Yesterday, we saddled up in the General's new Oz-import RWD V8 hotness, the 2008 Pontiac G8 GT, and went for a nice long spin skirting the Mexican border and up through the wildfire-scarred hills east of San Diego. Here's what you need to know: This is one dang fine automobile but it's not without its issues. But at just south of $30K, what are you gonna do? Be a whiny little punk all day long? Just stab it and steer baby.
Read MoreWhile the 2007 Audi Q7 4.2 TDI admittedly lived at the higher end of the impossible-to-get-in- the-US diesel market, todays review subject is a far more attainable unattainable. The 2007 Honda Civic 2.2 i-CTDi doesn't just have a power train we all lust after—it's a platform we don't see in the domestic market. We're going try to limit direct comparison against our domestic version and consider this car on its own merits. Those merits will have to stand up at the premium compact price-point, tho
Read MoreThe 2008 Jaguar XKR is a beautiful car. The best angle is probably from the rear. The fenders flare out like a woman's hips to cover the wide rear track and flow into a pinched trunk equipped with the most complementary spoiler ever conceived. It evokes muscular visions of British sports cars from the '60s, or even cars like the Shelby Daytona Coupe. This is exactly how a modern Jag should look, demonstrating a clear appreciation for the past without shamelessly copying it.
Read More326 horsepower, 550 lb.ft. or torque, 0-62 mph in 6.4 seconds, top speed of 146 mph, acres of leather, panoramic sunroof, auto-manual six speed, multi-setting air suspension, power everything, parking assist... the Audi Q7 4.2 TDI practically bribes its occupants into loving it. It's hard to provide an objective review of a car which seems to do everything better than any other car in its class. Spending time with the Q7 oil burner, you get the distinct feeling we are getting the shaft with the
Read MoreThe 2008 Jaguar XKR is a fast car. With the added 'R,' the hood louvers inscribed with "Supercharged" and the aggressive body work, however, that probably goes without saying. Those visual cues hint at the added performance. Power is up from 300bhp in the non-R version to 420. It makes 413lb/ft of torque. Why, then, isn't it good for driving fast?
Read MoreThe 2008 Jaguar XKR is good at pushing buttons. I had looked forward to driving it, having grown progressively bored with a succession of SUVs, economy rides and lackluster sports cars during these past few months. I was in sore need of something lithe and European. On that, the XKR delivered.
Read MoreWe've brought you some of the best Leap Year themed jackassery we could find today, and now it's your turn to decide which one takes todays hoon of the day crown. We realize that whittling down such stupidity to a clear and decisive winner may be a bit much to ask, but we have a feeling you have it in there somewhere. Just take a moment to think about this Leap Day Celebration, and then ask "What Would The Duke Boys Do?"
Read MoreThe plan was to have the PCH superpower whose vehicle won yesterday's Choose Your Eternity challenge pit one of its finest, most hellish machines against an offering from the remaining PCH superpower, France. Unfortunately, the Gawker poll thingy appears to have been designed by Joe Lucas, and the 2-0 tally in favor of the Austin Gipsy seems even shakier than Kennedy in Illinois, 1960, or Bush in Florida, 2000. Anyway, it's been a month since our last all-French matchup, so let's just postpone t
Read MoreWhat Leap Day Celebration would be complete without an homage to accidental off roading? In a happy timing coincidence, moron Scott Calderon managed to crash his Chrysler Town and Country yesterday, but the circumstances have us smacking our foreheads in disbelief. Mr. Calderon was driving on the highway and swerved to miss a utility truck and barricade on a closed bridge. We're not sure why he had to swerve to miss a clearly marked bridge that was out, but follow along and you might get a littl
Read MoreThose naughty folks at a Lotus are giving us the old "San Antonio Strip Tease" by releasing photos of the Lotus Eagle one piece at a time. While this doesn't give any hints to how the new 2+2 sports car is actually going to look, it does give some idea to as to the suspension setup. Using the new Versatile Vehicle Architecture (VVA), Lotus will be able to build a variety of cars using one platform, which is economical for a small manufacturer. The VVA setup includes three pieces: center occupant
Read MoreNot all air gained by cars is done so by forward motion. Check out this stripped down '86 Cutlass which someone has seen fit to outfit with a serious air cylinder system and dubbed the Cyclone. Don't know how many times it will be blowing through anywhere though cause the leaper looks like it gets pretty trashed in this clip of aerial acrobatics. Rocking a 60 gallon tank at 390 PSI, this thing it packing some serious stored energy. Now all we need is somebody to drive this off a ramp and hit the
Read MoreThis nomination for Hoon Of The Leap Day is all about the graceful finish. Both drivers get some decent air on their backwoods jumps, but they don't stop there. While most hoons crash during the jump or upon landing, these guys added a bonus crash after the jump. Warning: Mandatory NSFW language on the second video.
Read MoreThere's been an outpouring of thoughts and prayers since news of Boyd Coddington's passing, especially on the Boyd Coddington obituary from earlier. And now Boyd's own site has been updated with a page for people to leave their thoughts, memories and prayers with a banner appropriately stating "Whenever there are clouds in the heavens, we'll know it's you showing God how to do a great burnout." [Boyd Coddington Official Website]
Read MoreDon't think the Muscle Car Wars are only taking place here in America. Our Aussie brethren — the people who invented the word "hoon" — have themselves a bitter rivalry going strong for years; Holden HSV vs. Ford FPV. And with Ford's new FG Falcon, FPV has itself some new hardware to do battle with. The team at Ford Performace Vehicles doesn't want to release official numbers until the official launch in June, but we're expecting big power from both the turbo inline six and the 'Boss' V8 mills. A
Read MoreUPDATE:Coming through in the clutch, tipster Karol Pawlak has provided a translation of the story below the fold. We can't really read this article or find a good Polish to English translator, but from what we can gather, this used to be a Ferrari 360 Modena which was involved in a horrible accident in Warsaw, Poland. The car struck an overpass of after losing control at high speed, and shattered into bits. The driver, automotive journalist Maciej Zientarksi, was admitted to the hospital in c
Read MoreSome of you Mercedes-Benz experts may have taken one glance at the photo above and spluttered "1958? Why, any fool can see that's a 1959!" However, I swear I did my best to figure out the exact model year of this car. With the help of such sites as this one, I believe I've narrowed it down to 1958 or 1959 (the 220S was made from 1956 through 1959, and the bumper-mounted license-plate lights should mean it's from the last two years... unless it's had a junkyard bumper swap, of course). Anyway, re
Read MoreYeah, this limited-edition Aussie madman from the folks at Holden Special Vehicles has got itself a 7.0-liter V8 under the hood — the same one found in the Corvette Z06. Really, we think that's all that needs to be said. Check out the gallery below and the press release after the jump.
Read MoreWhile we don't have anyone at the Melbourne International Auto Show, we can certainly admire from afar. For instance, we've been spending the last few minutes ogling the sweet sight lines on the new Coupe 60 concept car just revealed by the boys down under at Holden. It's meant to be a 60th anniversary present for Holden fans — a diamond annum of Holden's first all-Aussie car. The pillarless concept car is around 60 mm shorter than a VE sedan and sits on 21-inch center-lock alloy wheels with uni
Read MoreBecause not even a burned and wrecked 80s Ferrari can compete with a burned 70-year-old car mentioned by name in a Robert Johnson song, the '38 Hudson Terraplane ran away with the victory in yesterday's Choose Your Eternity Poll. Today we're going to skip the common theme tying the two PCH contestants together and return to that perennial battle between two of the globe's contenders for the Hell Machine Crown: Italy and Great Britain. Here we have two mighty PCH superpowers, each vying to put on
Read MoreWith Matt DeBord out today doing secret stuff ( driving the new Pontiac G8 GT), I've been asked to step into the breech and award today's commenter prize. So let's begin, shall we? By no means do we try to emulate our Gawker Media brethren over at Wonkette, but sometimes we have to get involved in politics, especially when our fearless leader decides to comment on the current state of gas prices. This would be one of those times.
Read MoreFor those still continuing to cope with Boyd Coddington's death, here's a video that should put a smile on your face and maybe dry up a few of those tears. One of Coddington's most beloved custom cars was the Cadzilla, which was created for ZZ Top singer Billy Gibbons (sometimes referred to as CadZZilla). Truly a unique ride, the custom cost around $900,000 to build. This might explain why ZZ Top put Cadzilla in so many videos. Our favorite has to be the video "Doubleback" for the Back To The Fu
Read MoreThe biggest news on the Opel Meriva are its FlexDoors. We know them as suicide doors, but whatever. The rear doors hinge at the back, capable of opening separately from the fronts, they claim to offer much easier passenger ingress/egress, making the mini-MPV even more practical. By retaining the B-pillar, the doors don't reduce side impact safety. Aside form obvious pure concept touches like the high-spec interior and glitzy headlights, this all looks very production ready. We'll be bringing you
Read MoreBarrett-Jackson will be auctioning off eight vehicles from The Sopranos March 26 through March 30 in West Palm Beach, Fla. These are the same cars that Tony and his gang of mobsters regularly did their dirty deeds. The highlighted car is Tony Soprano's 2003 Cadillac Escalade that was driven in the final three seasons of the series. It has only 11,000 miles and the driver-side seat is likely well-broken in. Check out the rest of the cars after the jump.
Read MoreToyota showed off its Toyota FT-HS concept without much in the way of explanation as to what exactly we were supposed to take from it. It's a high performance hybrid, sure. But is it the next Supra? The next Celica? WTF Toyota? To add a bit more confusion, Toyota's Australian project manager mentioned at the Australian debut of the concept that we should "think of it as a Prius on steroids. Alternately, it could be a vision for a Toyota Supra of the future." Could be, or is? Continue to fuel tho
Read MoreAs reported yesterday, hot rod visionary Boyd Coddington died early Wednesday morning. Host of TLC's American Hot Rod and winner of numerous awards for his designs, his death at 63 was premature and unexpected. His company has released a statement stating that Coddington was "a long-time diabetic" who "died from complications that were brought on from a recent surgery." Honestly, we find this a bit vague, but now is the time to remember Boyd Coddington. Full details below the jump.
Read MoreNow that we're in an 80s mood, let's keep our Members Only jackets and Vuarnet shades on for one more day! By 1989, Alfa Romeos just weren't flying off the showroom floors (though we can assume they were limping into the dealerships' service bays). In what appears to have been a desperation move, the Alfa marketing wizards decided to capitalize on that really popular Dustin Hoffman movie, swapping out the "Spider" emblems for "Graduate" ones on their North American cars. After all, while the Alf
Read MoreTaking a page out of its MINI playbook, BMW appears to be setting up some very clever guerrilla marketing to promote the 2009 BMW 1-series. Rather than shovel another recycled "look at the amazing precision of this new car" advertising campaign at us, BMW may be going in a different direction for the tossable new sports coupe and convertible. The story of this "viral" advertising begins with the video you see above, and we've done enough digging to figure out where it may be leading. Hit the j
Read MoreOn Monday, we flashed back to the early 1970s and madman artist/seminal art hoon Chris Burden, who had himself nailed to a VW Bug. At the time, we promised more on Crazy Chris, who has in the intervening years graduated to a rather exalted position in the art world (many commenters in the first post pointed to other Burden works). Unfortunately, we had some technical difficulties yesterday which delayed us a bit. Anyway, not long after Burden's adventure with the nails and the Beetle, the artist
Read MoreIt seems that fate is indeed not without a sense of irony. A New Zealand man with a history of fines for 32 seatbelt violations died in a car accident last week. Death came as a result of injuries incurred when he struck the steering wheel after crossing the center line and colliding head on with an oncoming vehicle. The coroners report makes note of...
Read MoreIs there any Hell Project that can compete against a car with chain drive, one carburetor per 200cc of engine displacement, and pretty much zilch in terms of parts availability? We can't say for sure, but we now know that more than 60% of Jalopnik readers surveyed believe that the Honda S800 out-hells the Lotus Europa. Today we're going for a unifying theme that doesn't have much to do with the type of vehicles involved; instead, the theme is the cleansing by flame that each entrant has undergon
Read MoreAs we sadly reported first earlier today, Boyd Coddington died early this morning at the age of 63. As a lad reading Hot Rod by flashlight after bedtime — as if it were Highlights for Children — I assimilated Boyd Coddington's name alongside the usual suspects of the Hot Rod feature-well: Gray Baskerville, Bill "Grumpy" Jenkins, "Big Daddy" Don Garlits, et al. Coddington's take on traditional, 1930s-style hot rods enthralled an impressionable kid marinating in late-1970s culture. Kiss was meet
Read MoreWe had a late surge of votes for the best post-apocalytpic vehicle contest, though it didn't change the score that much. It turns out our readers love the flexibility, mobility and amphibious nature of the Finnish Sisu XA-185 (and other Sisu XA derivatives). With the Sisu getting first place with 28.7% of the vote and the Buffalo Force Protection Vehicle coming in second with 16.6%, it's clear that in the radioactive zombie-infected future you all prefer brute force to creature comforts.
Read MoreEach week we'll let two silver screen automotive icons face off and let you decide which stays and which one goes home, tailpipe between their legs. That's right, it's like an online Thunderdome — except without the death thing. We call it the "Star Car Shootout." Let's get ready to rumble. Last week we had the inaugural match of Star Car Shootout, in which the James Bond's Lotus Esprit from The Spy Who Loved Me went head-to-head against the Lamborghini Countach from Speed Zone in a battle to
Read MoreAnother development in the Unique Performance drama, as CBS-11 is reporting that the Farmers Branch PD has finished their investigation and submitted 25 felony charges against Unique Performance to the Dallas County District Attorney. The nature of these charges aren't clear, but they likely have to do with fraud and title washing. We've also learned that the U.S. Secret Service has three suspects. What this all means below the jump.
Read MoreWorld-renowned tuner and hot rod king Boyd Coddington died at 6:20 am this morning. The cause of death is still unknown. Coddington, founder of Boyds Wheels and designer of prize-winning custom cars, had recently been hospitalized twice for an undisclosed medical condition. Although he was though to be in recovery, rumors of his untimely death began circulating today throughout the forums. A spokesperson for Boyd Coddington's corporation has confirmed to Jalopnik that those rumors are true. The
Read MoreBrandy Hicks is a young lady of many talents, stripping being one of them, lying to the cops being another. Seems she didn't want the party to end after her shift at Orlando's Dancers Royale on Monday, and danced the night away, with booze. Waking up in the morning she was confronted with a problem, seems the 27-year-old has a father who kept his daughter on a strict curfew, and he would be none too happy his little darlin' had missed it. So she did what something that probably sounded brilliant
Read MoreI was a senior in high school in 1984, and I recall hearing Baby Boomers going on and on about the goddamn 1960s at the time and thinking "There's no possible way anyone will ever be nostalgic for the 80s- no way!" How wrong I was- 80s nostalgia is like herpes, with sudden painful flareups and a miasma of shame surrounding its participants. And that brings us to what I believe may well be The Most Eighties Car Ad In All Of History: a 1985 Plymouth Duster ad that was apparently shown during the 1
Read MoreThe bimmerphiles over at the BMW Blog seem to have gotten their grubby mitts on base and option pricing for the new 2009 BMW X6 and from our read of things, it can get darn spendy. The X6 comes in two flavors as you know, xDrive 35i and xDrive 50i, and they're base pricing starts off at $52,000 and $63,000 respectively. Things get fun when you start adding in options. From our read on things, if you option the xDrive 35i with the Sport Package, Cold Weather, Rear Climate, Premium Sound, Active V
Read MoreI'm no longer going to express any shock that my island city continues to provide a seemingly inexhaustible supply of street-parked vintage cars and trucks; we got to 150 Down On The Street posts late last year, we're up to 200 as of today, and I've got enough photos in the can to get us to 250, no sweat.
