Archive for May 2007

Scion Announces tC Pricing For 2008

Prices for the Scion tC will be up a little bit in 2008, but still fall in with an under a four percent increase across all models. The stripper tC Spec model will start at 15,300 bucks for a manual, while the slightly more luxurious core model tC will trip the money clocks at 17 even. No word on how much the TRD Supercharger will cost in the press release, which is there for digestion after the jump.

By Mike Bumbeck Read More

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Mein Gott! Manta, Der Film!

We haven't even seen Manta: Der Movie yet, but we can tell right away it ranks up near the top of the official Jalopnik Seal-O-Approval All Time Greatest Car Movies Ever Freakin' Made List. Come on, a cheesy Deutschesploitation flick full of Opel Mantas with raccoon-tail antennae? Here's the trailer...

By Murilee Martin Read More

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Question Of The Day: Where Does It End?

The Bugatti Veyron is faster than the fastest racecar ever built. At top speed its tires – which cost more than your car – die after 12 minutes. SSC's Ultimate Aero TT can probably go faster still. Ferrari is hard at work on the Enzo replacement. The Enzo could go 217 mph. In the meantime, the FXX sports 850 hp and changes gears exactly as fast as an F1 car. Both Cadillac and Jaguar will soon be unleashing 500+ hp mid-size sedans. The new Audi RS 6 will most likely sport a twin-turbo V10. My $25

By Jonny Lieberman Read More

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At 71% Throttle, SSC Ultimate Aero TT Hits 241 MPH

So many questions. OK, as you probably know, SSC and their Ultimate Aero TT are on a hero's quest to break and thereby set the production car top speed record currently in the hands of the hated Swedes. On March 22 of this year they gave it a go, but because of a jealous Odin snow in Nevada, were only able to hit 230 mph. So, they tried again on May 22. No luck this time out either. Nope, last Tuesday they fell 0.6 mph short. Meaning that the TT did manage to achieve 241.4 mph at "71% throttle."

By Jonny Lieberman Read More

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Custom Floor Mat Company Loses Us At "Pimp"

We came across a press release in our mailbox this morning that intrigued us to the point of actually checking out the site. It's for a company named GGBailey, and they've got a site allowing you to create custom floor mats for your car. Sounds simple enough, and the concept of being able to make our own mat wasn't the worst idea on earth — until we found out the company's also the home to the "official floor mat" for MTV's "Pimp My Ride." We didn't just move on to a new web page, we actually

By Ray Wert Read More

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1971 Buick LeSabre

It's been a long time since Buicks were actually credibly sporty; sure, maybe they weren't bought by young men even back in the early 70s, but at least they were bought by old guys with itchy gas-pedal feet and a sense of style. You can see that in these unapologetically swoopy portholes.

By Murilee Martin Read More

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Mazda Goes Miller Cycle With Demio For Japan

Watch out, diesel. Mazda says it's developed a Miller-cycle engine for the new Demio (Mazda2) in Japan that gets around 54 miles per gallon. The new JDM gas sipper goes on sale in July, sporting a 20 percent improvement in mileage over the current model, in combination with a continuously variable transmission. So what's this Miller cycle we speak of? Let's ask Wikipedia:

By Mike Spinelli Read More

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The Jalopnik Morning Shift

• Explorer owners are still seeking their $2 billion in what we're dubbing "the lawsuit that never ends." [Freep] • This is our country...and the Tundra may be recalled. [Detroit News] • Hey look, you probably won't die in a convertible anymore — yay! [Freep] • And we always thought Lindsay Graham habitually dissed Detroit because he didn't care about black people — not because of their research triangle. [Detroit News] • Hypermillers are Hyper-annoying. [Freep]

By Ray Wert Read More

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NHRA Sells Pro Division

A number of Los Jalops grew up on drag racing, a fertile breeding ground for gearheads first codified in California by Hot Rod editor Wally Parks 56 years ago with the formation of the National Hot Rod Association. Now, we've had our gripes with the NHRA over the years, and top rank drag racing has definitely become more corporate as technology's advanced. John Force is really the last of the two-fisted motherfuckers who populated the sport during its golden age. Now the NHRA, while remaining a

By Davey G. Johnson Read More

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Illinois Town Enacts Lame Seizure Ordinance

Beginning next month the city of Oak Forest, IL will assert its right to appropriate your vehicle. Those accused of a number of crimes, including vandalism, shoplifting, armed robbery on down to forgetting one's driver's license will have their cars seized until a $500 bond can be posted. If the city-extorted cash isn't produced within sixty days, the municipality sells the car and pockets the profit. If the accused is found not guilty, the city is supposed to return the cash.

By Davey G. Johnson Read More

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Ferrari Not Ruling Out A Hybrid

According to the reporters at elmundo.es, which we're pretty sure is not how you say Edmunds in Spanish, the folks at the automaker centered in Maranello are aware of the environment. That is to say, they're conscious of the political environment, and the high probability that the European Union's going to be forcing them to reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emissions at some point in time. More importantly, they've noticed that with the present lineup of models, Ferrari's got some "difficulty

By Ray Wert Read More

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Found: Alfa Romeo 2000 GT

After leaving Scott and his Karmann Ghia we ran to get some groceries and found this sweet little miss thang parked next to us. When it rains, it pours. Or, in the case of what we think is a 1974 Alfa Romeo Giulia 2000 GT Veloce, when it doesn't rain you find amazing little bundles of vintage joy parked next to you at the market. We say we" think" because the only badging was on the dash and that simply read "2000." We also believe the side markers on the front fenders were round in the very ear

By Jonny Lieberman Read More

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Jalopnik Drives The Can-Am Spyder!

When it comes to segment blurring, the team at BRP's Can-Am have aimed a shot across the bow of both ultralight sports car makers and motorcycle manufacturers with their new Spyder. We've been following the release of this snowmobile with wheels since spy shots first surfaced back in December. And now we've just made sweet, sweet test-driving love to it. Given this is such an oddball vehicle, it makes a lot of sense to get into the hands of reviewers and early adopters to build some buzz bef

By bwojdyla Read More

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It Lives! Preliminary Road Test Of The Rebuilt Karmann Ghia Type III

Oh happy day! Nearly 11 months since we first became involved in the rebuild, our pal Scott's 1962 Volkswagen 1500 left the garage. Actually, it was motoring about the day before we showed up to snap picks and drive it. Only we were out of town. Still, and you will agree if have rebuilt a car, that first drive is wedding night bliss after a long, difficult and oftentimes sweaty courtship. And I only did about 0.02% of the work. Still, I knew going in that even if the brakes failed on the way dow

By Jonny Lieberman Read More

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How Do You Say You're Sorry At 85 MPH?

Not to be too egomaniacal, but I'm a good driver. I've never caused an accident. I get a good driver's discount from my insurance company. I've had more than my fair share of tickets, but every one has been for speeding on empty freeways, not reckless driving. True, there was that one where I was going 55 mph in a 35 mph zone, but so was the guy next to me and the half-a-dozen cars behind us. i was just in the wrong lane at the wrong time. To recap, me = good driver. But, even I do something stu

By Jonny Lieberman Read More

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BMW Skunk Works Readies M10

While our favorite Bavarian automaker builds an awful lot of super-sweet rides, they can't seem to get a grip on the whole sports car thing. Seeing an E39 M5 still makes our day, but in the back of our mind we know it is but a big-engine shoved into a 5-series and all the limitations that follow. Yeah, the M1 was a purpose-built sportscar, but it was never a world beater and was as Italian as it was German. And while a green 850CSi will be parked in our driveway one day, it's luxo-barge with a k

By Jonny Lieberman Read More

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Whither, 125 MPG: Toyota Shies From New Prius Battery Tech?

The company that's all about overhauling anything with a battery just unveiled a retrofitted ToMoCo Prius with plug-in capabilities and powered by Lithium Technology Corporation's newest "lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) cells." It's a 7 kWh battery comprising 63 of LTC's iron phosphate cells tied together by a proprietary battery management system that supposedly can provide "3000 charging cycles, which would be able to do 150,000 miles." Interestingly enough, this coincides with a report w

By Ray Wert Read More

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1957 Volkswagen Transporter

You see a fair number of second-generation Type 2 VWs rolling around on Alameda's streets, but the early 1950-67 models are getting pretty rare. I spotted this roof-rack-equipped model still carrying on its vanly duties at age 50...

By Murilee Martin Read More

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2009 Toyota Supra: More Hype Than Reality...Or The Other Way Around?

Depending on who you're listening to out there on the interwebs, there's either a new ToMoCo Supra on the way to play against the Nissan 350Z...or there's not. More than likely if it is, it'll be based off of the design of the FT-HS that first turned our heads at the Detroit Auto Show. The only problem is, we're hearing both "go" and "whoa" this week...

By Ray Wert Read More

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The Jalopnik Morning Shift

• FoMoCo really likes to live on the Edge-uh! [Detroit News] • Could a cheaper form of ethanol be on the way? [Freep] • Wouldn't Nissan be better served making real assembly lines making real cars? Just askin'... [Detroit News] • The fuel economy debate's only now heating up? Where the hell have they been all this time? [Freep] • John McCormick doesn't believe in fairy tales — like that mankind is big enough to effect something really big, like a planet. [Detroit News]

By Ray Wert Read More

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Citroen SM

Sometimes we propose a car for our Fantasy Garage because of its overwhelming, world-scorching performance. Other times a car gets the nod on the strength of its engine. Or historical significance. Or fond teenage memories. Or maybe just because it is so damn pretty. And in the case of last week's Ford GT, all of the above. This week's nominee, the Citroen SM, is picked on the strength of its owners. Yeah, exactly, its owners. Brezhnev had an SM. As did both Cheech and Chong. Leno still has one.

