Archive for September 2007

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News (232)

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    2009 Cadillac CTS-V

    We had an opportunity to drive the new 2008 Cadillac CTS the other day at a GM event out in Milford at the General's test center. While we were impressed with the ride, interior and the performance — it still had us wanting for more power. Specifically, we wanted to know what a V-series of Caddy's newest entry-level sedan would be like. It now looks like we'll be waiting until 2009 to see the new Cadillac CTS-V. At least that's what we're to understand in the following spy report and shots f

    By Ray Wert Read More
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    BMW 1-Series Convertible, Full Press Kit

    A more artsy sort might call the above series of photos "triptych in B minor." We're just calling it part of the press kit released this week for the BMW 1 Series convertible. We've uploaded the full monty for your viewing, drooling or skewering pleasure. Whatever you think of the newest small BMW droptop or its hardtop sibling, we know that by mid-2008 we'll be dodging the daughters of the well heeled, as they attempt to dab on mascara, work their Sidekicks and steer these four-wheeled tanning

    By Mike Spinelli Read More
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    BMW 1-Series Convertible Revealed, To Hit The US In 2008

    BMW says the droptop version of its coming entry coupe, the 1 Series, will reach the US in spring 2008. Like its hardtop brother in coupidity, the convertible will come in 128i and twin-turbo 135i (to go on sale later in the year) models. The top can be raised in 22 seconds at speeds of up to 25 miles per hour and turbulence can be reduced by way of an optional wind deflector. Yes, the little bugger has iDrive, albeit with new programmable memory keys. Press release after the jump. [via Autovisi

    By Mike Spinelli Read More
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    Ethanol will not make cars "greener." Period. [Economist]

    By Ray Wert Read More
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    Safe Sells: Nissan Introduces Latest Advanced Safety Vehicle

    The Nissan boffins in Tokyo have introduced a new version of the ongoing safety-vehicle test bed. It's the ASV-4, based on a car we know in the US as the Infiniti M35 (aka Nissan Fuga). They've upped the tech ante, adding vehicle-to-vehicle communications that can alert a driver of potential threats to their motoring safety. Of course, the major limitation is that the vehicles must all be fitted with Nissan's own nav system. But should Nissan-on-Nissan action get too hot on the interstates, we t

    By Mike Spinelli Read More
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    Mazda Teams With Facebook To Find Designer Of The "2018 Mazda3"

    What will a Mazda3 look like in the year 2018? If you said something like "rotary-powered pinecone," you may have what it takes to win a new contest. Mazda's turning to Facebook to find new design talent as part of the Mazda Design Challenge. Contestants have to submit a 150-word description of their vision of the 2018 Mazda3, and an optional sketch. The winner will work with the counterintuitively American Franz von Holzhausen, director of Mazda Design in North America and his team to build a c

    By Mike Spinelli Read More
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    UAW local leaders are already in their morning meeting to get their first official look at the deal penned by their leadership and GM. Those meetings are expected to be over around noon. Want to bet we'll see a copy of the deal by about 12:03 PM? [Detroit News]

    By Ray Wert Read More
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    Toyota Bests Chevy Sequel With 348 Mile Drive Of Fuel Cell Hybrid Vehicle

    Toyota's announced today they've one-upped Chevy's little Sequel with their own FCHV (Fuel Cell Hybrid Vehicle). If you remember, the Chevy Sequel took a 300-mile one-way drive across the state of New York to become the first fuel cell vehicle to go more than 300 miles in one fill-up. Toyota's FCHV team decided they could beat that and they have — the team just finished a 348-mile one-way drive from from Osaka to Tokyo on a single fill-up of hydrogen. The road test — part of ToMoCo's FCHV publ

    By Ray Wert Read More
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    Volkswagen Transporteramino

    OK, holders of PhDs in VWology, I'm going to need youse to jump in here and point out the features that indicate the exact year of this Type 2 truck, because I'm stumped. I'm pretty sure it's from the 1964-67 period, but that's as close as I'm willing to call it. What I can say is that this pickup (actually, flatbed with wooden side rails) parks on a busy street, drives every day, and is used to haul stuff around. Maybe you hear a lederhosen-clad oompah band instead of Hank Williams when you lo

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    Project Car Hell, Czech Edition: Tatra Or Skoda?

    We've received some great tips for Project Car Hell, but tipster Bobash takes it to a whole new level with these finds. After watching the excellent Czech-hoonage Tatra promotional film, Happy Journeys, he found both a Tatra 603 and a cop-style Skoda 1201. Not only that, he did the translation, provided all the historical background, and even saved our lazy asses a bunch of work by providing a bunch of writing in Jalopnik-approved PCH style. Thanks, Bobash- you're first in line for one of the g

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    Toyota At Texas State Fair To Race, Leaving Towing To Chevy?

    This picture, taken by an anonymous tipster we're calling "Deep Alamo", is from the set up for the Texas State Fair last night. Looks normal enough, doesn't it — the Toyota truck racing trailer pulling up to the fair site, right? Wait a second, something's wrong here — is that a late-model Silverado 3500 HD crew cab hauling it around? Yeah, that's what that is. Obviously the reason why Toyota wasn't going to be able to haul this heavy of a trailer was because they don't have a heavy duty picku

    By Ray Wert Read More
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    2010 Buick Lacrosse

    Even a quick glance at these shots of what Brenda Priddy's kept spy-man Chris Doane claims is the 2010 Buick LaCrosse, already tell us it's shaping up to look better than the current model. And by better we mean this Epsilon II-platformed Front-Wheel Drive mid-size looks more squashed and turtle-like than before. But maybe it'll work this time when combined with the cladding on the sides that seem to indicate the new LaCrosse will receive the same swoopy character line along the doors that's s

    By Ray Wert Read More
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    Texas Twister: 2008 Saleen S331 Sport Truck Debuts At Texas State Fair

    In a world, where $50,000 pickup trucks are for po' folks, and pigskins are for both throwin' and eatin', there's a truck. It's the Saleen S331 for 2008, and it combines Ford's 5.4-liter three-valve V8 with a twin-screw supercharger for 450 horsepower and 500 lb-ft of torque. Underneath, the stock Ford running gear gets support from Saleen's RaceCraft suspension, with N2 struts with linear-rate coil-over springs, a tubular anti-roll stabilizing bar and urethane pivot bushings Saleen's showing it

    By Mike Spinelli Read More
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    Former Toyota USA President Jim Press Never Owned A Toyota Or Lexus

    The Chrysler media blog's got an interview with the new Vice-Chairman of "The New Chrysler," Jim Press. Much of it's a nice little flufferview of the guy who until being snagged by Cerberus, spent thirty years at Toyota, eventually becoming President of Toyota USA and the only non-Japanese ToMoCo board member. Still, at the end of the interview was a little blurb that stood out as shockingly note-worthy:

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    1964 Dodge Dart

    When we saw the '73 Plymouth Scamp last week, I promised we'd try to put a dent in the unfortunate deficit of Chrysler A-bodies in this series. So, reaching into my stash of DOTS photos (I ain't sayin' how many I have, but you can count on seeing an Alameda street survivor each day for quite a while), I'm presenting this proud '64 Dart 270.

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    PCH, Valhalla Edition: Sonnet Or P1800?

    It looks like the Sterling just wasn't able to dump as much weight on both sides of the hell/cool scale as the Impulse in yesterday's Choose Your Eternity poll, with the Isuzu vaporizing the Rover by a 4-to-1 vote-ratio landslide. Today we're going north for our cars. Way north. Yes, just like Yngwie on an airliner, you'll unleash the focking fury with either one of these fine Scandihoovian projects.

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    M5 Vs M5 Vs M5 Vs M5

    Last week saw the induction of the Mercedes-Benz 450 SEL 6.9 into our rapidly filling Fantasy Garage. While the detractors were loud and squawking, just over 83% of you saw the beauty of a bored-out German bullet train. However, Jalopnik is never one to let the tyranny of the majority drum out the feelings and opinions of the minority. One of the major complaints with the 6.9 write up was the absence of the 6.3. We hear you. In fact, while composing last week's screed, I was quite close to putti

    By Jonny Lieberman Read More
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    Toyota To Reveal 2009 Corolla, Matrix At SEMA

    With a nod to the aftermarket's economic power, Toyota says it'll introduce its redesigned 2009 Corolla and Matrix models at the SEMA show in Las Vegas next month. They'll likely be drawn from the JDM models (Corolla shown, via Nihon Car) introduced last year, and likely surrounded by scantily clad temptresses of the nitrous bottle. Look for the Matrix' NUMMI cousin, the 2009 Pontiac Vibe (below) to show up sometime after, perhaps in time for a Detroit preview.

    By Mike Spinelli Read More
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    C'mon, Stangmaro?

    We're not beneath falling for any forum thread titled "Warning: you will crap your pants," not expecting a literal result. Nonetheless, this Mustang-faced Camaro is a stomach-churning experience we'd expect will alienate both mulleted and the shaved alike. As mods go, this one's up there with the Smartlanor for sheer creepiness. (Thanks to Phillip for the tip.) [XModSource]

    By Mike Spinelli Read More
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    Full Details On The UAW GM Agreement

    Well, we know the UAW strike's over at the moment and a labor agreement's been reached between the UAW and General Motors pending ratification by UAW membership. Although no official details have been released, we've got some rumors key points from a variety of different sources and our handicapping of who won what, all after the jump:

    By Ray Wert Read More
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    1969 Volvo 144S

    In Detroit, it was 1969 OK, all across the USA. You had your Goats and Road Runners and vast landyachts and so on. But in Göteborg, far from being another year with nuttin' to do, 1969 was another year of Odin's heirs grinding out more slab-sided Swedish warriors to do battle with less sensible vehicular opponents. And you still see plenty of examples of the generation of Volvos that came between the Amazon and the all-radio-presets-on-NPR 200 series cars roaming the streets.

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    Ford First Automaker To Provide HD Radio In Most 2008 Models

    Ford's just revealed they'll be providing HD Digital Radio as a new dealer-installed option available on "nearly every 2008 model year Ford, Lincoln and Mercury." It makes Ford the first automaker to offer the option across "multiple product lines." No word yet whether we'll be able to get it on an Econoline — but we're pretty sure we'll be able to get it on a Focus. While we've never actually heard HD Digital Radio before, we hear it's got beautiful plumage. Also, because it's not the new Syn

    By Ray Wert Read More
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    UAW, GM Settle Strike With Landmark Health Care Deal

    The UAW and GM have agreed to a new national labor agreement, the centerpiece of which is a landmark agreement on creation of an independent retiree health care trust run by the UAW. And not to say we told you so — but we've pretty much been correct every step of this way — first in calling there'd be a strike and now in calling the timeframe. We're like idiot savants or something. Full press release from GM after the jump.

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    Micki Maynard from the NYT should get shirts made that say "There's two signatures on every contract!" We'd even buy one. [NPR]

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    PCH, Island Nation Edition: Honda Rover Or Lotus Isuzu?

    So yesterday we pitted a couple of classic Motown wagons against each other in the Choose Your Eternity poll, and the result was so close to a tie as to make no difference (with the Dodge photo-finishing past the Ford). Today we're going to look at a couple of cooperative efforts between the island of the Rising Sun and the island whose empire's sun never set. Yes, Japanese style and British reliability, together at last! Fasten your seat belts, everyone!

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    Nissan GT-R: Tons Of New Info

    A JDM-load of new information on Nissan's new Porsche 911 challenger, the GT-R, is pouring onto the fanboards today. As of tomorrow, preorders of the Japan-market GT-R will commence in Nihon, and Nissan's already launched its global GT-R site. As we once reported, the GT-R will come in three tiers, Base, Black Edition, Platinum Edition, with a 3.8-liter V6 providing the base engine for the lot. Though we still don't have confirmation on the twin-turbo top-ranger, we do know — via the North Ameri

    By Mike Spinelli Read More
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    Yes, we know this "Dutch driving test" question isn't real. Be that as it may, it still made us laugh her our collective hiney off. [picture speaks a thousand words]

    By Ray Wert Read More
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    Farago's sayin' that the UAW Strike is a golden opportunity for labor and management to put aside their differences and forge a bright, profitable future for all! Only thing is, the players are GM and the UAW. That's like asking the dinosaurs to evolve. [TTAC]

    By Jonny Lieberman Read More
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    How Long Will The UAW Strike Last?

