Archive for April 2008

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Buying (18)

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2008 Mazda RX-8, Part Two

Exterior Design:*** The 2008 Mazda RX-8 shows all sorts of pleasing shapes amidst all of that strong idiosyncrasy. It's good clean fun to look at the profile of the front fenders rising slightly above the curve of the hood while you're driving. Molded-in Wankelry on the hood flows nicely into subtle twin speed bumps on roof, but then the line drops into the rear, which is just kind of there. Our test car had the optional chrome Wankelry on the front and rear air dams. Frankly, there are better w
By John Krewson Read More
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2008 Mazda RX-8, Part One

I'm going to go ahead and hazard a marketing-based guess that the good folks at Mazda want me to think of the 2008 Mazda RX-8 40th Anniversary Edition as the culmination of their design and engineering genius. Unfortunately, the first thing going through my mind was that the suicide-doored, rotary-engined little 2+2 is one profoundly and unapologetically weird automobile. And figuring out whether the RX-8 was the refreshing and fun Mitch Hedberg/Lotus Europa/Devo kind of weird or the exhausting
By John Krewson Read More
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2008 Suzuki Swift: Around The Block

When we found out Suzuki had an event with a Euro-only 2008 Suzuki Swift just a short distance from Chicago we jumped at the chance to take it for a quick spin. A volume seller in Europe, Asia and other markets, the Swift has a mostly inglorious past here in the states as the almost indistinguishable cousin of the Geo Metro between 1995 and 2001. Anyone who has driven either might wonder what made us so excited about the prospect of driving this particular Swift. There are two reasons. The first
By Matt Hardigree Read More
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2009 Honda Pilot, Part Three

Why you should buy the 2009 Honda Pilot: You have kids and take them places. Those places include bulk discount stores, the mountains, the beach, Home Depot and lacrosse practice. The utility in SUV appeals more than the style or image. You find the prospect of carrying sheets of plywood bizarrely intriguing. You need to tow, but don't want to buy an otherwise impractical vehicle in order to do so. You think that Ohio deserves just as much of your hard earned as Detroit. Why you shouldn't buy t
By Wes Siler Read More
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2008 Honda Accord Coupe, Part Three

Why you should buy this car: You've always bought Accords and the 2008 Honda Accord Coupe will merely be the latest. You don't know much about cars but you do know that you don't want to buy American. You fit the above criteria, but despite the physical onset of middle age you think you're too young for a four door. In reality, you're just too single. You're on the fast track to middle management and you want people to know it. Why you shouldn't buy this car: You know that driving fast isn't ju
By Wes Siler Read More
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2009 Honda Pilot, Part Two

Exterior Design:*** The 2009 Honda Pilot nicely embodies traditional SUV themes in a package that looks more compact than it actually is and manages to convey an approachability and friendliness lacking in its competitors. Shame it's just a little boring. Interior Design:**** Everything a family needs and more laid out in an intuitive but very buttony way. Plenty of space for eight, although full-size adults may not jump at the opportunity to spend time in the way back, with the middle row
By Wes Siler Read More
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2008 Honda Accord Coupe, Part Two

Exterior Design:** In places the 2008 Honda Accord Coupe is woefully bland, in others awkwardly edgy. And what's with the rubber strip running across the hood? Having said that, it packs space for five and their luggage into a reasonably svelte shape, we suppose that's something. Interior Design:** As seen here in EX-L trim it's possitvly posh. The problem is, the grayish plastic and cornicopia of buttions clash with the nice leather. Too much that you touch is cheap plastic, while what you loo
By Wes Siler Read More
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2009 Honda Pilot, Part One

The 2009 Honda Pilot isn't the fastest or most exciting car to go on sale this year, nor is it the best looking. But, if we're honest with ourselves — which honestly, we aren't very often — it's probably the one we should buy. But that's the problem with honesty, it just isn't very exciting.
By Wes Siler Read More
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2008 Honda Accord Coupe, Part One

The 2008 Honda Accord Coupe isn't immune to road rage. Driving back to Brooklyn on the LIE, scrunched forward on the steering wheel with a back seat full of reasonably-priced, but well-designed Ikea flat pack behind, I'm minding my own business in the middle lane, overtaking the law-abiders on the right but not the flouters on the left when suddenly the Accord's rear view mirror is filled with a chrome Isuzu badge. Not content with making the same progress as everyone else, the Forward Cab drive
By Wes Siler Read More
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2008 Mercury Mariner Hybrid, Part Three

Why you should buy this car: You want a luxury SUV that isn't blinged out or foreign. Your expectation of what luxury entails is fairly low. You don't like driving but you're too lazy to ride a bicycle. You give money to groups that support eco-friendly candidates but you don't actually vote. Why you shouldn't buy this car: You live by the motto "between here and there is better than either here or there." You spent $30,000 on your last five cars, combined. You're holding out for a diesel versi
By Matt Hardigree Read More
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2008 Mercury Mariner Hybrid, Part Two

Exterior Design:*** Whereas the platform buddy Ford Escape never manages to look tough enough and the other derivative, the Mazda Tribute, looks like a child with some sort of neurological condition, the Mercury Mariner Hybrid appears exactly as it should. By far the best looking of the trio, the conservative looks fare well next to luxury SUV offerings from Toyota and Acura. Interior Design:** Compared to the previous generation, the interior of the Mariner is smart and luxurious. The stone-co
By Matt Hardigree Read More
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2008 Mercury Mariner Hybrid, Part One

The full title of this review is "2008 Mercury Mariner Hybrid, Part One or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love my Yuppie Ass" but the kicker wouldn't look good on the page. I do my best to pass myself off as anything-but-a-yuppie. Preferring to rock cheap chinos, a hoody and an Astros cap over J. Crew sweater vests and flat front Banana Republic slacks, but something about the Mariner Hybrid makes me suddenly think about how fly I'd look with the sleeves of my dress shirt exposed while drivi
By Matt Hardigree Read More
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BMW X6, Part Three

Why you should buy this car: Odd vehicles fascinate you. You're open-minded and prepared to accept that a big, tall, heavy SUV can out-drive many a sports car. You always wanted a Lamborghini LM002 but are locked into a world of lease agreements. Your heart says sports car but your head says, "You live at the end of a dirt road in mountains that are snowbound nine months out of the year." Your own personal project car hell is creating the ultimate Dakar racer. Why you shouldn't: You think that
By Wes Siler Read More
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BMW X6, Part Two

Exterior Design: *** Like many parts of the BMW X6, its looks are promising yet flawed. Doing a great job of disguising its bulk — the X6 is huge, that lip on the rear hatch is taller than an F-150's tailgate and the pictured wheels are 20-inchers — they're nevertheless awkward in some places — the huge rear end — and disappointingly conservative in others — the boring front. It's an extremely color sensitive shape; white showing off its surfaces best while the burgundy version is just boring.
By Wes Siler Read More
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2009 BMW X6, Part One

The 2009 BMW X6 isn't great on a racetrack. This thought occurs during my third lap when I realize — the throttle wide open, exiting a corner at 100mph — this may not be the best sports car out there. My next thought is "But this is a 4,993lbs SUV." And that's the point where you realize what we have here is something entirely new.
By Wes Siler Read More
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2008 BMW M3, Part Three

Why you should buy this car: You like power, speed and reliability all wrapped up in a compact, five-seat package. You accept no imitations. You like driving. You loved your Porsche 911, but need room for baby seats. You don't need to brag. Why you shouldn't buy this car: You're likely to ask "What do you mean it doesn't come in 'P***Y Magnet' Yellow?" You think girls are impressed by the size of your wing. You think the internal combustion engine is evil and loathe it in all of its forms, but
By Wes Siler Read More
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2008 BMW M3, Part Two

Exterior Design: *** The 2008 BMW M3 sedan, depending on whom you ask, is either ugly or boring. We think it's a bit of both. But, packing supercar performance into a compact package that won't turn heads is definitely a positive thing. If anything, the M3 isn't subtle enough, we'd take ours — and boy how we'd take one — sans bumps and bulges. We'll add a star for any buyer savvy enough to order theirs with the badge delete option checked. Interior Design: **** One part subtle mixed with one pa
By Wes Siler Read More
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2008 BMW M3, Part One

The 2008 BMW M3 puts the world around it in fast forward. No, this isn't some function hidden deep within the still befuddling iDrive or a secret performance setting achieved by hitting B, A, B, A, Select, Start; just an inherent ability to twist the world over its power dome and past its windscreen at a nearly impossible speed. Neither is this the kind of garden-variety performance achieved by the average big engine, small car formula. Remember how cheesy '80s action shows would speed up the ta
By Wes Siler Read More

Culture (1)

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Commenter Of The Day: Money For Nothing And Your Cars For Free Edition

When we asked you all about your stories of car swapping glory we thought we'd be regaled mostly with tales of old grandmothers with low-mileage muscle cars. We were a little off. It looks like you all have managed to find running cars for about as much money as someone is likely to carry in their change jar. Even better, many of you then turn these cars around for a profit by parting it out. Capitalism, yeah!
By Matt Hardigree Read More

Entertainment (2)

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Top Gear Ground Gear Force: Top Gear Gone Bizarro For UK Charity

Some say he's nothing but a short, funny-looking decorative garden accessory. Others say his best friend is a little bunny rabbit who hops on by. All we know is, he's not the Stig — he's a garden gnome. That's right, the Brit-boy threesome of Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May stepped back from their adventures in high horsepower for a bit of charity work on the Beeb last month. The hosts of the world's greatest motoring show in all the world took a run at resurrecting the greatest g
By Matt Hardigree Read More
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Jay Leno On Top Gear America: I Hope We Don't Ruin It

It looks like Jay Leno has some apprehensions about Top Gear America, and we're guessing he hasn't even seen the poorest imitation yet. In his column for The Sunday Times, he lists the reasons why he thinks the program is doomed (and he doesn't even mention Adam Corolla as host). Most importantly, he thinks the show is going to lose the edge it has because it'll bow to sponsors who don't like having their cars criticized. In addition, he feels as though the show is going to be produced by people
By Matt Hardigree Read More

News (244)

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Commenter Of The Day: Hammertime Edition

Things you may not have known about MC Hammer. He used to work for the Oakland A's as a batboy. He was honorably discharged from the Navy. He was born Stanley Kirk Burrell. When he was at his peak he purchased the the following items: $75K worth of mirrors for his bathroom, recording studio, $2 million in Italian marble for floor-to-ceiling marble walls, bowling alley, a stop sign engraved "Hammertime!," basketball courts, gold chains for his rotweilers, a DeLorean, Etruscan sculpture, thoroughb
By Matt Hardigree Read More
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A Commenting Class On Commenting Class

Al Navarro is a co-founder of Mint Advertising, an independent advertising agency in New Jersey. On occasion we ask him to talk about certain topics in advertising. Today's not one of those days. Today he's talking about something even more near and dear to his heart — Jalopnik. He also drives a Caterham Superlight R (albeit for just a few more weeks), so don't front. I've been hanging around the halls of the Jalopnik for nearly 2 years now. And I've seen a lot of writers and commenters come an
By Ray Wert Read More
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Proposed Gas Tax Holiday Panned As Gimmick; Also, Water Is Wet

Floating around the policy wonk-o-sphere and on the front page of most of the news dailies today is this idea of a temporary holiday on Federal gas taxes for the summer driving season. Presidential candidates Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-copycat) have hopped on the "good idea" bandwagon, while Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) rides on the "not-so-good idea" wagon-for-one. Analysts at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, along with Greg Mankiw, former chairman of George W. Bush's
By Ben Wojdyla Read More
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Volkswagen Builds 300 HP Scirocco For Nürburgring 24-Hour Race

A lot of people think VW's upcoming Scirocco could use a little more oomph under the hood. The stock engines are rated from 122 HP to 200 HP, but this new version has a 300 HP version of the 2.0-liter TFSI inline-four. That's because the car has been race-prepped specifically for next month's 24-hour endurance race at the Nürburgring.
By Mark Arnold Read More
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Randy Moss To Start NASCAR Truck Team And No, We're Not Joking

Randy Moss, the man who combined with Tom Brady to give us quite the fantasy football season last year (and, apparently, helped take the Patriots to the Super Bowl), is going to be starting a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series team. Fox Sports is reporting that Moss hopes to get the team running in races later this year in advance of a full 2009 season. At the moment he lacks a manufacturer, a driver and a sponsor. But he's Randy Moss, so that doesn't much matter. Plus, if Dan Marino and Troy Aikman
By Matt Hardigree Read More
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Chinese One-Ups Hippies, Clowns By Tight Rope Driving

The Chinese really knows who calls the shots around the world, and it's obviously the tight-rope walking hippies, clowns and unicyclists. Liu Suozhu, better known as the Car King, managed to drive what appears to be some kind of a Chinese Sentra knock-off across 750 feet of steel wire while thousands of spectators watched. You know the only reason people goto air shows is to see a crash—this is kind of the same thing, but the Chinese crowd of thousands left the event disappointed as Suozhu didn'
By Travis Hudson Read More
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Engine Of The Day: Mercedes-Benz OM617 5-Cylinder Diesel

Could the OM617 be the most reliable automobile engine ever made? A very good case could be made for it, although its successors haven't been around long enough for us to judge whether they might be even better. Sure, diesel engines have the advantage of using a fuel that is itself a lubricant, and they generally operate at lower RPM ranges than gasoline engines... but once you get past 500,000 miles (as so many 70s and 80s Mercedes-Benzes powered by the OM617 have done), that line of argument l
By Murilee Martin Read More
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Maserati Bellagio, A Coachbuilt Quattroporte Wagon

Being shown off at the same Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este where the BMW M1 Homage was recently unveiled, is this tasty Maserati Quattroporte wagon-ization. Though perhaps with the addition of the hatchback, we should call it a Cinqueporte. But you can call it whatever you want, we just love the way it looks. Designed and constructed by Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera, the Bellagio has a swooping fastback rear end that's tapered oh so delicately as opposed to a traditionally squared-off wagon
By Mark Arnold Read More
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Forget Barrett-Jackson: Dozens Of '70 And '71 Thunderbirds Going For Peanuts

Since helping our Czech friend BobAsh get a Malaise Corvette from California to his homeland was so easy, I agreed to keep an eye open for a nice Crown Victoria Police Interceptor for him. After all, roaring through the streets of Prague in a genuine California cop car would be almost as much fun as roaring through the streets of San Francisco in a genuine Tatra 603. Last weekend I stopped by the auction yard at which I bought my Crown Vic a few years back, and found that the inventory included
By Murilee Martin Read More
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1964 Mercury Comet Cyclone, With Bonus Mercury Poll

I enjoy the nice, shiny, well-preserved cars in this series, of course, but I really love me some beaters! Cars that haven't been coddled for one minute of their decades-long lives! This Cyclone is one of my all-time favorite Alameda cars; an original 289/4-speed machine, it's been roaring around the island for at least the last 15 years and probably longer. It sounds good, looks mean, and lives on a busy street. Sure, it's slowly rusting away, but it's got decades to go before the slow-motion C
By Murilee Martin Read More
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2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8, Reviewed

While Dodge won't even return our phone calls (something to do with this as well as insinuating Bob "The Builder" Nardelli tried to change the name of Home Depot to Home Despot), our friends at the magazine that finds being Popular just as important as being Mechanics did get a chance to drive the Ram-headed brand's new muscular pony car — the 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8. The gist of what they had to say, below the jump:
By Matt Hardigree Read More
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Eleanor Has Competition With The Obsidian SG-1

When Gone in Sixty Seconds came out in 2000, the Mustang which held the lead role as "Eleanor" became an overnight sensation. You couldn't throw dead blow hammer without hearing someone compare a car to Eleanor. The brutish fastback was just the right mix of vintage and modern. In that vein, the Obsidian SG-1 is a car as modern as anything on the road, but maintaining a throwback look. Originally a puke green '67 fastback, the SG-1 (which does not travel through wormholes to faraway planets) is
By Ben Wojdyla Read More
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Commenter Of The Day: The Marshall Plan Edition

After World War II we were faced with the growing threat of communism and the shrunken economies of Western Europe. Equally as important, there were all sorts of countries that were going to need help rebuilding their awesome auto industries. Americans loved their Italian, (West) German, British, French and other European cars. Thus The Marshall Plan was born. We spent billions in Europe and, not only did they end up mostly loving us for a time, they gave us Ferraris, Bimmers and Citroens galore
By Matt Hardigree Read More
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PCH, European Pain Edition: Borgward Hansa Wagon Or Peugeot 304?

