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1966 Volvo Amazon Wagon
A few months back, I heard about a chrome-bumper Midget in a self-service junkyard an hour's drive from me. In need of many small parts for my personal Hell Project, I went to investigate.
Read MoreArchive for May 2009
Back to Archive IndexBrands (3)
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BRABUS Mercedes E-Class Coupe: 462 HP, 196 MPH And More Bruce!
For the wee fee of just €29,000 ($39,000), you can take the 2010 Mercedes E-Class Coupe from mundane to profane with this latest tuning kit from BRABUS.
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Maserati Quattroporte Bellagio Fastback Touring: The Ultimate Station Wagon
The Ferrari 599 GTB seats only two, the 612 Scaglietti is big—but what if you have kids, dogs and elephant guns to carry? Enter the custom-built Quattroporte Bellagio, certainly not your daddy's station wagon.
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Buying (18)
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2010 Ford Transit Connect: First Drive
After the Ford Fiesta, the 2010 Ford Transit Connect is the second most lust-worthy European Ford to make it Stateside. Can a small, practical cargo van appeal to big, burly American workers?
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California Barn Find: 50 Vintage Cars, All Up For Sale!
A cache of over 50 vintage cars, mostly British, have gone up for sale from a mysterious southern California collector who's decided to liquidate. Abandon hope all ye who enter here.
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What's The Best Rental Car?
We've got a three-day weekend coming up and many will be traveling. That means, for many, a trip to the rental car counter. In honor of these travelers we ask: what's the best rental car?
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2009 Subaru WRX: Part Three
The 2009 Subaru WRX is a million times better than the 2008 model, but is it good enough for you?
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2009 Subaru WRX, Part Two
Yesterday, we discovered what happens when you take the 2009 Subaru WRX off the beaten path, but what happens when you drive it anywhere else?
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2009 Subaru WRX, Part One
Wes Siler, our road test boffin, keeps saying the 2009 Subaru WRX mixes power and practicality, outdoing every other performance car on the market. He's also got a big mouth; let's see if he's right.
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Chevy Volt Mule: First Drive
Yesterday morning we finally hopped into a Chevy Volt mule with outgoing GM product czar Bob Lutz for a spin around the Warren Tech Center. What's it feel like? It's utterly unremarkable and appliance-like.
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2009 Subaru Forester: Unsupervised Off-Road Mayhem
The last 2009 Subaru Forester we drove blew a tire, forcing us into making clichéd gay jokes. This time we took it to an off-road park and beat it like a rented mule.
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2010 Lincoln MKS EcoBoost: First Drive
Rather than a pedestrian 3.7-liter V6, the 2010 Lincoln MKS EcoBoost provides a rip-roaring 355 HP twin-turbo V6 that’ll get 24+ MPG. Minus tweaks, it’s the same setup we’ll see in the Ford Taurus SHO.
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2010 Lincoln MKT EcoBoost: First Drive
The 2010 Lincoln MKT is a new kind of vehicle for Lincoln. It's a tall wagon, a short SUV, a high-luxe crossover and it's powered by the twin-turbo EcoBoost V6.
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2009 Pontiac G8 GXP: Last Drive, Part Three
You probably won't still be able to buy a 2009 Pontiac G8 GXP, but today we'll try to think of a single reason why you shouldn't.
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Pontiac G8 GXP: Last Drive, Part Two
Yesterday we considered the 2009 Pontiac G8 GXP while indulging in a bittersweet cocktail of horsepower and history in the making. Today, we drink deep the bracing tonic of dispassionate evaluation.
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AEV J8 MILSPEC: Offroading Jeep's Forbidden Fruit
Until now, civilians couldn't buy the AEV J8 MILSPEC — the militarized truck-bed-equipped Jeep Wrangler. Now you can. We hit the mud to uncover the government secret on Jeep's pickup truck.
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Pontiac G8 GXP: Last Drive, Part One
The 2009 Pontiac G8 GXP is, finally, the ultimate Pontiac — and ultimately, the final Pontiac.
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Ducati 848: First Ride... Through A Shopping Mall
The only way we're going to bail out this economy is if we let a few hard-earned greenbacks fly. We just took it a step further with a Ducati 848 Superbike.
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2010 Mercedes E-Class Coupe: First Drive
Replacing the CLK, the 2010 Mercedes E-Class Coupe adopts a similar look to the new E-Class Sedan and most of its mechanicals. It's just a shame it's not as fun to drive as the four-door.
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2010 Mercedes E-Class Sedan: First Drive
Since the early ‘90s we've seen Mercedes slowly dilute its peerless quality in a drive for increased sales. The 2010 Mercedes E-Class represents a major step back towards the timeless luxury cars of yore.
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2009 BMW Z4: First Drive
Like the rest of the BMW range, the 2009 BMW Z4 is bigger, heavier and more complicated than its predecessors. But could it be bigger, heavier, more complicated and much better to drive?
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Culture (18)
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Engine Of The Day: Mercedes-Benz M100 V8
The Mercedes-Benz OM617 5-cylinder diesel is quite the engineering marvel, but we mustn't forget that Mercedes-Benz also made one of our favorite V8s of all time.
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We Join Papa John's Quest For His 1972 Z28 Camaro
Listening to pizza magnate "Papa" John Schnatter point out the differences between the 1972 Z28 Camaro he lost, and the one we're driving around Houston in, you come to realize his quest for the lost car is more than a gimmick.
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Basement Lamborghini Hits The Road, Builder Gets The Pink Slip
At long last, Ken Imhoff's basement-built Lamborghini Countach made its first run around the block. There's still plenty of test and tune left, but darn it sounds good. Unfortunately, Ken lost his job.
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George Barris Mustangs Tacky As Sonny And Cher Inspiration
George Barris has been kind of crazy for a long time and we generally think all his stuff is the bees-knees, but these matching "Sonny and Cher" Ford Mustangs are a special kind of awful.
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Man Admits To Sex With Thousands Of Cars, Has Pics To Prove It
Our obsession with cars pales in comparison to this Washington state man, who admits to "sexual relations" with over 1,000 cars. If ever there was a dragon, this mechaphiliac would be it.
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The Ten Worst Things About The Indy 500
While it was great to see Helio Castroneves take home his third win, and watching the cars is always a treat, there are plenty of things to hate about the Indianapolis 500. Here are our top ten.
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MINI 50 Mayfair, Camden Launch With "Mission Control"
MINI released two new special editions today at the MINI United Festival at Silverstone to celebrate fifty years of motoring. They're called the MINI 50 Mayfair and MINI 50 Camden. But what's this Mission Control thing?
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Gold-Plated BMW M5 Makes Chrome-Plating Look So Passé
The obnoxious car precious metals-plating cold war between Russian mobsters and oligarchs and Middle Eastern oil sheiks has jumped to the next level. Chromed cars are now passé, with one Russian stepping up his game with a gold-plated BMW M5. Naturally, it also has a chrome racing stripe.
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Lamborghini Miura ASCII Art
Presented here is the Everest of car ASCII art, the Miura, with all its surreal curves. It was created by Péter F?ri from Brno, Czech Republic. We salute. Now up him and do the Daytona.
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Biker Drops Double Shot Of "NOS" Into Fuel Tank, Makes Internet Laugh
A forumite at Gixxer claims he poured two 20 oz. bottles of NOS into his motorcycle's fuel tank because it was "running like crap." There's only one "NOS" that comes in 20 oz. sizes — the energy drink. Forum troll or honest-to-goodness recollection of an epic failure? You decide.
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Vladimir Putin's Lada Niva Is Totally Bad-Ass
The Lada Niva is the coolest Soviet-era vehicle still in production. Given that, it makes sense Russia's alpha-male "not-president" Vladimir Putin has purchased a totally awesome camouflaged and off-road-ready version.
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Steve McQueen's Other Car: The Jaguar XKSS
The chestnut brown 1963 Ferrari 250 GT Lusso wasn't the only barely-disguised race car McQueen drove on public roads: there's also this canvas-topped 1956 XKSS Le Mans racer.
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Ten Worst Car Commercials Of All Time
Curious why automakers are struggling? Look no further than these ten terrible car commercials. Celine Dion, suicidal robots, and contagious catchphrases combine to make us want to never buy another new car again.
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The History Of Jake: Corvette Racing's Mascot
Racing liveries come and go, but there are some so iconic, so recognizable, they'll be remembered forever. For example, Gulf and Martini Racing. There's now a new one to add to that list. Meet "Jake."
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The Nissan Figaro Treads Fine Line Between Retro And Cool
Nissans as pacifiers, Nissans as stop motion actors. Let’s now turn to a weird little JDM Nissan peppering the streets of London: the Figaro.