    It's Strike Week! Kinda like Shark Week only with fewer commercials. And sharks. According to the pointy heads, GM is poised to survive a short strike. If Big Ron Gettelfinger and his 73,000 friends are just putting on a show and flexing their collective muscles to let the General know they can, the lights should stay on at the Ren Center. GM has some shekels in the bank and a 65-day supply of most products languishing sitting on dealer lots. However, should the strike move past the couple of we

    By Jonny Lieberman Read More
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    DIY Network To Air Burt Reynolds Bandit-Building Show

    The DIY Network's airing a five show segment of its Celebrity Rides program devoted to big Burt and his new Bandit. The Burt in question is of the Reynolds variety, and the Bandit is the YearOne TransAm restomod project. That is, the Burt Reynolds Edition TransAm, which YearOne creates from the bones of rescued Firebirds and sells at a nearly $130,000 base. It's called "Burt Builds a Bandit," and although Burt likely doesn't actually build the Bandit, we're sure it would be another guilty pleasu

    By Mike Spinelli Read More
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    1965 Ford Country Squire

    It's been almost a week since we last saw a station wagon down on Alameda's not-so-mean streets, and it's that time again! See, because my family had a van instead of a station wagon back in the day, I suffer from Childhood Wagon Deprivation Syndrome. So how about we take a look at the ur-wagon, the amazing 1965 Ford Country Squire? Yes? Good!

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    Mercedes SL Black Series

    Yesterday we saw a very heavily camouflaged Mercedes SL Black Series running around the roads in northern Germany. Well, the quick-to-snap shooters at KGP have one-upped those shots by getting us some not-as-much-camouflaged shots of the same Mercedes SL Black tester as the car left the Mercedes workshops and headed over to the Nürburgring to get some laps in. Although we've still no idea what's under the bonnet, some have mentioned the CLK63 AMG's 6.3-liter 500 HP V8 as a possible choice. O

    By Ray Wert Read More
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    Here's a wise and well-worded accounting of the UAW strike from the mouth of babes Farago. [The Truth About Cars]

    By Jonny Lieberman Read More
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    PCH, Detroit Wagon Edition: '57 Ford Or '65 Dodge?

    Due to technical difficulties last Friday, we had to postpone our all-wagon PCH; since it seems that the liberal application of ball-peen hammer to the Gawker servers has finally fixed the problem (for now), we're ready to jump back into Hell! As we all know, the acronym-iffic JDM RHD WRX did a big turbocharged burnout right in the grillle of the SE-R Sentra in last week's Choose Your Eternity poll. Today we're going with the voice of the Jalopnik readers for our cars. Actually, the voice of a

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    The great F1 driver shakeup of 2007 is gaining steam. We've just heard beleaguered McLaren star Fernando Alonso won't be going back to Renault. He'll be going — wait for it — to Scuderia Ferrari. What about Felipe Massa? Word is, he may wind up in Toyota's stable faster than you can say Tadashi Yamashina. [Planet F1]

    By Mike Spinelli Read More
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    Roush Reveals Latest Tuner Mustang: 428R*

    Roush is following up its 427R* tuner Mustang with a successor obvious to any follower of Mustang history. It's the 428R*, an homage to the 428 Cobra Jet mustang of 1968-1970. Limited to 200 vehicles, the 428R* sports 435 horsepower and 400 lb-ft of torque, by way of Roush's ROUSHcharger supercharger setup, done up in chrome powdercoat. Other engine-bay jewelry include billet radiator and intercooler caps, oil cap, and strut tower caps. The package also includes modified front and rear shocks, f

    By Mike Spinelli Read More
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    Bo Knows UAW Strikes, And How To Handle Logistics Too.

    GM's global purchasing guru Bo Andersson just dropped the following e-mail out to GM suppliers about what they should be doing with the General in strike mode here in the US. Nothing breathtakingly important in here except it should be noted if you're wondering why suppliers should continue shipments into the Moraine, Ohio and Canadian plants it's because neither have UAW workers. Moraine's workers are IUE-CWA union members and Canadians of course fall under the strong fist of Buzz Hargrove an

    By Ray Wert Read More
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    Audi Steam Hammer: Abt AS6 3.0 TDI

    Will diesels ever fill the performance gap with gas burners in the car-buying marketplace (and not just the Le Mans track)? Perhaps. The Kempten tuners at Abt say they've tweaked 300 horsepower from Audi's 3.0 TDI. It's a 20 percent increase from stock, by way of a supercharger and ECU remapping. It can turn under sevens in the zero-to-60 sprint, which isn't bad for an oil burner. Of course, we're waiting until Audi's V12 TDI starts showing up in these things. And not via Ingolstadt, either.

    By Mike Spinelli Read More
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    UAW Chairman Ron Gettelfinger Makes It Clear: "The UAW Is On Strike"

    We've been talking to a few PR folks from the General today — trying to make heads or tails of the impact of the UAW's decision to hit the picket lines against GM. And each one of them told me they didn't believe the UAW had actually gone on strike and that it was some kind of a mistake or something. The cacophony of noise coming out of the RenCen that this wasn't really a strike was so high a number of local and national newscasts had tickers running across the bottom of the screen stating th

    By Ray Wert Read More
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    We're now officially one hour away from the new 11:00 AM strike deadline set by UAW chieftain Ron Gettelfinger. Anyone got the inside scoop and want to call the Vegas odds for a strike? Should we be heading over to a plant gate or what?

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    1970 Chevrolet Nova

    Those of you who follow DOTS with any regularity have heard me bemoaning the lack of surviving 60s/70s Japanese vehicles still on the street; we see a disproportionate number of Detroit machines from that era here, due to the higher Perceived Coolness Quotient of those cars providing the motivation for owners to keep them alive. But the 1968-74 Nova, for the most part, has suffered the same fate of all those Coronas and B210s with which it once shared the streets. Countless Novas were stuffed w

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    George Clooney, Girlfriend Hurt In Motorcycle Accident In New Jersey

    The smug-causing star of Oceans 9 10 11 and his girlfriend Sarah Larson were injured on Friday when Clooney crashed the motorcycle they were on while driving on a narrow road across the Hudson River in Jersey. Clooney's reportedly suffered a broken rib and Larson broke her foot. Both have been released from the Palisades medical center where they'd been treated. According to Sgt. Sean Kelly, the Weehawken police officer in charge of the investigation:

    By Ray Wert Read More
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    2008 Honda Odyssey: A Freshening For The Family

    Spotlighting Honda's slightly freshened minivan is the gearhead-media equivalent to examining Mitt Romney's penchant for royal-blue ties. But lest we forget, the Odyssey is the van that gave Chrysler marketers a half-decade of sleepless nights. And that's not all. Ask anyone who's ever dropped the hammer on an Odyssey EX or LX — sans family cargo, naturally. They'll recount a VTEC surge that's the nearest a young dad with a mortgage can get to an adrenalin dump without dialing that flirtatious c

    By Mike Spinelli Read More
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    Fifth Gear Pits Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera Against A Ducati 1098

    The latest episode of the Beeb's other driving show saw Tiff race the new Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera head-to-head against Brit superbike racer Leon Haslam on a Ducati 1098. It's similar to an earlier match-up Final Gear ran between the standard Gallardo and a Ducati 999. That time the Ducati won by a hair. We won't spoil the ending for this particular run. [via Final Gear]

    By Ray Wert Read More
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    And...GM-UAW negotiations continue...what are we on now? Is it day six, day seven since the strike deadline passed? We're losing track of time — everything's going blurry. We feel the darkness closing in on us. Oh wait, no, that's just a cloud. [Detroit News]

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    Enviro-Dweebs Plan To Plant Small Garden, Play Ping-Pong In Your Parking Spot Today

    [rant] OK, seriously enviro-nuts, you've gone and crossed a line. It's hard enough trying to find metered parking spots in places like LA and New York City without you eco-nerds taking them over and putting up your potted plants and trees and lawn chairs. And according to the Journal from Wall Street many of you green-freaks are going to be playing ping-pong in some of the spots. What? Ping-Pong?! We thought the purpose of "Parking Day" was supposed to be

    By Ray Wert Read More
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    The 2008 Cadillac CTS gets Dubspeed Driven. [Dubspeed Driven]

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    British Airways thumbs nose at Detroit, cancels direct Detroit-to-London route due to lack of "any possible upswing" in auto sector. Bloody 'ell! [Marketwatch]

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    1973 Plymouth Scamp

    Looking at the Alameda cars I've already photographed, I realize that I have shots of six Chrysler A-bodies stored up. This wouldn't be a big deal, but I've only shown a single A-body so far in the series (no, the '77 Volaré was not an A-body). I feel ashamed that I've neglected our Dart, Valiant, and early Barracuda friends, since they show us how Detroit used to get it right: simple and reliable, yet with enough style to keep you from blacking out from boredom. So, get ready for more Mopar A-

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    Fiat's Big Abarth Kickoff

    Fiat's not kidding around with the launch of its Abarth tuning marque. Following an initial launch at the Geneva auto show earlier this year, The company's treating the venerable racing shop — and Fiat property since 1971 — as its own motorsport lifestyle brand, with swank, high-style offices, a racing division to rallying and racing projects and an online TV channel. All of this hoo-ha is required, considering only hardcore enthusiasts are aware of Abarth's racing achievements and scorpion logo

    By Mike Spinelli Read More
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    PCH, Kit Car Edition: Fieroborghini Or Bradley GT?

    With the unregisterable JDM WRX pounding the daylights out of the turbocharged SE-R in yesterday's Choose Your Eternity poll, you'd think we'd find a couple of nice Japanese cars for you. A couple of sweet deals on, say, an AE86 that was only driven to church on Sundays and a fully restorable Fairlady. You'd also think that bolts never cross-thread, circuits never short, and mushrooms never grow on car carpeting! No, this is Hell, where you take what you're given, and today you're given kit car

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    Ford's sales chief Cisco Codina "retires" today. Yeah, that's it — "retired." That's a really nice way to put it, too. [NY Times]

    By Ray Wert Read More
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    Volvos have taken over Williamsburg. Run for you lives, hipsters, run!! [Gawker]

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    Who knew the only goal in life for Autoblog's John Neff was to be "the web's premiere auto blogging ninja?" We're wondering whether there's blogging in mediums other than the web that maybe we could be the "premiere auto blogging ninja" in. [Autoblog]

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    2009 Pontiac Vibe

    We'd heard the NUMMI-built Pontiac Vibe would be getting itself a makeover for 2009 and a quickened pace for coming to market. Mostly we hear it's because Toyota's unhappy with the sales mix on its platform-mate, the Matrix. Now we've got proof that the new-look Vibe's getting a slightly updated IP and steering wheel on the interior. The outside's seeing a beltline that's heading even higher. It's still expected to be a cheap little SU-wagon — just like its platform-prostituted cousin at Toyot

    By Ray Wert Read More
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    Capture A New Fox Mustang For Just $4342!

    So you can see the kind of brilliant repartee that takes place behind the scenes, I'm including the transcript of the painstaking research we performed, in hopes that I might include a witty reference to the song in the post about the Mustang ad above. Sadly, we're forced to deprive you of said witty reference this time around: [00:09] Murilee Martin: Hey, I need to identify a cheezball 70s rock song I've heard a million times, but can't recall the perpetrator [00:09] Murilee Martin: it is Stev

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    2009 Subaru WRX STI

    Like the '06 model, the newest version of Subaru's highest-level standard trim line on the WRX loses the "i" in the name and has it replaced with the upper case version of the letter that rhymes with the body part you use to see stuff. You know, like stuff running around a track really fast. Which is good, because you'll need both of yours to catch these shots of the 2009 Subaru WRX STI, caught by the sneaky-sneaks at KGP while doing some last minute testing on the Nürburgring. These shots g

    By Ray Wert Read More
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    Hmm, methinks someone didn't read the Motorsports World Council documents all the way through before releasing them. So that was double rear master cylinder with spring? Got it. [F1 Fanatic]

    By Mike Spinelli Read More
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    And Another Thing: Traction/Stability Control?