We had another nail-biter yesterday, with the Subaru XT6 edging out the BRAT by a 234 to 228 vote count in the Choose Your Eternity poll. We're going to declare that one a tie, and that's a good thing; after all, what's Hell without difficult choices? Today we're going to park a pair of European machines just inside the gates of Hades, where they will beckon enticingly to you with their only-one-in-town obscurity and double-take-inspiring appearance. It's lots of fun having an oddball car whose
By Murilee Martin Read More
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100 MPG Or Bust: Motive Industries Release Renderings Of Their X PRIZE Entrant

At the Automotive X PRIZE debut party at the NY Auto Show there were a few interesting prototypes of cars their makers believed could meet the Auto X PRIZE requirements of making a marketable vehicle that gets 100 miles per gallon of dinojuice. The folks from Motive Industries were around to talk-up their proposed Battery Exchange Hybrid Electric Vehicle (BEHEV), which we think uses a small electric motor to create the energy needed to power the electric motors. Now we have renderings and a quas
By Matt Hardigree Read More
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Something To Th!nk About Regarding The Coming (Hopefully) Green Vehicle Revolution

When we heard that Th!nk was coming to America our cynicism censors immediately lit up. Is this the same Th!nk that failed here before, went bankrupt, had their electric bike recalled and has annoying punctuation in their name? Yes. But they got that sweet sweet Kleiner Perkins VC money, right? True, that money has yet to produce a commercially successful car. The interesting history of all that below.
By Matt Hardigree Read More
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1973 Plymouth Satellite Readies For B-Body Afterlife

A supporting actor in countless Malaise Era cop movies and TV shows, the 4-door early-70s Plymouth Satellite has just about disappeared from American streets by now... and now the number of street-driven Satellites has been reduced by one. I found this example (painted in the Malaise color I'm going to call Diminished Expectations Blue) in a local self-service junkyard. Can you just imagine this thing with a gumball machine on top, screeching through turns in a frenzy of understeer during pursui
By Murilee Martin Read More
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2008 Mustang Shelby GT500KR, Reviewed

While we haven't had a chance to drive the new 2008 Mustang Shelby GT500KR, others have. Our friends at Popular Mechanics spent some time behind the wheel of the new Shelby GT500KR and have come away with some driving impressions of the purported "King of the Road." After reading their final take on the KR as well as those from other outlets, we're beginning to think maybe "Prince" might have been a better name for it. Unless of course "King" is being used to mean "King's Ransom" — then the nami
By Ray Wert Read More
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1970 Chevrolet El Camino 454 Super Sport

Though many have been entered and some have been trimmed, we have only one space left in the Jalopnik Fantasy Garage. One more bay into which we may slide any dream machine we can think of. To this point it has been a journey of discovery, history, humor, debate, outrage and delight, but still there remains only one spot. This final place has been reserved in our plans for a long time though. Despite the stereotypes held in the public eye about this car, we could choose no other to cap off this
By Ben Wojdyla Read More
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2010.5 Ford F-150 Diesel Mule

Remember how we told you about those leaks from the Ford dealer conference earlier this month indicated the 2010 Ford F-150 would get that shiny new 4.4L V8 diesel engine? Well, spy photog to the car and truck stars, Brenda Priddy, claims she's got this photo of a 2010.5 (that half means it's either half the truck Ford thinks it is or it means it'll be a mid-model year refresh) Ford F-150 mule with that big, new diesel under the hood. Why does she think it's the diesel engine mule? Well, it's th
By Matt Hardigree Read More
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RENNtech Sends Us Funny Pictures, We Talk About Their Brakes

Apparently RENNtech has snagged themselves some genius advertising folks, because they sent us some pictures of their new and hugemongous 16.2" cross drilled and vented two piece front rotors - along with a P-shopped image of a Dominos Pizza for reference. The combination of breathtakingly huge rotors squeezed by eight piston calipers and delicious pizza is a fantastic idea, assuming the pads are asbestos free. For formality sake, they lose points for not displaying the actual Dominos Brooklyn-s
By Ben Wojdyla Read More
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1982 Mazda 626 Luxury

I must admit that the Mazda 626 has spent its entire existence without really registering on my personal automotive radar screen. A generic-looking Mazda sedan with no rotary? Yet the first-generation 626 sold quite well and gained a reputation for reliability... and now most of them are gone forever, fed into the ravenous jaws of The Crusher. So even though it's no AE86 or RX-7, this car has earned DOTS status by surviving everyday use for 26 hard years.
By Murilee Martin Read More
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Project Car Hell, 80s Subaru Edition: BRAT Or XT6?

We saw the Gremlin beat the Spirit by quite a margin in our last Choose Your Eternity poll. Maybe it was the Wayne's World connection, or maybe it was just the obscurity of the AMC Spirit. Either way, we're going to follow up a pair of quirky American machines with a pair of equally quirky Japanese machines. Sure, Subaru is plenty mainstream in North America these days, but remember when Subarus just seemed vaguely weird, say a couple decades back? When you only saw the little boxer-powered cars
By Murilee Martin Read More
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Porsche Carrera GT Eats It While Driving Onto Trailer

Here we find a perfect example as to why using those 2x8's you've got lying around behind the shed to load a half million dollar Porsche Carrera GT is a bad idea. We're not positive of the categorization here, but "epic fail" might be as close as we can get for everybody involved in setting up this cringe-worthy scenario. You can almost hear the carbon fiber chassis going all crunchy right at the end. Ouch. [VideoMax (NSFW banner ads)]
By Ben Wojdyla Read More
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1970 Porsche Tapiro Concept

Does the BMW M1 Homage concept we saw yesterday try just a little too hard to impress? Does a bear shit in the woods? The gaping maw of modern styling is chewing through heritage designs at an astonishing rate, and starting to look at eras not often remembered fondly for its great cars. Just because the malaise era produced blasé cars doesn't mean there wasn't cool styling. It was 1970 and a young Giorgetto Giugiaro had joined Ital Design and, as his fourth concept car, produced the Porsche Tapi
By Ben Wojdyla Read More
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Tryane II Continues March Of Wooden Cars

Take a look at those wheels — the three lugs are a dead giveaway as to what lies beneath the slippery hand crafted exterior. That's right, the Tyrane II started life as a Citroen 2CV but its obviously much modified from the original. Builder Friend Wood, no we're not kidding, started work on the car by removing one side of the rear suspension and repositioning the other to the center of the car. A mahogany veneer body was then fashioned over a mold using the cold molding technique from boat buil
By Ben Wojdyla Read More
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Engine Of The Day: Toyota A

The Toyota R and its amazing 43-year run make it tough for other Toyota engines to grab the spotlight, even in the case of an engine family that was born in 1978 and is still being manufactured today. The Toyota A certainly deserves some attention, having been dropped into everything from snoreworthy econoboxes to screamin' factory hot rods. Corollas, Camrys, MR2s, Tercels, Celicas; if Toyota (or, in some cases, GM) made it, chances are it could be had with some flavor of A engine. The A has bee
By Murilee Martin Read More
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10 Strangest Cars Revealed At The 2008 Beijing Motor Show

The Beijing Motor Show traditionally warrants nothing more than a collective "meh" from the mainstream automotive media, but it certainly caught our attention this year. Bigger and better than ever, automakers from China and abroad have done everything to bring attention to their cars but put a gigantic stuffed elephant in one. Oh, no, wait. They've done that, too. But why shouldn't they show off — as the Chinese market continues to mature into it's teenage years, we've watched it shed some of t
By Matt Hardigree Read More
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The Japanese Convert JDM Boxes Into American Iron

Apparently, the custom van fad of the '70s never died in Japan. But what if you want all the style of a vintage American full-size, but you need the efficiency and small size of a Japanese econobox? Well, do what these guys did, and convert the front end to look just like a Dodge or Chevy Van. Auto-Otaku found these custom creations at the Japanese Mooneyes Street Car Nationals, a gathering of all kinds of American iron in the land of the rising sun. Besides the vans, there were also a couple JD
By Mark Arnold Read More
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Kirk Kerkorian: Mad Money Or Just Mad?

We got a call early this morning with someone telling us that Kirk Kerkorian and Tracinda had just moved to buy more of FoMoCo. Having endured a late night, we promptly fell back asleep. Upon waking up we had to run to the computer to double check that wasn't some sort of weird dream (like the one where Bob Lutz hunts us with a crossbow). Turns out it wasn't. When it is all over, Tracinda will own 120 million shares of Ford common stock. KirkKerk is putting up a price of $8.50, or 13.3% over Fri
By Matt Hardigree Read More
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Beijing 700R Inherits Sleek Design, Annoying Alphanumericism Of Western Sports Cars

Another day, another set of pics of a could-be Chinese supercar. As with the Soueast X1 and other concepts, this car doesn't appear to have a motor or, likely, even an interior. Still, it is nice to see BAW, which produces the Hummer Jeep, come up with their own concept. Though it borrows a little here and there from Aston Martin and Lexus, we have to give it credit for its athletic proportions and special touches. We especially like the air inlets, which are integrated into the lights and inclu
By Matt Hardigree Read More
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1941 Chevrolet Pickup Truck

Here's a truck I'd been seeing around town for months, but was never able to capture holding still long enough to photograph for this series; another such vehicle is a powder-blue BMW 1500 that taunts me on a regular basis. Clearly, the owner of such vehicles drive them every day (very much in the spirit of DOTS) but they park them on obscure streets or- worse yet- in garages. Thwarted! Finally, I spotted the ol' green Chevy truck parked outside a popular dog park in the island's West End.
By Murilee Martin Read More
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2011 Ford Super Duty Engine Mule Shows Off Replacement To Stroking?

Yes, we know that looks like a current F-350 Super Duty, but clearly we've been told it's not. Why else would we spend money on buying these photos? Is it because we're gullible and will believe anything Brenda Priddy tells us to believe. Perhaps. Or perhaps it's because we believe what she's telling us — that picture is actually the 2011 Ford Super Duty engine under all that 2008 Super Dutifulness. The engine, supposedly called the "Scorpion," is a 6.7-liter V8 diesel designed to replace the cu
By John Krewson Read More
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BMW M1 Homage Concept Revealed!

Remember the BMW M1 from the late 70's and early 80's? Sure, we all do — how could someone forget the only BMW mid-engined homologated racer? Well, for you fans of that MotorWorken hotness, we've got an exciting bit of news out of the Concorso d'Eleganza at Villa d'Este, an Italian gathering hosting precious metal from all over the world. The Germans suprised everyone by bringing a piece of racing hotness hearkening back to those halcyon days of the late 70's — kind of a thirtieth anniversary pr
By Mark Arnold Read More
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Suzuki SX4 First American Car Under $16K With Standard Nav, Take That SYNC

Ford has been able to move a lot of their crappy Focus coupes and sedans with their Ford SYNC powered by Microsoft entertainment system, which does everything but let you forget you're driving a Focus. But, as we mentioned, Microsoft and Garmin have teamed up to provide systems for other automakers. The first car to get this treatment standard is the FWD Suzuki SX4 sport/crossover, which clocks in at under $16K (the AWD version is slightly higher than $16K). The new system, called TRIP, will off
By Matt Hardigree Read More
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Commenter Of The Day: The Right Stuff Edition

Chuck Yeager is kind of insane, and not just because he supported Duncan Hunter for president (though, seriously, c'mon). A man of great courage and, literally, phenomenal vision, he was one of the first pilots to shoot down a jet aircraft. He once took out two aircraft without a single shot by spooking them into flying into each other. He was chosen to break the sound barrier in the X-1 jet because the original pilot demanded $150,000 before he'd complete the task. If you've seen the film or re
By Matt Hardigree Read More
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Might We Interest You In A 3,800 HP Jet Powered Motorcycle?

Holy. Sweet. Fireballs. We thought that twin Rolls Royce powered Star Raider was nuts (and a bit on the geeky side), but take one of those engines, put it on two wheels, add a freakin' afterburner and you get this jet powered drag bike. Yet again we are in awe of the Aussie ability to assuage common sense in favor of unadulterated holy-shit-awesome. Mad Ron Laycock is the father of this beast, a contraption still in the works but able to toss some serious flames, we cannot fathom the idea of run
By Ben Wojdyla Read More
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Blastolene B702

Sneaky Pete got us thinking about Blastolene cars and we were shocked to discover we had never really talked about the Blastolene B-702 before. Sure Murilee referenced it when talking about its epic 702 cubic inch GMC Twin Six V12, but what about the car itself? The B-702 is a hand-crafted super sized monster with an aluminum body stretched over wood supports, hand fabricated interior, and a prominently featured plate glass grille. That giant V12 turns out 650 lb.ft. of torque at only 850 rpm.
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CBS' Doyel Rules IRL Isn't Real Racing, Danica Is "Junior Varsity"

We all know what Pedro de la Rosa thinks about women in motorsport. Now, we've got CBS Sports' Gregg Doyel weighing in on Danica Patrick's win, proclaiming the Indy Racing League to be an inferior racing series. Most people will agree the IRL isn't the highest pinnacle of motorsports, but Doyel thinks
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2010 Cadillac CTS Wagon

While we're not entirely sure of the year nor the designation — we're pretty sure what we've got here is what we've been talking about for quite some time now. Yes, that appears to be a wagon-ized version of the already popular Cadillac CTS. We are going to hazard a guess that if it's being built starting next spring it'll have to be a 2010 CTS Wagon. Of course, with the current guess of the Cadillac CTS coupe bear a designation of "CTC" we're thinking maybe the General could name this big-in-th
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What Would It Take To Get You Into A Modern Mid-Sized Sedan?

With photos of the 2009 Mazda6 for the US dropping today it got us thinking about the modern, under $30K mid-sized sedan market. Having driven a Ford Taurus SE for a while, we're not all too keen on driving another one of these vehicles anytime soon. As "nice" a car as it may be, not even a Tony Stewart Edition would make the new Camry something we'd be jumping at the chance to own. Some say the 2008 Honda Accord looks BMW-esque but a BMW it ain't. We're intrigued by the Altima coupe, but that's
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2009 Porsche 911 Details Leaked!

Someone just let slip loose on the internet all of the details for the changes we'll see to the entire 2009 Porsche 911 lineup, including the accompanying information on when that data was supposed to be released. Let's just say that in some cases, this info isn't supposed to see the light of day for months. Of course after this bit of seepage, we're pretty sure those dates are going to move up. So, how is the new 2009 911 different from the 2008 Porsche 911? Well, to start with, the new generat
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Elliasson Puts His BMW Art Car On Ice, Suck It Lichtenstein

There's apparently some competition for the Frozen Chevy Nova installation in our ongoing quest for the best piece of ice-based conceptual automotive art pieces. The latest entry comes from Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Elliasson, who has been one of our favorite artists since his The Weather Project at the Tate, which is maybe our favorite contemporary installation (take that FelixGonzalez-Torres). This one involved removing the shell of a BMW H2 racer and replacing it with reflective metal an
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2009 Corvette ZR1 Power Numbers Finalized: LS9 V8 Hits 638 HP!

We got a release from the folks at the General yesterday, and we were told we could run it at midnight-plus-one, but then we forgot about it. These things happen, you know. We mean, who gets excited about something as fait accompli as the 2009 Corvette ZR1 getting just over 620 HP? Well, if your answer is everyone, you're probably right. And why shouldn't we be excited about Zee new Really fast One from Chevy? Especially since they've now got officially certified power ratings on that beautiful
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1971 Chrysler Newport Royal, With DOTS Of The Week Poll

I've found quite a few early-70s big Chryslers on the island, including this '71 Newport 4-door, so it's time to get another one of of these Detroit survivors its day of fame. I found this '71 Newport Royal 2-door hardtop in the same neighborhood as the '42 Pontiac Torpedo, and it parks on the street every day- no garage coddling for this C-body!
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2009 Mazda6 Unveiled For North America

Mazda today released the first photos of the 2009 Mazda6. Clearly embracing Ford's kinetic design, this new generation sedan looks more like the Ford Mondeo than the previous generation's Mazda6. According to the company, this vehicle will go on sale at the end of summer 2008. How does our version differ from the European Mazda6? First, the North American model is slightly larger than the other version with handing and comfort designed for American road conditions (whatever that means). In addit
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PCH, Six-Banger Kenosha Malaise Edition: Spirit Or Gremlin?

