The 2008 Smart Fortwo is burdened with preconceived notions like no car before it. It's not safe. You can't drive it on the highway. It's too small for super sized Americans. It's Green. It's gay. The car was launched in Europe in 1998, so Americans have had a decade to develop these assumptions. Until now, few have driven it, and never on American soil. Yesterday, we did.
Read MoreThe Taurus X made us hope for a true alternative to an SUV or a minivan. Something that delivered their functionality without the image problems both other classes of vehicle suffer. Instead, it compromises on ability while carrying over too much height from an SUV and the family-man image of a minivan.
Read MoreThe Taurus X has an identity problem. By trying to be part station wagon, part SUV and part luxury car. It aims to draw from the best qualities of each, but so far, I'm afraid it might be doing the exact opposite. Take the economy for instance. Ideally, the Taurus X would provide SUV versatility with lower fuel consumption. At 18mpg combined and the inability to haul truly large loads, it does the reverse.
Read MoreYesterday, we introduced the 2008 Taurus X — which is in Jalopnik's garage for a week — telling you it made us look like dads. Today the big Taurus gets a chance to shine, hauling unwanted doors from Ray's pied-à-terre to his glamorous storage facility in Jersey.
Read MoreI had high hopes for the 2008 Ford Taurus X. My earliest memories of a car take place in the way back of a 1982 Caprice Classic station wagon. I would sit in the rear-facing seat, waving enthusiastically at whomever happened to be held up by my mom's slow-as-syrup driving. For nearly a decade, the Caprice served as primary transportation for my family and our assortment of stray dogs, adopted lambs and injured turtles. My memories of the Jeep that replaced it, however, aren't nearly as fond.
Read MoreWe all knew it from the moment the 2009 Toyota Venza made its beige debut on stage, the moniker of "crossover sedan" was marketing doublespeak. Reader Clark got a bit worked up over some of the marketeers abusing the nonsensical term in this MSNBC press release copy/paste story. Look we all know it's a station wagon, Toyota knows it's a station wagon, buyers will all know it's a station wagon, and yet, Toyota Division Group Vice President and General Manager Bob Carter presses on.
Read MoreThe Top Gear gossip of the day is that Jay Leno and Jerry Seinfeld could be hosting the American version of the show destined for US airwaves in the next couple of years. We call bollocks. The whole rumor is built upon so much circumstantial evidence that we're a little shocked it didn't come from us. We break down the report from Inside Line below the jump.
Read MoreBrenda Priddy and her quick lens caught the first photos of the rebadged Dodge Caravan that is the 2009 Volkswagen Routan Minivan. As you can tell from the photo, it does carry a lot from the current lineup of Chrysler minivans (though, with something else going on out front and in back). If you look at the back, you can see the taillights have a sort of curvature reminiscent of the current Passat/Jetta, unless that's an optical illusion. Exciting stuff. We can't wait to see it in full at the C
Read MoreY'all hunt? Not me, but my brother does. He's a dog man. Likes to shoot at ducks and pheasants. Hates deer hunting. Hates it. Who wants to spend the whole day sitting in a tree stand, waiting for your elusive quarry to meander into rifle-range? Of course, this is all rendered hassle-free if you a.) are a rally racer with a WRX STI and b.) find yourself tearing through the snowy Michigan woods, as Hardigree noted this morning. Or else, you could also just have a Vega. Yeah, a Vega. Which brings u
Read MoreDesigners will occasionally develop flights of fancy which would never in the wildest business models reach the showroom floor. Come on, you remember 'em. The Toyota i-Real, the Ford Nucleon. Batshit-crazy doesn't always get axed in the process of money making. Behold, the 1974 Fascination 2DR. Five of these beauties made it out into the real world and all still exist under the care of two different madmen owners. Not only was the Fascination fascinating (sorry) to look at, but its construction
Read MoreWell, the Jeep FC-150 obliterated the Spanish 2CV in yesterday's Choose Your Eternity poll, no doubt because even an Hecho en España label doesn't add enough weight on either side of the Cool/Hell scale when you're looking at a 2CV. However, we shouldn't start to thinking that France isn't a PCH superpower just because the 2CV was too simple to be truly hellish... which is why we're going with an all-French matchup for today's choices.
Read MoreWe were totally rooting for the Motoring J Style Isuzu I-Mark at the 24 Hours of LeMons race at Thunderhill last month, especially after hearing one team member refer to Isuzu as "The Fiat of Japan." Now the J Style folks have written down their account of why their Isuzu succeeded on the race track about as well as Isuzu Corporation succeeded in the American marketplace (actually, the race car did pretty well... for a while). The best part is the driver's response to hearing a terrible noise fr
Read MoreGarmin has been keeping really busy this week. The GPS giant has been dropping hints all over the place about its Super Bowl ad that surprisingly (or maybe not, if you're a marketer who's savvy with these interwebs) isn't debuting during the Super Bowl, but rather online. The ad has gone live and it's all right, I guess. I've never been one of the "watch the Super Bowl for the commercials" kind of people, mainly because I have a horrible gambling problem and usually have a vested interest in th
Read MoreGeneral Motors will be showing off a line of commercial vehicles at the Chicago Auto Show featuring GM's latest usable green technology. While we won't be seeing a fuel-cell pursuit package Impala, there will be enough E85, B5 biodiesel and hybrids for everyone. Vehicles getting the treatment include the HHR Panel, Express 3500 Cargo Van, Silverado/Silverado HD, Police Impala and Police Tahoe. We think they should do a hybrid police Tahoe that can operate in "stealth mode" to sneak up on crimina
Read MoreWith the departure of the hairy but golden-penned Mr. Lieberman, I have been passed the torch of the Jalopnik Fantasy Garage. It is with honor and deference I accept this great undertaking. I hope to carry on where he left off, bringing you the best of the best in this galaxy of automobilia. Unfortunately, my first duty in this endeavor is striking the final coffin nails on two former occupants of the garage, a pair of cars you've deemed unworthy.
Read MoreWhat better way to show off your sporty new hatch than to place it next to a new formula one car? The new Twingo Renault Sport model bowed will bow with the latest F1 car from Renault at the Geneva Motor Show in March. This Twingo gets a new 1.6L engine good for 133 horsepower, sporty five-spoke wheels and a specially turned suspension. If you were curious if this little hatch was worth all the fuss, we'd remind you that the sports car people at Renault steal from only the best. Photos and press
Read MoreJust when I thought Garmin was too busy releasing a relentless number of GPS navigation systems, they come out of nowhere with the Nuviphone, a full-blown cellphone based around a GPS core that's set for a third quarter release this year. No word on the carrier or price. With a variety of carriers and manufacturers marketing their own gimpy solutions to GPS on cellphones, what does this phone mean for the industry? Quite a bit, actually.
Read MoreThough most of the talk of the first generation Isuzu Impulse on Jalopnik had to do with a Project Car Hell comparison, with the news of Isuzu abandoning the North American market I thought I'd take a moment to remember one of the few North American Isuzus that were actually likable. I also have a personal connection to the car as the Impulse was the car my dad traded for when he realized you can't put a child seat in a Subaru Brat.
Read MoreLeave it to a company looking to make a name for itself in Green Land to attempt to solve a problem that doesn't exist. We all know that plug-in hybrids are coming. And hell, some options are already here. But V2Green is tackling problem of too many charging hybrids, which is a concern that won't exist for quite a few years, at earliest. You know how the 10 o'clock news is freaking out all summer about the energy crisis from too many the air conditioners running simultaneously and stressing the
Read MoreNow that you've heard that Loverman is out, you've got me as the QOTD Czar. I'm happy to do it and, for the most part, no one has seemed to mind when I've filled in before. Nevertheless, I still feel like Colin Quinn taking over from Norm Macdonald on Weekend Update. And like he said:
Read MoreZAP has a long history producing electric cars, though not always the best looking electric cars. Given their history, we shouldn't dismiss the ZAP Alias electric car quite as quickly as we might with other manufacturers. Even if their claim is to build an electric car with a range of 150 miles, a 0-60 mph time under 6 seconds, a top speed over 100 mph. That they claim that this whole package will come in under $31,000 is what's worth being hopefully skeptical about. And will it perform? Given t
Read MoreTake the now infamous Stefan Eriksson Ferrari Enzo Crash, an Enzo model kit and a lot of free time and you get this lovingly detailed, expertly recreated and irrepressibly awesome diorama. That it came from Jalopnik reader/commenter HansStuckJr just makes it that much cooler. Photos of the original crash and photos of the recreation below, as well as the full details about this masterpiece below the jump.
Read MoreRemember Malaise Era rear-wheel-drive econoboxes from Detroit? A couple of decades back, Pintos and Chevettes were buzzing all over the place, cheerfully dropping drivetrain parts and rusted-out body panels on the pavement in the process. By now, just about all of them have met their fate in the cold steel jaws of The Crusher. Given that the average lifespan of a Chevette was best measured in five odometer figures (and many of the survivors are now getting raced to death), it was quite a pleasan
Read MoreThat's right friends. I'm leaving. Bye-bye. Nice knowing you. See you around. Ciao. Today—Thursday, January 31, 2008—is my last day at Jalopnik. The first question is of course why? Well, basically what Spinelli said when he handed over the reins, but with 1/8th the responsibility. But allow me to quote:
Read MoreWe'd say this new Porsche Cayenne was to die for, but then it turns out there are people willing to die for a Porsche Cayenne. Well, that and it's kind of hideous. Something about this HAMANN Cyclone body kit just doesn't quite work. Maybe it's that sort of M5-esque front bumper. Maybe it's the unnecessarily large black rims. Or maybe it's ridiculous snakeskin, carbon fiber and velour interior. Though gaudy, it does finally confirm that carbon fiber is a fashion statement more than a performance
Read MoreWe love Network, Paddy Chayefksy's famous critique of television, network news and media consumerism. You'd think we'd have learned something from it by now. But we haven't. Like all nerds, we also love his diatribe:
Read MoreRemember when we told you how Tomas Delgado was suing the parents of the boy he struck and killed to recoup bodyshop money? Well it seems the Spanish people got a little miffed by what would have to be considered one of the most ill-conceived legal actions in Iberian history. Local outrage has pressured Delgado-the-sleazy D-bag into withdrawing the suit. Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the courthouse and the pending lynch mob convinced Delgado and his lawyer that continued litigation wou
Read MoreIs an air-cooled Japanese cartruck both cooler and more hellish than an airbrushed Malaise Detroit Vantruck? According to almost two-thirds of you, it is! Today we're going to hit the mailbag again, adding yet another reader to the waiting list for the next run of PCH Tipster T-shirts, because McGyver managed to come up with a pair of totally irresistible choices. How about a Spanish-built French car with an air-cooled two-banger... versus a forward-control Jeepamino? The agony!
Read MoreGaywheels.com, the gay-friendly automotive resource, has published its quarterly results for the most-researched vehicles. The statistics for this list are derived from its own website data. For the most recent quarter, MINI has taken over the tenth-place spot, previously held by the Infiniti FX. The Toyota Yaris and Saab 9-3 have held the top spots on the list for months now. VW also has a strong presence. See the entire list after the jump.
Read MoreWhen reader keeble tipped us to this two photo set, we almost had a cargasm. This monsterized Honda Civic DX has set our deranged little hearts aflutter. We've tasked a pack of monkeys in the cellar to feverishly calculate how Jalopnik this thing is. Not only does the car make liberal use of duct tape as a means of body management and add giant tractor tires, but it's... hold on... amphibious. We have another pictures below the fold, but more importantly, we think we know where it came from. UPD
Read MoreIt's part three of my adventures with the Microsoft Sync. I unboxed the hell out of it, then attempted to set up the entire system and now I am going to take the 2008 Ford Focus SE out on a joy-of-technology ride around the greater Dallas area, try to not kill anyone in the process. Check out the video review above and see some of my final impressions of the system below.
Read MoreDoes your BLUETEC E-Class Benz not give you quite the power you were hoping for? Does 400 lb.-ft. of torque leave you cold inside? BRABUS, tuner of all things Mercedes, might have an answer to your uniquely affluent problems. A new upgrade from BRABUS boosts power by 47 horsepower and about 50 lb.-ft. of torque, to 258 and 450, respectively. Besides a lot of power for just over $2,500 (body kit extra), the new modification also meets EURO V emissions standards and is backed by a three year/62,00
Read MoreReuters is reporting Isuzu, unlike Jake Gyllenhaal, no longer wishes it knew how to quit North American SUV sales. Here's their report:
Read MoreRemember that Mazda6 Coupe sketch that popped up on the automotive interwebs today? We got it from The Hollywood Extra, a site that provides an interesting mix of shots that are made more interesting by the editor's complete unwillingness to attribute anything. As we guessed, it turns out this is an older Atenza drawing from Mazda. More of them below the jump.
Read MoreNow here's an interesting development. Jalopy Journal, the online bastion of respectable hot rodding, has thrown down the gauntlet, challenged the establishment, thumbing it's nose at this years "America's Most Beautiful Roadster". Incensed by the selection of yet another high dollar, flaw free, beige roadster, they are planning a revolt of sorts. We of the common first two syllables tend to agree with their argument. The mantle of the most beautiful is getting stale; the cars being chosen fall
Read MoreLooks like the licensing for the upcoming Speed Racer movie is beginning with earnest but after seeing the trailer for the movie, we're generally "meh" on this whole thing. But Warner Brothers isn't letting our lack of enthusiasm stop them from moving ahead at full speed. They've just announced that Lego'll be producing four playsets under the "Lego Racers" brand, and they're scheduled to "race onto" store shelves in April. The thing we're most excited about is to see what Trixie and Chim-Chim w
Read MoreMr. Vince Burlapp and his The Hollywood Extra Car Page brings us another mystery. This time it is a completely random image of what looks to be a Mazda6/Atenza coupe sketch. Burlapp claims this is a sketch from Mazda, so we'll go with that for now. It would make sense to us to bring a Mazda6 coupe to the world as all the competition seems to be doing it and Mazda has had an unfortunate excess of doors recently. Here are some pictures of the Mazdaspeed Atenza Concept, which seem to share similar
Read MoreBelieve it or not, the last time we saw a 50s Detroit car in this series was the '57 Cadillac, way back in November. I've got quite a few of them photographed, but it seems that my recent focus on the Malaise Era has come at the expense of other decades. So, let's take a look at an extra-nice example of the Major Chrome Era: this '55 Mercury Monterey sedan.