    Luddite Week soldiers on — in a rickshaw! OK, OK, OK. Every true pistonhead with 20W-50 weight blood hates the "nanny" and immediately turns it off, puts electrical tape over the idiot light and hoons it down to 7-11 for Red Bull and Marlboroughs sideways. We get that. However, I very clearly remember making a 90 degree right hander on the Las Vegas Motor Speedway's infield track in a 997, having a 7" strip of rubber come off the tire and thinking to myself, "Well Jonny, you've had a good run" a

    By Jonny Lieberman Read More
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    2009 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1: First Video!

    Yesterday we brought you some amazing new shots of the next-gen super-vette, the 2009 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1. Now we've got an even better treat for you — the folks over at the Lane that's Fast on a Daily basis snagged themselves a nice get — the first engine sounds from the 2009 Corvette ZR1! And, thanks to some sideways wheelin' and dealin' on our part — we've got it first and without voice-over — so you can hear the sounds of that big 6.2-liter supercharged small-block as clearly and bea

    By Ray Wert Read More
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    You know Connaught as the UK company building small, luxury cars powered by a minuscule V10. They've also been threatening to release a hybrid version. Perhaps selling the hybrid kit sans car is the way to go. [Green Car Congress]

    By Mike Spinelli Read More
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    1950 Pontiac Streamliner Deluxe Convertible

    Today's Down on the Street car gets the official Jalopnik Best Hood Ornament Ever Award. I mean, it's a jet plane with a glowing Indian head grafted on! What could the designers have been thinking when they came up with this thing? Best of all, the front view looks like a tiki head! And, of course, there's a lot of vintage Pontiac goodness behind the Glowing Indian Head Airplane as well...

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    Nissan GT-R To Debut In Gran Turismo 5

    Here's one from the Smartest Product Placement Deal Ever department. At the Tokyo Game Show 2007 today, Sony let slip with news of a tie-up between the Tokyo Motor Show and the release of the long-awaited Gran Turismo 5. In addition to a new downloadable demo of the coming release, the game will reveal new car models to coincide with the motor show next month. One of those will be the Nissan GT-R, shown digitally clad with typical fascia and rear disguises in a new series of screenshots releas

    By Mike Spinelli Read More
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    Project Car Hell: WRX Or SE-R?

    Unsurprisingly, the Le Car-itude of the Lectric Leopard carried the day in yesterday's Choose Your Eternity poll, with the Atomic Scientist Escort going down like a criticality incident sending a reactor core melting through the earth's crust to the water table. We're going back to fossil fuel today, with a couple of Japanese screamers for your knuckle-scarring enjoyment. The problem with looking for Japanese iron for this series is that the last couple decades of Japanese vehicles have been so

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    It's now day five since the strike "deadline" and GM and the UAW are back at the bargaining table. We're getting bored...we miss the days when fist fights would break out because everyone was suffering from lack of sleep. [Detroit News]

    By Ray Wert Read More
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    2010 Chevy Camaro Production Mule Caught Stateside!

    It's like a smorgasborg of 'merican muscle spy shots around these parts today — first with the clear-as-day spy shots of the 2009 Corvette ZR1 earlier and now these shots of what Brenda Priddy's claiming is a 2010 Chevrolet Camaro taking some laps around metro Detroit. But wait you say, that doesn't look like a Camaro. True, but that's because it's actually a production mule disguised as its platform-sharing Holden Commodore cousin. And by disguised as the Holden Commodore we mean it's disguis

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    Cheshire Cayenne: Techart Aerodynamics Package

    You say you can't afford the full monty of TechArt's Magnum package? (Dr. Freud call the front desk.) Don't think yourself a halfling, just slap on the German Porsche tuner's new Cayenne aerodynamics kit. If your potency is indeed in question, though, your therapist may recommend the Magnum's 600-hp twin-turbo V8 upgrade.

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    Mercedes-Benz 450SEL 6.9

    Sedans haven't faired well in our Fantasy Garage. Currently, there aren't any. Once there were two (the Phaeton W12 and the Quattroporte), but you kids gave both the proverbial boot. Some might argue the Audi RS4 Avant would qualify, but this is a clear case of five doors being more equal than four. No, the only four-door we're currently packing is the Lamborghini LM002. And if that's a sedan, my aunt's an uncle. That said, I'll feel like a downright failure if we fill the Garage and it contains

    By Jonny Lieberman Read More
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    F1 Transcripts Reveal Alonso, Dennis Not Speaking

    Man, what a year of mixed blessings for team McLaren boss Ron Dennis. First a noodleheaded Ferrari staffer presents a book of secret bits to a nitwitted McLaren tech — who keeps it as coffee-table reading. Then the European motorports establishment lines up against McLaren to exact several pounds of flesh, including a stripping of all constructors' points and a $100 million fine. All of this while two of the best, most exciting drivers in the sport parade Vodafone's sponsored signage athwart the

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    2009 Corvette ZR-1

    UPDATE: The 2009 Corvette ZR1 has now been officially revealed!These appear to be the best non-engine bay shots yet of the new-for-2009 up-charged Corvette ZR-1 (or SS, Mako Shark, Blue Devil, or whatever folks want to call it these days). Although one thing we do know is if it's going to be called ZR-1 with that new 6.2L supercharged small-block nuclear reactor powerplant that's expected to be under the hood, then the name probably could stand for "Zee Really fast 1." We're expecting this new

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    Jalopnik Interviews GM Vice-Chairman "Maximum" Bob Lutz ... No, Seriously!

    One of us spent the past two days on the 'merican West Coast, in a little hamlet by the Pacific Ocean the locals call Los Angeles. There, we snuck into an exclusive "lifestyle" blogger sit-down held by the General of Motors. While normally not our cup of tea, the affair was a must-attend; we'd get to break bread and kibitz with none other than GM's man with the product plan — the vice chairman of vocalization — "Maximum" Bob Lutz. Seriously. We asked the man Swiss-born from jets a whole bunchl

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    Kustoms For Kids: The Roddler!

    Today's moms don't subscribe to the same, tired prestige products to which their moms did. They go for crossovers over minivans, Dexedrine over cocaine and custom made over off-the-rack. For their kids' strollers, a snooty Peg-Perego or McLaren simply will not do. For these moms, there's the Roddler. It combines traditional hot-rodding tropes like over-the-hub fenders and pearlescent paint with a monocoque chassis and up-class materials like ostritch, stingray, alligator and alcantara, which des

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    Muscle Car Wars Head For Nascar's Mountains Of Busch...League

    It looks like the next battle in the Muscle Car Wars (patent pending) will be on the oval tracks of Nascar's Busch Series. The race-loving kids over at SpeedTV tell us the next-generation of series cars will be Chevrolet Camaros, Dodge Challengers, Ford Mustangs and an "as-yet-to-be named Toyota model." It's all part of an attempt by Nascar to distinguish the big league Nextel Cup league from the not-quite-as-big Busch league and get people to quit calling them "Cup Lite." Since they're sponso

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    1977 Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser Station Wagon

    Who would have believed, back in '77, that the glory days of the Detroit station wagon were soon to be over? The minivan would appear a few years later, followed by the ascendancy of the SUV, and the good ol' iconic American wagon would end up on the scrap heap of history. Oh, sure, you can still get a wagon now, but it's just not the same. This '77 Olds Custom Cruiser, with its Family Truckster grille and woodgrain body decals, reminds us of the final days of the Wagon Era as it sits proudly o

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    Another British Carbon Fiber Sled: Farbio GTS

    If you've got eight months and sixty British grand to kill, you can get your mitts on the latest homespun sports car to emanate from the Isle of hoonage. It's the Farbio GTS and its supercharged sibling. Appearing to split the difference between a modern Lotus Europa and something from our friends at Lee Noble's establishment, the Farbio GTS is powered by a 3.0-liter V6 producing 262 hp naturally aspirated and 384 hp for the Rotrex Supercharged version. The difference in zero to 60 time is palpa

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    If you've noticed commenting weirdness over the past few days, you're not alone. We're in the process of jamming small objects into the wee parts of various electronic boxes. We should be done soon, at which time everything will be so screwed up you won't even want to comment. Thanks for your patience.

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    Vintage JDM Mod: Making A Miata Look Like A Toyota 2000GT

    Mister Carscoop and Los Jalopniks were like ships passing in the Frankfurt fog. While we never did affect an intercontinental pow-wow, we did get this bit from his site. It's a Toyota 2000GT. No, it's a Mazda Miata wearing a 2000GT getup. With Halloween approaching fast, we're betting this kit from Japan's Hiroshi will fly off the shelves. Those who follow vintage Japanese iron know the 2000GT as Toyota's first world-class GT. Only 361 2000GTs were built between 1967 and 1970, in contrast with e

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    PCH, Electric Edition: Electric Escort Or Lectric Leopard?

    We're not really surprised that the goat-damaged Torino fastback trounced the Katrina Special Road Runner in yesterday's Choose Your Eternity poll; after all, it's not fair to put a Malaise Era car up against a 60s fastback. Today we're going to get all green on your fossil-fuel-swilling asses and make you choose between a couple of cool- yet totally nightmarish- electric cars! We'd all love driving a Tesla, of course, but why pay all that money when you can build your own DC demon?

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    Think The Domestics Suck? Your Numbers Are Down

    Domestic carmakers continue to fight a negative-perception battle born during the Great Malaise. That was a time when shiny new Pintos dropped their engines on the New Jersey Turnpike, when five variations of the Chevy Nova fought an inter-brand battle for the title of alpha shitbox, and when executives were too busy fleeing from downtown Detroit to notice some Barbiturate-popping moron had stuck Cadillac badges on a Chevy Cavalier. When asked, Big Three veterans rattle off plenty of reasons, fr

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    Forget The Station Wagon: Family Van!

    We have a lot of love for station wagons around these parts, and rightfully so. However, even though I was a kid in the 70s, during the heyday of the station wagon, my family never had one. This makes me one of the few members of Generation X to have no childhood station wagon memories. No long road trips in the ol' Country Squire or Kingswood Estate for me and my sisters. Instead, we had a van, a real no-frills passenger van. A 1973 Chevy Beauville, with a Q-Jet-equipped 350 and the spartan al

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    Frankfurt Auto Show: Mercedes-Benz Rekordwagen C111-IID

    Wandering around what we seem to remember as the basement of the Frankfurt Auto Show revealed this Mercedes C111 Rekordwagen. The five-cylinder diesel propelled this C111-IID research vehicle to an average speed of 252 km/hr at the test track at Nardo, Italy. The crew set a total of 16 world records in the process. The first versions of the C111 test platform were powered by a wankel engine, which Mercedes engineers ultimately determined to be too inefficient by design. They opted instead for th

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    Photoshop jockeys start your ctrl-Os. It's Worth 1000's Carnoccino 4 car caricature contest. Enter now, before the Steve Madden ad people take it all. [Worth 1000]

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    1970 Puma GT

    Our commenter friend WhatWouldJesseDo lives just a few blocks from me, so I see his stable of Jalopnik-approved machinery on a regular basis. First we saw his '66 Datsun 411, followed by the '61 Mini, and now he's got the 1970 Puma GT you see here.

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    Mystery Car Identification Prize Still Unclaimed!

    For the first time, we've failed to get a winner on the first day of an Identify This Car contest, so now we go into Day Two! We figured the last one was too easy (though it was shocking how many readers could ID the fairly uncommon MGC-GT so fast), so we've made the challenge a little tougher this time around. Still, we're not sadists, and we do want one of you to claim the prize, so jump like a hooned RX-1 for a hint about this car's country of origin...

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    Project Car Hell, Hood Scoop Edition: Torino Or Road Runner?

    With the Mopar Minivan getting the win over the Blown Buick in Friday''s PCH Turbo Sleeper Edition poll, today seems like a good day to return to some good ol' no-replacement-for-displacement Dee-troit muscle. Sure, you could always whip out a fat roll of Benjamins and turn it into a cherry big-block machine that'll wow the car show judges... but this is Project Car Hell, where wallets are thin and Bondo is thick!