Read MoreNow, I used to think the infamous "black-bumper" MGBs of the Early Malaise Era had to most horrible incarnations of the monstrous 5MPH crash bumpers of the period. After seeing this '75 2002, however, I may have to revise my opinion. This car's bumpers are hideous!
Read MoreSeems that somebody is pushing forward with more diesel cars. In this case it's the Ingolstadt jungen heeding the call with the freshly announced Audi TT 2.0 TDI Quattro. Everything Audi TT we've seen already but with added oil burning flavor for maximum enjoyment. The turbocharged four pot common rail diesel manages 170 hp at about 4,200 rpm and a healthy 258 lb.ft. or torque between 1,750 and 2,500 rpm. That meaty power band is good for 0-100 km/h sprints in the neighborhood of 7.5 seconds - n
Read MoreEvery once in a while, a Jalopnik commenter will have a very special day. As we scour the commentary, a single name will attach itself to several notable quips, a bon mot or two, and possibly even a rapier witticism. Today was one of those days. And if you don't recognize the solemn, massively mustachioed gent at left, well, it'll all make sense in a sec, as we announce our Commenter Of The Day.
Read MoreWith the '67 Scout 800 just barely ahead of the '78 Scout II in yesterday's International Harvester Choose Your Eternity poll, I figured today would be a good time to return to Sports Car Hell. Now, it's child's play to find innumerable cool/nightmarish British machines beckoning to you from the smoldering gates to Hell, but after seeing the Honda S800 earlier I knew what I needed to find to pair up with today's Blightymobile.
Read MoreSure the garden variety Caterham Seven is fast, but what if you want to smoke your buddy the shah's Bugatti Veyron on the cheap? Enter the Caterham Seven RS. Caterham has joined up with speed freaks RS Performance to bring to life a real fire breathing bug killer. RS will be dropping its race proven 40-valve, 2.4 liter RST-V8 into the fully massaged carbon fiber and space frame Seven chassis. That engine will be available in supercharged form up to 500 hp (coming in at 10,000 rpm - wow!). With t
Read MoreIf you want senior citizens to blow their social security checks on your car you better make it worth their while (or get Sam Waterson to do your commercials). That's why Nissan engineering are using this special suit to put themselves in the back-supporting loafers of the elderly. The hope is that they can design cars that are safer and more amenable to that population. The suit recreates the limited mobility, impaired vision, and added midsection girth of older people. A future version will al
Read MoreA troubling report from our favorite NY Times editor, and no it doesn't involve poorly substantiated insinuations that Bill Ford had a sexual relationship with John McCain. According to the Federal Highway Administration, the rate of licensed 16-year-olds dropped from 43.8% in 1998 to just 29.8% in 2006. You'll remember from our guide to teenage driving rules that some kids can get permits as early as 14. And where are these kids making out? It has something to do with the Internet. Other factor
Read MoreDon't think that the 'mericans are the only people who like hot rods. This rod may at first glance look like a Ford T-bucket, but look again. If those IKEA-like touches or the diagonal line across the grille didn't already give it away, just look at the badge. Yep, that Mars symbol means that this is a Volvo. Fear not, for this is not another example of badge-engineering; it's actually based on an ol' Volvo. An original ÖV4, the first model from the Swedish brand back in the late 1920s, has been
Read MoreThough there was much gnashing of teeth over the Land Rover Defender last week, the British stalwart marched triumphant into the Jalopnik Fantasy Garage, with a convincing 82.8%. We now have 43 slots down and a mere seven left to fill. Things are beginning to get tight, so let's move on to something better able to fit in the tiny and uncomfortable spaces we've got left. With a wind-sculpted shape and dominating track record, purity of concept and unwavering devotion to engineering, this week's l
Read MoreThe 2010 Lotus Eagle, the new Lotus 2+2 sports car we've all been waiting for, has possibly been spotted for the first time in production trim (we saw this possible Lotus Eagle mule testing in November). The driver of this prototype was unlucky enough to be captured just outside of the Bosch arctic testing facility, possibly out for a quick cocoa — or some kind of sneak preview viewing of the new Batman movie where he's decided to dress up the proto as the caped crusader. This new 2+2 should be
Read MoreWith its classic long-hood GT proportions, the Maserati GranTurismo has fantastic style. But while it may look great driving along an alpine mountain pass, the driving experience might leave you wanting for more power. For those people, Maserati will be showing the new GranTurismo S at Geneva. Displacement is bumped from 4.2L to 4.7L, so the Maser is now making 440hp; 35hp more than the old engine. The upgraded mill is connected to the company's race-inspired, electro-actuated MC-Shift gearbox i
Read MoreWho says the Germans are always hung up on Bruce? Sure, the press release we just received from German tuning house Irmscher says "Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail" at the bottom; but the body of the message has an entirely different tone. Forget the standard weaksauce Ecotec 4-pot; it seems the German hordes have realized they coulda had a V8 in their Opel GT. So Irmscher is releasing their version of the wee little roadster made off the same assembly line as our Satu
Read MoreOne of the posters at Club Lexus managed to get their hands on a scan from some unknown German magazine with a shot of what is purported to be a Lexus IS convertible in light camouflage. The claimed horsepower numbers range from 177 to 423 horsepower, which covers the IS from the entry-level diesel (in Europe) to the Lexus IS-F. larger version of what could be a hardtop convertible Lexus IS below the jump.
Read MoreThere must be a long and complicated story behind this car, which I've seen around town for many years, but all I know for sure is that its owner once owned a 40s-memorabilia shop downtown and still drives the car regularly. You don't see many 1942 model American cars, since those pre-Starion Mitsubishis and their Pearl Harbor drive-by caused what few '42s were manufactured to be drafted for military service. This '42 sports full military regalia and lives full-time on the street in Alameda's Ea
Read MoreAs Gibby says, "It's better to regret something you have done than to regret something you haven't done." In my case, this painful truth comes back to sting me every time I want to write about some beater car I got for cheap back in the day- and there were dozens of such cars in my misspent hoon youth- and I realize once again that I didn't take photographs of any of them. Damn you, Film Camera Era! However, some of my relatives owned cameras and used them, and thanks to one of them I've managed
Read MoreWe had maybe the closest Choose Your Eternity poll yet in our last Project Car Hell, with the DeSoto Firedome now leading the Studebaker Provincial by 144 to 141 votes. Perhaps that's because old non-Big-Three wagons are always cool and always hell, in roughly equal measures. Today we're going to shoot for another close race, with a pair of offerings from our favorite Chicago-based manufacturer of farm equipment. That's right- it's Scout Hell Day! Will it be the old-timey Scout 800 or the not-so
Read MoreChris Burden has achieved an elder-statesman status in the art world—his latest installation, "Urban Light," graces the plaza of the new Broad Contemporary Museum at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. But back in the day, he was a wildman, a freak, fucking dangerous—nothing less than an art hoon. A performance art pioneer who in 1974 had himself crucified to the back of VW Beetle.
Read MoreSadly, the Mini Cooper El Camino (or El MiniCamino) isn't a new awesome concept from Mini, but rather a one-off custom ride from Pioneer. Apparently made for the Paris Tuning Show, this truck-car conversion features a body kit from MS-Design, 18-inch alloy wheels, lowered suspension and what we imagine is a fairly powerful sound system. It even looks as though the top, which is currently supporting a lone surfboard, might actually come straight off. Following the current trend, the car sports a
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. A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds...Emerson said something like that. So hopefully, I'm entitled to an inconsistency once in a while. A change of heart. Because something like that has happened to me with regard to the 2008 Chevrolet Malibu commercials. Yes, those spots.
Read MoreThere's been a lot of heated discussion in the Ten Best Post-Apocalpytic Survival Vehicles post, specifically regarding the exclusion of a certain vehicle. That vehicle is the Landmaster amphibious tank from Damnation Alley. For those not in the know, the film was supposed to be 20th Century Fox's big Sci-Fi hit of 1977. For a variety of reasons, the horribly campy film was sidelined to run their backup Sci-Fi film: Star Wars. While Damnation Alley suffered from poor visual effects and a not-so-
Read MoreRemember BMW's ConnectedDrive—the service that gives your in-car information system access to Google Local Search and pairs it up with the navigation system? BMW is taking it one step further by no longer limiting what you can and cannot access with ConnectedDriv, meaning you will be able to browse all of the porn sites you can handle inside your car. There are a few catches, though.
Read MoreThe Imperia brand isn't the most memorable of Belgian automakers, having produced only a small number of cars before being absorbed by other companies. But that doesn't mean it can't live again as a hybrid. For only $125,000 (or $50,000 less than the Mindset E-Motion) you might be able to land one of these gasoline-electric hybrids. In addition to the unique design, which manages to blend the BMW Z3 with a 1930's Chevy Coupe, the coupe offers a 2.0L V4 engine with a small electric motor. But the
Read MoreIt appears speculation hath ended and the courtship is nearly consummated. According to Automotive News, Ford and Tata Motors will announce that the Blue Oval is selling two of its Premium Automotive Group brands, Jaguar and Land Rover, to the Indian conglomerate. Automotive News is also reporting the official word of the sale—as well as confirmation of the $2 billion price tag that has been bandied about for several months now—will occur March 5 or 6. If that report's correct, ust like that, Fo
Read MoreWe asked you what you think the best post-apocalyptic vehicle would be, assuming you could fuel it up and were unable to stay in one place due to the lack of other resources (and likely abundance of radioactive zombies looking for a tasty brain to munch upon). The response we received from commenters was phenomenal. We've culled the comments down to our ten top responses. Some we expected and some we didn't, and we even had a quasi-fictional vehicle thrown in for some fun. After you've had a m
Read MoreThis has to be the loudest UPS truck we've ever heard. It's really important to notice during this dyno run how the hand held camera is shaking during one of the pulls. So it may not be quite as insane as the 2,200 hp quad turbocharged V8 we saw on Friday, but it's definitely more streetable, and has up to 100% more Dodge Viper GTS. This sucker is obviously set up for drag racing though following the advice of the video and going to UndergroundRacing.com gets us no additional info on the car. We
Read MoreIn James Ellroy's novel, Killer On The Road, there were only two serious flaws: One, the serial-killer protagonist Martin Plunkett (yes, that's where my pseudonymous surname comes from, thanks to an editor at Virgin Books who knew I'd ripped off Ellroy's style for my NSFW novel) used a silencer on a revolver, which won't work. Two, his serial-killer van was a Dodge. Now, Dodge vans are great, but everyone knows the well-prepared serial killer always selects a windowless Econoline for those late-
Read MoreSo you want a plug-in electric but don't feel like waiting to buy a Chevy Volt or a Tesla Roadster? Do you also only need to hit 40 MPH on a straightaway and said straightaway is only 40 miles long? Then maybe you need to get yourself a 110V plug-in 1979 Sebring-Vanguard electric CitiCar. Oh, you can't find one of the 2,200 little 3.5 HP two-seaters powered by eight 6V golf-cart batteries made by the Sebring-Vanguard car company from the Florida city of the same name? No worries, there's one up
Read MoreIn addition to the just revealed 2008 JCW Mini Cooper S, we've also got some great shots below of the new 2008 JCW Mini Cooper Clubman S. It's the first time JCW's gotten a hold of the Clubman, and the photos look great — better even the faux JCW Mini Cooper Clubman S we'd seen already. Unfortunately, we won't have a press release for a few more minutes so for the time being you'll just have to make do with the shots we've got below. All we can tell so far is it's got similar badging to the more
Read MoreJust in time for the Geneva Motor Show next month, the automaker all about the cars that are so small they're Mini has seen fit to release a bevy of shots and all the deets on their two big reveals for the show. The first is the official reveal of the John Cooper Works package for the 2008 Mini Cooper S. Other than the press shots we've got below, here's what we know about the up-powered Cooper S from a quick glance of the press release which we'll have up below the jump shortly. UPDATE:Full pre
Read MoreI first met JT Nesbitt in August 2005, when he was the most famous motorcycle designer in the world. I was in New Orleans to profile him, which I did in an article titled "Mafia, Guns, Sex Toys and Hurricanes." It's that hurricane that changed things. A few months later I finally got JT on the phone. He was at work, at his new job in a gay bar, cleaning used condoms out of the toilet with his bare hands. But even Katrina couldn't keep JT down for long. Last September he headed to the Bonneville
Read MoreAccording to the spying snoops of Brenda Priddy & Company this is the Lamborghini Gallardo LP550 we'll be seeing first hand at the Geneva Motor Show next month. The car, which we're told is painted orange (though seriously, like we can even tell, right?), is said to be powered by a 5.2-liter V10 engine rated at 550 bulls horses. The Gallardo LP550 will get a newly designed front and rear fascia, and supposedly is riding on a stiffer body. Along with the mechanical and body panel updates, it'll a
Read MoreJust when we thought there would be a break from the Unique Performance Saga, we get word that things were even more rotten in the city of Farmers Branch. First, an investigation by CBS11-TV has turned up solid evidence that unskilled Texas prisoners were used to do the bodywork on the replica "Eleanor" Mustangs, including removing the VIN plates (which is illegal). Second, the poorly built cars cost upwards of $200,000 yet were built using approximately 13 gallons of Bondo each. Third, the U.S.
Read MoreWe're not surprised, but there's been a certain amount of literary production emanating from the Jalopnik commenters over the past couple of days. Yesterday, the genre was memoir. Today, we enjoyed something closer to prose poetry. That is, prose poetry conjoined with comix and a certain big green radioactive anti-hero from our collective past. Commenter of the day, take us away.
Read MoreDual-view LCD technologies have begun to appear in the home entertainment market, but now Hyundai is trying to bring that technology into the car with a dual-view in-dash display. The idea behind this technology is pretty simple. The driver of the car would see one image, presumably the navigation or vehicle info, while the passenger of the vehicle would see something different, like media information.
