Archive for October 2008

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Buying (12)

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    First Look: Ford SmartGauge Instument Panel

    That newly unveiled 2010 Ford Fusion looks pretty slick and all, but today we got a chance to sit down in the Fusion Hybrid — complete with black and white jelly bean camouflage — and play around with the new twin-LCD SmartGauge display. We'll let Ford Researcher Jeff Greenberg, a Senior Technical Leader at Ford walk you through the features in the video above, but after spending a couple of minutes with it, what do we think? How about a quicky review on this new fangled tech to go along with a

    By Ben Wojdyla Read More
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    2009 MINI Cooper Clubman S, Part Three

    Why you should buy the 2009 MINI Cooper Clubman S: You're extremely wealthy and like small cars. You never liked going around corners that much anyways. The most exciting thing that could possibly happen to you in the course of a day is spotting another Mini in exactly the same color and getting the driver of it to wave feverishly at you. You used to have a regular Mini, but now you have a small dog. Why you shouldn't buy this car: You consider value an important part of the car-buying process.

    By Andrew Didorosi Read More
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    2009 MINI Cooper Clubman S, Part Two

    Exterior Design: **** The 2009 MINI Cooper Clubman S preserves much of the styling moxie possessed by the original while hiding much of the added heft. At a distance, it's nearly impossible to differentiate between the two variations, causing us to do more than one double-take. The only major giveaway is the 50/50 split rear barn doors with through-door tail lamps and the suicide door on the passenger side. But a front 3/4 view will make you swear you're looking at the original "S." Interior Des

    By Andrew Didorosi Read More
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    2009 MINI Cooper Clubman S, Part One

    As interns at Jalopnik, we’ve got a pretty sweet gig. Admittedly, there are occasionally humdrum duties such as cleaning the tire debris off of Challengers and Corvette ZR1s, but at the end of the day, the perks outweigh everything else. Heavily. When two of us were tossed the keys to a fully-fueled 2009 MINI Cooper Clubman S so fresh its interior plastics were still off-gassing, and the only spoken rule was that it had to be at the airport the next morning to meet the boss man with most of its

    By Andrew Didorosi Read More
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    AEV HEMI-Powered Jeep Wrangler: First Drive

    The new Jeep Wrangler is a damn fine off-road vehicle straight from the factory, but a 202 HP V6 just doesn't quite fit the bill for the folks at American Expedition Vehicles. Remember, this is the same group of guys who built the Hemi-powered SR-392 Roadster and the amazing Brute conversion kit that'll let you turn your Wrangler into an honest-to-goodness Jeep truck. This year at SEMA AEV'll be showing their latest and greatest new toy — the custom shop's dropped a 5.7-liter HEMI V8 into the ev

    By Ben Wojdyla Read More
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    2009 Saturn Vue 2 Mode Hybrid: First Drive

    The 2009 Saturn Vue 2 Mode Hybrid wasn’t designed for us. If we wanted a hybrid, we wouldn’t want it in the form of a small crossover SUV. But since we don’t actually want a hybrid, it’s probably a good thing that GM designed the Vue 2 Mode for people that do want one and want it to perform like a regular V6-equipped crossover while achieving 65% better fuel economy in town, a 30% improvement on the highway and not sacrificing any utility, space or luxury in the process. The Vue 2 Mode differs

    By Wes Siler Read More
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    2009 Volkswagen CC: First Drive

    The car industry and the publications that serve it like order. They like to place things into categories and through doing so, exert some illusion of control over the marketplace. The BMW 3-series competes with the Audi A4. The Honda Accord competes with the Toyota Camry. Vehicles are priced to be a few dollars higher or lower than the competition and offer a few percentage points more of some variable or a few less. All this makes for easy Powerpoint presentations, unchallenged marketing depar

    By Wes Siler Read More
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    2009 Ford F-150, First Drive

    The 2009 Ford F-150 comes from people who are intensely aware of what a pickup truck should do, how it should perform and what the customer is after. With the latest iteration of the F-150, Ford has a considerable reputation to live up to and in the face of dwindling pickup sales, needs to make some big promises to attract the customers still in the market. So the question becomes, when you are already the king of an ever-dwindling hill, how do you make that hill bigger? Ford has come into this

    By Ben Wojdyla Read More
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    2008 Toyota Tundra: First Drive

    When we talk about how modern trucks tend to smack you in the face with their machismo, the 2008 Toyota Tundra is what we're talking about. It's big, it's burly, it's got incredibly aggressive styling and it lavishes the driver in all manner of gadgetry. For good reason too: Toyota has forever been known as an also-ran in the full-size truck market. The plain old Pickup model has proved popular with the AK-47-toting crowd worldwide, but trucks like the Toyota T100, and the original Tundra just d

    By Ben Wojdyla Read More
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    2009 Volvo XC70 T6, Part Three

    Why you should buy the 2009 Volvo XC70 T6: Frankly, the world scares you. You've got three great kids and you'll do your best to guarantee that nothing happens to them between your gated community and their Montessori school. Your country club is on the other side of a somewhat bumpy road. You want a Volvo, so why not get a ridiculous one? Why you shouldn't buy this car: You see this for what this is: the Volvo "Cross Country Club" and not an SUV. You could find a better use for $40K. You like y

    By Matt Hardigree Read More
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    2009 Volvo XC70 T6, Part Two

    Exterior Design: *** The 2009 Volvo XC70 T6 is one of the best looking Volvos currently made, which sounds like it could be a dig but isn't at all intended that way. The classically strange Swedish proportions combined with the elevated height and dark plastic cladding accented by satin metal create a tasteful effect that makes the regular V70 wagon the XC is based on look like the odd-man out. This is a marked improvement over the previous generation, which looked like a Volvo wagon with Honda

    By Matt Hardigree Read More
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    2009 Volvo XC70 T6, Part One

    No amount of training or 24-hour news coverage-watching prepares you for the sight of your city, your home, suddenly transformed into a disaster area. Having recently moved back to Houston after a couple of years in Chicago, I made it just in time for Hurricane Ike to knock me around like a sack of potatoes. With power out, debris everywhere and traffic lights no longer functioning, it was by luck that the car I had scheduled to review was the 2009 Volvo XC70 T6, a vehicle safe enough for even t

    By Matt Hardigree Read More

Entertainment (5)

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    Richard Hammond's Ferrari 550 Up For Sale

    Looks like Top Gear co-host Richard Hammond has decided to part with one of his cars, in this case a 1997 Ferrari 550 with just 49,000 miles on the clock. Despite the fact this supercar was owned first by EVO magazine before falling into the hands of Hammond, the advertisement states the 550 has "had every care possible by Maranello to keep it pristine." Hammond's Ferrari is the requisite red with black interior and has a proper manual gearbox, but with right-hand drive, US buyers need not apply

    By Andrew Stoy Read More
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    Would Top Gear Netherlands Be A Bridge Too Far?

    With word today that the ever-expanding Top Gear family is once again reaching beyond the UK shores for Top Gear Russia it may be time to to decide if we actually want and/or need more Top Gear franchises. How many Top Gears is too many Top Gears? What country should be next? Top Gear: The Netherlands? Viva Top Gear Mexico? At what point, if ever, does Top Gear jump the shark? With Top Gear Australia in a bit of a ratings slump we must question whether the original works because of the three-hot

    By Matt Hardigree Read More
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    Top Gear Russia Officially Confirmed!

    Apparently Top Gear's aggressive television expansion is now no longer limited to people who speak some form of English. The world's greatest, and now most franchised, automotive TV show in the world has just confirmed they'll be expanding to Russia. Yes, folks, that's right, a Top Gear made for Russians, by Russians will air 15 episodes starting around the end of this year. Sorry, but we're so excited we're even too stunned to make a "In Soviet Russia, something-something-something you!" joke

    By Matt Hardigree Read More
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    Jeremy Clarkson Loves The ZR1, But Says It Began "To Disintegrate" After Three Days

    Writing in his weekly column in the ever-so-slightly left-of-center Sunday Times, Jeremy Clarkson expressed his love for the 2009 Corvette ZR1 before claiming “after three days the damn thing was beginning to disintegrate.” He may have just been "doing it wrong." Of course, this being Clarkson, the rest of the column was about the Chrysler Sebring, the War of Independence and his own insecurities that arise from him being a balding, fat idiot from a backwater nation who’s made a career on the te

    By Wes Siler Read More
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    Top Gear's World War, From The German Perspective

    Remember when the blokes at Top Gear squared off against their German counterparts this past season? Well, now the German perspective from the show DMotor has aired. Hosted by none other than Sabine Schmitz—and a couple of other guys—the episode has been subtitled into English now by some intrepid fanboys at FinalGear. Even if you've seen the complementing episode of Top Gear already, it's interesting to see things from the very serious German angle. For instance, the idea of this drag race in t

    By Mark Arnold Read More

News (317)

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    SEMA Getting Hit With Tsunami Of Custom Fords

    The pictures are tiny, but Ford is apparently bringing quite a load of customs to the SEMA show in Vegas next week. There's a trio of Lincoln MKS's on the way, a couple of Foci and custom Escapes, a sinister looking Lincoln MKX, and our favorite, a tarted up Ford Transit Connect. Seriously, that thing can't hit the market soon enough; we'll take one with a set of those snazzy racing stripes too. Full details on all these customs in a healthy-sized press release below, and be sure to check out Ja

    By Ben Wojdyla Read More
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    It's Graverobber Project Car Hell Tirade Friday!

    Graverobber just keeps writing his amazing Project Car Hell Tirades™ for us, so we're going to keep putting together these compilations for those of you too damn lazy busy to look for them in the original PCH posts. Financiapocalypse Moonshine Runner Edition: Mercury Marauder or BMW 850i? Wait a minute, there's something wrong here, both of these cars appear to be running! Where's the project? Where's the Hell?! This is more COOCH- Crappy Overpriced Old Car Hell. Okay, I'm good with that. Welco

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    Commenter Of The Day: Church & Dwight Co. Edition

    One of the oldest companies in the United States, Church & Dwight Co., Inc. was founded by two brothers-in-law who developed sodium bicarbonate in their kitchen. We know sodium bicarbonate better as baking soda, and we know the company better as the group that brought us Arm & Hammer. Cleverly, the company has managed to turn their strong brand name into numerous other products such as toothpaste and cat litter. And though we associate the company with being clean, the acquisition of Carter-Wall

    By Matt Hardigree Read More
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    Toyota Won't Stop Saved By Zero Ads Despite Pleas From Thousands Of Facebookers

    Anyone who has watched any sporting event in the last few weeks has been subjected to a wrist-slitting Toyota commercial featuring a cover of "Saved By Zero" by The Fixx. While succeeding in it's desire to get you to remember the company's promise of 0% financing, you're not alone in feeling like you want to punch a flat-head screwdriver into your ear every time you hear it, as the numerous Facebook groups attacking the ad's simple, catchy and annoying jingle would attest. But maybe that's Toyot

    By Matt Hardigree Read More
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    Chevrolet GPiX Concept Revealed In Brazil

    Chevy revealed the GPiX — for Global Picture — crossover concept at the Sao Paulo Auto Show in Brazil earlier this week. The two-door crossover offers high ground clearance for traversing the stumps of burned-out rainforests, and was designed at GM's Brazilian design center using Chevy's new international design language. In one of the strangest statements by a GM exec ever, Carlos Barba, GM director of design for Latin America said "It offers the sporty design and versatility necessary for a co

    By Andrew Stoy Read More
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    Is There A Case For Automatic Transmissions?

    Here's a scary thought for Halloween: between 1980 and 2005 the percentage of cars with a stick shift dropped from 35% to 6%. The rise in gas prices has led to a slight uptick in manual vehicles (7.7% last year), but most cars are still going in the direction of automatic transmissions. You won't be able to get a 2009 F-150 with a manual if you're a truck lover. Even if you want the trickest of trick AMG Mercedes at best you'll have a manumatic 7-speed. The upcoming Chevy Cruze? Supposedly it'll

    By Matt Hardigree Read More
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    Subaru Forester Mountain Rescue Concept Ascending To SEMA

    Subaru is bringing what they're calling the "Mountain Rescue Forester" to next week's SEMA show. Built in conjunction with Detroit-based Specialized Vehicles, the Ski Patrol vehicle started life as a Forester 2.5XT turbo, but now sports 14 inches of ground clearance from an air suspension system and fat Yokohamas. The requisite high-power off-road lighting sits up top, complemented by ski holders, a cargo basket and a WARN winch on the front bumper for pulling EXTREME!! inexperienced snowboarder

    By Andrew Stoy Read More
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    Hyundai Releases Specs On Genesis Coupe: V6 Hits 310 HP, Turbo Four-Banger Gets 30 MPG

    Hyundai has provided a wealth of new details on its upcoming Genesis Coupe, including statements the 2.0-liter turbo four will deliver 210 HP on regular gas and 220 HP on high-test, along with 223 ft-lb of torque at a low, low 2,000 RPM. The kicker, or at least it was until gas dropped down below $3 per gallon, is that those output numbers are available in a car returning 30 MPG on the highway. The 2.0T Coupe will be available in four different trim levels, ranging from base to promising-soundin

    By Andrew Stoy Read More
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    1982 BMW 633CSi

    Welcome to Down On The Street, where we admire old vehicles found parked on the streets of the Island That Rust Forgot: Alameda, California. The BMW E24 is not exactly an endangered species, but it's such a good-looking car that every single one I see in Alameda qualifies for this series. Never mind that I have photographs of six Alameda 2002s stockpiled- it's 6 Series time again!

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    PCH, Ticket To The Afterlife Edition: WRX-Powered Beetle Or Granada Hearse?

    Welcome to Project Car Hell, where you choose your eternity by selecting the project that's the coolest... and the most hellish! Not very surprisingly, the Bristol 408 walloped the Beetle Limo last time, so it seems only right to give another Beetle a shot at PCH glory. Since we're coming up on Halloween, let's have a couple of scary cars; scary for different reasons, yet both with the Grim Reaper riding shotgun. Everyone knows that the Subaru boxer is pretty close to the same proportions as the

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    Commenter Of The Day: Henry The Fowler Edition

    King Henry the First of Germany was, due to his strong civic and military leadership, the first ruler to bring all the formerly separated portions of Germany together into one kingdom. Some say he gets his name from the fact that, when told he had ascended to leadership, he was in the middle of readying birds for the hunt (it's a good thing he wasn't told while intimate with Mrs. Henry The Fowler or he'd be Henry The Fouler of Women). Among his most brilliant strokes was to offer the Magyars, wh

    By Matt Hardigree Read More
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    The Ten Scariest-Looking Cars Of All Time

    It's that wondrous time of year when our inner ghouls come out and we lurk the streets, be-costumed, reveling in our darker selves. Halloween night represents the one night we can cast off our cheeriness and embrace what lurks within the darkest corner of our souls. And though we must adorn ourselves with capes and masks to tell the world we're out for mischief, there are a number of automobiles that come prefabricated for ne'erdowelling across unlit streets. Below are the ten spookiest, creep

    By Matt Hardigree Read More
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    Krack Kadett Will Never Be Burned By Rioting Parisians!

    This is Down On The Street Bonus Edition, where we check out interesting street-parked cars located in places other than the Island That Rust Forgot. Today we've got some shots by Project Car Hell Poster Child and serial tipster Franzouse, whose Paris wanderings led him to this riot-proof Kadett. Is Franzouse channeling the spirit of former Alameda High School student and current- in fact, permanent- Paris resident, Jim Morrison, with all these Alameda-grade DOTSBE finds? Make the jump to see al

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    2009 Green Car Of The Year Finalists Announced

    What's a dog-and-pony show without some kind of award? At this year's LA Auto Show they'll be awarding Green Car Journal's fourth Green Car of the Year Award to one of five finalists. The competitors this year are the yet-to-be-unveiled 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid, the BMW 335d, Saturn Vue 2-Mode Hybrid, Smart Fortwo and Volkswagen Jetta TDI. The winner will be announced at a November 20th press conference, and we know which one we'll be pulling for - the 2010 Ford Mustang. Complete details, if you'

    By Ben Wojdyla Read More
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    What Started The Porsche Vs. Nissan Rivalry?

    The Nissan GT-R may or may not be faster than the Porsche 911 Turbo, but Nissan has clearly scored an Axelrod-esque media victory over Porsche in the Porsche 911 Turbo v. Nissan GT-R Nürburgring controversy. The full extent of the triumph wasn't obvious to us until we read 993C4S's rivalry history lesson posted over at CarDomain today. Nissan, it appears, is even better at this than we imagined. A quick history of what we thought we knew.

    By Matt Hardigree Read More
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    Ford Hauling Four F-150 Specials To SEMA

    Ford has four special editions of its brand-new 2009 F-150 they're bringing out to Vegas for the 2008 SEMA show. First and foremost, the DeWalt Contractor Concept tacks on the expected exterior off-road upgrades but also adds thoughtful touches like a tool charger in the center console, storage under the rear seat and Ford's tool tracking system to make sure your chop saw doesn't walk away. The Ford Hi-Pa Drive F-150 takes hybrids to the next level with in-wheel electric motors, while X-Treme To

    By Andrew Stoy Read More
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    What's Your Favorite Door Configuration?

    While most people consider automotive design in terms of what we look like getting from A-to-B, there's an entire (gull)wing of design devoted to how we get into and out of the things that get us from A-to-B. There's been a fascinating renaissance in the style of doors, as one can see in the 2009 Honda Element, which features suicide-style wide cargo doors, a hatchback and a tailgate all in one vehicle. What about the Skoda Twindoor system? You get a four-door hatch with a normal trunk opening t

    By Matt Hardigree Read More
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    2009 Honda Element Revealed, Priced Starting At $20,175

    Honda's entry in the box-on-wheels category, the Element, has been redesigned for 2009, now wearing the Pilot-style family grille and missing some of its black side body cladding. The price of admission for a 2WD LX Element starts at $20,175, or you can plunk down $25,185 if you prefer the EX with a sat-nav head unit. There's also a "sportier" SC model that gets some aero tweaks yet somehow manages to lose 2 MPG city and highway in the process, despite using the same 2.4-liter four-cylinder as t

    By Andrew Stoy Read More
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    1968 Mercedes-Benz 280SL

    Welcome to Down On The Street, where we admire old vehicles found parked on the streets of the Island That Rust Forgot: Alameda, California. We've seen a couple of Mercedes-Benz SLs here- this '82 380SL and this '87 560SL, but it's been a challenge to find a W113 on the island. Finally, I spotted this beautiful example parked in front of Pagano's Hardware, just around the corner from the '69 Chevy Nomad.

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    Lamborghini Heading Like A Bull Into Red China

    Expecting 186% growth in Chinese sales this year, Lamborghini has decided to add a satellite office in Beijing. The Italian automaker's new branch should be open for business in early 2009 and will support the three dealerships currently in the country along with the two new ones on the way. And what does 186% growth represent for a niche automaker like Lambo? The company sold 28 cars in China in 2007, and they're on track for 80 this year. GM it ain't, but then Lamborghini also appears to be ma

    By Andrew Stoy Read More
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    The Yeehaw It's Texas 24 Hours Of LeMons Über Gallery

    We've seen the Top 70 cars of the Yeehaw It's Texas 24 Hours Of LeMons, but that was only one photograph of each car. Now it's time to really load-test the Gawker image server, by checking out all our shots of the participants' machines; just make the jump and you'll see a gallery for each vehicle that managed to get onto MSR's track, plus links to team websites, accounts from drivers, and more! Because the Gawker server hamsters explode into flames when they try to spin their little wheels fast

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    Gun-Barrel-Equipped Hummer, Monte Carlo, Mustang II Send Swedes Fleeing In Panic

    This is Down On The Street Bonus Edition, where we check out interesting street-parked cars located in places other than the Island That Rust Forgot. Today we've got some really puzzling cars found down on the Gotland, Sweden street by RobHolcombe. Yes, the same guy who shot the legendary Turk & Stanyon cars in San Francisco had his camera while on a Baltic visit… and the mind reels when trying to imagine what Swedes make of the most Hummer-parody Hummer we've ever seen. Jump away to see all the

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    2010 Ford Fusion Revealed With New Face, Engine And Six-Speed Transmission

    Ford has officially released a photo of the 2010 Ford Fusion, as well as a slew of details about the new Gillette-bladed mid-size. The new Fusion will be getting a new Duratec 2.5-liter I-4 that will produce 175 HP, a revised version of the 3.0-liter V6 with 19 more horses and a Fusion Sport model (pictured above) with a 3.5-liter V6 that's good for 263 HP. All engines will be mated to a new six-speed automatic transmission that will help the new Fusion achieve higher mileage. As we learned earl

    By Matt Hardigree Read More
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    Brochure Scans Reveal 2010 Lexus RX350 And RX450h Ahead Of Schedule

    An enterprising enthusiast grabbed these scans of a Japanese-market brochure for the new Lexus RX350 and RX450h models, providing the first real look at the upcoming crossovers. What strikes us immediately is the Subaru Tribeca resemblance from the rear three-quarter view, though that could just as easily be called the crossover stance. Lexus has also added more of a waterfall effect to the grille a-la Lincoln MKS. The interior appears to be significantly upgraded, with blended angles and forms

    By Andrew Stoy Read More
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    Lexus Tuner Sextet Heading To SEMA

    Lexus is bringing a fleet of vehicles to the SEMA show next week, including an IS 350 as close to an F as possible without being a Lexus IS F. Just in case you prefer the IS F, the company handed four of them over to various tuners and magazines, including one to our friends at 0-60 mag, to do up for the Vegas extravaganza. In addition to the quintet of IS models, they're also bringing an ICON-tuned Lexus LX 570 SUV for that plastic surgeon with Botox money burning a hole in his or her pocket. M

    By Matt Hardigree Read More
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    Nissan 370Z To Make Virtual Debut In Need For Speed Undercover

    Before you'll be allowed to test drive a Nissan 370Z at the dealership you can take it for a spin in the virtual world of Need For Speed Undercover. Judging by the trailer, you'll be able to do things with the new Z that a nervous salesman probably wouldn't let you get away with. The new Z drops cover at the LA Auto Show in late November, with a virtual reveal in the next NFS installment on the 19th of next month. Those that want to see and drive the car in real life will have to wait until the

    By Matt Hardigree Read More
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    NASA Reveals New Rover For Manned Extraterrestrial Missions

    NASA today released photos of their strange-but-functional next-generation lunar rover concept: the Small Pressurized Rover. Built on the NASA Chariot chassis, the futuristic rover is like a covered wagon for exploring new frontiers of the lunar environment. The SPR can be driven from inside without the need for space suits, giving astronauts more ability to control their movements and cover great distances. The vehicle can also be driven "chariot style" from the back, allowing astronauts to sli

    By Matt Hardigree Read More
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    What's Your Favorite Z-Car?