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    Dodge To Auction First 2008 Challengers

    On this episode of Press Release Regurge, we announce the Dodge brothers' intent to auction off the first 2008 Challengers for charity. All you early adopter types, grab on to your T-bills real tight and get ready. Dodge says the proceeds from Challenger number one, to be auctioned at the Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale event in January, 2008, will benefit notMYkid — a mental health advocacy organization. The second, via a private dealers' auction, will benefit the United Way of Southeastern Michigan

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    Mini Cooper D Clubman

    The third in the trilogy of 2008 Cooper Clubman models, the Mini Cooper Clubman D is the oil-burner revealed at the Frankfurt Auto Show. This Clubman's got a four-cylinder, common-rail turbodiesel, with max torque equaling that of the Cooper S's 177 lb-ft, 110 hp at 4,000 rpm and a top speed of 120 mph. But the real story here's the fuel economy, which BMW says will be a sippy-cup-like 57 miles per the UK's larger Imperial gallons. All the hot shots are below.

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    Mini Cooper Clubman

    The first Mini Cooper Clubman we'll be dropping to you today is the base level. It's getting some inter-corporate sharing under the hood in the form of a four-cylinder VVT engine using BMW's valvetronic technology. That gives the Clubman sans-letter a max output of 120 horsepower at 6,000 rpm and a max torque of 118 lb-ft of torque at 4,250 rpm. That means the floor-level Cooper Clubman is being pegged at a company-reported zero-to-60 time of 9.8 seconds and top speed of 125 mph. The Cooper-ju

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    Identify This Mystery Car, Now With Super Prize Potential!

    It's been a few weeks since our last Mystery Car contest, but don't think we've given up on exorcising your Monday ennui demons! Heep won our last awesome Mystery Car prize, by correctly identifying the car as a '69 MGC-GT, and the first person to identify the car in the photo above will receive an equally awesome prize. Jump like a hooned Cosmo to find out what we've got for you this time!

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    You Wish Your Pinzgauer Could Do This: Unimog!

    We've got a fair number of civilian-owned military vehicles in Alameda, including the Pinzgauer, the M43 Dodge Ambulance, and the 1945 Ford GPW Jeep. Well, those old soldiers can just fade away, because now we've got this monster living on the island's East End!

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    A Tribute To Colin McRae

    With the magnitude of this weekend's loss becoming clearer with each passing news story, we kept busy by cutting together some footage from Colin McRae's career into a Jalopnik tribute clip. We only wish there could be more.

    By Mike Spinelli Read More
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    PCH, Turbo Sleeper Edition: Regal Or Minivan?

    The Morgan applied a savage caning to the quasi-MG in yesterday's Choose Your Eternity poll, thereby proving that wooden frames are preferable to wooden firewalls. We're going to take a little breather from British Car Hell today (just for a little while, mind you, because most of the cars in Hell are British... although we understand the Evil One himself drives a black dual-engine Toronado) and go with some Motown Mo-chinery for your punitive pleasure. How about a car that looks like it gets d

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    Frankfurt Auto Show: Wiesmann GT MF 5

    We heard it was coming, and then there it was. Wiesmann's new, BMW V10-powered GT MF 5. The five is for 5.0-liter, while the MF is for — well, you know. Wiesmann created the crazed 507-hp creature as a nod to lightweight, overpowered GT cars and roadsters of old. It's also wider than Wiesmann's based GT and a far sight more expensive, at €178,900. It's a purist's GT that didn't forget the bacon-saving ABS. Old, new, borrowed and blue, indeed. [World Car Fans]

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    We're having some issues with the blind, three-legged hamster that hobbles in the wheel that runs our site. Fear not, we're fitting him with a new prosthetic leg as we speak.

    By Ray Wert Read More
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    Frankfurt Auto Show: BMW X6 Concept

    The BMW X6 may not be the most significant premiere at the Frankfurt auto show, but it was definitely the one met with the most passive puzzlement we've seen. Most in attendance have already seen the spy shots and early press shots, and so knew what to expect. Still, the consensus among those we asked was that BMW has either got a line on a market we've yet to wrap our heads around, or it's produced an altogether unnecessary car with a dubious future. (Who would have thought American Motors was

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    SEMA-Bound Volvos From Heico Sportiv

    The German tuners of all things Swedish and Volvovian at Heico Sportiv say they're again headed to the big aftermarket show in Las Vegas next month. Right, it's SEMA time, the time of year when young car journos' thoughts turn to gloss paint and body kits and laughing gas injectors. For Heico, they've turned to chrome-look finishes, surf motifs and biofuels. The company's bringing a 350-hp S80 T6 that runs on biofuel, and a C30 with orange leather and graphics and a 300-horsepower turbocharged T

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    1976 Honda Civic

    Since we went with a monstrously huge '78 Eldorado for yesterday's DOTS car, let's find an example of the other extreme of the Malaise Era automotive size spectrum (sorry, haven't found a '79 Midget on Alameda's streets yet, and the Honda 600 is pre-Malaise). This '76 Civic parks only a few blocks away from the Eldo... which means the Cad would probably burn half a tank of gas driving over to crush the Honda.

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    Jeep J8: Taking The Wrangler Unlimited To Boot Camp, Bringing Back A Brute Of A Pickup

    We saw it in spy shots for the first time a couple of months ago, and of course we're excited about the Brute-like JT Concept we'll be seeing at SEMA, but now it's official — Jeep's making another run at military vehicle sales with their newest offering for the defense systems crowd — the Jeep J8. Built off the new 2007 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited, the Jeep J8 gets some frame reinforcements to allow for greater payloads (up to a max of 2,952 lb.) and newly engineered axles, brakes and a leaf-spr

    By Ray Wert Read More
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    Project Car Hell, Angry Seller Edition: MG-TC Or Morgan?

    Yesterday's NSU-versus-Jensen matchup produced a near-tie, with the Interceptor holding a razor-thin lead at the time of this writing. We've been focusing on British iron quite a bit lately, since most of us seem to love and fear such cars in roughly equal measure, but it's probably time for us to leave the UK for a while, right? No dice, Jack- you're in Hell, remember, where the Prince of Darkness reigns! Let's go back, back, back in time for today's contestants, and to add yet another layer o

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    From the World Motor Sport Council: "The WMSC has stripped Vodafone McLaren Mercedes of all constructors' points in the 2007 FIA Formula One World Championship, and the team can score no additional points for the remainder of the season." That plus $100 million in smackdown money. Somewhere Jean Todt is snickering in his macciato. [Planet-F1]

    By Mike Spinelli Read More
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    Frankfurt Auto Show: Brabus "Bullit" V12 C-Class

    There are a few key points you need to know about this monster. The bored-out 6.3-liter twin-turbo V12 produces 720 hp and 974 lb-ft of torque. That's 52 torques more than a Veyron. However, the twist is electronically limited to 811 lb-ft. Presumably so as to not blow up the rear end/tranny. Still, this is enough grunt for the uber-sedan to hit 124 mph in less than 10.5 seconds. Top speed? Is 224 mph fast enough? The front brakes feature 12-piston calipers clamping 15" disks. And finally, as fa

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    Break Out The Pabst, Boys, It's Imperial Wrenching Time!

    Sometimes the old 413 in the '65 Imperial just won't run right. That's when it's time to buy a case of Pabst Blue Ribbon and invite some of your grimy gearhead henchmen to dive into the Chrysler's innards with you! I shot this circa-1987 image on a keychain camera using 110 film, hence the excessive, Pabst-hangover-style graininess. That's the late Dirty Duck in the middle (of Legend of Hoot's Panhead fame), and yes, Ed (on the left) has an authentic mullet.

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    SSC Ultimate Aero TT Is The Fastest Car In The World

    The facts are coming in fast and loose, but here's what we know: At around 9:00 am (PST), an 1,183 hp SSC Ultimate Aero TT driven by Rick Doria Chuck Bigelow made two passes, one at 257 mph the other at 254 mph — they're averaging 'em at 255 mph. The official record held by the Koenigsegg CCX is 242 mph. The unofficial record held by the Veyron is 253.4 mph. This makes the American car the official champ. USA! USA! More details when we get 'em. Related posts here and here.

    By Jonny Lieberman Read More
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    Fifty Years Of Kerouac's "On The Road"

    Fourteen years before the United States mandated exit numbers on Dwight Eisenhower's brainchild of a road system, a Lowell, Mass native of French-Canadian extraction named Jean-Louis Lebris de Kerouac published a novel that would change countless lives; a mash note to an already-dead America living under the weight of what Igor Kurchatov and J. Robert Oppenheimer had wrought.

    By Davey G. Johnson Read More
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    What Was On Your High School Bedroom Wall?

    We're fairly convinced that Jalopnik is actually just a self help group for those suffering withdrawals from lack of hot bedroom poster action. We were all there, which is why we're all here. I actually still have one with a red 308, a white Countach and a black 911 that says "Dreams" at the bottom. I also still have a promo poster from the local Porsche dealer which showed an airborne 911 complete with a plate that reads, "LIEBERMAN" in hot blue dot matrix. I had the above Countach, plus anothe

    By Jonny Lieberman Read More
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    Frankfurt Auto Show: Mercedes F700 Future Touring Sushi Edition

    Moving into the future by combining the pioneering engine technologies of Rudolph Diesel and Nicolaus Otto is Die Reiselimousine der Zukunft. The Mercedes F700 concept predicts the coming standard of the large touring saloon by melding superior design with several hectares of auto-adjusting plush leather. The diesotto engine looks to have been replaced by a bio-fusion reactor cleverly disguised as a plate of sushi. The future press release from the recent past after the jump.

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    Junkyard Find: Hippie Voodoo Mirror Icon

    One thing about hippies in the Bay Area is that they never died out, but they have changed their vehicles. These days, the mid-80s Toyota Tercel is the spiritual heir to the beat-to-hell Volkswagen Transporter of decades past. While scrounging in the local self-service junkyard for bits for another junkyard-parts-based project, I ran across this mysterioso rear-view mirror charm in a 4WD Tercel. Did the owner believe this beads-and-leather thing would keep the ol' Tercel harmonically converged?

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    Frankfurt Auto Show: Porsche GT2 Roundup

    From the can't get nearly enough of the Porsche GT2 department comes these shots from the Frankfurt floor. Yes, we have posted the spy photos and brochure. And yes, we've even unearthed a video of the widowmaker. Alas, we have yet to find a good frankfurter mit mustard here in Frankfurt. Specifications and press release redux after the jump.

    By Mike Bumbeck Read More
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    By the way, if you're looking for more fun Frankfurt Auto Show coverage — head over to the tag page we've got set up to get all of the Deutsch-y goodness.

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    1978 Cadillac Eldorado

    We sometimes forget that you could still get enormous freakin' Detroit land yachts well into the Malaise Era, gas lines and Middle East unrest be damned. This 1978 Cadillac Eldorado is an excellent example of such a car; the '77 Continental we saw a few months back is another.

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    First Photos Of The New Toyota Prius!

    Looks like the little hybrid that could —the Toyota Prius — is getting a bit of a face lift refresh before the next redesign. The spy shooters at KGP snapped shots of this prototype doing some hot-weather testing in Death Valley sporting a much more new Camry-like and Yaris-like grille. We'll let them explain what they saw after the jump.

    By Ray Wert Read More
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    Project Car Hell: Interceptor Or NSU Wankel?

    With the Olds blasting the Chrysler by a decisive margin in yesterday's Choose Your Eternity poll, we figured it was time to go across the water and get a couple of seriously cool- yet sanity-shreddingly difficult- sporty cars for you to choose from today. And, just because no choices are easy in Hell, we're going to make you choose between German rotary and Detroit V8 power.