By Jonny Lieberman Read More

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Who Uber Alles? E39 M5 Or RS 4?

Once again, Herr Johnson and I managed to spend five hours arguing with each other over instant messenger. Only this time we were not half-joking about DAF vs. FAF, but rather quite seriously calling each other soulless turds over which legendary German Q-ship is better. In the Ingolstadt corner, weighing in at 3,800 or so pounds, Audi's hyperactive precision machine, the RS 4. And from south of the Black Forest, weighing 150 pounds more and making 26 hp less, the car that God would drive if he

By Jonny Lieberman Read More

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Interview With A Snorg Girl

Jalopnik: Hi. What the hell are you so happy about? Snorg Girl: Hello! Well, in general I am happy for many reasons. Mostly because I feel it is a waste of time to be sad or angry. But, in the Snorg ads I am happy because Bryan is dancing and that is a spectacular sight to see. (Note: Bryan is one of Snorg's owners.)

By Jonny Lieberman Read More

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You Wish Your Hummer Could Do This: Pinzgauer!

So far, all the Down On The Alameda Street cars have been, well, cars. But old trucks are cool, too, and it goes without saying that we approve of any street-driven vehicle with six-wheel-drive...

By Murilee Martin Read More

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Hamann Ferrari F430 Spider

The latest in Hamann's Ferrari-tarting kit focuses on the F430 spider. The tuning Swabians say their aero components for the droptop are both cosmetic and functional, and come in kicky carbon-kevlar or fiberglass. A sports exhaust reportedly adds 48 horsepower, some suspension trickery adds lowness and a range of tire-wheel combinations will satisfy even the most cocaine-addled discerning footballer. Collect 'em all.

By Mike Spinelli Read More

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Chrysler Celebrates 20 Years Of Concept Design With A Drive-By Of The Jalopnik Detroit Bureau

Curse us for being out of town last week! In addition to showing off the two new SEMA Jeep designs we highlighted last week (the JT and the Ultimate), it appears the Chrysler group team spent some time tooling about downtown Royal Oak, MI in their newest batch of auto show concept cars. It was all part of some 20-year celebration of their concept vehicles. So, basically, a celebration of over 100 innovative, amazing and "out-there" concepts — like the "Dodge Intrepid," the "Jeep Wrangler Rubic

By Ray Wert Read More

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Standing At The Gates Of The West: So-Cal Hot Rodding And The War

To Joe Strummer and Mick Jones, the Gates of the West may have been New York City. Or Saint Louis. Or San Francisco, where they holed up to record overdubs and vocal tracks for Give 'Em Enough Rope with Sandy "More Cowbell" Pearlman. But for many returning soldiers at the end of World War II, the Gates of the West were the breakwaters of San Pedro Bay, at the dangling, southwesterly tip of Los Angeles. Last night, Kasey Dubspeed and I did a runner from the coast up to Cole Coonce's place in Eagl

By Davey G. Johnson Read More

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Franchitti Wins Indy 500, Er, 415; No Milk For Milka

In the denouement to yesterday's abbreviated Indy 500, it was a rain-drenched, barefoot Ashley Judd providing the glamor an eighth-place Danica Patrick, an ousted Milka Duno and a lurking Gene Simmons could not. Patrick lost a late-race game of pitstop musical chairs, nullifying an earlier reach to second place; Duno hit a wall, and Simmons could have used some makeup. Judd's husband Dario Franchitti took the checkered flag in the 91st running of Indy, taking advantage of a few late-race shakeup

By Mike Spinelli Read More

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What's Your Favorite Color... For A Car?

Yes, we're well aware that it's an insipid almost vapid question. However, it is a national holiday and some of us have been up for days. That said, we were out the other evening with a friend who could not get over how blue our car is. We tried explaining how cool World Rally Blue actually is on a Subaru, but she just called us a dork. And seeing how she is a member of the Weird Al fan club, her jab stung. Still, color does make the car. Sometimes. Black BMW 3-Series look as much like used lump

By Jonny Lieberman Read More

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1965 Chevrolet Impala Super Sport

Today's Down On The Alameda Street car was almost disqualified because '65 Impalas are just so common (this is why you won't be seeing a lot of 60s Beetles here), but since I had one as my daily driver for ten years I have a soft spot for the good ol' '65...

By Murilee Martin Read More

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European Mini To Get BMW's Hybridnomics Tech

BMW says its new Euro Mini D diesel will see the high side of 72.4 mpg, by way of its efficient oil burner paired with hybrid-like technologies. Those include brake-regeneration, which uses an intelligent alternator controller that detaches the generator draw from the engine on acceleration and uses engine spool-down on deceleration to recharge the battery. It also includes (on manual-transmission cars) a stop-start function that kills and restarts the engine rather than idle in neutral. No word

By Mike Spinelli Read More

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Porsche To Add Lightness, Insanity: The Roxster Is Nigh

Update: And now we're under the back fence. Porsche has just released a statement claiming nein, there will be no baby-SUV. However, if they did indeed grad the moniker Roxster, we have some advice for them. Stuff the twin-turbo V8 into the middle of the Cayman. That's a Roxster.

By Jonny Lieberman Read More

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1957 Pontiac Star Chief

Venturing yet again to the old-iron-studded byways of Alameda, I've found this '57 Pontiac Star Chief. While obviously a first cousin to the '57 Chevy, the Star Chief had distinctive- if busy- styling and packed a bigger engine than the Chevy, at 347 cubes versus 283. You could even get the 347 with a triple-carb setup that yielded 290 horses...

By Murilee Martin Read More

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Ginetta To Build New GT, Cup Car

UK kit and specialty car builder Ginetta has apparently weathered a storm of corporate upheaval and come to rest under the aegis of motorsports engineering firm LNT Automotive. Does that mean the company's doomed to shadow its parent? Not quite, the company says. It released images of what will likely be the company's new GT car. Due in 2008, the lightweight Ginetta G50 will be powered by a 3.5-liter Ford V6 — front-mid mounted — over a five-speed sequential gearbox. The company's also creating

By Mike Spinelli Read More

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British Enzo Bent...By A Bus?!?

We're stunned to have just heard the Daily Mail's reporting that we lost another Ferrari Enzo...nine months ago. Where the hell were we? How did we not know about this? The outrage...no, the humanity! Apparently a Brit businessman and property tycoon named Frank Mountain alleged a single-decker bus was being

By Ray Wert Read More

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Facing Germany's Speed Police In A 910-Hp Porsche

Germany is the land of the free when it comes to driving — one endless, luscious, bouncy ribbon of delimited highways. If one could find a 300-mph car, one could drive at 300mph; that's the glossy image projected around the world. But Germany's relationship to highway speed is changing. Already the road to glory is punctuated by restricted zones patrolled by unmarked cars. Participants in a recent Gumball event faced a breathalyser and a stern warning when it got to Germany. They were not to go

By Mike Spinelli Read More

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Lexus RX400h Ad Pulled Out Of UK Magazines For False Claim Of Low Emissions

Lexus recently ran an ad campaign in the UK for the RX 400h headlined: "High performance. Low emissions. Zero guilt." Unfortunately, the verbiage didn't quite ring true with complainants to the Advertising Standards Authority, who believed the claim misleadingly implied the car caused little or no harm to the environment. Their argument is based on the carbon dioxide emissions level of 192 g/km for the hybrid version of the RX 400, which still places it at a higher level than the average for

By Ray Wert Read More

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WSJ Reports GM To Put Up Rest Of GMAC As Collateral For $4.1 Billion Loan

Well, they already sold off 51% of GMAC to Cerberus, why not mortgage the rest of it on the turnaround effort...err...sorry, "general corporate purposes including working capital needs." Those "general corporate purposes" are why the General's claiming it needs "a supplemental revolving credit facility in an aggregate amount of" around and close to exactly $4.1 billion. They'll get the "supplemental revolving credit facility" by putting up the remaining 49% of GMAC they've still got in the saf

By Ray Wert Read More

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What's The Geekiest Car Thing You've Done Lately?

Besides spending countless hours on a blog devoted to any and everything with four wheels, of course. I just got back from supper with a fellow auto-journo and with the lone exception of ordering food, our conversation didn't deviate from cars for a second. "Is a 208 even a Ferrari? I mean, come on!" Our obsessiveness and behavior differs from Trekkies (or is that Trekkers?) only because of focus and how we dress. Though apparently I'm trying to change that last bit. Yes friends, I broke down ov

By Jonny Lieberman Read More

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Ford Builds Better Dummies Now, Will Focus On Building Better Cars And Trucks Later?

The one big piece of news out of FoMoCo this week (other than the HOG Edition F-150 of course!) appears to be the leading role they're playing in development of an abdominal insert for pediatric crash dummies. Yup, the once proud automaker's now fallen to this — issuing press releases on how good they are at making crash dummies look and feel like little kids. What, you think we'd go for the obvious joke of FoMoCo making dummies smart? That's not how we roll 'round these parts. Well, not usual

By Ray Wert Read More

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Diesel Rabbit Pickup

Once again I've hit the not-so-mean streets of Alameda to find the day's Down On The Street car. Today we're going with another import: an early-80s VW Rabbit Pickup Diesel, or, as we Jaloppers like to call them, a Rabbitamino...