    The Nissan Z-Car has been, through five generations, one of the best-selling sports cars in the history of sports cars. With the Nissan 370Z breaking cover today we imagine that the sixth generation will be able to carry the torch. The original Datsun 240Z debuted in the United States in 1969, effectively launching the Japanese sports car in America. Since then we've been through ups and downs, with performance-minded versions like the Nismo 350Z and cheesy special editions like the Black Gold 2

    By Matt Hardigree Read More
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    Ford SmartGauge LCD Instrument Panel Brings Futuristic Look, Green Leaves To 2010 Hybrids

    UPDATE: We got a first-hand look at the new SmartGauge — here's our a video of the gauge in use! Ford's making no small secret of their upcoming 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid and 2010 Mercury Milan Hybrid (not the just-revealed 2010 Ford Fusion), but it may be the stellar high-tech SmartGauge LCD instrument panels feature that makes these cars stand out in the crowd. Billed as a way for drivers to maximize fuel economy, SmartGauge with "EcoGuide" uses an all-digital, LCD screen instrument cluster wi

    By Ben Wojdyla Read More
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    Chrysler Closing Aspen, Durango Plant December 31; Hybrids DOA

    Chrysler's Aspen Hybrid and Dodge Durango Hybrid are apparently destined to become a tiny footnote in the annals of automotive history, as Chrysler has announced the closure of the Newark Assembly Plant that builds the SUVs effective December 31. The plant was already operating on one shift, but the closure will still result in about 1,000 jobs lost and the temporary exit of Chrysler from the full-size SUV market, not to mention the premature death of Auburn Hills' version of the two-mode hybrid

    By Andrew Stoy Read More
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    1973 Mercury Comet

    Welcome to Down On The Street, where we admire old vehicles found parked on the streets of the Island That Rust Forgot: Alameda, California. We saw a '65 Mercury Comet Caliente last week, and before that the '65 Comet 202 and the '64 Comet Cyclone. No shortage of Falcon-based Comets on the island… but how about the Maverick-based Comet? Mavericks themselves, sure- a '70 and two 74s- but now we're going to look at our first Malaise Comet.

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    UPS Reveals Hydraulic Hybrid, Still Colored Fecal Brown

    UPS has announced its purchase of seven hydraulic hybrid vehicles, making them the first package delivery company to employ the unique new hybrids. Unlike a gas/electric hybrid that uses a conventional driveline augmented by an electric motor, the hydraulic hybrid actually does away with the driveline entirely. Instead, engine-driven hydraulic pumps are used to pressurize fluid that's then used to drive the wheels. Storing pressurized fluid allows the engine to shut down during deceleration and

    By Andrew Stoy Read More
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    2009 Nissan 370Z Breaks Cover

    We've given you our guess of what the 2009 Nissan 370Z will look like and, according to the first official photos below, we were fairly close. The vehicle is clearly more shapely with a more aggressive nose than the current Nissan 350Z. You'll also notice a little wedge on the C-pillar. Is that a Hoffmeister Kink? More details at the LA Auto Show, in the meantime you can enjoy the official photos and press release below.

    By Matt Hardigree Read More
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    2010 Suzuki Kizashi Spotted Unclad And Ready For 'Ring Time

    We've heard about the new Suzuki Kizashi's engines courtesy of an overzealous Aussie importer, and we've seen Kizashi line drawings suitable for a kids' coloring book. Now we get a sneak peek of the new Suzuki courtesy of the spy photogs at KGP. Our reaction is mixed; on one hand, it's a nice-enough looking sedan with some Teutonic styling cues — much better than what we're used to from Suzuki. On the other hand, the conventional profile has lost some of the excitement of the Kizashi concept we

    By Andrew Stoy Read More
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    ZR1 In A Box: GM Performance Parts Carting LS9 Crate Engine To SEMA

    GM Performance Parts has announced the introduction of its 638 HP LS9 crate motor, set to debut at the SEMA show next week. Yep, the supercharged, 6.2-liter heart of the ZR1 can now be ordered without the Corvette wrapper, ready to drop into the bare engine bay of your choice. You get a complete engine including the ignition system, supercharger assembly, exhaust manifolds, dry-sump oil pan and provisions for the intercooler's liquid cooling system — pretty much everything in this gorgeous explo

    By Andrew Stoy Read More
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    Project Car Hell, King Of LeMons Edition: Bristol 408 Or Beetle Limo?

    Welcome to Project Car Hell, where you choose your eternity by selecting the project that's the coolest... and the most hellish! Yesterday, the "get out of jail free" supercharged Beretta edged out the "must stand 100 feet back to take the photo" Mazda Millenia in the Choose Your Eternity poll, in a 54:46 split vote. For today, we're going with a couple of cars suggested by 24 Hours Of LeMons-loving readers who were inspired by the Corvair and Peugeot 505 Turbo racers to look for even better LeM

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    Angry Locals Dole Out Mob Justice To Aussie Hoons

    Tired of having their streets terrorized by teenage hoons, residents of Edmonton, Australia have taken to tracking the perpetrators down and publicly shaming them. The angry neighbors have been recording the registration numbers of the hoons in order to locate their homes. Since most are still living with their parents (thereby saving money for new parts for their Utes), the mobs demand the parents drag their spawn out to the street in order for a serious "Come to Jesus" meeting. Though police h

    By Matt Hardigree Read More
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    The Ten Best Car Design Elements Of All Time

    Proving that decades of automotive history and design can be summarized and exemplified in a few small details, we, with the help of our readers, have isolated the ten best car design elements of all time. These are ten aesthetic features that represent eras, movements and philosophies in automotive design. Not only is each element iconic, but each invokes a pleasurable response from the viewer. Hit the jump for the list.

    By Matt Hardigree Read More
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    Yes, Even Citroëns Go To The Crusher In California!

    Since we had a DOTS Traction-Avant this morning, let's stay in a Citroën state of mind by checking out this ID19 I found in an East Bay self-service junkyard over the weekend. Belvedere Adrian ran across this 47-year-old French wagon while scavenging for parts for the race car and figured I'd be interested. Interested? I was on the Nimitz Freeway about 45 seconds later!

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    Ferrari Threatening To Pull Out Of F1 Over Engine Proposal

    With Max Mosley pushing a one-engine-for-all agenda as a cost-saving measure for Formula One teams, Ferrari has threatened to get out of the F1 business entirely. Ferrari believes that, after more than 50 years of consecutive commitment to the racing series, it would be better served looking elsewhere for race wins if the spec engine proposal gets approved. Mosley has tried to ignore the problem — which he's proven is a winning strategy. Ferrari is probably just mouthing off, as they have made s

    By Matt Hardigree Read More
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    EXCLUSIVE: "I Am The Guy With A Lamborghini In The Basement"

    Last week we brought you the story of Ken Imhoff, a Wisconsin man who, after falling in love with the Lamborghini Countach in the classic movie Cannonball Run, followed his dream by building his very own Lamborghini in his basement. The amazing build took place over the course of ten years and was completed and dragged out of the subterranean depths only about a week prior to our story. That very same day Ken contacted us, amazed by the response the post had garnered, to let us know "I am the

    By Ben Wojdyla Read More
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    What's The Best Porn Star Car?

    The sad news that Deep Throat director Gerard Damiano passed away yesterday brought out the interesting fact that the film brought in more than $600 million, profits domestic automakers wish they'd see. It is also a reminder that, post-Deep Throat, the adult-entertainment industry blossomed into a serious money maker, rewarding stars with enough scratch to buy the car of their dreams (before blowing the money on coke). Jenna Jameson used to tool around in a Murcielago before upgrading to a Rolls

    By Matt Hardigree Read More
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    Renault Sand'up Concept Drops Top, Transforms Into Brazilian Beach Buggy-Chero

    Appearing at the Sao Paulo Auto Show in Brazil, the Renault Sandero Sand'up concept is a drop-top beach buggy hiding a Sandamino surprise. The Sand'up can convert from a closed coupe body to a convertible pickup using an innovative modular design — just the thing for hauling Rosewood out of the rain forest to burn at your Carnival beach party! With a flex-fuel 1.6-liter engine capable of burning gasoline or the plentiful cane-juice ethanol found south of the equator, the Sand'up actually looks l

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    2010 Porsche Boxster, Cayman Get Minor Facelift?

    Autoweek.nl has gotten their hot little Dutch mitts on images they claim are the freshened-up faces of the new Porsche Cayman and Porsche Boxster. If these shots are in fact the real thing, then changes seem to be limited on the exterior to the shape of the front bumpers below the headlights, the tail lamps getting a bit more curvy and the exhaust going twin exit rather than single. To be perfectly honest, if we woke up to a facelift like this, we'd probably smack the surgeon. Of course that may

    By Ben Wojdyla Read More
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    VW Passes Exxon As World's Largest Company By Market Cap

    A massive stock price surge in shares of Volkswagen after Porsche's weekend news they'd be snagging a 75% share of the automaker, has briefly allowed VW to stake the claim as the world's largest company by market capitalization, passing oil giant Exxon Mobil. Volkswagen continued to climb Tuesday as short sellers rushed to cover positions with VW shares rising as much as 93% on Tuesday in what we're terming the craziest short sale of all time. With mid-day gains of "just" 50%, the stock is tradi

    By Ray Wert Read More
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    1953 Citroën Traction-Avant 11 Légère

    Welcome to Down On The Street, where we admire old vehicles found parked on the streets of the Island That Rust Forgot: Alameda, California. We're due for another French car, so let's break out the heavy artillery today! Would you believe a showroom-condition '53 Citroën Traction-Avant parked on the street? Neither did I, but that's just what I found on the same block as the '66 Volvo Amazon and around the corner from the '57 Pontiac.

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    Land Of The Lost... Super Cars!

    The popular mid '70s TV show, Land of the Lost, featured a place in which time forgot — where dinosaurs, Pakuni cavemen and reptile/lizard Sleestaks roamed. We watched the re-runs of this series when we were kids and were absolutely amazed. Flash forward to today. We don't have the slightest clue where all of these photos of lost, rotting and rusted super cars are from but we do know they're all exotica of some form or another (they may or may not all be from the Netherlands). You've got yer F

    By The Auto Insider Read More
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    Commenter Of The Day: The Happiest Internship On Earth

    We had a friend who did the "Disney World Internship" program only to discover that, as most of us had already figured out, it was just a form of cheap labor for the big mouse. Seriously, they pay people somewhere around minimum wage by calling them all "actors" and put them to work doing low level work such as operating rides, making food and working information desks. You live in housing provided by the company, you eat their food and you travel in their buses. It isn't like the NBC page progr

    By Matt Hardigree Read More
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    PCH, Cheap Superchargers Edition: Blown Beretta Or Miller Cycle Millenia?

    Welcome to Project Car Hell, where you choose your eternity by selecting the project that's the coolest... and the most hellish! Last time, the Audi V8 Quattro managed to beat the gray-market BMW 745i Turbo in the Choose Your Eternity poll, in a case of Audi drivetrain complexity triumphing over BMW engine-control complexity. German-on-German Hell Challenges are always fun, but those cars were selling for over a thousand bucks each! Hard times is a-comin', folks, and that means we can't be splur

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    Renault Alliance: The Car That Saved AMC!

    All right, that headline isn't quite what you'd call accurate; actually the Alliance probably hastened AMC's demise by a few years; while Chrysler could get a great big bailout from Uncle Sam, AMC- not being considered "too big to fail"- had to get bailed out by the French government. The Alliance- and its later Encore spinoff- was a Kenosha-ized Renault 9, and it grabbed the 1983 Motor Trend Car Of The Year award… then, well, things didn't work out so well. Franzouse, always on the lookout for

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    1975 MG Midget Will Serve As A Light Snack For The Crusher

    Even though the black-bumper Midget was a cruel parody of the ridiculously fun pre-Malaise version, it's still saddening to see one among all the Hyundai Excels and Geo Prizms in my local self-service wrecking yard. This one has the dusty, bleached look of a car that spent a decade or three rotting in a back yard prior to its final ride behind a tow truck. Look at all those good parts! Doesn't anyone want Midget parts these days?

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    Banks To Drag 200+ MPH Diesel Dragster To SEMA

    The diesel performance gurus at Gale Banks Engineering are getting on the teaser bandwagon with this tail-shot of their new 200 MPH diesel dragster. Using a Duramax 6.6-liter mill not unlike Banks' S-10 oilburner — already capable of hitting 180 in the quarter — the company promises output well over 1000 HP and 1000 lb-ft of torque. According to the release, "there'll be 30 feet more of this wild machine on site at SEMA" next week, so keep an eye out for some diesel dragster goodness during our

    By Andrew Stoy Read More
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    Jalopnik Photochop Contest: GM-Chrysler Merger Mashup!

    All this talk about a GM-Chrysler merger has caused us to think; What if, instead of loan guarantees from the feds back in 1979, Chrysler had approached GM and asked them to be their angel of deliverance. What would an alternate universe be like if GM and Chrysler were already merged? Would the automotive landscape be the same? Or would it thrive with Plymiac Azbrings and Dodgy Challamaros? Maybe a Town & Camino or two? We don't know — but after the GEM mashup last month and the SLR Guy back in

    By The Auto Insider Read More
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    What Car Would You Most Like To Thrash On The Track?

    Though most of our exotic car fantasies involve a track and bubbly alcohol in a novelty-sized bottle spraying into the air, we also have an alternative fantasy that ends with us hobbling into the pit, smoke spewing from the windows inside the remains of a thoroughly thrashed exotic car. If some cars can only truly be enjoyed at nine-tenths, then eleven-tenths must be that much better. We thought we might be alone with Eddie Griffin in this fantasy until we saw the photos of the wrecked $1 millio

    By Matt Hardigree Read More
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    Lorinser Tunes C-Class Up To 305 HP, Makes It "Hot"

    According to the press release from tuning shop Lorinser, the Mercedes C-Class is "hot" now that they've had their way with it. The tuner apparently used a beefier cam in conjunction with revised engine management to squeeze 33 extra horsepower out of the new Benz, rather than going the turbo route as they did on the Lorinser Smart ForTwo. A lowered suspension tightens up handling and a tuned exhaust combines with exterior badging to let everyone know that you're hot. Check out the "hot" press r

    By Andrew Stoy Read More
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    Subaru Ups Law Enforcement Street Cred With STi Police Car

    Though not as exotic as last week's Lamborghini Gallardo police car, the Itasca, IL police department has taken possession of a cruiser that's no less unusual: A Subaru WRX STi. The cop Scooby, our newest member to the list of top police cars, is on loan to Itasca for one year as part of a promotion. For what? Itasca police are hoping to use the sport compact to reach out to younger performance car drivers. Subaru is no doubt hoping to do the exact same thing. As for us — we just want to see a C

    By Andrew Stoy Read More
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    Lamborghini Wrecked, Halved In Weekend Fort Worth Accident

    Last Friday night a Lamborghini Gallardo speeding through a rainy Fort Worth, Texas struck a tree and split in half when the driver lost control after hydroplaning across standing water. The violent accident left the passenger compartment smashed against the tree while the rear half of the car continued on, stopping yards away. Both passenger and driver suffered serious injuries with one of the occupants reportedly losing a foot (ouch). We've got some crash shots below and on-the-scene footage

    By Ben Wojdyla Read More
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    1969 Ford F100 Pickup Truck

    Welcome to Down On The Street, where we admire old vehicles found parked on the streets of the Island That Rust Forgot: Alameda, California. It's Truck Monday again, and we're overdue for a Ford F series pickup; the last one was nearly three months ago. How about this no-frills F100 I found parked a little ways down from the '62 Falcon?

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    Commenter Of The Day: Sarah Palin Edition

    The domestic pig has been an integral part of human civilization for over 10,000 years. While its primary use has been for food, pig parts have also been used to make weapons, tools and rhetorical devices. Yes, the pig has long been featured in such idioms as the Biblical "pearls before swine," "a pig in a poke" and "pig's ear." The indispensable 1796 tome The Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue notes that a "hog in armour" refers to an "awkward or mean looking man or woman, finely dressed

    By petejayhawk Read More
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    Index Of Effluency Bar Set Unreasonably High For Thunderhill: Peugeot 505 Turbo Or Chevy Corvair?

    As we keep saying, the team that gets the most laps at a 24 Hours Of LeMons race should feel very proud of the accomplishment, checkered flag waving, all that stuff. However, the prize you really want to shoot for is the Index Of Effluency, which goes to the team that gets the furthest with the most ridiculous possible "race car." For example, the Tunachuckers Volvo Amazon was the slam-dunk IOE winner at LeMons South. It's already becoming obvious, however, that the competition for the IOE is sh

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    Italian State Police Get Gadget-Filled Lamborghini Gallardo Police Car

    var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/autos/Italy_s_New_Gadget_Filled_Lamborghini_Gallardo_Police_Cars'; The Italian state police have just received a customized Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 capable of 203 MPH to catch your ass anywhere you go. This Lambo isn't only about speed; it's also pretty smart, equipped with all kinds of high-tech police gadgets. An automatic number plate recognition system can track and send plate data in real-time to central control rooms, while a forward-looking camer

    By Ben Wojdyla Read More
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    Chrysler To Cut 25% Of White Collar Staff

    On top of yesterday's news Chrysler plans to shut down the Delaware SUV plant that makes the Dodge Durango and Chrysler Aspen a year early is news this morning the automaker plans to cut 25% of their 18,500 white collar staff starting next month. In his memo to staff announcing the cuts, Chrysler CEO Bob "The Builder" Nardelli outlined the Cerberus-owned company's need to deal with these "unimaginable times" — which we've determined is another way of saying "Financiapocalypse" — as the reason fo

    By Ray Wert Read More
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    What's The Worst Car Design Element Of All Time?

    Yesterday we looked at the best car design elements of all time, and the responses were as varied as one would expect from such a subjective question. Grilles, tailfins, gullwing doors and one of our personal faves, hood ornaments, all gained some measure of respect from the commentariat. A few tongue-in-cheek mentions were also made of dubious design elements; Pontiac body cladding, for example. So, today we'll flip things around and open it up to the great automotive styling failures. What's t

    By Andrew Stoy Read More
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    How Many Drinks Was That? Colbert Gives Jalopnik A Hummer Edition

    I feel this morning, after my few fleeting moments on The Colbert Report last night in a segment called "The Difference Makers" on the National Hummer Club, giddy as a little schoolboy. Despite my obvious concern that I'd be the butt of the joke, I was relieved to find I escaped unscathed — certainly doing better than GM Vice Chairman "Maximum" Bob Lutz. But, thanks to the Hummer Club coming through with some seriously juicy A-game level quotes, my ass was spared — only taking a minor humorous h

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    1991 Alfa Romeo 164L

    Welcome to Down On The Street, where we admire old vehicles found parked on the streets of the Island That Rust Forgot: Alameda, California. Not a lot of Italian machinery on the island these days; we've seen two Alfa Graduates (an '85 and an '89), three Fiats (a '77 124 Spider, an '81 Strada, and an '82 X-1/9), and a Ferrari Mondial T. Today we're adding another Alfa to that list, with a daily-driven 164L.

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    Volkswagen Uses Passat, GTI In Successful Car-To-Car Communications Trial

    Volkswagen has completed initial trials of a new car-to-car communication system, working with other manufacturers to develop a universal standard for the technology. Essentially, car-to-car equipped vehicles would form their own wireless LAN, communicating information about weather, road hazards, traffic jams and accidents to each other in hopes of alerting drivers to dangerous situations well in advance. That's well and good, but it seems to us the logical extension of car-to-car technology wi

    By Andrew Stoy Read More
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    PCH, Hell Uber Alles Edition Revisited: BMW 745i Or Audi V8 Quattro?