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    Frankfurt Auto Show: Startech Starster

    From the Questions Nobody Asks Department comes the Startech Starster. First of all, we simply love the name. And the interior. And we really like how they straight pilfered the fender bulges from the RS4. We're even big fans of what they've done to the engine: slapping a gutsy turbo to the regularly anemic 2.4-liter VVT makes the Starster kick out 335 hp and 295 lb-ft of torque, hit 60 mph in a respectable 5.6 seconds before topping out at an impressive 165 mph. What we don't like is the underl

    By Jonny Lieberman Read More
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    Frankfurt Auto Show: 2008 Cadillac BLS Shows It Has A SexyBack...End

    The BLS is everything you could ever love about the Saab 9-3, except without the Swedishness. Yup, this wagon's got it all — as long as by "all" you mean a bio-fuel-powered engine option and "extra powerful" 180 HP / 400 lb-ft o' torque turbo diesel engine. But hey, it's got "LED technology" — we think that means the headlights, but it may mean on the dash. OK, we kid the luxe brand, it's not unattractive as far as wagons go, but if it were brought to our shores, it would demolish any and all

    By Ray Wert Read More
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    Frankfurt Auto Show: Toyota IQ Concept

    Designed in France, the ultra-compact Toyota IQ Concept aims to challenge conventional thinking about what the press release refers to as automotive hierarchies. The vaguely cephalopod-like maritime shape suggests the car may harbor a 40-shrimp team hybrid synergy powerplant. Actual press release after the jump.

    By Mike Bumbeck Read More
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    Frankfurt Auto Show: BMW 1-Series

    From the old BMW 2002 reborn with a 300 horsepower twin-turbo inline six department comes the new BMW 1-Series 135i Coupe. Flame surfacing denies any retro styling from resurfacing, but the rear-wheel drive and 300 foot pounds of torque is something that gets our vote. The little turbo spools up and starts delivering rear wheel amusement at a mere 1400 rpm. The big turbo takes care of the rest. Make sure to set traction control to off. Press release once again after the jump.

    By Mike Bumbeck Read More
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    Frankfurt Auto Show: Brabus Ultimate 112 Smart Fortwo

    Shrinking the t-top Pontiac Firebird concept down to a road hugging turbo minicar is the Brabus Smart Fortwo Cabrio. Touted as a true city sports car by the Smarts, the diminutive urban block carver features a searing orange paint job and cabrio top that folds away in seconds. The rest of the roof stows away in a back drawer. The 110 horsepower turbo mill delivers max torque of 111 foot pounds of torque when kept in 2800 to 4200 rpm range by the Brabus sport steering wheel mounted paddle shifter

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    What Car Makes You The Saddest?

    Beat this: the year was 2002, sink or swim time for old Pontiac. They needed something, anything, to bolster their "excitement" branding because for the past ten years the division had done little but crap out plastic-clad rentals. Why not a sporty little wagon? Sure, the kids will love it, families on a budget will love it and people who have to haul a lot of lightweight junk around (like my friend Peter the photographer) would be all over it. Obviously, this calls for a clean sheet design, rig

    By Jonny Lieberman Read More
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    Frankfurt Auto Show: 2008 Mini Cooper JCW Challenge

    As we told you a couple of weeks back, the tiny auto brand owned by BMW revealed both a car that's a wee bit bigger in size and one that's a wee bit bigger in horsepower, top speed and torque. More on the Clubman later. First off, let's go for More Power! with the Mini Cooper John Cooper Works Challenge. It's a Mini Cooper S built specifically for track use and it shows with a new suspension system that features adjustable damper units from KW Automotive, designed specifically for motorsport

    By Ray Wert Read More
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    The Baddest Bull: Lamborghini Miura Vs Countach Vs Murcielago LP640

    I've been dreading this week for months. I knew that sooner or later I would have run a Lambo for entrance into the Fantasy Garage and how on earth do you pick which one? True, we already ran the LM002 flag up the Fantasy pole, but the Lamborghini's SUV is the Oscar Acosta of the Fantasy Garage, a high-powered mutant of some kind never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to not be in Jalopnik's Garage. Plus of course, Hunter S Thompson drove one, so piss off. B

    By Jonny Lieberman Read More
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    Look Out, Zimmer- Johnson Phantom In The House!

    When a man's looking for an automobile that tells the world- nay, grabs the world by the lapels and screams high roller coming, you insignificant putz, you'd think that the Excalibur, Zimmer, and Stutz dealerships would pretty much have him covered. You would be wrong. Enter the '85 Johnson Phantom, now available on eBay. Who can guess which mid-80s GM car supplied the chassis? No fair looking up the VIN, folks! And that rear bumper- gadzooks! But don't place your bid quite yet, Mr. Big Shot- yo

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    Remember to keep checking out our Frankfurt Auto Show "Cheat Sheet" and our "Top Ten Things You May Have Missed Yesterday In Frankfurt" posts!

    By Ray Wert Read More
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    Frankfurt Auto Show: Subaru Justy

    Because one of you asked for it, here's the Subaru Justy live and up close in all of its mini-Forrester goodness. The new Justy, supplied by an OEM agreement between Subaru and Daihatsu, is being positioned as an entry-level car in Subaru's lineup. The Justy's coming in three levels of Justy-ness, the 1.0E being the entry level, with the 1.0S being the version with a "sporty touch." Just a touch though, because it appears the real sporty spice is the third version, the G3X. Unfortunately we ca

    By Ray Wert Read More
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    1979 Porsche 911SC

    It's been over a month since we've seen a Porsche in this series, and even longer since we've seen a 911SC, so let's take a look at this '79 911SC on this fine Wednesday morning.

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    Frankfurt Auto Show: Volkswagen Tiguan

    Volkswagen promises to improve the active interface between SUV and car with the Tiguan, and has thankfully have dropped the Fauvist exterior color choices and 30-inch hoops. Along with plenty of off-idle torque from gasoline or TDI engines, the Tiguan will nearly automatically park itself with park assist, and exhibit van-like interior cargo room. A Haldex 4motion awd system sends power to the road or rock. Come on, Rabbit. Let's you and me bounce. Full and entertaining press release after the

    By Mike Bumbeck Read More
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    Frankfurt Auto Show: Top Ten Things You May Have Missed Yesterday Here In Frankfurt

    Here's what you missed yesterday if you didn't get a chance to follow along with us live on the first day of the Frankfurt Auto Show, all rolled up into a top ten stories list — for your reading enjoyment: 1.) BMW unveiled the X6, and yes, as all the spy photos showed us, it's got a seriously large rear end. What we didn't know is that it'd have a hybrid brother. [Live Reveal, Press Photos] 2.) As we broke to you first a few weeks back, Lamborghini revealed their one million euro car, the Re

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    Project Car Hell: 1952 Chrysler Saratoga Or 1941 Oldsmobile Coupe?

    Murliee Martin had to leave early to go pick up a guitar player down at the crossroads, so he asked me to step in and fill his evil shoes. And it's quite apropos as a certain friend of Jalopnik just referred to me as, "That dark spirit Jonny Lieberman." So be it. Yesterday's PCH was positively demonic with the Citroen SM beating out the XK-E 2+2. Good luck with that. In breaking with that theme, we bring you these two classics from Boise, ID. Why Boise? A friend of mine went to college there and

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    Frankfurt Auto Show: Alfa Romeo 147 CNC

    Hey look, it's another European hot hatch we can't get. Nope, not even after Alfa returns to our shores sometime next year. The CNC in C'N'C stands for CoSTUME NATIONAL, a collaboration between Alfa and stylist Ennio Capasa. Limited to 1,000 editions and inspired by "World Music," the special edition 147 gets 17" wheels, mother-of-pearl Eldorado White paint, a chromed exhaust and glossy black wing mirror cases. You think it would fly in the States? Release after jump.

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    Frankfurt Auto Show: 2009 Jaguar XF

    Here you go kids, it's your brand-saving entry from Shag-you-are, the XF. Yeah, it's not as hot as the XF Concept, even though Mr. Cullum promised it would be. Still, this cat's got some good curves on her, even going so far as aping Aston's DB9 from behind. Dare we say that perhaps we were a bit too hasty in our initial verdict? Or does everything look simply snazzy under 17 coats of wax, professional lighting and 50 gallons of none-more-black paint? And have we shown you the interior? No, real

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    Frankfurt Auto Show: 2008 Mazda6

    Mazda's new-generation, globally oriented Mazda6 may be the closest thing US buyers will get to the high design of Ford Europe, at least until the Taurus gets a makeover. (And even then.) It portrays the company's current attention to an aesthetic theme that pulls from nature, while staying true to a form most feel is the motoring equivalent of boiled root vegetables — the midsize sedan. Actually, it's just taken the bland-interesting mantle from the Toyota Camry. Give it a hand.

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    Volkswagen Mexco stopped production at its Puebla plant after bombs disabled a natural-gas pipeline controlled by state petroleum concern Pemex. No Jettas were harmed. [Reuters]

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    Mike Bumbeck and Mike Spinelli, please come to the press room, your party is waiting.

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    Frankfurt Auto Show: Opel Flextreme Concept Stores Segways In Its Rear End

    So there are now officially two cool things about the Opel Flextreme concept car revealed here at the Frankfurt Auto Show last night. The first would have to be the fact that the concept's a diesel-electric hybrid — and we heart the idea of mating the two fuel efficiencies together. The second is that the Flextreme has two little Segways that it stores in its rear end. It's adorable. Oh, you want to know more? Check after the jump.

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    Frankfurt Auto Show: Honda Accord Tourer Concept

    Honda informs us the company will maintain a clear focus on innovation, environmental responsibility, safety, and building machines that are fun to drive. Along with the hydrogen fuel cell FCX, the company plans to push ahead with an i-dtec turbodiesel. The engine requires no urea system to meet emissions standards thanks to superior catalytic converter design. A European version of Accord in will pack the new diesel in 2008, with Japan and the US models being considered for the near future. Hon

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    Frankfurt Auto Show: Lancia Musa Gets A Facelift

    Hell yeah dude, it's the Musa! Lancia's mini-people mover for the midget masses. Odds are you'll wind up in a Musa if you travel to Europe and forget to book a reservation with Hertz. Only after Frankfurt, you'll at least get the chance to potentially be less dorky — depending on whether you think the new Musa accomplishes that task. However, you can always hike the Jalopnik trail and stick a Hayabusa in your Musa. Full release after you jump.

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    This is the walkway between Hall 1.0 and Hall 3.0 here in Frankfurt at the Messe. We don't know why they're named like software. But we certainly appreciate the moving walkways. Even so, there's like ten halls here. Or maybe it's 10.0 halls. Whatevs — our dogs are killin' us.

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    1957 Chevrolet 210 Wagon

    It's been a few weeks since we had a DOTS car from the 1950s (we had a 50s truck not long ago), and well over a month since we saw our last DOTS station wagon, so today we'll combine the two and get caught up on both crucial categories.

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    Frankfurt Auto Show: Euro Ford Focus Is Cooler Than Us, Probably Gets All The Chicks Too

    Oh yes, there's more from Ford here at the Frankfurt Auto Show. Next up is the Euro Ford Focus, and as we've come to expect — it's totally cooler than the new and watered down Ford Focus we've got stateside. I mean, seriously — just look at the slope of that there hot hatch, the touch of a spoiler, that hot Mondeo-like grille. We're in love. We don't even care how it drives — it looks cool enough that we really want one of these new Ford Focii just revealed today at the Frankfurt Auto Show.

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    Frankfurt Auto Show: Lamborghini Reventón

    What costs $1.4 million, looks vaguely aeronautical, and it's been in the rumor mill since last month? You are correct, sir. It's the Lamborghini Reventón, introduced by Lambo boss, the ever dapper Stephan Winkelmann. As we reported recently, it's based on the LP640, but as we didn't report, it's named after the bull that killed famed toreador Felix Guzman in 1943 (Wrecked Exotics call the front desk.) Still, ever since Lambo's parent built a far more mad machine for a loss at $1.4 million, we'r

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    Frankfurt Auto Show: Ford Kuga Revealed

    First there was the Ford Verve and now the boys n' girls from Ford have unveiled the Ford Kuga — the new crossover inspired by the Ford Iosis X concept car revealed at the Paris Auto Show last year. Powered by a 2.0-liter 136 PS Duratorq TDCi diesel engine it...umm...hmm...yeah, you guys have already seen this. We'll just show you the pretty pictures we just took. The full press release is again below the jump though, in case you're interested.