With today's Engine of the Day being the AMC inline six, it seemed only good and proper that we have a Choose Your Eternity dilemma featuring a pair of vehicles powered by that fine powerplant. It's also good to have a couple of American cars, which I really can't use very often in this series because the stuff out of Detroit is too simple and parts obtainment is too easy to make for true hell. Not so with Kenosha products, though- even though the drivetrain parts are easy to find (thanks to the
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Nick Heidfeld Shows Us What NOT To Do While Demonstrating The BMW Sauber F1 Car

BMW thought it would be a good idea to bring out the new Sauber F1 car for a bit of fun at the BMW plant in Munich. Why not halt ze making of ze Bimmers for a few minutes and give the 5,000 or so workers a little entertainment? Well, we can think of a reason. BMW's driver Nick Heidfeld zooms down the strasse and does a donut for the crowd yesterday without incident. Apparently pleased with himself, he guns that big engine and heads down the street for an encore. This is where things start to fal
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1935 Monaco Trossi Is 16 Cylinders Of Radial Engine Awesome

When we showed off the Moto Guzzi version of the three-wheel Blackjack, commenter superstar DoctorNine dropped an image into the thread that had us running for the history books. Built by Augusto Monaco and Carlo Felice Trossi, the 1935 Monaco Trossi is a front engined beast designed to race in Grand Prix, but due to terrifying driving dynamics never did. The engine is an eight bank, 16-cylinder radial air-cooled 2-cycle, 3982cc engine with two Zoller superchargers. The whole shebang was good fo
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1976 AMC Matador Brings A Taste Of Kenosha Malaise To Denver's Streets

We're being buried under a deluge of car photos from Kitt and EJacobs, our dog-walking, camera-wielding friends in Denver, so we'd better keep 'em coming if we're ever going to get caught up. Today we're going to look at a battered but proud Malaise Matador, courtesy of Kitt. We can't be sure that this car is equipped with today's Engine of the Day, but there's a good chance a torquey AMC 258 motivates this survivor; otherwise it has a 304, 360, or 401.
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Revive The Cassette With New-Fangled MP3 Technology!

Admit it, more than a few of you still own a car with a cassette deck. Despite the plethora of audio options currently available in new models, you shouldn't feel ashamed in any way for your retro coolness. Because not only are cassette decks still worthy, with this Car Cassette MP3 Player, it'll be like you've revitalized and refurbed that deck with the latest in 90's audio technology. And it's a two-for-one, because this isn't just an MP3 player shaped like an old-school cassette, it also oper
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2009 Audi A3 Lineup Revealed

Audi has released an entire lineup of its freshened 2009 A3 lineup — the 2009 Audi A3, A3 Sportback and the much-more-fun 2009 Audi S3, and S3 Sportback. We're in a bit of information overload here, with a ton of new information and photos on the slightly angrier, slightly more powerful and probably all-around better lineup. What does Audi expect, the new A3/S3 lineup sports eight engines, three transmissions, a new magnetic ride and handling control system, remodeled interiors and restyled exte
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Carroll Shelby Buys A Replica, Will He Sue Himself?

Just about every time Carroll Shelby smells merely a whiff of somebody using the name "Shelby" or "Cobra" or "Automobile" without paying through the nose for it his permission, ol' Shel' slaps em' with a good old 'merican-style lawsuit. Remember the case against Wilhelm Motor Works? There was even a suit against the Shelby American Automobile Club. So between all the replica Shelby Mustangs and Cobras out there, Carroll must be too busy taking people to court to even consider buying any of their
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What's The Least You've Ever Paid For A Car?

In many cases, we don't choose our first cars. Our first cars are sometimes chosen for us as a sort of hand-me-down. The great Mercedes diesel sedan that got me through so much of high school was not necessarily up for a trip to college and, therefore, the family car shuffle resulted in an early 1990's Escort hatchback loaded to the gills with posters, clothing, computer peripherals and hope. But mostly computer peripherals. It was a great car for what it was; the stock five-speed transmission p
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Humvee-Based Coggiola T-REX Makes Escalades Tremble

Tired of all those Escalade, Cayenne, and H2 drivers looking down on you from their suburban luxo-ute towers? Well, we've just the vehicle for you to one-up them with. This Hummer H1-based monstrosity is called the Coggiola T-REX. Standing over 7-feet tall and nearly 18-feet long, it is absolutely massive. And what's better, this dinosaur is up for bids! Sure, anyone could just buy a surplus Humvee if size was all that mattered, so what makes the T-REX special? It's all about the fine Italian st
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2010 Audi S4 To Reveal New Supercharged V6

It looks like Audi's got a V6 planned for the next generation of the S4. Yes, if Car und Driver's sources are correct, the 2010 Audi S4 will get an all-new forced-induction 3.0-liter V6 — potentially wearing the designation of 3.0T — under the hood. The big buff book believes this new supercharged V6 will generate somewhere close to the 340 horses found in the soon-to-be-late S4's 4.2-liter V8. If the strategy works, the manny-tranny S4's fuel economy would see a boost of 20%. What's that you sa
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Canadian Man Blames Lost Chrysler Data Tape For Irrational Identity Theft Fears

A man from the Canadian city-to-the-south-of-Detroit, Windsor, Ontario, is miffed at Chrysler (or more likely Chrysler Financial Canada) for losing a data tape and potentially making the possibility of identity theft happen sooner rather than later. Seems a tape containing the names, addresses and Social Insurance Numbers of some Canuckian Chrysler lessees was lost in transport by UPS. The carrier informed Chrysler of the loss by March 12th, and in turn, letters to folks with compromised identit
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McLaren's Pedro De La Rosa Thinks Women Are Too Weak To Race In F1

With all the buzz over Danica Patrick wiping the floor at Twin Ring Motegi in Japan last weekend, it's easy to forget there's other talented females engaged in various forms of motorsport across the world. Just look at Michèle Mouton's rally career — multiple wins in her Audi Quattro and finishing a close second place in the 1982 WRC championship. So you know that the girls can go just as fast as the boys — and as we saw this past weekend, sometimes faster. So this ultimately leads to the questi
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1969 Ford Mustang

Alameda has quite a few 1960s Mustangs on the street, but our last one was months ago. This '69 always parks on the street (not far from the '60 Studebaker Lark), though it's usually under a car cover. However, it does get regular driving use, as I learned when I talked to the owner (who says he gets offers on the car from other drivers at stoplights).
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2008 Saab 9-3 Convertible Yellow Edition: Saab Builds Another Wasp-Looking Drop-Top

Apparently the angry brand born from jets has a little bit of a secret — when it comes to pretty, happy and sunny colors, Saabophiles everywhere see the color yellow as some kind of a "code word." No, it's not like a foot-tapping-in-a-stall kind of thing — and we're pretty sure it's not a "P***y Magnet" kind of thing. No, apparently they just think "extra sunny" when they see it. That's what we're told anyway in the new release from the General's little Swedish meatball of a brand. While we're n
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PCH, No Escape From Engine-Swapped Porsches Edition: VR6 914 Or Corvair 912?

Perhaps you breathed a sigh of relief after Chevy-Powered Porsche Hell was over with, figuring that (with the small-block-motivated 911 winning so decisively) you would be spared the temptation of a hacked-up Porsche sporting a non-Stuttgart engine for quite a while. However Project Car Hell doesn't work that way; just because you were able to walk past the fiery gates once doesn't mean you won't be lured right back in by the same kind of bait! That's why we're returning to Porsche Engine Swap H
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Cyclists Want Hood-Mounted External Airbags

The Dutch Cycling Federation in the Netherlands is boldly approaching car manufacturers and requesting hood-mounted external airbags on all vehicles. It's either that or they're going to have to stop running into cyclists (which will never happen). We're not going to get into the "roads are for cars" debate because we're sure the commenters will touch on that, but it's not a terribly horrible demand by the cyclists (Actually, it IS a terribly horrible demand by the cyclists and Travis regrets ev
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1982 AMC Eagle, Claimed Rust Free

Like the Minotaur or the Griffin, the idea of a rust free AMC Eagle is one of legend, impossibility, sillyness even. Though these tanks posing as cars were the forerunners to todays crossover, and sported big AMC I6's, all-wheel-drive, and seriously crazy ride characteristics, they were not known for their corrosion resistance. So how is this pristine, Cincinnati-area 1982 Eagle two door dressed in a fine shade of 80's brown in such good condition? Well it's been stored in a barn for the last 16
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The Amphibious Platypus Jeep

If you're hankering for a wheeled amphibious vehicle with assault potential but don't want something as big as the DUKW, perhaps this custom Jeep will do. Built by the folks at the Amphibious Vehicle Design Studio, the Platypus Jeep is a paragon of on-road and in-water capabilities. The floating four-wheeler runs with a turbo diesel engine and is capable of 110 KPH on the road and 10.5 KPH in the water. The hull is designed to work in wave heights up to 1.5 meters and bottoms with a slight 0.75
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Engine Of The Day: Subaru EJ

Long after Volkswagen gave up on the boxer-four engine configuration, Subaru keeps getting more and more power out of the design with their EJ engine series. Starting in 1989 and continuing through the present day, the 4-valve-per-cylinder EJ has been made in SOHC and DOHC form, with displacements ranging from 1.5 liters to 2.5 liters. Power outputs from the EJ run the gamut from double-digit figures to "How much money you got?" with the WRX versions reaching the magical 300-horse figure right f
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Daimler Tugs Soviet Buran Spaceship, Self

Talk about burying the lead. Recently, parts of a Soviet era Buran spacecraft were floated down the Rhine river to Speyer, Germany, assembled on site, and transported to the Technik-Museum. Daimler took advantage of the tugging operation to put out a breathless press release about their Actros SLT 4160 8x6/4 heavy-duty transport tractor. Okay, the truck is pretty badass, sporting four axles where two steer and three are driven and the whole thing has a rated towing capacity of 500T. But come on
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Geely GF Formula Racer Is Actually Real

When we first showed you a rendering of the Geely formula car, details were unavailable on what exactly it would be. We scoffed and expected nothing more than a semi-functional fiberglass F1-wannabe. But it turns out Geely actually turned up to the Beijing Motor Show with a relatively impressive machine. While it's not going to be racing in Formula One, it will be raced in Formula Geely, an Asia-only spec-series. How close is it to F1 specifications?
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The Splinter All-Wood Supercar Is Real, Not Giant Fictional Ninja Rat

When we first saw the Splinter wooden supercar back in February, it was one of those "oh yeah, right, a wooden supercar, whatever" situations. We thought the Splinter was a flight of fancy — nothing more than crazy auto-loving NC State kids being crazy auto-loving NC State kids. We were wrong. Splinter's just made the leap from pine-scented vaporware to real life parts and assemblies. We're just as shocked as you are. It seems Joe Harmon and his associates have been hard at work actually build
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Marital Infidelity Prompts All-Triumph Car Chase

When you're caught in flagrante delicto by your special lady's husband and have to flee on foot while dressed in a towel, you might breathe a sigh of relief when you discover he plans to chase you in a Triumph Stag; after all, the timing chains probably won't hold out as long as your legs. But then, in one of those cruel twists of fate that seemed all too common in Malaise Britain, you find yourself in the waking nightmare of being forced to choose another Triumph in which to make your getaway!
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The New Subaru EE20 Boxer Turbo Diesel, In Detail

We've known about the new Subaru diesel for some time now, but we haven't had a real good walkthrough of this first-to-market boxer turbodiesel. You know, the whole shebang — specs, dimensions, power, transmissions, tricks. It's high time we rectified that. Luckily, TechOn did a sit-down with the chief engineers of the program a little while ago and got the whole kit, caboodle and whatever else goes along with it. What we came away with — other than a severe case of information overload — is tha
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1977 Fiat 124 Sport Spider

Once I found the Fiat Strada, I knew I'd have to be able to find a 124 somewhere on the island. Sure enough, on the same block as the aquamarine '65 Impala, here was this fine example of Italian Malaise. These things used to be quite common on the island (as were MGBs), but... well, you know the rest of that story.
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Forget The Spoiler: Your Van Needs Bat Wings!

Yet more proof that nobody can outdo the Japanese when it comes to wild-ass vehicle modifications comes courtesy of this photo sent to us by reader Nathan. You got your Dekotoras, and now you got the BatVan! That means it's time for some Melt-Banana, so make the jump and crank up your speakers.
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2009 Infiniti FX50 Gets Reviewed, Shaken But Not Stirred By Popular Mechanics

Infiniti brought their brand new FX45-replacing bag to the Geneva Motor Show in the form of an all new FX, the 2009 Infiniti FX50. While we didn't get a chance to check out the new 390-hp and 369 lb.-ft. o' torque being put out by that new big n' shiny V8 as well as what's purportedly a much less brittle ride, the Mechanics who are always quite Popular did. So what did they think? Well, they dug the new interior, and the ride and handling were apparently much smoother than the last FX-branded SU
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Commenter Of The Day: Harry Lime Edition

Any list of great WWII films is going to include Casablanca, From Here To Eternity or The Longest Day. All great films and deserving of placement on such a list. But there's one film that sticks out in our mind today. Written by Graham Greene and directed by Carol Reed, The Third Man explores the tenuous environment in post-war Vienna, which was split into zones managed by the French, Russians British and Americans. In addition to an exciting mystery and noirish love story, the film is also an e
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Engine Of The Day: Volvo Red Block

Even though I just replaced a perfectly good Volvo B23 engine with a Ford 302, that doesn't mean I lack appreciation for the tough and versatile OHC slant-four Volvo engine family, which powered the majority of Volvo cars from the late 70s through the late 90s. Available with 8 valves or 16, naturally aspirated or turbocharged, the Red Block was the direct descendant of the early-60s-vintage pushrod B18. [Wikipedia]
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2010 Volkswagen Robust Pickup

Brenda Priddy, the femme fatale of car spy photography, got us one heck of a scoop today — real, live and non-blurry photos of the new Volkswagen pickup truck tester. We've been told this mid-size hauler will be called the 2010 VW Robust in certain markets, but that's speculation as of now. What's also speculation is whether we'll end up seeing it here in the United States and of course whether the new four-door pickup from the brand all about "Fahrvergnügen" will end up hitting showrooms as a 2
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Auto Union Type C

The LeMans-dominating Audi R10 is an incomparable engineering spectacle. Honed from the finest materials and tested by banks of supercomputers before the first part was even crafted, the LeMans Prototype car is only now being challenged three years after its birth by an improved Porsche RS Spyder. The irony here is though these two teams battle for the same prize, they share the same grandfather, Ferdinand Porsche. Today we examine the R10's oldest and most revolutionary ancestor: the Auto Union
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Vintage Video Game Lets You Work The Stick

Looking for a new Super Nintendo game to play on your emulator? Well if you want a super-realistic racing experience then a Japanese drag racing game called Zeroyon Champ is probably your best bet. Now, you may not be able to take any corners on a winding circuit, but what you lack in steering control is made up for in shifting control. After all, swapping cogs is what really matters when you're goin' down the strip. Yes, this game originally from 1995 requires you to operate the clutch and the
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1966 Buick Riviera, Plus Bonus Buick Poll

When we saw the '73 Buick Riviera in this series a couple months ago, some of your comments indicated that many of you prefer the pre-boattail Rivs. That's no problem, because (in spite of Alameda having something of a vintage Buick shortage) I was able to find this nice '66 parked within a block of the 1972 Plymouth Fury III. And, since the Favorite DOTS Plymouth poll was so much fun, let's do the same thing to determine which of the island's Buicks is the crowd favorite.
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Saleen-Gasmic Midnight Club: Los Angeles Gets A Release Date

Remember GT5 Prologue? Old news now that another big racing video game for 2008 has finally gotten a release date. Midnight Club: Los Angeles will be available September 9 for the United States and September 12 for Europe. This is the game that features a DUB-customized Saleen S302 Extreme among other vehicles (including motorcycles). Sure, GT5 Prologue may be a more "real" driving simulator, but you can't deny the fun that is had with more arcade-y titles like the Midnight Club series. Click th
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Zap Opens First Dealership In Davis, California, Stereotype Reinforced

If you live in central California and have a hankering for a Zap Xebra sedan or Zap Xebra truck, do we have good news for you. Zap opened up their very first dealership in Davis, California last week, and just in time for this week's Earth Day. We're sure the EV's will do pretty well in the extra crunchy college town, but the 45 MPH top speed and dynamically unstable two-in-the back design will probably limit the car's general appeal. We just can't help but wonder how the tricloptic little jelly
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Commenter Of The Day: Unabomber Edition

There's something about Ted Kaczynski, a.k.a. the Unabomber, a.k.a. Peanut the Kidnapper, that always makes me laugh. The FBI launched one of the largest and most expensive investigations ever to find him, but it was his own writing that eventually led his brother to discover the Unabomber's real identity. What was the tip-off? Other than the content, there was a specific phrasing that gave him away. We often use the phrase "Have your cake and eat it, too" despite the fact that the phrase makes
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PCH, Chevy-Powered Porsche Edition: 911 Or 924?