    Welcome to Project Car Hell, where you choose your eternity by selecting the project that's the coolest... and the most hellish! In our last Hell Project matchup, we learned that two-thirds of Jalopnik readers would choose a Mustang-based Fauxrrari over an Integra-based one as their ride of choice in the Lake Of Fire. The Lake Of Fire, as we know, is rough on body panels… but not nearly as rough as it is on brain-scramblingly complex German electronics. That means we're going to return to Hell Ü

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    The Post Where We Casually Mention Our Appearance Tonight On The Colbert Report

    OMG! So, if you happen to have your TV on tonight at 11:30 EST, you may want to flip over to Comedy Central's Colbert Report as we've buried our hatchet with Stephen (we know he's apologized in his heart). I'll be appearing on tonight's show (depending on whether they run the piece tonight — I've been told these things are mighty finicky) in a taped segment (sorry guys, no head-to-head a la Lutz) on Hummer. I've no idea whether I'll be pro-Hummer, anti-Hummer or somewhere in between. What I do k

    By Ray Wert Read More
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    Irishman Modernizes Classic Datsun 260Z, Hoping To Start New Stereotype

    Politicians and celebrities routinely get into trouble for referring to a certain stereotype about Irish individuals and inebriation; may this Nissan/Datsun 260Z 2+2 from the Emerald Isle start a new stereotype about Irishmen and tastefully modified automobiles. What began as tinkering with a navy blue Z ended up with a gray beast that captures the essential design elements of the Z fused with an aggressive appearance package. Featured over at the ZClub forum, Jay28's Z makes us want to start tr

    By Matt Hardigree Read More
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    Audi Calamaro Flying Concept Car Takes Future Design Competitions To Higher Level

    This futuristic take on a flying car was designed by Hungarian design student Tibor for a design contest run by his native Porsche distributor. Inspired by the “bone of a cuttlefish,” the Audi Calamaro does a good job of looking kind of like its name suggests while still adapting current Audi design themes — check out the ‘beard’ air intake — to a product clearly intended for the distant future. We can spot no obvious means of propulsion, so can only assume it uses a Mr. Fusion. [automotto]

    By Wes Siler Read More
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    Whatever Happened To Eagle?

    In the pantheon of orphaned car brands, perhaps the most poignant today is Eagle, not because of its sales numbers but because of its lineage. Eagle was the bastard child of the 1987 AMC-Renault tie-up and its subsequent sale to Chrysler. At the time of the Chrysler buyout, AMC had product in the pipeline that Renault had a financial interest in seeing hit the market. Chrysler didn't want it — Jeep was their trophy — but Renault forced them to take the Franco-American models as part of the deal,

    By Andrew Stoy Read More
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    How To Win The 24 Hours Of LeMons: Three Top Racers Share Their Secrets!

    First of all, I must make it perfectly clear that all serious 24 Hours Of LeMons aficionados consider the Index Of Effluency trophy, which goes to the team that accomplished the most with the crappiest car, to be the real winner of the race. However, winning that prize requires a combination of guts and madness that no amount of advice could ever give you, so we're just going to give you the inside scoop on grabbing the checkered flag for your team at the race by finishing the most laps. This is

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    Study Shows McCain Winning Over Hummer Moms, Obama Cleaning Up With Hatchback-Owning Gay Art Students

    A survey of more than 11,000 car owners and likely voters by Kelley Blue Book shows that Senator John McCain does better than Senator Barack Obama among owners of domestic brands and full-size SUVs, while Senator Obama does better with owners of import brands, hybrids and hatchbacks. Though this doesn't come as a shock to anyone with a brain, it does seem to explain why McCain is getting hosed in the polls lately. His base is shrinking. The financiapocalpyse combined with higher gas prices has m

    By Matt Hardigree Read More
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    The 1985 Corvette: Better Than Lotus Esprit Turbo, Ferrari 308GTS, Porsche 928S, Porsche 944!

    We may laugh at the early C4 Corvette these days, since most of the ones you see now are beat-to-hell heaps adorned with custom gear purchased from Manny, Moe, and Jack. Back in the mid-80s, however, it was quite the bang-for-buck deal, selling for $25K- half the cost of the Porsche 928S- and outhandling some of Europe's hottest machinery. OK, fine, the build quality wasn't so great and the engine only made 230 horsepower and the styling screamed "small-time coke dealer," but it would eat up a F

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    Man Restores Griff Tannen's Hover BMW From Back To The Future 2

    Like all children of the Back To The Future generation, we can vividly remember the moment Marty spies his nemesis Griff Tannen in his hover BMW during the second installment of the futuristic trilogy — though we were never huge enough fans to track down the original movie car, buy it and attempt a complete restoration. Jeff Chabotte on the other hand, did just that. The fan of all things McFly bought the BMW 633-based "hover craft" from a fellow BTTF fanboy. Chabotte then restored the car to

    By Matt Hardigree Read More
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    First Photos Of New Car-Based Ford Explorer

    The quick shutterbugs at KGP just snapped these first pictures of what appears to be a test mule for the new Ford Explorer running around on a car platform on the streets of Dearborn, MI. We've already reported the next-generation Explorer will be more car-like, something hinted at with the Ford Explorer America concept shown at Detroit earlier this year. The mule captured by KGP appears to be a mixture of the Ford Flex and Taurus X but with a taller ride-height, higher cowl and a revised A-pill

    By Matt Hardigree Read More
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    Have we mentioned you can follow Jalopnik on Facebook and Twitter and to sign up for our weekly update e-mail in the left sidebar? Oh, we did? Well, did we also mention you should e-mail Pete if you're having trouble signing up to be a Jalopnik commenter? Didn't think so.

    By Ray Wert Read More
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    What's The Best Car Design Element Of All Time?

    A car is the sum of many parts, but not all parts are created equal. The Volkswagen SP2 design concept is a skilled modernization that captures the signature design elements from the original SP2. The shark nose, the hunched shoulders, the set-back greenhouse. It's all there. Certain elements are hardwired into our brain, allowing us to recognize specific vehicles so that we can react to them. Who — other than those of us over-saturated with teaser shots of the 2010 Mustang — doesn't salivate wh

    By Matt Hardigree Read More
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    Smart ForTwo BRABUS Coming Stateside February 2009

    Smart USA will begin selling a Smart fortwo BRABUS model beginning in February according to an email sent to customers yesterday. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like we’ll be getting the BRABUS performance tweaks — which take the 70 HP engine up to a staggering 98 HP and reduce the 0-60 time from 13 to 9.9 seconds — instead, the US is just getting the BRABUS bodykit and wheels. Customers with existing Smart ForTwo reservations, but who have not yet configured their cars, will be given the first

    By Wes Siler Read More
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    Innovations In LeMons Penalties: McCain's Uphill Slog, Obama's Change We Can Believe In

    We thought of a bunch of new penalties for the 24 Hours Of LeMons Texas, and the zero-tolerance attitude of the black-flag crew meant that we needed every one of them. Because we're in election season, it seemed like our patriotic duty to provide punishments based on the presidential candidates. Hey, we even included Hillary Clinton, so her supporters wouldn't feel left out! Make the jump to see how the McCain, Obama, and Clinton penalties worked out in practice.

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    1969 Buick Skylark Custom

    Welcome to Down On The Street, where we admire old vehicles found parked on the streets of the Island That Rust Forgot: Alameda, California. Even though we had a GM A-Body here just last week, I liked the look of this Skylark so much that I just can't wait to share it. This could mean that Chrysler A-Body fans might feel slighted (yes, nearly a month has gone by since our last one), but not to worry- there's a Valiant in the queue now!

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    The Unicat Amerigo International Is Good For Regular, Zombie Or Financiapocalypse

    The folks over at UnicatAmericas are no stranger to the idea of living in a vehicle and have sent over a nomination for their International-based Unicat as a proper vehicle for surviving the financiapocalypse, which may require some to live in their vehicles, and the Zombie apocalypse, which presents its own problems. This particular survival vehicle has a 2,000-mile range and carries enough supplies to keep four people alive for more than three months. The other features that make the Unicat

    By Matt Hardigree Read More
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    RIDES Magazine's Genesis Is An Apple Fanboy's Dream Car

    Even with the Three Dimensions body kit, the exterior of the RIDES Magazine Hyundai Genesis looks fairly stock. But step inside and you'll find they've made it an Apple fanboy's dream sedan. The four-door has three Mac computers (including a MacBook Air and two Mac minis), an iPod touch and an iPhone 3G. Passengers in the rear of this Korean command ship will cruise into the SEMA show in techno-geek style with a center console setup that activates the car's electronics. Not to mention they als

    By Ray Wert Read More
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    You can now follow Jalopnik on Facebook and Twitter. Lucky you! Also, please sign up for our weekly update e-mail over yonder on the left sidebar or they'll take away our tools and gas card.

    By Ray Wert Read More
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    PCH, Suspension Of Ferrari Disbelief Edition: Mustrrari Or Integrrari?

    Welcome to Project Car Hell, where you choose your eternity by selecting the project that's the coolest... and the most hellish! Yesterday, we were not quite shocked to see the backyard-turbo'd VW GTI obliterate the rod-knockitty Toyota FX16 by a 76:24 margin in the Choose Your Eternity poll. Today we're going to consider the Fauxrrari, and- just to make it more interesting- we're not considering Fiero-based cars. That's right, no Fierraris! You've got your Fauxrraris based on Fieros, or Corvett

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    Galpin Scythe Condenses SEMA Into Giant Purple Caricature

    The Galpin Scythe started life as a Ford Mustang, but as you can see, it has since taken another road. The car made a private debut recently and will get a full-on public unveiling at SEMA, but it may cause a singularity in the space-SEMA continuum. See, the Scythe is the inevitable distillation of all SEMA show cars: It's got a 4.6-liter V8 stroked to 5.0 liters and twin-supercharged to over 1000 HP, 16-inch Wilwood brakes, 22 inch wheels up front and 24's at the back, and an insanity-fueled bo

    By Ben Wojdyla Read More
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    Hummer Unveils Details On Threesome Of H3 Concepts Heading To SEMA

    The boulder-climbing boys over at Hummer have just revealed details and photos of three concept vehicles debuting at SEMA next month based on the Hummer H3. Two are concepts direct from the manufacturer. The first is a new, pre-runner-style H3T called the "Weekend Warrior" rigged with performance and appearance accessories. The second concept, dubbed the H3 X is what Hummer thinks the ultimate H3 should look like. The third vehicle is a modified H3 Alpha built by Four Wheeler Magazine as a proje

    By Ray Wert Read More
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    New EPA Fuel Economy Guide Reveals Ten Most Fuel Efficient Vehicles For 2009

    The Environmental Protection Agency just released their 2009 EPA Fuel Economy Guide and we've pored through the hot-off-the-presses data to pull out this list of the ten most fuel efficient cars for sale in the US next year. Not surprisingly, the Toyota Prius once again tops the list with a combined 48 mpg city/45 mpg highway performance. Though hybrids take four of the top five spots, the Volkswagen Jetta/Jetta SportWagen Diesels cracked the top ten with a 30/41 mpg rating. Also showing up in

    By Matt Hardigree Read More
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    Brabus Introduces 22-Inch Wheels For Club-Going Mercedes S And CL-Class Owners

    If you've been waiting patiently for Brabus to "open the door to a new dimension for the latest Mercedes S-Class sedan and the CL-Class coupe" by dropping their own 22" wheels into the sparsely populated big-wheels aftermarket, today is a day for rejoicing. Not only have they unveiled the BRABUS Monoblock VI, Monoblock S, and Monoblock E wheels, they've blessed the world with new front fenders with a carbon fiber fender vent and built in LED lights. Sweet sassy molassy! Where's the nearest Merce

    By Ben Wojdyla Read More
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    What's Your Most Abject Automotive Failure?

    Yesterday, reflecting on Ken Imhoff's home-built basement Lamborghini, we asked what your greatest automotive achievement was. Today, we're going to look at the other, not-so-shiny side of that coin and ask what your most abject automotive failure has been. You know, things like forgetting to tighten up lug nuts after a tire change. Neglecting to reconnect certain vital hoses after a simple repair. Driving into a lake. Dropping a Torx bit into an intake manifold. Or, as Graverobber mentioned yes

    By Andrew Stoy Read More
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    550 HP Russian E-Go Revolt Sports Car Looks Amazing

    A newly-formed Russian coach builder named E-Go is apparently hard at work on their first offering, and the little Russki brand we've never heard of is aiming high. They're supposedly building themselves a sports car and naming it the E-Go Revolt. Precious little is known about the platform they're basing it off of other than it's Mitsubishi in origin. But, we've deduced from the automaker's claim that it will sport a 3.0-liter twin turbocharged V6, the car is likely built off the 1993-1999 Mits

    By Ben Wojdyla Read More
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    GM Looks To Sell ACDelco, Raise $15 Billion Through Year-End 2009

    GM's just announced the company's looking to part ways with ACDelco, the General's aftermarket parts business. Don't worry folks, they've hired a good financial institution to do the deal for them. I mean come on, Merrill Lynch has been around forever — just like GM. This new news, along with the attempt at selling the Hummer brand and, we're assuming, the attempt at a GM-Chrysler merger, is all part of the automaker's attempt to boost liquidity by approximately $15 billion through year-end 2009

    By Ray Wert Read More
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    A Peek Inside The Soon-To-Be-Dead Tesla Motors Detroit Office

    Given the situation with Tesla Motors lately, you know, Ze'ev Drori getting the boot and Elon Musk taking the reins as CEO, word of firings of "25-30% of their total staff of 300 employees and contractors" and the closing of the Detroit location (more accurately, the Metro Detroit suburb of Rochester Hills, MI) via blog post, it's no wonder an anonymous reader decided to head out to their Rochester Hills office and take a look. The Rochester Hills facility was opened at the end of January 2007,

    By Ben Wojdyla Read More
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    1971 Imperial LeBaron

    Welcome to Down On The Street, where we admire old vehicles found parked on the streets of the Island That Rust Forgot: Alameda, California. Today's car is one I'm quite familiar with, since it's now sitting in my back yard. No, it isn't my current Personal Hell Project; I'm helping Czech automotive journalist Bobash realize his dream of terrorizing quaint Central European villages with an ocean-liner-scale Fuselage Look Mopar. You may recall the '81 Corvette I inspected for BobAsh a while back;

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    Utah Man Evades Police Cars In Souped-Up Golf Cart

    Police in Morgan City, Utah were outrun and outwitted by a drunken man in what they describe as a souped-up golf cart. Trev Dawson was hanging out with friends, drinking and doing donuts on the lawn of the Morgan City Park when local Sheriff's deputies happened upon him. Rather than face a count of drunk driving or public destruction and risk having something happen to the beloved cart, Dawson fled the scene. Officers gave chase across yards, down streets and through parking lots before Dawson f

    By Matt Hardigree Read More
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    Commenter Of The Day: Mandatory Minimums Edition

    Though there are serious disagreements over the enforcement of drug law violations, one area of growing consensus among Republicans and Democrats is the issue of mandatory minimum sentencing laws. A mandatory minimum essentially states that someone who commits a crime is sentenced to a minimum number of years in prison. The problem is this kind of policy doesn't allow judges to use their judgment to differentiate between low-level, non-violent drug users and high-level, violent criminals. The co

    By Matt Hardigree Read More
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    PCH, LeMons Hot Hatch Edition: Corolla FX16 Or Volkswagen GTI Turbo?

    Welcome to Project Car Hell, where you choose your eternity by selecting the project that's the coolest... and the most hellish! After a 24 Hours Of LeMons race, I like to do a PCH pitting the #1 and #2 cars against each other, but this time it's going to be a bit different. You see, the #2 car in Houston was a 2nd-gen Camaro, and they're really easy projects- cheap, simple, and with ridiculously easy parts availability. That means we'll be going for a Japan-versus-Germany 80s Hot Hatch Challeng

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    NBC Picks Up Knight Rider For Full Season; Also, Here's A Massive Car Pulverizer

    Terrible news everyone! NBC liked what they saw in the scripts they ordered and have succumbed to the powers of the Dark Side, calling for an additional nine-episode set of Knight Rider. The result will be a complete season of awful green-screen effects, lackluster writing, unimaginative story arcs and blatant male demographic pandering. In other news, here is video of a car getting crushed to pieces by a stationary automobile grinder. We've seen these kinds of things in action before, but that

    By Ben Wojdyla Read More
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    Kirk Kerkorian May Lose $670 Million On Ford Gamble

    We wondered if Kirk Kerkorian wasn't just a little mad when he bought a 5.5% stake in Ford after selling his GM stock and unsuccessfully attempting to buy Chrysler. News that he's now bailing on his investment has some estimating that Kerkorian, who owns the primary stake in MGM Grand, lost upwards of $670 million on his gamble. The math below the jump. Kerkorian's company, Tracinda Corp., added approximately 141 million shares of Ford between April and June of this year at an estimated cost of

    By Matt Hardigree Read More
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    Street Rods Only Bringing Split-Window 1961 Corvette To SEMA

    We've always liked the generation-straddling '61 and '62 Corvettes. They manage to strike a handsome balance between C1 flavor and C2 daring; no small feat considering a 'half-car refresh' would normally strike terror in heart of even the hardest auto enthusiast. Such opinions weigh heavily upon this split-window C1 Corvette being prepared for SEMA by the folks at Street Rods Only, a hot rod shop out of Decatur, IL. It seems they're taking a split-window fastback hard top they offer for sale and

    By Ben Wojdyla Read More
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    Jalopnik Is Not Jim Cramer, Please Do Not Buy, Buy, Buy On Our Recommendations

    In the course of a normal day we receive dozens of emails from readers who have questions about what we've written, praise for our prose or a desire to see us murdered in various ways for daring to impugn the good name of the Chrysler Sebring. It is therefore a special moment when an email actually catches us off guard. Today we received such an email from an individual whose family invested $1 million in a Chinese company based partially on research that involved something we wrote. Seriously.

