By John Coyle

Deputy Editor

When I saw the styling of the 2010 Lotus Evora, I wasn’t thrilled. In fact, I was nauseated. Since the Elise and the Exige are such magnificently sexy cars, I was expecting the new 2+2 to be hotter than Hell in August. And the Evora is not. Even though my head nearly sticks out the top of the track-ready Elise, I’d happily drive one every day. Maybe I’m just turned off by the idea of a “civilized” Lotus? In my opinion, they should be small and sparse and not have radios—what’s the point of adding leather and another two seats? But you know what they say about opinions… Watch this first drive and form yours.

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

Hey, I can’t say it any better than the guys who built the K9 Camaro ride page!

The Sacramento Sheriff K9 Association recently restored a 2002 B4C package CHP commercial enforcement vehicle into a Sheriff’s K9 vehicle. We changed the hood, rims, and color scheme to black and white. We added LED’s all over including the hood scoop. The vehicle is a fully functioning patrol car with radio and in car computer system. The K9 can actually ride in the back! To see more pics or to check out our dogs in action visit our website www.SSDK9.com

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

And now it’s orange. Check out MR’s ride page for all the pics!

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

Here’s a random conversion for you: some guy in Texas is selling a ’79 T-top ‘Vette that’s been converted to right hand drive. Why? Reasons for the conversion are left unspecified. All the seller tells us is that he got the car from “a large collection” in Colorado, the conversion kit came from Australia, and between himself and the previous owner, $80K has been dumped into the project. And now, after all that, he’s trying to foist this right-hand weirdmobile on a left-handed public. I hope he gets some interest from over the pond, because I doubt he’s going to get what he thinks it’s worth from the American market. Check out the auction here.

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

Yeah, I know, I didn’t do a Showroom Showdown this week. But Car and Driver just did a comparo between the 2010 Chevrolet Camaro V-6 LT and the 2010 Hyundai Genesis coupe 3.8 V-6. The Camaro won by a hair. Read the article and then tell us what you think!

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

So what do you think of this crazy gold M5 on Jalopnik? And did Vivid Racing beat Russia to the punch with the gold 7-series they ran in Gumball? More pics after the jump!

Continue reading "Gold M5" »

By Brian Lohnes

BangShift.com

This week we head up north, way the hell up north, to the permafrost of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. We scouted out a beautiful, big-block powered, 1971 Chevelle wagon that is the perfect mix of family hauler and hot rod bruiser.

Personally, we’d knock and inch or few out of the ride height, probably with some goodies from Air Ride, and we’d probably swap out the wheels, but the aluminum-headed 454 would stay put and roast tires all day long.

The car that the project started with sounds like it was a cream puff. Only 39,00 original miles, all the factory glass, and the original 12-bolt rearend all point to a car that lived a decent first life before being turned into a hot rod.

Fire up the money conversion calculator and start crunching numbers. Wherever you live, it would be a hell of a road trip home.

Go here to see the ad.

By Speedhunters

Car Culture At Large

A while back I met up with the guys from Tein at their HQ just south of Tokyo to check out a car they had brought over from the US. At first glance the Tein Golf may look rather sedate, but there is a lot of work that has gone into creating it, starting with the custom wide-body conversion taken care by BRS AutoDesign. The idea was to build an extreme looking body, that would suit the street and track application of the GTI. Joining the one-piece widened front arches are the rear overfenders, which are riveted in place for that race-car look. BRS made everything out of FRP to help shave some weight from the car. Up front, the aggressive bumper lets the EuroCode intercooler get optimal air flow, not to mention providing plenty of cooling for the brakes thanks to the side openings. Continue reading at Speedhunters

By Dino Dalle Carbonare

By Dan Strohl

Hemmings

Yeah, I’ve been busting on Congress hard lately for their various attempts to pass a cash for clunkers program, and I will continue to do so either until it’s defeated or I expire. But a few representatives and senators do seem to understand and appreciate what the owners of classic and collector cars go through.

First, Senator John Tester, a Democratic Senator from Montana, who last month introduced Senate Resolution 97, which would declare June 1, 2009, as Collector Car Appreciation Day. The resolution would recognize “that the collection and restoration of historic and classic cars is an important part of preserving the technological achievements and cultural heritage of the United States” as well as the fact that automotive restoration “provides well-paying, high-skilled jobs for people in all 50 States.” Unfortunately, the resolution will likely die in committee before the proposed date of the event. Continue reading at Hemmings

By Ben Schaffer

The Real JDM

I don’t see this often…Impul introduced their tuning parts for the 370Z at the Tokyo Auto Salon show 5 months ago. The car included their usual lineup of tuning parts (bolt ons, wheels, brakes, suspension, full aero kit). However apparently I was not the only one not feeling their front bumper design. As a result, Impul seems to have ditched their original full bumper design and come up with an entirely new one! It seems incredibly wasteful to have done all of that design work just to start all over, yet I cant deny that the new front bumper is much better designed and flows better with the rest of their aero kit.

What do you all think about Impul’s changeup? More pics after the jump!

Continue reading "Impul Changes Their Z34 370Z Bumper Design" »