Read MoreToday's Hoon of the Day comes to us from NBC's Today Show and the little city of Hinsdale, IL. Here's what happened. At about 5:42 p.m. on Monday, 72-year-old Franciszek Chudzik drove over a train crossing in downtown Hinsdale and attempted to make a left turn onto the third set of tracks of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe line, according to witnesses. The same witnesses claim they next saw Chudzik get stuck on the tracks — as a '96 Plymouth Voyager is wont to do — and unable to move his van of
Read MoreIt was almost a year ago today that we stood in a meeting room at McCormick Place in Chicago and listened to Mark Fields go on and on about how big of a deal renaming the Ford Five Hundred the Ford Taurus was going to be. And then they sold 20% less in 2007 than they did in 2006. But they're ready to admit they made a mistake. And what's the carefully orchestrated way that they share this information? In a big meeting CEO Alan Mullaly and product chief Derrick Kuzak compared the Five Hundred (wh
Read MoreFollowing a trend that some manufacturers are beginning to embrace, Audi is the latest to offer LED technology in taillights. in.pro is the accessory manufacturer that Audi has teamed up. The Audi A4 8E and A3 8L are the two models that will include the LED option. No word as yet on exactly how much that will add to the price, but aftermarket LEDs typically run $250-300. Could be money well spent. The advantage LED has is obvious—the lights will last forever, never requiring replacement (we hate
Read MoreWe all make bad decisions. On your best day you probably make two or three of them. Highway instead of Expressway. Elevator instead of stairs. Fried Snickers bar instead of baked potato. And there are all kinds of bad decisions. There are the minor bad decisions that impact only a little, like not taking your umbrella with you and then getting rained on. But there are also those bad decisions that, when added together, comprise your life. Not getting up the nerve to ask Cindy Preeter to the danc
Read MoreWell, it's certainly been raining spy photos of the 2009 Chevy Camaro around these parts this week, isn't it? First it was our first set of interior photos of the new Camaro, and then word last night Chevy's new two-door man-o-war was making its way into LA. Our super-secret sources have snapped some more blurry camera phone shots for us of Chevy's new muscle car and for the first time we're able to take a look at the engine bay of the new RWD Aussie mullet-master. Unfortunately, it's only housi
Read MoreWhen we saw the official press shots of Hummer's new H3T the first thing we noticed was the presence of the ubiquitous - well in the world of truck press shots that is - dirt bike in the back. We understand why they put the bike in there, it's to highlight the utility of the vehicle and to draw parallels between the ability and sexiness of the dirt bike and the truck it's placed in, but we can't help but feel it does the opposite. With its fuel economy, mud-plugging ability, cost and practicalit
Read MoreEdmunds Inside Line went and did what we were too bothered to do yesterday and dug up details on the tragic 2008 BMW M5 crash at Jumbolair Estates in Florida. As our intrepid commenters noted, the lad was a member at M5board.com and had recently inquired as to the normalcy of a thunking transmission sound at excessive speeds. Warnings to the youth proved less sexy then the lure of speed and around 3:30 a.m. on January 26, when the Space Gray M5 and it's occupants shuffled off this mortal coil. F
Read MoreThe "unboxing" of Sync yesterday didn't go quite as well as I was hoping, but no fear, there's a trusty 80-page manual to guide me through setting up the Sync in-car entertainment system. I was able to connect my Zune to the system pretty easily yesterday, so today's setup revolved mostly around setting up my cellphone, which was quite the task. See some of my frustrations in the video above, and hit the jump for commentary about the Sync system, how I decided to approach it and setting up a cel
Read MoreThe newest addition to the Porsche SUV lineup, the Porsche Cayenne GTS, is going to set you back $69,300 when it goes on sale next month, putting it closer to the $57,900 Cayenne S than the $93,700 for the Cayenne Turbo. Unfortunately, the performance is also closer to the Cayenne S with a 405 horsepower version of the 4.8-liter DFI engine, as opposed to the 500 horsepower version in the Turbo. But if the Turbo is out of your price range but a recent stock split means you can do better than the
Read MoreNot wanting to get left behind in a world of 500 horsepower Euro-bruisers, RENNtech announced today its new "stage 3" kit designed to squeeze an impressive 695 horsepower and 895 lb-ft of torque out of the twin-turbo AMG V12. The kit uses a revised ECU, revised cooling system and other goodies to get as much usable power out of the V12 as can be reasonably gotten. The addition for 65-series AMG's is $18,900 plus installation and is available on the S65, CL65 (pictured) and SL65 AMG. Full press r
Read MoreSometimes it's so easy to be proud of your fellow statesmen. Let's say you live in Adrian, Michigan, your wife has taken the car, you have run out of wine, and there's a snowstorm raging outside. What would you do? If you were Frank Kozumplik, you would hop on your John Deere lawn mower and drive down the middle of the street to the liquor store to get some more. Police arrested Mr. Kozumplik after catching up to him as he made his way home with four more bottles and a 0.20 BAC. The coppers seiz
Read MoreInstead of throwing all of its cash down the yawning maw of biofuel and hydrogen fuel cells, GM intends to get some quick fuel economy wins the smart way - with lower displacement and turbos. Automotive News (sorry, subscription required) is reporting GM will be following a strategy similar to Ford with its EcoBoost engines, namely using smaller engines in large vehicles, but bolstering them with the magic of exhaust driven compression. There's no speculation on when or in what we would see this
Read MoreEven though only 11% of you chose the If only they'd put Lamborghini bodies on them at the factory poll choice in Friday's DOTS Fiero poll, I feel compelled to share this fine example of a "Lamborghini Countach" that I spotted in the island's East End last week. Sure, the fit and finish isn't quite up to Yugo standards, but at least it's not another boring Camry or Malibu! I'm pretty sure it's based on the Pontiac Fiero chassis, but its smog check records indicate that it's registered as a 2000
Read MoreOne of the big buff mag boys over at the House of Trend is showing some remorse over the Motor Trend empire's embargo-breaking for fun and profit. Mark Williams, chief truck-lover over at Truck Trend, is manning up to "accidentally" publishing their latest issue ten days early and revealing the new Hummer H3T a week and a half early (though curiously forgetting to apologize to Suzuki over the new Suzuki Equator embargo blunder). Mark says "...it looks like we were the ones who screwed up the who
Read MoreAs opposed to previous years, the president used only a small part of his State of the Union address to talk about the importance of reducing our dependence on foreign oil. We've read and reread the portion of the speech dedicated to energy and... well... there isn't much there. Mostly, he talked about funding the American Competitiveness Initiative, which is a holdover from the 2006 SOTU. He also alluded to the need to sign an international greenhouse gas agreement, which is the Kyoto Protocol,
Read MoreA French hydropneumatically-suspended diesel managed to win a photo finish against a V8-powered Malaise Lotus in our last Choose Your Eternity poll, which means we'll need to have another English Channel Hell Project Battle right soon. But today we need to go to the PCH Tipster Mailbag (which, sorry to say, I haven't been using as much as I should, due to the fact that I still haven't had a chance to crank up the PCH Tipster T-shirt assembly line) and check out a couple of real humdingers sent i
Read MoreFor those of you who don't visit our sister site Wonkette, we thought we'd mention that the State Of The Union is happening tonight. In fact, it's the last SOTU we're going to get from our current president, and we already have the drinks lined up for the 8th annual George W. Bush SOTU drinking game. We're looking forward to the lip service and pandering to various automotive "green" issues such as ethanol, hybrids and hydrogen. If we're lucky, we might even get a nod to some sort of fund or blu
Read MoreSeriously, has it been that long? All I want is for the two to finally kiss, make up, merge and make everyone happy, especially the million upon millions of users of satellite radio in the home or on the road. Last night, something went down that caused Matt Drudge, of the infamous Drudge Report, to sound the sirens and compose the following headline:
Read MoreYES! Have confirmed that the 3.2 Roadster will be sold in America. Usually, we in the US are left to look on in envy as Europeans get all manner of wacky low-volume sportscars, but the firm's parent company, Funke & Will AG (How's that for '80s flashback?), will be showing the vehicle at the Chicago Auto Show in February. Sales will commence later this year. The base Roadster has a 3.2L Volkswagen V6 with 255bhp powering 890kgs. A Turbo model brings 355bhp and a 0-60 time of 3.8secs, while a fur
Read MoreRemember Monster Garage? Remember when it was shiny and new and every wrench-head you knew watched it religiously? The air date was July 14th, 2003, the challenge was to turn a '73 Corvette into a rootin' tootin' mud-bogging dragster. We remember it like it was yesterday. Our inner redneck was cheering the team on as they stripped it down, built up the 454, tossed in a roll cage, a junkyard Toyota front axle and tied it all up with baling wire and duct tape (and a $10,000 House of Color paint jo
Read MoreThe Acura RL never found much love in the mainstream luxury market, due partially to the lack of a V8 and FWD/AWD setup. Though the car offers a lot of technology and good power, it's not something often mentioned in the same breath as the competitive offerings from Lexus or Mercedes. We've heard some rumors that this new model will debut at the Chicago Auto Show and carry the newly designed diesel engine. Someone also intercepted a communiqué from Acura about the new RL (and updates to the TSX)
Read MoreThis is getting ridiculous. Folks, please, we don't sell cars. We don't sell parts, we don't repair cars, we are not a dealership, we are not an importer/exporter. No doubt this clear and to the point statement will be overlooked by people like Paul WRIGHT, who writes to us with a proposal. He tells us he has a Grand Cherokee and he wants to buy a new one. But he also wants to help us increase sales. How you might ask? Why, with his "very powerful slogan," of course. Evidently, this top-secret v
Read MoreWhile it may not be as cool as the Sprinter into Studio Coppola Special, the Hartmann-tuned Sprinter van is still fairly wicked. Next to Supervan 2, the Dodge/MB Sprinter is already near the top of our list of favorite vans. Add a body kit, new exhaust, faux-carbon fiber inserts, vaguely tweaked mechanicals and 19-inch wheels and you've got the Hartmann SP5. Even better if you can get one in cargo van form with no rear windows for that elite NSA surveillance team look. Somewhat incorrectly trans
Read MoreAl Navarro is a co-founder of Mint Advertising, an independent advertising agency in New Jersey. He also drives a Caterham Superlight R, so don't front. If I called a random American and asked them to name a famous advertising agency, chances are they couldn't. Or perhaps they'd say Sterling Cooper or some other fictionalized institution. It's just not how things work. While people sometimes remember and talk about ads and advertisers around the water cooler, the agencies who create the spots t
Read MoreIf you're like us, you love the little East German Trabant. Whether it's a Trabantamino, Trabant Limo or Harlequin Trabant, we'd be proud to have one in our garage. Sensing our desire, German miniature maker Herpa, who owns the rights to the vehicle, has started constructing miniature new Trabants with the hopes of building momentum towards the production of a full-sized version. Since the cars they make are tiny, they've partnered with parts supplier IndiKar for the possible creation of a sligh
Read MoreUPDATE: Seems that the young'un involved with the Ocala BMW crash was a frequent poster to a BMW M5 forum. Racing down the main runway of the gated "Jumbolair Aviation Estates" in Dad's BMW probably seemed like a fun idea whether just for the thrill of speed in a test of machinery against an opponent. It was a fun idea right up until the point when the runway ran out, and the car went air born off the 85 foot berm at the end. 200 feet later the car and its five male occupants met their end half
Read MoreNo, I don't mean Xtra Cab in the title, like some kinda warlord-driven Toyota. I mean this truck, which parks next to the island's Catholic high school, literally has an extra cab... in the bed. You figure, hey, the owner of this truck just picked up a cab for another truck project, and he just hasn't had him a chance to unload it, right? Wrong- the extra cab has been sitting in the bed for at least three years, and it comes along for the ride wherever the truck goes! Best of all, the truck's ow
Read MoreWe'd heard in the past India's Mahindra & Mahindra is looking to expand beyond Jeep knock-offs and start leveraging their know-how as one of the world's largest suppliers of tractors in order to get themselves into the US pickup market. According to Automotive News, Pawan Goenka, president of Mahindra's automotive unit, is repeating that party line, and now he's even giving some sales numbers. Goenka claims he would be happy with annual sales of between 20,000 and 25,000 units for a truck sold s
Read MoreOne of our attentive readers happened to spot what looks to be one of the first (if not the first) production versions of the 2009 BMW X6, specifically an xDrive35i model. Since this car isn't on sale until after March, the most likely place you'd find one running around on the streets is in upstate South Carolina, the base of BMW's manufacturing operations. This is the first we've seen an X6 in black and, we must say, it's a good look for the "Sports Activity Coupe." The full report on how this
Read MoreWe've already brought you pictures of the 2009 Mercedes CLC covered with models for the Berlin Fashion Week. As we originally thought, the new version of the Sports Coupe isn't actually based on the new C-Class architecture but instead gets the visual enhancements to make it look like the rest of the line. In fact, they've enhanced or newly developed 1,100 components (which could mean suspension or could mean shift knob gasket). Engines include two turbodiesels, two four-cylinder mills and two s
Read MoreDespite "Maximum" Bob Lutz pulling the skirt up and over the head of the exterior of the new Camaro, we've yet to see any official shots of the interior. And that last set of interior spy photos of the 2009 Chevy Camaro we saw were — how shall we say this — a bit tarp-covered? While this new set of the new mullet-mobile from down under is lacking in camouflage and plastic sheeting, it more than makes up for it in Cloverfield-like motion blur. Note to camera phone owners — please stand perfectly
Read MoreWhile we saw the Top 50 finishers of the 24 Hours of LeMons race at Thunderhill last month, we didn't get to see the bulk of the photographs I shot, nor did we see a lot of the stuff sent in by members of the various teams. That's because my laptop's hard drive took a dive during the race and I lost the best stuff... but now the sick Maxtor has yielded up its contents and we're ready to take a look at the long-awaited Über Gallery. Many thanks to all the team members who have been so patient abo
Read MoreThe Tesla Roadster has passed its FMVSS crash tests and is now certified for production. This is one of those items that should please both lovers and haters of the forthcoming electric sports car. Those that hate it can revel in the crash porn in the gallery below. Those that love it can get excited about the fact that it's one significant step closer to production. The rest of us can act nonplussed. Basically an Elise with batteries, the Roadster benefits from that car's massive bonded aluminu
Read MoreThe Alex Winter/Brooke Shields/Randy Quaid 1993 B-movie extravaganza Freaked had very little to offer in the way of quality, but it did feature Mr. T wearing a dress. The plot was simply an excuse for make up artists to ply their fading trade in the few remaining years before computers took over the Hollywood effects biz. Still, Mr. T saying, "But now I know who I am. I can say to the world, 'Hey, this is me. I am woman, and I like me'" is about as good as movies can hope to get. Why am I bringi
Read MoreWhat an exciting day it is for fans of the Hummer brand, with the 2009 Hummer H3T embargo catastrafuck giving the truck all sorts of play on the internet. Since bringing you the first Truck Trend H3T scans, we've gotten a lot more information thanks to PickupTrucks.com, which had the first H3T post up on the web. What do we know about the new H3T? It's the same Colorado/H3 architecture but built to accommodate both the crew cab and the five-foot-long bed. There will be four versions offered, inc
Read MoreIt's always fun finding some flimsy-yet-cool factory hot-rod parked on the street of a big crazy city (say, a Cosworth Vega in New York City), and a French factory hot rod is even better. That's why it was fortunate for us that Project Car Hell Poster Child Franzouse had his cellphone camera ready when he stumbled across this Renault 4TL in Paris. We like to imagine the ghost of Gervaise Macquart (that is, if fictional characters have ghosts) hotwiring this baby and taking it for a spin! Make th
Read MoreIf you haven't been following along at home, folks, the nice people at Truck Trend (owned by our good friends at Motor Trend) somehow managed to break the Hummer H3T today, about a week early. How could this happen? Motor Trend, as has been explained to us, doesn't purposefully break embargoes, and they get testy when you suggest that they do. As we've explained about media embargoes before, automakers like press, and when they want their cars in certain publications they send "embargoed" inform
Read More"We want to ignite a passion for design among American children and also raise money to help families cope with serious illnesses." Thus spake Carroll Shelby, announcing his partnership with Road & Track and the Automotive Fine Arts Society to sponsor the sixth annual Kids Automotive Art Contest, which has been on hiatus since 2002. A modest $5 entry fee will fund Shelby's foundation, which combats children's illnesses worldwide. So, got an aspiring little Chris Bangle or J Mays frolicking about
Read MoreAh yes. I can see it now. You and your significant other makes plans with another couple to scamper up the coast for some wine tasting north of Santa Barbara. You book rooms at the fabulous Madonna Inn and the eye-popping tour IV at Hearst Castle. Hell, you even managed to swing reservations at the Hitching Post. But what vehicle is wonderfully sublime enough for this journey? Obviously, it would need to seat four adults comfortably, haul all their luggage and of course, sport lots of ashtrays.
Read MoreFour cars, two bullets. But where to aim? After two days worth of ruthless bickering enlightened discussion, you have selected the Fantasy Garage's four bottom feeders. First to act is the RUF RT12, the car that achieved the 2nd highest number of "out!" votes. Interestingly, this non-CTR Yellowbird RUF was also the first car inducted into this here Garage. Will it meet the same fate as the second ever inductee, the Maserati Quatroporte? That's for you to decide.
Read MoreChicago's a truck show — always has been. And we've been told we should expect some seriously fun product, both in concept and in production from the General in two weeks at the Chicago Auto Show. We've already told you we now expect the GMC pickup concept truck to be there and now, according to the embargo-breaking pointer-outers at HummerGuy, it'll be comig to Chicago too. In fact, they've even got the shots to prove it — taken directly from the pages of an early-to-the-stands issue of TruckTr
Read MoreThere's nothing conspicuous about a heavily camouflaged mid-size Mercedes, so parking one in the heavily trafficked Arlanda International Airport was surely a winning idea. According to the super Swedes at Bilfeber, what you see here is an abandoned 2010 Mercedes E-Class test vehicle. We're big fans of the pseudo-BMW kidney grille from the clever Benz mechanics.
Read MoreRemember the still photos we saw of Ken Block hooning his WRX on a New Zealand mountain in the company of a bunch of snowboarders? Well, courtesy of Connor (who also gave us some great LeMons in-car video, now we get to see some video of the hoonage, all set to a Primus soundtrack. Sure, the feel of the video is on the ragin'-dude snowboard-meathead side, but remember: New Zealand is where hoonage began!
Read MoreFor most people, losing $2.7 billion over the course of a year would be considered slightly less than stellar. For Ford, on the other hand, that's actually a pretty good year. We're not being sarcastic. In 2006, the company lost $12.6 billion. To fully understand what really happened you have to embrace the mixture of complicated transactions, production cuts, PAG sales and Mark Fields not using the company jet to get home (he also cut back on using the company barber, thus reaping untold saving
Read MoreWe're able to forgive GM's main product man and vice-chairman, "Maximum" Bob Lutz, over his gaffe on the xtremely secret GMC pickup car concept with the news we've now got. Just to recap — if you'll remember earlier today we told you he was wrong about which show it'd debut in. Originally, a number of outlets reported the concept would hit the showroom floor in New York based on Lutz's comments. Although we knew that wasn't the case, we held off on reporting on anything other than the reports th
Read MoreThere I was, minding my own business. Just surfing the web, looking for PCH candidates. I actually found a good one — the diesel Citroen. Now, I make blogger money, which means I'd have to up my online poker ROI from -3% to 3,219%. Sadly, $6,000 is just out of the question. Then suddenly, I saw it:
Read MoreI used to believe that there was a fine line between automobiles and architecture, but BMW has come along and shattered those preconceived notions with BMW Welt, or BMW World, a showroom, mall "delivery center." This industrial- and futuristic-looking building holds all things BMW. Most importantly it is where Germans can go pick up their shiny new toys while enjoying other necessities, such as lattes, digital vehicle simulations, mall-like stores and more (What? No Weizenbock?). The experience
Read MoreDespite earlier reports the four-door Zeta-platform GMC concept pickup truck would be coming to the New York Auto Show, we've been told by people in the know it'll be hitting the floor at the Chicago Auto Show. We guess we'll be seeing it much earlier than expected. Maybe "Maximum" Bob Lutz was just having a senior moment of some kind. Our sources also indicate it'll have a drastically different look than anything else out of Australia with a truck bed — including the Holden Crewman ute up top.