By Murilee Martin Read More

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Ford Gets HOG-Tied, Reveals 2007 Harley-Davidson Edition F-150

They've been partnering up for eight years and eight models so far, but now they've got the ninth co-branded Harley-Davidson Ford F-150...and it's still just what we've never wanted — another pickup truck that can't actually hold a Harley without a liftgate extender. One of these days the boys n' girls at FoMoCo will realize it's not just about naming it Harley, but actually making it useful for owners of a Harley. In the meantime enjoy the fact that you can get a supercharged 5.4-liter V8 wit

By Ray Wert Read More

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House To Gas-Gougers: Beware

With the same gusto they mustered when legislating timelines for troop withdrawals, the House of Representatives today signed off on legislation that would severely punish gas-gougers. Not surprisingly, the White House has already threatened a veto claiming the law is a form of price controls. While we personally disagree with the White House (about everything) and think it is cute that Congress is trying to do something before $4 per gallon gas causes voter revolts, our reading of the bill is i

By Jonny Lieberman Read More

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Chevy Asks Dealers To Put Toyota Camry In Showrooms For "Malibu Challenge"

So it's one thing to take your product and run it head-to-head against the competition in a controlled environment like the Fusion Challenge ads FoMoCo started running a few months ago. In those ads, readers of Road et Track and Car und Driver were given the chance to drive a Toyota Camry, Honda Accord and an AWD Ford Fusion through a cone course and then asked to rate which was best in terms of handling and prettiness. In those ads, obvs, the AWD Fusion beat the competition. But that was a co

By Ray Wert Read More

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Car Blog Gives Away Dodge Nitro To Celebrate New Look

The blog that's all about automobiles is celebrating its new threads today by giving away a car. Not just any car mind you, but a 2007 Dodge Nitro R/T. Hmm, well, best not to judge the caliber of a site's redesign by the type of vehicle you give away to celebrate it. Although come to think of it, we were planning to give away an early 80's El Camino with no engine during our last redesign. So maybe there's something to that.

By Ray Wert Read More

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'83 Camaro Berlinetta: I'm Freeeee!

Burned out on your job designing bridges for Battlezone? ¡No problemo! Just hop in your new '83 Berlinetta (it's easy to find, since apparently you're the only employee allowed to park in the lot) and let that V6 power and legendary build quality set you free!

By Murilee Martin Read More

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Glow-In-The-Dark Russian MR2 Confounds YOU!

First off, we don't need any Chernobyl and/or Polonium-210 jokes here, because this car is serious. A Russsian MR2 owner has seen fit to completely cover his car with vaguely science-fiction-y murals. The murals themselves have a sort of Journey-album-cover/Terminator theme, but that's not important. What is important is that they're done using glow-in-the-dark paint. English Russia gets another winner!

By Murilee Martin Read More

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SEMA 2007: Jeep Wrangler JT Concept

We're like four months away from the 2007 aftermarket parts blowout in Vegas, and already the automaker formerly known as the 'merican side of the German-American hybrid's looking to push out the concept cars they'll be showing come November. Apparently they liked the reaction to the AEV Jeep Brute concept so much they've come out with one of their own — a truck they're calling the Wrangler JT concept. Somehow I feel as if we've already figured out what the "JT" stands for. But like every Jeep

By Ray Wert Read More

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Spyker Borrows Some Euros

Truth be told, we're not exactly sure how Spyker's financed. We know there're a lot of Middle Eastern bux involved and company co-founder Victor Muller is obviously a rather well-off individual. He'd told us less than a year ago that the company was a year from profitability, bought an F1 team and then announced profitability at the LA Auto Show. Now, of course, Muller has stepped down as CEO and Michiel Mol, the man in charge of Spyker's F1 outfit is holding the temporary reins. And Spyker has

By Davey G. Johnson Read More

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Roush Is Scary, Releases Nitemare Edition Ford F-150

The customizers of all things FoMoCo have gone after the F-150, releasing a sleepy little pickup truck modification to the 2007 Ford F-150 to match the blackjack Mustang they released earlier this year. Roush calls it the "Nitemare" and they've given the standard cab Toby Keith man-truck an upgraded look and performance with their patented ROUSHcharger system, boosting the 5.4-liter 3 valve engine to 445 hp and 500 ft-lb of torque. In addition, they've upgraded the intake manifolds, intercoole

By Ray Wert Read More

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Buy A Used GM Car, Get XM Radio Free...For Three Months

According to a joint release from the General and XM, we're told GM's offering a "satellite radio trial program" for their certified used vehicles program. What it means is any GM used vehicle sold as "certified" and equipped with an XM Radio will get three months of XM service for free and they'll waive any and all activation fees. It probably will be added in as the 118th point right after "117.) Spritz faux new-car scent" in their "rigorous 117-point inspection and reconditioning process."

By Ray Wert Read More

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All Your Kit Cars Are Belong To Carlisle

I used to think Spinelli, Wert, and company had the best jobs ever because they got to drive concept mules, travel to exotic places sponsored by Bruce, and cover car shows for a living. Well, having visited the recent Carlisle Import/Kit/Replicar Nationals show with an eye toward writing something worth guest posting, I can tell you that it is not the easiest way to make a living. First of all, try walking miles in the midday sun for a few hours. Resisting the temptation to stop at every funnel

By Mike Spinelli Read More

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Bolt A Corvair Engine Into Your VW And Make It A Real Bomb!

Well, maybe "bolt" isn't quite the right word, since that listing (from the 1975 JC Whitney catalog) mentions that "some modification to engine compartment" is necessary to fit the GM pancake six into the People's Car. Since getting a VW Type IV into a Beetle is quite the Sawzall job, one can only imagine the rending of metal necessary to shoehorn the much larger Corvair mill in there. But still, the idea of a time when the junkyards were full of Corvair engines and air-cooled V-Dubs clattered d

By Murilee Martin Read More

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What's In Your Painful Reality Garage?

Today's question comes to us by way of John C. He has a no doubt lovely wife and a triple-hopped up 2003 WRX. Only issue is, the wife is making him get rid of the boy racer Scoobie in favor of something more sensible, something more grown up. John wants to know what is available to him for less than $30,000. He's thinking a G35. But I want to expand the question. I personally would love a retractable hard top Miata as my daily driver, only, you know – it's teeny. And while the trunk is decent fo

By Jonny Lieberman Read More

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1966 Datsun 411

Alameda is a great town for spotting daily-driven old cars- not much rust, lots of weird single-interest obsessos who stick with some obscure car model for decades (and who will knock out all your teeth with a wrench if you diss that model), and a chronic shortage of off-street parking that puts all the vintage iron out where we can admire it. Today I've captured this rare Bluebird on film...

By Murilee Martin Read More

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Wait, What If We Ignored Expensive Gas?

Those who connect the cars, or offer a connection to cars, and/or play Connect Four in moving vehicles point out that despite the onward press for fuel efficiency and skyrocketing gas prices don't have Americans rushing to by B-class vehicles like the Chevy Aveo. They cite a an Automotive News piece pointing out that the munchkin-sized vehicles only account for 101,000 in a 5.2 million-vehicle market that includes light trucks. Is this a hangover from the halcyon fuel-huffing days of the past, i

By Davey G. Johnson Read More

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Kicherer SL K 60 Evo Black

Mercedes tuning shop Kicherer upped the ante on its SL-Class tweakage program. It's the SL K 60 Evo Black. Its moniker isn't quite elegant, but the car itself isn't a shrinking violet. The 12 banger's been augmented with twin turbos to produce 605 horsepower, resulting in a zero-to-60 time of 4.3 seconds and a (restricted) top speed of 186.4 mph. Holding the Evo's head to the pavement is a functional aero kit, while proprietary programming of the SL's adaptive suspension makes way for a 25-mm lo

By Mike Spinelli Read More

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Patrick Dempsey To Drive Indy 500 Pace Car

Patrick Dempsey's finest hour as an actor may not have been playing Mike Damone on the short-lived TV version of "Fast Times at Ridgemont High." Likewise, it probably wasn't playing the randy teen gigolo Randy Bodek in the Movie "Loverboy," in which he both bedded Barbara Carrera and fled from angry husband Vic Tayback (in a superbad toupee). But these days, skies are brightening. Dempsey's got a career-defining role as Dr. "Mc Dreamy" on the insipid but profitable "Grey's Anatomy" and he's spen

By Mike Spinelli Read More

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Lancia Stratos: A Wedge, Not A Sphere

There is on only one rally car that could possibly compete with the RS200 for our affections. That, of course, is the mighty Lancia Stratos. The Ferrari-Dino-powered beastie was capable of pumping out over 550hp from its turbo'd mini-prancer, and well, Christ — just look at the thing. Now look at it on the Monte Carlo and Safari Rallies.

By Davey G. Johnson Read More

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Ford GT

Like last week's Bugatti Veyron, this week's Fantasy Garage nominee should be a no brainer. You will also note for the first time I'm including a video, not merely a static image. Why? It's the legendary Ford GT Super Bowl commercial. I find it noteworthy because it was America's first peek at modern car porn. Sure, the Brits have had Top Gear for what? 90 seasons? But in the US of A, we had nothing of the sort, at least until Tom Brady bested Jake Delhomme. And while most of the country was in

By Jonny Lieberman Read More

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How Would You Build The Perfect Sleeper?

J-Lop all star Bumblebee proposed this one, apparently after getting spanked by a hopped-up CJ-7. Bumblebee isn't alone, as we got spanked by a sleeper recently. Pulling up a red light we notice a Caddy CTS in the next lane. It had but one tailpipe, meaning the car was not the awesome CTS-V. The guy starts gasing the car like like crazy, indicating that he's ready to go. We reel off the numbers in our head. We can hit 60 mph in about 5.5 seconds in the WRX, assuming we get lucky with the clutch.

By Jonny Lieberman Read More

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Guess What Yesterday Was? Record High Gas Prices Day!

Hurray! Another day, another record high price. Oh wait, this is one of those bad records, isn't it? Well, it is still an all time high. How high? How does $3.196 (which is a fancy way of saying $3.20) for a gallon of 87 unleaded strike you? Well friends, that's what it costs nationally as of yesterday, May 21 [Update: American Public Media's Marketplace reported that the price is actually $3.22 per gallon – see here]. We've covered the whys of these highs before, but basically demand is very hi

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What's Your Favorite Racecar?