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Top Ten Auto Design Easter Eggs
An "Easter egg" is an intentional hidden message, in-joke or feature. We've noticed fun little buggers in the design of quite a few new vehicles. Here's our list of the ten best.
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Engine Of The Day: Lotus 900 Series
Well over a year has passed since a British engine received Engine Of The Day honors, so let's visit the legendary "Torqueless Wonder" Lotus.
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Ghia Gilda Streamline X Coupé: Coolest Chrysler Ever Made
As the first day with Chrysler in bankruptcy dawns, let’s look at a mad car from an era when the automaker was set to conquer the very skies: the jet-powered Gilda coupé.
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Crashes and Safety (1)
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FBI Officer Crashes Drug Dealer's Seized Ferrari F50
Police are blaming "bald tires" on this accident, which occurred while an FBI agent drove a Ferrari F50 seized in a drug raid to a storage warehouse. We'll blame the V12 and a heavy hoon-foot.
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News (185)
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GM To Declare Bankruptcy Monday, Chief Restructuring Official Named
GM will officially declare bankruptcy tomorrow morning before the markets open. Additionally, the Obama Administration has put turnaround expert Al Koch in charge of, well, turning the company around. Fritz Henderson will remain GM CEO.
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Project Car Hell, Bruiser Benz Edition: 600 SWB Or 450SEL 6.9?
Welcome to Project Car Hell, where you choose your eternity by selecting the project that's the coolest... and the most hellish! After yesterday's Engine Of The Day, we must go with M100-powered machinery today.
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The 24 Hours Of LeMons Reno Über Gallery
It's LeMons Über Gallery time again! We got a lot of photographic help at the 24 Hours Of LeMons Goin' For Broken at Reno-Fernley Raceway, so plenty of parts-sheddin' action was captured on film.
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Bad Drivers Must Smell The Boot Of Mistress WTF!
You've seen the Burning Man Penalty from the Goin' For Broken 24 Hours of LeMons at Reno-Fernley Raceway last weekend, but that was just one of many innovations in the LeMons Correctional System.
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Car And Driver Hoons Jaguar XFR Around Dirt Track
The chaps at Car And Driver join Autocar in posting video of doing something wild with a 2010 Jaguar XFR. In this case, it's hitting the old dirt track. Seriously, never buy an ex-press car. [CarANDDriver.com]
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Gas Prices Continue To Rise, U.S. Average Reaches $2.45
With Memorial Day in the past, some were hoping gas prices would drop. They haven't. What's going on?
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Car Towed After Contractor Lifts Car, Paints Stripes
Ruth Ducker was furious. Days before last Christmas she walked out to find her Volkswagen Polo missing from its normal space. Instead, she found two brand-new yellow "no parking" lines where her car had been.
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Dodge Challenger Wheel Weights Round Out The Field
It's an epidemic folks: new muscle cars seem to be afflicted with difficult-to-balance wheels. First, it was the Camaro, then the Mustang, and now we can add the Challenger to the list.
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Citroen DS Inside Concept Gets Interior Sneak Peak
We're still disappointed with the direction the Citroen DS Inside Concept as it indicates the DS3 will be a premium compact but does little justice to the original DS. Inside, it pays even less homage.
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Commenter Of The Day: Hoisted By Your Own Petard Edition
A petard is not, as often thought, part of a ship. Rather, the petard is a small bomb, usually on the end of a stick, used to blow a hole into a wall or door. To be "hoisted by your own petard" means to be "hoisted" or thrown into the air, by your own bomb. The term gained notoriety from Shakespeare's Hamlet, which includes the line "Hoist with his own petar" in a letter from his pals Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. There's actually a fart joke in here, because petard is derived from the french wo
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The 1969 German Grand Prix
Here's your daily Nordschleife diversion: nine minutes of professional footage from the dawn of aerodynamics.
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Seven Ways To Protect Your Tank From Gas Thieves
With summer comes higher gas price – just as everyone's run of money. Today's classic from the Jalopnik vault shows you how to protect your investment, updated with the latest method.
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800 HP Ford Fiestas To Storm Pike's Peak
Ford has announced it will enter two Fiestas in the 2009 Pike's Peak International Hill Climb. With 800 HP 2.0 liter four-cylinders forged in the fires of hell they certainly won't be your Grandma's econobox.
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Savage Rivale Roadyacht GTS: World's First Four-Door Folding Hardtop Supercar
Based on a Corvette chassis and using a 670 HP supercharged LS7, the Savage Rivale Roadyacht GTS claims to be the first folding hardtop four-door supercar. With a class that specific, we don't doubt it.
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Man Hand-Building Hummer H1 From Ford Scraps
A madman Ford nut is hand-building an incredible Hummer H1 replica on the bones of a junker Ford F-150. The full scope of this fabrication fest can only be appreciated in the huge gallery below.
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An Elegy For Six Missing Cylinders
If you're spotting Lamborghinis in Eastern Europe, watch out for chronic cylinder shortage.
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Buy Mitsubishi, Get Goat For Free
Proving that "Flight of the Conchords" is completely accurate, Mitsubishi New Zealand is giving away free goats with every Triton truck. But what about goat flu? One of the best press releases ever below.
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Lexus LF-A Is Hot, Catches Fire At Nurburgring Race
The Lexus LF-A is hot and this vaporware-tastic fire proves the point even further. Will Toyota catch a break with their as-yet-to-be-released-hyper-dream-car or are the auto Gods just telling us to kill it with fire?
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Commenter Of The Day: Senator Clay Davis Edition
Everyone has a favorite primary character in HBO's earth-shatteringly good drama The Wire — usually Omar, Bubbles, Stringer, or one of the detectives. Because the show is so good, everyone has a favorite secondary character. Our favorite secondary character has to be Senator Clay Davis, an unrepentant cheat who is the embodiment of everything you already believed about crooked politicians. While some of this revolves around his realistic portrayal, the main selling point has to be his catchphras
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Chrysler Proposes $448 Million EV Pilot Program With DOE
Chrysler has submitted "cost sharing" proposals for Department of Energy initiatives in EV development, by which we mean using $448 million in taxpayer dollars to develop electric cars. Do Chrysler execs dream of electric cars?
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The Six Best Ways To Steal Gas... And One Really Bad Way
With summer comes the threat of higher gas prices — just as everyone has run out of money. Today we bring you a classic from the Jalopnik vault, Five Ways To Steal Gas, updated with the latest technique.
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Suicidal Man Pushed Off Bridge By Angry Commuter
Tired of waiting in traffic while someone threatened to jump off a bridge, one commuter climbed the bridge and pushed the would-be jumper off. Apparently, he forgot to TIVO How I Met Your Mother. [MSNBC]
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Independent Subaru WRX STI Concept Looks Fast, Stylish
We've got a theory: Subaru uses two teams developing alternating generation platform designs. The teams compete to out-do each other with progressively uglier vehicles. This independently designed WRX STI proves such mustn't be the case.
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The Top 102 Lemons Of The Goin' For Broken 24 Hours Of LeMons
We ran the 14th race in 24 Hours Of LeMons history last weekend, and in many ways it was the best one yet. Faster cars, better driving… and more grenaded engines!
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Vigilante Canadian TSX Forum Nabs Alleged Thief, Troll
If you're going to steal from enthusiasts on a forum don't repeatedly post on said forum. A Canadian member of TSXClub posted stolen bodywork only to have it show up on another member's car.
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Jaguar XF Diesel S Pursuit Special Will Only Encourage Chases
Cops in Vauxhalls do little for us, but this Jaguar XF Diesel S makes us want to go toe-to-toe with some bobbies. With stylish looks and good performance it's one fine addition to the motorpool.
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My Car Is My Lover: Dragons Get Documentary
The whole thing's on YouTube, so there's six parts. We've embedded the first above the jump and here's links to the rest. In case all this piques your interest in a way that you really, really shouldn't tell us about, here's Sex With Cars: A Tutorial.
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Meals On Wheels: Ten Great Mobile Eateries
We love vehicles. We love to eat. Whether pushcart or Airstream, Mexican or Korean cuisine, we love the combination of wheels and meals. Here are ten diverse vehicles serving up hot meals.
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Commenter Of The Day: Picking Grapes Edition
One of our oldest friends comes from a family enamored with wine. To call them oenophiles would be an understatement. We were once stuck at their house during a massive flood and they brought out bottles of wine and started making pizzas. They're also unpretentious and able to enjoy a good beer just as much as a good wine and never use strange adjectives to describe what they taste. Because they're cool, we thought it would be a good idea to go with them to pick grapes for their own homemade win
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Mitsubishi FQ400 Joins Evolution X Lineup, Galant Feels Ignored
Good news for ye olde enthusiasts of 400 HP Evos. Everyone else can suck it, because the Mitsubishi Evolution X FQ400 is only coming to England while the rest of the Mitsu range remains outdated.