    By Matt Hardigree Read More
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    Fishing Reel Company Builds Extreme Gravity Racer

    Zebco is not a name you normally associate with automobiles, but the fishing reel company recently threw their in-house designers, engineers and machinists into a soapbox derby contest with spectacular results. Set aside memories of the best lazy summers you ever had in your youth, avoiding chores, floating the river in a leaky boat fishing with your buddies, because rods and reels and worm guts this ain't. The Great Sand Springs Soapbox Derby held in Sand Springs, OK, is an event used to raise

    By Ben Wojdyla Read More
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    Top Ten Ways To Drive Like A, Um... Modified Import Car Enthusiast

    People give young folks in backwards baseball caps driving tuned Civics a lot of grief. Deserved maybe, but grief nonetheless. Are they really that irritating? Do we really have to call them "Ricers?" Why stereotype? Aren’t they just misguided kids trying to make their mark in life the only way they know how: by dancing bolting big wings to cars that don’t need them? The Daily Interweb came up with “A Ricer’s Guide To Driving,” but we don’t think it differs much from the “How to drive like an av

    By Wes Siler Read More
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    Hotchkis Mods New Challenger, Defiles 1970 Challenger T/A 340 Six-Pack

    Sweet gods of motoring modification, is nothing holy? Hotchkis will be bringing a pair of heavily modified Dodge Challengers to this year's SEMA show in Vegas. We've no problem with the modded 2009 Dodge Challenger SRT8 they're towing to the show. No, our problem is with the other — a 1970 T/A 340 Six-Pack. We don't have much info on the new Challenger, but we do know the paint scheme will match the vintage one shown — which is not an original 340 Six Pack, thankfully. And the paint is just the

    By Ben Wojdyla Read More
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    The Top 70 Lemons Of The 24 Hours Of LeMons Texas

    The Yeehaw It's Texas 24 Hours Of LeMons was a roaring success, with high speeds on the track, heroics in the pits, and Texas justice in the penalty area. We had everything from a Baja Bug to a Lexus LS400 on the track, and you'll see 'em all here; even the Supra that blew its engine 10 seconds before the green flag dropped makes this comprehensive list of the Top Lemons Of LeMons Texas! Make the jump to see this fine collection of racing machinery; if this isn't enough LeMons for you, check out

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    New Ford F-150, Dodge Ram Split Confusing Texas Truck Awards

    Considering the tremendous capabilities and competency displayed by the 2009 Ford F-150, it's anything but a surprise the truck has been awarded the Truck of Texas title by the Texas Auto Writers Association, making it the sixth year in a row Ford has owned those bragging rights. It was a good year for Ford and no doubt, cost-responsible champagne will be flowing. However, we're definitely confused by this next part. Apparently TAWA also awarded the 2009 Dodge Ram "Full-size Truck of Texas," som

    By Ben Wojdyla Read More
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    All-Chrome Mercedes McLaren SLR Sets New High Water Mark On Conspicuous Consumption

    Obnoxiously over the top is an understated way to describe this Mercedes McLaren SLR dressed head to toe in chrome (including chrome-tinted glass) as it causes a scene outside the Mall of the Emirates in Dubai. Although this driver has a license plate number so high we'd assume it belonged to a pauper, we know it takes some serious scratch to buy an SLR, but can only imagine the price tag necessary to go ahead and chrome the living daylights out of it. But, while this silver-skinned SLR makes

    By Ben Wojdyla Read More
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    1965 Mercury Comet Caliente

    Welcome to Down On The Street, where we admire old vehicles found parked on the streets of the Island That Rust Forgot: Alameda, California. Today we're going to head over to the former Naval Air Station Alameda, where the Enterprise, Coral Sea, and Carl Vinson have been replaced by companies that make movies and absinthe. While the ex-base (now known as Alameda Point) is miles wide, it doesn't have many streets intended for parking and hardly anyone lives there full-time. That means the DOTS pi

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    LA Design Challenge Entries Push The Boundaries Of Racing Madness In 2025

    As part of the LA Auto Show, the 2008 LA Design Challenge competition places some of the world's most creative designers into a steel battle cage with a cadre of vicious weapons d'arte, forcing them to battle to the death. Okay, we made that up, but the LA Design Challenge is a competition, although one which features creative designs all based on a central theme. This year's theme is the shape of racing in the year 2025. Letting designers run wild with ideas is as dangerous as it sounds and w

    By Ben Wojdyla Read More
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    Commenter Of The Day: Life Hands You Lemons Edition

    We're big fans of all kinds of lemons so the phrase "when life hands you lemons, make lemonade" has always bothered us. Our objections aside, it is an optimistic way to look at life. When readers of this site are handed lemons, sometimes they come up with an exciting use for them. Hoonage often begins when someone is presented with the challenge of getting the most out of a crappy car. Though the Porsche Panamera spotted in San Francisco may be far from a lemon, many have soured on the looks. Th

    By Matt Hardigree Read More
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    New Benz BlueTec Diesels Won't Run Without Urea

    To meet stringent new diesel emissions criteria here in the States, new Mercedes Benz BlueTec diesels use urea, carried in a separate tank, injected into the catalyst. The urea must be replenished at service intervals — generally 10,000 miles — and now Mercedes acknowledges the vehicles won't start if the urea is allowed to run out. BlueTec cars and SUVs will notify the driver when the seven-gallon urea tank reaches one gallon, and again when it runs completely out, allowing 20 additional starts

    By Andrew Stoy Read More
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    Ten Cars You Can Live In After Your Home Is Repossessed

    As shelter is the largest single expense for most people, the ongoing "Financiapocalpyse" could see more people trading that Tudor for a four-door. As your guides through this challenging time, we've identified ten cars you'd be happy to call home until your 401k is worth more than the postage used to send you those depressing reports. These rides are comfortable, affordable and most importantly, you can probably sleep in it. With car sales dwindling, now may be the best time to invest those d

    By Matt Hardigree Read More
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    Corvette Racing Dons Snazzy New Jake-Centric Paint Job For Laguna Seca

    Legend has it the "Jake" logo, which acts as the badge of badass for the Corvette C6.R racing teams, was born when someone scribbled a skull in the dust surrounding the Corvette badge on the side of the team's transport semi. Others source it as a scribble on a napkin in some far flung dive bar after a victorious race. Wherever it came from, it's become the officially unofficial brand of Corvette Racing and instead of being hidden away on the car as is the norm, the C6.Rs sported a new, Jake-cen

    By Ben Wojdyla Read More
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    NYT: Racetrack Coverage Through Standard Collision Insurance? No More!

    For years, enthusiasts have been maintaining their car insurance during track days and course club events through a little policy loophole that only disqualified timed racing events. Since racing schools and track days aren't timed, most car owners assumed their cars were still covered by their standard collision insurance, and in fact they were — at least until recently. The New York Times reports, along with the five-fold increase in track day events since 2003, insurers have begun denying cov

    By Andrew Stoy Read More
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    Hand-Made Lamborghini Built In Basement Finally Sees Light Of Day

    Seventeen years ago, Ken Imhoff watched Cannonball Run and became so enamored with the Lamborghini Countach in the film, he hand-built his own, in his basement. In what we imagine might be the most Jalopnik build ever undertaken, Ken designed and fabricated his own tig-welded frame, installed a thoroughly massaged 351 cubic inch V8 with a ZF-25 5-speed transmission, hand-formed the aluminum body over a meticulously measured and accurate body form, and finished it all off in a beautiful metalli

    By Ben Wojdyla Read More
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    What's Your Greatest Love Affair With A Car?

    Seeing the trailer for Love The Beast, the documentary recounting Eric Bana's love affair with his 1974 Ford XB Falcon, we started thinking of that special bond between a car and an owner. Most of the cars we buy we love. Sometimes, we buy cars we merely like. Occasionally, we buy cars that live as much in our dreams as in our garages. They take our time, our money and our affection. We would, if we could, roll around with them in the sand. The staff here at Jalopnik has had various love affairs

    By Matt Hardigree Read More
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    2009 Nissan 370Z: What To Expect

    With the new 2009 Nissan 370Z scheduled to drop cloth at the LA Auto Show at the end of November, we figured it high time to give you an up-close look at what you should expect to see. Better yet, we decided not to give you some namby-pamby camo-covered silliness in favor of some speculatively rendered (sans a lot of speculation) shots of the new, slightly-smaller, but also slightly up-powered Z-car thanks to our good friends at KORS Design. Although we already all know to expect the 3.7-liter N

    By The Auto Insider Read More
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    1966 Chevrolet Pickup Truck

    Welcome to Down On The Street, where we admire old vehicles found parked on the streets of the Island That Rust Forgot: Alameda, California. It's Truck Monday again, and we might as well make it Chevy Truck Monday while we're at it! I found this work truck parked on a busy East End street, quite close to the '65 Thunderbird, and it's still earning its keep well into its fifth decade on the planet.

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    Love The Beast Trailer Details Eric Bana's Touching Love Affair With His Ford Falcon

    Although Eric Bana only publicly mentioned he was working on a documentary about his '74 Ford Falcon for the first time at the Bathurst 1000 race this past weekend, we've got an exclusive first look at the trailer for the movie, titled "Love The Beast," set to appear in Aussie theaters in February, 2009. We've known about Eric Bana's love affair with his '74 Ford Falcon ever since news hit that the Aussie actor had taken the Falcon head-first into a tree during last year's Targa Tasmania rally.

    By Ray Wert Read More
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    Electric MINI E Officially Revealed, Bringing 204-HP Li-Ion Battery Pack To LA Auto Show

    Five hundred Mini aficionados in New York, New Jersey and California will soon have the chance to lease the first all-electric Mini E following its official introduction at the LA Auto Show at the end of November. The little 'lectric Verne Troyer tribute will feature a 204 HP electric motor sending 162 lb-ft of torque through a single-speed gearbox to the front wheels. Mini claims a 0-to-62 sprint of 8.5 seconds — nothing spectacular, but when you consider the lack of shifts and the electric's f

    By Andrew Stoy Read More
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    Four-Door Porsche Panamera Spotted In San Francisco

    We saw a fake p-shop of the Porsche Panamera the other day (again), the official mini-site's live and we've even seen a teaser shot straight from Porsche. But now, what we've got here is a failure on Porsche's part to communicate to their engineers the need to strap on some camouflage. Thus, here's some of the clearest shots we've yet seen of the four-door super sedan from the German automaker. The Panamera was spotted by Flickr user Hysterical Bertha prowling the streets of Russian Hill, lookin

    By Ray Wert Read More
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    24 Hours Of LeMons Texas Winner: Team SCHWING Toyota Corolla FX16

    The race is over and they're packing up the Traveling LeMons Circus now. The winner more or less led the race the entire time, flag to flag. To absolutely nobody's surprise, it's the Team SCHWING Toyota Corolla GT-S FX16, which avoided penalties, ran fast laps, and finished several laps in front of the #2 car (the Bikini Racer Camaro). I've got thousands of photos of the action to show y'all, but they'll have to wait until the carnies have packed the Tilt-A-Whirl back into the trailers. Check in

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    LeMons Texas People's Curse Winner: Bum Steers Mazda Miata!

    The guys on the Bum Steers And The MooPoo Crew managed to convince Chief Perpetrator Jay Lamm that their allegedly sub-$500 Miata was fully legit. And, hey, Jay should know- he races a Miata himself. Thing is, the mob is not always rational, and the voice of the mob howled "CHEATER!" in this case. The Bum Steers were very fast, perhaps bordering on aggressive (though that's subject to a lot of interpretation), but looks like they earned the Curse almost entirely thanks to skepticism about their

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    24 Hours Of LeMons Texas Day One: Corolla Leads, Detroit Iron 3 Of Top 5

    What a day! Being a LeMons Supreme Court justice at the Yeehaw It's Texas 24 Hours Of LeMons event means that the action never stops; the black-flag brigade at MSR cut no slack to those who bash into each other, slide off the asphalt, spin out, or otherwise commit acts of hoonage in the low-buck race cars, which means there's always a big line of cars stacked up in the punishment area. Everyone is innocent, of course, and there was drama aplenty, but the upshot is that it's 1:00 AM and I've on

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    Texas Dealers: Buy A GM Vehicle, Get 50 Shares Of GM Stock!

    Two Texas dealers are trying to flip General Motors' low stock price into profits by offering customers 50 shares of GM common stock to buy a new GM vehicle by the end of the month. Will and Corrie Churchill, owners of Frank Kent Motor Co. in Fort Worth, Texas, began their promotion this week and will offer it to the first 100 customers "because this is GM's 100-year anniversary," Will Churchill said. We can't make this up. Seriously, if they'd come to me with this as a joke in a post I would ha

    By Ray Wert Read More
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    Memories Of A BMW 732i

    Seeing the BMW 735i parked down on the street this morning we were reminded of one of our past rides, a European-spec E23 BMW 732i. Since it was a gray-market import, the papers had been fudged a bit, but we're pretty sure it was a 1983 model. I bought it a few years ago while visiting San Francisco, which seemed like a great idea since I had just totaled my Buick LeSabre and had the insurance cash burning a hole in my pocket. I'm well-versed in '80s BMW trivia, but had never even heard of the 7

    By Mark Arnold Read More
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    Get A Neiman Marcus Titanium Fighter Motorcycle For Christmas, Only $110,000!

    We about choked up all those drinks we worked through from Ray's showing on CNBC when we heard the $110,000 price tag on this all-titanium Confederate Fighter. Available exclusively through this year's Neiman Marcus Christmas Book, the Fighter borrows its front suspension from the Confederate Wraith and modifies pretty much everything else. The company claims that the Fighter will hit 190mph, which seems extremely ambitious given the more performance-oriented Wraith only managed 166mph at Bonnev

    By Ben Wojdyla Read More
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    Green Wankel: Hydrogen-Powered Mazda RX-8 Hits Norway

    Combining an alternative fuel with an alternative engine design, this hydrogen-powered rotary-engined Mazda RX-8 has hit the Norwegian roads, one of 30 of the RX-8s for use in Norway as commercial leases. The hydrogen RX-8s are part of a program directed towards making hydrogen-powered vehicles mainstream in the kingdom in an effort to reduce pollution. The only emission from the tailpipe of a hydrogen-powered vehicle is water vapor, and we're impressed these hydrogen-powered Mazdas are more tha

    By Mark Arnold Read More
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    Live Images Of SEMA-Bound Toyota Venza Sportlux By Street Image

    Not content to let the Venza AS V do the talking, we've got another SEMA-bound modified not-Camry-wagon in the Toyota Venza SportLux by Street Image. The car picks up where the AS V left off, hitting all the "factory tuned" street performance styling cues like giant wheels, two-tone paint, a body kit including a hood scoop, a suede interior with accompanying accent lighting and enough audio equipment to run a small concert hall. Thankfully, it's not just all show and no go, featuring a TRD super

    By Ben Wojdyla Read More
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    If You Owned An Automaker, How Would You Lay Off Your Employees?

    With the news of Tesla layoffs and rumors of Chrysler furloughs, plus the dire implications of a GM/Chrysler merger, it seems we're reminded daily of one of the worst aspects of having a job at an automaker: The constant threat of layoffs and restructurings. But instead of wondering about the middle-class impact of such events or pondering the futures of our peers "on the inside," we decided it would be more fun to put ourselves in the professionally polished Italian loafers of the Nardellis, Wa

    By Andrew Stoy Read More
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    Live Shots Of Toyota Venza AS V By Five Axis Coming To SEMA

    At the nearly-here SEMA show this year, the number one super-best automaker from the land of the rising sun will be showing the Toyota Venza AS V by Five Axis as part of a larger strategy to convince us the car isn't a funny-looking Camry wagon. The Venza AS V is one of those active lifestyle concepts with extreme sports equipment carriers, big extreme tires and wheels, an extreme body kit and extreme brakes to bring it to an extremely short stop. Reminds us of a Ford Edge Sport on the West Coas

    By Ben Wojdyla Read More
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    1975 AMC Pacer: So Wide, It Can Be Used As A Packing Crate For A Nova!

    OK, so the Nova would stick out the back if you tried to stuff one inside a Pacer's shell (though the Pinto and Vega might fit). The point here is that the Pacer was completely crazy- no, wait, we mean incredibly innovative! Tough as it might be to believe today, the Pacer sold pretty well and was once a common sight on the road.

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    New 556 HP Cadillac CTS-V Price To Start At $59,995

    Cadillac has announced pricing for its 556 HP 2009 CTS-V super sedan will start at $59,995 for the US market. The price includes Magnetic Ride Control and a supercharged 6.2-liter V8 coupled to a six-speed manual gearbox. An auto 'box is optional as is a moonroof and 14-way Recaro power seating. Be sure to check out our CTS-V first drive as well as the full release from GM after the jump.

    By Andrew Stoy Read More
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    GM-Chrysler Merger Rumor Roundup: Deal To Be Done By Halloween, Mandatory Two Month Furlough For Chrysler Engineers?

    The WSJ reports today (via Automotive News) Cerberus and GM are moving full-steam-ahead in their efforts to get a GM-Chrysler deal done by the end of October. Today also brings news Renault may have their hand in the cookie jar too, negotiating for one or more parts of Chrysler and leading to speculation the Auburn Hills, MI-based automaker could be divvied up among several companies: Basically the worst-case scenario envisioned when Cerberus Capital Management took over in 2007. Finally, we've

    By Andrew Stoy Read More
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    1986 BMW 735i

    Welcome to Down On The Street, where we admire old vehicles found parked on the streets of the Island That Rust Forgot: Alameda, California. There's been no shortage of BMWs in this series, but I've sort of overlooked the 5 and 7 series cars so far. No more! Today we'll look at one of the last of the E23s, a somewhat scuffed but still proud 735i, located in the post-late-50s landfill part of town, not far from the '66 Dodge A100 Sportsman.

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    Further Innovations In LeMons Punishment: The Billy Gibbons!

    As a 24 Hours Of LeMons judge, it's my duty to think up sadistic Solomonically wise penalties for racers who transgress The Rules. Regionally appropriate penalties are always good, and thus was born the Ozzy Osbourne Inertial Penalty Horn... but more was needed. With about 20 minutes to go before boarding the plane to Houston, it hit me: Billy Gibbons!

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    Commenter Of The Day: She Hate Me Edition

    Hate is a powerful emotion, as is clear to anyone who listens to political radio programs of any stripe. Freud talked about hate as something older than love, describing it as the narcissistic ego's desire to get rid of stimuli in the external world that cause it pain and dissatisfaction. While that's certainly apart of it, I think it underestimates the power of tradition in instilling the concept of "the other" in people. This, of course, leads to a discussion of hate as an inherent or learned

    By Matt Hardigree Read More
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    Project Car Hell, Cold War Edition: Dodge Power Wagon Town Wagon Or Lada Signet?

    Welcome to Project Car Hell, where you choose your eternity by selecting the project that's the coolest... and the most hellish! In our last foray into the Burning Garage O'Pain™, the Buick Reatta beat the Olds Troféo by a 53% to 47% poll split. We've had unifying vehicular themes for most of our Hell Challenges recently, but sometimes you need to choose between two totally different eternities- say, one in which St. Helena earwigs colonize your bile ducts, and another in which you are stuck in

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    Automaker Lays Off Detroit Office With Blog Post

    UPDATE: Tesla notifies Detroit workers already-in-the-know they were laid off two days ago...today! In a sign of what this new Financiapocalypse might bring, employees in the Metro Detroit branch of electric car maker Tesla Motors were laid off via a blog post. Yesterday, we reported that Tesla would be cutting back and reorganizing, which included shutting down the office in Rochester Hills, near Detroit. Unfortunately, no one told the employees in Rochester Hills. Some of them logged on to f

    By Matt Hardigree Read More
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    Top Ten Coolest Super Sedans Ever, And None Of Them Are New

    Lately, a few brands have been defining their own modern interpretations of the super sedan, with efforts like the Aston Martin Rapide, Lamborghini Estoque, Porsche Panamera, and even the Fisker Karma. The problem is they all feel a bit vulgar, lacking the cool factor of super sedans in the past. But before we can define what a super sedan is, first we must define what an ordinary sedan should accomplish. Obviously, a sedan is a four-door automobile with a trunk in the back; we'd say it's fair

    By Mark Arnold Read More
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    Report: GM Considering Absorbing Chrysler, Eliminating Brands

    The Detroit News is reporting that GM is considering absorbing Chrysler under a takeover deal, then phasing the automaker out of existence. Similar to the Chrysler takeover of AMC in 1987, GM would eliminate overlapping models, integrate its own parts and engineering into the remainder and likely dump the Chrysler and Dodge brands. Analysts predict that GM would keep the Jeep brand as well as Chrysler's minivan models, adding them to its own product lines. If such a scenario were to occur, GM wo

    By Andrew Stoy Read More
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    2010 Toyota Prius Versus Old Toyota Prius

    It turns out those photos we thought could be the 2010 Toyota Prius are the new Prius, as we were the first to confirm. Now that we know, mostly, what it looks like, we thought we'd take the first chance to compare the two vehicles to see what the designers were thinking. Overall, our impression is that they've certainly moved it in a more aggressive and distinct direction. A full comparison below the jump.

    By Matt Hardigree Read More
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    Do You Like The New Prius?

    This is the New Prius as confirmed by us earlier today. The company has clearly moved the car forward with a more aggressive, taller design. There aren't a lot of fans here of the old Prius, as many have been turned off by the appliance-style design. If Alfa could make awesome looking, low cD cars in the 1950s many figured Toyota should be able to do it now. Have they? Is this a move away from the appliance look or is it just an appliance with new fog lights. Do you like the new Prius? Our firs

    By Matt Hardigree Read More
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    2010 Camaro SS, Third Car Off The Line, To Be Auctioned By College Of Creative Studies

    Chevy has announced the donation of Camaro number three, an SS model, to the Detroit-based College of Creative Studies, who will then auction the vehicle on eBay beginning this weekend. The rights to the vehicle, anyway: Since Camaro production doesn't begin until February, CCS is basically auctioning the opportunity to purchase the car. On the plus side, the winning bidder will get to choose their own options, color and interior trim, so not only will they get the third Camaro, but they'll get

    By Andrew Stoy Read More
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    1969 Cadillac Coupe De Ville Convertible

    Welcome to Down On The Street, where we admire old vehicles found parked on the streets of the Island That Rust Forgot: Alameda, California. After 366 vehicles in this series, the most numerous one is the 1969 Cadillac, which passes the 1969 Beetle today with the fourth example (1969 also being the most common year for DOTS cars). 1973 was the high-water mark for American Cadillac sales, with 1969 actually being considered a "down" sales year for the marque, but for whatever reason we haven't ye

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    This IS The New Toyota Prius

    UPDATE: We sat down with Toyota PR this morning, showed them the pictures and they've confirmed that yes, this is the new 2010 Toyota Prius set to be revealed officially at the Detroit Auto Show in January. And yeah, that's all they're willing to tell us at this time. Someone over at PriusChat dropped images of what appears to be the next generation Prius or at least a really fantastic photochop of what the new Prius mule looks like. Toyota has no comment on the image according to PriusChat, whi

    By Matt Hardigree Read More
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    Commenter Of The Day: Stereotypes Edition

    Most modern, advanced people want to avoid stereotypes. Few people enjoy being pigeonholed because of their appearance, profession or manner of speaking. Being a native of Texas I was once asked, while at a journalism convention as a teenager in New York, how many horses I owned. I have no accent. I'm from a suburb. I have no horses. Most of my friends didn't have horses. The flip side of this is that some stereotypes are true. Had that same person asked me if I liked enchiladas smothered in gra

    By Matt Hardigree Read More
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    Tesla Motors Plans To Slow Down Production Plans For Model S Sedan

    Tesla has announced the company will be slowing down production plans for the Tesla Model S sedan project until the government forks over some dough. This is just part of the news coming out of Tesla Motors, which also announced that they've demoted their CEO (and replaced him with main benefactor Elon Musk) and will be making serious cutbacks to their staff. In a blog post Musk said:

    By Matt Hardigree Read More
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    Deer Detecting Road Technology Being Tested In Colorado

    An electromagnetic sensor system capable of automatically detecting the presence of large animals on or near roadways and alerting drivers to their presence is being tested in Colorado. So far, the system appears to be working; the only problem might be the drivers themselves. Colorado is trialing the system on a road where up to 70% of all accidents involve vehicles colliding with animals. But how does it work? Cables have been buried in the ground several feet from the road, running parallel t

    By Wes Siler Read More
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    BRABUS Mercedes GLK Proves You Can't Have Too Much Of A Bland Thing

    The 2009 Mercedes GLK is following the lead of its Sex & The City: The Movie co-stars by getting a bit of "aftermarket" enhancement, but this time it's from BRABUS and not Dr. Brabinstein. The new Mercedes compact SUV will be getting a power boost of 48HP for the line-topping 320 CDI and 15 HP for the gas-powered V6 GLK 350. BRABUS is also offering the usual assortment of upgrades including a slightly lower stance, larger wheels (21-inch, the largest they can reasonably fit), LED foglights and a

    By Matt Hardigree Read More
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    Fiat Punto Natural Power Cruises Six Hundred Miles On Methane And Gasoline

    Fiat has built an extensive lineup of dual-fuel natural gas and gasoline vehicles, and the company has just added the latest Punto Natural Power to the stable. The little Fiat uses a 20-gallon methane tank under the floorpan to augment a 12-gallon gasoline tank in the rear, allowing the Punto to use whichever fuel is most readily available or least expensive for a combined range of 1,000 miles. The dual-fuel system also provides low CO2 emissions ratings and other benefits under the bizarre Euro

    By Andrew Stoy Read More
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    2009 Nissan Sentra Pricing Starts At $16,730

    Pricing's just been released on the 2009 Nissan Sentra lineup including the SE-R model. Base Sentra pricing starts at $16,730 with a CVT transmission, while the top-shelf SE-R Spec V with 200 HP and a six-speed stick runs $21,160 before the optional helical limited slip diff is added. All models come with a 2-liter four-cylinder engine, new trunk lid design, MP3 playback capability and a Premium Audio Package, while SE-R models can be outfitted with a glass moonroof and Nissan Intelligent Key. G

    By Andrew Stoy Read More
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    What Would Your Ultimate Cop Car Look Like?