Herr Wert's earlier post about the $9.275 million Ferrari got me thinking about all kinds of stuff. First, of course, is that car worth that much scratch? Sure, it won Le Mans, but what was it running against? A bunch of GTOs and E-Types. Big whoop. And, the only other cars in its class — +3.0-liter Experimental — were two Maserati Tipos and a Ferrari 330LM GTO. And none of them finished the race. So, according to one reporter's opinion, that 330 TRI/LM ain't worth the money. However, there are

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Hamann Ferrari F430 Black Miracle

You know, it's sad. Some Wall Street types looking to dole out their ten-figure bonuses can't get into an F430, for the mere fact that they're first timers. Others have the leisure and means to have their F430s refitted with matte paint and high-gloss orange accents, scissor doors, an aero kit and 50 horses' worth of speed-shop toys. You know the world is topsy-turvy when we's siding with the bonus babies. It's a dark miracle, indeed.

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Buick Has A Waiting List For The Enclave?!

Maybe it's the rounded rear (more rounded than its two Lambda stable mates) or maybe it's the way the front end tapers down to that trademark styling cue of the "dollar grin" oval chrome-ribbed grille. Whatever the reason, we've got to say the Buick Enclave's a helluva lot better looking than anything out of David Dunbar's lineup in a number of years. Still, it's a 7-passenger Car-UV, and no amount of "cool cache" from Tiger will change the fact it's the replacement for two SUV's and a minivan

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Spy Photos: 2009 Dodge Ram 1500

Looks like Dodge's two-ton pickup's got the Ralph Gilles treatment going on up front as one of Priddy's pride of spy photogs caught some shots of what PickupTruck.com's claiming is the 2009 Dodge Ram 1500. The next-gen hauler from ChrysCerebus... Cerebysler... err... the former 'merican side of the former German-American hybrid...is sporting a more Charger-like front-end with what may be a more aerodynamic design. The same look helped propel the Gilles-ster to the forefront of automotive desig

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Exec Says, BMW To Launch Car Based On CS Concept

If you thought BMW's CS Concept was a hottie, we've got good news. If you thought it was ungainly and overstylized, just keep moving — nothing to see here. Word from Automotive News today is that BMW — right in line with the rumor mill — will build a top-end four seater based on the CS, which BMW introduced at the Shanghai auto show last month. The range topper would face off with other future low-roofline sedans, like the Porsche Panamera and Aston Martin Rapide, and as well with the current Me

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Madness In The Middle: VW GTI W12 650 Reveal

The phone rang. "Dude!" my buddy yelled. "What is that thing?" He was talking about this video of the new 650 horsepower W12 GTI concept car which Davey's been all over for the last few days. Yeah, the one with the jacked-up dual-turbo Bentley mill in the middle. And we've been asking ourselves why on earth would Volkswagen create an AWD, mid-engined Golf with that much horsepower? Specifically, that much horsepower? The all too obvious answer comes after you jump. (Thanks to Zero Customs for th

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Why Do You Love Cars?

Legend holds that when we were just a single year-old, we painted a white, 6" high racing stripe along the length of the old man's copper 280Z. We don't know how we got the lid off the can of house paint either. Some of our fondest childhood memories involve bounding up and over Decker Canyon in that same Datsun, strapped into a child carrier in the front seat. And yes, facing forward. When we were around 6, the old man started to let us shift. He had us behind the wheel at 10, explaining, "I le

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Why Fight Crime When You Can Handcuff The Handicapped?

This isn't a head shaker as much as it is a head hanger. With extra doses of shame. Around about 30 miles north of Bakersfield, CA there sits a little town called Visalia. Population, tiny. And Arleen Avila and her 2002 ML Mercedes were in the drive-thru lane at In-N-Out trying to get a burger. But, she fell asleep. Someone tipped off the 5-0 and after she got her Double-Double an officer ordered her out of the vehicle. See though, here's the thing. Arleen suffers from Parkinson's (just like Moh

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Gas Saving Tips For Flummoxed Drivers

With gasoline prices obviously not trending downward, cash-strapped drivers are finding themselves flummoxed as to how get the best bang for their increasingly thin buck. Read on to take the first step onto the path of improved fuel efficiency.

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The Mexican-Made Mastretta MXT

Daniel Mastretta, the designer of Mexican kit-cars, is hard at work producing something new for the Mexican and international market. His company, Mastretta Design, is busily putting together a production run of the Mastretta MXT.

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Spy Photos: Corvette Z07 (Or Whatever!) Caught Testing Alongside Ferrari 599

Ed Hellwig over at the line that's always straight — one of the many sites that when combined together form the auto industry super-site that is Edmunds — looks to have snagged some pics taken by KGP of what appears to be a Corvette SS (Z07, Blue Devil, etc) powertrain mule on a test track in Europe. The Z07 (or whatever) seems to be partaking of some side-by-side comparison track time with a Ferrari 599. The always straightly-lined Edmunds site postulates it may have something to do with "rew

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What's The Weirdest Thing You've Ever Witnessed?

During the El Nino of 1998 I was driving with my friend in his full-on amazing 1961 Buick from San Francisco down to Sunnyvale. And the rain was coming down in buckets. Big, wet, mean buckets. Visibility was abysmal, if that. Suddenly, out of the upper right corner of the windshield we saw.this spinning light. And it was moving, quickly. Like really, really spinning. And hanging in the air. Though we were thinking it, neither of us had the time to form the words, "Holy Fuck, UFO!" Because it soo

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Want To Know What Los Jalops Actually Talk About?

We're living in pretty interesting times. France just elected a right-of-center president while neo-con to the nth degree Paul Wolfowitz is stepping down as president of the World Bank. Chuck Schumer and Di Feinstein are calling for a vote of no confidence against Alberto Gonzales. Who, by the way, was trying to get John Ashcroft to sign away the 4th Amendment while the latter was in hospital. Jerry Falwell's carcass was found in his office and Larry Flynt said the dead sack of shit Reverend was

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Asploding For Effect: Magnum Force

In the '70s, when you wanted something blown up, some kid at an SGI workstation simply wasn't an option. You actually had to blow things up. And well, let's face it, there's a gut-punch in the final scene of Magnum Force that's sorely lacking in many of today's big-screen 'splode-'em-ups. Watch and enjoy. Mr. Bay might even learn something about proper explosive punctuation in film.

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More On The Stonking W12 Turbo Golf From Hell

When we ran across the W12 GTI this morning all we had to go on were our rusty German skills. Now we've got, at the very least, a translated press release in hand, as well as more photos of the Rabbit with the heart of a Continent(al). The mid-mounted engine is longitudinal, for added Countach-type radness, and it scoots to 100 km/h in 3.7 seconds. And who doesn't want a Golf that'll top 200? We want one. We want one very, very much. More, in fact, than we want a golden bust of Peter DeLuise fro

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Transformers Movie Update: Sector Seven Video Gives Nod To Dinobots, Insecticons, Lazerbeak And Generation One Bumblebee

Looks like the folks doing marketing for the new live-action Transformers movie are enjoying tweaking some of the fan-boys with these hidden easter egg movies on the SectorSeven.org game site for the movie. You can only get into the site via a code embedded in the trailer we saw earlier. Once you submit, you're treated to some exclusive video including some nods to a bunch of Generation One fun — including everyone's favorite robot that transforms into a T-Rex, an Insecticon, a certain Lazer-li

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Welcome To Oaktown: Mildly Donked Skylark

At the Oakland Coliseum BART station yesterday, we spied this '69 Buick Skylark sitting proudly by itself in the parking lot. Not so much a donk as a car heavily influenced by donkism (and Oakland, proud home of 2 $hort, is certainly on the leading edge of donkitude, what with the box Caprices teetering on absurd-diameter wheels you see towering over traffic around here), this Skylark actually looks halfway decent with the treatment...

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Transformers Movie Update: Final Theater Trailer Hits The Web...We Just Had A Robogasm

I have...no...words. See for yourself. It's...well...it's beautiful. Screen caps below and we'll have the high-res HD version up shortly.

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So Effing Great We Can't See Straight: Golf-Bodied 928!

Up until 20 minutes ago, if you would have asked us what the coolest car we'd seen all day was, we would have answered, "The 650 hp mid-engined GTI Davey G did a post about." However, reader Ed D has has changed all that. Behold! The ultimate sleeper, well, ever. Yes, they took one of our very favorite cars (that, by the way, will probably be showing up in the Fantasy Garage) and quite literally stretched a Mk1 Golf's body around it. All the glass is custom and we would imagine it (maybe) weighs

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Fore! 650hp VW Golf

It's time to bread us like schnitzel, change our name to Hartmut and toss us off the poop deck of the Admiral Graf Spee, because this thing is absolutely hoontastic. The Herren und Damen over at Auto Zeitung have a bit on this absolutely insane mid-engined, twin-turbo W12 Golf show car built by VW. The absolutely starkers hatch follows in the grand tradition of the Renault R5 Turbo, one of our all-time favorite cars, but adds a sleekness to the package that we really like. A sterling, sterling e

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Never Mind The $4 Per Gallon, Here's The Summer Road Trips!

I'm old enough to remember when gas went over $1.00 a gallon during the Iran/Iraq war. I also remember during the roaring Reagan 80s when gas prices would occasionally dip below $1.00 per. Suddenly, the old man would make the dog drink unleaded. "It's cheaper than water!" He'd yell as he began splashing the stuff over my Lucky Charms. During the first Gulf War when gas spiked to over $2.00 a gallon, the old man would say, "Well, as a percentage of our income, gas is cheaper than it ever was."

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Does Chevy Need A Four-Door Corvette?