Read MoreWhat's so special about the European Toyota Yaris SR? It's quite simple, really: This Yaris includes a factory-installed dockable TomTom GPS navigation unit. The press release (see it below the jump) is pretty skimpy on the details, but it seems that the TomTom not only functions as the GPS navigation unit, but also as the overall in-dash infotainment and media center. While it sounds like an amazing feature, I'm not too sold on the functionality. Would anyone really want to undock a GPS navigat
Read MoreRemember those knit caps with shards of Coors cans sewn into them? Coorsskin! Put on your Billy Carter suit of armor made from beer can pull-tabs, and you'll be dressed for some Malaise beer-drinking action. And that brings us to Golden, Colorado, where Coors is made and Discontinuuity has photographed more than a dozen cool old street-parked vehicles for us. Make the jump for many, many more photos and Discontinuuity's descriptions.
Read MoreWe've got ourselves a new spy photo in showing off the black-on-black grille of the 2009 Chevy Camaro caught in winter testing in Sweden. After seeing this shot we're not embarrassed to tell you it's looking pretty bad-ass. Maybe we just needed to see the black-on-black look to start believing that. Although it does look as though the engineering team didn't get the memo from Lutz about removing camo from all the Camaro test units. In other news, we're getting really tired of writing alliterativ
Read MoreIt's time to tell Grandpa that technology is here and ready to replace that tennis-ball-on-a-string method for parking his boat of a Buick in the garage. This Garage Parking Signal will help you get into the garage perfectly every time. It has three lights and a distance sensor that can warn the driver when they are pulling in too far. Not more crushed lawnmowers or mangled golf clubs!
Read MoreRenault has just announced that their new Laguna GT will feature four-wheel-steering. The new model, which will be revealed officially at the Geneva Motor Show in March, is a mid-range family sedan that rivals the Ford Mondeo. It will also come equipped with a six-speed manual gearbox and a choice of either a 205bhp 2.0L turbo, or a 180bhp dCi that makes 295lb/ft of torque. Usually the preserve of exotic performance cars, Renault claim their four-wheel-steering, dubbed Active Drive, boosts maneu
Read MoreWe had to reload this the first time it popped up, as we couldn't believe what our eyes were telling us. This serpentine piece of steel poetry is a 442 ci V8 sporting four independent turbochargers, all running through an intercooler. The entire system is modular and can be dropped into a drag-racing host as a single piece. Four turbos. Four! And big, bus-sized ones at that. The madmen behind this are Mike Moran and John Meaney, and they've whipped up a doozy of an engine. Anybody can slap on fo
Read MoreThanks. All of your funny and sometimes touching stories of summer cars provided the respite we needed from the seasonal depression we're starting to feel. But it's still winter and, given some sort of Dr. Strangelove-esque nuclear war, we could end up with a permanent winter. That would be bad. That would mean no more baseball. As members of the Jalopnik brigade we're known for our ingenuity, wit and guile. We'd survive. But how would we get around?
Read MoreIf you want to see the new 2009 Toyota Urban Cruiser in person you can either hop on a plane next month and head to the Geneva Motor Show — or you can just take a look at these spy photos of the new 'yota driving about sans camouflage on the snowy Swedish roads. Just like the press shot of the new Urban small-uv we've already seen from Toyota, these clear-as-day photos show us the Urban Cruiser will basically be a re-designed US-Spec Scion xD. The changes appear to be a big-time front fascia rev
Read MoreWe seriously like Brock Yates and we seriously like the idea of serious writers with a long history coming over to the digital side of automotive journalism. We're just waiting for someone to make the transition that will actually keep a job long enough for us to see how it works out. As you'll remember, Yates was fired from Car und Driver, then went to work for TTAC, then left TTAC, then was hired by TTAC, again. So what's happened next in the ongoing W2 saga? After just three columns, Yates is
Read MorePorsche's German leadership team in Stuttgart has just announced the appointment of a new minister of all things Bruce to run Porsche's Germans in Atlanta. The new president and CEO of Porsche Cars North America is none other than Detlev von Platen, who will succeed Peter Schwarzenbauer, who has just been named to the management board of Audi AG. So who is this von Platen? Well, he's coming stateside from his stint in the trenches and hedgerows of Porsche France where he served as the CEO of all
Read MoreAlmost two months since the last Cadillac? That just seems wrong, given how many old Cads still roam the island. That's why today's DOTS machine will be a Malaise Eldorado, similar to the '78 Eldo we had a while back, only this one's a convertible instead of a T-top car.
Read MoreWe've been saying for years the only efficient hybrid with current technology is one mated to a diesel engine, and now it looks like another automaker is jumping into the conceptual fray. Our little news yesterday on the BMW Vision EfficientDynamics X5 — translated from Bruce, that appears to be an X5 outfitted with a 2.0-liter twin turbo common rail diesel mild hybrid (wow, that's a mouthful, ain't it?) — appears to be wholly true. BMW will be revealing this little concept in environmentally fr
Read MoreAlfa Romeo doesn't want you thinking that, like most manufacturers, the important changes come in the face. To prove the point, they've released photos of their revised 2008 Alfa Romeo Brera and Spider without releasing photos of the nose so as not to confuse those of us who consider the Brera to be one of the best looking cars on the planet. For 2008, the exterior changes include the introduction of a new color (Ice White) and new 18-inch wheels. On the inside, the models get seats adjusted to
Read MoreTitanic star Leonardo DiCaprio is set to both act in and produce a live-action, two-part remake of anime classic Akira. The first of which is set to hit screens next summer, expect it to be a blockbuster. The 1988 original was set in a post-apocalypse New Tokyo and featured some of the coolest motorcycles ever imagined, they still influence bike design to this day.
Read MoreCraftsman and metalworker extraordinaer MOLTENSTEELMAN debuted his 23-foot long and 12,000-lb. mechanical spider walker at Burning Man and I have to admit, this is the kind of machine that gives me nightmares. It is an eight footed walker that is powered by a 454 Chevy V8.
Read MoreAround here, Question of the Day is considered a challenge, an opportunity, and often enough, a chance for some storytelling. It was Henry James, no slouch as a storyteller, who said that the two most beautiful words in the English language are "summer afternoon." Today's QOTD, by adding cars to the mix, to tried to get inside that sentiment. The commenters did not disappoint in response.
Read MoreWe have no idea how this didn't pop up when researching France's Aérotrain but during the 1960's, New York Central was up to its own gee-whiz tricks in the form of the M-497 experimental. Searching for ways to attract passengers in the post-freeway era of dwindling train ridership, Central was investing in several projects, including high speed rail. One of the questions that hung over the prospect was the whether or not the existing rails could handle high speeds. To answer that question, they
Read MoreSome grumbling about the non-wagon nature of yesterday's Choose Your Eternity poll (which was won, unsurprisingly, by the '38 Traction-Avant) was heard around these parts, but I usually write PCH posts the night before... and the Maximum Wagon Day thing just sort of happened without warning. So, even though we've seen plenty of wagons here recently, we're having an all-out American Dream Station Wagon Edition PCH today... and we don't mean the kind of wagons with easy-to-find parts!
Read MoreIf you didn't grow up in farm country, you've probably never seen a Minneapolis Moline UDLX, probably never even heard of it. It enjoys a certain antique mystique among farmers, part of a failed experiment which could have taken off if only it had come at a different time. Minneapolis Moline was a strong brand of reliable and well built tractor with many loyal owner and lots of tractors still in the field. Moline suffered a similar fate which befell many of the great automotive marques of the pa
Read MoreEven though the General was already selling plenty of their Detroit-made cars (plus Opels) in North America, apparently they felt it necessary to import cars with the Vauxhall nameplate as well. Our friend Peter spotted this mid-to-late-50s Vauxhall Velox in Ontario and had camera at the ready. Make the jump to see more photos and read Peter's description.
Read MoreWe get a lot of story idea emails from PR people and they're usually something along the lines of "Hey, we think this would be a great story for you" and, with a few exceptions, they're almost universally wrong. No we do not care about your new advanced windshield wiper fluid. But you know what we do care about? Steak-umms. And NASCAR. This story has both. As you all well know nothing gets our juices flowing like some good NASCAR racing. And meat? We don't like it unless it's presliced and prefr
Read MoreWe saw the 2009 Hyundai Genesis Coupe in concept form out at the LA Auto Show this past year, and we'll be seeing the new hotness from Hyundai for real in the warm lights of the Javits Center at the New York Auto Show next month. But for the moment, we'll have to make do with the folks at KGP snapping some shots of the new hotness before the official unveil doing some winter weather testing in Sweden. The KGP boys have snapped themselves some shots of not only the exterior of the new little Gene
Read MoreChief spy mistress Brenda Priddy's just sent out her latest batch of spy shots from her European slave labor photographers. It's looking like, based on these new photos anyway, as though the 2009 or 2010 BMW 3-Series will be getting a bit of a face-lift before the 3-Series gets a full refresh for the 2013 model year. That includes, as we saw in the last batch of shots, updated headlamps and taillights, plus what's being termed as a "tweaked" interior. Full spy report from Ms. Priddy below the ju
Read MoreNo, I'm not saying that I personally have a Nissan GT-R. I'm talking about Mine's, the Japanese Tuner of Gran Turismo and Best Motoring fame. Recently, they brought their R35 GT-R with all the Mine's go-fast goodies to the Tsukuba Circuit to do some testing, and they left with a best lap of 59.367 seconds. To put this in perspective, a normal R35 GT-R will run a lap of about 1:02, and a new Mitsubishi Evo X or Subaru STi will do it in about 1:06. To run a sub-one-minute lap is a benchmark for tu
Read MoreWe thought getting 72 mpg in the 2007 Honda Civic i-CTDi was pretty damn good, but feast your eyes on this 1959 Opel T1. Admittedly it's far from stock and doesn't exactly have the greatest of creature comforts, unless plastic seats and hippy paint are your cup of tea. The car landed in the 1975 Guinness Book Records with 376.59 mpg and recently resurfaced after years of languishing in the Talladega Museum (for some weird reason). The real question is how did they do it?
Read MoreWe just received the following press release from "Mad" Maximillion Cooper, the chieftain of the Gumball 3000, giving the dates of the annual road race rally by way of Des over at the all-rally all-the-time site of GT Spirit. We used to be on the press release distribution list but it appears alas, no longer. Probably has something to do with our coverage of the 2007 ball-run. Anyway, moving on. As expected, the 2008 running of the balls will start in San Francisco (actually, we were originally
Read MoreWe saw a rear-drive Corolla GT-S a few months ago, but we haven't yet seen one of the front-drivers. Things involving the Corolla name in North America got a little confused in the mid-80s, what with the different platforms available at the same time and then the Corolla-clone Nova (and Toyota-branded Corollas as well) being built in California. The AE86 gets all the attention from the donuts-in-mall-parking-lot kids these days, which may be why even rarer GT-S FX16s like this one survive as rea
Read MoreYesterday saw the birth of the maybe first annual Maximum Wagon Day. Within the span of the day, the virtues and greatness of the extra capacity cars was the subject of our obsession. The day was a bittersweet exercise in appreciating an under appreciated segment. Should we really have to go out of our way to bring baby out of the corner? We say wagons for everyone. Unless you're crossing the Sahara or scaling the Rubicon trail, do you really need that ML420? Wouldn't you be happier in a car lik
Read MoreThe "Bionic Car" was a 2005 concept car from Mercedes inspired by a sea dweller from tropical latitudes: Ostracion Cubicus — more commonly known as the boxfish. The concept car's being included in an exhibit called "Design and the Elastic Mind" at New York's Museum of Modern Art. The exhibit's all about "showcasing trailblazing innovations in the fields of design and science. While a concept car that looks vaguely fish-like isn't normally reason for inclusion in an art exhibit, the "Bionic Car"
Read MoreWhat would Maximum Wagon Day be without a wagon battle? And nobody does track battles better than Best Motoring. This classic clip showcases two JDM wagons for the Japanese family that's really on-the-go; a Subaru Legacy GT-B and Mitsubishi Legnum VR-4 circa 1996. It's too bad they didn't include a Nissan Stagea, but even these two haulers are entertainment enough. Both have twin-turbos, AWD, a 5spd manual 'box, and more interior room than some Tokyo sleeping pods. Check out all that weight-tran
Read MoreWas it the Muppets connection that grabbed an overwhelming 80/20 victory for the Studebaker Starlight Coupe over the 1929 Model A in yesterday's Choose Your Eternity poll? We may never know, because the past is behind us now. And, speaking of the past, how about a pair of cars from waaaaaay back for today's challenge? And just to make things more fun, we've got a couple of project cars that are more idea than they are car!
Read MoreThere's nothing quite like an Aston Martin Lagonda. For a princely sum you could have the unique "folding paper" design, ginormous four-cam V8 and acres and acres of leather. But if that wasn't enough for you, there's truly nothing else like this Series 3 Lagonda Wagon/Shooting Brake. As if the original Lagonda doesn't appear long enough, the addition of the D and E pillars and the negative rake of the hatch area gives the feeling of football field length.
Read MoreThis may actually be one of the most Jalopnik cars in existence and, as a shooting brake, it fits within our day's wagon theme. What makes it such a Jalopnik ride? Start with the fact that it's based on the Porsche 996 Carrera but upgraded to use natural gas, giving it 420 horsepower and 413 lb.-ft. of torque. Then realize that it's a wagon/shooting brake concept with room for four. Finally, remember that it is able to convert itself into a two-seater small truck. Porschaminowagon! Perfect for a
Read MoreWe hope you're enjoying Maximum Wagon Day as much as we are. The Europeans continue to do it in style, this time with the new Peugeot 308 SW. We already love the overbite proportions of the 308 hatch and can appreciate the dimensions of a wagon version. The 308 SW also manages to take the functionality of an MPV with a third-row but manages to maintains the shorter greenhouse and strongly raked belt line of the other versions. The 308 SW can also be had with any of eight engines, including a 175
Read MoreYou have to be a certifiable maniac to dream this big. Take four, 425ci Buick engines, two drive axles, a custom Buick station wagon body and a truckload of ingenuity and what do you get? Tommy Ivo's "Riviera Wagon Master". By all accounts it was kinda slow, running the quarter in the 8's - on gasoline, did we say slow? We meant holy crap!. The vehicle had the distinction of being the first car specifically banned by the NHRA. After stripped of its race card, the car become drag racing's first e
Read MoreEach week we'll let two silver screen automotive icons face off and let you decide which stays and which one goes home, tailpipe between their legs. That's right, it's like an online Thunderdome — except without the death thing. We call it the "Star Car Shootout." Let's get ready to rumble. Recently we told you about the Rinspeed sQuba, a vehicle which blatantly mimics 007's Lotus Esprit submarine from The Spy Who Loved Me. And while the scuba-diving Elise is pretty cool, it just doesn't compa
Read MoreYesterday was such a strange day for lovers of the wagon with breaking news both good and bad. While the coming of the 2009 Audi A4 Avant was met with pride over the multi-ringed automaker's embrace of the wagon, nary a tear was shed over our breaking the news of the death of the Ford Taurus X by 2010. Such a strange day providing news on both the low and high points of hot rear-end action is making us get all sentimental. So, in order to provide all of us the opportunity to geek out over the wo
Read MoreThe sneaky-shooters who work for Brenda Priddy have got themselves one helluva huge scoop today. Chris Doane, her made man in the D, has captured the first spy photos of a vehicle we know we never knew we were waiting for — the Prevost H-Series Coach Bus. Already the H-Series is well known for the tallest high-deck coaches in the industry, the best panoramic view and the industry's largest under-floor storage capacity at 470 ft³. But now we hear Prevost is upping the ante with separate climate c
Read MoreWe've only seen a couple of Chevelles so far on this series (a '68 coupe and a '69 wagon). Oh, sure, we wouldn't argue with anyone who made the case that the '72 El Camino is technically a Chevelle, but in any case the classic '64-'72 Chevy A-bodies have been scarce here, especially considering how many were made. We'll add one more today, with this 4-door '71.