    Now that we have video of the Carbon Motors E7, we believe that it really exists. The E7 does have a lot of what we want in a police car, including infrared/nightvision and a 3.0-liter turbodiesel motor. There also appear to be a few shortcomings. That backseat does seem a bit small for a police car and, honestly, we don't think suicide doors would have been our first choice. Given an unlimited budget and Bruce Wayne Industries-esque connections, what would your ultimate cop car look like? We'd

    By Matt Hardigree Read More
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    Carbon Motors E7 Police Car Finally Reveals Video Of Cool Cop Gadgetry Inside

    The Carbon Motors E7 has been a long time in coming, but our suspicions of vaporware were abated when we saw real pictures of the E7. Now they've officially been quashed as a still-in-development prototype filled-to-the-brim with cool gadgets has finally been unveiled. The purpose built police cruiser is equipped with a 300 HP diesel engine which will push the car from 0-to-65 MPH in under 7 seconds, a 250,000 mile durability spec, suicide doors, a hoseable interior and integrated bull bars. But

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    1969 Chevrolet Chevelle SS 396

    Welcome to Down On The Street, where we admire old vehicles found parked on the streets of the Island That Rust Forgot: Alameda, California. Today we're going to look at an example of the kind of car that dominated my early gearhead experiences on the island: a beat-to-hell big-block 60s muscle car! There was once a time when primered-out Chevelles, Satellites, Fairlanes, and the like (along with hooned-up Beetles and 510s) could be found lowering property values on just about every block of Ala

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    Ford Picks Winners Of 21st Century Model T Competition

    As part of the 100th anniversary of Ford's Model T — happening right no, this very year, the Dearborn automaker announced a design contest among university students to create a Model T for the new century. The mandate: Design a simple, lightweight, practical vehicle that would be priced under $7,000. Six universities were selected to participate, and the winners were Aachen University in Cologne, Germany and Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia, each of whom receive $25,000 in scholarship m

    By Andrew Stoy Read More
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    Gordon Murray's T25 City Car Revealed... Sort Of

    This is the first time we've seen the T25 city car from Gordon Murray Design in three dimensions, though we still can't really tell what it will look like, since it's been neatly wrapped up in a shiny package. It's no secret that Murray, the man behind the legendary McLaren F1, has been obsessed with creating a revolutionary micro car. Planned as a 2012 model, the T25 is clearly a return to a car that's truly small as it's comparable in size to a classic Mini or Fiat 500. By comparison, the mode

    By Mark Arnold Read More
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    Commenter Of The Day: Taizo Hori Edition

    The figure at the center of NAMCO's popular arcade game Dig Dug was a character shrouded in mystery for most Americans. What was his name? Why was he the dig dug? Why does doug dig so much? It wasn't until the game Mr. Driller was released that we learned that Dig Dug, as we'd called him here, was actually famous Japanese driller Taizo Hori and the original Dig Dug arcade game portrayed an incident in which Hori saved Japan from weird tomato monsters and dragons. Later in his life Taizo became c

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    Project Car Hell, Mad Scientists Of GM Edition: Buick Reatta Or Oldsmobile Trofeo?

    Welcome to Project Car Hell, where you choose your eternity by selecting the project that's the coolest... and the most hellish! Yesterday, we watched two radically depreciated V12 machines from the roaring 90s slug it out bloodlustfully in the Hell Garage, and when the smoke cleared… well, actually, the smoke never cleared, as the frying ECUs of the two contestants emitted such copious clouds of toxic vapors that the Gawker server hamsters responsible for our polls keeled over in their little w

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    Tennessee To California In 20 Hours, Impala Style

    I've been hearing a lot about Kerouac's On The Road lately, and even though I think it's a pretty weak novel- don't even get me started on that tirade- it did get me thinking about great road-trip descriptions in literature. While Neal Stephenson's knock-you-on-your-ass brilliant Cryptonomicon has a fairly low Car Stuff Per Page Quotient (CSPPQ), the parts featuring the Shaftoe Brothers and their Impala are pure Car Geek Gold. While the year of the Impala is never specified in the book, I imagin

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    2011 Nissan Titan: Rendered And Ramified!

    As part of a recent agreement between Nissan and Chrysler, the next-generation full-size light duty truck, the 2011 Nissan Titan, will be based on the new 2009 Dodge Ram. In return, Chrysler will get a much needed small car and the heartfelt gratitude of Carlos Ghosn. We've asked the good folks at KORSDesign to render up what they think the next-gen Titan's going to look like. Check out their pics below and hit the jump for their expectations.

    By The Auto Insider Read More
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    Citroen Palm Beach Basks In Basque Country

    Having just read Mark Kurlansky's book about the Basques (after being dragged into Kurlansky-land by his excellent histories of cod and salt, the way marijuana leads to heroin), I thought it was pretty cool when LivingAbroad70 sent in these shots of an incredibly rare Citroën DS Palm Beach convertible found parked down on the Zarautz street. Make the jump to read LivingAbroad70's description. As an American living in the Spanish part of the Basque Country, I have a certain curiosity about class

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    Trippy Alan Aldridge Mini Displayed At Design Museum Of London

    British artist Alan Aldridge has created a one-off Mini Aldridge Special as part of a display of his work at the Design Museum in London. You may recognize Aldridge's work from a variety of book and album covers from the 1960s and '70s or simply from experimenting with such drugs as LSD and psilocybin. The new psychedelic Mini is said to be an "updated interpretation" of a famous 1965 Sunday Times cover featuring an original Mini done up in the artist's unique style, but in reality, it's a brill

    By Andrew Stoy Read More
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    Daimler AG To Axe Sterling Trucks In North America, Cut 3,500 Jobs

    Those eying the Ram-based Sterling Bullet should act quickly. Sterling's parent company, Daimler AG, has decided to axe the medium-sized commercial truck brand effective March, 2009. Sterling Trucks, formerly Ford's heavy duty truck line, failed to meet the expectations of Daimler's North American truck division. The company will cut approximately 3,500 jobs in the US and Canada, but have no fear as there will be more jobs... in Mexico! Further, Daimler will consolidate products in their Freight

    By Matt Hardigree Read More
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    Oh Yeah, Dodge Bringing Six Mopar Concepts Other Than The SRT10 Challenger To SEMA

    Dodge is pulling out all its MOPAR stops for this year’s SEMA, bringing not only the Challenger SRT10, but six other concepts highlighting upgrades available straight from Mopar madmen. In keeping with SEMA’s fake boobs and loud stereos aesthetic, all six are painted atrociously, but we can’t help but be intrigued by the possibility of inserting crate HEMI engines into just about anything. Hit the jump for details on all six.

    By Wes Siler Read More
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    GM Vs. Chrysler: Product Lineup Fantasy Draft

    Though the possibility of a GM-Chrysler Merger remains but a 50/50 chance, the non-denial denials have sent our heads spinning. Are conversations actually taking place? Of that we're certain. Will it actually happen? Hard to say. Will it magically save both companies? Even harder to say. What we do know is a combined company would have a lot of products to draw from across various segments, and their lineups are actually, with the right cuts and decisions, more complementary than you would think

    By Matt Hardigree Read More
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    2008 Auto Repo Rate Highest Ever, Repo Men Now Worried About Their Jobs

    Vehicle repossessions are expected to rise 15% this year from 2007 due to the continuing economic meltdown, says an executive vice president of customer strategies at ADESA Inc., a vehicle auction company, in Automotive News today. So why are repo men complaining? Apparently banks and lenders are facing so many delinquent loans that they're far more willing than usual to renegotiate the terms of a contact or tolerate missed payments than they used to be. Since lenders like GMAC and Ford Credit l

    By Andrew Stoy Read More
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    1970 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia

    Welcome to Down On The Street, where we admire old vehicles found parked on the streets of the Island That Rust Forgot: Alameda, California. Here's a car that had been sitting in a backyard in my neighborhood for years- in fact, enough years that Jimmy Carter was president the last time it moved under its own power- and which I had been offered free last year (on condition that I'd haul it away right now)… and I might have taken it, had it possessed an engine and lacked the odor of decades of ra

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    Barack Obama Advertising Inside Online Racing Video Games, Attempts To Pick Up Crucial Xbox 360 Vote

    Barack Obama has begun advertising on billboards within the virtual world of an online video game in what appears to be a first for a presidential campaign. Players of the online racing video game Burnout Paradise on the Xbox 360 Live network noticed billboards promoting Barack Obama and the website VoteForChange.com, which helps people determine how to register to vote and where to vote. This was later confirmed by a representative for the game's publisher, Electronic Arts, who said:

    By Matt Hardigree Read More
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    GMAC Now Officially Requires 700-Plus FICO Score For New Car Loan

    The Financiapocalypse continues. We just received a copy of an e-mail that went out at GMAC, the lending arm jointly owned by GM and Cerberus, from Barbara Stokel, GMAC's EVP of North American Operations. Here's the most salient detail: you'll now need a minimum 700 credit bureau score to get a car loan at dealer invoice or below from GMAC. The full e-mail is below the jump to explain that news as well as the news they'll be restricting approval of contract terms beyond 60 months unless a buyer

    By Ray Wert Read More
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    Commenter Of The Day: Tahlequah, Oklahoma Edition

    This weekend brought with it the wonderful destruction of the Oklahoma Sooners by the Texas Longhorns, leaving them at number one in the land of college football. (Also, this weekend Michigan State became bowl eligible with that always-necessary but oftentimes elusive sixth win. Just sayin'... —Ed.) Tahlequah, Oklahoma isn't home to the University of Oklahoma, but rather Northeastern State University, a public university with an enrollment typically below 10,000 students ( go Riverhawks!). It al

    By Matt Hardigree Read More
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    PCH, Six Hundred Bucks, Twelve Cylinders Edition: BMW 750iL Or Jaguar XJ12?

    Welcome to Project Car Hell, where you choose your eternity by selecting the project that's the coolest... and the most hellish! Last time, we were not particularly shocked to see the Quadra-Citroëns obliterate the Tri-Alfas like a Pluton landing on Fangataufa. The Citroën is one tough customer when it comes to Project Car Hell, but four at once? We admit, that wasn't at all fair to the Alfas, but Italy will be back to reclaim that leaky PCH Trophy soon enough. Today we're going to have a good o

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    New Study Reports 39% Of Moped Accidents Caused By Intoxicated Drivers

    A new study presented to the American College of Surgeons found that 39% of moped drivers sustaining accident injuries had a blood-alcohol level greater than .05 mg/dL — more than one-and-a-half times the number of intoxicated car or motorcycle drivers. So what's the deal? Mopeds (in this case, we presume they're referring to scooters as well) with engines of 50cc or less displacement can be driven without a driver's license in many states. Thus, they become the vehicle of choice for alcoholics

    By Andrew Stoy Read More
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    Hermes Leathers Up Citroen 2CV

    To honor the Citröen 2CV’s 60th birthday, fashion house Hermès created this special edition for the Paris Motor Show. While we weren’t impressed by the gaudy crime-against-taste that was the Bugatti Veyron Fbg par Hermès, the more pedestrian (or equine, to be more correct) 2CV strikes a chord with us. The leather and cotton canvas added to it accentuate the timeless lines and paired-to-the-bone interior, two things most modern cars are missing. The full release follows the jump.

    By Wes Siler Read More
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    Bike-Hating Jeremy Clarkson Rides A Scooter

    The Daily Mail captured these pictures of Jeremy Clarkson riding a Vespa GTV around his village in the Cotswolds. The fat, balding Top Gear presenter’s hatred for motorcycles and those who ride them is well known, to the point where Clarkson once suggested that stretching wire across roads would help reduce their number. Ironically, not only is he riding a scooter, but it appears he's operating it illegally. The scooter Jeremy is riding is a Vespa GTV, which comes in 125 and 250cc versions. We d

    By Wes Siler Read More
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    Citroen DS And Holden Wagon Down On The Queensland Street

    This is Down On The Street Bonus Edition, where we check out interesting street-parked cars located in places other than the Island That Rust Forgot. Today we've got a couple of painfully cool old cars that ChrisLewis shot for us down on the streets of Brisbane, Queensland. We've got a pretty clean post-1969 Citroën DS and a mean-looking 1960 Holden FB wagon, plus ChrisLewis' Ford Fiesta XR4 in the background. Make the jump to see all the photos and read the description. Having recently moved no

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    Lorinser Smart ForTwo Turbo Is Fun Until Your Friends Find Out

    During our first drive of the 2008 Smart ForTwo we enjoyed its small size in the big city, but we would have really enjoyed some extra power. This Lorinser-tuned ForTwo may not be a sports car in the traditional sense, but with 101 HP from its turbocharged 3-cylinder, it's a nice improvement over the stock mill. However, even though the car weighs just 1700 lbs, 0-62 MPH still takes almost 10 seconds, likely due in part to the sluggish semi-automatic gearbox. Sure, you get a Lorinser body kit an

    By Mark Arnold Read More
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    2010 McLaren P11 Spied Shopping In Surrey

    Today, images of the 2010 McLaren P11 have emerged, both in camo’ed prototype form and as a clay model. The P11 will rival cars like the Lamborghini Gallardo and Ferrari F430 in both price and performance, undercutting the McLaren F1, which it will nevertheless draw inspiration from. It’s expected that the P11 will be priced somewhere between $300,000 and $400,000 when it goes on sale in mid-2010. For the money, you’ll get a supercar distilled to its essence: a mid-mounted V8 engine (possibly t

    By Wes Siler Read More
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    Acura Boasts New NSX Will Kick GT-R's Launch-Controlled Ass

    The new Acura NSX has been in development for some time now, having been spotted testing on the Nürburgring numerous times, but nobody knew if all that screaming V10 power would be enough to outperform the Nissan GT-R. Now, Honda Executive Vice President Koichi Kondo, has stated that Mothra the new NSX, though more expensive than Godzilla, will indeed have better performance. Kondo also expects only 1000 units will be sold in the US per year. But doesn't that make it more of a competitor for hig

    By Mark Arnold Read More
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    900 HP Super Cuda, Super Challenger By Mr. Norm To Debut At SEMA

    We anticipate the Dodge Challenger will have a substantial showing at this years SEMA show, and if these two entries from Mr. Norm are any indication, its going to be a big horsepower show. The "Super Challenger" and "Super Cuda" are a pair of heavily modified Challengers sporting 900 HP from Kenne Bell supercharged V8s in addition to their snappy styling and big wheels. Considering the heft of the Challenger is one of its biggest problems, 900 HP seems a good starting point for upgrades. The pr

    By Ben Wojdyla Read More
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    Chevy Cruze Crashing 2009 World Touring Car Championship Series

    Chevy has 12 World Touring Car Championships under its belt already, and the company is gunning for another with its new WTCC-prepped and stickered Chevy Cruze. Yes, you heard that right — the econobox you can't ignore is undergoing testing and engineering right now with a scheduled debut at Curitiba, Brazil during the opening race of the 2009 season. Chevy appears to be aiming for consistency, with the same team and drivers they've previously used arming up for battle with the new Cruze. We'll

    By Andrew Stoy Read More
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    What Stays, What Goes And What Changes In A GM-Chrysler Tie-Up?

    The shocking news that talks on a potential GM-Chrysler merger are ongoing (and that GM sought out Ford first) got us thinking about the product lines of the two merging companies — you know, if this even happens, of course. But we've all seen it before. Two people move in together and stuff has to go. You don't need two coffee tables. You don't need two sets of cutlery. You don't need two Rain Dogs LPs. Given the market and recent performance it's clear that they can't carry on two separate lin

    By Matt Hardigree Read More
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    Arash AF10 Details, Images Released

    We reported earlier this year the product of snubbed would-be Enzo buyer Arash Farboud, the Arash AF10, was getting closer to production. Now we have details and what looks like photos of a working prototype. Powered by GM's 505 HP 7.0-liter LS7 found in the Z06, the "Enzo-killer" should hit a 3.4 second 0-to-60 time (within a tenth of the Enzo) with a top speed of 204 MPH. All of this comes at a price of just $300,000 (w/VAT) for one of the 25 cars annually produced, a few of which, we're told,

    By Matt Hardigree Read More
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    First Drive Of Hyundai Genesis Coupe Published By Car Middle East Magazine

    We've given you manufacturer-supplied details about the new Hyundai Genesis Coupe, but now Car Middle East has taken it upon themselves to publish the first drive review of the upcoming Mustang-fighter. Thanks to Car's question-and-answer session with themselves we can tell you that, thanks to the Hyundai-built 3.8-liter V6, and combined with a limited-slip rear, the testers were able to engage in "some top quality rear-wheel slidey fun accompanied by a thoroughly enjoyable sound track from the

    By Andrew Stoy Read More
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    1986, 1988 Toyota Vans

    Welcome to Down On The Street, where we admire old vehicles found parked on the streets of the Island That Rust Forgot: Alameda, California. When we saw the Mitsubishi L300- which is a seriously rare machine in the United States, though I've just found another one in Alameda- some readers felt that the Toyota Van deserved a place in this series as well. You can find those things all over the place, so I decided I'd wait until I found an interesting one… and now I've found two!

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    NYT: GM Sought Merger With Ford First

    As if the late-breaking Friday night news of merger talks between Chrysler and GM weren't astonishing enough, Bill "Pickles" Vlasic at the New York Times continued the onslaught of amazement with a follow-up story that GM had initially approached Ford before speaking to Chrysler. Apparently, GM execs approached Ford about a possible merger in July but Ford rejected the idea despite the talks progressing until as late as last month. And we though it was hard creating a name for a merger of GM and

    By Ray Wert Read More
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    Chevy Camaro SS Pricing To Start At $30,995, LS At $22,995

    Breaking news for all you muscle car fans. According to an official press release from GM moments ago, we've finally got ourselves some pricing information on the new Chevy Camaro. Hit the jump for the numbers and the press release in case you can't read the headline. • The base price of the 2010 Chevy Camaro LS will start at $22,995 • The base price of the 2010 Chevy Camaro SS will start at $30,995 At that price, we'll take two of the SS versions of the Aussie-engineered 'merican muscle car. O

    By Ray Wert Read More
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    Escape From Berkeley, By Any Non-Petroleum Means Necessary!

    This morning, I headed over to Shipyard Labs in the Berkeley flatlands (not very coincidentally, located just a few blocks from the 24 Hours Of LeMons HQ in Emeryville) to witness preparations for the start of the Escape From Berkeley race to Las Vegas. The rules are pretty simple: vehicles can't run on any form of petroleum fuel, they can only bring 10KWH equivalent of fuel to start with, and the teams must obtain all further fuel for free along the race route. Otherwise, anything goes- and the

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    NYT: Chrysler In Merger Talks With GM

    According to a report by Bill Vlasic and Andrew Ross Sorkin that just went live on the New York Times website, Chrysler and GM have been in merger talks for the last month. As of today, it's a "50-50" shot that it'll happen. While we've been talking about talks between the two companies for over a year — specifically on trucks — this is something entirely different. Just think, we may finally see the all-vinyl body we've been asking American automakers for all these years. We'll have more shortl

    By Ray Wert Read More
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    PCH, Invasion Of The Hell Projects Edition: Three Alfas Or Four Citroens?