Read MoreOne of the things motorcycle riders like tout about their choice of transportation is that, in the event of the crash, they're less likely to hurt others than an automobile. And while it's true that most people would rather be in a head-on with a K1200S than a Yukon, at 155 mph a motorcycle is basically a missile. In this case, a young rider had just received his license and took his bike for a high speed drive. This was apparently so fast that he didn't have time to hit the brakes before his bi
Read MoreWhen we had the Detroit Malaise Poll (which, by the way, was won by the beautiful T-top-equipped '78 Eldorado), I realized that I had no Late Malaise Detroit cars in this series. In fact, other than the '80 IHC Scout, we haven't had any 80s American vehicles here. To remedy this situation, I grabbed my camera and started walking, intending to shoot the first DOTS-worthy 80s Detroit car I found... and I didn't have to go far before I spotted an example of GM's coulda-been-a-contender mid-engine c
Read MoreScott Keogh, Audi of America's chief marketing officer says the multi-ringed brand all about precision's got an evolving style of luxury. Speaking at the Automotive News World Congress in Detroit, Keogh says at the moment there are two different kinds of luxury battling it out in the marketplace. The first is "old luxury...traditionally grounded in Europe. A Swiss watch. High quality. A traditional definition of prestige." Keogh claims the second is "new luxury" evoking a "West Coast" sensibilit
Read MoreBrenda Priddy's man about the D-town happened upon yet another caravan of anti-spy photographer clad 2010 Ford Mustang test units, and this time he managed to sidle up alongside for an interior shot of the next-gen pony car. Full spy report from the Brenda's quick-to-snap shooter after the jump, and a blown-up picture of the interior can be found there as well.
Read MoreWhen it comes to cars, opinions run rampant. One of the aspects that initially attracted me to Jalopnik was the site's omnivorous take on the automobile. A vehicle need not have to have a V8 driving the rear wheels for it to be lauded and cooed over. As long as the car was great on its own merits, this joint "loved" it. Which I found wonderfully refreshing, as that philosophy lined up perfectly with my own. It also seemed to attract a crowd of like minded automotive iconoclasts (i.e. you jerks).
Read MoreIt was pretty close, but the Mazda 323 GTX squeaks out a 55/45 victory over the Turbo Geo Metro in yesterday's Choose Your Eternity poll. I've been happy to find some Japanese PCH candidates, of course, but it's become apparent that we've been neglecting one of the primary Project Car Hell superpowers; yes, it's been over two months since we last saw a French PCH candidate, and that's just plain wrong!
Read MoreY'all are getting testy! There is some serious cat fighting taking place in this morning's part 3. Early on, both the Buick GSX and the Charger/Challenger were in real danger of getting the knife. And why not? Muscle cars — while very cool — have been fetishized (and priced) to the point of irrelevance. Their OG MO was that they provided cheap power to the common man. Now they represent investment opportunities. Can I get a yawn? End rant. The good news for you Motown devotees is that Rambo's La
Read MoreOkay, let's be honest, we only brought up the subject of Sir Henry Segrave's Sunbeam 1000 and his push through the 200 mph barrier in 1927 so we could tell you about this car. After Segrave made his record-setting run, the competition predictably responded, though not for nearly a year. In February 1928, the dastardly Malcolm Campbell retook the title at 206.95 mph in his Blue-Bird. The following April saw an American, Ray Keech, best Campbell at 207.55 mph. Noteworthy advancement, but Segrave w
Read MoreBy your powers combine, I am Captain Planet GM hybrid, E-REV and battery engineering organization! That was quick. A little over a week after GM's big and green GM>>Next press event at the Detroit Auto Show, the company has created a global engineering organization that is focusing on hybrids, extended-range electrics and batteries. So how will this exactly change what GM is already doing?
Read MoreGino d'Ignazio Gizio has a dream. A dream where the average person has access to his or her own flying car. A dream where long commutes are a thing of the past and people take to the skies at 350mph with the freedom and ease we currently enjoy in our land-based cars (as long as we don't live someplace where there's, you know, traffic). Gino wants his Cell Craft to facilitate that dream. The problem, he hasn't quite figured out how it works yet.
Read MoreFor some strange reason, Belema West, apparent President of the GrassRoots Peace Ambassadors Forum, sent us a request for 300 of the budget-friendly Tata Nano mini-cars revealed mere weeks ago. You read that right, 300. That's $750,000 worth of Tatas. The substantial fleet of small cars would be used to shuttle Nigerian civil servants around the Niger Delta region doing whatever it is that peace ambassadors in that dangerous area do these days. Unfortunately, because of production restrictions,
Read More21 cars down, 20 more to go! Be sure to check out yesterday's part 1 and part 2. Maybe you can sneak in a couple of late votes. Not that it would matter much at this point. So, what did we learn? I'm a bit shocked to find the Garage's Roller is so passionately reviled and hated. I guess lotsa folks just don't have four-doored fantasies. And it looks like the RUF RT12 is toast. As for today, get ready for a slug fest. I could announce the cars right here, but that would kill the surprise. And we
Read MoreEveryone had so much fun with the Honda Pilot Sketch v. Reality that we thought we'd look at the production Challenger SRT8 leaked photos and the 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8 concept car to see what's changed, what's stayed the same and what we have to look forward to at the Chicago Auto Show.
Read MoreThere was a short period in the 1960s when Willys-Overland, in addition to building Jeeps, constructed a race car based on the Renault Alpine 108. The Interlagos, so named for the famous race track in San Paolo, had only a small production run of less than a 1,000. Nevertheless, the light-weight car made an impression on the Brazilian market. Though we don't have a new Alpine from Renault, two Brazilian designers have already started dreaming about the next generation Interlagos and have turned
Read MoreTesla is doing it's best to counter rumors of their impending failure and bad press from their former CEO. The company claims the first production Tesla will be delivered to HQ next week and work of the first run of Teslas will begin in mid March. More importantly, the company claims a solution to their transmission problems have been found.
Read MoreMary Carothers and Sue Wrbican are our kind of artists, having dedicated much of their efforts towards the issue of mobility, landscape and the influence of the automobile upon American culture. Their latest project explores, among other things, the transition from the late 1970's into the Malaise Era of the early 1980's as epitomized by the Chevy Nova, which was replaced by the less than stellar Chevy Citation. The monument to this change will be a 1978 Chevy Nova frozen into a block of ice a
Read MoreWith all the talk about Detroit Malaise last week, it seemed like a good time to break out an example of one of The General's Malaise warriors, as captured in its natural habitat of an Alameda street. The Nova is a great example of the Malaise Effect; it started out as a small, barebones commuter car with a steel dashboard, went through a period of wild hot-roddedness in the late 60s, then bloated into a big, tape-striped slug in the 70s, cursed by British Leyland-esque build quality and slather
Read MoreThe buff boys over at the buff book named Car und Driver appear to be needing some crucial reader input on their April issue. They, or a duly-sworn representative, have taken it upon themselves to send out some versions of their cover to a small clinic group of readers to determine which shots should get the limelight of being an actual C&D cover. What's really funny to us is we remember overhearing a conversation involving Editor-in-Chief Csaba Csere at Narita Airport in the Northwest Worldcl
Read MoreYears ago in New York I was watching TV with my roommate. A trailer for the movie October Sky came on. That was the movie about the kids in the coal mining town who want to build rockets but their parents want them to slave away (like them) in the mines but a plucky science teacher steps in and encourages their hobby and now they all work for NASA. Something like that. Anyhow, after watching the 30 second spot, my roommate says, "rocket boys." I had just heard on NPR that the movie is indeed bas
Read MoreNot very surprisingly, the '63 Jaguar XK-E emerged victorious from Dead Man's Curve in yesterday's Jan & Dean-themed Choose Your Eternity poll. If it hadn't been for the unifying theme, I'd never have set a Chevy up against a car whose soul is possessed by the Prince of Darkness. But no matter- today we're going to look at a pair of cars that present somewhat more of dilemma. One is a hacked-up Japanese factory hot rod, while the other is an even more hacked-up Japanese unhot rod.
Read MoreWe're already big fans of Mazda's mini hatch, the Mazda2. It's sharp looking, safe, relatively quick and unpretentious. Up until now, there's only been the five-door and sedan version, which recently debuted in China. Not wanting to let a segment go unfilled, Mazda will be debuting the Mazda2 three-dour hatchback at the Geneva Motor. They've only released this image of the rear three-quarter view, but it seems to retain all the hotness of the other versions and will come equipped with the same e
Read MoreWell sir, looks like the RUF is taking it on the chin. But hey, as we've seen, the RUF always takes it on the chin and then a much more fantastic car gets voted out (I cry for you, Exelero). Still, I'm hopeful. And we're losing two of our residents this week, so lots more action ahead! Looks like this round features the perennial JFG dog Corvette ZR-1 (some people just don't get it). However, you'll also be voting on the Vallelunga, a car I still don't get. Oooh, and there's that Phantom, too. A
Read MoreThere have been emails floating around Michigan about a possible "Speeding Ticket Frenzy" to be launched in the state for February. In addition to including information about where and when the speed traps will occur, the message includes this gem of logic:
Read MoreAs a proud graduate of the University of Texas, there was a time when I knew all the letters of the Greek alphabet and all the fraternities and sororities that corresponded to them. There was also a time when I thought I knew all of the GM platforms and their associated Greek letters. Recently I've noticed that I'm getting the two of them confused. Is a Sigma the midsized RWD platform underpinning the Cadillac CTS, a drunken frat boy with strong opinions about his southern heritage, or both? Bel
Read MoreThis morning, nearly 800 Southern California members of the Zipcar car-sharing service received an email informing them that the company would be refocusing its business on college markets. This will reduce the overall Zipcar fleet in the Los Angeles and San Diego areas from 90 vehicles to something closer to 35. In an interview with Jalopnik, ZipCar's President and COO, Mark Norman, admitted that this would be "a tough retrenchment for a number of members in Southern California," and that the C
Read MoreWe know, you can find Model As stuffed with Pro Mod motors, J47 jet engines, you name it. But we still think that the Finnish madmen who built this (mostly) stock-looking '29 A into a Cosworth-powered super sleeper have achieved a level of Model A badassery that will be hard to surpass. They've made a DOHC Cosworth BDA look disturbingly like a flathead four. They've made a suspension that looks as close to original Model A gear as possible while providing more modern handling. And so on and on a
Read MoreHenry Seagrave is something of a legendary post-WWI figure in the world of land speed records. When Henry returned from the Great War, he set out to crush records on both land and sea. His first achievement came in March 1926, behind the wheel of a four-liter Sunbeam nicknamed Ladybird. Top speed: 152.33 mph. That record only held for about a month before it fell the following April to Parry Thomas, who managed 172.33 mph. Determined to win back the title, Seagrave lobbied the Sunbeam company to
Read MoreAlmost everyone knows that LBJ got to the senate by stealing an election in 1948. His campaign waited for the final vote tally to be reported by his opponent, Coke Stevenson, and then produced the infamous Box 13 with the votes needed to put him over the edge. Though it's wrong to steal an election, LBJ was determined to avoid repeating what happened in 1941, when W. Lee "Pappy" O'Daniel did the same thing to him (O'Daniel is partially reproduced in O Brother, Where Art Thou?). The point of all
Read MoreMan, talk about oversights. Last week you wonderful people inducted the gorgeous-is-an-understatement BMW 507. And that means we now have 41 cars in our Fantasy Garage. As you know, whenever we hit a nice, round number like 40, it's time to dump a car. We should of done so last week, but last week was a rough one. So, we'll taking out the trash (so to speak) this week. Where to even start? Yeah, I have no idea, either. So, like we done did before, let's just commence with the voting and see wher
Read MoreIn our discussion of the all-time greatest liveries there were a lot of mentions of famous Lotus paint schemes (BRG & Yellow, Team Essex Blue & Red, JPS Black & Gold), but the Elan Sprint of the early 1970s didn't get a mention. This was an oversight on our part, because this limited run Elan was sprinting to 60 mph in just 5.9 seconds in 1971 (approximately the same as a new WRX). Lotus is paying homage to the Elan with 40 RHD Lotus Exige Sprints done up in the Solar Yellow (or Persian blue) an
Read MoreGM would prefer you look at the big picture, announcing today that it sold 9,369,524 vehicles worldwide. This brings them to a tie with Toyota, which announced they sold 9.37 million vehicles (but has yet to give us the total number). Globally, this was a 3.0% increase over 2006 and the second best global sales number in the company's history. All of this was despite a 6.1% year-over-year decrease in North American sales, which still makes up more than half of the company's total sales volume. C
Read MoreRemember when 77% of you voted to see early 200-series Volvos in this series? Well, your day has come! I remembered that poll the other day and set out looking for a good example of such a car. 25 seconds later, I found this '80 DL (yes, Saab lovers, Alameda has about five Volvo 200s per block... and just one old Saab on the whole island). I really wanted to shoot a 262C Bertone, but the only one I've seen in Alameda is parked in a driveway (with a blue tarp lashed over the roof) and thus inelig
Read MoreIt looks as though Maximum Bob Lutz has confirmed to Australian website GoAuto that a four door truck concept based on the Zeta platform will be appearing at the New York Auto Show as a GMC. While we can't be sure this is the precursor to the new El Camino we keep asking about, what we're picturing in our head is totally a four-door El Camino. Specifically he said "We will have a ute concept at the NY show, but that is going to be badged GMC... and a very interesting study in that it is a GMC to
Read MoreHow'd you learn to communicate online? Back in 1996 I actually took a class called, "Anatomy of a Virtual Community." The idea was to figure out how and why online communities ticked. Of course, half the class at that time didn't have an email account, let alone a 14.4k modem, so... it sucked. However, I had a 28k modem and was on some IRC where we talked politics and music. And the folks who chatted w/me were smart cookies. Articulate, too. So there was no LOL, BRB, WTF or other abbreviated los
Read MoreThe "what the hell is that?" field surrounding the Mitsuoka Viewt gave the Nisan March-based machine the edge over the Clenet II in yesterday's 392 Hemi Swap Edition PCH poll. Today seemed like a good day for a Choose Your Eternity matchup with a theme based on a song, since it's been over a month since the Tom Waits Edition PCH. So how about that endlessly-replayed Jan & Dean favorite from 1964, Dead Man's Curve?
Read MoreA wise man once said, celebrity endorsements are the life's blood of useless crap. Of course, whoever that man is, he's looking somewhat less wise today. Despite Ferrari driver Felipe Massa's recent acceptance of a celeb-tuned Fiat 500 in Monte Carlo, all signs indicate it's a pretty damn nice car that'll likely help sustain Fiat's march toward corporate health. Massa's personal swag gets a special 1.4-liter four tweaked by tuned by Fiat Powertrain Racing to produce 120 hp (instead of the base 1
Read MoreSo we had our Favorite Detroit Malaise Car poll last week, from which the '78 Cadillac Eldorado emerged triumphant (the combo of a 500 cubic-inch engine and T-tops proved unbeatable). But what about Malaisemobiles from across the waters? This poll includes the rebadged imports sold by Detroit as part of their "if you can't beat 'em, put your name on 'em" strategy of the era, in addition to straight-out imports. Jump like a UH-1 leaving the roof of the US Embassy in Saigon to see the contestants!
Read MoreIn the last update, we covered the discovery and destruction of a very old and very hacked up wiring harness. In this edition of "how Ben spends his free time" we'll look at how to resurrect that rats nest. I'm not a master electrician, as such I don't have many spools of delightfully colorful wire with which to properly copy the wire color code. Since Radio Shack is apparently now an iPod accessories retailer, I went to Murray's for their wide selection of well priced wire. We're not dealing w
Read MoreFrench cars. Caminos. Diesel swaps. Hayabusa swaps. Tatras. Hayabusa-powered diesel Tatraminos reenacting C'était un Rendezvous. All of these wonderful tropes meta-blend together to make Jalopnik, well, Jalopnik. But what are you driving? Does your car measure up? How would you even know? Lucky for you, you have us! Using advanced hyper-phrenology and the Laws of Planetary Motion as laid down by Johannes Kepler, Tycho Brahe and Brahe's prognosticating pet dwarf Jepp we have arbitrarily scientifi
Read MoreMore exciting action from the D.C Auto Show as Ford snuck some E85 news into the 2009 Ford Escape press release. The company's E-Series vans, Navigator and Expedition will be able to run on E85 fuel this year, which is good news for the small percentage of the people reading this that have access to the approximately 0.01% of gas stations in the United States that actually offer Ethanol and are suddenly in the market for a bold-faced commercial van. Excuse us if we're not that excited. We really
Read MoreIt's about damn time that I found an A-body Barracuda for this series, since some of the baddest cars on the island back when I was in high school were '64-66 Barracudas. The Valiant-based early Barracuda didn't weigh much, so droppping a crazy 340 or 360 in one resulted in something that would hold its own against the Mustangs, Camaros, and Novas (not to mention the big-block GM A-bodies). This example is a little bit rough- well, actually, it's a total beater- but it's still good to see it par
Read MoreIt's not often a design comes along and truly thinks outside of the box. What would you say to a GM developed, 4.5L V8 turbo diesel putting down 310 horsepower and 520 lb.ft. of torque in the footprint of a small block 350? What if we told you that same engine has common rail injection, a variable geometry turbo, no intake manifolds, and the exhaust ports on the valley side? Crazy! Yes - crazy good.