Read MoreAlthough we gave you the XC60 tease this weekend, Volvo's now dropped the full bomb of photos, video and details on the new 2009 Volvo XC60 — a car Volvo describes as being not only "one of this year's most anticipated new car launches" and "one of the safest Volvo ever" but also the "most sensual" Volvo ever. We'll have to leave whether Volvo's right on on that one to you, our dear readers. But for the moment, we think it may be a bit of overselling. Especially since everyone knows that standar
Read MoreAs if the 2009 Audi A4 isn't sexy enough, the lines have been stretched to wagon proportions for the 2009 Audi A4 Avant. It's a good option for someone who wants the style of an A4 but needs the utility of a wagon (and yes, they're bold enough to call it a "wagon" in the press release). Though storage isn't of minivan proportions, there's a total of 51 cubic feet of storage and 60/40 split-fold seats with a load-through hatch for storing skis and snowboards. Similar to the A4, the European versi
Read MoreSome of us are children of the 1970s, and as a result, when we get a salesman-in-matching-white-shoes-and-belt reference, we think of one thing and one thing only: Herb Tarlek from the immortal sitcom WKRP In Cincinnati. Herb pretty much defined the look, that whole golf-course-meets-biz-casual-meets-garish-bachelor vibe. We were treated to memories of it once again, as the commentary flowing from our Question Of The Day developed. Not surprisingly, it was from this commentary that our COTD emer
Read MoreIt's hard to beat a stainless-steel-bodied, French/Swedish-engined, Northern-Ireland-built car for hell, although I figured the inherent coolness of the first-year GTO might balance the scales a bit (it's true that the easy availability of repro pieces for just about everything on the Pontiac reduces the Hell side of the equation). Of course, the De Lorean beat up the GTO pretty handily in yesterday's poll. Today we're going to look at a couple of cars that car freaks of 50 years ago lusted afte
Read MoreMazda is very proud to announce its Dockable Entertainment System that will be optional in the 2008 Mazda CX-9. Any kind of an entertainment system with a dock is awesome, except in this case when the docking gadget is the Gameboy Advance. Yes, the Gameboy Advance—technically four generations old—is now supported by the 2008 Mazda CX-9. The press release is quick to call it the "world's most popular video game platform," which may be a bit of a fabrication. Regardless, the idea of being able to
Read MoreThe immediate reaction to this article sent to us by The Bouncer was an indignant cry of 'blasphemy!' What you see above is no ordinary 1972 Pontiac LeMans, indeed this dark horse has a dirty little secret. Tucked away under that sleek hood there lies no V8 engine, not even a V6, in fact, the engine wasn't even born in Detroit. It was plucked from none other than a Toyota Supra.
Read MoreSsangyong is making a serious attempt to capture the Asian luxury market with its Ssangyong Chairman W, a V8-powered, RWD sedan with all the trimmings. We just came across a batch of new exterior and interior shots and, while the exterior doesn't surprise, the interior features seem quite advanced for the market. First of all, you've got the MyGigesque rear screen that pops out of the front center console, which appears to be able to control both front and rear entertainment systems. Taking this
Read MoreSome say he has a tattoo of an Saleen S7 on his rear end. Others tell us he was born with a penchant for oil rather than his mum's milk. All we know is he's called the Auto Insider and he's always ready to provide the scoop from the other side of Eight Mile. If Wert wants to haul anything off to New Jersey, be they closet doors, furniture or the bodies of competing bloggers, he'll have to pick a new family truckster to do the deed. We've learned the 2009 model year should be the last for Ford's
Read MoreWhen I go to the self-service wrecking yard, as I did last weekend, it's not often that I draw a total blank when trying to identify an oddball car among the ranks of the steel organ donors. I play a little game in which I stand far enough away that I can't read any badges and try to guess the manufacturer. This car almost had me... until I spotted the three-lug wheels. Renault! Turns out this is a Renault 16, a car I've never seen on an American street in all my years on this earth. Check out t
Read MoreThe sport of rock crawling. Man and his machine, working together to best ridiculous obstacles. We're pretty shocked we haven't stumbled across this yet, but this truck has been on the web longer than the Jalop has been on the air. Cameron Carlson is by all accounts man who thinks outside the box. While others (in 2003) were still making a go of it with long travel suspensions and articulating axle strategies, Cameron went with a different approach. In his garage over the course of three years
Read MoreLast week saw a heated debate over the entry of the 1925 Rolls-Royce Phantom 1 Jonckheere Coupe. Was it beautiful or a mockery, art or excess, folly or fantastic? According to the votes, 80.3% of you believed it a worthy entrant, so those questions have an answer. Now we switch gears entirely, from a tribute to form to a celebration of unquestionable function. In modern history, Land Rover has been nothing if not there to see things happen. It is said that a Land Rover is the only vehicle some p
Read MoreIf you're the type that prefers the looks of a drop-top to a coupe, then this should make your day. These are the first shots of a production model spider of the Alfa Romeo 8C that will be shown at Geneva next month and yes, it's the drop-top version of the Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione Wert fell in love with this summer. Hell, even a coupe guy like myself has to admit that it is an achingly beautiful car. I don't even particularly like white as a color, but somehow when you look at an Alfa 8C, you
Read MoreWhen we think Porsche, we think the common man. Especially after reading the latest missive from the UK press office of the German automaker all about precision. In a move reminiscent of the German Blitz of World War II, except without the whole bombing thing, Porsche is calling for a judicial review on the Mayor of London's decision to up the congestion charge from £8 to £25 on cars entering the city that produce above a certain level of CO2 emissions. That's a 213% increase! It's actually wors
Read MoreOnce again, Kitt finds us another cool car parked on the streets of Denver; this time she's persuaded the owner to open the doors and engine cover, in an obvious attempt to knock the DOTS crown from Alameda's dome. This time the car is a 1960 1962 Chevy Corvair convertible, which, judging from its showroom-floor condition, doesn't live on the street all the time. Rudy Giuliani must be envious! Make the jump for many, many more photos.
Read MoreThe Saab-loving conspiracy theorists still seem to think I've purposely excluded their favorite cars from this series; after all, in a city where there seems to be a Volvo 240 for every five citizens, wouldn't you expect to see a lot of Saabs as well? Well, no; in these parts, a Volvo in front of your house 25 years ago made a statement about your beliefs, while a Saab just said, uh... well, that you drove a Saab. Thus, old Saabs are scarce ('90 and newer ones are plentiful, of course), and it t
Read MoreThe boys and girls at Kia just dropped a teaser shot of one of three "SOUL" concept cars they'll be revealing at the Geneva Motor Show next month. Hyundai's not-so-luxe brand claims the trio of customizable city cars will "reveal a whole new...fun direction for the Korean brand." The three concepts are supposedly closely related to an upcoming production model that Kia claims doesn't fit into "the usual motor industry brackets." The best part? One of the three concepts, the "SOUL Burner," shown
Read MoreThe General will be holding a "Volt Nation Town Hall" at the New York Auto Show to give an insider sneak peek of the Chevy Volt. There's room for 250 folks and you even get a press pass. Interested in a dose of hypnotic hype? Sign up now. [GM-Volt]
Read MoreArt history time! Quick, go find yourself a Wellesley grad. Actually, after checking out today's post on supercars painted in minimalist tones, we were immediately reminded of the famous "black paintings" that Ad Reinhardt created in the '50s and '60s—paintings that probed the very meaning of darkness on canvas (see example, at left), much as Jalopnik's commenters plumbed the significance of drab monochromatics on exotic rides. The Ad Man would have been pleased.
Read MoreEven a Sport PV544 can't compete with a two-stroke three-banger wagon, according to the voters in yesterday's Swedish Hell Choose Your Eternity poll. Today we're going to pit a couple of the creations of John Zachary De Lorean against each other, and we're not even going to make any cocaine-smuggling jokes, because the jury said the whole deal was entrapment.
Read MoreSince you good folks decided the Nissan Cube pickup would be best suffixed with -amino, we'll keep the same convention for this latest offering from Renault's Dacia brand. If you live in Romania, and love truck/cars, you're in luck cause the Dacia Logan (amino) Pick-Up is a light duty small truck with all the modern amenities a Romanian could want. Though it's a little truck, the 800 kg (1763 lbs) maximum payload is no joke — that exceeds the capacity of some full size Ford F150's . With a range
Read MoreIf you know me, you know that I preach the gospel of good design quite a bit, especially in regards to an entertainment and infotainment center. The design and functionality of a interface is just as—if not more—important than the features and options included. CNET took a look at 17 interfaces of some of the bigger name manufacturers. Something to note, manufacturers: tabbing systems work, period. Regardless of the experience with high-end electronic equipment, anyone and everyone can figure ou
Read MoreIn addition to building a car for the Islamic world, Malaysian car company Proton also builds a number of cars for the Australian market, including the popular Satria GTi. As a way of previewing the next GTi, Proton will be showing off the R3 Satria, which was tuned with the help of Proton's motorsports arm. If you're not moved by the thought of a Malaysian company's tuners, we'd remind you that they borrow expertise heavily from Proton-owned Lotus. Though details are scarce, it sure looks mean
Read MoreDespite its Japanese-sounding name, the Nagari is the work of the Australian Bolwell Car Company. The company has a history of building small quantities of sports cars going back to the 1970's and is hoping to recreate the magic with this new Bolwell Nagari. In addition to the borrows-from-here, borrows-from-there looks, the mid-engined sports car should be powered by a supercharged version of Toyota's 2GR-FE 3.5-litre V6. More details and early pics below the jump.
Read MoreThat didn't take long. Right on the heels of Ford releasing information about their 2008 Ford Falcons, the lads and ladies at Ford Performance Vehicles (FPV) have announced that their tuned versions of said Falcons are right around the corner. Though total performance details are scarce, we do know that the new round of models will include tuned versions of the I6 turbo and a V8, which is probably the Boss 5.4-liter V8. The model range will include the following: GT Series, GT-E, GT-P, GT, Super
Read MoreWe all do it, you know how it goes: "Oh man, I used to have an old Catalina, that was a great car man, I wish I had never sold it." Well, with the onset of baby boomer gentrification, the phenomenon is growing intense, so much so that a way to hunt down your old car has been created. The Lost Car Registry is just what it sounds like - a place to go to try and hunt down that old car you never quite got over selling.
Read MoreThe wait is finally over and the new Australian Ford Falcons are here. Known as the FG Falcon, this seventh generation of the Falcon appears to be packing the goods to compete with the venerable Holden Commodore. This RWD sedan will come in XT, G-Series and XR trim levels with a variety of engines. The Ute version will include a base, R6 and XR trim. In addition to the base inline-six, the Falcon gets a turbocharged version good for 362 horsepower and 393 lb.-ft. of torque. At the top end is the
Read MoreWelcome to another DOTS Truck Monday! Even though we had a Chevy truck here just a few weeks ago, the reality on Alameda's streets is that at least half of the old pickups you see on the island were made by The General. That means we're going to see more GMC and Chevrolet trucks than those made by other manufacturers. Not a problem, really, because the mid-60s GM trucks are good-looking machines. Take, for example, this '66 C10 I spotted on the same block as the orange Porsche 911.
Read MoreOur impromptu review of the 2007 Fiat 500 revealed few weaknesses in the little car but chief among them was the less than satisfying engine performance. Well, now Abarth has announced production for an up-powered version of the reborn Cinquecento. The 1.4-liter gas engine gets a turbo to bump the power from 100 bhp to 135 bhp at 5500 rpm. That 35% increase in power pushes the 0-to-62 mph time down to 8.2 seconds. Along with the power boost, the new Abarth 500 gets a revised nose and snazzy pain
Read MoreTonight's the first episode — err — part of the Knight Rider movie/mini-series/season, and we'll be live-blogging it live on NBC starting in a few minutes from the comfort of the Jalopnik world headquarters. So keep track of the Knight Rider tag to keep track of all of the Mustang-filled action all evening and keep track of the full live-blog between Hardigree and I after the jump: 9:08:09 PM Hardigree: "Looks like homeboy is having cardiac arrest" 9:08:14 PM Wert: ha! 9:08:57 PM Hardigree: uhh
Read MoreYeah, yeah, Rolls-Royce, Luxey-luxe gorgeousness and all that. But really, whatever happened to these things being rock-star rides? You know, George Harrison, Elton John, Simon Cowell. Et cetera. What we have here is the Phanton Coupé, the latest addition to the Phantom lineup, scheduled for full reveal in Geneva in March. Here's our favorite passage, from Roller's PR:
Read MoreDespite the barely palatable buildup from all manner of whogivesacrap singers, the race has begun. With AJ Foyt at the wheel of the Corvette Zo6 pace car and Richard Petty dropping the green on this years historic 50th running of the Daytona 500, the race is on. Pole sitter, Jimmie Johnson is driving a car that looks like all the other cars save the fun decals and colors but he's in front. Now they're driving in a big circle.... weeeeee. Man, those car's of tomorrow sure are spoilerific. There's
Read MoreThe odd-looking car guru who hails from Hollywood has procured what look to be leaked press photos of Volvo's new XC60 crossover vehicle. Unfortunately, it looks like Volvo overcooked their meatballs a bit. This mini-XC90 isn't exactly "yum, yum...good, good!" The funky, sculpted sheet metal on the front fascia, doors and rear end have been toned down a little more than we'd like. Also gone are the trick door handles and bumper-integrated exhaust. Predictably, the headlights and taillights from
Read MoreA white Ford Crown Victoria plowed into a group of street-racing fans on a highway about 20 miles south of Washington, D.C. on Saturday, killing eight people and scattering bodies in the early morning darkness. In addition to the fatalities, at least five other spectators were injured of the 50 or so people gathered before dawn along Route 210 in little Accokeek, MD to watch cars drag down the usually quite deserted stretch of blacktop. Here's what happened according to the AP:
Read MoreRay and I got to live out a major childhood fantasy of ours earlier today when KITT swung by Brooklyn and offered to take us for a ride. KITT's found new life not as an F-body, but as a Ford Mustang GT500KR. Well, a more accurate description would be a Mustang GT with an automatic transmission — the cast can't drive stick — a supercharger and GT500KR bodywork. They do say, "Never meet your childhood heroes, you'll be disappointed." In this case, they're only partially right.
