By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

John and Ricky went to check out the BMW art cars at the LA County Museum of Art, and had different opinions about what they saw. I think I’m with Ricky on this one.

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

I’m phobic of salt. It’s what did this to my Escort GT. It’s part of the reason I left the Northeast. It’s right up there on my list of top enemies of cars, which includes such offenders as scrappage programs and trees. Up until this winter, temperate Seattle was a salt-free paradise where you could run your project car year-round. But after the most recent dump of snow (West Coasters become confused and irrational in the presence of snow), there was a holy outcry from the safety-minded over the issue of the city’s refusal to salt its roads. A few scientists piped up that salt does not hurt the environment, as city bureaucrats outdatedly feared, and it was a done deal: salt on the roads during storms from now on. But these streaks Rob noticed today on his Volvo represented the first actual physical evidence I’d witnessed of this new scourge. Hits a little close to home, I guess.

How’s your town: salt trap, or salt-free?

By Weston Henderson

Weston Henderson

Here’s yet another reason not to let your car get valeted: it would appear that from the story here that this brand-new Ferrari 575 was up for sale on CarZone and the valet decided to show off to impress some girls. Heh, must’ve hit the V-Tech or something!

Gory photos below. Another Ferrari kill!

Continue reading "Another Ferrari Bites The Dust" »

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

It’s always great to see fur hags getting the merciless ridicule they deserve, and you guys gave our unsuspecting subject the verbal equivalent of a bucket of red paint. Way to go! This week’s swag goes to Maffew, who quipped, “Does this coat make my wheels look big?” and earns bonus points for pointing out that “priceless ads = fail” (thank you!). Runner-up kudos to BerettaSpeed97, who bothered to translate (I think) “Pimp my ride” into Russian characters. Update: Haroun has been stripped of the No Shit Sherlock Award, and is now the proud recipient of the Inevitable Unfounded Photoshop Accusation Award: “for some reason i think this image is photoshopped. Way to go CarDomain for wasting our time.”

Congrats to all, and stay tuned for the next installment in our relentlessly popular Caption Contest.

By Speedhunters

Car Culture At Large

Sometimes I forget how much fun it can be to own a car….. I’ve been hearing so much talk about politics and dodgy car parts recently, perhaps it’s been getting me down!…. After reading a thread on MK1dubs, I once again found some of that joy that accompanies owning a car….. Maybe you’ve seen some pictures of this VW before on the net…

Anyway, let’s take a closer look to see what makes this car tick. It all started with a Volkswagen Golf (should I say Rabbit?) MK1 bought in Oregon. The owner has a great story in which he describes how he got the car to his garage and how he transformed it into “the bucket”. Continue reading at Speedhunters

By Jeroen Willemsen

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

I found this trolling VWVortex for new caption contest photos. Is this the most ghetto repair of all time?

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

A hydraulic hybrid is a high-mpg propulsion system that eliminates the need for batteries. Basically, a small diesel motor powers a hydraulic pump that fills an accumulator, which in turns sends fluid pressure to pump motors that power the wheels. Then, regenerative braking grabs back as much as 70% of the vehicle’s stopping energy to charge the system back up. The result is a 50% increase in fuel efficiency.  So far, hydraulic hybrids have been limited to commercial vehicles and military applications–UPS plans on adding hydraulic hybrids to its delivery fleet this year, and a company called Hydra-Drive has developed a hydraulic-hybrid Humvee and is planning to supply the US Army with more vehicles. But now,  Lightning Hybrids, a contender for the Progressive Automotive X Prize, is developing a 100 mpg passenger car prototype for the open market, the first-ever attempt to put hydraulic hybrid technology in a civilian passenger vehicle. The ride has a pretty decent quotient of retro-styled cool, with a carbon-fiber body intended to evoke the ’63 split-window Stingray, and it opens up like a clamshell in a manner reminiscent of the Saab Aero X concept. Keep an eye on this build–it looks like it’s going to be pretty cool when it’s done. More pics below the jump, and check out Wired to read more.

Continue reading "What's Next: Hydraulic Hybrid Technology For Passenger Cars" »

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

The two Matts guessed correctly again last week, plus Evan. So who goes home this week? First three CarDomain members to correctly guess who gets eliminated in episode four before the show airs get CarDomain beanies!

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

Watch as diesel torque meets hopelessly stuck object. Man, poor little Cherokee.

Via Jalopnik.

By Ron Honig

WaytooFurious

Take a close look at this picture. No, it’s not some crazy piece of artwork. Sadly it is just one of many pictures that show new cars from around the world that remain unsold. My friend Dale sent me an email which has been doing the rounds, showing pictures of new cars being held in storage by various manufacturers. And I thought I had problems storing three cars at home! More pics after the jump.

Continue reading "New Car Overload" »