It's a fait accompli Aston Martin and Porsche are launching a pair of low-slung, coupe-like sedans — the Rapide and Panamera, respectively — and whispers of a similar BMW peaked on arrival of the company's CS concept. Does that mean a new sub-class of touring sedan will be the latest must-have for sport-minded automakers? Probably. But a four-door Corvette? This week, Automotive News's Rick Kranz makes a case for Chevrolet to join the four-door coupe soiree by limo-izing its signature sports car

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Victor Muller Steps Down As Spyker CEO

We've made no bones about the fact that we genuinely like Spyker Cars re-founder Victor Muller. He's a friendly, humble guy who comes across as a no-shitter in a sea of egotists and pipe-dreamers, even if he himself is a dreamer. But he's a dreamer in the best possible way. He got the company off the ground and before he announced that he's stepping down as CEO on May 21st to focus on design and branding, he managed to spearhead a number of projects, getting a pack of attention-grabbing exotics

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Audi Clubsport Quattro: It's Official

Audi's released the full monte on its new Clubsport Quattro concept, the company's TT-based take on the Porsche 356 speedster. We know now the color is Daytona Grey, the clock and odometer have been omitted in keeping with the car's underlying purist philosophy, and the engine has no plastic cover. High-res photos below. Oh, and then there's this: "[The Clubsport Quattro] remains a TT on the one hand, while at the same time demonstrating just what is possible with such a fascinating production v

By Mike Spinelli Read More

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Greatest Barn Find Evar! 1938 Bugatti Type 57C Atalante Coupe

Okay, not gonna lie, we're unabashed vintage Bugatti fans here at the Jalop. Given the era of their birth, they are invariably the fastest, most beautiful, most perfectly crafted and most utterly desirable cars in the collector's stratosphere. That said, at no time in history was an automaker so akin to an übermensch as was Bugatti during the 1930's. The storied Type 57 chassis was the fruit of experimentation by Jean Bugatti, the ill fated prodigal son. From this platform came some of the m

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Special Edition Commodore SVZ Ute And Wagon

Behold, the next El Camino. Ok, maybe not — but Holden's dropping a not-so-special special edition of its Brick House Commodore ute and wagon. This bad boy's called the SVZ, and it's the second model year for this variant edition with the executive trim level as its base. If you're in the land of Mick Dundee, you'll be able to get the ute-version of this chromium variant cover purple people-eater in a six-speed manny tranny from $29,990 and in a five-speed auto transmission from $30,990 — with

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Transformers Movie Update: Bumblebee Sure Looks Like A Bad-Ass!

We've got some more press shots of the upcoming live-action Transformers movie, and a couple of them are pretty spectatcular — like our boy Bumblebee looking pretty bad-ass. In addition there's also a great shot that yet again proves that Optimus Prime looks pretty lame with lips. We're just sayin'...

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Saleen Retires From Saleen

Founder and Vice-Chairman of Saleen Motorsports Steve Saleen has officially retired from the company's executive team. Steve Saleen is shown here with Carrol Shelby, and series sweeping SCCA Mustang driver Rick Titus. Mr. Saleen himself will continue on as the Ambassador of the Saleen brand in order to help prevent any possible spins. Press release after the jump.

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Montenegro Po-Po Snow Job

Coming out of Albania after the notorious Commander Kokolari escort incident, Michael Ross put the hammer to the floor of the Polizei M5 and took us down toward the Adriatic, which may well have been the most breathtaking bit of a trip full of face-melting, soul-widdling vistas. Coming into the city of Budva, a 2,500 year-old-burg on the coast, Mister Ross was laying on the throttle while Herr Roy alternated through horn, emergency lights, siren and navigation duties. Then the cops showed up.

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What's Your Personal Best?

All this talk of Collins and Rawlings maybe setting the Cannonball record got us thinking. We remember reading in Wilt Chamberlain's epic auto-bio Above the Rim that in addition to having sex with 20,000 women, he also drove from New York to Los Angeles in a Countach in about 33 hours. Wilt the Hoon Stilt claims when Dave Heinz and Dave Yarborough broke his record with a time of 32 hours and 52 minutes, they cheated because there were two of them. We just want to know how a 7-foot tall man fit i

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Details Leak Out On Bullitt Edition Mustang's Unimpressive Horsepower

Well, from what we've seen of the next variant Mustang from FoMoCo from the time spent at the "Showcase of the Future" event at the end of last year, it's certainly going to look like a hot little green stallion (obvs not the same as the one above). Unfortunately, as the horse whisperers over at Mustang Evolution found out, the horsepower's nothing for Steve McQueen to write home about. We're talking 312 colts under the hood of that pony. That means if Mustang Evolution's numbers are correct,

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Bugatti Veyron 16.4

"The most pointless exercise on the planet has got to be this four-wheel-drive 1000 horsepower Bugatti. I think it's incredibly childish this thing people have about just one element—top speed or standing kilometre or 0-60. It's about as narrow minded as you can get as a car designer to pick on one element. It's like saying we're going to beat the original Mini because we're going to make a car 10 mph faster on its top speed—but it's two foot longer and 200 kilos heavier. That's not car designin

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Down On The Street: Cimarron d'Oro!

After spotting the super-awesome Opera Light Van the other day, I've been keeping my weather eye open (and low-end cameraphone ready) for similar finds: parked vehicles that look mundane at first glance but reveal themselves to be something much more upon closer inspection. Likesay this '84 Cadillac Cimarron d'Oro...

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It's CL-Obbering Time: Brabus SV12 S Biturbo Coupe

The engineers at Brabus, whom we hear laugh maniacally while performing outlandish feats of speed in overclocked Mercedes iron, have turned their attention to the Mercedes CL-Class. The result is the Brabus SV12 S Biturbo Coupe, a 730-hp sleeper with a top speed of 211 mph and enough torque, at 973 lb-ft, to turn the Loisach River back toward the Bavaria Alps. They've done it at drill point, increasing displacement of the CL's 5.5-liter V12 to 6.3 liters. Other mods include larger turbos, higher

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Did Rawlings And Collins Break The Transcontinental Record?

"Cannon Ball" Baker

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Texas Duo Claims To Have Broken 1979 Cannonball NYC To LA Run

Bearded Bullrun impresario Richard Rawlings and co-pilot Dennis Collins claim to have broken the famous 1979 Cannonball Run time from New York City to Los Angeles of 32 hours and 51 minutes. According to a release, the two bet rival Jay Riecke they could beat the time in their 2007 Bullrun entry, a black Ferrari 550 (pictured below the jump), modified with extra fuel cells. The final time is a claimed 31 hours and 59 minutes, which has yet to be independently verified. Rawlings and Collins a

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GMA Knows Cerberus Is Not A Car Company

ABC's Good Morning America knows that Cerberus isn't a car company, so they're quick to point the obvious fact out this morning in their coverage of the unwinding of the "merger of equals." Because they're a private equity company in addition to never manufacturing a vehicle before, it means they're looking at making some money on this whole venture (as opposed to what traditional US auto manufacturers have more or less been submitting on earnings forms for the past couple of years) doing one of

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Jalopnik Crystal Ball: Where Will Chrysler Be In 9 Years?

Nine long years ago when Daimler seemingly out of nowhere snatched up Chrysler, minds began reeling. My father, who was still freaked out about German reunification, thought that the Germans owning Jeep was the third sign of the apocalypse. Word on the street was that Daimler was hungry for the soft and bountiful teat of SUV-crazed America. And everyone cried a little bit when they killed Plymouth. Then, suddenly, came word of the 300C and Magnum. Suddenly, Daimler was here to save America from

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The Votes Are In: Phaeton, Out!

"Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide." – John Adams

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Lasorda E-Mail On The Unmerger Of Equals

More news from the top on the de-Americanization of the German-American hybrid. Chrysler CEO, Tom Lasorda has followed Dieter with an e-mail of his own, but with less management speak and more nitty-gritty. The shocker here is that Tom tells us there are no further cuts planned and no interruption in the UAW contracts. What? Cerberus will have to actually reorganize the company and make it functional? Weird. He also touches on the topic of DaimlerChrysler Financial, which will apparently be spli

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The American Dream: Bi-Belvedere +Serro Scotty Tailgate Party

Eating burned meat while sweating on an asphalt lot in East Oakland... aaah, this is the life! Well, if you have a pair of Plymouth Belvederes and a vintage Serro Scotty trailer to go with your cauterized bovine flesh and fermented barley beverages, you know you're doing it right. We spotted this setup while tailgating out of a much less exciting '88 Toyota truck/'97 Crown Vic tailgating rig before the A's/Indians game last Saturday, and were appropriately green with envy...

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Corporate Unmerger Of E-Mails: Dieter Style

Hot on the heels of the announcement that the merger of equals will become a partial-ownership-but-mostly-sale-of-no-longer-equals comes an e-mail from Grand Master Mustache Dieter Zetsche to his beloved employees. Something about "toughest thing I've done in my professional career" and "Chrysler will be more agile and flexible"... and then my eyes glazed over. No word on how Cerberus will make Chrysler more flexible, but like I said, I didn't read it too close. It could have said everybody

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More On The Saab 9-3 Facelift — Official Reveal

More shots of the new Saab 9-3 have arrived on the i-spot on occasion of the new car's official reveal. As mentioned last week, the newly nipped and tucked mask — lifted from the Aero X concept — could be the least-significant change to GM's neglected Swede, what with that new Haldex AWD system with e-diff and turbo V6 upgrades said to be on the way. More officialities, after the jump.

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Nelson's Balkan Campaign: Athens To Tirana

For once on the Gumball, I woke up in a bed. After a long day's journey into night and Athens, Herr Roy decided he wanted to be as close as possible to the M5 and booked a block of rooms at the Sofitel in Athens, rather than taking his room at the Hilton. A French cameraman was booked into the M5 for the day, riding rear-seat shotgun next to a spare wheel and Ross and Roy's excess baggage. Alex texted me to invite me down for breakfast with Fly and Jarod DeAnda. The morning was quiet and jovial,

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Spy Photos: Cadillac Escalade Hybrid?