Read MoreRather than focusing vehicle-development and alternative-energy resources on finding different kinds of fuel, students and researchers at Georgia Tech are taking a couple steps back and looking at the emissions problem. The project currently being worked on involves a car that still operates on standard liquid fuels, but the kicker is the carbon emissions. The car will collect those and shuttle them back to a processing plant that can convert them back into fuel, taking out two birds with one st
Read MoreBen Hsu over at Japanese Nostalgic Car Magazine has become our pusherman for the weird Japanese stuff we're hooked on around here. Today he's sent in a photo of some Nissan Cubes with truck beds, which one can buy in Japan at Autobacs. According to Señor Hsu: "These were custom built by Autobacs, a Japanese big box retailer where, if you had enough cashish, you could turn your bone stock clapped-out 1989 Nissan 240SX into a full blown D1GP drift machine without ever leaving the store. One-stop s
Read MoreThe other day we brought you thrilling footage of the upcoming Tirrito Vajon undergoing rigorous developmental testing on some roundabouts. Today, we have even more exclusive info on the mysterious Italian supercar. "Andry," the owner of the Vajon project assured us that the engine is indeed a 3.0L biturbo mill, but now he's released more specifics. Contrary to speculation that the Vajon is powered by an enlarged "lawn mower" engine, Andry tells us that his car is V8-powered and can produce abou
Read MoreIf you haven't noticed, it's Kinetic Design Friday. We've got your Ford Fiesta, your Ford Kuga, and now your S-Max and Mondeo. The biggest news is the new 2.2-liter four-cylinder TDCi Duratorq diesel engine for the Mondeo, S-Max and Galaxy. This advanced diesel features the third generation common rail and turbo system, allowing the engine to produce 175 horsepower and 295 lb.-ft. of torque while still maintaining low emissions. The Mondeo and S-Max also get a new Titanium S option, which provid
Read MoreWith a headline like "How I Got 30 Phone Calls And Sold My Car In One Hour On Craigslist", you know the contents have to be good. Before you read the revolutionary tactic under that title, we have a few suggestions of our own. Having used the list of Craig in buying all manner of flotsam and jetsam, we know a thing or two about what gets things moving, and what pisses people off. First and foremost, an accurate description of the item for sale nets the most benefit. Make it clear and precise and
Read MoreThe full production photos and details of the new Ford Kuga are finally here and it's still an attractive, capable looking C1-based AWD crossover that we'll probably never get. Would anyone here even be interested in the 2.0-liter Duratorq TDCi engine or standard six-speed manual transmission? We didn't think so. In addition to choosing between FWD and the Haldex intelligent AWD system, the Kuga follows other Ford of Europe products in offering the "cool and colorful" Trend package or "modern, t
Read MoreAnyone want to take a guess on the year of this thing? The taillights, 4-lug front wheels (rears are using adapters) and what appears to be a swingaxle rear suspension would seem to indicate 1968... but we all know how parts tend to get swapped around on Type 1s, particularly when it's a Baja. Anyway, it's been a while since we've seen an air-cooled VW (unless you count this 914 as a VW), so today will be Beetle Friday.
Read MoreIt's no news that the 300's been a hit for Chrysler — and we here at the Jalop obviously are fans of the Dodge Charger SRT8, and the new Dodge Challenger's certainly got itself a purdy mouth. But there's potentially going to be some fuel economy issues inherent with a RWD, Hemi-powered platform given the current desire by Washington to focus toward beating up automakers and away from a more common-sensical Euro approach to increasing fuel economy. So what's the three-headed dog-owned car company
Read MoreThe release of information regarding the new Ford Fiesta, the latest global small car platform from Ford, brings lots of good news. First, the new Fiesta maintains all of the kinetic design language from the Ford Verve concepts. Second, it'll be available just about everywhere Ford makes cars, with production in North America for the North American market. Third, the car is still going to be called the Fiesta. Even in the US of A. All of those years of pleading for Ford of Europe products are
Read MoreYesterday's all-Corvette Choose Your Eternity poll resulted in the '68 just barely edging out the '69, no doubt due to the Jimi Hendrix connection. Now it's time to try a different type of theme; we haven't yet seen a selection of cars based on a model year alone, so today we're going with two vastly different- yet vastly cool- choices from Anno Domini 1958, the year Nikita Krushchev became premier of the Soviet Union.
Read MoreRoses? Check. Candles? Check. Nice dinner in the oven? Check. Beautiful place setting with automotive theme? Negative. It's a shame you forget the smallest parts of your romantic Valentine's Day dinner, such as the nice plates, glasses and silverware. Help is available, however. Say hello to the gearhead place setting.
Read MoreThe Ford GT is unquestionably a great car for hooning. But hey, what to do if you're an Aussie hoon wanting to get some GT goodness legalized for road use Down Under? Well, Ford never offered a right-hand-drive version for such markets, so you're going to have to have it converted over to RHD yourself. Which hadn't been done at all until now. Even though the GT came out a while ago as a 2005 model, this is the world's first RHD conversion. Surely you'd think some plucky British GT owner like Jer
Read MoreWe knew the new Nissan GT-R (R35) was big, but putting it next to the last generation Nissan Skyline GT-R (R34) makes it look like a hulking behemoth. One would think the magic of perspective would slim it down so as to not look so porky, but the distance only seems to inflate the size. This is like one of those impossible reality drawings that make our brains hurt. From this angle it almost looks like one Godzilla is preparing to eat the other Godzilla.
Read MoreIn today's episode of "Branding Shenanigans," we encounter Porsche, fresh off a branding adventure with cohort Ferrari. Back at the lab, Porsche notices that the blinding sun stills makes it hard to drive and commences an update to its sunglasses line, which got it start in the feathered-hair 1970s and logged an iconic triumph with an over-the-top aviator style. Four new models are available—the P'8454, P8456, P'8457 and P'8458.
Read MoreSome slightly more fair people might describe the Ssangyong range as 'worthy.' We just think they're hideous. Afflicting UK roads since the '90s, the South Korean company now have a new English importer that's attempting to shore up slow sales with a range of practical new features and slightly less offensive looks. The full press release follows the jump.
Read MoreWe all loved the New Orleans Impala, so A Strolling Player took it upon himself to photograph six Down On The New Orleans Street cars for us (I couldn't help but use a HOTRS reference in the post title, having just read an interesting book about the history of the song; otherwise you'd probably be getting a bunch of Algrenesque Big Stingaree jokes). Make the jump to see the entire collection and read Strolling's descriptions.
Read MoreOf all the Bond films over the years, one the most memorable gadgets to emerge from Q-branch was the Lotus submarine-car from The Spy Who Loved Me. Of course that was all just movie magic special effects— until now. Rinspeed has taken an ordinary Lotus Elise, and turned it into a real working vehicle that drives on land and "flys" underwater. Though you're not going to stay dry if you want to go diving, because theres no airtight canopy to enclose you. To breathe, you'll have to wear a scuba ma
Read MoreThough Valentine's Day has been commercialized, it would be incorrect to say that it's purely the creation of greeting card companies like Secretary Day, Grandpa Day or rabies. Even if you don't buy the stories around the earliest Christian martyrs, Chaucer can lay claim to the first Valentine's Day love poem, circa 1382:
Read MoreBerkeley and its nearby East Bay cities (including Alameda) have long been inhabited by legions of folks who swear the Volvo 200 series was the Best Car Ever Made. You'd have to pry their cold, dead fingers from the ignition key of that beloved mustard-yellow 245 or brick-red DL before they'd give up driving their lefty-bumper-sticker-bedecked Swedish bricks (at 49MPH in the fast lane)... that is, until the Prius arrived. Once a bulletproof hybrid Toyota enters the stable, paying Sven the Volvo
Read MoreThis year's Oscar ceremony is going to highlight environmental responsibility, making it different from previous Oscar ceremonies... somehow. While in previous years celebrities were driven to the red carpet in Prius hybrids, this year they'll arrive in GMC Yukon Hybrids, which get significantly worse gas mileage than the Prius, and Fuel Cell Equinoxes, which rely on an infrastructure still more expensive than The Adventures of Pluto Nash. Is this Hollywood taking a step backwards? Perhaps they'
Read MoreMicrocars are like aged cheese - some people find them absolutely confounding and a little disgusting, and the loonier of us can't get enough. The problem with microcars is they don't really make em like they used to. Oh sure, you've got your Smart FourTwo and your Toyota iQ and your Tata Nano, but those are monstrosities compared to a Peel Trident or a Messerschmitt KR200. Would you believe reproductions are available of all your favorite tiny wheeled wonders?
Read MoreWe've all daydreamed about it at least a little. Thumbing our noses at the man, tossing out all our worldly possessions and hitting the open road for good, throwing caution to the wind. Then by accident you pick up an Auto Trader and flip to see page after page of dirt cheap Blue Bird school buses just waiting to enable that fantasy. Well Jake Von Slatt didn't quite go that far, but he has provided a very helpful step by step on how to convert your own bus into a rolling abode. With some ingenui
Read MoreYesterday, while I was slaving working at the salt mine day job, a junk fax came in to inform me and my fellow miners coworkers of an offer of a "Valentine's Day Romantic Getaway Vacation" at a freeway motel on the outskirts of Modesto. For $99, we learned, you could take that special someone to a nicotine-yellowed room that had no doubt housed a bubbling red-phosphorus-heavy meth lab the week before and experience exquisite romance to the soundtrack of Jake Brakes on Highway 99 right outside th
Read MoreYou see how obsessed dedicated I am to shooting Alameda street-parked cars for this series? Even in the midst of a rainstorm howling in off the Pacific, I'm busting out the camera when I spot a cool car parked on Alameda's busy main drag! And it was worth it in this case, because nothing makes a beater LTD look tougher than rainwater pouring in past all the bad weatherstripping.
Read MoreOh god no — please Chevy, don't go down Mustang Road. We're really hoping Corvette's not heading down the same road as the Ford pony car — with random "limited-production" runs hitting the stage of random small-market auto shows. But then we see this number straight from the Ford playbook — the 2008 Corvette 427 Limited Edition Z06. This new 'vette, unveiled at the Cleveland Auto Show (we mean Cleveland rocks, but who knew?) is supposed to pay homage to the big-block Stingray from the mid-1960's
Read MoreWe've been doing some traveling over the past week — running from one shining sea to the other. Rather than deal with the normal boring fare we're used to sampling via the wonders of bittorrent, we've been sampling iTunes newest movie rental feature. Specifically, we snagged a copy of RoboCop for a quick 24-hour rental. There's nothing like re-watching that Detroit blood-bath to get us thinking about our love of the SHO Taurus. We could snag ourselves a 1988 Ford Taurus from Robocop 3, but we'd
Read MoreWhy yes, that is the largest pickup we've ever seen — if you don't count anything from International Trucks or the F-650, of course — it's what appears to be the 2009 Ford F-350 sporting some very light camouflage. In fact we kind of feel like the engineers are just messin' around with the corps one spy photographer making base camp outside the Dearborn Proving Grounds — basically showing off everything on the new big pickup from the Ford lineup including the salad shooter-like french fry makers
Read MoreMorgan is building the LifeCar to demonstrate, "that a zero emission vehicle can also be fun to drive." The tiny English car maker - better known for wood framed roadsters - is trying to do what no car maker has done before it: bring to market a fast, fun, desirable sports car that makes no sacrifices for its hydrogen fuel cell.
Read MoreOscar-nominated actor Daniel Day-Lewis is an odd duck. Brilliant, yes, but ambivalent about the whole mega-fame thing. So much so that several years ago, he briefly entered semi-retirement and journeyed to Italy to learn the shoemaker's trade. An admirable choice, and one that evokes old-world craft in a way that our commenters would recognize, particularly in response to the delicate ministrations that this guy undertook to shape nearly a million matchsticks into a race-car replica. And so, on
Read MoreThe rapscallion readers at VWVortex have let slip all the deets on the Acura's new "hotness" — the 2009 TSX. You've already seen one teaser shot along with a teaser release, but now here's the whole shebang. We'll have to wait for sometime later on (when Wert's able to run the story on his first-drive he just finished up out West) to get the full spiel on the new pre-entry level luxury sports sedan from Honda's luxe badge. The full press release follows the jump.
Read MoreThe guys all about the Rods that are quite Hot have an absolutely enthralling report in their April magazine that AMC is back and will be looking to:
Read MoreClearly, our impending/new/ongoing recession is having an impact on the automotive industry (just ask GM and their $38 billion disappearing act). Consumers are having to ask questions they didn't have to ask in the carefree 1990's. And while small manufacturers like Maserati can aim for the extremely affluent profiting on our economic troubles, it's not as easy for others. Or is it? According to HybridCars.com's "Hybrid Market Dashboard," hybrids in the U.S. saw a year-over-year 24.9% sales incr
Read MoreAfter two consecutive days of old Junkyard Find Dodges, we might as well see yet another one. It's a sign of how many 60s Chrysler A-bodies were manufactured (and how rugged they were) that you see more of them in the junkyard today than you do, say, 20-year-old Hyundai Excels. This one is a bit new to have the pushbutton shifter, but it's still packed with parts that will no doubt live on in another Dart, Valiant, or Barracuda.
Read MoreMichael Arndt is a man of matchsticks. Over the course of six years, using 956,000 matchsticks, 1686 tubes of glue, and at least three different varieties of mustache, he built a full-scale replica of a McLaren 4/14 F1 car, at a cost of around 6000 Euros. The giant model takes up Arndt's entire kitchen and probably his social life. It can be broken down into 45 parts for easy transport to various matchstick-builders conventions.
Read MorePossibly because people who drive Land Cruisers tend to drive in urban areas, Toyota has decided to bring the production version of their Urban Cruiser concept to Europe. Though this new ride has the dimensions of an SUV, it's practically a compact car. The good news is this new utility vehicle will have an advantage in mileage and emissions over true SUVs. No word on whether or not this will come to the US, but it's almost exactly the same thing as a Scion xD. Press release below the jump.
Read MoreToyota is finally getting smart by getting Smart. The Toyota iQ Concept from Frankfurt will show up at the Geneva Motor Show as a fully capable production vehicle that will be a "break-through in compact urban transportation." And by a break-through they mean a Japanese version of the Smart (see the name). The last rumor we heard was that the iQ will be powered by Yamaha motorcycle engine, but powertrain and pricing details are scarce. Photos of the concept and press release below.
Read MoreWe've already seen the ad for the '73 Riviera, so now it's time to take a look at the car itself. I'm trying to get caught up on Buicks, since we've only had four of them prior to today, with the most recent one just a few weeks back. This Buick is special, since its daring "boat-tail" styling was one of the few bright spots in an otherwise gloomy Early Malaise Era year for Detroit.