    Welcome to Project Car Hell, where you choose your eternity by selecting the project that's the coolest... and the most hellish! Yesterday, we had the chance to choose between two potential moonshine runners, with either of which one might keep bread on the table during the coming Financiapocalypse, and the Mercury Maruader beat the BMW 850i like Junior Johnson beat the North Carolina Highway Patrol's '53 Ford Mainlines back in the day. However, some of you- I'm not going to use the word "whiner

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    Maserati Claims Fastest Production Nürburgring Lap In MC12, Pretends Viper Doesn't Exist

    Joining the "we're faster than you and we can prove it in a completely unscientific way by racing around the same racetrack in a production car under various conditions and providing our own timing" club is the Maserati MC12, which now claims they've made the fastest production lap around the Nürburgring of 7:24.29, besting the feuding claims of Porsche and Nissan, which claim 7:34 and 7:29, respectively, for the 911 GT2 and Nissan GT-R, respectively. Although the MC12's still behind the Dodge V

    By Matt Hardigree Read More
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    Reality-Defying Futurama Flying Car For Sale On Amazon For A Mere $50,000!

    Good news everyone! A recently-launched merchant on Amazon — named Jetson — is offering the "Futurama Flying Car" for the bargain price of only $50,000. Although the seller makes no promises or claims, other than an artfully updated image of the Guigiaro B.A.T. 5, the reviews on this product offer stunning insight into the performance of this revolutionary, yet totally fictional, vehicle.

    By Ben Wojdyla Read More
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    What Will Mini Name Their New Crossover?

    Since we first heard of the possibility of a Mini SUV, dubbed by many the Mini Crossman that we saw debut in Paris, there has been speculation over the name. We thought this was all settled when they didn't officially name it the Crossman, but apparently enthusiast wishes now appear to hold no sway with automakers. You'd have thought we'd have learned after the whole G8 El Camino debacle, right? Anyway, According to GoAuto, BMW's global sales and marketing chief said "I can assure you it won't b

    By Matt Hardigree Read More
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    Lewis Booth To Take Financial Reins At Ford Beginning November 1st

    Looks like current Ford CFO Don "Cream-filled French pastry" LeClair will step aside November 1st. Taking the spreadsheet and ledger helm, along with Executive Vice President, for Ford will be none other than Lewis Booth, the current head of Ford Europe. I've known Booth for a number of years (his daughter and I graduated high school together) and can't think of a better person to bring some good ol' fashioned old world pain to the books of an automaker that's seen it's share price plummet to le

    By Ray Wert Read More
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    Audi's "Meet The Beckers" Aims To Pan BMW, Mercedes And Lexus, Shoots Self In Foot

    Pricks drive BMW convertibles. Old people drive Mercedes sedans. Boring people drive Lexus crossovers. At least that's the message Audi wants you to hear with its new viral marketing effort, a web mini-series called "Meet the Beckers." The mini-series tells the tale of a dysfunctional affluent family. Although we've got to admit that often times the stereotypes portrayed in the advertisement show are dead-on and funny as hell, we're forgetting one stereotype. You know, that Audi drivers are self

    By Mark Arnold Read More
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    Special Ford Falcon GT Celebrates FPV's 5th Anniversary

    The special-anniversary-edition Aussie muscle keeps rolling out at the Australian International Motor Show. First it was the HSV 20th Anniversary GTS and now we have this, a special FPV Ford Falcon GT that commemorates the five years of Ford Performance Vehicles. The 5.4-liter V8 still delivers the same ground-pounding 422 HP through a Tremec 6-speed manual or ZF 6-speed automatic as used in standard FPV GTs. However, you can now reign it in with special Brembo six-piston front / four-piston rea

    By Mark Arnold Read More
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    Toyota: Credit Not Responsible For Current Sales Slump, But Please Hurry Up And Fix!

    Jim Lentz, Toyota's US sales chief, told the Detroit News yesterday that consumer financing isn't their challenge right now; rather, low consumer confidence is keeping buyers out of showrooms. "The vast majority of our customers are able to get approved for loans," said Lentz, claiming that a record number of consumers are postponing car purchases. Dealers across the country are singing a similar tune, saying that well-qualified buyers can still get financing, but continuing bad economic news is

    By Andrew Stoy Read More
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    1972 Volkswagen Super Beetle

    Welcome to Down On The Street, where we admire old vehicles found parked on the streets of the Island That Rust Forgot: Alameda, California. One thing I've tried to do is keep Volkswagen Old Beetles from overwhelming the series; that's because there we've got more air-cooled Beetles than any other type of old car on the island- more, even, than Chrysler A bodies. This doesn't mean, however, that I should avoid them completely- I just need to space them carefully… and our last one was all the way

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    GM Will Go Bankrupt: Why That May Actually Be Good For The General

    I'm not the first person to say it. After yesterday's 31% drop in the price per share, news outlets talking to the right people this morning are already saying it, albeit fecklessly, like thus: "Will GM declare bankruptcy?" All I'm doing is removing the question mark. The pundits saying "bankruptcy is not an option" are completely ignorant of the facts, living in an alternate reality or parroting the GM PR public line (a line I don't begrudge GM for pushing given the need to be positive or else

    By Ray Wert Read More
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    AMC Pacer: For Those Who Prefer Round And Wide

    The AMC Pacer looks crazy from any angle; as we saw in the DOTS '76 Pacer, it's pretty much impossible to tell if you're getting lens distortion when you photograph- regardless of angle- due to its weird bulbous appearance. Jean-Charles, the French distributor for the Pacer, figured the best approach was to demonstrate how not all big round objects look bad. Image source: Wikipedia

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    Commenter Of The Day: Edward R. Murrow In Europe

    The popularity of the film Goodnight & Good Luck, coupled with the desire of the liberal intelligentsia to compare our current plight to the Red Scare, has created a focus on Edward R. Murrow's fight against Senator Joseph McCarthy. As great a story as that is, Murrow should be remembered for more than that. His work reporting on WWII from the rooftops in London at the peak of German bombing during the Blitz is the stuff of legend. His ability to coordinate massive, live coverage from the scenes

    By Matt Hardigree Read More
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    PCH, Financiapocalypse Moonshine Runner Edition: Mercury Marauder Or BMW 850i?

    Welcome to Project Car Hell, where you choose your eternity by selecting the project that's the coolest... and the most hellish! With the Dow taking it in the shorts today, we're all thinking about how we'll keep afloat during the hard times that seem to be looming, if not already here. Naturally, federal, state, and local governments are thinking the same thing, and that means they're going to jack up the taxes on booze! Which, as students of Southern United States history know, that means oppo

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    GM Share Prices Go Retro In Search Of Better Times, Wagoner Hits YouTube To Shore Up Confidence

    Ford's trading at a price lower than a gallon of gas today, but how's their publicly-traded Detroit-based buddy doing on Wall Street this week? The Detroit News reports in the past five days of stock trading, General Motors has lost more than a quarter of its value, closing at $6.91 Wednesday (and dropping below $5 a share today). That's the lowest the automaker's stock has been since 1953 — meaning GM's share price hit a 55-year low. We'd all like to think that this is nothing more than GM tryi

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    GT-R Owner Busts Tranny Using Launch Control, Nissan Claims Issue Not Covered Under Warranty

    Someone claiming to own a Nissan GT-R has proclaimed on the North American GT-R Owners Club forums (NAGTROC) that his GT-R's transmission has broken after multiple uses of the vehicle's launch control function. The owner says that when the vehicle was then brought to the Nissan service center, where he was told the destroyed transmission would not be covered under warranty due to the car being driven too often with the Vehicle Dynamic Control (VDC) shut off. Another forum member clarifies that "

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    Ford Stock Price Dips Below The Cost Of A Gallon Of Gas

    Today, the price of a share of Ford stock dipped to $2.40 (as of 1:58 PM), the lowest price valuation on the automaker since 1983. In fact, at that price, we figure it's lower than the cost of a gallon of regular unleaded gas at any service station in the country. We decided we'd see if that was actually true. It turns out it is. GasBuddy currently lists Oklahoma City as the U.S. community with the cheapest price per gallon — $2.78. What a choice for consumers — fill up your tank or fill up your

    By Andrew Stoy Read More
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    Transformers 2 Caught At Air Force Base, Chevy Beat Bot To Be "Skids"

    Looks like the crew of Transformers 2 was caught on-set in Arizona at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base along with a couple of the more robotic cast members — albeit while in their vehicle mode get-ups. Based on the plates, it looks like we're also able to put a name to the bot who will be played by the Chevy Beat: Skids. Despite our best efforts, we couldn't decipher the plate on the Chevy Trax, but that's okay because the upgraded Chevy Camaro will still be Bumblebee, and that's the only one we rea

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    Audi TT-RS Cabrio Spied Prowling Near The Ring Sans Top, Camouflage

    As we continue to wait for the Audi TT-RS to debut, details and shots of the ÜberAudi roadster continue to appear, including these clear images of the Audi TT-RS captured by the KGP photographers. It has all the markings of an RS Audi, including the large front intakes and dual oval exhausts. As for motivation, there's probably something larger than the turbo 2.0-liter four found in theTT-S underneath the bonnet — possibly the new 3.0-liter TFSI V6 or the Passat R36 3.6-liter V6? Either way, we

    By Matt Hardigree Read More
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    Elfin Type 5 Clubman Goes From Zero To Sydney In 3.7 Seconds

    Down under in Sydney at the Australian International Motor Show, the new Elfin Type 5 Clubman has been revealed. The latest offering from Australia's own hardcore roadster builders, the Type 5 follows on the heels of the popular MS8 models. The new car is powered by GM's 260 HP 2.0-liter turbocharged Ecotec four-banger. It's the same setup found in the Pontiac Solstice GXP and Saturn Sky Redline, but the Elfin weighs significantly less at about 1600 pounds. That may not be as light as a Secma, b

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    1985 Porsche 944

    Welcome to Down On The Street, where we admire old vehicles found parked on the streets of the Island That Rust Forgot: Alameda, California. We've seen our share of Porsches in this series, mostly 911s and 912s but with a handful of water-cooled jobs thrown in. So far I've been unable to find any 924s, but today we'll add another 944 to the lone '87 we've already got. I found this '85 parked on the same block as the '80 Volvo 244 and just around the corner from the silver '67 Porsche 912.

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    Nissan Officially Responds To Porsche Skepticism, Recommends Driving Lessons

    The war of words between Nissan and Porsche over Nurburgring lap times continues. Today Nissan officially responded to Porsche's statement last month that they were unable to get within 25 seconds of the Nissan GT-R's claimed fastest 'Ring time, leading Porsche to claim Nissan had used a ringer with race tires. Seems that Nissan still has the tires they used, however, and they're inviting Porsche to check them out — along with video of the run shot by a Japanese magazine. To top it off, Nissan s

    By Andrew Stoy Read More
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    New Mazda3 Sedan To Debut At LA Auto Show... Duh

    It's been the worst kept secret on the reveal schedule for the LA Auto Show — well, other than the new Ford Mustang. But whatever, it's now official — the all-new 2010 Mazda3 sedan will debut next month at the LA Auto Show. If you want to know more about all sorts of specifics like when the press conference is, hit the jump. If not, you'll have to wait for LA more information and more photos. Well, other than the three we have down below — or the following info: "Following the world debut of the

    By Ray Wert Read More
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    Commenter Of The Day: Adjustable Rate Mortgage Edition

    An adjustable-rate mortgage, or ARM, is a loan where the interest rate is adjusted based on certain variables. These variables include the LIBOR, the COFI, the T-Bill, the CMT and sometimes the MAT. The nice thing about an ARM is that you generally have lower interest payments, assuming those factors work in your favor. If rates rise because the indices don't change in your favor your payment goes up, sometimes dramatically. If you don't understand what the LIBOR is or how these indices work and

    By Matt Hardigree Read More
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    Carbon Motors Releases Actual Photos Of Their E7 Police Car

    Carbon Motors finally released non-computer generated pictures of their E7 purpose-built police car, countering concerns that the vehicle was merely vaporware. The company has been claiming for at least a year now that the E7 will be the police car of the future but hasn't provided much in the way of proof. These photos appear not only to be real, but to also show a car similar to the computer illustrations, including the integrated push-bar and LED lights. According to the company, it'll featu

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    Sorry if you've had difficulty accessing the site at points today, folks. The bad hamster's been taken out back and put out of his misery. He's been replaced with an all-new hamster. We hope he'll last longer than the last one. Thank you for your understanding.

    By Ray Wert Read More
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    San Francisco, 1973: How Many Cars In This Photo Can You Identify?

    Because I've become obsessed with finding at least one semi-focused shot of the pair of Fiat 128s my parents bought in the early 1970s (when the 128 was the cheapest new four-door sold in America), I've been spending a lot of time digging through boxes of hopelessly jumbled family photos. No Fiat photos yet, but I did find this DOTSBE Vintage Edition shot, nominally of my grandmother- sporting some really cool cateye glasses- posing in front of some cable cars in San Francisco, but the real subj

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    Classic Muscle Car Values Next Thing To Tank?

    If you've watched in amazement over the past decade or so as prices for classic American muscle cars went through the stratosphere, you're about to see a correction. No, one-of-four Hemi Coronets aren't going to be trading at sub-$10k prices, but if you have a job, a comfortable savings account and a hankering for cubic inches, the next six months will likely provide the best buying opportunity since the 1990s. Why? Lots of those GTOs and big-block Chevelles that hit $50k+ were snapped up by fol

    By Andrew Stoy Read More
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    Constructicon Vehicle Modes From New Transformers Movie Possibly Revealed

    There was a report not too long ago about the possibility of Devastator showing up in the new movie Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Now it seems an Insider over at TFW200 claims they've got the laundry list of construction vehicles that'll make up the Constructicons, who together will form the mega-bot. If the list is accurate, and the insider hasn't yet been wrong, let it not be said that director Michael Bay thinks small, as the combined weight of these behemoths of industry tip the scale

    By Ben Wojdyla Read More
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    How Did You Survive Long Childhood Road Trips?

    The post about Carcade, the in-car real-time video game, sparked a fairly interesting discussion about the pastimes we've undertaken as passengers. Growing up in the era before video games there was "I Spy" along with other vision games to get children through those long hours on the road. The era of the video game brought Radio Shack handhelds, the Game Boy, the PSP and now in-car installations of an XBOX 360, Wii and a PS3 — all assuring children are no longer subjected to the beautiful, pasto

    By Matt Hardigree Read More
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    Nissan 370Z Spotted Testing In Germany, Shows New Details

    Those KGP spies stationed over in Germany on the edge of the Nurburgring have spotted the Nissan 370Z testing near the famed Nurburgring (is there anywhere else to test in Germany?), obviously getting in a few last laps before next month's unveil at the LA Auto Show. These images clearly show the new Nissan will be following the lead of the Maxima with those wacky "boomerang" headlights which are also mirrored in the tail lights. We also see hints of a more aggressive front-end treatment and rad

    By Ben Wojdyla Read More
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    2010 Buick LaCrosse: Rendered For Your Pleasure

    Customers interested in buying something new from the Buick brand have been left high and dry since the release of the Enclave CUV in early 2007. They won't have to wait much longer. While we've seen it fairly un-covered and we've already seen a little tease, our sources tell us these renderings we've commissioned from the folks at KORSDesign are almost exactly what you should expect to see when GM reveals the 2010 Buick LaCrosse officially in November at the LA Auto Show. Check out the gallery

    By The Auto Insider Read More
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    1964 Imperial Crown, Plus Bonus DOTS Imperial Poll

    Welcome to Down On The Street, where we admire old vehicles found parked on the streets of the Island That Rust Forgot: Alameda, California. I've been thinking about the Imperial quite a bit lately, since there's a very clean hardtop '71 Imperial Le Baron now sitting in my driveway. We'll get the story on that car a little later, but for today I've got some photographs of a vast, angular '64 Imperial Crown four-door hardtop that I found parked right around the corner from the 1942 Pontiac Torped

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    Rumor Busted: Corvette ZR1 Production NOT Canceled

    UPDATE: Rumor busted! Chevy PR tells us ZR1 production has NOT been canceled. DigitalCorvettes was, as we'd claimed most likely the case, wrong on this story. DigitalCorvettes is reporting a rumor that production on the Corvette ZR1, Chevy's new super car we just drove a month or so ago, has been halted at the Bowling Green Corvette plant. We knew the Corvette plant was on shutdown this week, but we fully expected the plant to resume production next week. Digital Corvettes is now reporting that'

    By Ray Wert Read More
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    Commenter Of The Day: Office Romance Edition

    They say don't mix business with pleasure. They say don't dip your pen in the company ink. They say don't eat where you poop. But who are they and why do they have so many ways of saying you shouldn't get busy at your business place? Work is where we spend most of our time. It's where we are for at least half of our waking time five days of the week. Those of you who don't work at home or deliver things for a living basically see the same dozen people every day. Unless you work at Arby's, the ch

    By Matt Hardigree Read More
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    PCH, No Escape From The SM Edition: One Citroen SM Or Two Lancia Zagatos?

    Welcome to Project Car Hell, where you choose your eternity by selecting the project that's the coolest... and the most hellish! Last time around, 64% of you opted for an eternity in the trunk of Coyote Shivers' 1984 Volvo DL rather than having your bodices ripped by Fabio's Lancia, according to the Choose Your Eternity poll. But enough with the pseudo-celebrity cars- today we need to get back to basics, with a return to the very soul of project car hell: France versus Italy! Right now, Italy is

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    GM Attempting To Refinance HQ, Threatening To Sell Renaissance Center?

    The Detroit News reports that General Motors is attempting to borrow $500 million from one or both of Detroit's pension funds to refinance its Renaissance Center corporate headquarters. GM is saying it may have to sell the complex if a refinancing deal isn't reached, despite the fact the company just took full ownership of the facility in May at a cost of $626 million. So what's really going on here? Is GM that hard up for cash already, or are they just putting the squeeze on some deep local poc

    By Andrew Stoy Read More
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    Neiman Marcus Edition BMW 7-Series Can Be Yours For Just $160,000

    Christmas may be months away, but Neiman Marcus has just released their holiday shopping catalog — which, of course, means an overpriced limited-edition luxury car has also been revealed. Following on the heels of last year's Lexus IS F and 2006's 2007 BMW M6 Convertible, this year they'll be offering up the new 2009 BMW 7-Series. Oh joy. Just 31 examples will receive the NM treatment of Champagne Merino leather, Alcantara headliner, and Diopside Black paint. Really though, is there any other wa

    By Mark Arnold Read More
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    Cooper Becomes Official Tire Of ROUSH Performance

    ROUSH Performance has announced Cooper will become the OEM tire on many of the company's Mustang applications. The Zeon 2XS will be found on the Stage 1 and Stage 2 while the new Zeon RS3 will be featured on the hotter 430 HP Stage 3 and the upcoming 510 HP P-51B. Both tires replace the BFGoodrich g-Force T/A KD. But why the change? As one PR flack remarked, "Jack Roush didn't want to get shaken to death while going to get ice cream." According to Roush,"Cooper is a perfect fit to be our supplie

    By sixgunsuperman99 Read More
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    Science Shows People Prefer Angry, Aggressive Cars

    It’s long been obvious to the astute observer that there's a strong consumer preference for cars with faces that evoke human characteristics like power and aggression, and less of a preference for cars that look happy or dim-witted. Now, in an effort to give car designers better tools for reaching specific groups of consumers, researchers in Switzerland are attempting to discover why those preferences exist, how styling features can be better used to evoke human emotion and how to employ new emo

    By Wes Siler Read More
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    Ten Car Platforms That Just Won't Die

    News that GM would continue to extend its GMT-900 truck platform for a few additional years to save money seemed to send shock waves through the auto industry — despite the fact that the design just went into production in 2007. When did platforms get such a short shelf-life? We were able to come up with ten basic car platforms still in production that were originally developed more than a decade ago, including three more than half-a-century old, just to prove that new doesn't necessarily mean b

    By Matt Hardigree Read More
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    Maserati Slips Into Rear Of Latest Top Ten Most-Researched Gay Cars List

    The guy-loving guys and gal-loving gals over at Gaywheels.com (did we mention they're gay?) took a look at their search records for the third quarter of 2008 to pull out their latest list of the site's ten most researched cars. So what's changed since the last list? Well, for the first time, an exotic car cracks the list, as the Maserati GranTurismo brings up the rear with the tenth spot. The rest of the list below the jump. The Volkswagen Rabbit and Eos remained in first and second place, respe

    By Wes Siler Read More
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    Kiko The Cheetah Poops Through Land Rover Sunroof

    We suspect this exchange between "the big cat team" and Kiko the cheetah will not be making the Land Rover promo reels, but it should. Here we watch as "that bloke in that car that the cheetah poo'd through the roof hatch on" earns his moniker the old-fashioned way — by catching a falling cheetah choad. With his hand. In a napkin. At this point typing is incredibly difficult, what with the spontaneous bouts of uncontrolled, juvenile chuckling, so we'll just let you watch for yourselves. [Youtube

    By Ben Wojdyla Read More
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    GEM Peapod Photoshop Contest: Vote For The Winner Of The iPod Touch!