Read MoreDetroit wrap-ups are part of this NAIAS business. We saw highs (test driving Chinese Hybrids) and lows (every embargo busted except the oh so exciting Toyota Venza) but our newly minted LeMons driver Jack Baruth has put his snarky spin on the whole thing over at speedsportlife.com, go check it out.
Read MoreWe'd forgive you if you didn't know that anything would be happening at the Washington, D.C. Auto Show this year. We'd also forgive you if you didn't know there was a new 2009 Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner on the way. Finally, we'd forgive you if after looking at these photos of the 2009 Ford Escape/Mariner you were unable to differentiate the two from the 2008 Ford Escape/Mariner. Besides a slight adjustment to the front fascia and rear tire spoilers, the big change is under the hood where Fo
Read MoreThe last time we set foot in the Hell That Is Project, the blown Kaiser Manhattan just barely beat the blown VW Corrado, showing that heartbreaking dilemmas can be fun! For today, I wanted to pick a couple of glitz-heavy high-roller machines, but there's something important missing from all the ones I could find for sale. Yes, what your Excalibur, Johnson Phantom, Zimmer Golden Spirit, or Tiffany really needs is a Hemi! And not one of these here newfangled 426 Hemis. We're talking about a genuin
Read MoreEvery now and then a commenter will decide to go out on a rant and complain about something we've done (often just as a way to break up correcting spelling mistakes). The rants often start with the outraged commenter explaining how they hoped we, Jalopnik, were better than the way we were acting on this particular moment and ending with them claiming they'll never read us again. Today's blowup came in what seemed a rather innocuous post about how Motor Trend could be seen as gaming Google on the
Read MoreWell, after the Loverman and I covered the last couple 24 Hours of LeMons races, we just couldn't maintain our usual ironclad journalistic detachment. Objective has now become subjective in a big way, as we've rounded up a crew of junkyard-crazed madmen intrepid competitors and have started preparing our mighty iron steed for the race at Altamont in May. This gang of seven (four of whom are pictured above) includes a couple of our more misguided loyal commenters: three-time DOTS honoree WhatWoul
Read MoreI had the opportunity to be a guest on WDIV's Flashpoint yesterday. The show is the Detroit NBC affiliate's micro-sized version of Meet The Press. As you'd expect from a Meet The Press Detroit version — it was all about the auto industry, and this week the topic of the 2008 Detroit Auto Show was front and center. While I got a chance to talk about the enthralling topics of fuel economy (via GM's garbage-laden ethanol announcement on day one of the show), the marketing hype that is the hybrid and
Read MoreMarketWatch has a fairly shaggy interview with GM's "Maximum Bob" Lutz in which he opines on the impending 2020 federal mandate that carmakers achieve 35mpg CAFE standards. First, Lutz says he wants to see gas prices in the U.S. rise, to levels similar to what the rest of the world pays (which would be more than twice as expensive as the $3 per gallon that many Americans are paying now). Then, he argues that the CAFE requirements, as long as gas is still relatively cheap, put GM "at war" with it
Read MoreWhen we saw the 2009 Honda Pilot in person, we couldn't help but notice it looked conspicuously different from the Honda Pilot sketch released earlier by Honda. It's not news that sketches are often exaggerated versions of the production models (few production models end up with 40-inch rims, for instance). But the Honda Pilot sketch v. Honda Pilot reality is a particularly striking difference. Our analysis below the jump.
Read MoreHyundai has finally conquered its case of cold feet over a significant ad buy for Feb. 3's Super Bowl broadcast. Ad Age reported last week that the carmaker—which bought two 30-second spots in the second half, probably to introduce its new Genesis sedan—has squelched its anxiety regarding the creative capabilities of its agency, San Francisco's Goodby, Silverstein & Partners. This is a big second chance for the shop, which won the Hyundai account in early 2007 but then developed several campaign
Read MoreOh Urban Dictionary, you are a source of unending hilariousness. If you live in the frosty horror show that is Michigan (currently 14 degrees outside—2 above, with wind chill), you know what a "car booger" is, you just never had a name for it. Big chunk of hard slush, stupid ugly crap behind the wheel, junk that builds up under the fender; these are all ways to describe it, but none so perfect as "car booger." Like all great new terms, it's so perfect it hardly needs a formal definition, but acc
Read MoreWhile covering the Barrett-Jackson auction this weekend, specifically the $1 million purchase of the first "retailable" 2009 Corvette ZR1, we did a quick Google search for the 2009 Corvette ZR1 in order to pull up our old story on the new super-Vette from the General. When the results came up, we noticed something rather odd. No, not Motor Trend being the first result — we mean, come on, they're Motor fuckin' Trend — the fact that Jalopnik is merely a step behind them says little about us and mo
Read MoreThe real problem with doing DOTS Truck Monday is that International Harvester trucks are too hard to find. We saw the '80 Scout last month, and there's another Scout on deck, but where are the IHC pickup trucks? That's why I was overjoyed to spot this 60-year-old work truck parked in front of a Gold Coast mansion that was getting some concrete work done. Yes, contractors in Alameda drive trucks handed down to them by their grandpappies!
Read MoreThe spy shooters at KGP look like they've caught a former secret agent man going topless in Sweden. That's right, it's the new Aston Martin DBS — but wait, what's this, since when has there been a convertible version — a Volante? Apparently the DBS thinks it's been retired as Bond's car, spending it's time getting a little bit of rest, relaxation and possibly some skiing in with a new drop-top model. Apparently someone hasn't been reading the press releases and doesn't know they've got to get
Read MoreThe man who launched a thousand memes after crashing a Ferrari Enzo on the PCH that wasn't technically his — was just released from a California jail where he's spent the past two years on charges of embezzlement in November 2006, days after a jury had failed to agree a verdict on charges he had stolen two Ferrari Enzos and a top-end Mercedes-Benz. Stefan Eriksson, the former Gizmondo executive, who goes by other names including "Fat Steffe" (in Sweden), "Ferrari Steffen" (in the US) and "The
Read MoreDodge decided to "hit it" on big money day here at the big BJ auction by dropping the very first 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8 on to the auction block to watch as it sold for $400,000 with the proceeds going to charity. But strangely enough, despite now running the new Challenger without cover on the highways and byways of Metro Detroit, the PR folks with Chrysler decided to only bring the concept version here to Barrett-Jackson. Does that make sense? Not to us. So, it seems that Ford won this roun
Read MoreThe first 2009 Corvette ZR1 just sold here on big money day at the big BJ auction for $1,000,000 with a little help from GM's best bud, Jay Leno to Dave Ressler. Although the money's all going to the United Way, we're wondering what this'll mean for the mark-up on the sticker price we'll see for this already $99,000 two-seat supercar. And keep in mind we still don't know what the final number will end up being on horsepower and torque. But — what we do know now is that the sticker price will be
Read MoreRobosaurus just sold in all of it's car-crunching amazingness, for a sale price of just $575,000 here at the Barrett-Jackson classic car auction and told the world he'd promise "not to eat any of your car collection." We remember seeing monster trucks at the Pontiac Silverdome in the 80's — but like most kids, the highlight of our day was seeing Robosaurus munching on cars and turning them into automotive-flambe. So seeing him sold off on big money BJ day at Barrett-Jackson is kind of — we dun
Read MoreA one-of-a-kind Pininfarina-designed 1963 Chevy Corvette named "Rondine" built for the Paris Auto Show just went for $1.6 million. Also going with it was any sense of reality in the classic car marketplace.
Read MoreThe one-off glass-roofed 2008 Shelby GT500KR that's the first off the we showed you this past week, just went for a final sale price of $550,000 after bidding started at a mere $100,000. This despite a custom Fender Stratocaster with a pretty matte black case and all the money going to Edsel Ford's juvenile diabetes charity. We're a wee bit underwhelmed — despite Dr. McDreamy driving it up to the auction block. OK, we're kidding — nowe we're wondering what this bodes for the 2008 Dodge Challenge
Read MoreA Shelby Cobra 427 frame-up, concours quality restoration with a sideoiler 427 engine. 11,000 original miles. Never raced. Has the Sunburst wheels with original Blue Dot tires and a spare set of wheels and tires — and it just sold for $625,000 at the Barrett-Jackson to some guy on the interwebs. No, it wasn't us.
Read MoreJalopnik still loves flying cars — it may still be part of our masthead, we can't remember — but here's a perfect example. It's the $100,000 Panoz Esperante converted by Jesse James of Monster Garage into an airborne vehicle whose first flight matched the success of the Wright Brothers. Seriously — they took it to Kitty Hawk where it actually flew in a straight line and then hit the ground just as hard as the Wright plane did. Here's the full description of the "Flying Car" from Barrett-Jackson,
Read MoreForever settling the "Which is faster? Bikes or cars?" debate is the Acabion GTBO. With a top speed of 340mph, it's a full 90mph faster than a Bugatti Veyron. It accelerates from 0 to 300mph in 30 seconds. Oh, and that top speed is limited, not what it'd actually be capable of reaching in perfect circumstances. Best of all, Acabion are ready to start production.
Read MoreI was born in 1975 right here Los Angeles County, so growing up I never experienced any real anti-semitism. One time when I was 8 my friend's mother made me go home after I told him there was no Santa Claus. And that's about the extent of it. Still, about once every 4 months I get treated to, "Hitler's mother was Jewish." Or the classic, "He Jewed me on that dime bag." But again, those are just soft, easily corrected guffaws. It was different a generation back. My Mom always tells the story of h
Read MoreIt would appear that sheer number of doors trumps all other factors when it comes time to pick an airport limo for your next punitive project car, as evidenced by the results of yesterday's Choose Your Eternity poll. And I've got to admit that I almost didn't include the Hexador Suburban... because I was calculating how hard it would be to go up to Boise and get it for myself (still bummed that I didn't buy the 20R-powered Sprite in the first PCH). And today we have another car that presented su
Read More"We now have the brain-interface technology to make this a reality," says Klaus-Robert Müller, of the Technical University of Berlin. Klaus's team is developing a system that can monitor brain activity, switching off peripheral in-car distractions when that activity peaks. "In a real life situation this could be enough to prevent an accident or stop someone being injured, or worse," Klaus told New Scientist.
Read MoreNow, we've seen some incredibly dated ads in the Classic Ad Watch series, but this one pitching Pioneer stereos may well be more of its time than anything yet. We've got all the elements: the 80s vision of the 50s vision of babe-itude, the drum-machine/synth theme song, cassettes and CDs, and a yuppie cokefiend in a Porsche. But maybe this ad gets out-Eightied by one of the others in the series; jump like Adnan Khashoggi's henchmen tossing a crate of Ollie North-authorized grenade launchers into
Read MoreTwo weeks after pictures of the new Mercedes CLS AMG mysteriously leaked onto the internet, Mercedes-Benz has released full photos and details on the refreshed CLS. On the top end there's the newly reconfigured CLS 63 AMG with comes with the AMG-tuned 6.2-litre V8, good for 514 horsepower. The AMG also gets new 19-inch light-alloys and a new sports exhaust system. On the bottom end there's a new CLS 280, which is propelled by a V6 that makes less than half the horsepower of the AMG model. The ba
Read MoreThe quick-to-the-snap spy photographers at KGP have shot what they think is the upcoming 2009 Cadillac BRX doing some cold weather testing out near GM's Milford proving grounds. At least we can only assume it's cold weather testing as it's wearing a leather snowsuit that'd make even little Randy topple over into the snow. Plus we're here, so we know it's frickin' freezing. According to KGP's sources, this actually may not even be the BRX. We heard back in December GMC was also going to get a The
Read MoreRemember the Classic Motor Carriages Gazelle ('29 Mercedes SSK replica built on a Chevette chassis) we saw a few months ago? The one that's been open to the elements for several years now, enraging its parking-challenged neighborhood as its owner moves it just often enough to avoid getting towed? With a For Sale sign offering the car at the extremely optimistic price of $12,000? Well, the Gazelle has a partner in consuming precious street parking: this Shay Reproductions Model A!
Read MoreAdd another true automanual tranny to the growing list. Call it the M double-clutch transmission with DriveLogic. It's BMW's new 7-speed switchgear that's shipping with the new M3s, and likely will replace the divisive, largely poky and cumbersome — that is, without some serious futzing — M-Sequential (SMG / SMG II) automated manual. The SMG system uses a high-pressure hydraulic actuator to shift gears, with the latest version (i.e., SMG II) offering five automatic modes and six manual modes and
Read MoreIn honor of Saleen's twenty fifth anniversary, the specialty manufacturer has decided to produce an extremely limited edition car to mark the occasion. Just 25 Sterling Edition S302E's will be produced for sale. The Sterling edition has a host of upgraded and unique features; Inside the cabin is very handsome black alcantara leather with silver stitched seating, iPod connectivity, a dash mounted start button and above that a 16oz solid sterling silver serialized medallion. On the outside, you'
Read MoreProject Car Hell voting is supposed to take into account both the coolness and the impossibility of a project, which means the 80/20 stomping administered by the Alfa over the Opel in yesterday's Choose Your Eternity poll wasn't a huge surprise. Today we're going to switch from cars to something a bit different, because it's been since the Yankenwagen Me, Krankenwagen Me Edition that we've seen a Commercial Vehicle PCH, and we can't let Hell become too predictable!
Read MoreLooks like Ford's puckering up to take on every inch of the big BJ auction this weekend in Scottsdale, Arizona. Highlighting their car-love for the weekend will be their auction of a one-of-a-kind 2008 Ford Shelby GT500KR with one of them new-fangled Mustang glass roods everyone's been talking about. We would like to thank Ford for claiming their rightful place in the lead of the "muscle car wars" — but we would like to remind them, as we reminded Dodge a month or so ago, that the use of our tra
Read MoreSometimes mountains and molehills are made of both made of thin air. A couple of weeks ago the Ford Mustang enthusiasts site "Black Mustang Club" was contacted by their publisher, Cafepress, regarding the calender they were about to publish. The club owners had compiled a 12 month calender of pictures of their rides and intended to sell them to any takers. Cafepress notified the club of contact from Ford lawyers regarding possible trademark infringement. Normally this is where we'd raise a sti
Read MoreI don't think I've ever seen a Toyota diesel pickup in the United States, although this ad clearly shows that they were available in '83. In a not-so-subtle jab at GM and their disastrous Olds 350 diesel conversion, the announcer makes it clear that the Toyota truck has "a true diesel engine- not a converted gasoline engine." Oh, what a feeling!
Read MoreOn Tuesday, we told you that a State Delegate in Virginia was making plans to ban truck nuts. Now, details have emerged. Lionel Spruill introduced the bill on Tuesday under the pretext of safety, claiming that replicas of genitalia could distract drivers, causing accidents. He would like to see the display of truck nuts made a misdemeanor, punishable with a $250 fine.
Read MoreAs skepticism about Tesla's sedan project builds, new Tesla top dog Elon Musk has resorted to playing defense with crotchety idioms. According to the Jan/Feb issue of the Stanford alumni magazine:
Read MoreWhen we were at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show and begged the higher ups to produce the Honda CB1100F, we never actually thought they would listen. Turns out the cries for a big standard did not fall on deaf ears as Hell For Leather is reporting the honchos at Honda will be putting the big bike on US show floors by 2009. A development like this only begs us to ask if production will be planned for the equally drool worthy Honda CB1100R. We're betting there will be a lot of penny collecting going on t
Read MoreWe've had a Project Car Hell song and T-shirts for Project Car Hell Tipsters, and that's been fun. However, in order to expand the reach of the Project Car Hell Lifestyle Brand™, we're going to need Project Car Hell poetry, contributed by our highly literate readers. Originally, we were going to solicit PCH sestinas, but then we figured that you'd all be fired due to neglecting your jobs for the required six hours to accomplish the feat... and then where would the money for your alky-burning SR2
Read MoreCall it a nod to the power of an Internet leak, or a calculated buzz builder. Either way, BMW let fly with information on the next offshoot of its latest M3, after photos of the convertible showed up on forum sites earlier this week. According to the press text, the retractable hardtop switchgear adds 450 pounds to the platform. That'll likely put a bit of crimp in the car's performance figures, vis-à-vis its coupe sibling, which has a flyweight carbon-fiber roof. On the occasion of the converti
Read MoreWe've seen a few British cars in this series, including a'59 Morris Minor, a '62 Mini, a '69 MGC-GT, and a '78 Jaguar XJ-6, but it's been months since the last one. That's why I'm going with this very clean Morris 1000 convertible for today's DOTS machine. You British-car experts should feel free to put on your anoraks and make with the exact year identification on this thing, because I can't narrow it down any closer than the 1956-62 range.