Read MoreUPDATE: The 2009 Nissan Maxima has now been unofficially revealed, and we've got all the photos here! Although we'll be seeing the 2009 Nissan Maxima for real at the New York Auto Show next month, spy shooter Chris Doane of the "Priddy Pride" just snapped some shots of the new mid-size from Nissan. The new seventh-gen Maxima's supposed to be getting a severe facelift, and even a couple of upgraded powerplants by the time 2010 and 2011 roll around. Yup, you guessed it — a Renault-Nissan diesel an
Read MoreVolkswagen announced today that they'll be bringing back the Wolfsburg Edition of the Jetta for 2008, and this time the normally aspirated 2.5-liter inline-five engine gets dropped for a version of the 2.0-liter turbocharged four banger. This means the new Wolfsburg Edition will sport an extra 50 horsepower and 37 ft.-lbs. of torque over the 2007 model (pictured). In addition to the new engine, the Jetta will come standard with 17-inch alloy wheels, anti-slip regulation, ABS and a six-speed manu
Read MoreAgree or disagree with the sentiments of GM's product czar Bob Lutz, you have to respect him for his frankness. In our experience, it's fairly easy to identify a total crock of shit like global warming once you take into consideration the complex interactions of geophysics, global weather patterns and complex high atmosphere chemistry involved in climate change, which Lutz surely has. We're not here to make a statement on the science of climate change, and if Lutz wants to sell us shitboxes like
Read MoreKudos galore to the Jalop commentariat for checking out the A.N.U.S. post and, about three minutes into the video, identifying Foreigner's 1981 hit "Jukebox Hero" in the background of some serious one-wheeled, big-engined, un-helmeted happy hoggin' hoonage. We had to pick one to be our COTD—but there were sure plenty to pick from. Anon!
Read MoreThe '76 911 Targa beat the '71 911T in yesterday's Dial 911 For Hell challenge, no doubt because fire damage you can't see is more enticing than all-too-visible rust. And now that we're on a Fanatically Worshiped Overpriced Car roll, let's turn our attention to one of the few cars than can rival the Porsche 911 for depth and breadth of its aficionados' single-minded fervor: the Chevrolet Corvette! If we can find a 911 for $3,000 or a Ferrari 365 for $2,500, you know there are gonna be some serio
Read MoreThanks to Schweppes, the Windsor-based commenter who shot the Forward Control Land Rover for us a while back, we now get to see this solid-looking Volvo 240 with pickup bed. Since Ford owns Volvo, that makes this cartruck a -chero rather than an -amino or -ampage. Make the jump to hear what Schweppes has to say about this fine machine.
Read MorePininfarina has decided to take an interesting and embargo proof route to informing us all about its Sintesi concept. Instead of loading is slimy bloggers with info we have to hang onto till an appointed time, they've taken to publishing a weekly flash pamphlet on their website with more details. So far we're 3 issues into the series and some interesting details are starting to emerge. Pinifarina has taken its signature clean sheet approach to concepts and is making packaging and car to car inte
Read MoreIn spite of the Super Disco Potential of their ads for the car, Chrysler was never able to turn the original Magnum (no, not this Magnum) into the sales sensation they felt it should have been. The Magnum was made for the Middle Malaise years of '78 and '79 only and then disappeared without a trace. Well, almost without a trace; I ran across this example in an East Bay wrecking yard last weekend. Even though it's been on the yard for a while, nobody has bothered to pull any parts from it. Make t
Read MoreI need to calm down for a second. The potential for this post is mind boggling—snow dicks, dragons and more! I'll just get right to the facts—this 12V-powered device runs off a car's cigarette lighter (or 12V outlet, if you don't happen to be driving around in a old Lincoln), looks like a pair of lips, fits around your willy, and sucks, period. It's available for $38 and would make a great Valentine's Day gift, to yourself, of course. Still doubting its ability? Check out the review.
Read MoreIn addition to barging into a Tokyo Toyota showroom and shooting the latest Century, the folks at Japanese Nostalgic Car Magazine proceeded to take their act down the street to the nearest Subaru dealership, where they got some nice photos of the new R2. Make the jump for more photos and Ben Hsu's description.
Read MoreAnd then there were ten. With a completely expected shoo-in for JFG like the Porsche 959, the margin of acceptance standing at 95.1% is no surprise. Impressive yes, but still bested by the McLaren F1 and the Mercedes 300SL, though we suppose that to be good company to keep. Today's offering is far less well known, with a far murkier history, and much, much more beautiful coachwork. What the bloodlines of the recently axed Rolls Royce Phantom cannot offer is everything this car represents. Comple
Read MoreWe don't know how this flew under the our radar our entire lives. We don't know how regular the events are or how high the body count is, but we know we want in. This might be the greatest drunken idea to get off the ground ever. In fact, it's well documented many a beer was involved in the invention of this sport of kings. Born from the twisted brain of the above pictured "Sidecar Willy" in 1988, the American National Unimotorcyclists Society (yes, the A.N.U.S.) operates during Daytona Bike Wee
Read MoreSnow, slush, ice, mud, tornadoes and windstorms have led to less-than-stellar driving conditions in many parts of the country. It's not even safe to be driving a giant wiener. When the driving conditions get bad in this country we generally turn to trucks and sport-utlitly-vehicles for help. But there's a magical place, a place called "the rest of the world." And people who live in this mysterious land see a muddy road and think Ford Escort instead of Jeep Wrangler, Peugeot 205 instead of Chevy
Read MoreAutomotive News is reporting that GM leadership told dealers in the Buick-Pontiac-GMC sales channel they'll be getting 12 new or "special edition" vehicles over the next 20 months — but one vehicle it won't be getting is a new Pontiac Trans Am. That's like getting a coin that's tails on one side and completely blank on the other — like geting Smokey without the Bandit — like getting Michael and no KITT. We mean seriously, where's the value in a new Chevy Camaro if there's no screamin' eagle Pont
Read MoreWhat's better than a regular station wagon? Why, a pink four-door hardtop station wagon with about 800 pounds of chrome, of course! I'm actually pretty familiar with this car, because I've known the owner for many years (and in fact was with him on the day a few years back when he bought it from the original owner). This Commuter was bought new at a dealership in Oakland and has lived its entire life in Alameda; I'm pretty sure it's only been off the island a handful of times in the last 48 year
Read MoreThe cuts just keep on coming as the General and the UAW have just reached an agreement on a "comprehensive" special attrition program to be offered to each and every one of GM's 74,000 UAW workers. Which is funny as we thought the last one was supposed to be "comprehensive." Maybe the need for such a buyout becomes more clear when you view it in the light of the massive $38.7 billion charge for how it calculated certain tax assets this quarter. Well, whatever. What we do know is this "comprehens
Read MoreEven though we still don't like it that Hyundai got rid of its HCD concept series, we are consoled with its replacement series - HED. It seems the Hyundai HED-5 will be bowing at the upcoming Geneva Auto Show with a full accoutrement of gadgets expected on a modern concept vehicle. Within the press release, we see plans to unveil a revised Sonata, the updated Euro only Matrix, and the 6 passenger HED-5 Concept. We're sure it will be sporting some form of eco-conscious materials on the inside, an
Read More"...Mankind has grown so base, / I mean to break with the whole human race." So wrote the 17th century comedic playwright Molière, in his famous work The Misanthrope. Of course, we know for sure that there's a place for reasoned dismay in this world, and we know it because our commenters engage in such reasoned dismay all the time. Follow the jump, and you'll see what we mean.
Read MoreWe did Cheap Ferrari Hell the other day, and that made me realize that we're overdue for Cheap Porsche Hell. Now, you can get your 914s, 924s, and 944s for next to nothing, and bargains on 912s can often be found. You can even find the occasional $1,000 928... but you need at least a 911 in your stable if you want to be able to look some Ferrari driver in the eye and brag about your Porsche. You've probably looked at the crazy prices for 911s and felt that there was no threat of one ever showing
Read MoreEkranoplan, meet Aérotrain. Developed by the French in the sixties and seventies, the Aérotrain system was a solution to a problem many folk at the time taking on, improving speed and efficiency in the rail system. Maglev was impossibly expensive, and rail lines required high maintenance to keep them running smooth, so what is the next option? Hover trains. That's right, these babies flew down the smooth concrete track at up to 430 km/h. Only four prototypes were ever built (#2 is shown above) b
Read MoreWhat has four doors, a pick up bed, and a Porsche 911 engine? This heavily modified VW Transporter. We really wish we could call this a full blooded camino (or Straße, or Weg... whatever) but we have a sneaky suspicion this started out as the four door transporter chassis cab and a very nice bed was crafted over the frame. That minor detail does not take away from the flat six 911 heart thumping unter the wooden floored truck bed. So now we're torn. Camino's by nature are burnout machines; light
Read MoreWho needs significant others when all of the love you could ever want is found in a shiny white box sitting by your television? This Valentine's Day, two content packs will be available for Project Gotham Racing 4 on the Xbox 360. Like most Valentine's Day festivities, one of the packs will cost you a little dough. The other one is free. The free pack allows you to drive the 2007 Peugeot Flux, a hydrogen-powered concept. The premium pack, costing 400 MS points, features seven new cars including
Read MoreOur friends over at Japanese Nostalgic Car Magazine went to the motherland recently and were kind enough to drop by the Toyota showroom and send us these photos of the latest Toyota Century luxury sedan. Is this thing a Yakuza enforcermobile or what? Make the jump to see the expanded gallery and read what JNC editor Ben Hsu has to say about the Century.
Read MoreThe junkyard is fun (and our wannabe 24 Hours of LeMons car hungers for parts), so I'm going to follow up the Junked Opel GT with the latest interesting find at an East Bay self-service wrecking yard: this 1966 Dodge Monaco. It's got a big-block (feel free to decode the build tag and tell us whether it's a 361 or 383, Mopar lovers) and still showing a sense of style even as it awaits its final ride. Make the jump to see even more photos.
Read MoreWhen we asked if you could beat a $38K Accord in terms of ridiculous MSRP's, we didn't think it would be so easy. For one, you actually topped a $37,580 Accord with a $39,122 Accord Coupe. Then you were able to take the base model, entry-level cars and load them up with so many extra options that these once reasonable vehicles skyrocketed into foreign exotic territory. We have to thank our readers for the great ideas, as well as BMW and Porsche in particular for asking outrageous prices for th
Read MoreFor those of you in Europe who continually complain of how much you envy the US domestic crossover SUV market, Renault has something to perk your spirits. The Renault Koleos is the diamond emblem automakers first foray into the crossover market and claims to offer "genuine off-road ability". The Koleos offers a wide array of equipment with two diesel tune level and two gas engines, both optioned with either a 6 speed manual, auto transmission, and a CVT in some instances - two wheel or all wheel
Read MoreWe don't want to forget the Japanese pickups on DOTS Truck Monday, and it's been quite a while since we looked at the '79 Datsun pickup (the '74 Courier was more recent, of course, but it has a Detroit nameplate). Here's a solid '74, with faded paint but otherwise in pretty nice shape. Will these trucks start getting obsessively restored someday, or simply driven to death?
Read MoreWith everybody flipping out about environmentalism in these post-Inconvenient Truth days, companies far and wide are looking to reinvent the wheel, or more specifically, the engine. That's just what BRA GmbH and its partners, PGO Automobiles and Gasmobil will be looking to do at the upcoming Geneva Auto Salon when they introduce their Cévennes Turbo-CNG roadster. Why a German company with an underwear acronym moniker is naming their car after a French mountain range is anybodies guess, but we li
Read MoreWe don't know what kind of car 17-year-old David Leib used to recreate a police cruiser, but the safe bet is on a Crown Vic. We also don't know what the young lad was thinking when he decided to turn on the cherries and attempt his first traffic stop outside of Moline, Illinois. We do know the off duty police deputy he was attempting to pull over found it a little off and dialed the real cops to check things out. Needless to say, things ended with David in cuffs himself. This could have been the
Read MoreRather than deal with the usual issues of a long-lead press drive engendering spy shot after spy shot of the new 2009 Acura TSX, the boys and girls from Honda's luxe brand have decided to just drop a single shot of the new TSX out the day before the press drive begins. The shot shows off basically everything you need to know about the exterior of the new TSX, giving you a real taste of that new double-plenum power grille (just like its big brother, the 2009 Acura RL, revealed in Chicago last w
Read MoreThough we doubt many care, we've got an embedded journalist in San Francisco reporting out to us on what's going on at the NADA annual whatever out there tonight. Our embed will be covering the event live for us but for reasons of NADA-nal security, can't reveal his or her name — so we've nicknamed them "Rick_Fan_001" to protect them. Without further ado, here's our live instant messenger chat of this evening's keynote by GM CEO Rick Wagoner after the jump. Just keep hitting refresh as we add mo
Read MoreThose of you not up on ancient Mayan prophecy or apocalyptic cosmology could be forgiven for missing the most obvious implication of our report earlier today on the demise of the Viper. Our commenters, however, are rather more on the ball. So be forewarned! As we enter the final years of the Viper, the age of darkness is nigh! But there's still time to repent before War, Conquest, Pestilence and Death arrive on the scene.
Read MoreIt looks like the Jalopnik readership did some agonized soul-searching and decided to go with the 308/Esprit combo over the somewhat imcomplete 365 at a 7-to-3 ratio in yesterday's Cheap Ferrari Edition Choose Your Eternity poll. But an Italian car versus an Anglo-Italian 2-fer brings to mind an interesting PCH dilemma: what happens when you pit a geeky-yet-cool Italian car against a geeky-yet-cool French car? No dreamworld Quattroporte versus SM here; instead it's a pair of cars that don't cost
Read MoreCorvette tuner Specter Werkes has announced its newest model, the GTR. A package of carbon fiber bodywork enhancements, basic engine tuning and wheels and tires, the GTR aims to bring a unique appearance and higher performance levels to any current model Corvette, including the ZR1. The GTR package adds $34,995 to the price of a stock vehicle, further engine upgrades are available for additional cost. The full press release follows the jump. [Via Specter Werkes]
Read MoreThe General will be putting on his bargaining cap as 3,900 of its certified used car dealers will list their entire inventories on eBay. This is a win-win situation for all, according to the parties involved. The certified retailers will not be charged listing fees. And the eBay gambit opens up more than 11 million eyes to available used GMs out there. One particularly interesting factoid is that Ebay is the number one automotive Web site on the Internet with "34 percent of all automotive minute
Read MoreBrenda Priddy and her Merry Men have caught another couple shots of what appears to be the 2010 Ford Mustang GT out for a quick snowy stroll through Dearborn, MI. These new shots give us the best look yet we've had on the taillights of the new pony car from Ford and well, umm, they don't, umm, tell us all that much. Why'd we buy these shots again? Oh wait — now we remember why. It's because these shots do tell us the lengths to which Ford's willing to go to get our minds off of the latest muscle
Read MoreWho would win in a fight between a 3-headed hell hound and a snake? In a case important to a great number of high-horsepower-lovin' enthusiasts, it appears it's going to be Satan's canine. In all the hoopla over the past few weeks about Dodge's new entry to the Muscle Car Wars, the media stories popping up hinting Chrysler may be thinking about discontinuing the Dodge Viper have gone relatively ignored by the majority of the product press. Unfortunately for those with a love of the serpentin
Read MoreThough we may all dream of owning a 6.9, the 300SEL 6.3 was the original German Q-ship. This $55,000 sedan's 6.3-liter V8 produced 250 horsepower, 369 ft-lbs of torque, and could propel the nearly 4,000-pound hunk of beautiful metal to 60 mph in 6.5 seconds. That's pretty good today and outrageous in 1967. We were therefore delighted to see one from the Mercedes-Benz Classic Center gracing the floor of the Chicago Auto Show.