Way back in early '06 — following a year during which ten billion samoleans took flight from GM's balance sheet — the company's capo Rick Wagoner said a hybrid version of the Cadillac Escalade was on the way for 2008. Heavy snickering ensued, followed by cries the company was pandering to a shallow, Hollywoodland vision of environmental correctness. Nonetheless, according to Automotive News, said duplicitous 'sclade will go on sale in the fall of 2007, sporting a hybrid transmission built by All

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Behold The Mumbo: Holden EFIJY Concept

First introduced in 2005, the Holden EFIJY has managed to fly under the Jalopnik radar — until now. Er, actually, until last night when we brought you some photos of it parked next to Chevy's Camaro Convertible Concept at Bob's Big Boy in Burbank. Well, in truth, the Postfather reported on the EFIJY back in October of 2005. A fact which only Davey would remember. Still, cars this bonkers deserve more virtual ink. At Bob's, friendly GM PR person Julie managed to track down a flash drive loaded wi

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Travels With Commander Kokolari

After a grueling drive from Athens with the Gumball crew, I grabbed three hours of sleep on top of a bathrobe laid down on a hardwood floor in Team Polizei's room at the Tirana Sheraton. The next morning, we were up and at 'em in the face of a cool rain-threatening Albanian morning. Max Cooper informed us that the people of Albania had rebuilt a bridge in anticipation of Gumball's passage and we'd receive a police escort to the border. We headed outside and Herr Roy immediately got to work movin

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The General Comes To Town: Camaro Convertible Concept At Bob's Big Boy

Here's the skinny: Every Friday night the Bob's Big Boy restaurant in Burbank plays host to a car show. 99% of which is finely (and not so finely) tuned American muscle of all stripes from decades past. The other 1% is a Triumph with a Ferrari badge. No, really. General Motors decided to stop by and show off it's one-off yet soon to be in mass produced Camaro Convertible concept. And Chevy's new head-turner brought some friends. To the left of the reborn pony car was the one and only Holden EFIJ

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Bullrun 2007: Paris Hilton's A No-Show In Montreal!

We didn't see her last night at the pre-party, and now we're hearing TMZ's reporting that Paris won't be here for the kick-off of the 2007 Bullrun. Apparently that doesn't exclude her from the rest of the stops in the rally, but she won't be here in Montreal today. While we're somewhat ambivalent, we know all of you probably have something you want to add.

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Bullrun 2007: What Will Wert Drive?

Ok, we saw what Nicholas and Annabelle's whip'll be — but that's only two seats. How am I going to provide the full width and breadth of pageantry and lifestyle coverage you're expecting? Well — as I've never always said — if you're gonna ride, you've got to ride in playa' style. Because with this bad boy, I'll be covering the Bullrun from one helluva odd place — last place. But whatevs, I'll do it as ostentatiously as humanely possible, because that's what I'll be rolling in, and be the team

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Cue The Dave Alvin And Stoke The Flathead: The Pea Soup Andersen's Dragster!

We have an argument with the significant other. While we agree on the greatness of Californiana and think that genuine California writing is dismissed and underserved despite the fact that the majority of the way the world views the United States is often filtered through the poppy-littered, mountains-to-the-sea, Tulare-dusted property, she can't get behind the apparent grammatical incorrectness of Pea Soup Andersen's, insisting that it couldn't be anything but "Andersen's Pea Soup." When intern

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Honda Hydrogen FCX Coming In 2008!

We told you about Honda's impending FCX Concept by at the Los Angeles Auto Show and how they wanted to start selling it here by 2008. Well guess what? They weren't fooling. The new and improved Hindenburg hydrogen fuel cell vehicle will be hitting both our shores and Japan in 2008. Where do you get the hydrogen? That's the beauty part – anywhere. Ben Knight, Honda's vice president of research in the Americas says that hydrogen can, "be derived from a broad range of sources, including methane or

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Replace Wheel Bearings

Automobile wheels spin round thanks to the miracle of wheel bearings. The bearings themselves contain rollers that spin around inside a cage. Wheel bearings are often tapered against the coned races in which they spin in order to handle the lateral forces placed against the wheels when the vehicle turns. Given the right grease and care, most wheel bearings should roll without complaint for 100,000 miles or more. Neglected bearings will tell another tale.

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Cosmic Mazdaness, 1980 Style

So here we got this sultry babe glaring at the camera, and then she's driving this '80 Cosmo on the beach, and then she bites this flower and throws it away in disgust and it turns into a flurry of petals. We're a little puzzled, but hey- it's all about mystery when you're driving a Ca-Zoo-Mo!

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Thirty Opera Lights + Dodge Van = Right On

Something unusual about this parked van caught my eye as I strolled past, but it took a second to figure out what was the deal. Then, of course, it became clear: someone had cleaned out every junkyard in the area of 70s Detroit land-barge opera lights and installed them all on his Dodge van (apologies for the crapola camera-phone shots)...

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The Inverse Of Alexander: Istanbul To Athens

A Phyrgian king had bound a chariot yoke/And Alexander cut the Gordian Knot/And legend said that who untied that knot/He would become the Master of Asia

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Super Salty: 123 MPH Subaru Justy

Can your penalty box go 123.224 mph with a destroked one-liter engine? Didn't think so. Back in the late 1980s, a wonderful gang of engineers began tweaking a less-than-2000-lbs. Subaru Justy to set the Class I Production World Speed Record. The first problem they ran into was that the rules stipulated a maximum engine size of 1000 cc. The stock, US-spec Justy sported a (relatively) massive 1.2-liter three-cylinder mill. So they replaced the crankshaft and rods with the 1.0-liter parts from Japa

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Renault: Born From Tanks

With Saab's "born from jets" ad campaign attempting to convince buyers that badge-engineered Opels are really just as cool as Mach 2 fighter planes, we find ourselves wishing Kaiser still made cars so they could have a "born from huge oceangoing freighters" campaign. But no matter- Renault's got everyone beat with the great-great-grandpappy of every Renault on the street today: the FT-17 tank. With production starting in late 1917, the FT-17 was so revolutionary (the first tank to have its canno

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Mo' Money, Mo' Power: Steeda Boosts The Ford Mustang GT500 To 600 Hp!

Why is it that Mustang-lovers keep looking at dropping even more horses underneath the hood of the Shelby GT500? What, is 500 hp just not enough for you? We guess not — which is why the Mustang-tuners at Steeda are letting you drop off your GT500 and in return you'll get a brand new 'stang ready to play in the pony car wars — the Steeda Ford Mustang GT500. Your newly tuned GT500 gets a performance boost from the "base" 500 slapped together by the SVT team to a whopping 600 horses via a Pro-F

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Aluminum Und... Command Seating Position? Range Rover To Get Light

Years ago, just hours before purchasing my first Cherokee, I strolled across the street to the Land Rover dealership. Not that it was within my price range, but the Defender 90 was definately worth thinking about. I read the specs. Then I spoke with the salesman, "Hey, how come this Land Rover weighs half a ton more than a Jeep?" He reached behind the counter. "Here," he said while handing me a 16-ounce lug nut. "This is why." His point? Land Rovers are beefy, heavy, over-engineered muthas. Soon

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Audi's Venables Bell Provides More Evidence Of Clueless Automotive Advertising

I've been giving the keynote at a couple of interactive automotive advertising conferences over the past month — trying to give the auto ad folks a perspective from the editorial side of what's going on out here on the internet. One of the things I harp on is how it seems some advertising companies are creating creative and have absolutely no idea what's going on once the creative hits the online media. Don't get me wrong, there's a lot of ad agencies who do "get it." But today I've got yet anot

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The Back Of Beyond: Volkswagen's New Rear-Engined Ride

Seeing as how the ultralux Phaeton didn't work out so hot, the People's Car Company is going to release a new car for – get this – the people. And this new car will have its motivator right where Dr. Porsche intended — in the bum. The versatile wordsmiths at Automobile are claiming a mole buried "deep inside" VeeDub HQ has confirmed that a new ass-engined little car is imminent. For those of us that live in America and other first world countries, two body styles will be offered. One will ape th

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Yet More Fieros Sacrificed On The Kit Car Altar: JISOD 8F402

Really, we're going to start putting good Fieros (i.e., ones with actual Fiero bodies and plenty of horsepower) up real soon, but the can't-stop-staring morbid fascination with the world of hideous faux-talian-supercar Fiero-based kit cars has us hooked on the horror for another day. Here's the JISOD 8F402, a Fiero conversion that's somewhat Ferrari-ish, in the same way that hanging a Playboy air-freshener from your rearview mirror makes you sort of Hugh Hefner-ish. Better move fast if you want

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Oh, What A Feeling — Of Toyota Making Almost $14 Billion In 2006!