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    Frankfurt Auto Show: Ford Verve Concept Reveals Design Future Of Ford Fiesta

    As we told you just a short while ago, we're live at the Ford press reveal. And yes Ford fanboys n' girls, this is the Verve concept car, revealed today at the Frankfurt Auto Show. It's a new conceptually Bold Move from the brand that's known for using the phrase — sometimes even every day. But what's most important about the concept car are not the lovely ladies revealing the concept, but that the Verve's supposed to fortell the future of the Ford Fiesta — a product that we told you yesterday

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    Frankfurt Auto Show: Mercedes Benz F700 Research Vehicle Revealed

    This morning we showed you the video, now clock the static image. This is Mercedes' idea of the future. The future of luxury to be specific. Obviously it's three-shades of bling imposing and chock full of the luxo-goodies you'd expect on the finest yachts, but it also sports a turbo-charged, direct injection diesel motor with multi-cylinder deactivation and a hybrid support system. Which makes it greenish. We think the F700's pretty sharp looking, too. Mega press release after you jump. [via Wor

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    Frankfurt Auto Show: Porsche GT2

    Here in Frankfurt, Porsche downplayed the release of its new, batshit-mad 911 — the GT2. Instead, boss Wendelin Wiedeking spent his keynote vehemently defending Porsche's environmental record in the face of Greenpeace allegations of extreme piggishness. He also asserted Ferdinand Porsche built a gas-electric hybrid in the early part of the century. Take that, Japanese! But for us the show was the rollout of the is the fastest and most powerful Porsche 911 ever homologated. The GT2 — as we've men

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    Frankfurt Auto Show: New European Chevrolet Aveo Has Huge Boot And Overbite To Match

    There's a new Chevrolet Aveo hatchback for Europe and as we've already shown you, it's got a new front face with a gaping wide mouth. Still has the same great storage space and fuel economy it's always had and hey, now you can get an auto tranny on this as of now European only model. (Yes, we know a Aveo hatch exists in the US, but it doesn't have anywhere near as great of an overbite — yet) We'll actually read the press release when we've had a moment to breathe, but for the moment check it o

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    Frankfurt Auto Show: Saab 21st Century Black Turbo X

    As we knew they would from the leaked embargo shots of the other day, GM's Saab just revealed a heap of new vehicles including the new Saab Turbo X, with a design the General's hoping will evoke images the iconic appeal of its first black 900 Turbo. The 2.8 V6 Turbo with 280 horses gives the Turbo X a 0-100 kph in 5.7 seconds. Sorry about a couple of pictures — some guy named "Bob" kept getting in the way of my shot. Full press release after the jump.

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    Frankfurt Auto Show: BMW X6, ActiveHybrid Concepts

    BMW rolled out its first hybrid-drive vehicle this morning at the Frankfurt auto show. Under the banner of its Efficient Dynamics technologies, the company showed off an X6 crossover with a hybrid-drive system. That's the same system the company developed with strange bedfellows DaimlerChrysler and General Motors. Execs say the system will result in an overall 20 percent improvement in fuel efficiency, roughly that of GM's and Mercedes-Benz's projections for their similarly truckish, two-mode

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    Frankfurt Auto Show: Mercedes F700

    Unfortunately the one of us that's writing up this post doesn't know a lick of German other than "Ein juden!" — a phrase that while true, in no way shows up in this video. Thus, all I can tell you is it's the Mercedes F700 concept — even before it's officially revealed in just an hour. We won't be there live — but here's some video of the DiesOtto concept car. You know, for the kids. The diesel-loving kids.

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    Frankfurt Auto Show: Lamborghini Drops One-Million Euro Supercar

    We brought the news to you first just a week ago and even made fun of it earlier today, but now it's official — here in Frankfurt, Lamborghini just rolled out its first entry in the seven-figure car sweepstakes. To be dubbed Reventon, it's based on the Murcielago LP640, and it'll cost a breezy one-million euros. Only 20 are set to be constructed, and all have been already betrothed to high rollers who've reportedly ponied up more than $300,000 each as a deposit. Rumors had indicated the car wa

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    The Jalopnik 2007 Frankfurt Auto Show Cheat Sheet

    There's a lot of vehicles debuting here at the Frankfurt Auto Show over the next two days. To help you out, here's a quick "cheat sheet" for you to keep track of the majority of the big reveals. We'll be updating this post throughout the week, so keep it bookmarked as a handy go-to guide for Jalopnik's hot frankfurter action.

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    Project Car Hell: Jaguar XK-E Or Citroen SM?

    After presenting our readers with the soul-wrenching choice between two V12 Jaguars in last Friday's PCH (which, by the way, had the '87 beating the '76 by a comfortable margin in your poll vote), you'd think we'd take a break from British steel for a while. But, see, that isn't how Hell works- in Hell, the only way to escape a British car is to take a French car instead. And to lure you into the flames, we've selected a pair of the most beautiful car designs ever to come from their respective n

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    Wired's Autopia blog says suing Chinese car companies for knocking off other automakers' designs is like filing against Champ Car drivers' wives and girlfriends for aping Britney Spears. They do have a point. [Autopia]

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    Frankfurt Auto Show: Live Reveal Of Opel Flextreme Diesel-Electric Concept Car!

    We were at Frankfurt's Bockenheimer Depot for GM's revealing of the Opel Flextreme Diesel Concept, the latest sheetmetal incarnation of the company's E-Flex architecture. The system uses a series hybrid system supported by a diesel engine operating at peak efficiency to charge a battery pack from from power supply firm A123. GM vice chsirmsn Bob Lutz took time out from flogging training jets to act as MC for the event, which included a light show and modern dance routine straight out of Mume

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    Frankfurt Auto Show: Brabus "Bullit" V12 C-Class

    While Steve McQueen probably drove a 1968 300SEL 6.3, he'd probably have some use for the latest Brabus Merc. It's the Bullit C-Class, a Q-ship with 730 horsepower and enough torque to turn the autobahn into world's largest ball of concrete. In typically arse-over-tit fashion, Brabus shoehorned the tuned, 6.3-liter SV12 S Biturbo V12 from its Brabus Rocket into a new C-Class sedan. The result is 974 lb-ft of runaway-train force (downmeasured to 811 lb-ft, so not to blow the tranny), resulting in

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    Frankfurt Auto Show: Citroen XM Exclusive Down On The Straße

    This Citroen XM Exclusive caught our jet-lagged eye on our way down to the river, where we also caught a glimpse of das boot. The 5-door XM packed a 3.0L 24-Valve DOHC V-6 or 2.5 TD turbo set atop Citroen's signature nitrogen springing - also known as Hydractive suspension. The computer-controlled liquid suspension has a compliance six times greater than suspensions made of schteel, and is driver adjustable. Had things gone better for this descendant of the mighty Citroen DS, a great deal more m

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    Morris 850

    Here's another one of those cars that makes it a real challenge to pinpoint an exact model year. The license plate is a '65 or '66 issue, but the Mini was only sold as a "Morris 850" in the US until 1962. This means it's either a 1959-62 model that was first registered in California in the mid-60s, or it's a Frankensteined Mini assembled from 27 other cars... in which case the whole question becomes sort of a meaningless angels-on-head-of-pin debate, anyway. What we do know is that ass is kicked

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    Jalopnik Weekend Gallery Wrap-Up: Frankfurt Auto Show Preview Edition

    With the 2007 Frankfurt Auto Show just a few days away (that'd be Tuesday in the wee EST hours, for those of you counting down to our coverage) and since we've already seen a heckuva lot of press shots out on what we'll be seeing come showtime, we thought it best to run another episode of our quasi-weekly gallery top ten lists, only this time, with a focus on the Frankfurt Show. So, without further ado, here's the top ten most trafficked galleries of Frankfurt Auto Show concepts and reveals we'l

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    Opel Flextreme Diesel-Hybrid E-Flex Concept Car Leaks Out Before Frankfurt Auto Show

    Much to the chagrin of the folks at the General, it would appear shots of the not-even-embargoed Opel E-Flex platformed concept car have made it out onto the internet well before the Frankfurt Auto Show. Ah, you've got to love the internet. Or not. Either way, courtesy of the English kids at CarScoop, here's the hot load of diesel-powered Opel concept hotness, and below the jump we've got what they're telling us about this leaked concept car:

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    Project Car Hell, V12 Jag Edition: '76 Or '87?

    In yesterday's Malaise Era PCH Showdown, the 1974 "Just ask for Princeton" Firebird Esprit triumphed over the 1973 Harlequin Capri, though not be what we'd call a decisive margin. After reading long-suffering B. Borman's Jag nightmare in today's QOTD, we're thinking it's about time we included a Jaguar in this series... and, because the 6-banger Jags are just too reliable, we're seeking out the V12. And, just because, we're going to make the choice particularly hellish; there'll be no escaping t

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    FocalJet and FocusFanatics got to check out the new Ford Focus being built. Yay. [Ford]

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    Porsche Cayenne GTS For US To Cost $69,300

    US info regarding Porsche's new Cayenne variant hit earlier today. If you'll recall, the Cayenne GTS, debuting at the Frankfurt auto show next week, gets a more powerful 4.8-liter V8 and the 911's Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM) system. It'll cost nearly seventy large, but that's around $23,000 less than a Cayenne Turbo. The power's less, but the PASM-gasm might be worth the $11,000 premium over a Cayenne S. Some slick market slicing, Herr Porsche.

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    Dad's Turbo Dodge Caravan

    From the 800-dollar turbocharged minivan department comes this 1989 Dodge Caravan SE with genuine simulated woodgrain trim. Along with doing toasty burnouts, the minivan has run the quarter mile in 12.65 seconds at Route 66 Dragway thanks to a set of slicks and 24 pounds of boost pushing through the stock 140K plus miles mill. The initial 800-dollar purchase price has been long-forgotten after all the modifications required to get the Iacocca Special into the 12-second zone. This guy figures if

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    Install New Windshield Glass

    We've all heard the argument of the do-it-yourselfer. Doing the job on your own can bring a sense of satisfaction and save money. When things don't go right the results may not be so warming or economical. Thirteen beers or three fried alternators into a pile of sheared bolts and bruised knuckles can result in a job costing far more than planned. Sometimes the financial outlay in tools, materials, and time, don't add up to any savings for the do-it-yourselfer. Worse still is a job done wrong can

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    When Is Too Much Enough?

    Today's question is courtesy of the fine Mr. B. Borman. Poor guy's in Project Car Hell!! However, we think you'll agree that his demonic trouble just might be worth the flames. Have a read:

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    Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson may have been speeding in an Alfa Romeo press car, but a speed-camera shot wasn't enough to prove it was him. So sorry for the inconvenience, chap. Must have been Big Bird. [BBC]

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    1971 Plymouth Satellite, With Bonus Apocalyptic Car Poll

    Back in the era when big, crude Detroit muscle ruled the streets of Alameda, there were two types of cars that did most of the burnouts in front of the AM/PM on Friday nights. Two types of cars that rattled the windows of quiet neighborhoods with their Cherry Bombs and gear drives. I speak, of course, of the GM A-Body and the Chrysler B-Body. We saw an excellent example of the former in yesterday's DOTS, and today we're going to take a look at its main rival.

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    2009 Mercedes-Benz ML 450 Hybrid SUV Officially Official

    Yesterday we gave you the scoop on the Mercedes hybrid we'd be seeing next week in Frankfurt, but now we've got the official release and everything for the 2009 Mercedes-Benz ML 450 hybrid. The release on the vehicle Mercedes is claiming will be "the most economical two-mode petrol hybrid SUV worldwide" is there for you now, right below the jump — and here's a larger version of the rear end of the shot we showed you yesterday. You know, in case you want to stare at the rear end of an ML 450.