Read MoreInternational didn't just bring it's super shredder semi, the International LoneStar to the show. They also brought the US Military's latest wheeled transport, the International MaxxPro. The imposing vehicle is basically a purpose-built mobile bomb shelter, capable of taking a hit from any direction, as well as fording bodies of water as deep as 36 inches, just for the hell of it. When we opened the door—or more precisely, tried to open the door—we had to abandon all all our stuff and put our we
Read MoreWe brought you the news BMW in cooperation with Rahal-Letterman racing would be returning to the track with the 2008 BMW E92 M3 GTR next year. What we didn't do was show you the video of the monster being unveiled. While Bobby Rahal was in attendance the embearded David Letterman was nowhere to be seen as Martin Birkmann did his disrobing duties. Did we mention there's a full press release and specs now? Because there are.
Read MoreIt's been very difficult to find non-beater 60s Mustangs parked on the island's streets; I see quite a few nice ones driving around, but they must live in garages. We've seen this fairly solid '65 and this beat-to-hell '68 so far, and today we're going to look at another rough- but fully functional- example of the breed. This '66 lives right around the corner from the Ketchup und Mustard VW Bus and just down the street from the Evil '69 Nomad, so it's in good company.
Read MoreYou know how when you go to a fast food place and you're standing in line, debating whether you should splurge and get the DeLuxe super meal or if you should just purchase an item off the dollar menu and supplement it with a cup of water, obtained from the bathroom spigot? I think it's safe to assume that Talal Khouri of the United Arab Emirates has never endured that debate. He's the man who owns the world's most expensive license plate, which he paid about $6,750,000 for in an auction run by t
Read MoreSometimes you need to ask yourself: How bad do I need a Ferrari? Actually, in Project Car Hell, the question goes: How bad can a Ferrari project be? Either way, the problem with Ferraris is that most of them are so expensive that you're spared the torment of actually owning one... that is, until now. We've managed to round up a couple of Ferrari deals that cost less than most Fiero-based Ferrari-influenced kit cars, and one of them even comes with a bonus Lotus Esprit!
Read MoreWith all this talk about Citröens around here, it's sad that I hardly ever get to see them in real life. That's why it was great to discover that there's a shop specializing in Citröen repair in downtown Oakland, just a few miles from Alameda. Commenter VWMiniSpeedster's great-grandfather opened the shop in 1918, and the family also owned a dealership selling Citröens, Panhards, Morgans, and Lloyds during the 1950s. Nowadays they still fix the old French machinery and have quite the collection o
Read MoreSomehow we missed this XC70 SR at the SEMA show last year, overwhelmed as we were with things covered in pink carbon fiber. Unless you've passed out due to blood loss from a shark attack, you'll notice the five-inch lift and 20-inch wheels. While the XC70 SR sports the ubiquitous (on concept trucks) LED lightbar, it also features a unique and attractive set of blue strobes integrated into the fog light assembly, the mirrors and the rear light clusters. With scuba tanks, oxygen tanks, a first aid
Read MoreThere's a funny thing about auto shows; from the outside, they appear to be all glitz and glamor, high-dollar extravaganzas to draw the attention of the nearest journalist, and later the consumer. In actuality, they are crushingly boring, highly stressed, cynical, irritating events which grow tiresome from both the PR side and the coverage side. Still, it's fun when you see something unexpected pop up on the floor. The new International LoneStar is definitely outside the mainstream of the averag
Read MoreIf only it snowed more down in Hazzard County, Georgia, I'm sure the Duke Boys would have had as much fun as these chaps did in this Subaru. This car was supposedly bought with the sole intention of performing a 68-foot snow jump. Mission accomplished! The little-Subie-that-could manages to gain some air time and doesn't kill anyone. Cooter would have been impressed. Them Subies, them Subies... Who needs a freaking '69 Charger named after a defeated Virginian militarist, anyway? [MySpaceTV]
Read MoreWhile the automakers may be disappointing us with vanilla reveals, we have to hand it to the crew at the Alton Truck Company for taking the kind of effort a certain segment of the automotive aftermarket world puts into Civics and applying it to this Ford F-650-based SUV. Weighing in at a paltry 25,999 pounds, this extremest of SUV's features a Caterpillar 7.2L C7 ACERT engine with 230 horsepower and 660 lb.-ft. of torque. For the low low price of $200,000 you get hardwood floors, custom captain'
Read MoreWill Arnett is out as the voice of KITT in NBC's upcoming Knight Rider revival, having been replaced with the Iceman himself, Val Kilmer. Arrested Development star Arnett was forced to pull out due to contractual conflicts; previously he'd done voice over work for GMC.
Read MoreNo journalists can leave the Chicago Auto Show without a bagful of little trinkets from automakers and suppliers (under $25, always). For the purpose of full disclosure and minor amusement, we had our CAS intern, Kevin Bradley, throw together a list of all the swag we received on the first day. We can also thank K-Brad for all of the various swag shots. If you're lucky, some of this stuff will end up as contest prizes in the future. Photos and full details below:
Read MoreThis series has become a real balancing act for me, as I try to make sure I don't neglect one type of vehicle for too long. We had a Chrysler A-body recently, and we're definitely due for an air-cooled Beetle one of these days. Now I realize with a shock that it's been two long months since our last Bayerische Motoren Werke machine. I could show you one of the several Alameda 2002s that I've shot recently (though I'm still hunting that 1500 I see around town), but instead we're getting a Late Ma
Read MoreDay One is officially over here at the Chicago Auto Show and in case you weren't around, a lot actually (Challenger) happened here at the McCormick Center (Challenger). If for some reason you were trapped in an underground cave somewhere (Challenger), here's what you may have (Challenger) missed: -Yeah, we feel like even though you're bored of it and we're bored with it, we'd be rather remiss if we didn't point out the 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8 was revealed yesterday and we had the web's best
Read MoreWe had a chance to check out the YES! 3.2 Roadster and YES! Roadster 3.2 Turbo and we were, as opposed to other moments in the day, actually pleased with what we saw. We'll start with the good news. The base YES! Roadster 3.2 weighs 890 kg, sports a 255 hp VW V6 and scoots to 60 mph in just 4.8 seconds. The better news is that the YES! Roadster 3.2 Turbo weighs only 930 kg, gets 355 horsepower out of the same engine and reaches 60 mph in just 3.8 seconds. The best news is that the super high per
Read MoreSure, we thought about foraging the assorted trashy declarations that followed our Dancing Traffic Girl Hoon of the Day post. We think she'd do pretty well on a USO tour of war-torn regions, and there's a taste of the dragon in there someplace. But not today. After all, we're working a car show. Let's maintain focus. Commenter of the day, then, please?
Read MoreHyundai showed off a refreshed model in the 2009 Hyundai Sonata, a new model in the 2009 Hyundai Elantra Touring and a far off concept in the iBlue Concept.The news from the Sonata is the addition of the first nav system and dual-zone climate control. The news for the Elantra Touring is that it does look Mazda3-ish up close with a touch of Toyota Matrix. We sat inside one and it's relatively roomy for the class with a design that would be considered friendly to most and sporty to those without a
Read MoreIn an agonizingly close race, the Rover SD1 beat the Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow in yesterday's Choose Your Eternity poll, and it was telling that our British readers all seemed to fear/love the British Leyland product the most. Now we move on to an important question: Can you believe it's been since August that we've had a matchup of the two most recycled Detroit muscle archetypes ever, and that was a couple of hundred-buck 80s beaters? Today we're going to go back to the source of all things Cam
Read MoreHot on the heels of the 2008 BMW M3 release, those rascally Germans have developed a racing variant to further develop the incredible tech already present in the stock automobile. In 2009 BMW will return to racing with team Rahal Letterman Racing in the American Lemans Series. We'll be bringing more details and pics (got em!) after we recover from the heart attack and can dig up a press release.
Read MoreYou heard it right ladies and gents. The Nissan GT-R beauty is slowly inching its way towards the United States and today the official announcement came that the vehicle would be available for pre-order at 691 "GT-R Certified" Nissan dealers. The base package will run $69,850 and the premium will go for $71,900. The "Super Paint-Super Silver" factory option will tack on another $3,000. And expect to pay another $360 for the iPod converter and $280 for the GT-R carpeted floor mats. Deliveries wil
Read MoreSuzuki showed off their trio of Suzuki Equator trucks you've already seen today. The purpose of coming out with a truck now? Buyers of Suzuki boats, motorcycles and ATV's drive a crapload of trucks and Suzuki thought they could sell them one. And if you didn't get the point, Suzuki President Mark Harano drove up on a V-strom motorcycle for the presser. The RMZ-4 Off Road Edition is currently a concept, but the production version will include special tie-downs and equipment for taking your bike t
Read MoreFirst it was ABC News. Now National Public Radio is getting in on journalism of the abundantly self-evident. The Tote Bag Empire's latest find? Thieves steal GPS receivers! Holy crap, sound the sirens, summon the SWAT team! The last time I checked, a thief will steal anything worth over $5 from a car. Okay, NPR, I'll back off a little bit, you do make some interesting points in your story about GPS and other gadget theft.
Read MoreWhat better way to kick off the sales of your new muscle car, the last relevant piece of new product you're going to introduce for a while, than to invite a couple of guys who are best known for selling motorcycles. Paul, Sr. and Paul, Jr. of American Chopper fame were on hand to show off the 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8. And what did we learn that you may not have learned from any of the sixteen or seventeen Challenger posts that already ran today? Dodge was smart enough to low-ball the 0-60 mph
Read MoreWe've had the Favorite Detroit Malaise DOTS Car and Favorite Import Malaise DOTS Car polls (won by the '78 Eldorado and '73 BMW 3.0CSi, respectively), and we've had the How Jalopnik Is Your Car? quiz. Now it's time to combine the two concepts! Got a car built during the (unscientifically selected) Malaise Era of 1973 through 1983? Once you get it out of the gas line, see how it fares on the Malaise-O-Meter!
Read MoreSix months since the last DOTS Datsun Z? What's going on here? Since they don't really rust here, I think the shortage of early Zs on the street has something to do with their hoon-friendly qualities; most of them were wrecked, blown up, or otherwise hooned to death. We know they can take a lot of punishment on the race track, too. I've found a few of the early-80s ZXs I might go ahead and shoot, since now I know we have fans of the Late Malaise Zs here.
Read MoreUPDATE:We've got all the pictures now added of the 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8 live reveal in Chicago! Viva la revolution! After years of looking at spy photos, renderings and concept versions &mdash the 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8 is here, for real. Powered by the 6.1-liter HEMI V8, this HEMI orange muscle car puts out 425 horsepower and 420 lb.-ft. of torque. for a total of 69.8 horsepower per liter. How fast is it? Good question. The performance "targets" were a 0-60 mph time in the low fives
Read MoreAnyone remember the Chevrolet Traverse Concept from the 2000 Chicago Auto Show? No? No matter, the full-sized crossover has changed quite a bit since then. Now, the Traverse is Chevy's shot at GM's Lambda platform, shared with the Buick Enclave, GMC Acadia, and Saturn Outlook. The Traverse is also the latest extension of Chevrolet's new, chevron-nosed design language, otherwise expressed in the 2008 Malibu. Like it or not, the Traverse is a major step forward from the company's two-box minivans.
Read MoreFord is working towards a new objective with it's "Work Solutions" package. Instead of simply providing customers with four wheels, a motor and maybe even a chassis, Ford wants to develop what they're calling "solutions." Yes, that certainly sounds like something that came straight from an MBA program someplace, and we're generally dogged cynics when it comes to such claptrap. But this here "solution" is actually pretty darn neat. Ford has teamed with Microsoft (yet again—hello, Sync fans) to cr
Read MoreEven though we got a sneak peak at it during the Showlopnik coverage, Ford has officially dropped the pics for it's Transit Connect on us. Now, it doesn't look a heck of a lot different then the Euro model, but there are some differences. True, it will be built in the same plant and Turkey, and it will still be based on a front wheel drive four cylinder platform, there will not be a diesel version available - yet. Indeed, Ford will be bringing only a four pot gasser to the US market and mating i
Read MoreI can remember the early years of the 1990s, hanging out at a share house in Brooklyn and hearing endless chatter—between high-fiber dinners and debates about composting—on the subject of bikes. You know the script: Bikes good, cars bad. Years later now, the Chicago Auto Show is turning 100, we asked everyone what they were most looking forward to at the event and then discovered... plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose. Hello, commenter of the day.
Read MoreNissan has announced a new eco-driving function for its Japan-only CARWINGS navigation system that looks set to make low fuel consumption a competitive sport. Not only will vehicles equipped with the Eco-Drive and You service be able to display instantaneous and average economy figures and the exact amount of money saved by driving in an eco-friendly manner, but also they'll be able to compare data with other cars in real-time, awarding drivers a numerical rank within classes of vehicle and even
Read MoreWe have our friends at AutoBild to thank for breaking the embargo on the Chrysler Minivan-turned-VeeDub kid hauler. The new 2009 VW Routan takes its styling cues from the current crop of VW's, but gets its minivan knowhow from the boys at Dodge. As seen in the pre-Chicago Auto Show Routan spy photos, the Passat-esque tailights make the jump to the larger minivan. More details as they leak out onto the internet or our German gets better. Press release after the jump. (Hat tip to Zerin!)
Read MoreAh, the weird, weird world of supply chains, Motown business practices and secretive private equity maneuverings. Yesterday, Plastech Engineered Products Inc., Chrysler's main supplier of parts, filed for bankruptcy. Chrysler, owned by private-equity firm Cerberus Capital Management, sued to obtain the toolings necessary to create the parts, but as of today, that action hasn't been resolved. Meanwhile, Chrysler has given more than 10,000 workers a little time off (with more to come today). The F
Read MoreAre you in Chicago this week ? Want to come to the Chicago Auto Show early? We're looking for one brave intern with a laptop and some camera experience (DSLR preferred). Please email us at tips at jalopnik dot com with the three reasons why you'd be the absolute perfect intern.