Just to give you an idea of how much money we're talking about here (in case you can't wrap your mind around ¥1.64 trillion — $13.7 billion — in profits off of ¥23.94 trillion — $199.5 billion — in net revenues ) when I used to work for the State of Michigan, I remember the state's general fund operating budget was like around $8 billion. That means Toyota made almost twice as much money this past year as the State of Michigan spent on the courts, the legislature, all of the offices of the s

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Audi Robbed Blind: BMW (Nearly) Sweeps International Engine Awards — Again

What's a normally aspirated 4.2-liter direct-injected 420 horsepower V8 with an 8,250 rpm redline gotta do to get a little respect around here? For the ninth year in a row Engine Technology International Magazine has presented their International Engine of the Year Award. In 2005 BMW took down 6 wins, including the (possibly) coveted International Engine of the Year. In 2006, the Bavarians only managed to win 5 awards (Volkswagen's 1.4-liter twin charger jumped up and bit their ankles in the (ma

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General Motors Joins Economic Environmental Partnership

The General's just decided, now that Earth Day's come and gone, to join the "non-partisan" United States Climate Action Partnership (USCAP). USCAP's a partnership of companies and NGO's in all sorts of sectors of the economy that creates recommendations for toward slowing, stopping and reversing the growth of greenhouse gas emissions. Those rec's are based on six principles:

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Schumacher Back On Track

You can take Schumacher out of a racecar, but you can't take Schumacher out of the race. After a very brief retirement from the rigors of the F1 circuit, Schumacher will return as consigliere to the Ferrari F1 team. The seven-time F1 world champ will be available to assist Massa and Raikkonen take the prancing horse to victory. In the unlikely event of driver error, Mr. Schumacher will don a special helmet slapping glove and hold up a sign that says "dumbkoff".

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Audi Eschews Gadgets And Doohickeys For Gizmos To NOT Confuse You

In a backhanded nerd-slap at the competition, Audi told Jean Halliday at Advertising Age that they want luxe car buyers to know the tech stuff they've got in their cars is meant to enhance driving, not complicate it. It's part of a brand campaign being run by Venables Bell, that the highly-precise automaker's taglined "Truth in Technology." Unfortunately, Audi may have inadvertently hit themselves with that nerd-slap because they're 15-second spots with hidden content that you can only see by fa

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Chevy Volt To Reach Roads By 2010?

The last news we heard from the General on the plug-in hybrid Volt was they were having some serious problems with the battery systems — i.e., they hadn't invented them yet. So I guess we're a little dubious of the claim this week made by Automotive News they're eyeballing a 2010 date for a vehicle to hit the streets. We're not so much comforted by the comments made by Larry Burns, GM's veep for R&D, on the subject. Burns claims

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Even If Daimler Doesn't Want It Anymore, Chrysler Still Thinks It's "Engineered Beautifully"

Despite the fact the German side of the German-American hybrid no longer wants anything to do with the 'merican side, the 'mericans are still trying to feel pretty inside. That's why they've released a set of four new ads touting their vehicles as being "engineered beautifully." That phrase apparently is the distillation of the fact that "...at its core, the Chrysler brand stands for stylish products, agile performance, refined quality and the confidence of being proud without being arrogant." W

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Five-Years From Today: What Kind Of Car Do You Want?

As was reported earlier today, gas prices in the United States hit a record. We were going to ask you how much you paid for gas today ($3.69 per over here) but with the exception of the five people that live in Northern California, it is too depressing to hear the rest of you moaning about $3.12 per gallon. because to us out here in LA-LA that stings of the good old days. Anyhow, summer is not even here yet. $5.00 a gallon is nigh. And just like the stock market, gas prices go up, they go down,

By Jonny Lieberman Read More

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Fast As A Shark: East Of Eden: The Fall Of The Gumball 3000

Alex Roy, Gumball organizer Julie Brangstrup and Michael Ross just before the cars are released at at the airport in Athens.

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Audi RS4 Gets New Paint Job, We Yawn

Seriously Audi — you're better than this. I mean for real, this is so something we expect to see from the General, not so much the highly precise automaker. That's because we have an expectation of the requirement of the issuance of a press release on a new color from the sometimes-number-one automaker because it's such a big and lumbering beast of burden — so even the smallest change in direction's got to be trumpeted up and down the block. But we don't expect the Teutonic knights of Bruce to

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Porsche Releases New 911 Turbo Drop-Top

The 911 was first given the 997 series designation with the 2004 2004 release of the 2005 model year redesign, and as expected, the new-for-2008 model of the Porshe's iconic convertible won't be the start of a new designation, nor will it receive much in the way of new styling for the upcoming year when it hits "the starting line" on September 8th. The main changes appear to be similar to the new-look of the coupé version — that is, a larger air intake on the front-end, some new front and rear

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2009 Opel Vectra?

The folks over at WorldCarFans have captured some more pics of what they're claiming is the next Opel Vectra, and it's certainly got what looks to be some serious Camry-action going on in the front grille. According to the folks at the site that's for the fan of cars from across the world:

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Gumball 3000 Organizers Answer Team Polizei With Their Own PR Salvo

The folks running the sticky and gooey road rally are firing back at Team Polizei after they were taken to task over the lack of information provided to the rally participants about the deadly crash in Macedonia. Team Polizei claimed they received no information on the crash at a team meeting the next morning despite rumors swirling of just such an incident. The key note here would be that The G-Ball 3000 leadership doesn't refute the comments made by T.P. — instead merely stating that they wa

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Morley Released On Bail, Tries To Flee Macedonia In Private Jet, Arrested Again

Oh god, not more Gumball news...ok, let's try to give you a recap. Nick Morley, the driver of the car which reportedly fled the scene after causing an old Macedonian man to have a "heart attack" and die, thus causing his wife to die of grief (look, we're romantics, so let us romanticize, k?), thus causing the Gumball 3000 organizers to try to cover up the shameful display of emotion, was released on bail earlier today. Morley, the brother of a big UK real estate developer, then tried to snag a

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Team Polizei Takes On Gumball 3000's Maximillion Cooper Over Hit-And-Run Coverup

We've been covering the Gumball 3000 and the recent tragedy in Macedonia in a way that may seem to paint the cross-European rally, and all others, with a brush that may be a bit too wide. There are some very cool and very good people who participated in this rally, like our friends at Team Polizei, who appear to run the rally in both good humor and in a way that's safe. These are people looking to have fun and play a role in something cool — they're not seriously treating it like an honest-to-

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Transformers Movie Update: Michael Bay Forum Reports Optimus Prime WILL Have Lips

It looks like there's now a definitive answer on the question of "will he or won't he" when it comes to giving Prime the lips that whatever robotic god never wanted him to have over the past however many years he's been around. TFW2005's pointed us to their scoop on everyone's favorite Autobot leader via Nelson over on the Shoot For The Edit forum. He's saying:

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BMW Releases 2008 5 Series

BMW's just released the deets on their new-for-2008 5 Series, and we now know what we've already known — 2009's going to be the big refresh for the mid-size luxe sedan and wagon from the folks at Bayerische Motoren Werke. 2008's kind of "meh," with the only real changes in looks we're seeing from last year's model are some slight changes to the skirt-bound air intakes as well as to the headlights, dashboard and interior design. Otherwise, this Bangle-baby's pretty darn similar to the '06 mod

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Mercedes Drops Top On SLR McLaren Roadster

You've seen the spy shots, now we've got it live and in full effect...via press shots. Yup, it's not in person, but seeing the 626 hp drop-top in the PR pics is still better than the spy photos. And why wouldn't it be? With its AMG V8 compressor engine this 'vert promises all the McLaren-y goodness of the coupe (minus a few extra mph on the top end) while still giving you the opportunity to listen to highly precise German folk music bubbling up through the BOSE sound system with the wind whipp

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And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Parts: Replace Struts - Part 2

Last week we got down with the strut in MacPherson and said hello to the spring compressor. This week we'll finish things off and put it all back together.

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Plymouth Rapid Transit System Brochure

While modern automakers try to infuse us with computer generated images of brush strokes morphing into luxury cars or show us smarmy future executives happily tossing their light blues and khakis out of the window on their way out of town, they seem to have long and truly forgotten something. Driving is supposed to be wicked fun - and budget performance counts. To think that Plymouth had an entire system of budget minded performance machines in 1970, yet went out with a mere breeze thirty years

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1985 Fiero GT, Now With Burning Hot V6!

Of all the forehead-slapping what-might-have-been heartbreakers perpetrated by The General over the years, the Fiero really stands out. Undermined by the bean-counters' insistence on the Iron Duke engine and Chevette-based suspension, the Fiero that was grunted out of the factory in '84 bore little resemblance to the Ferrari-esque vision of its designers. For the '85 model year, however, a (somewhat flammable) 140-horse V6 was available, boosting performance from "sluggish" all the way up to "no

By Murilee Martin Read More

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"Scumball 3000" Is Not The Scummy Gumball 3000 — Enter The "Dumball 3000"

We've been informed via e-mail by the folks who are Good with wood in the UK that they've got their own uses for the term "Scumball." Therefore let us now name this little race the "Dumball 3000" — or at least until a point in which the unknown official holders of that particular trademark feel we've infringed upon it in some unknowing way. Full text of the e-mail we received early this AM after the jump. And remember, it's all Scotto's fault anyway.

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Scumball 3000 Shows Us What The Scene Of A Heart Attack Looks Like

Yup, looks like the old man died of a heart attack to us. I mean, come on — I'd be scared of excitement if I were driving around in Macedonia and saw a TechArt Porsche too! [Hat tip to Mr4Runner!]

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Scumball 3000 Press Release, Take Two

OK, after the Gumball 3000 insinuated a man in a car crash died of a heart attack — it looks like they're ready to try this one again. Second press release after the jump.

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Scumball 3000 Absolves Drivers Of Wrong-Doing...May Be Living In Dream World

The Gumball 3000 has finally issued a statement. If you can't get to it — we've also included it here:

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Drive And Learn: Bridgestone Horse Track Tire Party

A late season rain storm rolled into sunny Los Angeles a few Fridays ago, just in time for us to go down to the Santa Anita race track and blow our meager earnings on the ponies slide around on wet autocross course set up in the parking lot of the San Gabriel Valley horse track. Only a few journalists were on hand for the event which was largely attended by tire distributors and shop owners. The lot of us got to sit under a tent and learn a few things about tires before driving.