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    Mitsubishi Reveals Concepts For Tokyo Show

    Mitsubishi says two new concept cars will hit Tokyo for the big motor show next month. One shows off its continuing work on wheel-hub MIEV electric vehicles, the other its emerging design language, diesel tech and driver-assistance functions. The i MIEV sport (shown) adds a pinch of sporting dynamics to the company's range of electric prototypes by adding the same S-AWC (Super All Wheel Control) as will appear in the new Lancer Evo X. The Concept-ZT show car brings the company's new styling lang

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    Porsche Cayenne GTS To Premiere In Frankfurt

    It may not have the same badging as we'd considered, but the Porsche Cayenne GTS is nonetheless coming to Frankfurt, sporting a few tweaks to position it between the Cayenne S and the Turbo S. It's the first of Porsche's speedy buses to get the same active suspension system as the 911, which subsequently lowers the GTS by 24 mm. It also gets a shorter final-drive ratio than typical (4.1:1 vs. 3.55:1) and more power. That is, 405 hp at 6,500 rpm. A special body treatment and new color choices (GT

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    Aston Martin To Debut Special Editions In Frankfurt

    Aston Martin has a couple of undercards scheduled for the Frankfurt auto show next week. They're the DB9 LM and the V8 Vantage N400. The two, race-inspired special editions will share podium space with the company's new DBS flagship. The Vantage honors Aston's GT1 win at the ADAC 24-hour race this past June on the Nürburgring Nordschleife, while the DB9 celebrates its GT1 win at Le Mans. Already fitted with the DB9 Sports Pack — sport-tuned suspension and five-spoke forged aluminum alloy wheels

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    Euro Honda Civic Spotted In Detroit Is Diesel Prototype

    Thanks to Kamran for the tip that the 2007 Honda Civic five-door hatch — the Euro model — spotted in Detroit is a prototype turbodiesel Civic — the 2.2-liter iCDTi. Most credible sources say we'll have to wait a couple of years to see the first Honda diesels in the states, but some journos got an advance drive earlier this year. Click through for specs. [UPDATE: New photos. Looks like it was bought from a dealer in Switzerland.] [via Clean MPG]

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    Project Car Hell: Firebird Or Capri?

    We had another close one yesterday, with the '41 Ford eking out a narrow victory over the '51 Merc in the Woodless Woody competition. Since everyone is probably too busy trying to use waterlogged particleboard to "restore" their Woodies, we should probably show some mercy and give you a couple of easy cars to choose from today. However, Hell doesn't work that way. Hell is when you're in over your head on an impossible project and you immediately go out and get another one! So today we're going w

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    In a fiery display of the globe warming, Mount Etna blew its freaking top again yesterday. Residents of Catania were largely unaffected, and continued to motor about in ash covered Fiat Cinquecentos. The Pope slept through the entire event. [Sicily's Mount Etna Erupts]

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    The Rolex Vintage Festival At Lime Rock Park

    [Please to enjoy another fine edition of You Are There by Jalopnik stringer and Lime Rock denizen, James Gribbon.] The cloudiest part of this past Labor Day in rural Connecticut was my head. I was winding down after a long weekend, which was ending on a high note. I was entering Lime Rock Park for the Rolex Vintage Festival. The Gatorade was helping too. I heard a distant rumbling that made me raise my head. Just then, a maroon BMW M5 pace car wheeled into view and I heard a Ferrari bark as the

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    More On The Citroen C5 Airscape Concept

    Oh, you thought you were done with the hybrid Citröen C5 Airscape concept? Not even close, Johnny. Following last week's leak, Citröen's now releasing details on the car that hearkens the company's next C5. A flurry of adjectives accompany the release, including sophisticated, elegant, powerful and exclusive. As mentioned previously, it uses the company's UrbanHybrid system, which prevents noise and vibration when the engine stops and boosts engine torque when needed. But wait, there's more. Muc

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    1964 Chrysler Newport

    Since now I'm in the mood to look at mean-looking Detroit beaters, I'm breaking out some shots I took while enjoying a burritos-and-beer repast in the Oakland Coliseum BART parking lot prior to a baseball game. Apologies for the fuzztastic quality of my low-end cellphone camera, though I do think the grainy pixelated look does a good job of capturing the spirit of this fine automobile.

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    Mazda6 Images Hit The 'Net Ahead Of Frankfurt Unveiling

    Well, hello! Web site km77.com dropped many official shots of Mazda's new Mazda6 ahead of its proper debut at the Frankfurt show next week. The new design pulls cues from the RX-8 and from Mazda's organic-styled concepts of late, with carved-in fender treatments and upswept headlamps. No details yet, but we'll be watching for the release. [km77.com]

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    BREAKING! Jim Press Leaves Toyota, Takes Vice-Chairman Seat At Chrysler!

    Chrysler's just announced that joining Bob Nardelli at "The New Chrysler" will be none other than Jim Press, who up until today was President and Chief Operating Officer of Toyota North America and the token 'merican on the Toyota board of directors. He'll be filling the slot of vice chairman. We're stunned like deer in the headlights of an oncoming four-door Jeep Wrangler with an optional roof light bar on this one. We don't even have anything funny to say — we're just that flabbergasted. The o

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    1969 Chevrolet Chevelle

    After opening up a real can of worms in the debate over the Rat Rod 356 yesterday, it seems only fair that we should see an evil-looking primermobile that reminds us of a time when men were men and Pabst wasn't an ironic beer choice. Time was, loud-ass GM A-bodies with fat tires and mismatched wheels roamed the streets of Alameda in packs, searching for Mopar B-bodies to take out to City Line for some street-racing action...

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    Volvo ReCharge Plug-In Hybrid Concept Car

    It's called the ReCharge, a concept car from Volvo to be unveiled officially next week at the Frankfurt Auto Show, it's a plug-in hybrid with a battery-only range of 100 km before you need to have the car's four-cylinder 1.6-liter Flexfuel engine kick in to power the car and recharge the battery. The ReCharge is built off a specially designed Volvo C30, meaning it's got a platform that doesn't need to be built from scratch — boosting the possibility we could see something like it really hit

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    Top ten funniest and most brilliant bus ads. [InventorSpot via Digg]

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    Project Car Hell, Woodless Woody Edition: Mercury Or Ford?

    Yesterday's V8 914 versus V8 MGB-GT matchup resulted in a narrow victory for Stuttgart over Abingdon-on-Thames, apparently showing that our readers prefer a running car that wants to kill you over a non-running car that wouldn't mind killing you. Since the point of having a Hell Project is that your suffering will- someday, maybe- produce a seriously cool end result, we figure it's time to go for a type of vehicle that's both extremely cool and extremely hellish to fix up: The Woody! You'd be l

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    Fisker Coachbuild And Quantum Technologies Team Up On Luxury Plug-In Hybrid

    What happens when you pair up a design and coachbuilding firm with an alternative-energy startup? We're not sure yet, but a joint venture is on between Quantum Technologies and Fisker Coachbuild, a company founded by former Aston Martin and BMW designer Henrik Fisker. Fisker is most recently known for the Tramanto and Latigo — rebodied examples of the Mercedes SL and BMW 6-Series, respectively. Quantum says its progress in plug-in hybrid technology means the company's ready to team up on a limit

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    The Meanest-Looking 356 On The Planet!

    What can you do to make a Porsche 356 more interesting? Well, there's Junkman's approach, of course. But what about the rat-rod treatment? Steadfast commenter Vintage Racer sends us these shots...

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    Cadillac DTS

    In a recent TV spot for Cadillac, a quartet of hipster goofballs in skinny ties pulls up to a diner in a DTS sedan. Once parked, they're confronted by a similar gang of craggy late-fiftysomethings in Jhane Barnes casualwear, apparently on break from a Cialis shoot. Noticing their young counterparts have arrived in the same type of Caddy sedan in which they're leaving, one of the elders says in his best Dennis Hopper, "I see you're drivin' a Cadillac." One of the youngsters replies, in that irony

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    Transformers Live-Action Movie Coming To DVD, HD-DVD And My Pants October 16th

    Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! And...we're spent. Full press release on the release of the Tra

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    Maybach Exelero

    Why have a Fantasy Garage if you cant induct a fantasy? That's the question we ask this week, as we nominate the Maybach Exelero show car to the devil-may-care JFG. Cars are getting better and faster every week. But few, if any, have the presence, character and sheer sinisterism of the Exelero. (For sure they have less black paint.) Designed by a student named Fredrik Burchhardt, the Exelero glistens with the kind of unpolished enthusiasm you'd expect from a kid in art school who has yet to be b

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    Toyota, EDF Working Together On European Plug-In Hybrid

    Toyota recently got the OK to go into the plug-in game in Japan, and now the super-best number one awesome automaker from the land of the rising sun's looking to do the same in France. Toyota and Electricite de France SA (EDF) are working together to "evaluate Plug-in Hybrid Vehicles in Europe." Why's Toyota need EDF's help? Well, no plug-in technology's going to be considered viable unless there's an infrastructure set up for plugging in the cars. Word on the street is that although EDF's dea

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    Frankfurt Auto Show Reveal For New Ford Kuga Crossover

    Here's the first details and non-sketch shots of the new Ford Kuga crossover — which we already told you we'd be seeing first hand at the Frankfurt Auto Show next week. The people carrier inspired by the Iosis-X Concept revealed last year at the Paris Auto Show will hit the streets officially in early 2008. The Kuga will come in both a FWD and 4WD and although specific powertrain details won't be released until closer to the 2008 launch of the car-UV, it will definitely include the 2.0-liter D

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    1974 Ford Torino

    Today we're going to try a sort of gallery hybrid, with a few hi-res photos available below the "traditional" DOTS stuff. You'll definitely want to get a nice close look at this fine piece of Early Malaise Era hardware from the folks at Dearborn. I used to be indifferent to the '70-76 Torinos, but in recent years I've really come to appreciate these cars. I saw three of them at the Pick Your Part in Hayward recently, which was sad, but you still see them on the street as well.

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    Mercedes-Benz C 63 AMG Estate: Official For Frankfurt

    Wagons, ho! The first leaked images broke 'net-wide over the weekend, indicating the C63 AMG version of Mercedes-Benz's C-Class wagon, er, Estate would be as we expected: More unified in design than the previous C-class hauler, with enough aero slap-ons to keep its feet to the fire at the speeds unleashed by AMG's naturally aspirated 6.2-liter V8. Now, the words — and the pics — are officially sanctioned. Additional no-duh info pertains to transmission (AMG Speedshift w/7-Tronic), suspension (3-

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    Audi RS6 Avant: Official For Frankfurt

    If the rumor mill is to believed, the Audi RS6's official horsepower number undersells the überwagon by about 30 equines. But even if the inside line doesn't pan out, the RS6 is still a spec collector's dream date: Twin-turbo V10 producing 479 ft-lbs of torque available at between 1,500 rpm and 6,250 rpm, maximum power arriving at between 6,250 rpm and 6,700 rpm, all channeled through a six-speed tiptronic massaged by algorithms. Dynamic ride control with optional three-stage damping adjusts to

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    A Pre-Frankfurt Auto Show Unveiling For The Audi RS6 Avant!

    Because our good friend Zerin hearts us, we've got you some shots of the new Audi RS6 Avant speed wagon well before it's unveiled at the Frankfurt Auto Show. Don't say we didn't pass all 580 hp (maybe even more than 600 according to some sources) of that love right on to ya from the RS6 Avant's V10 Twin Turbo TFSI engine. We're nothing if not sharers of the high horsepower. UPDATE: We've got the official press release with all of the official power numbers here. [via Dubspeed]

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    Honda saw a sharp uptick in sales in August, reportedly selling 158,342 Honda and Acura cars and light trucks in August, a 4.7 percent increase from 151,253 in August 2006 and the highest-ever montly sales total for the company. This despite plummeting sales of Acura and hybrids. [Bizjournals]

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    Project Car Hell: V8 MGB Or V8 914?