Read MoreEvery year, automotive journalists look forward to the Chicago Auto Show, not because it's America's largest, or its oldest (right on both counts), but because it's in Chicago. The Second City. The White City. Home of the Cubs, Buddy Guy, Al Capone, Oprah, the Sipowitz accent and deep dish pizza. This year, Chicago is going to be celebrating 100 years of auto shows with a better-than-usual roster of big reveals. You can expect Jalopnik to be there in full force—that is, when we're not downing a
Read MoreLast time you saw the Volvo my team hopes to run in the 24 Hours of LeMons race, it was just in the initial stages of being stripped. Now that we've removed most of the unnecessary stuff, we've been selling every possible thing on eBay. Yes, we even sold the door lock knobs! Got $1.50 for 'em! And why are we doing this? Aside from our incredible junkyardy cheapness, that is?
Read MoreI hate to do this, but I'll be that guy. It's time to start thinking about tax season, but fear not you deducting beasts, the IRS's 2008 standard mileage rates have been announced and all of those miles you spend on the road for work this year will be getting a significant bump to 50.5 cents per mile. This means that those 300 miles you had to drive for work is now worth $151.50 in deductions. Don't get too excited, cubicle warriors, this only includes driving done for business purposes, like wi
Read MoreWith Volvo's R performance cars having gone the way of Norse legend, the company's using its letter of choice to denote its line of add-on accessories. To wit, the XC90 R-Design model shown last month in Detroit. For Chicago, Volvo's tricked out its smallest entry, the C30 hatch. The limited-edition C30 R-Design comes with a display of accouterments, special paint colors, interiors of the finest contrasting upholstery, Serapis alloys, turbocharged T5 power gear and R-Design badging to tell the w
Read MoreSeems every time I go to a certain East Oakland self-service junkyard, I find something old and unusual on its way to steelyard reincarnation. Last time it was the 1969 Jaguar XJ-6; now it's a very-well-picked-over 1973 Opel GT. These things were never plentiful in North America, and I don't think I've seen one on the street for a decade. Yet, somehow, one has survived long enough to make it to the junkyard. Make the jump for even more gallery shots.
Read MoreSince way more than a month has passed since the last DOTS Porsche, it's time for another one! In fact, we've seen enough of Alameda's street-parked Porsches to have a poll to see which one is the favorite of our readers. This lil' yellow devil parks within a block of where I shot the '68 GTO and the '68 Belvedere Wagon, so it's in good company. I'm not sure of the year, but it's definitely early 1970s.
Read MoreFile it under "small Euro convertibles that aren't worth bringing to the states, but that further prove Ford's European division is a tight ship." That's a small file folder, no doubt. Nonetheless, Ford Europe's freshened droptop Focus will arrive in time to be fauned over by journalists named "Berndt" and the mercenary photographers they dispatch to fight elbow battles for them. That'll be at the Geneva motor show next month. But for now, we get to see how the other half cruises, and that is by
Read MoreIf you've been holding off on a brand new Ford Edge because the styling just wasn't sporty enough, have we got good news for you. Tonight at a press event in Dearborn, Ford took the wraps from it's latest trim level of the well received crossover, the 2009 Ford Edge Sport. Featuring some nice design details like perforated alcantera seating surfaces, an 8 piece body kit, smoked headlights, dual exhaust tips, stiffened up performance suspension, and... oh okay, big stinky wheels. The Edge Sport g
Read MoreAs we have learned through the harsh tutor of experience, you can give people the past, the present, and above all else the future, and no matter what, they will still demand flying cars. We're getting there! Closer every day! And not always safely. It's understandable, this earthbound contempt for beloved vehicles that can't fly yet. Even retro-tech of a highly prescient variety is no salve. And so, onward (upward?) to the commenter of the day.
Read MoreIn one of the most one-sided matchups ever, the Isuzu Impulse RS Turbo whomped the Bagged Shaved P'Up by nearly 80/20 in Friday's Choose Your Eternity poll. Now let's edge away from the moldering corpse of Isuzu America and head over to one of the top- if not the top- Project Car Hell superpowers: the homeland of Joe Lucas, Prince of Darkness!
Read MoreThe motto says "The 4-wheel bike that drives like a car," which we hope means it pulls in excess of 1.0 g's. Like many cars, the quadracycle is built from 16 gauge steel tubes and has 20-inch wheels a few inches thick. Rhoades offers quite the model range, from a single-seater all the way up to a long-frame four seater with optional cargo area. There's even the Go-Boy, an industrial use quad for construction workers not afraid to look just a little ridiculous. Forget hybrids and fuel-cells, clea
Read MoreSee, this is why we love Germany, no, it's not just for the beer. The city of Hamburg is situated on the Elbe river, with the dockyards situated on an island in the river. In the heady shipping days of Hamburg, workers on the busy port island had to travel by ferry to get to their jobs. In an effort to reduce river traffic and improve the commute, a tunnel was constructed to address the issue. Being Germans though, the tunnel couldn't just be a hole in the ground for people to pass through. Nope
Read MoreI remember back in the day when I was a young lad first learning how to drive a manual transmission. My father repeated one essential learning point to me over and over: "Son, treat your parking brake like your [colorful term for a part of the male anatomy]—always grab it, touch it and most importantly, use it." And to this date I have followed those guidelines and never yet had to deal with a runaway vehicle. These hoons, on the other hand, haven't followed my old man's wisdom. Such a simple th
Read MoreWhen Buick's latest version of its big Lucerne sedan hits dealerships in April, it will no longer be called CXS but instead "Super," following in the footsteps of little brother LaCrosse, which received a similar designation last year. According to GM, the Lucerne Super will be priced just south of $40K. The main difference between the old CXS and the new Super is under the hood: the CXS Northstar V8 put out 275 hp, while the Super Northstar V8 does 292 hp. Of course, this is a little like... oh
Read MoreThe previous malaise era had its clutch of culprits: OPEC, mismanagement at the Federal Reserve, the Vietnam hangover, the Watergate hangover, the Altamont hangover, the hangover hangover. But blame for Malaise 2.0 is being placed squarely and preemptively on the third developing world. Sure, sure, all was well and good when they were caught up in their quaint revolutionary progroms ambitions and impenetrable caste systems. Back then, our Chinese and Indian brothers on the Big Blue Marble got ar
Read MorePoor little Cobra. From what we can tell from this one screen shot found on the official Iron Man web site, the 427 we saw in the teaser shot of the Iron Man Super Bowl commercial — and then in the full commercial itself — doesn't quite make it out of the film in one piece. Ok, so it's probably obviously just a replica (It may be a big-budget flick, but nobody is THAT careless). Either way, we're saddened by the loss. Maybe Iron Man is just placing old supercars on notice, seeing as he does also
Read MoreAll of this talk about Super Bowl Car Ads has us thinking about our favorite car ads of all time. Though the Iron Man Trailer wasn't a car commercial it did have cars and explosions. The Audi R8 The Godfather spoof was kind of funny. We're sort of partial to the Woz Datsun 280 ZX and its retro campiness. But none of these are all time favorites.
Read MoreThough a few seasons of mismanagement and poor writing has made The Simpsons less relevant over here, they still seem to have enough pull in the European market to help Renault push some of its New Kangoos. We like the quirky looking MPV, so it doesn't offend us that Marge, Lisa, Bart, Homer and Maggie end up enjoying the features of the Kangoo. People gotta make change, even animated people, and most of them do it in other countries where no one will ever see. Last night there was an Arcade Fir
Read MoreSorry, Ford truck fans, I just can't get the age range of this Bronco down to anything narrower than 1970-75. Here's your chance to tell us what year this green machine was made, and how you can tell! This truck lives on the same block as the very evil '73 Caprice wagon, and just looks so shiny and eager by comparison. Remember when the Bronco was small and didn't pretend to offer any sort of luxury? You got a bouncy ride and a straight-six or small V8, and that was it! Hard to believe, but here
Read MoreIt debuted at the Tokyo motor show last October. Now, the BMW 1-Series concept that lit a magnesium fire in our naughty bits is coming to Chicago. Officially, it's the BMW Concept 1-Series tii; unofficially, it's several shades of Teutonic radness. Let me count the ways: It recalls the heady days of mid-period BMW road racing, evokes the original (E30) M3 and cribs its halo from the early '70s BMW 2002 tii. Sure, we found out last week one can accessorize one's way into a similar vee-hickle, but
Read MoreWe've already caught a Korean preview of the new Sonata as it rather slickly though liltingly transforms from the 2008 model to the 2009 version. But now we're gonna catch this revamped mid-size in the flesh, right here at the Chicago Auto Show. This isn't exactly the kind of ride you ooh and aah over, but given that Hyundai is making a serious effort to win over American hearts and minds this week, placing not one but two ad buys during the Super Bowl and pulling the trigger on its downscale-lu
Read MoreGood evening and welcome to a new two-mode hybrid pickup from the maker of many a job boss's chosen executive suite on wheels. It's the 2009 GMC Sierra Hybrid, the latest among gas-electric trucks built like a hunk of lithospheric mineraloids, or so sang one gravel-larynx'd Detroiter. The Sierra follows its corporate cousin the Chevrolet Silverado Hybrid into a still-sketchy market for gas-electric work trucks. GM says its hybrid pickups achieve an average mileage boost of 25% over their all-gas
Read MoreIn case you haven't gotten enough of the 2009 Hyundai Elantra Touring that debuted in Canada, or the slightly disguised one at last year's SEMA in Vegas, we've got the full skinny here. If you don't think they're aiming at the Mazda3 five-door just put your hand in front of the front quarter of the car and see what we see. And in case you didn't get it, they mention in the press release that the car is quieter inside than a, you guessed it, Mazda3.
Read MoreThis is it. It's called the GMC Denali XT Hybrid Concept Truck, and this unibody rear-wheel drive Australian professional grade car-truck action set to be unveiled this week at the Chicago Auto Show is making us excited in a way we haven't been since we saw the first episode of My Name Is Earl. And why shouldn't we be? Everyone knows the El Camino had a GMC version called the Sprint Caballero! GM, knowing of our love of all things car with a truck-bed allowed us, along with the fellow lovers of
Read MoreSo this past week the Chicago Auto Show's official web site launched with little or no fanfare its "unofficial, unfiltered, unedited, auto-show intern blog." The blog's name? "Showlopnik." Such a strange name for a blog about an auto show in Chicago, don't ya think? Showlopnik appears to be the same bile-infused random-musing generating psychotherapeutic attempt at attention-getting that is most of the automotive blogosphere. We feel like they're trying to like, you know, parody the whole zeitge
Read MoreUrban legends. We love 'em, we hate 'em. But of course there's nothing we can do about them, so we generally just let them chug quietly along, slowly promulgating their soft malevolence. Except when they take on a Travis Bickel edge. In the Big Dirty Apple. Then we pay attention. And so, on to our commenter of the day.
Read MoreI thought about maybe sticking with French Car Hell for another day (by the way, the pair of Citröen SMs manhandled the Simca 1000 like Burt Reynolds slapping around his Maserati-owning girlfriend in yesterday's poll), but the descent into Isuzu Pun Hell in yesterday's racing I-Mark post can mean only one thing: All-Isuzu PCH today! You see? You see what happens? You make Isuzu puns, you get Isuzu projects!
Read MoreMitsubishi will show off the facelifted 2009 Mitsubishi Galant at this year's Chicago Auto Show. In addition to the mildly revised sheet metal, the car also gets new taillights and a new grille. The Galant will come in four-cylinder ES and Sport editions, V6 Sport edition and line-topping Ralliart. The Ralliart V6 is of the 3.8-liter MIVEC variety and is good for 258 horsepower. The V6 in the V6 Sport (pictured) is good for 230 horsepower and the four-cylinder model is the 2.5-liter MIVEC that p
Read MoreToyota just dropped a press release which has everyone running to their Tandy's and Apple ]['s to make sure it's still 1987. Scion will be bringing what's called the 2008 Scion tC Release Series 4.0 to the upcoming Chicago Auto Show and will be making them available as of March. The "tC RS 4.0" as the marketeers are calling it, will have an array of "VIP-themed enhancements" such as gray sparkley paint, a body kit, embroidered alcantera seating, fancy steering wheel and shift knob and special ba
Read MoreSure, Junkman has some nice cars in his collection. There's the Honda Coupe 9, the Pontiac-powered Deutsch-Bonnet, and the insane Porsche 356. But something was missing... until Junkman obtained this Chevette-based 1977 Leata Cabalero. Make the jump to hear what he has to say about this beauty!
Read MoreSo Chrysler's new ad campaign isn't the homicidal child take over narrative we'd originally envisioned. The new advertising campaign, which breaks into 55 markets "around the Super Bowl," is focused on showing customers it is a new day for the brand with new value. Mostly, the value focuses on 12 "new" packages offering electronic items like the MyGig entertainment system, DVD navigation and satellite radio at no extra charge. The ads with the demon child are about an animated kid that listens t
Read MoreHaving invested heavily in Jeep slogans and thereby multiplied our sales by four times, we're happy to learn that space travel is going green. Dr. Doug Haynes, of Blue Ridge Airlines, is pleased to announce that he's created the first 100% green form of space travel. The non-polluting Haynes Saucer UFO (a.k.a. the Jetson Mobile), is the answer to all of our spaceflight dreams for 2008. We haven't taken a ride in the Jetson Mobile, so we can't comment on their Cotomer Sevis. The way things are go
Read MoreFirst production Porsche to top 300 kilometers per hour. On its own, a rather impressive standard to bear, but coupled to the tectonic shift in technology necessary to reach that milestone, the Porsche 959 stands as a true engineering masterpiece. The mythic beast that dominated many a boyhood bedroom poster wall came into being during a strange time in Zuffenhausen. Things were bleak for Porsche's traditional rear engine layout—the 924 and 944 were chipping away at the paradigm—and many wondere
Read MoreThere's something a little disappointing about a company releasing still images of their new advertisements. It usually means that said company is either unsure about the final cut or that, more likely, they're trying to double dip their media coverage. Normally, we wouldn't give in to such a thing. But Chrysler's "New Day Celebration" images make a nice, homicidal narrative about the new Cerberus take over. It's like There Will Be Blood, with Robert Nardelli as the Daniel Day-Lewis character.
Read MoreI've been trying to do at least one Japanese DOTS car every week or so, but after two Toyotas in a row (not counting the Plymouth-badged Mitsubishi), it's time for... a Nissan. We've seen one of the last cars Nissan made right before the Datsun-Nissan branding changeover, so now let's look at one of the first ones sold purely as a Nissan in the United States.
Read MoreBecause there aren't enough variants of the Porsche 911 already, TechArt provides us with even more options for the rear-engined sportscar. This new GTstreet Convertible is a variant of a variant of a variant. That means they've taken a 911 Turbo Convertible (which is already a variant of a variant of the 911), and then added all their TechArt flim-flam to it. The end result is a 630 HP, AWD, 214 MPH, open-air adrenaline rush. Photo gallery and press release below the jump.
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