Institute released what they're calling a "Domestic Content" report, which appears to be based on:
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