Read MoreWe can hardly believe our eyes. We all were under the impression after the last set of rumors from Automotive News that we here in the U.S. would be seeing a Zeta-platformed wagon and ute sometime before the end of the decade. We'd even done our darndest trying to track down that rumor ourselves — first with Rick Wagoner at CES, then with Lutz himself at Detroit on Tuesday morning. Now, Australian auto media site GoAuto is reporting GM's main product man told them and other members of the media
Read MoreSince the motoring press is not going to get to get our hands on either the 2009 Dodge Ram or the 2009 Ford F-150 for a while we thought we'd jump the gun and do a comparison based off things we've seen and scraps of info they've told us.
Read MoreWell, well, well — what do we have here? Why it's one of our Fantasy Garage cars, the Facel Vega HK500! And it can be yours for the Buy It Now price of just $75,000. Or, you can see where the auction takes you. As of right now, just two bids. The car was purchased in Germany, driven around Europe and has been living in the rust-free car utopia that is the SF Bay Area for the past 49 years. You gotta love the people that bought these things — check this out:
Read MoreTucked into a corner of the basement is a 1937 Seagrave Safety Sedan, known amongst fire truck junkies as the Detroit Safety Sedan and it represents one of the more interesting untold stories here at Detroit. When a firefighter falls in the line of duty, there is a longstanding tradition of using a firetruck as the funeral hearse to honor the family and the deceased. The tradition of the final ride has become difficult, as fire trucks have grown in size and height. Seeing the problem, the Detroi
Read MoreYou know who we don't spend enough time talking about? Max Hoffman. Max Hoffman? Yeah buddy, Max Hoffman. Those of you with steel trap memories will remember that Hoffman was the guy who convinced Mercedes-Benz to build and import the 300 SL, a car we all agree is six degrees of triple-rad. Hoffman also had Frank Lloyd Wright design him both a home and a Jaguar dealership in Manhattan and he's responsible for bringing the Porsche 356 Speedster to American soil. The BMW 507, too. What a guy.
Read MoreApparently anything Chevy can do, Dodge thinks they can do better. Just as quickly as "Maximum" Bob Lutz revealed he'd be pulling the cover off the 2009 Chevy Camaro during testing, Dodge lifted the skirt off the Challengers out testing in the winter wonderland of Metro Detroit. Like this silver and black Dodge Challenger SRT8 caught for the first time completely undisguised before it's official Chicago Auto Show debut at the beginning of next month. Full report from the spy shooters at KGP be
Read MoreAs our time at the 2008 Detroit Auto Show draws to a close we're ready to crank up our powerful evaluation device, based on technology available to any third grader, to grade each of the automakers ( and major quasi-subsidiaries) on the most important metric of this, the Super Bowl of auto shows, buzz. Prepare for As, Bs, Cs, Ds, pluses and minuses—and yes, an F! The grades are subjective, but then again, so is buzz. Remember carmakers — this all goes down on your permanent record and yes, Chrys
Read MoreWith the Malaisetastic '80 Plymouth Fire Arrow that we saw yesterday on my mind, I got to thinking about the meaning of the Malaise Era, specifically about the American-built vehicles sold during that period. Not captive imports like the Fire Arrow or quasi-domestics like the Capri, but real Detroit (or Kenosha) machinery. And, yes, I know that Jimmy Carter never actually uttered the word "Malaise" in his so-called Crisis of Confidence speech in 1979; what started as a joke term for the cars of
Read MoreI had a chance to talk with David Rojas and Robert Jablonski, the exterior and interior designers of the Hummer HX Concept with one question on the table: What's the link between the HX and the Warthog from Halo? The answer wasn't as clear as I was hoping. I couldn't get either of the twentysomething designers to admit that the HX was inspired in any least bit by the Warthog from Halo, but I think I can still make a case, even though GM has already openly denied any kind of a link between the t
Read MoreBetween whipping us like the cattle we are and sipping his lattes, Senór Wert made time to work up some amusing daily commentary for this years Detroit Auto Show. Unfortunately, he was too busy wielding the whip over getting ever-larger galleries up to get his own spiel up. Luckily the comedy act over at Dubspeed was snarky enough on both Sunday and Monday to pick up the slack.
Read MoreWe had a little too much fun yesterday, as you can see above. Though the last press day of the Detroit Auto Show is supposed to be a bit slower, no one got the memo. Our staff continued to burn off pretzels running through Cobo Hall chasing stories and, unsuccessfully, the cuter car models. We'd like to share with you stories of romantic conquest, but in lieu of that here are the stories that rocked Detroit yesterday. &mdash The Chinese Are Here: The folks from Tang Hua shared a Book of Songs w
Read MoreNot long ago, we saw our third DOTS Oldsmobile. With 170 cars so far in the series, you'd think Olds would be better represented... and now I've just realized that Buick has a mere three cars as well (the '70 Skylark, the '71 LeSabre, and the '76 Skyhawk. We've got plenty of examples of Chevrolet, Pontiac, and Cadillac here, so the question is: Do Alameda residents have a bias against the #2 and #3 most prestigious marques in the old GM hierarchy? Bias or not, I've found another old Buick on th
Read MoreWe're pretty good picture-takers and we did a pretty good job picture-taking here at the Detroit Auto Show. Zerin on the other hand, is better. [SpeedSportLife]
Read MoreConcept cars are notorious for rarely making it to the street. But what about the enticing features that designers include in their dreamy visions of our automotive future? We combed through the files we've amassed at the show this week and come up with five features that don't stand a chance in hell of ever escaping the shimmering incubator of the world's design studios. Count 'em down, after the jump.
Read MoreThe Super Hell Potential of the Starion pounded the sashimi right out of the Corolla GTS in yesterday's 80s Japanese Muscle Edition of Project Car Hell, which is probably as it should be; both cars are pretty damn cool, but there's no way any Toyota could ever be as hellish to work on as a turbocharged 80s Mitsubishi. But enough talk about finely balanced imports with high-tech (for their time) engines- today we're going to look at a pair of imports with solid front axles and large-displacement
Read MoreA lawmaker in Virginia plans to introduce a bill that would ban truck nuts. "It comes to a point where there are certain things you just can't do. And putting testicles on the back of a truck is just too much. So I am trying to stop it," Delegate Lionell Spruill told WTKR. He apparently reached his decision after a constituent's young daughter saw them on the back of a pickup truck.
Read MoreSick of the Detroit Auto Show coverage? Take a break with some MacWorld coverage by our gadget-obsessed brothers at Gizmodo. Then come back. Please.
Read MoreThe Detroit Auto Show opened up with the North American Car and Truck of the Year awards, which was questionably awarded to the Chevy Malibu and the Mazda CX-9. Today the EyesOn Design awards presented four awards for design excellence and at least three of the four winners made sense. The award for the best production car went to the Cadillac CTS-V, which is very deserving. Also deserving is the BMW X6, which won the best production truck. The best concept car went to the Cadillac CTS Coupe. T
Read MoreWe practiced our love with the Tang Hua Book of Songs earlier, and now for the less phallic, more idiosyncratic Tang Hua Detroit Fish. "Detroit Fish" would be an odd name for a car if it weren't for the fact that this fish can evidently swim. Yes indeed, this is the only amphibious crossover at the Detroit Auto Show. While this might not be the most popular segment at the moment, Tang Hua's marketing team has an ingenious strategy - sell one to President George W. Bush for use on his Texas ranch
Read MoreSo that automotive journalists never see the light of day, automakers provide ample food at their events and in little cafes they setup above the auto show floor. Compared to certain auto shows where the food is of questionable chemistry, the grub isn't too shabby at Detroit (the only things not shabby in Detroit are within Cobo hall right now). Below is our list of the five best meals at Detroit, including a sporting meal with Bill Walton and Spud Webb.
Read MoreTang Hua is one of those Chinese companies in the basement that is unabashedly pitching its bizarre wares at the 2008 Detroit Auto Show. The terrible trio of yellow fiberglass and awesome lined up in their stand made us want to love the upstart manufacturer - in that way. Travis couldn't restrain himself. We're not going to say anything unseemly, but if you look at the profile of the "Book of Songs" upside down, it may look a little, um, suggestive. The etched plexiglass information kiosk is in
Read MoreThe Detroit Auto Show may be chock full of cars and gears and engines, but there is still some love for the techno-fiends out there. XM's completely customized Infiniti QX56 "Infotainment Vehicle" includes a wide array of features including the standard touchscreen interface, a programming guide, XM Satellite Radio (obviously), XM NavTraffic, NavInfo, NavWeather, voice commands Parking Link and more.
Read More"Holy shit, my boss just drove into the auto show" When I went down to the booth of BYD Auto, a Chinese car maker trying to break into the US market, all I hoped for was a few honest answers to my questions. The motto of the company is "Build Your Dream," but that last thing I'd dream was that BYD's Chairman would drive me through someone else's press conference during an illegal, surreal and American-media first test drive around the floor of the Detroit Auto Show. Breaking all the rules of pro
Read MoreI spotted this car just a few minutes after shooting the '54 Chevy, and I must admit I was far more excited over the 27-year-old Plymouth than I was with 53-year-old Chevrolet. At first glance, the Fire Arrow seems to be just another tape-striped Late Malaise turd in disco colors, but lurking under its oxidized, arrow-decal-bedecked hood is the mighty 2.6 liter Mitsubishi Astron engine! By the standards of its time, the Fire Arrow was a pretty quick machine.
Read MoreSo we're now two days into the Detroit Auto Show and we must say — we're a bit peaked. Despite having so many members of the team here for the big game, we're bone tired. And not just tired physically, we're tired mentally and even emotionally. And why wouldn't it be — check out the roller coaster of auto-lovin' we went on today. - Cadillac CTS Coupe Concept: We saw the Cadillac CTS Coupe concept announced in the morning and unveiled in the same day...and the talk on the street seems to be good
Read MoreI know it's been a while since our last Choose Your Eternity matchup (in which, incidentally, the Hayubasa-powered Honda 600 just barely edged out the Duramax-powered '47 Ford, for which I apologize; the cruel overlords at the salt mine my tech-writing job shipped me out to New York for a 4-day weekend of PowerPoint presentations. Aaah, PowerPoint, the magical tool that makes time slow to a crawl! To unwind, we were treated to free booze each night at corporate-sponsored parties, including one
Read MoreBYD Motors ("Build Your Dreams") made news today at the auto show when they announced a ferrous battery-powered dual mode hybrid. This battery is big news as it has no heavy metals, is recyclable and should provide a 10-minute fast charge at special charging stations. The plug-in hybrid will be a version of their F6 (Honda Accord) sedan, the F6DM. And while this Honda Accord F6DM may not reach American shores anytime soon, this PHEV will see the light of day in China later this year. The system
Read MoreWe told you about the LF-A Roadster yesterday, but here it is in all its studio-shot fineness. The full press release follows the jump.
Read MoreNot that it's a surprise to anybody, but the new RX-8 looks a lot like the preview shots we brought you earlier. Shown in a very Subaru shade of blue, the RX-8 is in fact destined for an update. Most of the changes happen in the nose with slightly revised headlights, a new grill treatment, the hood has a bigger rotary shaped indent, and of course the trend of the day - faux side vents. Sadly those side vents can only be attributed to additional horsepower of the psychological kind. Check out the
Read MoreDetroit Auto Show: Guess the Car, "Every time I see it.. it's just more beautiful." No, not the 2008 Lincoln MKT.
Read MoreApparently I am now a graduate of China's Liebro University, and all I had to do was attend the Changfeng (rhymes with "Wang Chung") press conference here in Detroit and pick up my tassel. The Chinese automaker made another bid for acceptance in the Detroit community, showing off two cars, the Liebro CS7 crossover SUV and the Kylin small MPV today at the show. They're still well behind baseline in quality/styling standards. The smell of petroleum-based adhesives still waft from the interiors, wh
Read MoreDetroit Auto Show: More breaking news — Jalopnik readers are not enchanted with SUVs, CUVs, wagons on stilts or the Ford Explorer America.
Read MoreDetroit Auto Show: No one on planet earth — save the Loverman — likes the looks of the 2009 Honda Pilot.
Read MoreThe Jeep Renegade Concept is the third of Chrysler's concept vehicles unveiled at the Detroit Auto Show. Yes, it is the same as that Halo-looking contraption that Vines told us about, kind of, back in November. A 1.5-liter three-cylinder BLUETEC diesel engine is what this vehicle is sporting in a very green manner in addition to a 40-mile lithium ion battery. It lacks any kind of roof or enclosing feature, but that isn't anything to worry about. The minimalist interior can be hosed down and a f
Read MoreThe big news today is the Fisker Karma Luxury Hybrid, which is going to come at $80,000 and deliver luxury style, GT performance and eco-friendliness. And this isn't a flight of fancy. This is a production model that will be produced in the fourth quarter of 2009 with venture capital funding by Kleiner Perkins, who made big investments in Netscape and Google at the right time that later turned into big victories. A true lithium-ion plug-in hybrid, the electrical system is good for 50 miles of
Read MoreThe Dodge Zeo is the second of Chrysler's big concept releases. It's an electric capable of 250 miles on one juice and a four-seater that Chrysler is describing as a "2+2," since, of course, people travel in pairs. Way to split up the family, Dodge.
Read MoreDetroit Auto Show: A few facts about Jalopnik. Our readers' average age is 32, you love the Corvette ZR-1 and when it comes to Musical Motor City Mayhem, prefer Ted Nugent to Kid Rock.
Read MoreDetroit Auto Show: What's that? Corinthian Leather? Has Chrysler brought back the Maserati TC? Or something else? The touchscreen boss, the touchscreen!
Read MoreUpdate: We've got the live reveal video posted HERE Toyota told us about the 2009 Toyota Venza Crossover Sedan last year, but it's been bone-dry for teaser shots. But the seal is now broken! Here are the first live photos of the sorta sporty, sorta utilitarian, sorta... vehicle has an intriguing squashed-Ford Edge-meets-Toyota Camry look to it. This is all we've got at the moment but give us a second and we'll be adding we've added live galleries and whatever press information we can get our gru
Read MoreIt was a couple months ago when Jason Vine doned his comedian hat to show off Chrysler's three latest concept models. Included in that bit was the Chrysler ecoVoyage, an electric with a fuel cell range extender. And while it may suggest an immense vitamin, Chrysler says that the concept's look was inspired by "distinctive and elegant American design." Maybe it's time we move to Canada—this lacks the American pizazz we're accustomed to. More details and the press release after the jump.
Read MoreOh, GM! It was so cute to drop this bombshell on us. You heard about it first very early this morning, but now here it is, live and in the flesh—the Cadillac CTS Coupe. Even Bob Lutz himself was amazed that GM could keep this baby a secret, until... well, now, of course. The design for the vehicle is derived from the CTS sedan, and here's the enchanting backstory: Once the sedan was finished, the design team continued to press their luck, coming up with something so beautiful that we're not su
Read MoreAlameda has quite a few early-70s Volkswagen Transporters, and so far I haven't paid much attention to them (since the island also boasts so many early Type 2s, including this '56, this '57, this '62, this '63, and this '67, not to mention others I haven't shown yet). But I'm making an exception for this '70, because second-gen Transporter pickups were a rarity on American roads even 30 years ago and they're virtually unheard of on the street these days.
Read MoreThe concept that takes a swing at the Honda Ridgeline, the 2008 Toyota A-BAT is all naked this morning, so we snagged some exterior shots for you. Toyota is bringing some new ammo to the expanding tailgate-features arms race, with a built-in flashlight and First Aid kit. We'll bring you more details after the Toyota Press Conference later this morning, but for now you'll have to live with the press release below the jump.
Read MoreFord design overlord Peter Horbury introduced the MKT ("T" is for Touring), pointing out several enticing touches. You've got a 3D SYNC touchscreen meant to mimic the iPhone and something called a "bustle-back" rear, which is explicitly intended to convince Americans they're not buying a hatchback. Despite Horbury's presence, the vehicle pleasantly lacked Daveness (well, at least the bars in the grille are vertical). The press photos don't give a full impression of how truly wide that rear C-pil
Read MoreYou want it all, you got it all — all the Detroit Auto Show coverage you can stand! You can follow us as we make our way through the vast urban and suburban wasteland that is Metro Detroit via the tag page above. If you're wondering what you may have missed from Sunday's hot action — here's a quick list of some of the scoops: - Chrysler's new 2009 Dodge Ram 1500 went running with the bulls, leaving downtown Detroit smelling more like poop than ever before. Don't worry if you missed it — we go
Read MoreWe were the first to tell you to expect something special from the General this morning — and now we know why. GM's luxe brand all about the art & science design language will be showcasing a Cadillac CTS Coupe concept in addition to the CTS-V, the Escalade hybrid and Myst concept cars. We'll be there live. For the time being, hit up the jump for their full and non-explanatory press release.
Read MoreJust as predicted, the 2008 Lincoln MKT is the Ford Flex-based derivative, though with a wildly different outcome. It's as if they took the Flex and shaved off every angle to create the Lincolnesque profile. This MKT concept features a 3.5-liter V-6 EcoBoost engine good for 340 horsepower and 340 ft.-lb of torque. This is still in the concept stage, so it features Swarovski crystals with backlit LEDs and uprecycled plastics. If this sees the light of production we're not expecting that to make i
Read MoreThe Ralliart is Mitsubishi's middle man between the Mitsubishi Lancer GTS and the Lancer EVO. The obvious rally-inspired Ralliart has a 2.0-liter, four cylinder engine sporting 235 horsepower, which is up 67 hp from the GTS, but not quite the 291 of the latest Evolution X has. It does feature Mitsubishi's dual-clutch SST automanual with paddle shifters and an active center differential to let you rally your little heart out in suburbia America. It is slated for a summer release.