    First of all, it looks like the Jalopnik readership feels I should pass on the '65 Falcon wagon in favor of the remote-twin-turbo Volvo wagon, though not by a huge margin. Food for thought, indeed; will keep youse informed. And let's not forget Friday's PCH Pimp Edition poll, in which we had our closest vote ever: at the time of this writing, the Bill Blass Lincoln leads the Cordoba 243 to 236! Looks like we'll need to do another Pimp Edition, to settle the issue once and for all. But enough abo

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    2009 Lincoln MKS From New Batman Movie Caught Sunbathing In The Nude

    Well fan-boys, here's your very first shot of the new Ford D3-platformed luxury sedan for the brand that emancipated the slaves — the 2009 Lincoln MKS — caught on the set of the next Batman film, completely without any form of body armor or fascia obscura. Look at it like these shots taken by tipster and Jalopnik reader Jarrett are the Bruce Wayne to these spy shots from earlier this summer. As far as what we know, well, we already knew the MKS would be the first to receive the new twin-turbo,

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    For The Gearheaded Goth Kid Who Has Everything!

    From Pushin' Daisies (seller of "mortuary novelties") comes this somewhat disturbing 1:18 scale '66 Caddy hearse, complete with coffin! Now, if only they made a pink Barbie Edition toy hearse - with Ken in the coffin and Barbie wielding a shovel, of course- why, then we'd really have something. [Pushin' Daisies] via [BoingBoing]

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    Holy mother o' G-d, the whole world's gone mental — In the same month that GM's US sales are up, Toyota sales were down 2.8%. How will the number one super best automaker from the land of the rising sun defend themselves against this black magic that's sweeping 'merica? How about by building some more competitive vehicles? (Yes GM fan boys, I know you've been wanting to hear something like that for quite some time now. Please feel free to commence crowing.) [CNN]

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    Chrysler sales down 6.1% for August. That's in line with expectations. And hey, look, retail sales are up. So they've got that going for them, right? [The New Chrysler]

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    It's An August Sales Shocker From GM! Monthly Sales Up 5.3%, Truck Sales Up 14.9%

    We were just going to do one of those little quicklink things, but GM's got an August sales shocker going on! Overall vehicle sales are up 5.3% — beating the street expectation of 4% lower sales this past month. But the biggest news of all is that trucks are up almost 15% — yup, even with high gas prices. We hear GM CEO Rick Wagoner's standing atop the RenCen in Detroit yelling "Suck on that one, Toyota!" Full press release below the jump.

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    Saleen paid $700,000 to California's Air Resources Board, settling a claim the company sold more than 100 performance-modified Ford Focus and Mustang models during 2004 and 2005 lacking proper emissions certification. Don't mess with the Golden State Warriors. [Mustang Evolution]

    By Mike Spinelli Read More
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    Ford August 2007 sales down 14% year-to-year — but hey, crossover sales are up. So you know, that'll make up for the losses in every other segment. Or not. [Ford]

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    Driving The 2008 Audi R8, Part One

    Those of you following closely may have noticed Ray is maybe a tiny bit obsessed with the Audi R8. We can't be sure, but this could be the first sign of a developing mental illness. It could be R8itis, or Ray Wert's Disease, as we're sure it's soon to become known. Not wanting to tip him over the edge into a complete breakdown, we felt it best to keep the car out of his hands for the foreseeable future. Actually, I offered him a ride, but he was out of town.

    By Wes Siler Read More
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    Lamborghini Confirms "Very Expensive" Limited-Edition Sports Car For Frankfurt Auto Show

    While speaking to Philipp Encz and Chad Thomas from Bloomberg News and other members of the Euro auto press today about the 25% uptick in sales at VW's Lamborghini brand for the first eight months of the year, Lambo president Stephan Winkelmann confirmed that yes, the rumors we've been hearing about are in fact true. There will be a limited-edition sports car unveiling from the bull-brand at the Frankfurt Auto Show in two weeks. The rumored price of $1 million? That hasn't yet been confirmed

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    Which Automaker Is Trying To Negotiate With The UAW Via The Detroit News?

    Considering all of the automakers have a public message of "shush" when it comes to the current round of negotiations with the UAW, it's weird to see specifics showing up in today's Detroit News. As the automakers and the UAW look to create voluntary employee beneficiary associations (VEBAs), entities set up to assume responsibility for hourly retiree health benefits. These VEBAs only make sense if the automakers are able to transfer the health care liabilities to the UAW at a discount. But ev

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    1964 Volkswagen Type 1

    According to the poll we included in the VW Thing post last week, Jalopnik readers give a definite thumbs-up to the inclusion of VW Beetles in the Down on the Street series. Looks like DOTS Beetle Week lost by a whisker... but don't worry, Beetle fans- I'll make sure our little air-cooled friends appear here on a regular basis. Today we're going to look at a solid '64 Type 1 I found parked on the west side of the island. We're going back to the old format for today, in accordance with the poll r

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    Swamis Of Edmunds Predict August 2007 Auto Sales Down 4.5% From Last Year

    The folks at the 800-pound gorilla net car consumer site known as Edmunds who divine reality from the tea leaves of economic numbers and rumors to produce monthly auto sales predictions believe the whole "housing market" and "subprime mortgages" issues are somehow going to mean August US auto sales are going to be down year-to-year. Specifically, to the tune of somewhere around 4.5%. That's a prediction of 1.42 million units sold here in the US, still an 8.7% uptick from the sales numbers of j

    By Ray Wert Read More
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    Gumball 3000 So Ronery, Still Planning Run To North Korea In 2008

    According to GTSpirit, the forum all about the road rally, the Gumball 3000 is still planning on making a run into the heart of Communist North Korea for the 2008 running of the sticky balls of gum. If you'll remember we reported they were looking to take a jaunt through Korea back in June, but we really believed Maximillion Cooper, head of the rally, would come to his senses. Guess not. Oh, and the price for next year's rally has ballooned to £60,000 (£50,000 for Gumballers) — $120,000?? That

    By Ray Wert Read More
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    PCH, Personal Dilemma Edition: 1965 Ford Falcon Wagon

    Going over so many nightmarishly fun potential project cars while creating this series, I inch ever closer to the abyss of my next car project. I've had only reliable, sane beaters in my stable for a few years now (after a series of Tercels, I now have a '97 Crown Vic and a '92 Civic hatch), and it's time for something more hellish! I tried to buy the 20R-powered Sprite in the very first PCH, but someone beat me to it. Now I hear from Jay, my Econoline-restoring friend, that he wants to sell his

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    Fiat Grande Punto Abarth "Essesse" (Super Sport) Coming To 2007 Frankfurt Auto Show

    Fiat's given the Grande Punto Abarth a bit of a conceptual upgrade for the Frankfurt Auto Show with the Grande Punto Abarth Super Sport prototype concept car. They're calling it the "essesse," but with upgrades including a booster kit that almost doubles its power output from the standard Grande Punto Abarth — up to 180 horses — we're calling it pretty frickin' neat. We'll see it in person in Frankfurt next month, but for now you'll have to be content with the two shot gallery below and the fu

    By Ray Wert Read More
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    Deborah Renshaw goes "Wide Open" for the Nascar checkered flag. [Ask Patty]

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    Citroen C-Cactus Concept

    Citroën's entry in the Frankfurt auto show conceptual derby is a high-style, environmentally sensitive compact the company would sell at the same price as its C4 model. As Citroën notes in a press release, keeping down costs while emphasizing style and technology is a complex equation made square in the C-Cactus concept by stripping out all of the prototype's non-essential parts — like the dashboard.

    By Mike Spinelli Read More
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    1972 Capri, With Bonus DOTS Format Poll

    OK, Capri experts, feel free to bring up the debate about whether the Ford Capri as sold in the USA was really a Mercury or not; it was sold through Mercury dealers, but had no Mercury identifiers on the car. Also feel free to correct me if I'm wrong about the year of this one; I'm pretty sure the '73 had smaller side "vents" and the '71 had a smaller front bumper (and no available V6), but I admit I'm no Capri expert.

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    And in other non-Detroit Grand Prix racing news — anyone watching the Nascar race in Cali tonight? [Jayski]

    By Ray Wert Read More
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    Tony Kanaan, Danica Patrick Go First, Second In Crash-Filled Finish To Detroit Grand Prix IndyCar Race

    Tony Kanaan wins the IndyCar race here at the Detroit Grand Prix, and Danica Patrick took second place in her best ever finish after a shocking last lap and a half. Just before the white flag came up a number of drivers were involved in some "contact" that included "the wall" and "other drivers." Oh and Dan Wheldon came in third despite thrashing his car today earlier in practice— who woulda thunk it? We'll have more shortly — full results below the jump.

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    OMG! Is that really Danica in the lead?!? Oh wait, no — she just hasn't pitted in a while.

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    Sarah Fisher is down and out — and yup, it was in the first turn. Who knew? Oh wait...we did. We're totally winning fifty bucks or whatever.

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    Nooooooo!!!! Audi R8 Goes Up In Flames, We Cry

    Yes, it would appear that's an Audi R8 that's just burst into flames. No, we don't know exactly why. Yes, one of us is very, very, very sad. Although we remember a diesel V10 mule going up in flames earlier this year. Any connection? Again, we've no clue. But feel free to walk through these shots below to figure it out yourselves — if there's anything left to discern any facts from. [via R8Talk.com]

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    IndyCar Fans At The Detroit Grand Prix Are Like Vultures, Clawing At The Flesh Of Marco Andretti

    I'm telling you, the IndyCar fans here at the Detroit Grand Prix — they're like vultures, hungry for the flesh of young drivers. Maybe they're not as bad as Nascar fans, but certainly worse than the countless dozens of fans in the paddock yesterday for ALMS racing. We happened to be walking through the paddock when IndyCar driver Marco Andretti, speeding through on his little scooter from one trailer to another, gets greeted with a "Marco!" Unfortunately, young Marco's not yet old enough to kn

    By Ray Wert Read More
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    Five Questions For Today's Detroit Grand Prix IndyCar Race

    We're up and runnin' today from the Corvette chalet here in the middle of the Detroit River to finish off our Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix coverage with some hot IndyCar racing action. So whether you're coming to the race today, watching it on ABC at 3:30 or reading our live-blog here (hint-hint) here's five questions we've got for the race today that maybe you can help us to answer:

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    #18 Porsche 911 GT2 is down, pit crew thinks CV is dead, but it's an awefully smokey CV. towed into pit without incident. Driver quote of the the day "That corner still has a lot of rubber and oil in it, it's kind of like playing chess going through there. I don't know how to play chess, so I don't know what that means." 20 minutes to go.

    By bwojdyla Read More
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    Looking for live timing and scoring of the ALMS race at the Detroit Grand Prix? [IMSA]

    By Ray Wert Read More
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    First report in - #22 Esperante loses brakes but all is well, some rubbing between an LMP and a Porsche and one showing of the pace car. Early leaders: LMP1- MkNish (Audi), LMP2 - Briscoe (Porsche), GT1 - Magnussen (Corvette), GT2 - Salo (Ferrari)

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    Hehe, our sports-obsessed brethren have a picture of Homer in a car. Mmm...fudge bacon. [Deadspin]

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    Ben's down at the autograph session for the ALMS drivers. He should be back shortly to show us his pics. Yup, any minute now. Where the #$%@ is he?!?!

    By Ray Wert Read More
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    If anyone needs a map of the island, we've got one — feel free to borrow it. Need a larger version?

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    The Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix Shows Us Its Tix, Hot Corvette Action

    We've got our tickets, we've taken the shuttle over to Belle Isle, and we're now coming to you live from the middle of the Detroit River as we begin our two-day coverage of the 2007 Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix. The hot racing action hasn't even started yet and we've already got some fun for ya in the form of a Corvette parade across the Douglas MacArthur Bridge from the mainland to the island. While we finish getting set up, check out those pictures or what's on tap for the weekend in the fu

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Technology (1)

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    Engine Swap Of The Day: 4AGE-Powered Midget!

    We love a good engine swap around these parts, and, ever since the very first Project Car Hell, I've been interested in the Toyota-engine-in-Sprite/Midget idea. Not that I'd ever do such a thing, mind you... well, actually, I might! This site is a very well-written and carefully documented account of just how a total raving madman resourceful gearhead goes about stuffing a 160-horsepower Toyota 4AGE into a microscopic British car designed for 65 horsepower. Lots of good stuff here, engine swap f

    By Murilee Martin Read More