After all the excitement over the Gay Deep Throated Angry Demon 914rrari this morning, the chorus of demons here in the Hell Garage has begun chanting "Small-Block Porsche! Small-Block Porsche!" It's always best to obey the Hell Garage Demons, lest you find yourself driving a silver 4-year-old Camry or some other reliable boring transporation appliance. You go with one of today's choices and you'll be able to laugh smugly at those sellouts who took the easy road... the days will drag by for them
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Truck Nutz Now Fineable In Florida, One State Senator Admits Guilt

The infamous Truck Nutz have now been deemed illegal in Florida and are punishable with a measly $60 fine. If you remember, Virginia was working on enacting a similar bill that would make displaying the genitals a misdemeanor punishable with a $250 fine. What makes this even funnier is what some of Florida's senators had to say about the matter, including an admission of guilt by one.
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268 MPH Mercedes Lotec C1000 Found Hiding In North Carolina Dealership

You may have never heard of the Lotec C1000 before, because although other super cars may get a small production run, the C1000 was a one-of-a-kind. Power in this mid-90's beast came from a 5.6-liter Mercedes V8 that was force-fed by twin turbochargers, resulting in about 1000 HP and 723 lb-ft of torque. Thanks to carbon fiber and aerospace whatnot, the whole car only weighs about 2380 lbs. Wrap everything together and tie it up with the 5-speed manual transmission, and you could get from 0-60 i
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Chinese Mini Cooper Clone Revealed By Lifan, Takes Badge-Copying To New Level Of Crazy

OK, we thought the Beijing Auto Works B60 was a great example of the badge-copying madness out of this week's Beijing Motor Show. Until we saw the Lifan 320. Don't get us wrong, the Jeep is a great example — but the 320 takes the brand flattery dial and turns it up to "11." The moment you set eyes on that front grille, the line of the hood and that rear end, you get flashbacks to the "Italian Job," so instantaneously do you know from whence the design direction originates. In fact, it doesn't ev
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It's A Jeep! No, It's A Hummer! No, It's The Beijing Auto Works B60!

We really should have taken a flight out to Beijing this week for the auto show. Given Chinese automakers fantastic ability to copy flatter every design they can get their hands on. We're beginning to believe non-Chinese automakers should just enter into agreements with their Chinese partners — like what they do with Russian automakers — to allow them to just have the designs for a nominal fee. Like Beijing Auto Works — the company that built the original military-version Chinese knock-off to th
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1962 Dodge D100 Pickup Truck

With all the vintage GMC and Chevy trucks on the streets of Alameda, I need to be sure I don't neglect the Fords and Dodges when DOTS Truck Monday rolls around. We had a '64 Ford F-100 recently, but it's been several months since our last Dodge pickup. This '62 seems to be a work in progress, since it seems to alternate between being up on jackstands in the driveway and parked on the street with a drain pan under the engine. I'm not sure whether it moves under its own power or gets pushed betwee
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Buick Invicta Concept Reveals New LaCrosse?

We know, Buick goes with old people like liniment, Depends and Ensure? Well, if that's the case, maybe now we'll actually have something to look forward to in our retirement years — if we plan on retiring in the People's Republic. GM decided to debut their latest concept, the Buick Invicta, at the Beijing Motor Show this weekend. The Invicta takes the far-fetched Buick Riviera Concept a step closer to reality. But don't think this car is going to be another forbidden city denied from us 'merican
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Danica Patrick First Woman To Win IndyCar Race, Proves She's Not Just A Piece Of Meat

The checkered flag dropped today in Japan, and with it came the paternalistic stranglehold on professional motorsports as Danica Patrick wins the Indy Japan 300 — besting her previous highest finish of second place at the Detroit Grand Prix. The win, 5.8594 seconds ahead of pole-sitter Helio Castroneves on the 1.5-mile Twin Ring Motegi oval occurring after leader Scott Dixon pitted with five laps left and Dan Wheldon and Tony Kanaan came in a lap later, makes Patrick the first woman to ever win
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2009 Audi Q5 Revealed, Officially

Not like anyone went to the trouble of revealing the 2009 Audi Q5 un-officially, but the point is the wraps have now come off the new Small-UV from Auto Union this morning ahead of the live reveal at this week's Beijing Motor Show. What more is there to say about this overgrown jellybean other than the press release below the jump? Audi says the Q5 gets "slim, coupe-like styling." We're of the opinion that just because a vehicle is marginally slimmer and more attractive than a Q7 doesn't allow y
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Scoot Coupe Snapped In Detroit, End Of World Pending

The times, they are a changing. We've been seeing all kinds of craziness on the roads of Detroit these days in response to the insanity of expensive gas. We saw our second Detroit area Smart ForTwo last night and are wondering if the taste for hulking behemoths is being usurped by the compact and efficient. This was followed up by the shock we felt when we snapped this little bugger parked outside a local bank. The "Scoot Coupe" is a two person runabout featuring engines ranging in size from 50c
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PCH, Northstar Swap Edition: Toyota MR2 Or Pontiac Fiero?

Since yesterday's Packard Straight Eight Swap Edition (which was won by the '37 Pontiac) was so much fun, we're going to stick with Alternative Powerplant Hell for another day. All engine swaps are fun, of course, but the best ones involve stuffing an engine much, much larger than anything the car's designers ever considered. When you accomplish such a swap, you get respect; when you start with the knuckle-shredding, sanity-destroyingly tight engine compartment of a small mid-engined car (say, a
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2008 Woodward Dream Cruise Expands To Include Nine Days Of Unofficially Unsanctioned Events

The Woodward Dream Cruise is a perennial favorite here at the house of Jalop and we're happy to see the joy of the event is spreading. For the first time in the Cruise's history, the festivities will be extending below 8 mile, though not by way of the official organizers of Woodward Dream Cruise Inc, but through the work of MotorCities National Heritage Area — an affiliation of the National Parks Department. WDC shot down a plan to modify the run from its current route between Pontiac and Fernda
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So I Crashed A Motorcycle...

I don't like helicopters. I've only been in one once, and it crashed." That's the first thing I remember saying, as the paramedic was strapping me to the back board. Apparently my argument worked because they decided to cancel the air lift and take me to the hospital by ambulance instead.
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Fixing A Volvo Weakness: Fuel Filler Relocation

While the Black Metal V8olvo crew was working on the rear of the car, we took care of the Number One Priority immediately by installing a Fiero wing. Now, you'd think that such a wing would radiate such an impenetrable aura of cool that no other driver would dare hit our car, but we figured it wouldn't hurt to get some cheap insurance by dealing with one of the most vulnerable points on the Volvo 240 race car: the fuel filler. By all accounts, LeMons Volvos tend to get hit in the right rear, whi
By Murilee Martin Read More
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Bus Driver Scalps Bus Thanks To GPS Guidance

We may be inching towards the future of autonomous vehicles, but we're not quite there yet and a bus driver in Seattle has yet to figure that out. This is just another instance of individuals putting too much faith into GPS navigation devices. Following the directions from a Garmin GPS navigation unit, the Seattle bus driver attempted to go under a low footbridge that was a bit too low as it managed to scalp the bus and injure five. The driver was carrying home the Garfield High School girl's so
By Travis Hudson Read More
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Hit It, Boy! Helmetless, Hopped-Up Power Wheels Hoonage

The ATV-assisted Power Wheels hoonage we saw yesterday showed some medium-grade disregard for safety, all right. But how about when you get a younger kid, lose the helmet, and juice up his Power Wheels truck with about ten times the factory power? This boy showcases some serious drifting skills as he lays hard plastic all over his cul-de-sac, ultimately flipping his top-heavy ride. Fortunately, there's a happy ending, without the kid's dome busted on the hard concrete... this time.
By Murilee Martin Read More
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1974 Chevrolet Camaro

57% of answered in the negative when asked whether third-gen Camaros belong in this series, which means that it's been well over half a year since our most recent DOTSworthy Camaro (though if I can find the right '82 I'll go ahead and shoot it). Second-gen F-bodies are fairly plentiful on Alameda's streets, so it was no sweat finding a good example of an Early Malaise machine for today's post. I ran across this '74 in the vicinity of the '50 Dodge pickup and at least a half-dozen other DOTS vehi
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2009 Opel Insignia Revealed, Officially

The General's German brand saw the sign it needed to replace the aged Vectra, so they opened up their eyes — and came up with this — the new 2009 Opel Insignia. It's a new name, a new car and yes, a new badge for the brand preciously misspelled from the name of a gem and it's being revealed in July at the London Motor Show. We're guessing Opel decided to drop this load of shots and details early due to, you know, all the leakage everywhere — both manufactured, silly and otherwise. This new Vectr
By Ray Wert Read More
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Commenter Of The Day: I Want Candy Edition

We love candy. Why wouldn't we love candy? It's candy. And while we sometimes feel like kids in the proverbial candy store when we go to auto shows, we're also like kids when we go to actual candy stores (of which there are shockingly few given the prevalence of that particular cliche). That being said, there is a candy store that we're quite find of in Houston called Candylicious. And we know a store for fat people in Houston is a cliche in and of itself, but it is a delicious cliche. In additi
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PCH, Packard Eight Swap Edition: 1937 Pontiac Sedan Or 1929 Ford Truck

Well, whaddya know- an American Hell Project beat a French one in our most recent Choose Your Eternity poll, with the Malaise Corvette Limo winning by a small- yet significant- margin over the V8-ready Peugeot 404. Unprecedented! We need to honor this tremendous underdog victory by going with an all-American matchup, with a 71-year-old car taking on a 79-year-old truck. Not only that, to honor the amazing Packard Straight Eight we saw in today's Engine of the Day post, each of these projects mus
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Unique Performance Federal Felony Update

Monday we reported that the feds weren't pursuing Unique Performance in the ongoing Unique Performance drama. We had some guesses for why federal prosecutors might pass on this particular case given the fact that a spokesperson said that federal crimes were obviously committed. Our best guess was that they looked at the 25 state felony charges against the company and decided it wasn't worth it. Our source sort of confirms this below the jump.
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Crash Avoidance Technology Only "Kind Of" Works, Says IIHS

The Institute for Highway Safety has concluded a study that shows the crash avoidance technology like blind-spot sensors, forward collision automatic braking, lane-departure warnings, emergency brake assistance and adaptive headlights won't significantly help prevent fatal car crashes and it is mostly due to the drivers. So much for PReVENT. The study shows that the crash-avoidance technology won't be cared about and ignored by the drivers. They technology also causes the drivers to be more reck
By Travis Hudson Read More
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Acura NSX Ripped To Shreds In Horrific Street Racing Accident, Driver Survives

Proving you don't have to put out Ferrari Enzo bucks to nearly kill yourself by driving like a complete idiot, a man in San Diego completely decimated his Acura NSX (erroneously referred to as a Honda Acura and an Acura Integra in various reports) in what is being reported as a street race with a black Honda Civic with a "Tuned By Reese" sticker on the back. That's the problem with street racing specially customized cars, other than the recklessness, you're an easy target for the police. The NBC
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European PReVENT Looks To Make Uncrashable Car

A European company by the strange name of PReVENT is looking to do what we figure has to be an impossible task: create the uncrashable car. The company with a funny name is using their budget of nearly $80 million develop a wide variety of oddly-named technologies to assist drivers in potentially dangerous situations. A few of those strange tech names below the jump.
By Travis Hudson Read More
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How Not To Modify Your Mercury Cougar

Whereas we like to think Jalopnik is a fairly safe and friendly place to express an opinion, niche forums can be brutal. Take the story of one young man and his last generation Mercury Cougar at the New Cougar forums. We know it can't be easy to be a Cougar owner — who do you have to look down on? Topaz owners? Nevertheless, these fan-boys soldier on and learn to squeeze every bit of love and performance out of their cars, which is something we can respect. But this guy's ride we can't respect.
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Engine Of The Day: Packard Inline Eight

We were all set to go over to Europe for today's engine, because the last couple have been American... but then Teargas let us know about the video after the jump, and it was impossible not to go with the Packard flathead inline eight-cylinder engine. To see what we mean, turn your speakers up as high as they'll go before starting the video; in fact, go out and buy better speakers right now!
By Murilee Martin Read More
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1977 Volvo 244DL

I had meant to put more Volvo 240s in this series, since the island is full of good examples (and, besides, I'm racing one next month). But somehow a few months have gone by since the last one, so here's a somewhat earlier example I found parked near the '82 Mercedes-Benz 380SL. And yes, I noticed that '79 Civic across the street while I was shooting this Volvo; don't worry, Honda fans, I shot it while I was there.
By Murilee Martin Read More
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2010 Ford Mustang To Get Turbo-Boosted 5.0-Liter V8?