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MINIs Unite For Large, Tiny Celebration
More than 10,000 MINIs descended on the Silverstone Formula One track in England this weekend for the third annual MINI United Festival, including a few strange models.
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Vitor Meira's Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Indy 500
Vitor Meira had a pretty rough Indianapolis 500. His car went up in a fireball, and he returned on the lead lap only to get involved in the days most spectacular crash. Roll the videos!
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Baddest Citroen 2CV Ever Sports Ferrari F355 Guts
It takes inspired madness to imagine the perfect mate for a Ferrari F355 chassis is a Citroen 2CV Fourgonnette body. After thousands of hours of labor, this is the fastest French bread-van you'll ever see.
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Stolen Ford Fiesta Towed, Not Stolen
Remember when Ford's Scott Monty put out a Twitter-APB on Jake Bronstein's "stolen" Ford Fiesta? Turns out they were tracking another "Fiesta Movement" winner, and Jake's car is trapped in NYC's hellish impound system.
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Neil Ashmead GTS Shiraz: A Wine For Auto Enthusiasts
It's not everyday that a wine manufacturer creates a wine designed for the tastes of budding auto enthusiasts, but that's just what Australian vineyard Elderton has done with their Neil Ashmead GTS Shiraz.
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Red Audi R8 Rear-Ends Red Ferrari 599 GTB In Red China
The Chinese love fast, red cars. Chinese taxi drivers love abruptly stopping in the road. Thus the front of an Audi R8 met a Ferrari 599 GTB's trunk. It appears the Ferrari won. [WreckedExotics]
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The Ten Coolest American Military Land Vehicles
Is there a better way to honor those who served than honoring the vehicles they served in? Probably. But there's no more Jalopnik way of doing it than with a list of fierce olive American metal.
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What Was Your First Oldsmobile?
We asked you about your first Plymouth and your first Pontiac, so let's talk about another marque that got the heave-ho during the current decade: Oldsmobile.
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People's Curse At The 24 Hours Of LeMons Reno-Fernley
A large anxious crowd gathered to see some metal crushing entertainment. Fantasy Junction's Swine Flu Pig Acura Integra was lined up for the killing when…
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Helio Castroneves Wins 2009 Indy 500, Third Victory At Indy
Helio Castroneves has won the 2009 Indianapolis 500, marking his third career win here at the Brickyard. It also makes for a record breaking 15th team with for Penske Racing. Official race results below.
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Everything You Need To Know About The 2009 Indy 500
It may be 200 laps worth of left turns, but the Indianapolis 500 is a very big race. We've assembled the definitive collection of everything you need to know about today's events.
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Indy 500: We're Here!
After a harrowing battle with 326 miles of cornfields and freeways, we've made it through the gates of the Indianapolis 500. It's already muggy, and the red sunrise looms like a warning from the racing gods.
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BS Judging At The Goin' For Broken 24 Hours Of LeMons
There were costumes (with cleavage), themes (with horse dung), beer (some good, some poured all over people's racecars) and there were also some $500 cars. I think I saw maybe two of them.
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Commenter Of The Day: Envoy Edition
When you're flying, and someone says they're out of coach seats but they have an "envoy" seat, agree to take it. One of our friends was stuck in Paris an extra night on her commute back to the States and was trying to get onto a flight when they said they'd be able to give her such a seat at no extra cost. Others, confused by what this meant, hesitated. She agreed. Little did she know this meant she'd get that airline's equivalent of first class. There's no class below coach on most flights. The
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Ford Gains On GM, Chrysler Pain
Ken Czubay, head of Ford's U.S. sales and marketing, today noted along with ambitious product strategy they're "going to aggressively market new products," because "we still have some very competitive Asian and European competitors." He's right, Ford's posted big conquest sales on the backs of their American rivals.
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Ballyhoed New CAFE Standards Riddled With Hummer-Sized Loopholes
When Obama unveiled new fuel standards we decried the end of fun cars and pointed out how far most automakers are from meeting new-for-2016 fuel standards. It turns out, thanks to Hummer-sized loopholes like your car's air-conditioning, automakers should be able to meet them with little fear.
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F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Electro-Optical Distributed Aperture System Explained
The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter comes heavily equipped with new technology including a new Electo-Optical Distributed Aperture System (DAS) which performs multiple tasks including missile warning, missile launch location targeting and also detects and tracks approaching aircraft and missiles using a spherical sensor system powered by six highly-advanced infrared digital cameras located around the aircraft. The later system creates a 360-degree spherical panorama, in real time, that is then project
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Ladies And Gentlemen, Start Your Wind-Up Engines
Here's an amazing CT scan of a wind-up toy race car — perfect for a weekend that's the putative start of racing season. Isn't it adorable and child-like — sort of like a couple professional racing leagues we know?
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Brooklyn Lost Tank Flier Actually Sex Line Scam
Reader Rudolphdude spotted this flier asking passers-by for information about a tank lost somewhere in Brooklyn. At first glance, the phone number makes it look like a very clever viral Army recruiting ad. The reality is much stranger.
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Raser Technology To Greenwash Hummer, Buy It, Save America From Red China
In D.C., Utah-based Raser Technologies not only got their hometown Senator to give them a handjob for their supposed green credentials — building a not-really-100MPG Electric Hummer — but then xenophobically lobbying for subsidies to buy the Hummer brand from GM to stop them from selling to Red China.
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2010 Aston Martin V12 Vantage: Driven
The 2010 Aston Martin V12 Vantage packs a 6.0-liter 510-horsepower V12 punch in one of the sexiest designs in recent times. Driver's Republic got a chance for a first drive. Here's what they had to say about this production-spec sex-machine.
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Commenter Of The Day: Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog Edition
In the depths of the TV Writer's Strike there wasn't much for creative Hollywood-types to do but drive around in their prii, picket, and make web videos. Some of these productions were just of people from The Office picketing. Some were just arguments in favor of the strike. They're writers, you can't expect them not to write. Leave it to producer Joss Whedon to make a musical. Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog appeals more to the people still obsessed with Firefly, but it's still somewhat funny. I
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Lego Maniac Inspires Us With Amazingly Detailed Lego Cars
Lego Technic sets were always a bit out of reach for our patience level, so we stuck with plain bricks. So did this super-talented Lego Maniac for his amazingly detailed Lego cars.
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What's The Most Worthless Auto Form Factor?
In search of new market niches to fill, automakers have created numerous categories of four-wheeled objects. Some, like wagons, are useful and desirable. Others are not. Others are just plain weird. What's the most worthless auto form factor?
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EcoBoost Goes Drag: Ford Flex, Lincoln MKS Hit The Strip
Ford's EcoBoost engines promise higher performance while simultaneously providing higher fuel economy. To prove it, they took us out to the drag strip with a Taurus SHO-ish Lincoln MKS EcoBoost and Ford Flex EcoBoost to go head-to-head with some "competition." They certainly raised a few eyebrows.
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BMW 5-Series GT: First Press Photos Reveal Seriously Big Butt
BMW plans for boosting and lifting automotive rear ends continue with the BMW 5-Series GT. While we already saw the concept in Geneva, these are the first official shots of the production version, set to debut at September's Frankfurt Motor Show and go on sale in early 2010.
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No Chevys For Old Men: Lutz Vs. Letterman
After Tesla fan-boy Dave Letterman brought Tesla's Elon Musk on the Late Show and both of them ripped into GM, CBS called Letterman, saying, "Hey, jackass, don't you know GM advertises with us?" The result: outgoing product czar Bob Lutz brought the Chevy Volt to last night's show. Blow-by-blow below.
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"Bumblebee" Chevy Camaro Available To Order Starting June 1st
As expected, GM's announced to dealers a limited Chevy Camaro Bumblebee Edition will be available to order beginning June 1st. Production will run from June 24th through December. Expected upgrades will be only what meets the eye — rally yellow coloring, black stripes and Transformers badging inside.
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VW Unveils Berry-Flavored Golf GTI, Polo Wörthersee Concepts
The flashy red paint-jobs, slightly lowered suspensions, co-branded SonyEricsson phones and "Berry White" interior piping of the VW Golf GTI and Polo Wörthersee "concepts" are supposed to invoke a fire — but we just see smoothies.
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C. Robert Kidder To Succeed Nardelli As Chairman Of Chrysler Group, LLC
Chrysler LLC announced today C. Robert Kidder, former Chairman of Borden Chemical Inc. and Duracell (yes, the battery maker) will become Chairman of Chrysler Group LLC after completing its acquisition of the operating assets of Chrysler LLC and completing a global alliance with Fiat, succeeding Bob "The Builder" Nardelli. Boring.