Read MoreDetroit Auto Show: Guess which car then click: "it makes me think that the new impreza has a long lost german cousin..."
Read MoreWhen we previously mentioned the Lamborghini's getting personalized we sort of scoffed at the idea, given how much personalization Lamborghini owners already do... but now we have to admit we kind of like the matte brown Gallardo Spyder in person. Maybe matte brown really is the new matte black. Though the Lamborghini press conference isn't for an hour or so, we snuck out early to take photos of the Murciélago LP640 Coupé, Roadster and Gallardo. Enjoy.
Read MoreDetroit Auto Show: News that will shock no one — Toby Keith does not appeal to the Jalopnik demographic. magnificentbastard and rocketrodeo debate.
Read MoreHere are the first shots of the Audi R8 with all of that oilburning V12 TDi goodness you've been waiting for. Confirming the well supported rumors that we heard, the Audi R8 V12 TDI is all the power with slightly less of the petroleum depletion. As we thought, the V12 displaces six liters and produces 500 horsepower and 738 lb-ft of torque while still achieving a mileage of nearly 23 MPG (US/Highway). Below is the press release, which required us to listen to Bryan Adams to get to you.
Read MoreHonda have just announced that their new i-DTEC will debut in North America in a 2009 Acura model. The engine will follow in a Honda the following year. No specific figures were given, but the company claims this diesel with be 25-30% more efficient than an equivalent gasoline-powered unit.
Read MoreDetroit Auto Show: You know who's old and out of it? Me (Loverman). Not only don't I know what Type3Notchback's talking about is, I don't like Halo. At least the Hummer HX Concept looks kinda nifty.
Read MoreDetroit Auto Show: The kids (like apexpredator) are loving the VW Passat CC's interior. But do the curtains match the drapes?
Read MoreUPDATE: Check out our 2009 Honda Pilot test drive. The 2009 Honda Pilot shares a platform with the '07 Acura MDX, starting at a lower price, with simpler features, seating 8 people. It also features a new Variable Cylinder Management system, which means the engine, can run on 6, 4 or 3 cylinders. The looks draw heavily on classic American SUV design themes, but improve upon them in a clean, contemporary way. Just look at the area behind the C-pillars for instance; it resembles what the Jeep Libe
Read MoreDetroit Auto Show: A Toyota that Jalops are hot to buy? So says MayMar. Think he's talking about the Lexus LF-A Roadster Concept?
Read MoreGM rolled out its Halo 3 Warthog doppelganger, the Hummer HX concept amid considerable pomp and circumstance around E85 Ethanol and other green technologies. GM's sales VP Mark Le Neve introduced the concept as a vehicle that'll get the kids to put down their Wii controllers and start climbing rocks IRL. No word on production plans, but we've been expecting a Jeep Wrangler/ Toyota FJ Cruiser competitor for a while. This may be it, though likely without the chain gun and plasma pistol.
Read MoreGM's new green push, dubbed GM>>next, shows what happens when a global multinational throws a few tens of millions in public relations and directs marching orders toward facing down rival Toyota's reputation, deserved or not, for greenness. It's the marketing wrapper under which all of GMs's alternative energy projects exist. One of those is GM's backing of E85 Ethanol, the increased production of which they're saying will reduce the use of fossil fuels to the tune of 30 percent by 2030. In betw
Read MoreDetroit Auto Show: Not Feeling the Ford F150. It might be Sunday morning, but the robble robble crowd are on their feet and, well, robbling. This time they're upset about the new 3-bar grilled 2009 Ford F-150. And this time we agree with them. Though, we're not entirely sure what SexCpotatoes is talking about.
Read MoreHere it is folks, the crowd of cows has parted — more on that later — to reveal the 2009 Dodge Ram 1500 pickup. It's a double-horned blast of new truck-love from the car company owned by Cerberus. As we've told you before the new pickup's got all sorts of horn-y hotness like the RamBox cargo management system available in the crew cab which includes a weatherproof, lockable, illuminated and drainable storage bin built into each of the bed rails — with a total of 8.6 cubic feet of space. That's
Read MoreWhen we last saw the Ford Explorer America it was hip deep in snow. Now it's out, using it's EcoBoost engines to escape the cavern and arrive here in the lovely CoBo Arena. The Explorer was only up momentarily, but we should have more pics soon. Press release and production shots below the jump, full photos from the live reveal directly below:
Read MoreThe 2009 Subaru Forester is just hanging out for all to see, so we took advantage and grabbed some shots. Not surprisingly it still looks like the Subaru Forester we showed you in December. Since we've seen it before, we took a closer look at the most interesting part of the car, what's underneath plain teal wrapper. That boxer mated to all wheel drive never fails to delight. Check the gallery for pics of the slightly bigger, slightly longer, definitely smoother Subie crossover. We've got deta
Read MoreLast night we showed you the Ford Verve for America, because we didn't want to sleep anyways. When they released the Verve from its hiding place it was all we could do to not get sucked into the unnecessarily huge grille. When you get the full 360 degrees you'll appreciate the athletic stance (certainly enhanced by the 18-inch wheels), something refreshing for a small car. And just to make sure you don't forget how important the Verve is for the future, it literally dropped in on us. From the ce
Read MoreWe have the first shots of the 2009 Ford F-150 and, if you're a "Ford Truck Man" you'll certainly enjoy them. And if not, with 35 variations ranging from the entry level XL to the pre-pimped luxo Platinum Edition if you can't find one you like you're just not trying hard enough. Live shots below and the in-person experience confirms the "I am Daveness" of the 2009 Ford F-150's grille, as previously seen.
Read More45 "High-Profile Journalists" - ie old white men in ill-fitting khakis - have selected the Chevy Malibu and Mazda CX-9 as the North American car and truck of the year, respectively.
Read MoreThe 2009 Ford F-150 has arrived and, for potential buyers, there are two major stories here other than the new frame and exterior: more standard/available features and more model variations. Now standard is the AdvanceTrack with Roll Stability Control (RSC), Trailer Sway Control, the new Tailgate w/ box side steps and the new "Easy Fuel" capless fuel-filler system that uses a a sensor to automatically seal shut when the nozzle is removed. Available on all F-150's is the SYNC system (with all goo
Read MoreAfter introducing us to the Ford Verve at Frankfurt late last year, Ford is bringing this new global small car platform to the United States. The four-door shown here is the basis for the production vehicle that will hit driveways in North America sometime in 2010, while the three-door is from the Euro-spec model that we may or may not see (depending on the reaction). We imagine that the 18-inch polished wheels probably won't be standard when it goes into production, but it'll be fairly close ot
Read MoreWho knew? Seriously — we're here at the GM Style event and although the place is chock full of pretty people and faux hipsters — it's unfortunately seemingly rather bereft of the "cars" at the moment. But for a site like Jalopnik, cars are the stars and supposedly we'll be seeing a very special one tonight — it's the 600+ HP 2009 Corvette ZR1 — and we're absolutely tingling with excitement and anticipation. So, keep checking back this evening and we'll keep you up-to-date on our first sighting
Read MoreAutoSpies.com has lived up to their name this evening and they've got pics of a heretofore unknown Lexus convertible concept posted up. After huddling up for a minute, the best minds Jalopnik have to offer must admit that we have nothing on this car. Is it the production version of the LF-A Convertible we saw at pebble beach, the LF-C? Is it a one off superlux concept? We don't know, but stay tuned for more as we dig into this story. At the very least, we'll be bringing it to you live as soon as
Read MoreThe three rotor banshee planted in the 2009 Mazda Furai Concept is at full scream in this track time video at Leguna Seca. We're eagerly awaiting the unveil at the Detroit Auto Show on Monday, but it's a slim chance we'll see it blasting around like this on the frozen roads of Detroit. If you listen closely when the driver steps off the throttle, you can hear yourself wet your pants.
Read MoreSince those wily Mopar-lovin' bastards at Allpar and the never-lovin' Mopar aristocrats at the Times (who knew they were such trouble-makers!) have gone and dropped the cover on the new 2009 Dodge Ram 1500, we've decided to drop trou on our embargoed pictures of the new Ram-headed bull-dodging pickup truck. The newly hotted-up Ram (thanks to chief truck designer Ralph Gilles) gets a similarly new 5.7-liter Hemi V8 — giving it more horsepower than the previous generation, 380 hp. And a simila
Read MoreWe're around T minus-one day and counting until the 2008 Detroit Auto Show officially unofficially kicks off with the GM Style event on the Detroit waterfront on Saturday night. At that point we're off to the races, the Jalopnik ten-person team running all day Sunday through the first half of next week to cover the Super Bowl of the automotive world and bring it to you live and in stereo. But before we even start to stretch and line up for the firing of the starter's pistol we figured we'd giv
Read MoreWhat better way to celebrate the 85th birthday of Carroll Shelby, the man responsible for some of the best American muscle (and the Omni GLH), than with the production of the mean GT500KR? A King of the Road for a King of American Muscle. Works for me. 540 horsepower and 510 ft-lbs of torque for the first 79 years and a six-speed Tremec manual tranny for the last six. Only 1,000 of these sexy beasts will be available, so expect to pay a king's ransom for the privilege. Press release below the ju
Read MoreSaturn has gone and made its Vue Hybrid even more hybrid-tastic. Now equipped with GM's advanced two-mode hybrid technology, the new 2009 Saturn Vue Green Line 2 Mode Hybrid promises a fifty percent increase in fuel mileage over the standard V6 model. All of that efficiency comes from a 3.6L V6 equipped with VVT and direct injection and not one, but two 55 kW electric motors integrated into the transmission. Those motors provide assist at different vehicle speeds in order to minimize fuel cons
Read MoreWe know you've been waiting for it, and here it is: The Ford Explorer America Concept. Besides being a preview of the next generation Explorer and a look at future technologies, this lone concept stands out as the strongest indicator of where Ford is going and the greatest repudiation of the past. Just look at the name: Ford Explorer America. No longer the America of Toby Keith kicking someone in the ass with a boot and then shoving gasoline down their throat, the new Ford Explorer concept featu
Read MoreWe already knew the 2007 Buick Riviera Concept would be here for the Detroit Auto Show, but the China born concept made it's US debut here last night. Originally unveiled at Auto Shanghai 2007, the Buick Riviera Concept was shown off to press by Ed Welburn and the gang at the Max M. Fisher Theater ahead of the show. We were hoping for a green light for US production from Mr. Welburn, but nothing like that was mentioned. Oh well, we can dream can't we? Anyway, there's a press release after the
Read MoreMost car guys have watched the legendary chase sequence in the movie Bullitt enough times to have it memorized, but have you ever tried driving it? Our guess is that if you tried it and succeeded, you must have an early copy of the Moller M200 because unfortunately the route is impossible. An intrepid Google user with the tag mthaeg has gone to the trouble of matching the movie to the roads of the bay area, and despite the greatness of the chase, it isn't based in reality. It seems the footage w
Read MoreWhen you're talking about Malaise Era Fords, you might choose the Maverick we saw on DOTS as a good example of the Early Malaise period, and the Fox-bodied Fairmont as the archetypal Late Malaise Dearborn machine. But what about the Middle Malaise period? Why, the Granada is the obvious choice- they sold in huge numbers, yet featured the hallmarks of Detroit Malaise: miserable engine power and cruddy build qualiity. Still, the Granada (and its Mercury sibling, the Monarch) got the job done, and
Read MoreIt's called the REAL ID Act, and supporters claim it's a law designed to make it harder and more frustrating for terrorists and con artists to get government-issued ID. The Feds have spent the past couple of years working on all the deets, and now they've got 'em some rules which apparently they'll be looking to unveil today. As we'd expect, the ACLU's got some issues with it, declaring "REAL ID amounts to the "first-ever national identity card system," which "would irreparably damage the fabr
Read MoreBecause Lamborghini owners never change a thing about their whips, Lamborghini is showing off three Lambos inspired by the world of fashion at the Detroit Auto Show in order to encourage personalization. And what does the world of fashion seem to be offering up in the inspiration department? Matte brown. Matte coloring is the new chrome, is the new black is the replacement for all. And leather. Lots of leather. They say the Murcielago and Gallardo are based on the theme "think of the impossible.
Read MoreWhile some may think of the radar detector as no more than thrift shop junk, many companies out there are keeping the products flowing — and those of us with a lead foot happy thanks to the latest technologies making it easier than ever to avoid speed traps. The Valentine One, Escort Passport 9500i, Cobra XRS-R9G and Bel STi Driver are just a handful of the latest generation of radar detectors with the ability to make even a turbo-boosted KITT jealous. Not that it matters as he still ain't boost
Read MoreWhat the heck is this thing? We're so confused — there's nothing more for us to say. We're going to let spy photographer of the car stars Glenn Paulina of KGP take it from here:
Read MoreWe've now got the official scoop and pics of the Audi TTS Roadster & Coupe that broke through the embargo shields on Tuesday, sans that horrible watermark from Motorpasîon. Confirming what we'd heard, the Audi's will get the more potent 2.0-liter Turbo FSI four banger good for 272 horsepower. This will give them a 0-62 time between 5.4 and 5.6 seconds for the coupe and roadster, respectively. They'll go on sale in the UK sometime around mid year.
Read MoreWe're beginning to wonder if this blogging may be the wrong business to be in. Like, maybe there's better money in fielding weird requests from the worlds automotive eccentrics. Alan Berj writes to us with a request. It seems he's the owner of a 1959 Simca P60 Aronde and he's getting nervous about a long interval between shop visits. We would be worried too, shop time with a French car should be as regular as a well fed goose. In that spirit, Alan is asking us to put him into contact with the
Read MoreThe illustrious Vintage Racer is as big a fan of the Gulf Oil livery as we are (and perhaps also as big a fan of the word livery). Being the generous fellow he is, he's shared with us some photos he took of Ford GT's done up like GT40's of old from Indianapolis last year. According to Vintage Racer, some of the lucky rich bastards GT owners also brought along their Gulf Oil Saleen Mustangs, just for fun. His report below the jump.
Read MoreThanks to the Gulf Oil Ford GT40 MKIs MKII historic triumph at the 1968 24 Hours of Le Mans we'll probably forever pay tribute to the light blue and orange colors. First it was the GT40 replicar paying homage and now, 40 years after the initial victory, the 2008 Aston Martin DBR9 will carry the Gulf Oil livery into battle once more to vanquish any foes trying to recapture the GT1 title at this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans. If a racing Aston is a bit out of your price range, may we suggest the Gulf
Read MoreOh look, it's more shots of what we're assuming will be the 2010 Ford Mustang. It's kind of hard to say really what it is what with all the camouflage, but we'll go with what spy maven Brenda Priddy tells us — especially because that engineer looks really unhappy he's having his picture taken. Yup, it's probably the newly-revised 'Stang. One thing's for sure — these shots do show a wee bit more detail than the last set of the next-generation Ford Mustang we ran last month and the 2010 Ford Mus
Read MoreVolkswagen today launched their new Jetta TSI Sports racer for the UK Volkswagen Racing Cup. Featuring both super- and turbocharging, this saloon should be both faster and more reliable than LaDainian Tomlinson. The addition of the engine-driven supercharger and exhaust gas-powered turbo should provide motivation down low and up high, boosting power to 230 horsepower, an increase of 60 horsepower over the previous incarnation. In addition to racing goodies, the Jetta also gets a sleek paint job.
Read MoreWhile we had an 80s Toyota on DOTS just last week, we're really overdue to see an example of one of my all-time favorite Toyotas: the '83-86 Tercel Wagon. I've owned more of these than any other kind of car (admittedly, most were City Tow auction cars I turned around quickly, but I had a couple of drivers I kept for quite a while). I've always had a soft spot for funky old Toyotas (maybe because my very first car was a '69 Corona) and it saddens me to see how their cars have lost so much soul si
Read MoreAfter months of rumors and tantalizing leaks — and as we first told you earlier this week — Indian automaker Tata Motors has finally unveiled the Tata Nano — its already legendary $2,500 (1-lakh)car. As expected, the car that Tata claims will change the face of not only the Indian car market, but the global auto industry will be a four door, five seat hatch, powered by a 30 HP Bosch 624 cc four stroke engine mounted out back and mated to a CVT. That makes the Nano the first time a 2-cylinder g
Read MoreIf you're like me, you spend a lot of time wondering why women aren't as obsessed with cars as men. Logic would indicate that just as many women drive as men (at least in the US and Europe). Of course that same brand of logic would argue that men wear just as much clothing as women and I shouldn't start yawning when my girl puts on Project Runway. But, I do. That said, reading through today's Fantasy Garage provides some pretty convincing clues as to why Jezebel women want nothing to do with our
Read MoreI never would have imagined that 55% of you prefer a Pierre Cardin '73 AMX to a "real" '70 AMX, but that turned out to be the case in yesterday's Choose Your Eternity Poll. Today we're returning to a theme we visited with Aircraft Engine Edition PCH and Mix-N-Match Madness PCH: Engine swaps! Not only that, we're going with the two engines folks around these parts most often suggest as swap candidates. See, whenever we look at a really small car, it won't be long before someone suggests dropping
Read MoreThe folks at Skoda, the Czech VW subsidiary, have always had a stellar time reworking and elongating the Passat platform to make an upper-mid-level platform for that Czech executive on the go. Now we've got photos of the next generation Skoda Superb and, hey, it's better than ordinary. In fact, propelled by VW's 1.8 TSI it's downright pretty good. It'll officially bow at the Geneva Auto Show, an event we hear is good even relative to things otherwise considered good. Press release below the jump
Read MoreFrance-based commenter Franzouse, not content to rest on his Project Car Hell Tipster laurels (you may remember him as the man responsible for the Yankenwagen Me, Krankenwagen Me Edition of Project Car Hell), is now looking to climb the rust-and-Bondo ziggurat and achieve Project Car Hell Poster Child Status as well...