If you believe Bill Osborne, President of Ford Australia, the 2010 Ford Mustang will get the new 5.0-liter engine under the hood — potentially with some turbocharging or supercharging mixed in. He dropped the bomb on the kiwis over at Stuff.co.nz while talking about engine mixes on the next Ford Falcon. Here's what they say about what he said in order to limit that whole game o' telephone:
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2011/2012 Chevy Volt

Yes friends, we were the first to tell you that the Chevy Volt would be wending its way around town underneath the skin of old, dead Malibus back in September. Now we're the first to show you a picture of a Chevy Volt wending its way around town underneath the skin of an old, dead Malibu. Also, we were like, the second to bring you that Volt video a few weeks ago. So we've got that going for us too. Oh, and then there was that production shot of the Volt we saw at the end of last year. One more
By Ray Wert Read More
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Green Santa Monica Parking Facility Gives Preference To Electrics

The Santa Monica Civic Center has erected one hell of a new, very green parking facility. The building, which looks like a technicolor nightmare, is on task to become the first LEED certified parking garage in the country. LEED is the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, basically certifying the building as green. It does have some pretty interesting features, including something current or future electric-owners will love.
By Travis Hudson Read More
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Commenter Of The Day: Bosom Buddies Edition

Sometimes the 1980's just confuse us, though most of us here were alive for the better part of the decade. Take NBC's Bosom Buddies, a show whose premise was that Tom Hanks and Peter Scolari dressed up as women to live in the aptly named Susan B. Anthony hotel. Why? Cheap rent. We guess it beats pretending to be gay. The show is also interesting because neither Tom Hanks nor Peter Scolari were particularly famous to begin with and it could be argued that Scolari was the better known actor at the
By Matt Hardigree Read More
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2010 GMC Terrain

Here's the very first shots of the General's upcoming Theta-based crossover that's all about being "Professional Grade" — the 2010 GMC Terrain. The Terrain's showing a big block-like grille peeking through the semi-transparent bra it's wearing. Our spy shooters even indicate they believe the mesh you see surrounding said badge may in fact be indicative of a Denali trim. All we know is the Terrain will be kissing cousins to the Vue, and the next-generation 2010 Chevy Equinox. Also, it looks mind-
By Ray Wert Read More
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More On The Chrysler And Nissan Platform Swap

Nissan was kind enough to provide us with some time to answer questions about their new Nissan-Chrysler Platform Swap. For those who haven't been following the news, Dodge is going to build the next generation full-size truck for Nissan based on the upcoming Dodge Ram platform. In return, Nissan is going to build a small car for Dodge based on one of their, currently unnamed, platforms. Both companies claim that the cars will have unique designs and interiors so they're not to be mistaken for me
By Matt Hardigree Read More
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Ponton Drinks Colorado Kool-Ade, Thrives On Golden Roads

Even though Coloradans get the occasional dose of road salt, it appears that their dry climate does a pretty good job of preserving old street-driven iron. Golden-based Discontinuuity sent us a whole bunch of photos of interesting old vehicles parked in Coors City a while back, and now he's returned with some shots of a friend's daily-driven Benz Ponton. Make the jump for more photos and Discontinuuity's description.
By Murilee Martin Read More
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Another Twist: Tesla Sued By Magna Powertrain

The drama surrounding Tesla continues to unfold as recently discovered court documents show that the debatably legitimate electric automaker is being sued by Magna Powertrain. The lawsuit dates back to February 22 and states that Tesla failed to pay Magna for design of the two-speed transmission used in the Tesla Roadster. The story does have bit of he-said, she-said, unfortunately.
By Travis Hudson Read More
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Morgan Aero 8

Perhaps now you understand the troubles we go through to select the lineup of the first 50 cars to fill the stalls of the Jalopnik Fantasy Garage. We presented to you theCaparo T1, warts and all, for consideration of the garage without the benefit of flowery prose or over the top hyperbole — the car itself is hyperbole enough. We wanted to see how a game-changing supercar would stand up to the harsh scrutiny of an unsoftened voting block because frankly, we're tired of everything getting in so e
By Ben Wojdyla Read More
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2008 Saab Turbo X Hits The Track, Goes Head-To-Head With The Subaru WRX STi, BMW M3, BMW 3-Series And Audi A4

We'd read somewhere that at the height of the Cold War, the U.S. locked in the struggle against the evil Commies, Sweden was considered as a potential candidate for location of a Northern European base for F-117A Night Hawk Stealth fighters. Obviously that didn't happen as the decision was made to base all 59 of the arrow-headed black-as-night fighters stateside at Holloman Air Force Base after testing completed at the Toponah test range. And now, well, now they've all been retired. But we're go
By Mark Arnold Read More
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The Sultan's Ferrari FX: Forerunner Of Flappy-Paddle Shifting

These days, paddle shifters are on everything from hatchbacks to luxury sedans. But not so long ago, they could only be found on certain exotica and racing cars. Some love 'em, but a lot of enthusiasts would rather have a good ol' fashioned third pedal and a stick. So who do we have to blame for this virus of sequential gearboxes? The man at fault may very well be the Sultan of Brunei. Back in the early '90s, his specially-designed Ferrari FX was the first road car to use a modern paddle-shift s
By Mark Arnold Read More
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Jalopnik Road Test Editor Takes A Tumble, Will Be Back After A Short Hospital Stay

Our intrepid road test editor Wes Siler was really looking forward to this week out in California. He'd lined up a Lotus long-lead drive and was planning on spending a few hours on the track taking some sharp corners and fast straights. Then he decided it made sense to spend a few hours in the Cali backwoods behind the handlebars of some little girl's bike a Yamaha. Normally for Wes, as you can see in the above photo, that's just a relaxing afternoon. Except yesterday wasn't so relaxing as he to
By Ray Wert Read More
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1966 Dodge Coronet 440 Convertible

Six months have passed since we last saw a Chrysler B-body in this series? Well, actually the '78 Monaco Brougham is technically a B-body, but it's so incredibly Malaise that I hesitate to include it alongside the likes of the Super Bee and the Road Runner. Regardless of where you stand on the B-ness of the Malaise Monaco, it's tough to argue with the inherent goodness of this '66 Coronet 440 convertible, which I found parked near the waterfront and just around the corner from the Ford Econoline
By Murilee Martin Read More
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PCH, Molten Sulfur Edition: V8 Peugeot 404 Or Corvette Limo?

The Detroit (well, actually South Bend) machine put up a good fight against the Detroit-powered British Leyland product yesterday, but it's tough to beat a PCH Superpower and thus the voters gave the victory to the V8/IRS MGB-GT in yesterday's poll. But are we giving up on America as a credible PCH contender? Hell no! That's the thinking behind today's Detroit-versus-Paris matchup, and we'll see how things sort out.
By Murilee Martin Read More
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European C1 Focus Bound For US, Prayers Being Answered After Five-Year Delay

Nary a week goes by where we aren't forced to look at another affordable, crisp-handling, attractive and unattainable European Ford Focus or derivative and recite that all too familiar prayer of "Ford, if you're listening, bring it over here" while trying to get excited about Bill Gates' Focus Coupe. Sure, we could have purchased a Mazda3 or Volvo S40, which are also based on the C1-platform, but that's besides the point. We wanted a cheap and toss-able blue oval hatch. Now it looks as though de
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The Great Corn Conspiracy: Ethanol Additives Damaging Certain Boats

Many of us around these parts maintain a bit of skepticism when it comes to the prospect of corn-based ethanol serving as a long-term gasoline substitute, or even a viable short-term patch before our great hydrogen-powered future. Fun though it may be to make ethanol-powered Vettes and Corn gas Koenigsegg's, the idea of corn-based ethanol comes with a few problems including the environmental impact of production on the US Gulf Coast, energy efficiency and the inevitable war between Illinois and
By Matt Hardigree Read More
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SF Gets Public Transit Hybrid Bus With Wi-Fi, Other Goods

San Francisco's public transit system is getting a bit of an upgrade as the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (MUNI) has teamed up with technology company, CISCO, for The Connected Bus—a public transportation bus that is a little more desirable than the traditional buses used in public transit systems. The bus is a 95-percent emissions-free hybrid, if that wasn't obvious from the green and worldly motifs slapped on the side, but the other big seller is the included Wi-Fi and digital
By Travis Hudson Read More
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Ford Ranger WildTrak Captures The True Spirit Of Le Mans

Despite the long and drawn-out death rattle of the North American Ford Ranger, the Ranger name lives on with more success in the UK as a Mazda B-series-based pickup. The extreme version of this vehicle is the Ranger WildTrak, which offered every feature they could think to put on a truck including an off road package, rails on every surface, titanium body cladding and a revised version of the 3.0-Liter Duratorq TDCi engine good for 156 horsepower and approximately 280 lb.-ft. of torque. There wa
By Matt Hardigree Read More
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A Garage Fit For A King: The Best Of The Sultan Of Brunei's Amazing Car Collection

Ferrari wagon-izations and hypercars bathed in magnetizing yellow are just a couple hints the Sultan of Brunei is perhaps the most Jalopnik head of state in the whole world. Like us, he seems to have a maddening obsession with odd cars. However, what sets him apart is his seemingly unending pot of money with which to manifest his wildest automotive fantasies. Although word on the streets of Bandar Seri Begawan is his fiscal fortunes have depleted as of late, before he sold off some of his assets
By Mark Arnold Read More
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Tesla Sues Fisker Designers In World's Most Expensive Girl Fight

Tesla Motors, the manufacturer of the Tesla Roadster, has filed suit against Henrik Fisker and Bernhard Koehler (yes that Fisker) claiming the duo stole confidential design information and trade secrets while working for Tesla. We're not trying to pick sides around these parts, but the Tesla claims make some sense.
By Travis Hudson Read More
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2011 Lexus LF-A

The 2011 Lexus LF-A — or maybe it's the 2010, or even 2012, depending on reports — supercar's been shot by the quick to the snap spy photographers at KGP. The speedy little spy shooters caught the supercar-to-be as it appeared to be getting ready to hit the Nürburgring. They're expecting hot laps won't be far behind, but we're wondering what's taking the super number one best awesome automaker from the land of the rising sun from gettin' 'er done with their first entry into the world of super ca
By Travis Hudson Read More
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1973 MGB

Not a whole lot of old British cars remain on the streets of Alameda. We've seen a few Morrises and a couple of Jaguars, but just a single MG up until today. I found this '73 MGB parked just a few doors down from the '68 Pontiac GTO and ran right home to get my camera, in case it was about to drive away any minute. As it turned out, this MG is a new resident, not a onetime visitor.
By Murilee Martin Read More
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Chrysler To Produce Full Size Trucks For Nissan, What The Truck?

The good folks over at PickupTruck.com picked up on this interesting press release from Chrysler. It looks as though Chrysler LLC will be building on its relationship with Nissan Motors by building a full-sized trucks for the Japanese-European automaker. Dodge, as you all know, just came out with the new 2009 Dodge Ram 1500. Nissan's largest truck is the half ton Titan, which is seriously aging. Should we therefore assume that the truck is going to be a half ton replacement for the Titan? Possib
By Matt Hardigree Read More
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Raytheon HY-DRA Shows Off In-Wheel E-Motors

All the big names in defense are here today hawking their wares and Raytheon has an off road badass-mobile that practically begs to be flogged mightily. The Hybrid-Defense Recon Assault (HY-DRA) shows off some pretty neat tech (which actually is sort of the military version of the Chevy Volt). The HY-DRA is an EV with in-wheel motors, an on-board range extender, a sweet McLaren F1-style three seat layout, and a monster .50 caliber up top. Funny thing about that .50 cal, before they decided to go
By Ben Wojdyla Read More
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Fuzzy Car Dice Gets A Lame, 21st Century Upgrade

The days and age of fuzzy dice hanging from the rear-view mirror is pretty much done and we can all agree that it was lame to begin with in anything but a rusting Jersey Cadillac. Luckily, with the plenty of 12V DC outlets available in vehicles nowadays we have a new type of dice accessory: illuminated plastic dice!
By Travis Hudson Read More
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1937 Tatra T77

The Tatra T77, with its air-cooled V8 and slippery-even-by-2008-standards drag coefficient of 0.212, made just about everything else on the road in the mid-1930s seem like a wooden-wheeled goat cart by comparison. This brochure for the '37 model, aimed at German buyers, was perhaps too effective, with the Germans taking not only the Tatras but the entire country of Czechoslovakia the following year (and then ripping off crucial design elements for the Beetle soon after that). Thanks to Teargas f
By Murilee Martin Read More
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1983 Toyota 4x4 Pickup Truck

Our last Japanese representative on DOTS Truck Monday was the '80 Plymouth Arrow, but the last one actually bearing the name of an overseas manufacturer was the '74 Datsun of a couple months ago. That means we're due for another Japanese Truck Monday, so let's take a look at this fine tape-striped Late Malaise Toyota pickup. Oh, sure, these things are still everywhere (including the motor pools of every strongman, warlord, and wannabe Lord Humungus in the world), but immortality shouldn't disqua
By Murilee Martin Read More
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Indian Mahindra Scorpio Diesel-Electric Hybrid SUV: First Pictures Of First Indian Hybrid

We just snapped off a couple of shots of the Mahindra Scorpio, the diesel-electric hybrid SUV we told you would be unveiled here at the 2008 SAE World Congress. Yes, it's before everything has opened to the engineering public. Yes, we may not have been officially allowed out on the floor. Yes, we probably broke a city statute or two in doing it, but no, rumors of any cash exchanging hands in the process are very much untrue. What is true is the hybrid diesel SUV from the sub-continent is the fir
By Ben Wojdyla Read More
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2010 Cadillac BRX Caught In Wet T-Shirt Contest

Showing off a bra that gets translucent when wet, the Theta-Epsilon chassis-ed 2010 Cadillac BRX was caught by star car spy shooter Chris Doane. The new CUV from the General is expected to start production in May of 2009 at the Ramos Arizpe plant with its platform-sharing cousin, the Saab 9-4X, in May of 2009 as a 2010 model year vehicle. So since the last shots of the 2010 BRX was spotted, what do we find as different? There's that grille — like the Provoq concept's drastic change from the Art
By Ray Wert Read More
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2010 Ford F-150's New 4.4L V8 Diesel Engine Gets Leaked To Internet

Remember that Ford dealer conference we learned about last week from our friends at PickupTruck.com? That's the conference where we heard about the scoop on Ford's upcoming and long-rumored off-road Ford F-150 Raptor program. Well, there's a second scoop for us from the Ford forum fan-boys at F150Online, spotted by the quick-eyed folks at PUTC — the first unofficial shot of Ford's upcoming 4.4-liter V8 Diesel engine that we've heard will make it's way into the 2010 Ford F-150. We're also told we
By Ray Wert Read More
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BMW Assist, Google Maps Introduce "MyInfo" Service For New Big-Ass X6

BMW's teaming up with everyone's favorite mapping monopoly, Google Maps, to bring a new addition to the BMW Assist Safety Plan. It's called "MyInfo," and it's a service which, in addition to sounding hip and techie-cool through deletion of the spaces in the name, will allow BMW Assist subscribers to send business locations, street addresses and their associated phone numbers to their car via some magical connection between the two companies databases. Look at it kind of like a way to use their C
By Ray Wert Read More
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It's On! Make Magazine's LeMons Team Disses Black Metal V8olvo!

We were trying to take the high road with this racecar thing, not thump our chests too hard about the way our Ford 302-powered Volvo 244 was going to annihilate the competition at Altamont... but then the gentleman in the photo above, Jason Torchinsky of Team Make:Way, decided to throw down the gauntlet with this taunting email:
By Murilee Martin Read More
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And Now, Your Jalopnik Moment Of Zen...

[via Le Blog Moto]
By Wes Siler Read More
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Caterham R500 Does The 0-60 Run In 2.88 Seconds

We brought you some of the first images of the Caterham R500 yesterday and today we've got all the details and the high-res images to match. Weighing in at just over 1,115 lbs, the latest kidney-punisher from Caterham features all sorts of goodies that set it apart from the more brutal CSR. Chief among them is sweet 263 HP Duratec mill and the the all electronic gee-whiz dash and keyless start. Also tossed in for good measure are thinner body panels, kevlar seats, and that new six-speed sequenti
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Slammed 8-Wheeler V8 Isuzu Pickup Raises Questions

Your eyes do not deceive you. This is, in fact, an Isuzu pickup that has eight wheels, a V8 engine, and zero ground clearance. What? Why? How? Who shot JR? Well, it was all just a dream inside the mind of a Texas man who wanted "a truck that stands out." He started building it about three years ago.
By Mark Arnold Read More
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PCH, Double The Hell Edition: Pair-O-Willys Or Benz-Pontiac Combo Platter?