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The Future Of Cars, Circa 1999
Automotive designers in 1999 foresaw a 2009 populated by compressed natural gas-powered cars, huge 16-cylinder engines and crossover vehicles. At least they got one right. Let's hop into the time machine-like lens of hindsight to visit ten concept cars from 1999 and determine how close they came to reality.
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What's The Best Fuel-Efficient Enthusiast Daily Driver?
Not all of us have the space or money to manage multiple cars for multiple purposes. Instead, we need a balance of fun, economy, and comfort. What's the best fuel-efficient enthusiast daily-driver?
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Vauxhall Insignia Sport Tourer VXR: A Spectacular 320 HP Wagon You Can't Have
We told you to expect a Vauxhall Insignia Sport Tourer VXR. Lo-and-behold, here it is, a 320 HP, 6.0 second 0-to-60 MPH all-wheel-drive sport wagon that you can't get in the US. Lust and anger.
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GPS Satellite System In Danger Of Failing
According to a report in The Guardian, the US Global Positioning System is in such a state of disrepair, it's in danger of rolling blackouts or failure as early as 2010. GPSpocalypse? Paper Mapageddon?
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Hoisting A 1966 Mustang To The Roof Of The Empire State Building
When Porsche put its Panamera on the 94th floor of the Shanghai World Financial Center, we thought it was pretty clever. Turns out Ford did the same with the Mustang, some 44 years earlier.
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The BeltzBib: This Is Why You're Fat
For only one easy payment of $13.95, you can own the latest innovation in car dining technology, the BeltzBib! It attaches to your seat belt, it's a bib and you're a sloppy fatso!
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No Automakers Meet Obama's New Fuel Economy Standard
The just-announced fuel economy policy changes demand 39 MPG for cars and 30 MPG for light trucks. A look at the data shows not a single automaker currently meets the new guidelines proposed today. Update.
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Nissan GT-Rs Purchased Via UK Cash For Clunkers Law Loophole
The problem with "Cash For Clunkers" legislation is they have holes big enough to drive a Nissan GT-R through them. In the UK, the holes are big enough to drive two GT-Rs through.
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Obama Kills Fun Cars, Unveils 35.5 MPG Fuel Economy Plan By 2016
President Obama and distinguished hostages auto execs just unveiled new emissions and fuel economy standards. The result? They've just killed all the fun cars.
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Toyota Hybrid Breaks Down, Towed Off Track Before NASCAR Event
A Toyota Highlander Hybrid parade vehicle used for driver introductions at Lowe's Speedway this past weekend wouldn't start and had to be towed. Hopefully we won't see this from next weekend's Camry hybrid pace car.
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Thug Life: A Portrait Of Post-Communist Gangster Culture With A Bad-Ass Benz
The Mercedes-Benz W140 was the underworld’s transport of choice for not only the Yakuza, but for the emerging gangsters of post-Communist Central Europe as well. Watch this video and you’ll see why.
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First Chevy Camaro Rental Car Spotted At Avis!
We spotted this Avis Chevy Camaro rental car yesterday in midtown Manhattan on our way to the train station. Want to rent it for a weekend? It'll cost more than a monthly lease.
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Vauxhall Insignia Wagon To Become Euro-Cop's Best Friend
The Insignia doesn't sell in the US, either in Opel or Vauxhall form, because GM hates you. But police in Europe will be able to get the wagon version with cop brakes, cop suspension.
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Ebony And Ivory: Automakers Support Obama
The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers (NAMBLA), a trade association of 11 major automakers, back and plan to live together in perfect harmony with Obama's plan creating a unified auto emissions and fuel economy policy.
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New Toyota Prius Commercial: Creepy And Mesmerizing
Toyota's begun advertising for it's latest Jesus-mobile, the 2010 Toyota Prius, with a spot called "Harmony." The commercial, designed to show the symbolic connection between nature and automobiles is mesmerizing and creepy.
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GreenGT Electric LeMans: Design And Eco-Mobility Madness
The GreenGT LeMans Prototype is the future of racing from the extra-crunchy Swiss-based green racing company, GreenGT. Mix one part Chevy Volt, one part Speed Racer Mach 1 and a dash of kickassery. Do want.
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Mercury Sable, A Eulogy: Farewell, Furry Friend
As the Ford Taurus returns, the Mercury Sable slips quietly into the night. The last one rolls off the assembly line Thursday. Today we say goodbye.
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Ten Steps To Creating The Perfect Man Cave
The man cave. A mythical masculine lair filled with automotive goodies and toys designed to make a man happy. Here's how to create your very own man cave in ten easy steps.
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Octane Drives $12 Million Ferrari 250 TR
Octane's Winston Goodfellow was tasked to give The World's Most Expensive Car Sold at Auction one last go in Arizona before it went under the hammer. Ah, the toils of being a motoring journalist!
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VW Halts Merger Talks With Porsche Over CEO Squabble
Porsche's planned assimilation merger with Volkswagen has hit a snag, temporarily halting negotiations. We're told the "snag" is who's going to lead the new company — VW CEO Martin Winterkorn or Porsche CEO Wendelin Wiedeking.
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GM Registers Bankruptcy Web Site Ahead Of Bankruptcy
In early April, GM registered the domain name GMRestructuring.com, the same URL naming schema as Chrysler's bankruptcy informational site ChryslerRestructuring.com, well ahead of their scheduled expected bankruptcy at the end of this month.
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$12 Million Ferrari Breaks Auction World Record
RM Auctions and Sotheby's made history yesterday, selling a 1957 Ferrari 250 TR for $12,156,252 (€9,020,000), a new world record for most expensive car to be sold at auction.
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PCH, Post-GTO Jim Wangers Edition: 1977 Pontiac Can Am Or 1976 Ford Mustang Cobra II?
Welcome to Project Car Hell, where you choose your eternity by selecting the project that's the coolest... and most hellish! Automotive marketing genius Jim Wangers didn't quit the car business when the GTO's reign ended.
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Welcome To East Oakland, 1989
Now that I've sorted out all the SCSI termination headaches on my 1998-vintage slide scanner, I've digitized some more of my old 35mm negatives. Here's a trio of old cars I shot in 1989.
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Whores, Poker, And Thrown Rods: Get Ready For The 24 Hours Of LeMons, Nevada Style!
Racers will be on their own when it comes to locating whores and/or poker at the Goin' For Broken 24 Hours Of LeMons, but thrown rods will be provided early and often.
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Murilee's Interstate 5 Road Trip Photos Of The Late 1980s
I've finally dragged out the ol' SCSI slide scanner (purchased back when my main computer was a Centris 650, so we're talking prehistoric hardware here) and digitized more of my old I-5 photos.
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Someone's Gonna Get Fired: LeMons Cars Invited To Hillsborough Concours d'Elegance
The Hillsborough Concours d'Elegance is a super-upscale car shows, with the rich folks showing off their high-buck machines. This time, the organizers had the bright idea of inviting five 24 Hours Of LeMons racers.
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Peugeot CinqZeroBajaCamino
Can't find a Dangel Peugeot truck in the States? No prob- just build a 505/Subaru mashup! That's what happened here, but some tragic series of events put this cartruck on the road to The Crusher.
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1937 Beardmore Taxi
Welcome to Down On The Street, where we admire old vehicles parked on the streets of the Island That Rust Forgot: Alameda, California. Here's the fourth 1930s car I've found down on the Alameda street.
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Euro Street Signs Overlaid With Erotic Stories
This is pretty clever: Take a parade of European street signs and reinterpret their meanings into a story of boy-meets-girl, boy-gets-girl and bad things happen. Two short iconographic stories with NSFW text content.
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Commenter Of The Day: Hipsters Edition
We've always believed the existence of hipster culture isn't so much the organic expression of the zeitgeist as it is the inevitable packaging of disparate cultural elements into something commercially viable. Something someone can sell. It started with the book The Hipster Handbook which purported to look, satirically, upon the life of a certain Williamsburg, Brooklyn set. Whether the purpose was to actually lampoon or not, the result was to give would-be hipsters the opportunity to recreate th
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Fiesta Movement Car Stolen In New York, Ford Incites Vigilantism!
According to Brooklyn-based Fiesta Movement agent Jake Bronstein, his Ford Fiesta was stolen. Worse, since DMV records don't show the car he can't file a report. UPDATE: Ford incites vigilantism, tweets out GPS location!