By Mike Bumbeck Read More

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Soccer Thugs Don't Disappoint: Liverpool Hero Jose "Pepe" Reina's Cayenne Stolen, Hooned And Burned

Ah, Liverpool. Not to cast aspersions, but we figure the odds of the burglars who pulled this off being mustachioed, clad in cheap track suits, on the dole while living with mum are better than 90%. What happened: Pepe saved two goals, which allowed Liverpool to triumph over rival Chelsea in the Champions League semi-finals, setting up an epic rematch against AC Milan in three weeks. Meanwhile, back at his home, some perps broke in, robbed the joint, stole his Porsche Cayenne, hooned it around t

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Nick Morley Given "30 Days Temporary Detention" In Gumball 3000 Fatal Hit-And-Run

This news is coming in fast and furious on the story of the two Brit Gumball 3000 drivers involved in the fatal hit-and-run we've been reporting on hot and heavy over the past few hours. We've now got news that:

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A Cobra For Care Bears: Mallett V8 Pitbull Solstice

Ever since Maximum Bob took the wraps off his Solstice gearheads nationwide, as they are wont to do, have been dreaming about shoving a V8 under the bonnet. Of course the fact that the right wheel drive Solstice is built off the C6's frame rails might have had something to do with that. Mallet Cars, Ltd. was the first to pull off this trick on a wide scale when they released their LS2 Solstice. Right, they crammed a 6.0-liter LS2 engine in the kinda small Solstice. They even got an LS7 engine to

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Gumball 3000 Race Organizers Attempting To Cover Up Hit-And-Run

According to posters on the official site of the Gumball 3000 race, they've now shut down the forum and stopped answering questions about the Nick Morley and Matthew McConville hit-and-run accident we reported on earlier. One source told us over IM:

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Six Is For Peasants: ZF Unveils 8-Speed Automatic

When the Bangled 7-series dropped just a few short years ago (2002), one of its high-tech highlights was the world's first 6-speed automatic by transmission maker to the stars, ZF. Shortly after the Bimmer dropped, Jaguar, Audi, Bentley, Land Rover and Ford (in their Australia only RWD Falcon) adopted the smooth and torque hungry slushbox. But then Mercedes-Benz came out with a 7-speed auto. Worse, Lexus scooped everyone with an 8-speed. For all those fancy marquees a 6-speed automatic ain't goi

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Gumballers Nick Morley And Matthew McConville Arrested After Hit-And-Run Fatality

We've been covering the Gumball 3000 up to this point with good cheer, and we'd hoped it would stay that way. Unfortunately, sometimes when you mix high-powered vehicles with the double dose of stupid — adrenalin and lack of sleep — bad things can happen. Like what appears to have happened with Nick Morley and Matthew McConville who according to a report from Metro.co.uk

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Breaking Even: CNBC's Phil LeBeau "Causes" Accident In Front Of GM World Headquarters!

The message the General's giving on their earnings is that the NorAm operational net losses were only $46 million, an amount Rick Wagoner said this morning live on CNBC was "essentially breaking even." OK, that's a total load of crap — especially considering the automaker has sold more cars globally during the first quarter than ever before. Given that, one would assume they'd have to find a way to actually sell some cars here in NorAm to make some money — instead of producing 192,000 less — or

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The Renault Scnic Conquest: An MPV With Off-Roading Style?

Although the "Conquest" version of Renault's little Sc nic MPV was introduced at the Geneva Motor Show, we're just getting our first chance to take a gawk at this little people mover. It's what Renault's calling a "car designed with leisure pursuits and the great outdoors in mind. Its bold styling resembles that of an off-roader." The key word there is "resembles" because although it's got a greater ground clearance and suspension than the standard Sc nic, those aluminum alloy wheels give away

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No Way Of The Day: GM Records First Quarter...Profits?!

For serious. Everyone's favorite lovable and huggable automaker that's the world's biggest second-biggest sometimes-biggest just reported their first quarter numbers and it's kinda a big deal so far — mostly because it's a profit of $62 million over a revenue of $43.9 billion! For reals, at least according to the press release, which we've handily included after the jump. Oh and it's just preliminary so they've got like, whatever, a year to get it right later.

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Snakes For A Car?

Attention Hollywood directors, file this idea in your list of movie ideas for Sammy L. The infamous snake-killer could very well be interested in this man from London, Ontario who's decided he needs "a new vehicle." But since the only thing he's got is $3500 in camera gear and — err — what appears to be a bunch of snakes. Seriously — snakes for a car. We're at a loss here ourselves. Full ad is filed for your amusement below the jump. [Hat tip to Hoser Dave!]

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We Gotcher Oil Company Rat Cheer: Biofuel Oasis

It's easy to make fun of Berkeley- hell, I'm in Berkeley right now and it's taking all the willpower I can muster not to scorch everyone's ears off with a profanity-studded rant about hypocrisy- but here's a Berkeley crew that's not only talking the renewable-fuels talk but walking the walk as well. You can now drive your 600,000-mile beater Mercedes diesel- no doubt plastered with BIODIESEL - NO WAR REQUIRED stickers, plus that one about the Air Force having a bake sale- up to a pump and fill '

By Murilee Martin Read More

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Ad Watch: Mike Rowe Continues To Make Jokes, Shill For Ford Trucks

Mike Rowe continues his Dirty Job of shilling for Ford trucks in the newest ad from FoMoCo, which we think may be called "This Is Bill." Whatevs, it's actually a fairly entertaining ad talking up the NHTSA crash test ratings of the new F-150 and the truck's five-star crash rating. Not that they're picking on the recent not-so-great crash test ratings of one automaker's new hauler in particular, right? I mean, they're probably just sayin'... Anyway, full press release from FoMoCo after the jump.

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Bluetooth For Engine Tuners

Innovate Motorsports has teamed up with BradaTech to keep cable clutter from tangling up engine tuning. Bluetooth adapters are now available for the entire range of Innovate tuning products. Running air-fuel ratio signal from wide band O2 or other sensors and data from test runs can be dumped wirelessly onto a PC or Pocket PC. With a 100 foot range one could theoretically even log data from another vehicle. Drilling crazy holes through the firewall and cabins that look like the inside of ENIAC

By Mike Bumbeck Read More

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Bad April: Toyota, GM And Ford Sales Go Down

Everyone saw it coming. Even Bob Lutz. The reasons are myriad. An implosion in the housing market, consumers laden with more debt than ever, gasoline prices that are not going down and no super interesting models for dealers to sell have all conspired to tank April sales amongst the nouvelle Big Three. Even Toyota "We Will Crush You" Motor Company's sales fell by 4.4%. And this is after rising 11.7% to pass the General in March. Ford's down 12.9% vs. a year ago. Which is bad. Even the perennial

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We Will Bury You! The ZIL-111

While Ladas and Zastavas were all fine and good for the workers, the big shots rolled in a ZIL. The company was born as ZIS at the hands of the Fathers of the USSR - including but not limited to Stalin himself. The Post-Stalinist ZIL brought American styling cues into the mix with the likes of Yuri Gagarin and Nikita Kruschev waving from the drop top. Current Russian President Vladimir Putin rolled into the 2001 G8 Summit in a restored ZIL-111, but did not take off any shoes.

By Mike Bumbeck Read More

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Hell Roads: The Dreaded Nimitz Freeway

In my family, the freeway named after Admiral Chester Nimitz is always referred to as "The Dreaded Nimitz." The stretch nearest the Martin ancestral villa- let's say between the San Leandro border and the Bay Bridge- looms as a car-and-human-parts-strewn nightmare of potholes, 18-wheelers piloted by drivers at the tail ends of 3,000-mile amphetamine runs, heavily-armed drunks, and road-ragers. You'll find speeds ranging from 20 to 110 in the same traumatized stretch of choppy asphalt; on- and of

By Murilee Martin Read More

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That New Car Stench

• Such a sense of entitlement for someone who drive illegally for over three years. [fefyfomanna] • Holy shit, it's a Spider Car. No really, it's a Spider, with eight legs and everything. [Random Good Stuff] • Someone takes car of their car! [Sara with no H] • Make that two someones! [Jason Whong] • The "new car smell" metaphor applied to software programmi— zzzzzzzzzzzzz......oops, sorry. Damned narcolepsy. [Simon Morris]

By Ray Wert Read More

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Crowning The King Of 1970: Buick GSX Vs Chevy Chevelle SS. Vs Olds 442 Vs Pontiac GTO Judge

Yes friends, we're here to talk muscle cars. We absolutely need a ride (or two) for the porterhouse steak and french fry set. But as you know, we've got just 50 spots in our +10 Garage of Fantasy, so we need to choose with care. First we have to eliminate some contenders. So let's pick a year. 1970 seems like a nice round number. More than being round though, 1970 was the apex of not only muscle cars themselves, but of the muscle car era. Gas was $0.36 per gallon. 40,000 troops are to be pulled

By Jonny Lieberman Read More

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Chevrolet Launches "Build Your Own Chevy Autobot" Site

Chevy's getting into the Transformers movie action whole hog today, letting their Autobot-loving site go live with an opportunity to win tickets to the premiere by designing your own "Good Guy" robot. If Chevy's gonna be the "Good Guy" in this here battle, we're still wondering who'd be playing the "Bad Guy" robot in a sandbox fight with them — FoMoCo's movie-Mustang notwithstanding.

By Ray Wert Read More

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Question Of The Day: Worst Car Hack You've Ever Seen?

Over the weekend I got a call from a friend who'd just bought a slightly funky early-90s Tercel for cheap. "It's a nice car, only something's wrong with the radio. Can you take a look?" I have a stash of a few factory Toyota cassette decks sitting around- the remnants of my City Tow buy/fix/sell Tercel period- and Toyota was considerate enough to use a slick 4-screw mounting setup for their radio mounts during this era, so what the hell. "Sure, bring it over," I told her. "Probably take ten minu

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