With the '69 Citröen ID19 carrying the French to victory over their British rivals in the PCH Superpower Rematch, I can see we'll need to have some more elimination rounds to see whether France or Britain shall be crushed beneath the weight of proudly display the oil-spraying, parts-shedding PCH Superpower Trophy. Today's challenge, however, is a return to a fine PCH tradition with no nationalistic overtones: Two-For-One Hell Projects!
By Murilee Martin Read More
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Top Ways To Save On Taxes With Your Car

We're there again, that part of the year when the bony finger of Uncle Sam slips its way into your wallet and takes what it deems to be a fair share of your hard earned money. That's right, it's tax season. That time honored tradition of putting everything off until the last minute then filing as close to midnight on April 15th as possible will be once again in full glory, and local TV will once again run 11PM news coverage of the blessed event. But how about we talk about lowering those taxes
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1968 Cadillac Fleetwood Docks In San Francisco

If and when I ever run out of Down On The Street cars in Alameda, all I'll need to do is head across the Bay to find another vast storehouse of old street-parked machinery. San Francisco is rough on cars, but that just means that the old veterans boast that many more character-building battle scars. Take, for example, this 1968 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham, shot in North Beach by AlfaDog. It's got the kind of rust you get from parking too close to the ocean (prevailing winds tend to blow the salt
By Murilee Martin Read More
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Details Emerge On Lakes Style Speedster

We told you what was needed to figure out the details on that sweet black lakes-style hot rod was to just sit back and let the HAMBers do their thing. Of course we were right again, as they've clawed a ton of information out in just a single day. First and foremost on the neat-o list is that engine its unbelievably a Datsun 260Z mill made to look like an old Miller/Offenhauser inline six — very trick. The car was built by a first time body man by the name of Jim Pendleton out of Texas and the bu
By Ben Wojdyla Read More
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1967 Plymouth Barracuda, With Bonus Plymouth Poll

We love our Chrysler A-bodies around here, no doubt about that. For that reason, I'm overjoyed to have finally found one of the later A-body-based Barracudas in Alameda. Cool as the 'fastback Valiant' early Barracudas were, the 1966-69 cars were the ones that really looked like their sleek carnivorous namesake (the E-body Chryslers- those that avoided being hooned to death back in the day, that is- are probably worth too much to the nostalgio-freak crowd to be seen parked on the streets of Alame
By Murilee Martin Read More
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Commenter Of The Day: Dorothy Parker Edition

As fun, heart-warming and informative as today's QOTD lovefest was, it took a true Jalopnik spirit to remind us of that delicate blend of wit, insight and bite that keeps us reading, writing and commenting. Though we don't often admit it, we owe this style to Ambrose Bierce, Oscar Wilde, Mark Twain and, more recently, the writer and critic Dorothy Parker. She famously said that if you wanted to know what God thought of money, look at the people he gave it to. And by this she very well could have
By Matt Hardigree Read More
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Jensen Interceptor S, An Overhauled Legend

Jensen Interceptors are cool, don't deny it. No matter how frumpy you may think they look, there's just something about it that conjures up images of storming across the landscape en route to a swanky vacation lodge in the Alps with your foot to the floor and the V8 rumble triggering avalanches in your wake. Well, now there's a way to have that same feeling, but with some degree of modern driveability. Gone is the old Chrysler motor, replaced by an LS2 from General Motors. But this Jensen Interc
By Mark Arnold Read More
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What Would A Diamond T Roadster Have Looked Like?

Diamond T stopped making cars while Taft was still president, becoming a noted truck manufacturer. But what if they had made a spiffy roadster in the 1930s? VintageRacer had his camera at the ready when the time came to answer that question; make the jump to read his description.
By Murilee Martin Read More
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This Is Not A Good Idea: Skin Grafted 1989 Corvette

This is almost painful to even look at. What did this 1989 Corvette ever do to anyone? Okay, so the ride was tough and the quality not so high, but that doesn't mean some cold hearted bastard should have sliced it up and put a horrifying interpretation of a '62 Corvette on top. It's an insult to put it up for sale on eBay, but then to turn around and claim it will be "a very nice high end car, and a whole lot of fun to drive" when complete is only rubbing salt in the wounds. The laughably ridicu
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Lamborghini Preparing Rear Wheel Drive Murciélago SV, Largest Wing Ever

The 2009 Lamborghini Murciélago SV will be a lightweight, high-power, rear wheel drive end-of-model-line runout special. Based on the LP640, power from the V12 engine is expected to increase to 680bhp while weight will drop up to 100kg from the LP640's 1660kg.
By Wes Siler Read More
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Brazilian Government Holds Drug Dealer Fire Sale, Underwear And SUVs Must Go!

Juan Carlos "Chupeta" Ramírez Abadía is a bad man. Arrested last year for crimes including drug trafficking and money laundering, it's estimated that prior to being caught he was worth somewhere in the region of $1.8 billion. Now, in order to recoup some of the cost of making people like this rich the war on drugs the Brazilian government is putting Abadía's belongings up for auction, including this mystery SUV.
By Wes Siler Read More
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1966 Fairlane Wagon Appears To Have Driven To Junkyard Under Its Own Power

Sometimes you'll find a fairly complete old car sitting in the wrecking yard, but I've never seen anything like this '66 Fairlane wagon before. It's a bit rough (and that '56 Chevy hood ornament being used to prop up the bug deflector looks funky indeed), but not a single part has been removed. The keys were still in the ignition! This strikes me as strange, because every car that ends up in a big self-service junkyard has been through an auction process, typically with a minimum bid of $150 or
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Indian Mahindra Scorpio Diesel-Electric Hybrid SUV To Be Revealed At SAE

Mahindra has just jointly announced with FEV that they'll be displaying their sub-continent-styled Mahindra Scorpio with a diesel-electric hybrid powertrain at the SAE World Congress this weekend here in Detroit. The system includes a 40 HP E-motor that works in stop/start, electric acceleration, and regenerative braking capacities — developing peak torque in the range of 200 lb-ft. The diesel engine is a 2.2-liter inline four with common rail injection, developing 113 HP mated to a six-speed au
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2009 Executive Volvos As Comfy As A Swedish Bordello

We all know that Volvos XC90 and S80 are safe places to be, but check the "executive" box in participating countries and you could also be in for all the creature comforts that being an exec entails. In addition to the pastures worth of hand-sewn bovine and forests of wood inserts you'd expect, the Volvo also gets eight-inch LCD screens, crystal glasses for the rear passengers, ambient lighting and emblems galore. But our favorite feature has to be the massage chair feature built-in to the front
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Why Do You Love Jalopnik?

We got this note from Al Navarro, commenter extraordinaire, this morning and thought we'd share:
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RWD Subaru, Toyota Sports Cars Officially Confirmed For 2010, 2011

Yesterday we showed you a concept sketch of an alleged coupe to be made by a Subaru-Toyota partnership. Scratch the "alleged" as we now have official confirmation in the form of an official statement from Toyota CEO Katsuaki "Ken" Watanabe:
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Dealers Shown Ford F-150 "Raptor" With SVT Badge, Told To "Drive Directly Up Toyota's Ass"

Oh yeah, baby, it's on. Details on the expected off-road edition — the so-called "Ford F-150 Raptor" are beginning to leak out of Ford's dealer product preview currently underway in Las Vegas (that's gotta be a sober get together). Apparently the blue oval boys are pretty excited about the pending master of the off-road, showing off a shot to the assembled sales folk. They're even going so far as calling it the first Baja 1000 truck you can buy right off the show floor. Our friends at PickupTruc
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Aerocoupe Grand Prix And Monte Carlo

Always wanted an "Aero Wars" muscle car from the early '70s like the Plymouth Roadrunner Superbird, or the Mercury Cyclone Spoiler II, but have never been able to afford one? Well, if you desire an attainable NASCAR homologation special, how about one of these GM G-body specials from the '80s? What we have here is an '86 Pontiac Grand Prix Aerocoupe and an '87 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS Aerocoupe, each for sale on eBay. Now, these may not be the most desirable cars right now, but give 'em 20 years
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1986 Pontiac Fiero GT

We saw a DOTS Fiero a few months ago, and the mid-80s are recent enough that the Fiero may be something of an iffy candidate for DOTShood. However, nice ones are getting fairly rare nowadays and I figured we're due for a GT model in this series. That's the reason we're going to take a look at this very clean '86 Fiero GT I spotted on the island's East End, and it should provide us with fuel for a spirited debate on the contentious Fiero issue. Do we love the Fiero, even though the General bean-c
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New Max Mosley Sex Video Surfaces Like A German U-Boat

The latest update in the Max Mosley Nazi orgy sex video scandal is the FIA has set a date of June 3rd for a General Assembly meeting of the FIA Senate, in which there is expected to be a vote of no confidence in Mosley. But to be fair, we kind of expected that. What we didn't expect was that the High Court of London would refuse Mosley's injunction against gossip rag News of the World. The injunction saw the removal of the sex video of Mosley engaging in various acts with five prostitutes, but n
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Commenter Of The Day: Dream Team Edition

In 1992, for the first time ever, American professional basketball players were allowed by FIBA to play in the Olympic games. The results were not surprising. A team assembled from the best mustachioed players that the NBA had to offer (and Christian Laettner) was nearly unstoppable. The US won with an average margin of nearly 44 points and at no point did the coach ever have to use a timeout. The team also included one of the biggest talkers in the game, Charles Barkley, who took a bit of guff
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2009 Honda Pilot

Earlier today we asked all of you in the Detwa area to see if you could grab a photo of the 2009 Honda Pilot, and one of you rose to our Honda Pilot spy photo challenge by snapping photos so quickly that you beat an actual spy photographer that tried to do the same thing. Props to Steven Menlen who was in the Ypsilanti area and grabbed some great photos. We'll be contacting you soon with information on the $500 smackers you earned. In the meantime, everyone enjoy photos inside and out of the new
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2008 Saab Turbo X Priced $11K Higher In Canada, Canadian Car Sales Bouyant Despite Price Disparities

Saab has just announced that the 2008 Turbo X — the new range-topping version of their 9-3 sedan — will start at $54,995 — just shy of 55,000 loonies. Do the math and that's $53,898 in real money, $11,388 (USD) more than the car will start at south of the Windsor-Detroit line. Yet vehicle sales in Canada remain strong, despite continuing price disparities and in contrast to US sales, which are on the decline.
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PCH, Superpower Rematch Edition: Jaguar Mark VII Or Citroen DS?

The V12 Jagchero vaporized the Electric Renault R10 in yesterday's Choose Your Eternity voting, but the lopsidedness of the matchup had some supporters of liberty, equality, and eternal torment crying foul. It's bad enough that the British entry was packing a V12 versus the French car's electric motor, but to make a sedan compete against a Rancheroized machine? That's why it's only fair that we have a PCH Superpower rematch today, featuring a more level playing field and one Bargain Hell Project
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Confidential Plate Program Allows Californians To Blow By Tolls

The Orange County Register recently did an in-depth investigation to find that hundreds of thousands of people are blowing by tolls, not paying a dime and not being penalized. This is due to a special confidential plate program that was initiated 30 years ago to protect police officers from criminals by not including home address information with license plate registration. Since then, this program is open to employees and families at 1,800 different state and local agencies. There are nearly on
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Volvo Hybrid Garbage Truck Proves Hybrids Can't Clean Everything

What's the best thing about garbage trucks? They're loud. At least that's what you think when you're seven. But once you grow into your big-boy pants, that monstrosity slowly lumbering down your street, waking you up at 5AM every Tuesday, gets to be just a tad annoying after a while. Well, now Volvo has a solution, a hybrid garbage truck. They claim it can operate almost silently, and feel so confident about it they've provided a video of it in action. Currently the trucks are just being tested
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2011 Saturn Astra

Some say this test unit caught running 'round the 'Ring today thinks it actually has cupholders integrated into its design. Others claim despite the above-average Euro exterior styling and a somewhat dated interior (by Euro standards), it's terrible at checkers. All we know is it's called the — insert preferred name here, either the 2010 Opel Astra or the 2011 Saturn Astra. Heck, it may even be a 2010 Saturn Astra. Any way you look at it, the same hatch has hit the public track in Germany and th
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First Sketch Of The Rear-Wheel Drive Subaru Impreza Coupe?

Ever since Toyota started riding Subaru, we'd heard the rumors. Supposedly, that sketch right there — turns the rumors to truth. That's right, we're told that there is Subaru's upcoming rear-wheel drive coupe currently in co-development with the boys at Toyota. The story goes that this "concept drawing" was revealed to Autocar, the UK car mag, by a source with some very good contacts. Apparently the source got it via a one-armed courier who'd received the sketch from a carrier pigeon. The carrie
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Ford Introduces New Blind Spot System, Shoots Radar Waves Out Ass

Starting in 2009, Ford will be offering two new features to aid blind-spot visibility for drivers. The first feature is the Cross Traffic Alert with Blind Spot Monitoring System, a new technology to alert the driver of objects in their blind spots when reversing and while driving. Basically, as you can see from the video above, the system shoots radar out of the ass of Ford, Lincoln and Mercury models equipped with the new technology and warns the driver. Warning occurs with either a tiny red li
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1969 Volkswagen Beetle, Before And After Mishap

Sometimes months can go by between my photographing of a DOTS car and posting those photographs. Today's car is a good example; I shot the original photos last August, but the island is overflowing with air-cooled Beetles and I have a glut of photos of such cars (yes, Beetle fans, I know I should be posting more of them... and I will, promise). But this particular exposed-engine Beetle, which I'm arbitrarily calling a '69 (though it could be from any year during the 68-72 span), got in some sort
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Pat "Uncle Patty" Foster, Racing And Tuning Legend, Dead At Age 67

We're all saddened to hear legendary drag racer, builder and tuner Pat "Uncle Patty" Foster passed away on March 28th due to what we're told were "medical complications." What to say about "Uncle Patty?" Well, we could talk about how Foster started his career as a test pilot, or how over the past 35 years Pat Foster built everything from Gas Coupes to Land Speed Record cars, and every Dragster and Funny in between. We could talk about how Foster was involved in virtually every aspect of the Sout
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Commenter Of The Day: Alexis-Charles-Henri Clerel De Tocqueville Edition

We've never gotten a grasp of the whole English nobility thing as, being Americans, we're constantly in a state of flux between fortune and ruin. As Alexis de Tocqueville pointed out in his seminal work of sociological and political analysis, Democracy in America, we live in a society where it is possible that servants and masters switch places within the matter of a single generation. Of course, we'd point out that de Tocqueville was of the landed-nobility and his full name is Alexis-Charles-He
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PCH, Superpower Showdown: V12 Jagchero Or Electric Renault?

We took a break from the PCH Superpowers and watched the Rotary Honda 600 pound on the Rotary Starlet in yesterday's all-Japanese Choose Your Eternity poll. However, Britain's defeat of Italy last week can mean only one thing: Britain must now take on PCH SuperGigaPower France in an attempt to claim the rusty, oil-leaking PCH Intergalactic Superchampion crown!
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Donkey Kong - The Donkiest Donk To Ever Donk

40 inch rims on a Regal called Donkey Kong — you see what they did there? We're practically speechless, this is certainly a sign of the end times so we feel there should be commentary here, but on what? Where do you even start? Our cup of questions overflows. Maybe start with where does one get wheels like that? And how do you even install tires that big? Can they be balanced? Is the car equipped with an air suspension and if so, does the car get even taller, or does it settle down for easy entr
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Volkswagen's Command Center Is Like Minority Report, Minus The Cool

Recently installed at VW's Wolfsburg, Germany headquarters is this massive video wall that will help the IT control center manage all of VW's world-wide network. Remember in Minority Report when Tom Cruise is rocking that video wall with the awesome glove? Well, this system is kind of like that, but less technological and less cool. It does get the job done, apparently. The wall consists of tons of LCD displays and will ensures that stability of VW's worldwide networks across suppliers, importer
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Angry Bob Knight Yells At Volkswagen

Last night a Big XII team won the NCAA National Championship, but it wasn't Bobby Knight's former Texas Tech Red Raiders, who failed to get an invite to either the NCAA Tourney or the NIT. But Bobby Knight did get an invite to reprise his role as an angry, sad man in this VW commercial, which is part of the Das Auto series wherein famous people are interviewed by Max, a 1964 black Beetle that sounds suspiciously like our favorite doctor. Enjoy. [YouTube]
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Ford Synergy 2010: The 2010 Ford Taurus That Never Was Or Ever Will Be

The spy photo of the 2010 Ford Taurus which were so fleetingly displayed today (and which will live on in RSS readers everywhere) got the old gears turning back to memories of 1996. Ford made huge waves at the Detroit Auto Show that year with the Synergy 2010, a peek at the future of automobiles. It was "equipped" with a 1.0-liter diesel engine, advanced communication systems, super lightweight materials and state-of-the-art aerodynamics. The car was a design concept exploring ways to carry four
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Volvo 145 Languishes, Alone And Unloved, In East Bay Junkyard

Many of you felt very strong emotions upon seeing the junked '64 Volvo Amazon and its eventual partial redemption at the hands of one of our readers. But how about the Volvos made between the Amazons but before the ubiquitous "brick" 200 series cars (yes, we know there was some production overlap)? I've owned a '69 144 and, well, wasn't exactly overwhelmed by love for the thing, but you rarely see the 100-series cars these days. Here's a reasonably intact '72 145 I spotted in a local self-servic
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Children Bail Out Of Runaway School Bus While Driver Takes A Leak

Taking a page out of Otto's playbook, a school bus driver in Cleveland abandoned his vehicle to fill her up with diesel and hit the head. And why aren't you supposed to leave a school bus when it's full of kids? Because of what happened next. While the driver was doing his business the bus rolled out of the gas station and down a hill. According to the manager of the gas station, who chased down the bus on foot, kids started bailing out of the rig before it hit anything. One of the 27 kids on bo
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Caparo T1

The question we continually circle around when examining this idea of a fantasy garage is 'What makes a fantasy car?' There are so many variables to consider; from the emotional impact, historical relevance, lusty body work, enviable performance, and so on, and so on. Certainly it is easy to rattle off a list of cars which blow the mind and bust the pocketbook, but developing a balanced palette of cars is no simple undertaking. You could easily fill warehouses full of dream cars slathered in his
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What Car Or Truck Would You Live In?