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Google Maps Reveals A Nation Of Closed Chrysler Dealerships
Sure, we gave you the big list of shuttered Chrysler dealerships yesterday — but here's what the damage looks like on a Google Map — from sea to shining sea. [NYT]
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GM Is The New Starbucks, To Cut 2,300 Dealerships By 2010
GM will reduce its dealer network from 5,969 dealerships to 3,600 by 2010, starting with 1,100 dealerships receiving a not-so-golden-ticket today. Losing jobs sucks, but it just makes GM sorta like Starbucks.
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What's The Best Turbocharged Engine?
There's nothing like the force of forced-induction and there's no wine sweeter than turbo whine. What's the best turbocharged engine?
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Five Worst Parking Jobs Caught On Video
The channel formerly-known-as-CourtTV's running more "reality" content — like these videos of the world's five worst parking jobs. Grab some popcorn, because this five videos are fun to watch.
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Pixar's Cars Tow-Kyo Mater Spoofs Fast And Furious Toyko Drift
After getting 'moderfied,' our good friend Mater from Radiator Springs, proves he has an innate ability to piss off Japanese rivals in this Fast & Furious: Tokyo Drift spoof. Enter Tow-kyo Mater.
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What Shoes Do You Wear To Drive?
Just as the tires are the only part of the car that touch the road, your feet are the only part of you to touch the pedals. What shoes do you wear to drive?
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2012 MINI Cooper I-MegaCity?
According to French magazine, L'Automobile, this is an early prototype of the upcoming 2012 MINI Cooper or the i-MegaCity, featuring MINI Crossover Concept-inspired headlights and a much smaller, non-clamshell hood. Sacrilege!
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Toyota To Lease 150 Plug-In Hybrids In European Test, U.S. By 2010
Toyota will lease over 150 experimental Plug-in Hybrid Vehicles (PHV) to selected European fleets with France as the first country participating in the three-year pilot. Toyota will bring some PHV testers stateside starting in 2010.
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What's This Engine Bay?
Test out your automotive intellectual fortitude by figuring out what car this is before you click through. Sure, you'll say you got it right in the comments, but you'll know the truth.
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Car Thief Swipes Fast And Furious R34 Nissan GT-R
Brazen car thieves have stolen the R34 Nissan Skyline GT-R driven by Paul Walker in the latest Fast and Furious flick. The real crime? The sickos scratched a mint condition Studebaker Silverhawk. Video details below.
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Steve McQueen's $2.3M Ferrari 250 GT Lusso: What Can Brown Do For You?
So Brad Pitt is set to play Steve McQueen in a biopic? Here’s the car he’ll have to master: McQueen’s 1963 Lusso. Some say it’s the most beautiful Ferrari ever built.
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What's Your Favorite Question Of The Day?
With approximately 600 Question Of The Day posts under our belt, we thought it would be a good time to look back and ask: what's your favorite question of the day?
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Ford Taurus Simulates Parking Lot Carnage
After little-Suzy-homemaker loses control of her fully-loaded-by-110-pounds-of-groceries shopping cart, will it set off the side airbags on your 2010 Ford Taurus at a speed of 10 MPH? Let's find out.
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The Equivocation Of Darth Brawn
After Sunday’s rather peculiar Spanish Grand Prix, Ross Brawn has stated that his team does not have a number one and a number two driver. Can that possibly be true?
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Commenter Of The Day: S. G. Tallentyre Edition
S.G. Tallentyre was the nom de plume for the English writer Evelyn Beatrice Hall, famous for her writing about French philosopher Voltaire. Her landmark work, "The Friends Of Voltaire," is considered one of the most important works about Voltaire. Rather than a traditional biography, the work takes a more anecdotical form and follows the stories of ten friends and associates of the writer. In one story, Hall tells the account of Voltaire defending the book a friend wrote (one Voltaire didn't par
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Riding The "Volvo Water Cannon"
Spending the day at Ford's Product Development Center learning about the latest efforts in safety sounds boring, right? Normally, yes, but it's amazing how strapping yourself into a 50MPH water cannon-powered Volvo makes anything entertaining.
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Brad Pitt To Play Steve McQueen?
According to Top Gear's sources, Brad Pitt will play king-of-cool Steve McQueen in upcoming biopic.
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2010 Opel Astra: Cruze, Volt Get A German Brother
The 2010 Opel Astra sports a new set of 1.4- and 1.6-liter turbocharged engines and sits on the same Global Delta platform as the Cruze and Volt. But will we ever see this tri-Delta here?
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Ford Engineers Strap Giant Water Cannon To Volvo
Ford engineers have rigged a giant water cannon to a Volvo V70R to test effects of a side-impact crash without the crash. Better news? Ben's trying out this Carpocalypse-level technology as we speak. More below.
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How To Put Your Kids To Sleep With A Nissan 350Z
In a quest to find the most sleep-inducing engine note, we begin with Nissan’s VQ35DE V6, as installed in a 350Z. Let’s see what happens.
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Sen. Schumer Calling For Investigation Into Auto Warranty Phone Scam
Apparently Americans are being harassed by automated calls saying their auto warranty is about to expire, attempting to sell a worthless extended one. Since there's nothing else to do, NY-Senator Chuck Schumer wants to investigate.
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Commenter Of The Day: She's Hot To Go Edition
Lyle Lovett, for many reasons, could be the unofficial, craggly-faced singer/songwriter for the Jalopnik community. There's this great bit from "Here I Am" where he says "If Ford is to Chevrolet, What Dodge is to Chrysler, What Corn Flakes are to Post Toasties, What the clear blue sky is to the deep blue sea, What Hank Williams is to Neil Armstrong, Can you doubt we were made for each other?" Then there's the song Pontiac, which fits well with the end of the brand itself. Then there's "West Texa
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Dodge Pulls Plug On Circuit EV Electric Sports Car?
Autocar's sources claim the Dodge Circuit EV program has been put on hold indefinitely, meaning the Tesla Roadster-competitor got unplugged before ever seeing the light of day.
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Want Fender Vents For Your Old Land Rover? Home Depot Is Open Late!
The advantage to using a heat register is the handy open/close feature!
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Ho Hum, Just Another Pagani Zonda Parked On The Frankfurt Street
This is Down On The Street Bonus Edition, where we check out interesting street-parked cars in places other than the Island That Rust Forgot. Ever seen one of these parked on the street? Vega has!
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Project Car Hell, Nightmare On A Budget Edition: Iked Lotus Elite Or Haunted Skoda 1101?
Welcome to Project Car Hell, where you choose your eternity by selecting the project that's the coolest... and the most hellish! Want an oddball European project, but you're living in a hobo jungle? Problem solved!
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Hey Y'all, Watch This! Adventures In Arboreal Locomotion, Toyota Style
About 15 years ago, I received a little potted Araucaria heterophylla tree as a Christmas gift. Many repottings and several moves later, it now stands about 15 feet tall and has outgrown my tiny house.
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Can Sex Sell This Armada Of German Hell Project Cars?
When you're trying to unload a basket-case Peugeot 504 Familiale or a terrifyingly incomplete Renault Juvaquatre on eBay, what's your best approach? That's right, female flesh and plenty of it!
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1972 International Harvester Scout II
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 might as well call Alameda "Island Of The Scouts."
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Adventures In Rebranding: All Chrysler Products At 24 Hours Of LeMons To Be Rebadged As Fiats
When the Fiat-Chrysler global strategic alliance became a full-on merger, the incorruptible LeMons Supreme Court was prepared! Starting with the Goin' For Broken LeMons race in a couple weeks, we'll be changing Chryslers into Fiats.
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Commenter Of The Day: Bob Saget Edition
There are, at least, two Bob Sagets. There's the happy-go-lucky, emotionally sensitive character and a far darker creature. The former Saget starred as the cool single father on TGIF's Full House for longer than we care to remember and hosted America's Funniest Home Videos. In both roles he used a sort of family-friendly humor that made him tons of money. He's actually back at it, again, as the uncredited voice of future Ted Mosby on How I Met Your Mother, though this time with slightly more of
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Ford Engineer Builds 125 MPG "HyperRocket" In Spare Time
You know someone's got a passion when by day they're a Ford fuel economy technical expert and by night they build a 125 MPG, rocket-shaped trike. It's called HyperRocket and it's now on eBay.
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Dallas Taxi Game Is New School Of Hard Knocks
We've just received a note from a former U.S. Marine-turned-taxi-driver regarding the extent of his "professional services." Full email below the jump.
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The Chrysler Building: Biggest Mopar Ever
We all know Chrysler's facing some rough times, but let's turn back the clock to 1930 and talk about the biggest Chrysler ever built.