Read MoreThose who thought they were in good hands with Allstate may not have noticed those hands were jacking them off. Insurance company Allstate owns a stake in body shops across the country through company Sterling Autobody Centers. This didn't go over well in Texas where a law was passed to stop this obviously horrible conflict of interest. Despite losing twice in a Texas district court and once at the appellate level, Allstate Insurance and their lawyer Ken Starr (yes, that Ken Starr) is questionin
Read MoreThe new Mercedes-Benz CLC sports coupe (ahem the C-Class SportsCoupe) is a dirty whore. We keep trying to get a good look at it but it's always got some woman (and occasionally some man) on top of it. Look, we know it's debuting at the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Berlin and that's how they do things in Berlin. We're not judging. Just move the models. MACH SCHNELL! Appropriately, the new CLC is mostly an aesthetic change as they claim "1,100 components have been either developed new for the sports
Read MoreI believe there are certain things you can never have too many of. Good pairs of jeans and shoes. Pocket knives. Friends with pickup trucks. Real Mexican joints. Books. And of course, sports cars from the early 60s that competed at LeMans in your Fantasy Garage. We've already got the two best (the Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe and the Ferrari 250 GTO, respectively) so let us now induct the most beautiful; the British/Italian hybrid Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato.
Read MoreNo turbo boost in the first 15-second teaser of the new KITT, no turbo boost in the second, 30-second commercial for NBC's new Knight Rider, and now we're here. How sad is it there's now a third video — a minute-and-a-half clip from the new Knight Rider movie/show now up on the interwebs, yet still no turbo boost. Yes, sure, there's plenty more moments of the new Shelby-fied Ford Mustang GT500KR-powered KITT in action and there's the new shots of the new Hoff-ness, Mike Tracer. There's even
Read MoreWatching old car ads, we tend to be most struck by how styling has changed (for the worse) and mechanical goodies have changed (for the better). But, every so often, we run across an ad that makes it clear how much the world around the cars has changed. The 1960s really aren't that far back in the rear view mirror, but it's lucky for the admen who made the following pair of ads that present-day women don't have time machines (ideally, installed inside a blown Hemi-powered Dodge La Femme... or t
Read MoreJust about the last thing you expect to see when you're out wheeling with your tough new Jeep Wrangler is a tree making a move on your crotch. It's one of those things not normally within the sphere of operation for trail driving. Normal is not what happened to one driver out for a New Years day expedition. This is the kind of thing should get back to Chrysler's engineering department for consideration in the next revision level. Anyway, well let the eyewitness from Postworthy lay out the deta
Read MoreWhile we're enjoying the crazy concept cars we may or may never actually see in real life or design studies that only hint at what we may see one day, we're going to actually be able to hang out with a car that will soon be in dealer showrooms. BMW will be bringing the MINI Clubman to the Detroit Auto Show for public admiration. And if you find yourself admiring the slightly less-MINI then you'll only have to wait a month to buy one, as they go on sale February 16th of this year. That's a lot sh
Read MoreFor those who want tiny-Ford power but are too busy to make your own SHOgun or too impatient to wait for the impending Mazda2ish vehicle, you may want to look away. The Ford Fiesta ST, already a capable little vehicle, is getting two dealer-fit performance packages for the UK. The Mountune Performance Stage 1 package adds a high-flow air induction system, performance exhaust system and engine re-calibration good for 165 HP out of the 2.0-litre Duratec ST. Stage 2 package comes in at about $3,600
Read MoreWhile the "entry-level" Cadillac 2-door for '69, the Calais, was pretty slick, the one we saw in this series has clearly seen better days. But when you're talking serious Cadillac sporty luxury for 1969, you really need to think more in terms of the Coupe de Ville convertible. This example, spotted mere yards from the very rough '69 Volvo 144, is in very nice condition, which is impressive for a convertible that parks on the street every day.
Read MoreAs we hinted at yesterday — we had the opportunity to sit down (with a group of other auto journos — but it totally felt like it was just the two of us in that room. Or maybe it's just because I could care less about the fuel economy and economic issues surrounding the General, the direction most of the auto hacks were beating their chests to) and talk with GM's big chief exec, Rick Wagoner, yesterday before his keynote address at CES. So what did we talk about? How about future Zeta products
Read MoreUPDATE: Rick's just driven out in a Chevy Volt. No clue what it's got under the hood, but it looked to be running under it's own power. Who knew? UPDATE #2: Provoq concept revealed live — picture after the jump. We'll have more to come soon, but for the moment — here's the embargoed printed text of "Slick" Rick Wagoner's keynote here at the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show. Funniest part of the speech has got to be the title of the speech itself:
Read MoreAll Your Embargoes Are Belong To Us — especially now that the folks over at HummerGuy have gone live with the embargoed information on the Hummer HX Concept. The Hummer Warthog HX Concept will be blowing into Detroit Auto Show this weekend like it was fired out of a missile pod or something. Seriously, we cannot make enough Halo references for this thing. Now that Hummer Forums released photos of the new Hummer concept we can tell you this concept is smaller than the H3 and is powered by an E8
Read MoreFor reasons that no doubt made sense at the time, the utterly hopeless Cord triumphed over the absolutely impossible Lamborghini in yesterday's Choose Your Eternity poll. After those two high-ticket machines, I figured we should take a look at some good old American muscle, from the Golden Age of V8-powered rear-drive machines. The problem we run into with most of the Detroit muscle machines from the 1964-73 era (in terms of this series) is that it's just too easy to get parts for them, particu
Read MoreAfter we explained earlier about GM's web-based brain-fart, it looks like the covers have now been officially blown off the wicked new 2009 Cadillac CTS-V. We're talking 550 hp, we're talking about 550 lb.-ft. of torque, we're talking magnetic ride control, we're talking performance traction management, we're talking that beautiful 6.2L LSA Supercharged V8, we're talking sub-5 second 0-60 times (actually Cadillac's unofficially claiming it'll be closer to a four-second 0-60 time). And we're ta
Read MoreIf you've been wondering what Ford's big plans were for dealing with the new energy bill and higher CAFE standards and guessed hybrids or electric cars &mdash you were wrong. Ford's big plan is to add turbocharging and direct injection to 500,000 vehicles, starting with the 2009 Lincoln MKS. Ford claims this technology will boost performance while also affordably decreasing gasoline usage. According to their numbers, an EcoBoost car can recoup the initial investment in the technology in 30 month
Read MoreLooks like GM may have accidentally let the cover slip momentarily on their embargoed press release on the 2009 Cadillac CTS-V we'll be seeing live at the Detroit Auto Show this weekend. But just as quickly as the tarp slipped, GM staff were quick to pull it back up to cover the new super-CTS. But here's what was slipped early:
Read MoreYesterday we waxed nostalgic about some awesome American racing greatness from the middle 1960s (both here and here). And while we're typically not the biggest booster of replicas, when done correct, they completely rule. Like this Superformance Brock Coupe. As promised, 1300ccsOfFury filled my gmail box with pics. Here's what he has to say:
Read MoreTrips to Germany and that blasted Christmas holiday conspired to keep work from progressing, but believe it or not, the project still goes on. We all knew the engine bay wiring would be a horrendous train wreck. After all, it's a forty four year old car that's undergone at least one engine rebuild and who knows how many shade tree mechanics. With the mild weather we had last weekend, I decided it was time to dive in head first and find out how much pain to look forward to.
Read MoreWell, the Ford Sync system is in full effect with 911 Assist, Sirius Travel Link and more, but that obviously isn't enough. Ford, Lincoln and Mercury will be including factory-installed HD radio in 2009 as well. Wait, HD radio? Where do you put your eyes?
Read MoreMaybe it's the love in the air. Or maybe one of Santa's reindeer passed gas while skipping over my house. Regardless, I've been in quite an emotional mood as of late, and that's pretty obvious if you checked out yesterday's QOTD. We'll just call this Feelings Week. Er, maybe Hippie Week. Should that be Hippie Weak? Now that I'm done rambling, I helped a buddy of mine test drive an Audi A3 a few months back.
Read MoreWe previously mentioned that the good folks at the X PRIZE foundation would be bringing X PRIZE entrants to Detroit, and now we've got a full list of all the cars that will be vying for the $10 million prize. For those not in the know, the X-PRIZE will be awarded to the company that can build and market a 100 MPG equivalent vehicle that meets market needs. Competitors include Aptera, Tesla, ZAP and others. We'll be tracking down these mileage seekers next week. Full press release and list below
Read MoreThe end is nigh! The insane individuals at DUB Custom Wheels have now brought us the PimpStar LED wheels, and thus the end of civilization as we know it. Using full color LED lights, a microprocessor and wireless modem, these wheels can display any images you like, on the fly, that can be changed even as you're driving (hellow lawsuit). Hot girl in the next car? Just flash the numbers on your dubs and before long she'll be calling you... or the police. One of the two. They're just $12,000 so act
Read MoreI promised more Malaise Era Mercedes-Benzes not long ago, and it's been a few weeks since the last one, so this morning's DOTS will be a Benz hailing for the Late Malaise year of 1982. Yes, yes, we know- Mercedes-Benz never really succumbed to full-on Malaise, but we're talking era, not the Malaisitude of a specific vehicle here. I spotted this car just a block from the 1950 Pontiac Chieftan convertible and right near a couple of vintage Porsches you'll be seeing later.
Read More(ED NOTE: Mucho many pics of the Hyundai Genesis are here for your invisible touch) We finally have the details and official pics of the 2009 Hyundai Genesis, the RWD luxury automobile that promises to challenge $60,000 luxury autos at half the price (no shock, it looks like the Genesis we already showed you). The big news here is features. Fully loaded the Genesis sports the Tau 4.6 liter DOHC V8 good for 368 horsepower and 324 lb. ft of torque mated to a ZF 6-speed transmission good for a su
Read MoreViva, Las Vegas, baby! Our ramblin' and gamblin' boss is in Sin City for a day and he's reporting back on GM's latest concept car they're showing off at the 2008 CES show. As we told you first earlier today, the General's luxe brand has brought some hydrogen-powered action to the Consumer Electronics Show in the form of the 2008 Cadillac Provoq Fuel Cell concept car. It's a hydrogen fuel cell crossover — but you're probably wondering how it works. Here's what the General has to say:
Read MoreOur last Choose Your Eternity poll showed us that a rustbucket BMW 2002 beats a fossilized Nissan 300ZX, albeit by a fairly narrow margin. And that's good to know, though such knowledge won't be applicable to the cars our friend Mike sent in to us. Even though Mike didn't get a Project Car Hell Tipster T-shirt for the burnt Subaru he sent in earlier, he does get one for today's Choose Your Eternity contestants. You'd have to look pretty hard to find a pair of cars that better epitomize everythi
Read MoreWith word of more alternative fuel cars coming out (like the possibly electric Cadillac Provoq), we thought it was time to visit the most successful electric car in our country's history. Approximately 2,200 Citicars (a.k.a. CommutaCars) were built by a company based out of Florida. The two-seaters were powered by a 3.5 horsepower motor connected to eight 6-volt golf-cart batteries. The result was a wedge-shapped oddity capable of approximately 30 mph and a range of 40 miles in optimal condition
Read MoreImagine New York City, still with all of the cabs — but minus the cab drivers — and you were free to take one on a joy ride of your own. That is the anarchic system the mayor of Paris is suggesting for the French city. Voiturelib' is its name (literally "free car"). And like the classic Ami 6, it's a bit wacky.
Read MoreAll good things must come to an end, and therefore the limited-edition Gennadi Design Designed Ford GTX1 too will shuffle lose this mechanical coil. The company will only be taking orders for the popular roadster through August 2008, so if you like your GT chopped you'd better come up with $38,000 quick. And by quick we mean you have approximately seven months to come up with the cash. For those who don't remember, the GTX1 debuted at SEMA to much fanfare. Press release below the jump.
Read MoreApparently the North Carolina DMV is unfamiliar with the darker corners of the internet because they've let a whopper of a plate slip through the screening process. If you've ever seen what this plate is referring to, may God have mercy on your soul. There are just some things you can't unsee. We're sure the proud new owner of this plate will have a lot of splainin' to do when the first net savvy cop pulls him over for some form of public indecency.
Read MoreIf there was ever a reason to sit through a minute of Real TV build up, this is it. Many dirt track stock car races have at least a couple of crashes, it's that possibility and the Keystone Light that makes the experience interesting. We imagine more than a few of said inebriated fans couldn't believe their eyes when they saw a tire fly off a car only to return home. There's no description that can do it justice, so just enjoy. [RealTV via Google Video]
Read MoreLast time I was in Denver, I risked the wrath of our secret overlords by photographing their Mind Control Pinto at the airport; so far I haven't been shipped off to a re-education facility located at a defunct drive-in theater, but we all know it's best not to cross the Shadow Government. Now I'm back in the Mile High City, and this time I've found a pair of '73 Mercuries (one Marquis and one Monterey) whose owner was overjoyed to have his car photographed. He was taking advantage of a nice 55-
Read MoreThe constant threat of Ninja attack is something we all have to live with on a daily basis. For years now, the common man has been getting caught in the crossfire of the ongoing Ninja versus Pirate wars. An attack from either side could come at any time so it pays to be eternally vigilant. This educational video shows the tactical maneuvers that wear down and eventually evade a pack of pink roller skate wearing Ninjas if they attack while you commute in your Mitsuoka Bubu. Turns out the secr
Read MoreA while back, we asked you what your favorite type of transmission is. Not surprisingly, most people picked good old manuals. Semi surprisingly, there was a lot of love for DSG-style auto blippers. For me, cars that blip the throttle for you when you pull a paddle are novel, but they lack that feeling you get when you properly row the gears yourself. We've been having a bit of a storm in Southern California for the last few days and as you can imagine, the roads are nuts. And slick. And fool-fil
Read MoreThe Ford F-150's the vehicle that sold more than any other this past year. Yup, more than the Camry, more than the Accord and more than it's pickup truck rivals. Although we already knew we'd be seeing the newly-redesigned 2009 Ford F-150 this week at the Detroit Auto Show, and we already have seen some pretty clear spy photos of the new 09 F-150 a couple of weeks back. Heck, we've even seen the new logo (PickupTruck.com's even got a shot of the actual logo). But still, it's good to see the gr
Read MoreDull as minivans may seem (well, unless they run 12-second quarter miles, of course), they're pretty useful transportation appliances that do the job asked of them. Lots of folks give VW credit for making the first one, but the Gray Lady would like to point out that the Stout Scarab, a Ford V8-powered machine equipped with comfy furniture and aluminum bodywork, came first. Its builder, William Stout, also designed the aircraft that evolved into the Ford Trimotor... which is cool and all, but ca
Read MoreWe've been salivating over the thought of the upcoming 2009 Cadillac CTS-V for a good long while now, and the press release we just posted on the Provoq concept unveiling is also confirming the Caddy that zooms will be taking the stage for all to see at Detroit. We almost can't wait to see the ultimate expression of art and science (and Corvette power train) in the flesh, but we're just going to have to wait. We're guessing the Cadillac Provoq concept being released at CES will be enough to
Read MoreGM announced today that they would be debuting the Cadillac Provoq at the CES show in Las Vegas. According to the company the Provoq "continues Cadillac's remarkable heritage of landmark concept vehicles, this time in a vehicle free from petroleum fuel and emissions, the ultimate luxury." Translation: electric car. While we don't have details we do know that we'll be there to bring it to you as soon as it bows (if not sooner). The car will then reappear at the Detroit Auto Show. Since we have
Read MoreThe mad Swiss at Rinspeed, known for both Porsche tuning and underwater Lotus tuning have set their sights on the Porsche 957 Cayenne and the results are extreme X-treme. The Rinspeed X-treme is much wider and lower than the stock Cayenne thanks to the bulging arches and matching side skirts. The whole package is also lower thanks to an electric air suspension that lets the driver adjust the car by 35 mm. More power comes courtesy of a new sport exhaust system that brings the X-treme up to 600 h
Read MoreEven though we saw a Dodge truck just a couple weeks back, it's been much longer since we saw our last Dodge pickup. That means it's time for us to feast our eyes on this industrial-strength Power Wagon. The grille design means it's either a '70 or a '71, but once again I'm (mildly) ashamed to admit I can't figure out the exact year of a DOTS vehicle. Power Wagon experts, fill in the blanks!