    After a week of heavy polling through four rounds of entries, the final 20 contestants in the GEM Peapod Photoshop Contest have been determined. Beginning today and ending Wednesday at 11:59 PM EST, you get to vote for your favorite chop of the smiley, enviro-friendly GEM Peapod concept. The winner will take home a sweet new iPod Touch, offered up by the fine folks at Chrysler's GEM division. When the clock passes 11:59 PM EST, all voting will be complete and we'll announce the winner the follow

    By Ben Wojdyla Read More
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    Tazzari Zero Electric Car Recharges In 45 Minutes, Offers 93-Mile Range

    New Italian company Tazzari aims to address one of the key shortcomings of electric cars — recharge time — by offering a vehicle capable of taking a full charge in just 45 minutes. Tazzari hasn’t clarified what kind of outlet is required for this compressed recharge time, but as it’s an Italian company, we’ll assume at least a 220v is needed, but likely not a commercial-grade three-phase unit like the one required by the Lightning GT supercar. By comparison, the Tesla Roadster takes 8 hours or s

    By Wes Siler Read More
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    Australian BMW M5 Ute Finally Finished, Debuts At Deniliquin Ute Muster

    After nearly three years of construction and thousands of fevered prayers from camino enthusiasts, along with an equal number of curses from BMW fanboys, the BMW M5 Ute is finally complete. The super-ute debuted last weekend in New South Wales at the Deniliquin Ute Muster, the worlds largest gathering of vehicles that do business up front while partying in the back. The M5 Ute goes to professional golfer and apparent hoon artist Stuart Appleby, who commissioned the build and happily takes the ke

    By Ben Wojdyla Read More
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    1973 Opel Manta Luxus

    Welcome to Down On The Street, where we admire old vehicles found parked on the streets of the Island That Rust Forgot: Alameda, California. Most of the time, the manner in which I locate and photograph these cars follows the same pattern: I grab my camera and walk to a neighborhood I haven't checked out in a while and shoot anything interesting I find along the way. Other times I spot a car while I'm driving somewhere, and I pull over and shoot it. Easy enough. Then we've got the cars I stalk;

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    Commenter Of The Day: Hervé Villechaize Edition

    Though we may know him as the happy assistant on television's Fantasy Island, Hervé Villechaize had a fairly unhappy existence as a result of his dwarfism, eventually committing suicide at age 50. Raised in Paris, Villechaize was a painter and photographer who moved to New York and started acting in off-Broadway shows. His most famous film role came as Nick Nack in the film The Man With The Golden Gun, which he got before his role on Fantasy Island. He was eventually fired from the show and, if

    By Matt Hardigree Read More
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    Ford, Lincoln Models Get Active Anti-Collision Technology Option

    The headline of the press release starts with "FORD’S LATEST SAFETY BRAKETHROUGH"... groan. Bad puns aside, the newly minted active safety system available on select new Fords this year does a couple of things. First, it uses a forward-looking radar system to anticipate emergency situations and react appropriately with audio prompts and the braking system. Second, and this is new as far as we can tell, when backing up it uses the rear backup sensors to detect a car approaching but blocked from v

    By Ben Wojdyla Read More
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    Criminal Mastermind Ronald Reagan Demands '59 Ford Hoonage!

    The Killers was Ronald Reagan's last film, made just a few years before he became governor of California. In it, the Great Communicator plays a crime boss setting up an armored-car-heist caper, and John Cassavetes- one of the greatest directors in cinema history, in my opinion- plays a down-and-out race driver hired as getaway-car wheelman. It's a car-freak-stravaganza of a movie, with Lee Marvin as an Impala-driving hitman, race sequences packed with Cobras, and- best of all- a '59 Ford chasing

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    BrakeNutz. Yeah, You Read That Right, Brake... Nutz.

    Let's say you're looking for a way to spice up the tail-end of pickup truck and regular truck nutz just don't do it for you. Perhaps something more tasteful and yet more flashy — literally. Enter BrakeNutz, a clear set of polycarbonate Nutz with dual-element LEDs inside. Those strategically placed lights are wired to mimic brake lights when properly installed into your cars or trucks wire harness. Guess that's one way to legally flash your nutz at someone. [BrakeNutz]

    By Ben Wojdyla Read More
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    VW Scirocco Hypothetically Tuned By ABT

    The new Volkswagen Scirocco may just be hitting the roads, but somehow tuner ABT Sportsline has already released their version of the swoopy hatch. Oh wait, no they haven't, these are just renderings. Yes, as has become common practice for tuners anxious to get a jump on the competition, ABT has resorted to releasing Photoshop-enhanced pictures of a standard Scirocco to display the aftermarket upgrade package they allegedly have. The car claims to bump up the power of the 2.0-liter engine to 240

    By Mark Arnold Read More
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    Bonus QOTD: Would You Consider Buying A New Car Now?

    Despite a financial rescue plan, things don't seem to be getting better right away (the dow dipped below 10,000 points for the first time in three years), which will likely cause a dip in consumer spending, which is certainly going to make things worse. As we pointed out in seven ways the financial crisis will affect car buyers, this means it could be a good market for new car buyers. Toyota is offering 0% financing for the first time in a long while. Newspapers are full of ads pushing cars disc

    By Matt Hardigree Read More
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    2010 Camaro Standard And Optional Features List Leaks Onto Web

    All you Camaro fanboys waiting to plan the option boxes you'll be checking when the car shows up in showrooms this spring, rejoice. Someone on the forums has leaked a list of standard and optional features available on all Camaro trim lines. From the looks of things, a "base" Camaro is a bit of a misnomer, as even the LS will get XM, Stabilitrak, 6-speaker audio and enough airbags to float the Titanic. Of course, the magic code is "1SS" which nets you the 6.2-liter V8 and, you know, a bunch of o

    By Andrew Stoy Read More
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    Seven Ways The Financial Crisis Will Affect Car Buyers

    The most cliched phrase so far during this financial crisis has been "what happens on Wall Street affects Main Street," and nowhere is this truer than for that large car dealership located on Main Street, which will have to adapt to the new market in ways that will seriously impact car buyers. While not all of the changes are positive for consumers, the tough position dealerships find themselves in will make an already buyer-friendly market more so in the coming months. Below is our look at seve

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    The 14 Most Futuristic Dashboards On The 2008 Paris Show Floor

    While exterior styling grabs all the new and concept car headlines, (and booth babes grab the eyes) it's the interiors that have the most potential to alter the way we experience our automobiles. Far from the squeaky, rattly, ill-fitting monuments to black plastic that are present on nearly every car at nearly every price range, show car interiors explore both new materials and new forms, as well as new ways for drivers and passengers to interact with their vehicles. Here are 14 of the 2008 Pari

    By Wes Siler Read More
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    MG X-Power SV-S WRC Is The Drop Top British Supercar

    The British-owned leftovers of the collapse of MG Rover continue to develop cars, and this is their latest: The MG X-Power SV-S WRC (that's William Riley Convertible, not World Rally Championship). The SV-S WRC is obviously the pop-top version of the regular SV-S, but what isn't so obvious is the switch to an all Kevlar body, which means the car only gains 26.5 pounds. Motivation comes via a supercharged 5.0-liter V8 which pushes the big orange brute from a stop to 62 MPH in 3.8 seconds on to a

    By Ben Wojdyla Read More
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    As A Teen, How Close Did You Come To Complete Auto Destruction?

    Understandably desperate to sell cars using any feature, Ford announced the My Key nanny key for new buyers hoping to keep their teens driving a "certain way" by limiting stereo volume, chiming in if a seatbelt isn't being used and, most dramatically, limiting kids to speeds of 80 MPH or less. Will this help anything? What was the most self-destructive feat you attempted in an automobile? Would the My Key have made a difference? There's a decent-sized list of things we did in cars that were just

    By Matt Hardigree Read More
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    Seat Exeo Parisian Debut Displays Bold Original Design

    Since we got a pretty good look at the Seat Exeo in European patent filings, it was pretty low on the priority list at the 2008 Paris Motor Show. Now that everything has settled down and we're home again, we figured it was time to circle back and show you our live shots of Ben's Audi A4 the Seat Exeo from hall three of the show. You'll note the striking, original design language of the car, with a commanding presence that can't help but take Seat in a bold new direction. Complete details and mor

    By Ben Wojdyla Read More
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    Ford "Nanny Key" For Teen Drivers Limits Vehicle Speed, Radio Volume

    Ford has announced a new feature available on many 2010 models called "My Key," consisting of a programmable computer chip imbedded in the key that limits vehicle speed to 80 MPH. Designed for parents of teen drivers, the My Key system will also limit the stereo volume settings and sound a constant chime if seat belts are not fastened; a chime can also be programmed to sound if the car exceeds 45, 55 or 65 MPH. So how is Ford countering the predictable teen driver PR backlash? By telling kids th

    By Andrew Stoy Read More
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    2009 Infiniti G37 Convertible Teases Us Right With New Shot

    Credit goes to Infiniti for dropping the most direct and revealing "teaser" shots for the 2009 Infiniti G37 convertible, which is set to debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show this fall. Perhaps Infiniti is being generous in light of other automakers boring us with repeated glimpses...or perhaps it is because our pshop of it isn't that far off from the predictable design. Press release below the jump.

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    Best Mini Crossover Shots Yet From Paris Show Floor

    Ben smuggled back a couple gigs of additional images from the Paris Motor Show last week, including these shots inside and out of the Mini Crossover Concept. We got a live look at the diminutive soft-roader last week during the show, but these images give you quite a bit more detail, particularly of the laser globe center stack thingamajig. The whole car has kind of a split personality: It's the biggest Mini yet actually appears, from certain angles, more true to the original Mini than the regul

    By Andrew Stoy Read More
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    1964 Ford Ranchero, Plus Bonus Favorite Ford Cartruck Poll

    Welcome to Down On The Street, where we admire old vehicles found parked on the streets of the Island That Rust Forgot: Alameda, California. DOTS Truck Monday is with us once again, and today we're going to check out a vehicle that qualifies as both truck and car: a '64 Ford Falcon with truck bed, aka Ranchero! Then, because polls lessen the sting of Simon Legree's workplace lash- which always seems to fall on one's back with particular malice on a Monday- we'll all vote on our favorite street-p

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    Top Ten Reasons The Paris Auto Show Press Room Sucks

    Unless you're deep in the bowels of the automotive journalism industry, it may come as a surprise the Paris Auto Show is — despite the big reveals and beautiful flora and fauna — one of the worst of the global shows to cover. First off, the show is big. Really big. It's over a half mile across, and spread out over six main buildings with huge elevation changes — that's a lot of hiking. To compound this issue, the press room is on the far side of the convention center campus, half a mile away fro

    By Ben Wojdyla Read More
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    Tata Abandons Factory Site, Will They Ever Build The Nano?

    Recent developments have put into serious jeopardy Indian automaker Tata's attempt to build the world's cheapest production car, the Tata Nano. Reuters reports today the most serious roadblock to building the car since the Nano was first unveiled back in January. According to the wire service, Tata has now abandoned their attempt to build the Nano factory in the West Bengal state of India. Early last month we'd heard Tata put to halt construction on the Nano factory in West Bengal due to increas

    By Ray Wert Read More
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    It's Graverobber Tirade Saturday!

    Graverobber has continued to create his totally plausible Project Car Hell Tirades™ for us, and we're going to follow up the original Graverobber Tirade Friday compilation with another collection of his greatest hits today. Jump away, if you dare, and you'll read about the terrible glorious fates awaiting those who drag Hell Projects into once-cheerful garages. PCH, Because You Can Edition The Vee-dub. Ach-Eee-double hockey sticks. The Camper Van Fordiac is freaky enough, and if you bought that

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    Notorious Muscle Car Freaks Heading To 24 Hours Of LeMons With... A Datsun!

    Those of you who watch a lot of automotive TV shows are probably familiar with Year One's Keith Maney, who appears on My Classic Car, Dream Car Garage, American Muscle Car, Hot Rod TV, MuscleCar TV, Horsepower TV, etc. What you may not know about is Keith's insidious influence on this site; both yours truly and Andrew Stoy worked for Keith at YO (along with Driveshaft Through The Skull creator Walker Canada and military-vehicle expert commenter Clinto), and he's a bad, bad influence on anyone wh

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    2009 Mitsubishi Colt Finds Family Resemblance On Paris Show Floor

    The 2009 Mitsubishi Colt is being brought in line with the rest of the Mitsubishi lineup, style-wise. You’ve probably already spotted the biggest new feature: the Lancer-style gaping front grille. While it makes the four-door somewhat confused-looking, that grille really sharpens up the three-door, especially in Ralliart guise. Three engines are offered: a 1.1-liter with 75 HP, a 1.3–liter with 95 HP and a 1.5 with 109 HP. The Ralliart adds a turbocharger to that 1.5 for 150 HP, making it a seri

    By Wes Siler Read More
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    New 2010 Ford Mustang Teaser: Everyone Act Excited

    Ford has dribbled out another teaser shot of the new 2010 Ford Mustang. It's our first glimpse at the...err...front...corner...region. Nothing against the upcoming 'Stang, but these teasers only have value if they actually show something to get excited about—and this one really doesn't. Unlike previous teasers, which showed off the first clear look at the dashboard, the seats, the badge and details, this new shot only gives a very shadowy look at a small portion of the grille, and an angle of th

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    Project Car Hell, Sorta Famous Edition: Fabio's Lancia Or Pauley Perrette's Volvo?

    Welcome to Project Car Hell, where you choose your eternity by selecting the project that's the coolest... and the most hellish! Yesterday, we saw the "Bentley" (actually a Rolls with Bentley grille) beat the "Rolls-Royce" (actually a Vanden Plas Princess with a Rolls grille) in the Choose Your Eternity poll in a 59/41 vote. Today we're going to contemplate the concept of fame. Now, none of us can afford to buy JFK's Continental or the Gremlin from Wayne's World, but that doesn't mean we don't h

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    Joule MPV Brings South African Engineering To Paris Show Floor

    We brought you word of the Joule all-electric MPV yesterday, a South African entrant in the new electric car wars, and now we have live shots of the Joule on the Paris show floor. The little Afrikaaner is produced by a new tech company called Optimal Energy and was designed by a former Jag stylist — though we're going to have to take their word for it. According to Optimal, the Joule is all-electric with motor-driven front wheels and in-wheel magnetic propulsion at the rear, delivering a range o

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    Ten Best Cars For A Fall Weekend Trip

    Fall's crisp winds, wet roads and bright foliage are here. But just because it's no longer summer doesn't mean you can't enjoy a weekend driving trip. Just as the leaves change so do the driving conditions, meaning it's time to trade in that soft-top convertible for something a little better suited to the autumn climate. Below is our list of ten vehicles and ten trips for a perfect fall weekend.

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    Lambo Boss Stefan Winkelmann Explains The Estoque

    When the Lamborghini Estoque sedan was revealed at the Paris Auto Show nobody was completely surprised that it was a four-door. With the upcoming crop of super sedans like the Aston Martin Rapide and Porsche Panamera, a concept Lamborghini sedan just seemed like the trendy thing to do. But we're still left wondering "why?" This is Lamborghini we're talking about, a company that built its brand image on massive scoops and spoilers, not elegance. Of course, as you can see in this video of the offi

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    BMW Concept X1 Shows Paris Visitors BMW's Continued Crossover Obsession

    BMW's latest — and smallest — new crossover concept is the BMW X1, seen here on the floor yesterday at the Paris Auto Show. It looks a little more robust in person than when we saw leaked press shots earlier in the week, but it's still hard to get excited about another crossover, particularly one that looks, and is bound to drive, like the underwhelming X3 we already have, only with less room. If BMW had managed to turn the potential of the 1-series into reality, we might be singing a different

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    Chevy Orlando Concept Unveiled In Paris, Shows What Pontiac Aztek Could Have Been

    Yeah, we said it: The Chevy Orlando Concept shown here on the Paris Auto Show floor is the spiritual successor to the Pontiac Aztek. And in this case, we mean that as a complement: The Aztek had a ton of great interior features going for it, and the Chevy Orlando takes that post-minivan people-mover spirit and wraps it in sharp-looking sheet metal. The Orlando seats seven, has five doors and is based on the Cruze platform, meaning it has a shot at actually being really fuel-efficient, particular

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    What Will Help Sell Electric Cars?

    After a decade's worth of inattention, suddenly every automaker is rushing an electric car concept to shows or even directly to market. The Paris Motor Show is full of them, from the wild Venturi Volage to the relatively mild Pininfarina B0. The vast range of prospective electric cars includes both the partially electric Chrysler Minivan and the Tesla Roadster. All seem to have price points and low volumes. What's going to help them sell? Do electric cars need to be shocking or is a jolt of cons

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    Saab 9-X Air BioHybrid Concept Drops Top Live In Paris

    Squint just right and you’ll be able to see what the Saab 9-1 will look like. The Saab 9-X Air seeks to interpret traditional design cues into a more modern, smaller package that will be both fun to drive, uniquely luxurious and economical. The most successful par of the vehicle isn’t its proposed 1.4-liter turbocharged bioethanol hybrid powertrain, but its seriously nice interior, which does a great drop of adapting strikingly contemporary design themes into a friendly, welcoming package. It’s

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    The Ten Craziest Concepts From The 2008 Paris Auto Show

    Gullwing doors, electric propulsion and video game-inspired designs are just a few of the reason why the Paris Auto Show is the show this year for wild concepts. The world's automakers have again descended on Paris with freaky, funky and fantastic forward-looking designs. Though not all of these cars will go straight to production, they're a great indication of what automakers are thinking our cars will look like in the future — or where they'd like them to go if money and reality were no obje

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    Mercedes-Benz ConceptFASCINATION Bows In Paris, Still Mildly Fascinating

    The Mercedes ConceptFASCINATION, just revealed at the Paris Motor Show, must be a concept, because a Benz shootingbrake is just too freaking awesome to see production. Those who like the overall design need not worry, according to Mercedes officials, it's a preview of the 2010 Mercedes E-Class. In the meantime, enjoy the fanciful exterior and see how it matches up to the fanciful interior of this sleek concept. Full press release after the jump.

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    Motorsports Race Tracks Make Out Big In $700 Billion Bailout

    One of the so-called "sweeteners" added to the financial markets bailout bill that passed the Senate Tuesday night was an obscure provision allowing motorsports race track owners to write off the cost of their facilities over seven years. Apparently the IRS has been trying to extend the track write-off period to 15 years — which means track owners would be able to deduct less every year — but thanks to the Wall Street Bailout, superspeedway owners barely able to scrape by with obscure NASCAR and

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    Live From Paris, It's The Diminutive Back Seat Of The Lotus Evora!

    The Lotus Evora has been loved and hated since its debut at the British Motor Show earlier this year, but it's now the Paris Motor Show and we haven't seen any kind of real shots of the so-called "back seat" of this supposed four-passenger car. Since we did the back-seat duties with the Lamborghini Estoque, we figured it only fair to visit the Evora and take a look at it for ourselves. In person, the Evora is a gorgeous car — its taut and swoopy skin really does give the impression of speed even

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    1991 Peugeot 405 S

    Welcome to Down On The Street, where we admire old vehicles found parked on the streets of the Island That Rust Forgot: Alameda, California. We haven't seen a Peugeot in this series since the '60 403 in July, and before that there was only the '85 505. I'm still hoping that a 504- the only kind of French car I've ever had the privilege (if that's the right word) to own myself- will show up, but for now the next best best thing is this 1991 Peugeot 405 S. Now, 1991 is pretty recent for DOTS, but

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    Venturi Volage Concept Debuts At Paris Auto Show, Sets Standard For Electric Car Wackiness

    Venturi has debuted an all-new concept here at the 2008 Paris Motor Show: the Venturi Volage. The Volage takes the electric sports car concept and really runs with it — the all carbon-fiber car is equipped with the first application we've seen of the Michelin Active Wheel, the compact unit using in-wheel electric drive motors is installed at all four corners with a suspension driven by a second set of e-motors. The whole thing can be configured for any desired ride at the touch of a... uh, touch

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    Subaru Boxer Diesel Unveiled For Forester, Impreza And Legacy In Paris

    Subaru has finally pulled the trigger on its EE20 Boxer Diesel in a big way here at the 2008 Paris Motor Show. They've seen fit to lay down a copious supply of cross sectioned and exploded-view engines for a sufficient supply of engine porn and have thrown them into some cars to boot, namely the Subaru Forester 2.0D, the Subaru Impreza 2.0D, and the Subaru Legacy 2.0D. As you might have guessed, they're all outfitted with the same 2.0 liter horizontally opposed boxer diesel, a common rail, turbo

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    PCH, Post-Apocalyptic Cult Leader Ride Edition: Rolls-Royce Or Bentley?