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Hummer H3T Tornado Storm Chaser: Less Bill Paxton, More Awesome
Tornadoes have always intrigued us and the movies, Twister and the TIV-2 solidified our desire to get into the eye of the storm. We might finally have our day with the Hummer H3T Storm Chaser.
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What's The Most Overpriced New Car?
Even though the Carpocalypse has put a major dent in new car sales, there are still automakers selling new cars at outrageous prices. What's the most overpriced new car?
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Make Your Own Mad Max Interceptor From A "Ferrari"
A toy Ferrari hacked together with kitchen and office equipment makes for one wicked balcony toy.
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Artisan Performance SA-600: 600 HP, Twin-Turbo Camaro
Another day, another hot-rodded and heavily-modified tuner Camaro. These shops just can't seem to get enough of them. This time around it's Artisan Performance/Turbochargers.com and their 600 HP, twin-turbocharged Camaro SA-600.
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Obama Appointee: Optimum Number Of U.S. Automakers Is One
Yale Economist Rick Levin, appointed to Obama's sci-tech task force and not the auto task force, believes there's room for no more than one American, Japanese, European and Indian automaker. We happen to agree. Sorta.
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Commenter Of The Day: The Gag Room Edition
Before there was the TV writer's room, there was the gag room. In the era of silent films, companies like Columbia, MGM, and Paramount were cranking out silent films so quickly — often shooting for less than two weeks — most were merely a collection of gags loosely based around a story. In order to make the production of these films go faster they filled a room with gag writers who would riff on someone else's joke, adding thoughts of their own, until they had a full routine. Frank Capra, who we
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NYPD Green: Altima Hybrids On Patrol
In a first for the NYPD, they now have Nissan Altima Hybrids. Criminals in the NYC area better keep their gas tanks full.
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ASC To Turn New Camaro Into Trans-Amaro
It was only time before an enterprising tuning shop would turn a new Chevy Camaro into a Pontiac Trans Am. Only questions were who and when. ASC's answered the "who" with renderings of this Trans-Amaro.
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Remember To Close Your Sunroof When Masturbating
This is an important JaloPSA: If you decide to retire to your car for some personal afternoon-delight, make sure you're not parked next to a tall building with your sunroof open. NSFW.
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How The Stile Bertone Mantide Got Angular Rear Wheelarches
When Jason Castriota left Pininfarina for Bertone, it was like switching to Coke after a lifetime of Pepsi. Let’s examine a design element he’s started using that’s alien to Pininfarina but essential to Bertone.
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The Alluringly Mad Cars Of Steven M. Johnson
Allison Arieff of The New York Times’s By Design blog has a great post about inventor/author/cartoonist/former urban planner Steven M. Johnson, creator of many a car straight out of the Acme playbook.
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GM Kills Chevy Impala SS... Again
According to analysis of GM ordering guides by forum fan-boys at GMInsideNews, GM's killed both the Chevy Impala SS and Chevy Cobalt SS sedan for 2010.
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What's The Worst Car Commercial Ever?
We were reminded yesterday of the awful side of car advertising. With hundreds of cars for sale, some are winners, some are boring and some are just plain awful. What's the worst car commercial ever?
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Fesler-Moss Builds A Corvette ZR1-Powered Camaro SS
We've covered the big tuning boys — Hennessey and Lingenfelter. Next up? The Fesler-Moss Limited Edition 2010 Camaro SS complete with custom body work and a built-to-order engine package even including the ZR1s LS9!
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GM's Renaissance Center HQ: View From The Top
With cutbacks, bailouts, layoffs and rumors of eminent bankruptcy floating in the air, these days GM's Detroit Renaissance Center HQ's a tough place to work. But the view sure is killer. Let's take a look.
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Commenter Of The Day: Knowing Edition
In the film Knowing, a young Nicolas Cage puts a series of numbers, dates, and coordinates into a time capsule and years later discovers the data corresponds to all the major disasters of the past few decades, as well as a few impending events. This isn't to be confused with the film Next, which came out earlier. In Next, Nicolas Cage is can only see two minutes into the future and uses this gift as part of his magic act in Las Vegas... until Jessica Biel walks into his life. This movie also sho
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600 HP V8-Powered Volvo P1800 Re-Imagined By Koenigsegg Engineer
When super car brands are brought up, Volvo doesn't usually come to mind. That might change thanks to Koenigsegg engineer Mattias Vöx and his re-imagined, 600HP, V8-powered modern Volvo P1800.
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Camaro SS Recalled For Battery Cable Issue
Days after we first learned of a battery cable issue that caused the first reported Camaro crap-out, we're now told GM's officially issuing a recall for the problem on the Camaro SS. UPDATE BELOW.
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The Future Of On-The-Go Driving Videos
Forget hacked iPhones with their crap lenses: to make your reckless driving videos look pretty, grab a video-capable DSLR and stick it out the window.
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MTU Series 4000 Engine... As In 4000 HP!
The MTU Series 4000 is a 4000 HP twin-turbo V20 engine designed primarily for ships and power-generation in mining and offshore drilling. It's so big, the assembly line consists of moving trailers.
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One Thing Separating Chrysler HQ From Most Malls
We explained earlier Chrysler's Auburn Hills, MI Headquarters was designed to easily convert into a mall if it needed the dues. However, there's one thing we neglected to mention separating Chrysler's HQ from most malls.
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President Obama, Congress Reach "Cash For Clunkers" Agreement
We're told the White House and Democrat Congressional leaders have reached an agreement on the so-called "Cash For Clunkers" bill, sending lovers of Malaise Era steel into a complete panic. [Reuters]
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Chrysler To Kill Jeep Wrangler?
Months ago we broke the news of the death of the Viper. Now, documents from the Chrysler bankruptcy cast doubt on the future of the Jeep Wrangler. Is somebody in Auburn Hills taking crazy-pills?
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FIA GT Championship At Silverstone: Round One Mega-Gallery
The official start of the 2009 FIA GT Championship season began at Silverstone this past weekend with many new contenders. Check out this mega gallery of action-packed race images we've compiled below.
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Fiat Delivers Custom Ducato For Papal Service
Not satisfied with it's test of the Chrysler faithful, Fiat has delivered a customized Ducato van to the Papal motorpool for use in touring parts of the Italian countryside destroyed by the recent earthquake.
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Test Drive A Chevy Traverse, Get A Massage
North Texas Chevy dealers, hoping to entice suburban Suburban-driving moms, are offering free massages for anyone who test drives a Chevy Traverse. Of course, for a happy ending you'll have to test drive a ZR1.
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Chrysler HQ Designed To Convert Into Shopping Mall
Viewed from above, Chrysler’s corporate headquarters in Auburn Hills appears to be a shopping mall. This is not an accident.
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PPI Razor GTR: Like An Audi R8 On Speed
German tuner PPI Automotive dropped cloth on their PPI Razor GTR at the 2009 Top Marques show in Monaco. The razor-sharp 580 HP tuned Audi R8 sports numbers that beat the R8 5.2 V10.
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Stillborn Smart "ForMore" SUV Concept Found In Shed
Ever wondered what the SmartUV would have looked like? Well here it is. Luckily, Smart chose to stick with making crappy small cars instead of crappy slightly bigger ones.
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Commenter Of The Day: Conestoga Wagon Edition
The Conestoga wagon, named for the Pennsylvania region from which it originated in this country, was the 18-wheeler of its day. Ma and Pa in their dinky covered farm wagon were no match for the big, tough Conestoga. These wagons were often more than 20 feet long with metal-plated wheels and wooden suspensions, capable of transporting more than five tons of goods 15 miles in a day. Unlike most wagons of the day, the Conestoga has a deep, boat-shaped hull designed to keep barrels and boxes from fa
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Audi To Release Mysterious New Model For 100th Anniversary
Audi's getting ready to celebrate its 100th anniversary in July and according to their presser, they'll be unveiling a new model. However, they're not saying what it'll be. Could it be the Audi R8 Spyder?
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The $2 Million Showdown: Bertone Mantide Vs. Corvette ZR1
Stile Bertone's Mantide now has a price and production run size: $2,000,000 and ten. Let's see if it's worth the 20× premium over its donor car: the Corvette ZR1.
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840 HP Viper-Powered GTA Spano Has Generic Super Car Skin
The GTA Spano's another super car you can add to the list of vehicles you'll never own because of a rather pedestrian appearance. However, the stonkin' 840 HP 8.3-liter Viper engine does pique our interest.
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2009 Euro-Spec Ford Focus RS Spied On U.S. Soil
FocusFanatics forumite 2004SVTAutoXer was out with his lady in Royal Oak, MI when he spotted this rally-ready, turbocharged, M-plated, Euro-spec 2009 Ford Focus RS. Needless to say, he was a bit excited. So are we.