Read MoreAnyone doubting Formula One's temperance movement has legs need only cast their F1-geek eyes on the latest Constructors' champ's entry for the aught eight season. Yesterday, Ferrari's F2008 car became the first showing among new cars that must comply with the latest technology prohibition by Formula One's own Robin Hood, Bernie Ecclestone and his "Merry Man" Max Mosley. They've robbed from the rich and given unto the lowest common demoninator, standardizing engine computing and banning most driv
Read MoreSuch teases, those Porsche types. Just weeks after telling the German press they're not quite sold on the whole hybrid thing, sales wise, the company's released details on the gas-electric version of its coming Panamera four-door. (Wait, did we say Panamera? Yes, we did.) That means the top-view rendering above, while informing us of the new e-gas tech with cutaway and callouts, provides one of the first representations of the actual car we've seen from the Stuttgart studio. As expected, the mod
Read MoreSpeak of the devil — the embargo's just dropped on Ford's newest addition to the Sync system unveiled tonight at the 2008 CES show by Microsoft's main man himself — Bill Gates. It's called "911 Assist" and it uses the bluetooth phone connection function of Sync to dial the local 911 operator through your phone if your air bag deploys. It then replays a recorded message alerting the operator you're in a Ford vehicle and oh my goodness, send help immediately 'cause your airbag's just gone off
Read MoreIn addition to a tease of even more Sync-ing to come at the 2008 CES show, Ford's just unveiled their newest toy to complement the Sync system. It's called the Sirius Travel Link navigation system — and it's a nav system that uses Sirius's ability to download data to your in-dash system to give drivers and passengers up-to-the-minute information on the little stuff you need when you're driving — stuff like gas prices, traffic, weather, sports scores and movie listings. All the random tidbits o
Read MoreUPDATE: We snagged ourselves a higher-res version of the new Knight Rider commercial. We've replaced the ol' and busted one with the new hotness you see above and added the text of the commercial below the jump. The second commercial for the new Knight Rider's aired just weeks after the first and it's got us thinking. OK, so the new K.I.T.T.'s a Mustang GT500KR, right? And it's got all these great standard features, right? 550 horses under the Cylon-like hood, race-tuned suspension, Xenon head
Read MoreWe were reading through Matt "The Butcher" Hardigree's guide to speed limit enforcement and it got us thinking about all the times we've been pulled over. Like the time we admitted doing 100 mph and just prayed that he hadn't seen us going 135 mph (he hadn't). Though, my personal favorite has to be one lazy Saturday long ago in God-knows-where Mississippi in an Acura with CA plates for going 37 mph in a 35 mph. The deputy told us we had to talk to the sheriff. So, we follow him back to the stati
Read More[Who knew the 10th amendment to the US Constitution would create the state-by-state patchwork quilt of driving laws we've got? Well, the founders did — despite their lack of cars. Fear not, interstate drivers, we here at Jalopnik have sorted through the red tape to bring you detailed guides to driving rules; everything from teenage driving, cell phone use, open containers, dehorsing and lemon laws. These are the Rules of the Road.] Previously, we provided a list of the maximum speed limit laws
Read MoreWe're not really sure what more there is to add to this photo of what claims to be a revolutionary airbag, but is quite... er... kallipygian. While we guess the design helps prevent you from snapping your neck or being guided into the pillar, there's no getting around the fact that it looks like you've just gone nose first into a gigantic pair of pink butt cheeks. In fact, we'd be a bit nervous that the paramedics might be too busy making jokes about us giving the car a rim job to actually help
Read MoreI happen to live in paradise Los Angeles, but for those of you in snowy, icy northern nightmares places, you might be very interested in the driving lesson that Motive is offering. It's called the Scandinavian Flick. Rally drivers, drifters and even my brother Hollywood stuntmen are all familiar with the technique. Motive's Bryan Joslin is claiming the Flick is the fastest and safest way around a wet corner. Though, he does point out that law enforcement might view your superior car control as n
Read MoreConfirming our suspicions about the Ford-NBC-Knight Rider Deal, AdAge is reporting how GM dropped the ball on picking up the Knight Rider tie-in and how Ford lunged at the opportunity. According to the article, Ford took note of the success of the Transformers film in pimping out the full line of GM vehicles and decided to buy its way in by making an offer NBC Universal couldn't refuse. Though there's no solid number on how much advertising Ford promised NBC if it used the Mustang, the co-chair
Read MoreHow embarrassing. Sinclair's next big thing in the 80's, the Sinclair C5, can be serviced alongside your vacuum cleaner (wonder if this service promise holds up for the jet powered version). Something tells us that nobody with any kind of marketing skills was involved in this ad. 'Hey, let's associate our funny shaped, dangerously slow electric vehicles with an appliance that sucks! Capital idea chaps, well done.' Maybe the ads weren't as misguided as we imagine, considering the C5 sold as man
Read MoreSomething new everyday. Did any of you know that there were in fact four Group B Ferrari 308s? We had no idea, and we thought we knew the Killer Bs. Davey G sent me info on these cars as part of our continuing fight over the Mustache Ride. Here's the skinny:
Read MoreLoverman: How did the 24 Hours of LeMons start? Jay Lamm: Basically, with way too much beer and chinese food. We'd been doing this road-rally thing called the Double 500, a 500-kilometer road rally for $500 cars, for years. I came up with the general idea for the Double 500 one day after the California MIlle, while I was taunting Martin Swig that it was too easy for the Mille guys to just solve all their mechanical problems with a check wrench. I was pretty much just busting his chops, but Marti
Read MoreLooks like in addition to the A-list, B-list and C-list music names the General's throwin' down at the GM Style event next Saturday night prior to the Detroit Auto Show, they'll also have a D-list entertainer in the house. "D" as in D-etroit. Ha! We slay ourselves...and pretty much only ourselves. Yes, GM's bringing Metro Detroit's child rocker, Kid Rock, to the Style event to add to performances by Mary J. Blige, DJ Samantha Ronson and Maroon 5. We'll be there live — earplugs in hand — as we'
Read MoreSince we had a Plymouth yesterday, we need to have an Oldsmobile today. I dug through my stash of DOTS car photos and could find only one Olds ready to go (and we've only seen two of them prior to today: a '64 Jetstar 88 and a '77 Custom Cruiser wagon). Does Alameda have an anti-Oldsmobile bias? Such are the mysteries of the Island That Time Forgot. Anyway, here's a 1968 (or maybe it's a 1969- damn if I can tell the difference; Olds experts, please tell us what we have here) Cutlass convertible
Read MoreThere has been a lot of talk about the new initiative to start including RFID chips in national identification cards or even in state-issued drivers licenses. Earlier in December four states — New York, Arizona, Washington and Vermont — agreed to begin using the Real ID RFID system in driver's licenses. Basically, it is a chip stored in the DL and anyone with proper equipment can find out any and all information about your DL by just being within a 30-foot radius. Sound a little intimidating? So
Read MoreHonda recorded it's 14th consecutive year-over-year sales increase after selling 1.55 million vehicles in 2007, up 2.5% over 2006. For the month of December, Honda's sales were up by 14 vehicles to 131,972 compared to 131,778 cars in the previous year. "We sold 14 more Fits, break out the bubbly!" The Accord saw a year-over-year sales increase of 10.3%, the Civic 4.2%, the CR-V 28.5% and the Fit 101.4% to 56,432 vehicles. Acura saw a year-over-year decrease of 10.8%, due in part to aging models
Read MoreIt's funny, cause yesterday POLAR won the COTD. He did. For rizzle. But due either to my post Rose Bowl hangover (not likely) or the gerbils in the hamster wheel eating the brown acid (ding ding ding!) that post is lost forever. I loved the title, too. "Commenter of the Day: Salty Ferrous Oxide Edition." Oh well, turns out POLAR gets the award today as well.
Read MoreUnlike GM and Ford, Chrysler saw an increase of 1% in sales for December 2007 compared the previous December. That's what they'd like you to focus on, please. They'd rather you ignore the fact that for 2007 total sales were 2.08 million vehicles, a decrease of 3% from 2006. The Chrysler brand saw a year-over-year decrease of 10% due to decreasing sales from the 300, PT Cruiser and Pacifica, as well as a decrease in Town & Country sales as customers waited for the new model. Jeep saw an increase
Read MoreThe Neon trounced the Protege in yesterday's Choose Your Eternity poll, which is something of a surprise given that a Protege won the Thunderhill race and would be more hellish to set up as a race car due to the automatic transmission. But no matter- today we're going to see which of two radically different cars will trounce the other like Robert E. Lee trounced the Yankees at Chancellorsville, because we're heading to former Confederate States of America capitol Richmond Virginia (thanks- and
Read MoreFinally, Google goes and does something worth our while. In what seems to be a completely inexplicable car accident, a Minneapolis woman decided to drive her Mercedes Benz E-Class into a tree - and the Google Street View camera car was there to immortalize it. Unfortunately the moment of impact wasn't captured by the pseudo-surveillance set-up so we're left with a head scratcher. It appears to be a one car accident, on a lightly congested street, in broad daylight - with a big tree. We'll refr
Read MoreGM was able to find customers for 3.87 million vehicles in 2007, which is a decrease of 6% compared with 2006. Overall, GM predicts market share will be flat as there's much less daily rental share (as planned, they'll remind you). The two brands that did well in 2007 compared to last year were GMC (up 5.1%) and Saturn (up 6.1%). For December, GM was only down 5% compared with a year ago, though Aveo sales were up 82%. Hummer continues to slide with a decrease of 23.0% in December 2007 compared
Read MoreToyota continued to muscle its way into more market share with best ever year-end sales of 2.6 million vehicles, up 2.7% over 2006. If you're paying attention, that's slightly more than Ford... thus putting Toyota as the #2 automaker. All hail our new hybrid overlords. For the month of December the automaker was down 1.7% from December 2006, which seems to be a theme with most large volume automakers. For 2007 the Toyota Division reported sales up 2.7% from 2006, with Lexus reporting an increase
Read MoreFirst, the bad news: sales for Ford were 212,094 for December, down 9% from the previous December. Ford's total 2007 sales were 2.57 million, down 12% compared with 2006. But there's a silver lining on that blue cloud as Lincoln posted a 9% increase in sales in 2007 after a significant realignment of their product and the success of the MKX. Land Rover also realized a 3.7% increase in sales for 2007, though this fact is overshadowed by the 24.2% decrease for India-bound Jaguar. The Ford F-Series
Read MoreThe pickup version of the Jeep Cherokee was a pretty decent small truck, and you could get yourself one for only $6495 (about 12 grand in today's dollars) back in 1987. Small pickup truck? What's that? Look, it has only two doors... and no cup holders! The manly men hanging out at this middle-o-nowhere gas station are drawn to the Comanche like zombies scenting fresh flesh... no doubt it's the lure of $700 cash back from Chrysler.
Read MoreYesterday we talked about running out of gas, something I've never done. However, plenty of you have. But, I have broken down. Many times. And the weirdest had to be back when I had the OG Lieberwagon, which to refresh your memories was a 1985 Pontiac Parisienne Safari station wagon with about 278,000 miles on it when it turned itself into a 7-cylinder. Before that however, I once got a flat tire.
Read MoreWe previously mentioned that the Zap Xebra Electric Dorkmobile was headed to England. With congestion pricing in effect in London, electric cars are exempt and get drastically cheaper parking. Further, there are free charging stations located around London that theoretically provide free fuel. Assuming a 260 day work year at $55 a day parking plus a $16 a day congestion toll and $12 per day on fuel, you get $21,580 a year for a petrol-powered auto. With no congestion toll, free fuel and just a $
Read MoreThe spy shooters of KGP have snagged us one heckuva get — these are the best shots to date of the 2009 Chevy Camaro caught on a car trailer — including the very first interior shots we've yet seen. We'll have all the shots up in a moment, but we've got the full spy report below the jump. UPDATE: All the photos added below. Looks like the interior's remaining true to the concept interior and one thing's for sure about the exterior — it's certainly got big tires and as we saw earlier — a B-pil
Read MoreAlpine's 2008 lineup is here, and I have to say, I'm mighty impressed. If you remember back to yesteryear, Alpine was the bee's knees of aftermarket audio, but as of late they've kind of hit a slump. It looks like 2008 may again make Alpine a force to be reckoned with.
Read MoreI try to post cars made by defunct manufacturers on a regular basis (e.g., the Studebaker Lark of a few weeks back), but it's been months since we last saw one of Alameda's street-parked Plymouths (and even longer since we've seen an Olds). So here we go: a nice rust-free '72 Fury to start our day!
Read MoreThe last time we felt the flames of Project Car Hell licking at our flesh, the 2002 Maserati Coupe was beating the 1985 Ferrari Mondial by about a 60/40 margin in the polls. What lessons may be learned from this remain uncertain, but what is certain is that I've got 24 Hours of LeMons fever and I've got it bad; I'm scouring Craigslist day after day, looking for the right car to run in the Altamont race in May (even worse, sellers know I'm looking). That can mean only one thing: a Choose Your Et
Read MoreWhile we knew going in the Death Race "trailer" we posted earlier wasn't the real thing, our sources tell us like the Jason Statham screen shot we showed you last week, the video we've got up above is absolutely the real thing. It's some behind-the-scenes video from the new Death Race movie. That vehicle you see running through an industrial wasteland (that appears to look a great deal like a prison) is something called the "Dreadnought" and we're told it's up to no good in the Race all about
Read MoreAmong the many cool things that set the 24 Hours of LeMons apart from the more boring forms of motorsports is the stuff that goes to the winners. In addition to back-breaking sacks of nickels, beautiful handmade trophies are handed out to the teams who triumph in their classes. So, after you check out the official list of winners, jump like a Datsun B210 and check out some of the highlights!
Read MoreThis is definitely NSFW, unless your fellow employees like constant profanity. We've all had bad days at work and maybe let a few F-bombs drop. This star of a Winnebago video brochure, who admits to writing the script for the commercial, is suddenly unable to finish a complete scene without suddenly collapsing into profanity. He even admits to not believing the crap he's spreading about the Mini Winnie. Seriously, everyone. NO YELLING! Or else the "shit is going to hit the fan."
Read MoreBack in 2007, we posted what we thought to be a request to order an armored Maybach 62 for the President of Azerbaijan. Turns out our cotomer sevis really is that bad. Mr Mamedov sent us what we assume to be an angry letter letting us know that we are silly for transferring such information to the internet, and that something is repeatedly strange. He made sure to let us know that the car was for him and we shouldn't rely on the notoriously incorrect Google for our sleuthing. On behalf of our
Read MorePlan on spending some cash in India this winter? Try applying for an Indian American Express Platinum card (not an Indian-American Express Platinum card, that doesn't exist) and you could be the proud owner of a new Lamborhgini Gallardo. For each 10,000 Rupees you spend, you get one entry in the contest and one chance to win the Lambo or be one of the five cardmembers to win a trip to the Ultimate Lamborghini Expeirence in Rome. That means for approximately $250, or about 50 hours of work as a D
Read MoreFirst off, I've never run out of gas. My dad claimed that he never did, though he fessed up to rolling into a station, "on fumes." I do remember as a child screaming and hollering at the old man to "Get some gas, Daddy! Get some gas!" whenever the needle got anywhere below a quarter tank. Second off, I almost ran out of gas tonight. My Mom, a very dedicated and sad Illinois fan, had an extra ticket to the Rose Bowl and I wasn't that hungover, so I bit the bullet, paid $30 for parking, and watche
Read MoreThe Renault Kangoo better watch its back, as Citroen and Peugeot are on the scene with their new diesel-powered MPV's: the Berlingo and Partner, respectively. Both get power courtesy of a 110 horsepower Hdi Diesel engine, which features a particulate filter that keeps the exhaust cleaner-than-nornal. Each model also comes with its own Light Commercial Van (LCV) version and fussy European child. Press releases below the jump:
Read MoreAccording to Ford, the company sold Ford, Lincoln and Mercury models equipped with the SYNC system more than twice as fast as those same models without SYNC. While there's probably more to this than just the popularity of SYNC system (how many non-SYNC MKZ's get built?), it can't be ignored that people have to be motivated to fork over the $395 premium it takes to get one on non-standard models. Until other automakers step up, Ford will continue to benefit from the system. Press release below th
Read MoreIt's been a never-ending challenge to find old Japanese cars for this series, but (in the months since the readers applied their Stamp-O-Approval to early-80s Japanese DOTS cars) I've been able to find a few of these Late Malaise Toyotas on Alameda's streets. This '84 Celica is somewhat frayed around the edges, but still in solid running condition.
Read MoreThe German tuners all about powerful precision have put together one heckuva package for the BMW M5. They're calling it the Hurricane and they're claiming the $130,000+ package (or if you don't own the M5 already, just buy the package plus an M5 for a mere $352,584) makes the M5 the "fastest and most powerful street-legal BMW." It's hard to argue with those numbers when you've got a five-liter V10 engine under the hood with G-Power's own "EVO II" supercharging system capable of delivering a
Read MoreAnother year has come and gone and one thing's for certain — it was a tumultuous year both here and in the auto industry. We saw Jalopnik have a orderly transition of power. We saw an automaker get sold by another automaker to a bunch of guys with a lot of money who've never built a car before — and then we saw Chrysler purchased by Cerberus, creating the entity now known as Chryslerberus. There were some good times, some bad times, some I'll-be-on-your-side-forever-more times. We saw the crea
Read More