Most of our daily questions exist in an environment in which price is no sort of object. But that's not the world we we live in. Years of do-nothing tax breaks and fiscal mismanagement have left us with a weaker dollar and a serious deficit. To make it worse, our one crutch was hundreds of billions of dollars in mortgages that were never going to be paid. And unless you're one of the irresponsible jerks that got us into this mess, you're more likely to get a golden shower from the government tha
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2010 Chevy Camaro SS Caught On Nurburgring, Stig At The Wheel?

Some say he was once a victim of American "friendly fire." Others say he used to be a GM engineer until Bob Lutz rubbed him the wrong way. But all we know is, he's called "The Stig" — or maybe it's his fat 'merican cousin — and he appears to be taking the new 2010 Chevy Camaro SS out for a 'ring run. Wait, what? That's right, although we knew the 2010 Chevy Camaro had taken to the Nürburgring earlier this week in what we've been told is das SuperSport (or because it's Germany does the "SS" mean
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MG's Still Being Made In Britain? Someone Call The Badge Police

If only the Brits could hold on to their car companies. The moving of their formerly great/adequate/tolerable brands around the world is continuing to create confusion. We know that Tata owns Rover and Nanjing/SAIC owns the MG Rover designs.... or at least we think we know that. We just learned a company in Britain is producing a handful of MG's every month with the MG badge. How? We explain below the jump.
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The 700 HP Mansory Renovatio Can Save The SLR From Certain Celebrity Death

The McLaren SLR always leaves us scratching our heads. The thundering V8 is brilliantly finessed by McLaren so as to attract only the highest-end of horsepower-happy hoon. However, it's just too pretty. The engine's wrapped up in a package that screams for the depths of the celebrity elite — the oil barons, soccer stars, "gangsta" moguls and Gumballers of the world — to buy it and have their way with it. And by that we mean everything from showing off your "no-no spot," having difficulty enterin
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1968 Mercury Cougar

How is it that I've only had one Mercury Cougar in this series so far, and that a Malaisemobile? Even worse, we forgot about all about the 40th anniversary of the Cougar last, in spite of repeated reminders from the Colorado Cougar Club! Maybe the problem is that the bloat-o-riffic Farrah Fawcett Cougar managed to obscure our mental images of the sleek 60s cats. Anyway, I've photographed several of the sporty Mustang-based Cougars on the island and you'll be sure to see them in this series, star
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Springtime In Leipzig: VW Launches "Tramper," Camper Version Of Caddy Maxi Life

Volkswagen revealed their latest version of the camper van, the VW Caddy Maxi Tramper, at the Auto Mobil International (AMI) show in Leipzig. The Maxi Tramper, based on the Volkswagen Caddy Maxi Life, looks like a marketing tie-up between Target and the automaker for the people and comes equipped with a removable six-and-a-half foot long bed and curtains. It's like the perfect conversion van maxi pad for any Bavarian cream puff looking for a dreamy vacation on a bargain-basement budget. But this
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NYC Congestion Charge Sputters And Dies, Your Cab Still Stuck In Traffic

We've told you before about New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg's proposal to charge New York drivers eight bucks to enter Manhattan during the day, a proposal that was carefully researched, drafted, approved of by Bloomberg, and then buck-passed to Albany, which people are always surprised to hear is the official capital of New York. Well, it seems the folks in Albany handled the controversial proposal with the courage and vision you might expect: they allowed the voting deadline to pass without
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PCH, Rotary Swap Hell Edition: Honda 600 Or Toyota Starlet?

Technically, the Peugeot Mi16 beat the Mercedes-Benz 6.9 in last Friday's Choose Your Eternity poll, but we're talking 327 to 317 votes here. When all is said and done, however, France still needs to take on Britain in a PCH Superpower Challenge... but we're postponing that apocalyptic battle for another day, because tipster EdNiedermeyer sent in a mighty Wankelized contender from not-often-seen-in-PCH Japan (earning a half-credit towards a Project Car Hell Tipster T-shirt in the process), and w
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El Camino + Le Car = Le Carmino

We had a debate going on whether we should call this Le Car the Le Carmino or the El Carmino, seeing as Le and El carry the same meaning. No matter, this French fry is a dreamy vehicle no matter how you slice the name. For reasons that we have no explanation for, this particular Camino has been outfitted not only with a truck bed, but also with enough Ford, Mazda and assorted other logos to fill the bed of a, well, Le Car truck. The report from STORC on the madness below the jump.
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Rusty Toyota Tacoma? Toyota May Buy Back Your Truck For 150% The Value

It wasn't too long ago that Toyota announced they were going to extend the rust-perforation warranty on about 813,000 model-year 1995 to 2000 Tacoma pickups due to serious issues with corrosion of the frame in certain areas. This means that you could add 15 years onto the model year and, if you had problems, take it in to a dealer to have it looked at. If there is damage, which is possible if you live in an area where salt is frequently used on roads, Toyota will either repair or offer to repurc
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Diesel Powered Banks S-10 Sets New World Records

Oh diesel, you are such a cruel mistress. The mega torque potential of your compression ignitioned genius is only offset by the additional cost of purchase and the scary rise in fuel prices. Diesel, why must you taunt us with new drag racing figures which both shock and delight? You convince the motor heads at Banks Power to install a Duramax into an S-10, then turbocharge the bejeesus out of it, to the point where the engine builds up to 1250 HP and 1250 lb.ft. of torque. This S-10 equipped wit
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Great Scot! Susie Stoddart Is Scotland's Favorite Racing Export

Recently, racing has been an easier path for women attempting to make a name for themselves professionally than, say, football. With the exception of rallying, this access has come with an expectation that your sexuality will be part of your outward racing persona, something that Richard Petty never had to endure. If you don't believe us, just look at Danica Patrick. The double-standard probably works more to the advantage of a female driver as they have access to a pool of advertising dollars t
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Top Ten Totally Awesome Turbocharged American Cars

We love the '80s and not just for Rick Astley, Members Only jackets and New Coke. All that's well and good, but what we really love can be described in one italicized, chromed plastic-emblemed word: TURBO. The 80's economy forced automakers to use weaker and smaller engines, so to boost power we all turned to MacGyver-rigged turbochargers. With all that super turbo potential out there, it was hard for us to come up with a top ten list of the most totally awesome turbocharged American cars from t
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2010 Nissan GT-R Spec V?

Nissan's latest version of Godzilla's barely hitting the streets and we're already hearing they've rolled out a prototype test unit for the long-rumored up-powered version — the Nissan GT-R Spec V. Well, the spy shooters at KGP claim they've spotted it being unloaded off a truck at Ghosn's Nürburgring test workshop. They claim it's the "Spec V" due to some visual differences between the test car and the standard 2009 Nissan GT-R including a revised front splitter, which sports some additional ai
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1989 Autech Stelvio: Adventures In Ridiculous

When we first saw a picture of the 1989 Autech Stelvio, we assumed it was some sort of hideous one-off Japanese concept car. It turns out the car is actually part of a limited run Nissan supercar designed by Zagato. Produced by Autech, Nissan's special performance company, the cars are based on what we know as the Infiniti M30 platform, but featuring a 320 horsepower DOHC V6. After assembly, the chassis were sent to Zagato to be fitted with the... unique bodywork. In addition to the late 80's li
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Volga Display Of Prana: Russian Automaker GAZ Seeks Partners In India

Apparently this has been out there for a while, but before we discussed the news that Gorkovsky Avtomobilny Zavod, manufacturers of the Volga line of hulking vehicular tragicomic props, was looking for partners on the Indian subcontinent, we needed to find press releases with the right sort of Moose-Und-Sqvirrel feel.
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1964 Ford F-100 Pickup Truck

Up to this point, we've had one three-time DOTS vehicle owner, WhatWouldJesseDo, with his Mini, Bluebird, and Puma appearing in this series. Today we're adding another Triple DOTS Club member; the owner of this very rough Ford truck also owns the equally rough '61 Thunderbird and '70 Impala. All three of these fine Detroit machines park on the same parking-challenged block, being moved as needed to avoid street-sweeping tickets.
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Nissan Qashqai+2 Revealed Ahead Of London Motor Show

Nissan has issued the first pictures of its new seven-seater crossover vehicle that takes the Qashqai and cranks the knob up by "+2." That's right, it's called the Qashqai+2, an all-new bigger Qashqai that seats two more than the original model of the strangely-named CUV. Nissan accomplishes the increased room by upping the wheelbase size from the 103.5 inches found in the Qashqai to 108.86 inches and the overall length from 169.7 inches to 178.2 inches. The new Qashqai+2 will be launched at the
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Top Seven Best Cars To Die In

Hey, we all have to go eventually, right? So ask yourself this: When the inevitable happens, do you want to check out in your sleep? Expire in the comfort of your own home, perhaps, surrounded by softly weeping loved ones? Or would you like to drive into that undiscovered country from which no hoon returns, shouting your furious defiance of the Reaper from behind the wheel? That's what we thought. With that in mind, we've prepared a list of the top seven cars we'd be proud to have in our obituar
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Radio Reporter Sneaks Out First Video Of Chevy Volt Electric Car

UPDATE: The Chevy Volt Forum's got pictures from inside the design studio of the interior and a GM artists render of the front. Hit the jump to see it in all of its graininess. - Second update: now with a front end picture!Something we didn't tell you yesterday was that while we were in attendance at the GM event yesterday, we pulled out our cell phone to check a text message we'd just received. Immediately, GM PR was on top of us, confiscating the phone because it had a camera on it. OK, we c
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Project Car Hell: Mercedes-Benz 6.9 Or Peugeot Mi16?

As everyone predicted, the Triumph GT6 obliterated the Porsche 914 in yesterday's Choose Your Eternity poll. British Leyland versus VW? We've been gearing up to have an epic Britain-versus-France PCH Superpower Showdown ever since a Lotus knocked the crown off top dog Italy's dome, but it's only fair to give PCH SuperBeaucoupPower France a warmup round against Germany, just as the Brits got. Thus, we have today's matchup, courtesy of PCH Tipster (and T-shirt winner) Anaxomander.
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Fireblade Concept Is The New 2009 Corvette ZR1

There's little doubt we're fan-boys when it comes to the new 2009 Corvette ZR1. Any time you take a Corvette and give it more power, lighter weight, bigger brakes and a more competent suspension, you're talking about all the ingredients to send our supercar-loving hearts thumping right out of our chest, sign in hand proclaiming, "Do Want!" Then we found this — the Fireblade design concept — a re-skinning of the already potentially iconic Corvette ZR1 by South African designer-wannabe Idries Noah
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Maniac Transplants Audi 4.2-Liter V8 Into 1981 Lotus Esprit

This is one of those rare occasions where the most appropriate reaction to an engine transplant is to stand from your chair, and begin a slow clap of awe-inspired appreciation. It takes a certain kind of bonkers maniac to wrest the 2.2 liter 4-cylinder Lotus engine and Citroen gearbox from an otherwise impeccable example of a 1981 Lotus Esprit and install a monster German V8 of aluminum und schteel. Follow along in forum format as our hero goes about the heart transplant, and wonder in awe as he
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Spending The Day With The Chevy Volt

UPDATE: Thanks to intrepid commenter stopcrazypp, we just broke the first video of the 2010 Chevy Volt, go check it out. Yesterday we took a trip out the sprawling campus of the GM Tech Center in Warren Michigan. The enormous Eero Saarinen designed complex has been recently upgraded with the Vehicle Tech Center, where we would be rubbing elbows with about eighty of the industries finest hacks and flacks for the day. The motor press had all descended on the complex for a rare glimpse inside the w
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Introducing The 2008 Model Year Jalopnik Lineup

This is it. What countless dozens of you have been waiting for, a select few thought would never come and countless millions couldn't care less about — the introduction of the all-new 2008 model year Jalopnik. Although we're still buffing the sheet metal a bit and deciding on an extra hood scoop or go-faster stripes — we've already got a great auto-obsessed group of guys (and, you know, Murilee) in the lineup bringing you the best of what you've come to expect from Jalopnik. And since you've bee
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Question Of The Day: Is It Ever Okay To Wear Racing Team Apparel?

There's a great scene in PCU (rent it, trust us) wherein Jeremy Piven critiques John Favreau's choice of concertware saying: "What's this? You're wearing the shirt of the band you're going to see? Don't be that guy. " But that's music. Sports is different, right? I'm currently wearing an Astros shirt, ballcap and slippers as I prepare for this afternoon's game at Wrigely. There's nothing wrong with that, though I will be taking a lot of verbal punishment for it. But that's baseball. Racing appar
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ABC Radio, For The Record, GM Still Owns The Rights To Oldsmobile

Mark Twain once said "a lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes." Thanks to radio and the web, it can now travel all the way around the world. Remember that list of automotive April Fools' Day jokes? Remember that C&D and Automobile joke about Toyota securing Olds' naming rights? Someone took it to be the truth. And that person was Ron Chapman, filling in for Paul Harvey on his extremely popular ABC Radio show. Ugh. In case you were curious, the appropriat
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EXCLUSIVE: "The Ramp", A Documentary By Jeff Schultz

"There's a fine line between genius, and insanity — and a hair brained scheme, and a revolutionary idea." posits this film, and we agree. As a result of our early discovery of the 2009 BMW 1-Series themed Rampenfest viral marketing campaign, we have been offered the exclusive rights to bring you the world wide documentary premier of "The Ramp". The thirty minute movie chronicles the men, the mission, and the madness of an attempt to launch the 1-series from Germany to America by way of ramp. An
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1977 Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser Station Wagon

We haven't seen many Oldsmobiles in this series, and it's been almost two months since the most recent station wagon, so this Custom Cruiser seems like the right car for today. This is actually our second '77 Olds Custom Cruiser wagon, the other one having been shot just a few blocks from today's car (which also lives just around the corner from the '71 Blazer we saw on Monday.
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Ferrari F50 Latest Victim Of Poor Swedish Driving

Who knew that sleazy Swede Stefan Eriksson was starting such a popular trend when he destroyed his Ferrari Enzo? Our main man from the north lands, JanTheMan, sent us this video of one Swedish gentleman putting his Ferrari F50 in the ditch. How did this happen? According to JanTheMan:
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PCH, Great Rusty North Edition: Triumph GT6 Or Porsche 914?

It looks like Italy has been knocked off the PCH Superpower throne by the UK, according to the results of yesterday's Choose Your Eternity poll. That means that PCH SuperGigaPower France awaits the chance to take on its historical PCH rival from across the Channel. But first, let's see how Britain fares against a rival that, though falling somewhat short of true PCH Superpower status due to the stubborn reliability of so many of its vehicles, still puts forward some strong Hell Project competiti
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Motorola Brings Back The Car Phone!

It's not often that I get this excited over a new cell phone release, but Motorola has done. it Motorola is bringing back the car phone with the Smart Rider Car Phone. The difference is that this isn't that big bulky briefcase-style phone of the 1990s, but rather a new, small, slim phone that can do a million times more than the car phones of yesteryear. It has a 2.8-inch color display and includes GPS navigation.
By Travis Hudson Read More
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Ratchet, Ironhide Spotted; Transformers 2 Filming In Arizona?

Today's daily Transformers 2 update comes with more spotted Autobots and rumors of a filming location. Photographed in the Culver City, Calif. is this truck loaded up with Ironhide and Ratchet. This is the third Transformer spotting we've seen over the past week. Last Friday we saw twin Barricades, yesterday we caught glimpse of Optimus Prime and now we have Ratchet and Ironhide. My keen eye also noticed that all of the spotted Transformers are being hauled around from seemingly the same truck a
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Jalopnik Reader Makes Epic Journey To Snatch Amazon Parts From Crusher's Jaws!