    Welcome to Project Car Hell, where you choose your eternity by selecting the project that's the coolest... and the most hellish! Last time we stepped into the garage in which the gentleman with the pitchfork conducts his business, the choice had to be made between two 1973 PCH Superpower machines, one Italian and one British. Only one car can win, and this time Italy triumphs, with the $2,500 Pantera beating the Lotus Elite, with 70% of the votes. Today we're going with a topic that's been on ev

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    Mazda Kiyora Concept Shows Off Fierce Nagare Design Language On The Paris Show Floor

    We saw the first official press shots of the Mazda Kiyora earier this morning, but we dug the flowing Nagare design language so much we had to hunt it down on the show floor and check it out in the flesh. As you can tell from these live shots, it certainly didn't disappoint and Mazda seriously needs to figure out a way to bring these designs to production. We're not demanding anything ridiculous like a Furai (though we wouldn't mind it), but even an otherwise boring hatch like this Kiyora looks

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    Peugeot Debuts RC HYmotion4 Concept For Very Serious Eco-Minded French Businessmen

    Rather than stress their mind grapes in an attempt to create a new design direction, Peugeot instead chose to merge two popular designs from previous auto shows into the Peugeot RC HYmotion4. This mid-sized sports sedan is essentially a hybrid of the Peugeot 308 RC Z coupe concept and the full-sized 908 RC concept, but this time powered by the HYmotion drivetrain that features a small gas engine in the trunk and an electric motor under the hood. Though we're not sure of production plans for this

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    Lexus LF-Xh Concept Hits Paris Show Floor In Matte Black

    The last time we saw the Lexus LF-Xh concept was back at the 2007 Tokyo Auto Show. That was a year ago. Now it's the Paris Auto Show and, it's... um... been painted matte black. Staggering progress. Though it's a bit hard to analyze it with that matte black paint, this looks to be virtually unchanged from the old version. Allegedly it's been designed as a preview of the eventual Lexus RX replacement, and as you may have guessed from the 'h' in the name, it's a hybrid. We're not huge fans of cros

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    Renault Megane Trophy: French Mid-Engined Hot-Hatch Madness For The Track

    Meet the latest in a long line of terrifying mid-engined French hot-hatches, the Renault Megane Trophy. The Trophy, revealed today at the Paris Motor Show, is just like the new 2009 Renault Megane, but completely different. The French unquestionably know how to make a great hot hatch, but if there's one thing they do even better it's taking those little cars and sticking a big engine where the back seat is supposed to go. Inside, you'll find a 3.5-liter Nissan-sourced V6 tuned to churn out 360 H

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    Renault ZE Concept Produces Zero Emissions, Lots Of Neon Glass

    Built on a shortened Renault Kangoo MPV platform, the Renault ZE Concept is a peek at Nissan/Renault's electric future. The brand plans to bring electric cars to market by 2011, which means we will start seeing more pre-production electric vehicles in the next two years. In the meantime, crazy futuristic models with neon glass are a lot of fun. The acid-green windows help provide insulation, saving energy that might be used for adjusting the climate. The rest of the car's exterior works like a T

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    The 24 Hours Of LeMons Detroit-Ish Uber Gallery

    A week or two (or three) after every 24 Hours Of LeMons race, we put up a big, browser-crashing collection of all the photos we were able to scrape up of all the cars. Yes, it's Über Gallery time once again! Because the Jalopnik guys on the scene were pretty busy beating their Celica into shape, we don't have quite as many photographs as we've had from past races (such as New England '08, South '08, SF '08, Thunderhill '07, and SF '07). However, many teams responded to our call for photos and ac

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    Pininfarina B0 Electric Car: 153 Mile Range, 80 MPH Top Speed!

    Design house Pininfarina, still mourning the loss of CEO Andrea Pininfarina, showed a stiff upper lip and brought their Pininfarina B0 to the Paris Auto Show. In the process, they created quite the stir — and almost eclipsing the buzz surrounding the Honda Insight Hybrid. The B0, pronounced B Zero, is four-seat, four-door electric hatchback created in partnership with Bolloré and is not, repeat, not, a concept car. According to Pininfarina, the B0will be a mass production model, with the first u

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    What Paris Auto Show Concept Do You Want To See Built?

    The Paris Auto Show continues to shine in avant garde car design, especially when compared to the nearly-production-ready concepts debuting at recent American shows (ahem, Dodge Challenger, I'm looking at you here). Though vehicles like the Ferrari California and Honda Insight (despite being called a concept like the Challenger) are cleared for take-off, what of the GTbyCITROEN or the Renault Ondelios? There are a number of wild concepts and we want to know which one you'd green-light if you had

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    Mini Reveals Crossover Concept In Paris, Declines To Go Off-Roading

    Mini just revealed their Mini Crossover Concept — the first SUV from the diminutive BMW brand — here at the Paris Motor Show. The concept car's supposedly a first look at what we should expect from the 2011 Mini Crossman. Now that we've seen it live and in the flesh we can conclusively say — it looks like a Mini Clubman with lifts and an extra full-size door for fun on the passenger side. Want to know more? Hit the jump.

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    Celine Dion Drives Her '87 Plymouth Sundance Right Up The Tallest Building In Montreal!

    It turns out that Céline Dion really did make French-language Chrysler commercials back in the 80s, and here's another one allegedly featuring the future superstar. Thrill as she hoons that '87 Sundance right up the Stade Olympique in Montreal, miraculously avoiding arrest at the summit. Maybe 146 turbocharged horsepower (although this car appears to be the 97-horse NA version) is all you need to accomplish such a feat!

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    South Africa Enters Electric Car Market With Joule MPV

    Detroit has the Chevy Volt, California has the Tesla Roadster, Japan supposedly will have a plug-in Toyota Prius at some point. Now South Africa has their first electric vehicle in the six-seater Joule MPV developed by tech startup Optimal Energy. This all-electric car, just revealed at the Paris Motor Show, claims to have a 125-mile range on one battery back or double that with two packs. The drivetrain includes motor-driven wheels up front and allegedly in-wheel magnetic propulsion in the rear

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    Nissan NuVu Concept, Live And In The Bubbly, Micra-Like Metallic Skin

    We just caught the Nissan NuVu, a concept that, as we said earlier, is meant to reveal the next generation styling of the next Nissan Micra. Frankly, the concept's as cute as its name (a play on words meaning "New View" as in "a new view on the Micra"). The interior is just as bubbly as the exterior, with the "2+1 seating arrangement" apparently designed with midget strippers in mind — it comes complete with a mini-stripper pole and a "double-dong" steerng wheel. We're sure hoping the Micra ends

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    Chevy Dealer Dominoes Keep Falling: Alameda's Good Chevrolet Closes Without Warning

    Even as mega-dealerships keep going under, the older urban car dealerships that had managed to stave off the edge-city auto malls clung to life somehow… but all the personalized customer service and convenient locations in the world couldn't save Good Chevrolet in Alameda, which had operated out of the same downtown location since 1950. Day before yesterday, the axe fell, for Good as well as two other Bay Area Chevrolet dealerships, as gas prices and credit woes administered a cruel bumper-jack

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    Already-Revealed Electric Smart Revealed At Paris Motor Show

    At the end of 2007, Smart leased 100 smart twofours equipped with electric drive in London for a pilot project to gain real-world experience with electric drive. But here, at the Paris Motor Show, is the first time Smart's brought it to the auto show stage. So, here it is — an electric drive Smart fourtwo that's almost commonplace on the streets of London revealed at an auto show for the first time. How's THAT for an exclusive? Hit the jump for the full press release and a picture describing how

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    The $1.9 Million Aston Martin One-77, Live From Paris

    Well, partially anyway. We've seen renderings of the One-77, Aston Martin's new flagship supercar, but we've never seen live shots of the ultra-exclusive car. Until now. We managed to catch Aston as they were making some final touches to the One-77 just before the unveiling and here's what we caught with the sheet partially lifted. As we've already told you, the car will only see 77 units of production and, wait, have we mentioned the price tag yet? Yeah, we thought we had — just wanted to make

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    1975 BMW 2002, With Bonus 1975 Poll

    Welcome to Down On The Street, where we admire old vehicles found parked on the streets of the Island That Rust Forgot: Alameda, California. BMW 2002s aren't hard to find on the island, and we've seen this '72, this '73, and this '75 so far. I've built up a mini-stockpile of 2002 shots, so let's check out another '75 Bavario-Alamedan today.

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    Mercedes ConceptFASCINATION Shows Off Fancy-Pants Interior In Paris

    If you’re a cigar aficionado who drinks champagne and shoots on a Leica M8 you’re in luck, because Mercedes has the concept car for you at the Paris Motor Show. The Mercedes ConceptFASCINATION is both a preview of the styling of the already-spotted-nude 2010 Mercedes E-Class, but is mocked up here as a shooting brake with a trunk full of the kind of aspirational lifestyle accessories that exist together only in the pages of wanky magazines or in the minds of Mercedes execs. Hit the jump for a wh

    By Wes Siler Read More
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    Renault Ondelios Concept Opens Huge Gullwing Doors Live

    Renault just unveiled the bird of prey-like Ondelios concept at the Paris Motor Show. Like seemingly every other concept car ever made, it’s a luxury crossover vehicle that’s also green by way of a mysterious hybrid powertrain. No one cares about any of that though, because they’re just looking at the Renault Ondelios's huge gullwing doors that provide access to the plush four-seat interior. Hit the jump for the waffley press release.

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    First Lamborghini Estoque Concept Live Shots: A Four-Door For Profit!

    The long unveil process is finally over, and here's the four-door Lamborghini Estoque Concept, live and in the flesh. We'd love to tell you more about Lambo's second ever four-door, and their first ever "four-door sports car" but since they haven't even made up their minds about which engine it'll have (anything from a big TDI to the Gallardo LP 560-4's V10), there's just not much to say. Looks better live than in the press shots though. And just in case you were wondering: we totally would. Lam

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    Citroën Officially Reveals GTbyCITROËN, Joint Venture Concept With Gran Turismo Creators

    The teasing is done — Citroën just revealed their new concept car, unofficially called the "Citroen GT" and officially called "GTbyCITROËN," here at the Paris Auto Show and it's hot - it's also supposedly the first car "specifically designed to bring the virtual and real worlds together." What's that mean? Well, apparently visitors to the show can actually drive the car in a true to life simulator on the Citroën stand. But that's not the cool part. The cool part is that it's a joint venture betw

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    2010 Honda Insight Concept: Hybrid For The Masses

    The new Honda Insight, just revealed moments ago, might not be as flashy some of the other concepts here at the 2008 Paris Auto Show, but it is arguably the most important one. The new Insight is a volley straight across the bow of the Toyota Prius, and with a rumored starting price of $18,500, it may be the critical hit which sinks their hybrid market dominating battleship. Thanks to that cheap entry point, it's hard to imagine this car as anything but a runaway success. Honda thinks so too, as

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    Nissan Nuvu Concept, Revealed, Previews Next Micra

    By now you’re either laughing or cooing at the Nuvu, but this is a supposedly not just a silly design exercise, but a preview of the next Nissan Micra. Short for “New View,” the Nissan Nuvu is targeted at urban dwellers, and uses an electric powertrain to deliver zero emissions. It’s rumored the electric motor, which drives the front wheels directly sans transmission and is capable of 77 miles on a single charge while topping out at 72 MPH, will actually reach a production model some time next y

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    Audi A1 Sportback Concept Officially Powered By 1.4-Liter TSI Hybrid

    Audi’s hypothetical Mini rival, the Audi A1 Sportback is equipped with a 1.4-liter, 150 HP TSI engine that uses not only a turbocharger and supercharger, but a 27 HP, 111 Lb-Ft electric motor for both added performance and green credentials. Look for a production version of the Sportback to hit for the 2010 model year equipped with the new 7-speed DSG, but not the dinky hybrid. Audi’s spin follows.

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    2009 IS250C Released In Paris

    Nine months ago, an SC430 and a C70 knocked boots. The result? This, the 2009 Lexus IS250C hardtop convertible. Featuring the “world’s fastest” folding hard top (it takes just 20 seconds to reveal your baldspot). The biggest changes are the ugly taillights and the extended overhangs to make room for the spacious rear seats and large trunk — surely big enough for several sets of golf clubs. We’re going to hope the 205 HP 2.5-liter V6 makes it more fun to drive than the geriatric SC430, but we’re

    By Wes Siler Read More
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    Commenter Of The Day: World's Oldest Profession Edition

    Prostitution, for a lot of reasons, is considered popularly to be the oldest profession. This is hard to prove because historians are not the world's oldest professionals (there wasn't a lot of money in it, therefore historians wouldn't have had a lot of scratch to pay prostitutes). Our first historian, Herodotus, wrote of prostitution in the original, religious sense as it occurred in Babylon:

    By Matt Hardigree Read More
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    Chevy Orlando Concept Officially Revealed

    We've already seen the Tron-tastic lights of the Chevy Orlando, but now GM has officially released details for the Paris Motor Show. These official photos are new too, though admittedly kind of boring since they don't play up just how cool all the glowing blue parts of the car look. The Orlando does seem to be just the kind of practical European-style MPV that American families in need of a fuel-efficient seven-seater would greatly appreciate. Of course, we haven't even seen it in the flesh and

    By Mark Arnold Read More
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    Wildlife Control Ambulance, Fiat 500, And Chevy Vega Kammback Down On The Brooklyn Street

    This is Down On The Street Bonus Edition, where we check out interesting street-parked cars located in places other than the Island That Rust Forgot. Today we've got an odd trio of cars spotted in the vicinity of Prospect Park in Brooklyn by Mr. Choppers. There's a very rusty '68 Cadillac ambulance with a cryptic "Wildlife Control" theme, a much-easier-to-park Fiat 500, and one of the last surviving Vega Kammbacks still on the street, anywhere. Make the jump to see the rest of the photos and rea

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    Chevy Cruze Unveiled In Paris

    GM just officially unveiled the Chevy Cruze’s interior in Paris, and it’s surprisingly nice. Maybe a bit Honda-like, but welcoming and contemporary nonetheless. Aside from the colorful fabric inserts, the new global economy car’s dash relies on an integrated center stack that does away with traditional partitions for the interfaces, grouping them all into one, central unit. Also noteworthy are the attractive instruments. In fact, looking at these pictures, it’s hard to tell that the Cruze will b

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    Ten New Cars For People Who Hate Cars

    Not everyone enjoys driving. Some hate it, and not everyone can get where they need to go by walking or using public transit. Individuals who find themselves in the center of that particular Venn diagram are in luck because automakers have created a number of cars for drivers who hate driving. These cars are to automotive culture what Kenny G's songs are to the culture of music. Though they're technically automobiles, they distinguish themselves with their indistinguishability. They get you from

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    Lamborghini Estoque Concept In Full, High-Resolution Glory, Now With Details

    Here we are, the day before the big 2008 Paris Motor Show (well, the night for some of us) and the Lamborghini Estoque Concept can't seem to keep itself covered up. First we got leaked images a bit earlier today, and now, full high-resolution shots straight from Lamborghini, along with a full press release. In more than one place the presser makes it clear this is only a concept while simultaneously hinting at a future for the car. Though we expected details on the powerplant of the Estoque, it

    By Ben Wojdyla Read More
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    Mercedes 300SD-Amino Camper, Just In Time For The Coming Financiapocalypse

    This Mercedes 300SD camper conversion nicely combines two of our Ten Best Vehicles For The Coming Financiapocalypse. Essentially it's a sedan that's been hacked "professionally built by a skilled fabricator" into a 300SD-amino, and then had a pickup truck-bed camper plopped in the back. For just $4000 it's not a bad deal, with two beds, a table and even a kitchen sink. Of course, you could always combine two other cars on the list — an air-cooled VW and a mini RV — for the more traditional alter

    By Mark Arnold Read More
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    2009 Audi S3 Gets S-Tronic Seven-Speed Twin-Clutch Gearbox

    Audi’s fancy seven-speed twin-clutch gearbox will be an optional extra on the Euro-market 2009 Audi S3, reducing the 0-60 time and upping fuel economy. The 2.0-liter TFSI engine makes 265 HP and 258 lb-ft, scooting the hatch to 60 MPH in 5.7 seconds and delivering 27.6 MPG when equipped with a boring old manual transmission. Spec the $2,610 twin-clutch and that time drops to 5.5 seconds and economy increases to 28.3 MPG. It’s the exact inverse of the effect usually achieved by adding an automati

    By Wes Siler Read More
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    DAF? No, QUICC! New Dutch Auto Brand To Launch In Paris

    The DuraCar QUICC! DiVa finally brings the enthusiast world what it has long been clamoring for: A Dutch electric car made entirely of plastic. The QUICC! is intended primarily for European urban delivery markets and features an all-electric powertrain wrapped in a "cradle-to-cradle" plastic chassis and body. The press release jumps around in typical broken English fashion, but the QUICC! apparently employs lithium-ion phosphate batteries in conjunction with bipolar lead batteries and some sort

    By Andrew Stoy Read More
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    Ten Ways The Model T Changed The World

    For the 100th anniversary of the Model T, Ford thought it would rip off Jalopnik’s patented top 10 list with one of their own. While there’s no denying the importance of the Model T in creating the consumer/industrial complex, some of Ford’s claims seem a bit rose-tinted. So let’s take a look at ten ways Ford thinks the Model T changed the world, along with a little bit of third-party perspective. 1. King of the assembly line - Ford: The Model T brought mobility and prosperity on an undreamed

    By Wes Siler Read More
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    Does The Lamborghini Estoque Concept Leave You Estoqued, Estounded Or Estremely Disappointed?

    The sudden reveal of the Lamborghini Estoque shows what we've only been able to imagine thanks to the numerous teases we've been subjected to. But are we able to imagine a four-door Lamborghini that's better than the reality? The word estoque comes from the world of bullfighting — it's the sword used to kill the bull. So is the Estoque the carmaker's killer car? Or will the car kill the bull-headed brand? Put us in the estounded category, though not necessarily in a good way. We think we know wh

    By Matt Hardigree Read More
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    September Auto Sales To Seriously Suck

    Automotive News is reporting a bleak day in the making as automakers report their September sales numbers, expected to be off 20% from a year earlier. Shriveling credit markets, continued high fuel prices and a general lack of confidence in the economy are all contributing to push the annualized sales rate down to an estimated 12.5-13.5 million vehicles from 16.2 million last September. If predictions hold, the resulting new vehicle sales numbers could be the lowest in more than a decade. So how

    By Andrew Stoy Read More
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    Toyota Develops First Rear-Window Curtain-Shield Airbag, Opening New Front In Safety Wars

    Apparently we're not the only ones who look at a car like the Toyota iQ and wonder what could happen to back-seat passengers in a rear-end collision: Toyota today announced the development of a rear-window curtain shield airbag. Not surprisingly, Toyota also announced that the first application for its new 'bag will be in the iQ sub-sub-compact, which places its rear passengers' heads basically against the hatch glass. Much like a side curtain airbag, the rear curtain airbag will drop from the v

    By Andrew Stoy Read More
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    Lamborghini Estoque Four-Door Concept, Revealed!

    Official images of the Lamborghini Estoque four-door have hit the web like a fat cow, in advance of the big Paris Motor Show reveal. These shots appear to show a front-engined four-door with recognizable Lamborghini cues up front, blending into a sharp sedan and finishing into a rear that's almost Camaro-esque. We're assuming the Lamborghini should be AWD and will likely be fitted with a V10 borrowed from the usual Lambo lineup of suspects. Oficial details as soon as we get them. [AutoJournal.

    By Matt Hardigree Read More
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    1989 Volkswagen Golf, 24 Hours Of LeMons Veteran

    Welcome to Down On The Street, where we admire old vehicles found parked on the streets of the Island That Rust Forgot: Alameda, California. Today we're going to check out a car that proves what a small world this really is; I was over at the parents' place the other day- yeah, I'm still on speaking terms with them in spite of having been given a girl's name, since it's that name that's given me the gravel in my gut and the spit in my eye- and my mom asked, "Have you seen that race car parked do

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    Audi A1 Sportback Concept Images Revealed, Paris Motor Show Draws Near

    This is the Audi A1 Sportback, set to be unveiled tonight at a special event at the Paris Motor Show and designed to bring sexyback to Audi's A1 concept series. The A1 Sportback Concept is the successor to the A1 Metroproject Quattro Concept unveiled in Tokyo last year with the obvious distinction being — a bigger back end. The A1 Sportback concept has an overall length just shy of 12 feet, leaving a sizeable gap between itself and the larger A3 sportback which comes in at just over 14 feet. But

    By Ray Wert Read More

Technology (4)

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    DIN Rail And Smurf Tube: How To Wire Your Race Car On The Cheap

    As the Bent Belvedere inches ever closer to 24 Hours Of LeMons Thunderhill readiness, team captain Plymsole has decided that the duct-tape-and-speaker-wire electrical system isn't going to be very reliable on the track. Time to tear out all the scary old stuff and start over fresh! Now, they could have followed my example and spent about 88,000 hours scratchbuilding a space shuttle wiring harness, but there's no need for that madness when you've got Jack Astro (of Project Car Hell Theme Song fam

    By Murilee Martin Read More
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    Junkyard Electric Fuel Pump Options Dwindle For Carbureted Cars

    Digging through one of my many (too many) boxes of old car parts, in search of a coulda-sworn-I-had-one Ford V8 emblem for the race car, I dug up this greasy relic from my past. Back in the days when I didn't let lack of cash prevent me from keeping an alarmingly large stable of wretched hoopties, I'd frequently obtain a particularly decrepit heap with a fuel system completely gummed up with rusty varnishy ick, from tank filler pipe to carburetor. How do you get such a vehicle from the vacant lo

    By Murilee Martin Read More