Sunday, CarDomain’s editorial team is jumping on a plane and heading to Sin City for SEMA. I always have a blast at the show, and I’m totally stoked. But because everything is so crazy there, and I’m going to be running around like a maniac, New on the Net will be on hiatus next week. Look for the its triumphant return on Tuesday, November 11th. I’ll probably be sober by then. Anyway, here’s the news:

• Over the past year, more Marines have died riding sport bikes than have been killed in combat. As a result, the Core is has started a training program to teach jarheads how to handle the obscene power of modern crotch-rockets. CNN
• What do Volvo’s safety mobiles and Aston Martin’s V8 Vantage have in common? Well, they both use the same key, and Aston hasn’t tried very hard to hide the fact. Peel off the butter leather on the Vantage fob and you’ll find the Swedish company’s name stamped right on it. Car Magazine
• Hyundai has released the full stats on the Genesis Coupe, and they’re pretty impressive. So guys, when do we get our test car? And please make sure it’s the turbo, with a stick. GenCoupe
• One of CarDomain’s advertisers—you know, the folks who provide themoney to keep yours truly employed—wants your input. So if you love theblog and love CarDomain, or kind of like us, or even just love to hateus, we’d appreciate your opinion. Take this Survey 

Ok, so this week’s Showroom Showdwon was a bit… different. I really wasn’t sure which way it would go, and after tallying up all the votes, it looks like we have a tie. As usual, some of you liked this showdown, and some of you hated it. All we can say is thanks, and sorry.

We’re gonna skip the showdown next week while we’re at SEMA, but then come back with something truly mind-bending the following week. If you have any suggestions for future showdowns, post them below.

I saw the photo below in the New York Times coverage of the Lead East show and was like, WTF??? But after a bit of sleuthing on Moparts and the H.A.M.B., I managed to unearth the story. The car was built by Joe Sulpy of Ledgewood, New Jersey. It’s a replica an old custom called the "Parisienne," built by Dick "Korky" Korkes back in the late 1950s. The original Parisienne is long gone, so Joe Sulpy recreated the car based on magazine pictures and memory. Apparently it’s a Chrysler with T-bird fenders. More pics after the jump, including a photo of the original Parisienne on the cover of a May 1960 copy of Cars Magazine. And you can see a bunch of shots of the build on Sulpy’s site.

Continue reading "Joe Sulpy's Parisienne" »

The picture below I think highlights the Midnight Purple paint fairly well. Unfortunately to really understand the paint you need to see it in different photos in different light since it changes from purple to blue to nearly black. For the purple car we switched the exhaust tips on the order last minute to the B-Tail (full blue/purple gradation) to perfectly match the paint hue. For the white car we went with the A-Tail finish which I think suits the white car nicely.Fortunately since Amuse is fulfilling our orders in 4-6 weeks right now (by air), this was all possible in time for SEMA. Continue reading…

Continue reading "GT-RR / Mobil 1 SEMA Car – Midnight Purple" »

Allpar is reporting that the GM/Chrysler merger is on hold, since the Bush administration ruled out federal funding for it yesterday. This effectively pushes a possible merger out til after the election, or until the new administration and Congress take office in January. Maybe now Cerberus will reconsider a partnership with Renault-Nissan. More at Allpar.

Below is the billboard for Mobil 1 being put up in Las Vegas. For the record, the billboard was done about 3 weeks ago and it is computer generated (not the real car). The guys at Theory Communication did a great job working under pressure to design the billboard without a real car existing yet. Interestingly enough, the car at the time of the billboard creation was just starting preparation to be loaded on a boat coming from Hawaii to Los Angeles for us to do the build.

The Mobil 1 / GT-RR SEMA car is owned by a client of GT-RR/Bulletproof Automotive from Hawaii. The car although originally silver has been repainted Midnight Purple. Special thanks goes to Ito-san, President of Do-Luck Japan who took his Saturday to run errands for me in Japan and bought the paint for me from Nissan. Arigatoooooo!! Midnight Purple II is an extremely nostalgic color for GT-R enthusiasts, and it is commonly known in those GT-R circles that it is reserved for only a select few top spec GT-Rs from Nissan. It also happens to be a very hard color to get, as I learned the hard way. As part of the concept for this car, I wanted to make sure that we built the first Midnight Purple R35 in the world. Surely Midnight Purple will be offered again in the future from Nissan (probably as a limited color for the Vspec R35), but it was important for us to beat Nissan to the punch.

Admittedly, I’m short on time and this post is just the beginning of an intro for this car. I owe a better explanation to you all soon.

Yesterday, Jalopnik posted their list of the ten scariest-looking cars of all time. I was happy to see that they had a two Mopars on the list, including a ’71 Satellite. I do think the ’71-74 Plymouth B-bodies look somewhat scary, but not nearly as scary as the ’71-74 Dodge B-bodies. Just check out Steve’s Mom’s ’73 Charger SE below. These things are downright menacing. So take a look at Jalopnik’s list, then post your pick for the scariest car ever.

Trevor, one of CarDomain’s awesome developers, happened to be vacationing down in Mexico on Friday the 24th when all of a sudden La Carrera Panamericana came roaring through. See all the shots he took in the square of the town of Oaxaca after the jump. Gotta love the Washington state Corvair with the Ralph Nader bumper sticker!

Continue reading "La Carrera Panamericana Rolls Through Oaxaca" »

It’s a little terrifying how easily this tank completely pancakes this unfortunate Euro-box. Do you think that door is still useable?

On Monday David wrote about how much he liked Mitsubishi’s Twin Clutch-Sportronic Shift Transmission. And MSN recently published an article called "The End of Manual Labor?" Obviously, automatic transmissions are getting more sophisticated. And the manual tranny is definitely slipping in popularity. From the MSN article:

Back in 1980, more than 35 percent of all cars were sold with a stick. Because they cost less and boosted fuel mileage, manuals were more popular when gas prices went up or the economy went down, according to Mike Omotoso, powertrain analyst for J.D. Power and Associates. Then the SUV appeared, which often came automatic-only. By 2005 only 6 percent of all buyers bothered with a stick. Skyrocketing fuel prices and more choices in small cars brought a mild uptick to 7.7 percent last year, but the trend is clear.

These days, automatic transmissions can post faster acceleration times, and they often get better mileage and have lower emissions. But here’s the thing: manual trannies are still cheaper, more durable, and more fun. Continue reading…

Continue reading "The End of Manual Labor?" »