A few weeks back, we saw a reasonably complete looking 1964 Volvo Amazon in an East Bay wrecking yard, and the outpouring of grief- particularly from European readers- was heart-rending. How could such a nice Amazon be treated like some dime-a-dozen Excel or Taurus? How? Well, nobody saved the whole car, but a Jalopnik reader emailed me for the location of the yard and then proceeded to drive five hours each way in the hope that his recently wrecked Amazon might get some front body parts. Make
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Dodge Coronet's Window Blinds Prove Ineffective At Warding Off Crusher

When you hear about a Malaise Era Dodge, most of the time it's a 1974 example, because that was the year of the Bluesmobile. That means that 1974 Chrysler C-body stands a much better chance of being cared for than a '73 B-body (thanks to those of you who pointed out my B/C-body screwup). Here's an example I spotted at a local junkyard, near the Country Squire wagon; as a 1973 Coronet with a much different grille totally different platform than Jake and Elwood's car, there was no chance that the
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1987 Mitsubishi Starion

You have no idea, dear readers, how long I hunted- perhaps stalked is the more accurate term- this Mitsubishi. Starions are very rare these days, I wanted to shoot one in Alameda for this series, and here was this primered-out specimen living just a few blocks from my house (on the same block, in fact, as the '87 Corolla FX16 GT-S). Unfortunately, its owner clearly uses it as a daily driver, and his work hours seem to coincide exactly with the daylight hours. All fall and winter I waited, and wi
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Tatra CEO Plans To Make Retro-Styled Machines

We all thought the Tatra-based Faurecio design study was pretty cool, but what about the real thing? Tatra is still in business, but these days they make only big trucks. However, our Corvette-importin', Tatra 603 road-testin' friend in the Czech Republic, BobAsh, informs us that car freaks in the CR are in a frenzy over a recent announcement by Tatra's CEO that they plan to start building a few historic Tatra models on modern drivetrains. Make the jump to get BobAsh's take on the whole busines
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Commenter Of The Day: WTF Is Going On At Bed, Bath & Beyond? Edition

Gentle Ben's post about NYC congestion charges spawned its own mini-New York traffic complaint thread. We probably shouldn't be surprised since New Yorkers enjoy complaining about traffic in the same way people from Detroit like to complain about, well, everything. We're not going to discourage them from doing it because no amount of our bickering would stop their kvetching. But that didn't stop one commenter from trying.
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PCH, Superpower Malaise Showdown: 1978 Ferrari 308 Or 1980 Lotus Esprit?

While the 8-door '57 Chrysler limo almost beat out the stretched Ferrari 400i limo in our last Choose Your Eternity poll (and what an upset of reigning PCH Superpower, Italy, that would have been!), V12 power and Italian build quality seem to have triumphed over fins and rust. Today we need to see how Italy fares against its fellow PCH Superpower, Great Britain (with the winner moving on to take on France, of course). And, just to make things more fun, we're going with some serious Malaise machi
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A Hummer Won't Get You The Love, Hummer You Really Want

As much as the Internet is powered by ads, you probably don't want to go too far down the Google AdWord rabbit hole because you might be frightened by what you find. In this case a search of Hummer served up a steamy ad claiming
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Zagato Creates Perfect Lancia Aprilia Sport Replica Using Only Photos

Sometimes a classic car is just so unattainable that you have to resort to replicas. That's easy if you want a fiberglass Cobra-esq roadster, but what about when the car you want doesn't have a kit readily available for you to order? What about if that 1937 Lancia you want doesn't have any documented engineering plans, and there's not a single original car remaining, anywhere? Well, back in 2006, Zagato decided they would take on such a challenge; building a perfect replica of the 1937 Lancia Ap
By Mark Arnold Read More
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San Diego Serenade: Triumph Stag And Buick LeSabre

The Bonus Edition DOTS cars just keep coming in. Today we're heading down to San Diego, where Brian B captured a very Jalopnik-centric pair of vintage cars: a 1968 Buick LeSabre and a 1972 Triumph Stag. One is a vast sedan with styling that may have been aimed at old people, but at least they were hip old people (like retired mobsters, etc). The other is a sporty British V8 machine with a reputation for unreliability so awe-inspiring that you can't help but admire its owner. Good finds! Make th
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OnStar Adds MapQuest, One-Touch Addressing, Traffic And Ex-Avoidance

For all the goofy hype that surrounds it, OnStar is occasionally helpful to those who have it. The OnStar/GM Nav system should be getting better now that the Onstar-Mapquest service is ready to go. The three main features include the ability to feed an address to an OnStar advisor while driving, the ability to create maps on MapQuest.com and send them to your navigation system, and XM NavTraffic. We just made up the part about ex-avoidance. No amount of technology will keep you from bumping in t
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Jalopnik Puts Stars On Reasonably-Priced Car...Commenters

While our Gawker overlords turned down our request for a new Nissan GT-R to use in a feature we'd wanted to call "star in a reasonably priced supercar," they did deem the Jalop worthy of a new commenting feature — the "starred commenter." Gawker wants us to use them to give to commenters with a known track record of providing the best of the best in commenting pleasure. We've decided to use the feature over here a little bit differently. Since we all know with great power comes great responsibil
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1963 Porsche 356

Back when we had the Favorite Porsche Down On The Street Poll, the winner was the '67 Porsche 912. While it's possible that the vote-splitting among the four Malaise Era 911s may have handed the win to the 912 by default, the fact remains that the oldest Porsche won. Is that because 1967 was long before the Porsche name got weighed down with all the Lifestyle Symbolism it bears today? Well, that '67 is a Porsche-come-lately next to today's DOTS find! Here's a street-driven '63 356 that still has
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Toyota Claims Jim Press Is A Liar, Pants Are On Fire: Prius Development Didn't Use Government Dollars

Today the super number-one best automaker from the land of the rising sun provided us the automotive industry equivalent of yelling "Liar, liar, pants on fire!" at their former President of Toyota USA, Jim Press. Press, now President of Chrysler, claimed last week in an article in BusinessWeek that 100% of development of the battery and hybrid engine for the automaker's happy little hybrid, the Prius, occurred via a fat injection of government dollars. This claim had been widely speculated at in
By Ray Wert Read More
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Ten Best...Or Worst...April Fools' Day Automotive Gags

We resisted the temptation today to pull our own shenanigans, mostly because tearing the wraps off a fake photoshopped Ford Ranchero was too obvious. Similarly, calling a fold to the sham that is Chryslerberus would have just been plain mean. Luckily, we knew the online automotive world would pick up the slack. Sure enough we were right, and we quickly found ourselves inundated with all kinds of April Fools' hijinks. Without further ado, below are the ten most amusing automotive hoaxes of the da
By Ben Wojdyla Read More
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2011 Mini Crossman

Mini purists, just recently able to set down their small farm-issue pitchforks over the Clubman, should probably pick them right back up and head down to TSC to pick up some of those big ol' industrial-sized pitchforks they issue for CAFOs. That's because the third member of the Mini family's been spotted sneaking around in some Clubman skin, which it obviously killed on some backwoods trail because it couldn't keep up. That's right, we're told the picture above is a prototype test mule for the
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Chinese Company Wants To Sell Us Armored Cars

In the latest installment of "We're-only-a-website-no-commerce-here" — also known as our own brand of cotomer sevis — instead of getting email from an eager buyer, we were propositioned by the other side of the capitalist equation. Or, to be specific, the e-mail is from what appears to be a shady Chinese exporter of bulletproof vests and cars. We say "appears," because, well, he claims his name is Mr. Andy — which we can only assume, nay, hope, to be a pseudonym. We've probably made Mr. Andy's r
By Ben Wojdyla Read More
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Max Mosley Apologizes, Isn't Going Anywhere

Up until now, FIA president Max Mosley has been quiet about the Nazi-style orgy matter, even as Bahrain said they didn't want him. There's a long statement but the gist of it is that he's sorry that this whole thing was made public, that there was no Nazi connotation to any of it (really?) and that he's going to go after those who attacked him. We guess his point is that dressing up like SS officers and screaming in German during sex should not be perceived as anything related to Nazism. The sta
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Environmental Impact Of Prius, Hummer Considered By Slate

The leftist propaganda machine that is Slate recently made an attempt to quash rumors saying the Hummer H2 has a smaller overall environmental impact than a Toyota Prius. The argument goes that the manufacturing process is so energy intensive, and the materials so environmentally damaging, the Toyota Prius is actually worse for the environment in the long run than buying a Hummer H2. Of course the commies at Slate start talking about "science, studies and analysis" — all code words to their cons
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Does Xerxes5's MGC-GT Put Him In The Pantheon Of PCH Poster Children?

Back in February, Mad_Science failed to attain the dubious honor of Project Car Hell Poster Child, because the voters felt his 1967 Ford Country Sedan was insufficiently hellish. Today I'm putting up Xerxes5 for PCHPC status, even though that's not what he had in mind when he emailed me in the first place (when I mentioned in the Rue Brittania Edition PCH that I was considering an MGC for my personal Hell Project, he emailed me about his '69 MGB-GT). [xerxes5]
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Saab Officially Launches Eco-Clothing Line

Remember that super wacky Saab "Reflective Eco-Clothing" fashion show from the New York Auto Show? Apparently the reception was good because Saab is actually launching a line of organic and fair trade clothing. And we mean really launching, as in "not just a PR stunt at a swanky party" launching. Luckily, the clothing seems fairly normal and not reflective and funky like the duds from the New York Auto Show event.
By Travis Hudson Read More
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Seven New Cars We Wish Were April Fools' Day Jokes

[UPDATE: Also check out our top ten list of the best...or was it the worst...April Fools' Day automotive gags.] Occasionally, an automaker likes to have a little fun on April Fools' Day by announcing a car so ridiculous it couldn't possibly be real. Unfortunately, what happens more often than not is that an automaker will announce a car so ridiculous that it couldn't possible be real... and it is. Some are poorly-styled and ill-conceived, while others seem to fill no foreseeable niche other th
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Brady Bunch Gives Up On Country Squire: To The Crusher With It!

Imagine an alternate universe in which the SUV never annihilated the big Detroit station wagon, a universe in which Ford dealers stocked row upon row of gleaming new '08 Country Squire wagons. Would faux-woodgrain siding still be available? And how many cupholders could you fit in a Squire? Sadly, most of the original Squires have long since been crushed; here's one that managed 36 years before landing in an East Bay self-service wrecking yard. Still, it looks like it has yielded up some useful
By Murilee Martin Read More
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JDM Nissan R35 GT-R Can Be Yours For $96,000

Want a new Nissan GT-R, but you don't want to wait around to take delivery of an "officially" imported model? Well you're in luck, because we've found a 2007 JDM model for sale that's ready to be exported from Japan to your local shipping yard. The asking price? 9,585,000 yen; the equivalent of about $96,000. Now if you're in the good ol' USofA, that's alot of money for a right-hand-drive car that you can't legally register for the street. Sure, you might be able to use it as a trackday toy, but
By Mark Arnold Read More
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Car Paintings By Robert Bechtle

When you're talking about painters who get the Jalopnik Stamp-O-Approval™, the Two Roberts come to mind immediately. You got your Robert Williams, of course, and then you got your Robert Bechtle... and what more could you need? I've got a print of Alameda Gran Torino hanging on my living-room wall, and it serves as inspiration every time I head out the door on a DOTS photo expedition (especially when I see a car like today's '65 Comet). I've gathered up a few of Bechtle's many car-themed painti
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Chrysler's Press Claims Japan Paid 100% Of Toyota Prius Hybrid, Battery Development; Lutz Says Volt Could Cost $48,000

BusinessWeek's David Kiley had a fun idea to spend some time talking with some industry heavy-hitters about CAFE and fuel economy. He spent a few minutes talking to both former Toyota USA President and current #2 at Chrysler, Jim Press, as well as GM Vice-Chairman "Maximum" Bob Lutz. The topic was the fuel efficient topic of choice among greenies, hybrids. In the article, Lutz claimed the upcoming Chevy Vaporware Volt might end up with a sticker price at around $48K. Normally that would make a p
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Malibu, American Axle's Through With You?

But we digress, it seems the Malibu may be the next threatened product in the General's stable. Although American Axle doesn't actually provide any parts for the better-than-average selling sedan, they apparently do supply parts to other suppliers supplying parts — specifically, as Automotive News is reporting, rear suspension knuckles. And apparently they'll not be having enough of those rear suspension knuckles — in who knows how long. But whenever, or if, that does happen, it could be a very
By Ray Wert Read More
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1965 Mercury Comet 202

Hey, if you shoot enough photos of old cars on the streets of Alameda, sooner or later you'll get a shot that looks something like a Robert Bechtle painting! The photo above made me almost happy enough to forget my frustration that there's a super-original, 4-speed-equipped '68 AMX parked a couple doors down from this Comet... in a driveway, and thus off-limits to DOTS. The pain!
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Technology (7)

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Real $500 Race Cars Have Manual Transmissions... And Inner-Tube Shifter Boots!

When we started out to build a V8-powered Volvo 244 for the May 10-11 24 Hours of LeMons race, most of the team members assumed we'd be using the good ol' C4 automatic transmission. You know, automatics are way easier to swap, with no troublesome clutch linkage to futz with. But Crew Chief Hellhammer (formerly known as Dave) pointed out that he's built plenty of manual-equipped rods, and then he directed our attention to several Ford V8-compatible T-5 5-speeds (and no C4s) sitting in the weeds b
By Murilee Martin Read More
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What Are Your Ten Favorite Wrenching Albums?

We've talked about the Ten Best Driving Albums, but what about the albums you want to listen to while you're systematically removing all the skin from your knuckles on your Hell Project? The music that just sounds best when played on the oil-spattered beater boombox that lives in the garage? This question came to me last weekend, while working on the race car...
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What Makes A Race Car Faster? A Fiero Wing, Of Course!

When we added a great big hood scoop to our V8 Volvo LeMons racer, it immediately became apparent that something was missing from the picture. But what? Walking around to the rear of the car, it hit us: we lacked a wing! Skeptics might point out that a wing would be aerodynamically meaningless on a brick-shaped car running on a track with top speeds of about 60 (the crueler skeptics might even refer to a wing as "useless dead weight"), but we know that's hogwash- the bigger the wing, the faster
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Another Advantage To Racing A Volvo: Free Parts Car!

Now that the 24 Hours of LeMons shit-talking has begun, I find it necessary to present some more evidence to show that the V8-ified Volvo 240 is Your Best Race Car Value, even though it means giving away some tricks to our real competition (i.e., the other teams driving Swedish steel). You see, some teams are coming up with this crazy talk about how they've got the best bang-for-buck with their Cavaliers or MR2s and such, but are there countless MR2s sitting in back yards, just waiting for some
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Welcome To Low-Budget Race Car Wiring Hell!

So we solved the throttle-linkage problem on our V8-ized Volvo race car, but what about electrical stuff? The factory wiring, switches, and instruments weren't going to work with our new engine. In fact, we'd torn out every scrap of wire in the car, preferring to start with a blank electrical slate. As the creator of the Junkyard Boogaloo Boombox, I figured whipping up an all-junkyard instrument panel on a shoestring budget wouldn't be too much hassle. I was able to scrounge up an old Auto Meter
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Wrecked Civic + Drag Bike = El Civico!

When we had the Favorite Example of Caminoization poll, reader Buckyworld stunned us all with his description of El Civico, a 1999 Honda Civic converted to motorcycle-haulin' cartruck. Well, anything that cool is sure to trigger weeks of relentless hounding from us for the whole story, and Buckyworld was kind enough to oblige. Make the jump for the astounding saga of the mighty El Civico!
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One Maddening Problem Solved, 297 To Go!

It seemed like such a great idea a few months ago: Over here, we had a $100 Volvo 244. Over there, a free Ford 302 engine. A little welding, a bit of cutting, some duct tape, and voila! Easy V8 Volvo for the 24 Hours of LeMons, you betcha! Actually, we all knew we were taking on a ridiculously ambitious somewhat challenging project, especially since sweat and ingenuity would have to substitute for dollars in order to get under the $500 budget, but we've got the junkyard scroungers and fabricatin
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