By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

Boutique builders Faralli & Mazzanti will be putting out exactly ten of the exotic Vulca S–a 630 hp, 5.8L V10-powered sport coupe. Each of the cars will be hand-built to customer specs, with a bonus–owners-to-be are afforded the opportunity to stay in the F&M villa in Italy to oversee the entire production of their vehicle. That can’t be cheap! Design-wise, the Vulca S is a creature that you either love or hate. Personally, I’m kind of digging the 80′s-Monte-Carlo-esque fender curves, the little rounded-off boat-tail, and the hints of Chrysler Crossfire and Kaiser Darrin, but I’m not sure the whole package really comes together the way it’s supposed to. See more pics below the jump, and read more at Wired.

Continue reading "Ridiculously Rare Vulca S: Hot in a Weird Way, or Weird in a Hot Way?" »

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

Y’all are all just such a bunch of cut-ups. And this week, though we didn’t make it easy for you, you came up with some cracks that just about had us in tears. Uncharacteristically, this week’s winner was a dialogue–this one by bbccaprice89 had the whole staff LOLing:

“Hey Jethro!” “Yes, Jed.” “Think it’s eligible for them clunker laws?” “No, jed, but maybe it’s eligible for one them heat’n credits.”

Haw, haw! Great job, bbccaprice89–PM me with your address so I can send you your swag. Nice work all around–stay tuned for the next installment in our woodenly popular Caption Contest!

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

My Concord is the lucky recipient of the first CarDomain staff parking ticket since our HQ moved to Fremont! In yesterday’s poll, none of you predicted it–which is good, because now that I’m 38 bucks in the hole, I can’t afford to send anyone a T-shirt. The thing is, the Concord might look nondescript, but when it’s amidst a sea of Obama-stickered Priuses and biodiesel-sipping TDI Jetta wagons, a weird old red-blooded American car stands out like a turd in a punchbowl. Add to that a hostile local populace who’d give up their last bite of organic fair-trade wheatgrass risotto to see such a car get tagged, and you’ve got the perfect storm. Today, my luck ran out.

Continue reading "Fremont Day Four: The Concord Takes One For The Team" »

By Mike Musto

RideLust.com

I’m not going to lie: sometimes being me has some distinct advantages, as I am one of the few people that gets to do what they really love–I get to play with cars. Case in point–last week I received a phone call from a good buddy of mine asking me if I was available for a 2-day quickie road trip to Bowling Green, KY to help drive his new brand 2009 Corvette ZR1 1100 miles home to Long Island, NY. Um, yeah… I’m available for that!

Continue reading "Corvette ZR1: You've hit the MOTHER LODE!" »

By David Wallens

Grassroots Motorsports

I’ve taken the Mini Cooper to various local gatherings and cruise-ins, but never a formal car show. Today I mailed in my entry for the Winter Park All-British Car Show, which takes place April 4 in Orlando. I have been there before to watch, but never as an actual participant. Guess that means I need to get the car ready for its first actual show. Anyone have some tips?

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

As more and more major automakers jump on the Prius bandwagon, expect mainstream hybrids to get smaller and cheaper. Nissan’s been showing off its JDM electric Cube and toying with the idea of bringing it stateside, while Hyundai, the quintessential cheap-car producer, is debuting its own hybrid “Blue-Will” at the Seoul Motor Show. It’s funny that just a few years ago, proto-green rides like GM’s EV1 and the first-gen Honda Insight spooked consumers by being too petite. But today, the exploding popularity of the smart car and the horde of startup companies showcasing pocket-sized EVs have beaten a path to consumer acceptance of the “small is beautiful” credo. Meanwhile, Honda’s revamped Insight hybrid, while appearing to be a Prius copycat, will be a couple of inches smaller than its competitor in both height and length, and will undercut Toyota’s iconic hybrid by several thousand dollars–the Insight can be had for under $20K. Toyota, rattled by the Prius-killing potential of this development, has responded by announcing a new “dedicated” hybrid based on the ultra-econo Yaris subcompact platform. Suddenly small is the new black, and it kind of makes you wonder if this race to the bottom is going to make a stillborn out of GM’s comparatively chunky, $35-$40K Volt–but with all the problems in Detroit, maybe that issue is moot. Stay tuned.

By Speedhunters

Car Culture At Large

After a few years of concepts and teasing, including the black prototype seen in the photo below, it looks like Toyota is finally ready to reveal the production version of the Lexus LF-A supercar at this year’s Tokyo Motor Show. With the current troubles in the auto industry, there has been some doubt over the future of this car, but it’s nice to know that Toyota has remained committed to the project. In addition to the production LF-A, it’s also been rumored that Toyota will show a version of the FR coupe that it’s building with the help of Subaru.

The 2009 Tokyo Motor Show is going to be much smaller and shorter than past shows, but it’s looking like there might be some excitement in the Toyota booth this October.

-Mike Garrett

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

These just broke loose on the interwebs. Looks pretty hot to me. Two more after the jump. Via Jalopnik

Continue reading "First Pics of the Tesla Model S Sedan Concept!" »

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

We ran a little poll earlier this week, asking you guys which pony car looks best. The Challenger was the clear winner, with 50% of the vote. The Camaro came in second, with 41%. And the Mustang was left miles behind, with just 9% of the vote. Congrats to Ma Mopar!

By Chris Bicknell

Bick66

Last night I sat down to make a list of all the vehicles I’ve owned, and I found the number had grown to 17. And of course, since I don’t have unlimited space, I’ve sold a few along the way. The reasons for letting each one go are varied, and it’s not like I regret the loss of every vehicle I ever posted on Craigslist or put in the Auto Trader. But there’s a few, like my ’75 Firebird, that I still dream about on a daily basis. Unless you’re like Jen, who still owns every car she ever bought, you’ve probably had a car or two get away from you as well. What car do you regret selling, and why’d you give it up in the first place?

Follow the jump to see some more of the cars that got away from me.

Continue reading "What Car Do You Regret Selling?" »