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Nicolas Cage Stunt Driver Wrecks Ferrari In Times Square
A driver for the upcoming Nicolas Cage flick "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" crashed a Ferrari F430 while filming a chase scene in New York's Times Square. Two were injured. Sadly, Cage's career will survive. Video below.
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First Crashed Corvette ZR1 Hits EBay For Only $97,500
NOOOOOO! Unless we're mistaken, the first recorded Corvette ZR1 crash's popped up on eBay, after the driver apparently lost control of Lutz's raging 638 HP hard-on, curbing it very hard. "Buy-It-Now" price? $97,500!
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In Case Anyone Was Wondering, GM's Still Trying To Sell Saturn
In case anyone's worried or wondering, yes, GM's still trying to sell Saturn — or kill it. Heck, they've even put out a press release to make sure you remember.
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Fiat CEO In Berlin To Buy GM-Europe, Opel
Continuing his shopping spree after picking up a 20% stake in bankrupt Chrysler, Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne is in talks with GM to acquire GM Europe and its subsidiary, Opel.
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GTO: Pontiac's Great One, By Darwin Holmstrom
When this monstrous volume showed up at Chez Murilee- and this is one freakin' huge slab-o-musclecar-porn, displacing 206 cubic inches- I figured I'd find nothing but pretty pictures within. Such was not the case.
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Camaro Grilles Cracking At High Speed?
A Planet LSX forum member's posted a report with photos of the new Chevy Camaro with a crack on the front fascia's big upper brow reportedly attributed to a high-speed run. UPDATE BELOW.
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1963 Dodge 880
The 880 was the top-of-the-line big Dodge for 1963, with the $2,813 price tag for the 4-door 880 sedan edging close to Chrysler Newport territory. This one, however, has driven its last mile.
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Guess How Many BMW E30s This Peugeot Will Beat At LeMons Reno, Win Fabulous Prizes!
The Goin' For Broken 24 Hours Of LeMons race just has too many Index Of Effluency contenders to have our usual guessing game, so we've come up with a modified version for the Reno event.
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Citroën DS, Aston Martin Lagonda Down On The New York City 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. What would you drive in Manhattan? Voodoojoo knows!
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Super-Clean Miata Seats At The Junkyard... But There's A Catch
One of countless several reasons I can't drive my 20R-powered Austin-Healey Sprite on the street is the lack of seats. Junkyard, here I come! Thing is, it's tough to find good driver's seats.
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Engine Of The Day: MEMZ-968
All these Engine Of The Day honors, and no Russian iron? And yesterday was May Day, comrades? We're going to remedy that oversight right now!
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1973 Datsun 510
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 the fourth Datsun 510 in the series.
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Ferrari 599XX Gets Up Close And Personal In New Glam Shots
Is your day feeling down? In need of a fast fix of Italian? Then these newly released images of the harder, faster, track-ready 2010 Ferrari 599XX should suffice. Consider yourself properly livened up.
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Commenter Of The Day: George Orwell's Non-Allegorical Novels Edition
Because of their clever writing, prescience, and relative ease-of-entry, George Orwell's strongly allegorical and dystopian novels 1984 and Animal Farm are the most read Orwell works. Recently, we got into a debate with a friend over whether or not the future ends up being more like the former novel than the later. With the outbreak of swine flu he's leaning on the literal and claiming a victory. It's unfortunate these are the most popular books from Orwell because we've always had a soft spot f
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Louisiana Deputy Triple Flips Beer-Filled Truck, No Ticket Issued
Joseph Anderson smashed into trees and rolled his truck three times. Despite empty beer bottles littering the scene, alcohol testing wasn't done, no ticket written. He's a reserve police deputy and police chief's brother. Coincidence?
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GM Considering Zeta RWD Platform For Other Brands: GMC Denali ST?
We all know it's now official. Pontiac is dead and GM's CEO confirmed the Pontiac G8's death, so what's to come of the RWD Zeta platform? GoAuto says it'll carry on. GMC Denali ST anyone?
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Enzo-Wrecking Stefen Eriksson's Getting A Biopic
Everyone's favorite law abiding Enzo-wrecking, Swedish extortionist could potentially have a movie made of his exploits thanks in part to Wired's 2006 article, Gizmondo's Spectacular Crack-up. Does this mean another Enzo has to get wrecked?
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Hennessey V700 CTS-V: 700 HP, Four-Door ZR1
The boys at Hennessey Motorsports have been busy lately. Their latest hot rodded project comes in the form of the 2009 Hennessey V700 CTS-V, packed with a mighty 700-horsepower tuned LSA.
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Delivery Driver Wrecks Mario Andretti's Rare Lamborghini Countach
According to a post on ToyotaNation, a Lamborghini dealership employee allegedly got into a street race with a Viper GTS while delivering an ultra-rare Lamborghini Countach once owned by Mario Andretti. Guess what happened next?
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Teen Crashes Audi S4 At 155MPH, Police Get Hold Of YouTube Video
A Wisconsin teen survived unscathed after crashing his Audi S4 while joyriding at 155mph, then posting the video to YouTube. There's three things right there explaining why the cops weren't so happy.
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The Concorso d'Eleganza Is Huge Fun (If You Don't Take It Too Seriously)
Old guys in polo shirts nurturing vintage Ferraris? Industry people showing off concepts which will never get built? What's the point? Not much: but it's a great way to spend a weekend in Italy.
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Opel Insignia SportTourer OPC: An Audi S4 Avant-Fighter
It's only a matter of time before the Europeans get to taunt us with the Opel Insignia OPC, but how long before they get the bad-ass 2010 Opel Insignia SportTourer OPC grocery hauler?
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Saturn Rental Car Never Gets Oil Change, Engine Carnage Ensues After 30,000 Miles
Enterprise Rent-A-Car delivered a Saturn Outlook to the dealership shop after the check-engine light appeared and the engine quit running. The problem? Enterprise records showed zero oil changes after 30,000 miles. Brutal results below.
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Inappropriately-Named "White Power" Tuner Car Blamed On Bad Translation
German tuning house AVUS Performance made us do a double triple take when we found out they'd named its latest project the Audi RS6 "White Power." Apparently it was all a mistake.
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Nice Price or No Dice (20)
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Really Drive Like The King In Elvis' 1974 Cadillac Fleetwood For $599,000!
Fat ‘70s Elvis haunts Nice Price or Crack Pipe this week and today we've got his '74 Fleetwood Brougham to slick back your hair and empty your wallet.
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1976 Oldsmobile Cutlass S For $6,900!
If you're only interested in the getting the best that life has to offer, then Nice Price or Crack Pipe has a car for you- the best selling car in America. . . in 1976.
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Drive Like The King In A $15,000 1975 Stutz Blackhawk!
Italian coachbuilding; American muscle; Virgil Exner-penned baroque styling; the Stutz Blackhawk had it all. And for only $15,000, Nice Price or Crack Pipe wants to know if you think it's all too much?
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It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown- 2008 Gumpert For $499,999!
Want to drive like the Stig, but without the anonymity? Well, Nice Price or Crack Pipe is here to help, with the only American-spec Gumpert Apollo available, and it's all kinds of orange.
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1988 Pontiac Fiero Formula For $5,000?
If you have unsightly open spaces on your driveway or front lawn, Nice Price or Crack Pipe Fieros has an AMAZING offer for you. We have the fast-acting coverup that will actually save you money!
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2003 Parts-Bin Ford For $109,500!
Jag door handles, Volvo air vents, Mondeo window switches. They all add up to something greater than the sum of its parts- or at least a Nice Price or Crack Pipe 2003 Aston Martin Vanquish.
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"1980" Suzuki Cappuccino Roadster For A Diminutive $11,990!
Get ready to get small, and get your Kei car on. There's no need to hit Starbucks today, as Nice Price or Crack Pipe is bringing you some hot cappuccino!
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Rags To Riches 1964 Plymouth Barracuda For $5,300!
Today's Nice Price or Crack Pipe candidate is named after a deep-water predator, but has a price that doesn't require deep pockets to buy.
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1972 Prostreet Pinto For $19,000!
Related to cars, red typically means stop. Today's Nice Price or Crack Pipe is a Pinto that, despite its color, says go, or maybe Gauguin!
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1969 Jeepster Commando For $15,000!
For the next time someone asks you "boxers or briefs?", today's Nice Price or Crack Pipe arms you with the answer- Hey, I go commando!
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1972 Peugeot 304 S For $19,000 And A Test!
Before you can determine the Nice Priciness or Crack Pipedness of this petite Peugeot, you'll need to determine your affinity for all things French. So sharpen your #2 pencil, and get ready for a test.
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1979 Ford Granada (No, Not That One) Hearse For $3,500!
The two inevitabilities in life are death and taxes. Today's Nice Price or Crack Pipe candidate will make sure that your eventual death won't be too taxing.
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Cute Girl Selling 1965 Ford Galaxie 500 For $3,800!
It's getting harder and harder to sell a car these days. But here's a Nice Price or Crack Pipe Ford Galaxie from a seller who knows how to get our attention.
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1971 BMW 2002 Racer For $15,500 — Or Maybe Free!
Nice Price or Crack Pipe brings you a deal too good to be true — a 2002 racer that'll fulfill your track fantasies, but with infomercial pricing that may leave your wallet empty.
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1958 Kellison J4-R Road-Ready Vintage Racer For $42,500!
Today we bring you a Nice Price or Crack Pipe all-American sports car that gives you a lot of kit for not much caboodle.
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The Beaver's 1982 Porsche Targa For $12,500!
Nothing goes together quite as well as Beaver and Porsche, and now here's your chance for that combo in a Nice Price or Crack Pipe car even Eddie Haskell couldn't spoil.
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Death Race 2000 Tribute '68 Beetle For $10,000!
The 1975 cinéma vérité masterpiece, Death Race 2000, was prime drive-in fodder. Now Nice Price or Crack Pipe brings, to a driveway near you, a tribute to that exemplar of schlock movie history.
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1977 Mustang II V8 For $5,400!
Ford hit a home run with the original Mustang. The ensuing models kept the bases loaded for the next nine years. But when the malaise era hit, the score was Mustang II, America zip.
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Amazingly Low Mileage 1976 Cadillac Eldorado Convertible For $26,000
When Sir Walter Raleigh failed to find the lost city of El Dorado, the king of England had him beheaded. Here's a Nice Price or Crack Pipe '76 Eldorado that can also flip its lid.
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2004 Earnhardt Jr. Tribute Chevy Monte Carlo For $15,000!
How much NASCAR is too much NASCAR? Get ready to find out with a Nice Price or Crack Pipe contender that'll let you argue with the judge that you weren't tailgating, you were drafting.
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QOTD (9)
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What's Your Automotive White Whale?
We're constantly on alert for unusual cars in our area and, once we spot one, we keep looking for it and we're not always successful. Some elude us still. What's your automotive white whale?
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What Was Your First Plymouth?
We had such heartfelt responses to the question 'What was your first Pontiac?' that we're going to pose the same question with another much-beloved Detroit marque that got the axe this decade: Plymouth.
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Commenter Of The Day: Bea Arthur Edition
Everyone's favorite Golden Girl, Bea Arthur, would have been 87 years old today. She did much in her more than six decades in the business, but she's probably best known as a performer. Her big television break was as the titular character from Maude, a show about a militant feminist in not-so-liberal Suburban New York. It explored serious issues including the Vietnam war, divorce, suicide, abortion. It's hard to believe it lasted the five seasons it did. Though Golden Girls wasn't exactly a spi
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What Car Would You Dump Someone For?
We can envision multiple scenarios in which we'd be forced to choose, a la Indecent Proposal, between a lover and a car. But not just any car. What car would you dump someone for?
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What's The Worst Performance Trim Package?
Remember when car companies had performance divisions? Those were the good ol' days, right. Wrong. Sometimes they were really the bad old days. What was the worst model performance trim package?
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What's The All-Time Greatest FWD Car?
We spend a lot of time extolling the virtues of RWD, but this doesn't mean we don't enjoy a truly well-sorted FWD car and, we suspect, so do you. What's the all-time greatest FWD car?
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What's Your Favorite TV Show Automotive Product-Placement?
For automakers, TV product placement means exposure. For producers, it usually means extra dough. For fans, it often means the start of an automotive love affair. What's your favorite TV show automotive product-placement?
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What's Your Most "Ghetto Fab" Car Repair?
Some cars or situations require something less-than-professional repairs from an experienced wrench-turner. Many of us turn to less-than-professional alternatives. Some of these are horrifying. What's your most "Ghetto Fab" car repair?
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What Was Your First Pontiac?
I'm guessing that a respectable percentage of you have owned at least one Pontiac (you foreign types with your Polski Fiats and Proton Sagas can sit this one out). What was the first one?
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Racing (4)
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1951 Willys Jeep Station Wagon
Welcome to Down On The Street, where we admire old vehicles found parked on the streets of the Island That Rust Forgot: Alameda, California. Sure, we just saw an old Willys on the Alameda street.
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Travis Pastrana Wins 2009 Oregon Trail Rally
MTV's "Nitro Circus" star and rally driver Travis Pastrana, along with co-driver Christian Edstrom, clocked a third win this season here at the Oregon Trail Rally situated in and around scenic, hippie-infested Portland.
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Ross Brawn In 2001: "The Last Thing You Want Is A Driver Whingeing In The Press."
A fascinating profile of Brawn GP’s main man from 2001 reveals a ruthless drive for team victory—and a dislike for the kind of public bickering his driver Barrichello has just done.
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2009 Spanish Grand Prix: A Great Battle Of Strategy
Whispers of team orders clouds a brainy race in Barcelona, where most of the action happened in the pits and in the tactical computers. Warning: spoilers below.
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Reviews (3)
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Ariel Atom 500 Powered By 500 HP V8
Not content with just offering up a totally visceral experience in the 'base' Atom, Ariel has decided to up the ante by mating their bare bones street racer with an RS Performance 500-horsepower 2.4-liter V8.
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Ferrari 612 Scaglietti: Track-Tested, V12-Powered, Kid-Approved
We have looked at Ferraris, Lamborghinis and even a Maserati wagon in our search for the ultimate family super car. Let’s wrap things up with the overlord of them all: the Ferrari 612 Scaglietti.
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Turbo LS7-Powered 800 HP Lingenfelter Camaro SS Mullet-Mobile
You didn't think that Hennessey was the only big-name tuner meddling with the new Camaro did you? Give a big honky-tonk, mullet-swaying welcome to the 800 HP, turbocharged LS7-swapped Lingenfelter Camaro SS.
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Technology (4)
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All-Junkyard World's Greatest Whiner Alarm Deters Crybabies
One of the biggest problems that we encounter while judging at 24 Hours Of LeMons races is whiners!
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Brother, Can You Spare A Transmission? Broken Cars At The Goin' For Broken 24 Hours Of LeMons
Why have so many cars blown up, broken down, or crapped out? Nobody can say for sure. Whatever the reason, we've never seen so many dead cars at any LeMons race before.
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Used Bookstore Gold: 1970 Motor Service's Automotive Encyclopedia
I thought that finding a copy of Let's Call It Fiesta for a buck at my favorite teetering-walls-o-books used bookstore was a serious score, but bzr may have done even better with this find.
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1982 Datsun Voice Warning Box Used Tiny Phonograph Record, Just Like Moon Base Robots
Certain high-end Datsun models of the Late Malaise Era came with a seriously science-fictiony feature: the car talked to you! That's no big deal nowadays- $1.29 worth of silicon- but back then it took hardware.
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Trucks (2)
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The Piaggio Ape: Buzzing About In Europe's Cutest Truck
Trucks are big things with big V8 engines, spewing diesel smoke, correct? Not quite. Trucks are things for hauling other, smaller things—and when the hauling is on the narrow streets of Italy, nothing beats the pint-size Piaggio Ape.
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1958 Willys Pickup
Welcome to Down On The Street, where we admire old vehicles found parked on the streets of the Island That Rust Forgot: Alameda, California. How about a half-century-old Willys pickup as a work vehicle?
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Volkswagen (1)
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2010 VW Scirocco R: 265 HP Nürburgring-Shredding Hot Hatch
The long-awaited 2010 VW Scirocco R debuted today, sans the Italian flag, with a more powerful 265 HP 2.0 TSI, new body kit, upgraded suspension and the spirit of Germany.
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Wrenching (3)
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How To Disable GM's Manual Skip Shift For Seven Bucks
Under certain conditions, some GM high-performance cars with manual transmissions force a 1st to 4th shift. Everybody but Nancy Pelosi and the EPA hate it. Here's step-by-step instruction on how to defeat it for $7.
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This Is NOT How To Install A Hitch
Forum member "Offroad250" over at Truckblog spotted this fine example of redneck engineering. Instead of mounting his hitch in a truck bed, this rocket-scientist installed it to the tailgate of his S-10 Blazer. Updates below
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How To Change A Jeep's Tampon
We've all had a mystifying, frustrating and recurring leak we don't know how to quickly fix without pulling the whole system apart. Sounds like a familiar problem. Enter woman's best friend — the Tampon.
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