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July 14, 2009
GTbyCITROËN Concept Sounds Meaner than Possible
By John Coyle
Deputy Editor
Seeing the insane GTbyCITROËN concept rolling on the streets of London was pretty wild. But it that clip, you can’t hear how absolutely evil this thing sounds. Since the company hasn’t even decided who will provide the motivation for the 20 cars that will make it production, there’s no word on what’s providing the soundtrack here, but damn.
Breaking: Pontiac G8 to Live on as a Caprice, Built in Oshawa
By Jim Brennan
UDMan
Citing an informed and confidential source within GM’s executive ranks, Automotive Traveler has confirmed that not only will Pontiac’s highly regarded G8 sedan migrate to the Chevrolet brand, but it will be built in North America at GM’s Oshawa, Ontario plant.
Late this morning, Automotive Traveler learned through confidential sources at GM that the G8 (based on GM’s Global Zeta platform, a lighter, more efficient version on the chassis that currently underpins the G8) will be built in Oshawa, Ontario, right alongside it’s stable mate, the Chevy Camaro. We have learned that the new car will most likely be called the Caprice, and that it will be launched within 18 months, most likely at the start of the 2011 model year after Pontiac gets its last rites. Read more at Automotive Traveler.
IMV Films Spoofs Ken Block, Achieves Greatness
By John Coyle
Deputy Editor
It’s one thing to take a professional driver, an insane race machine, a closed airport and a giant crew to produce something like Ken Block’s amazing Gymkhana videos. But it’s another thing to do it with a beat up Subie, public roads, a bunch of fireworks, a doomed trailer, and your buddies. Of course, doing it the second way is completely illegal, and we can’t recommend anyone try, but IMV Films have, and it’s awesome. Driver Kyle Sarasin may not have Block’s drifting chops, but he might have him beat in the showmanship department. Bravo IMV Films, I hope you guys don’t wind up in jail.
Should Suzuki and Mitsubishi Withdraw from the US Market?
By Rob Einaudi
Editor-in-Chief
GM and Chrysler have been stealing all the headlines recently, but several foreign manufacturers are having a rough time, too. Just looking at June numbers, Mitsubishi sales are down 41% from last year, while Suzuki’s sales are down a whopping 78%. As a result, Yuuki Sakurai, chief executive of Tokyo-based Fukoku Capital Management Inc., is recommending that both carmakers “withdraw from the U.S.” He added that “it’s time for them to decide whether they pay a high price to continue business there or stop the bleeding.” Mitsubishi Motors President Osamu Masuko said, “We will never give up the U.S. market.”
What do you think? Should they stick it out and hope for better times, or get out? Bloomberg via Autoblog
Fireball's Top Ten Movie Vehicles for 2009
By Fireball Tim
Movie Car Design Master
We’re half way through 2009, and so far we’ve gotten some seriously cool vehicular contraptions coming from movies. Here’s the best of the best for the first part of the year. Not limited to cars, (’cause we like things that go fast) this list exposes the coolest speed demons and best speed characters that Hollywood has to offer. See the rest after the jump, and check out the bottom of the list for what’s coming in the second half of the year!
#10 TERMINATOR SALVATION BIKE OF DESTRUCTION
Continue reading "Fireball's Top Ten Movie Vehicles for 2009" »
A Ford RS200 History Lesson
By Speedhunters
Car Culture At Large
Speedhunters reader Adam D passed on this link to a fantastic collection of Rally videos on Youtube… As we just did a retrospective on Ford Rally cars, I chose these two videos on the history of the Ford RS200 to highlight. Cheesy canned music aside, these youtube videos are full of some great historical footage of this the RS200s. It’s good watching if you want to learn more about Ford’s rally program in the legendary Group B era.
By Rod Chong
LeMons: The Contender
Atomicalex
A SAAB 99 with a late 16valve swap was Team Trailing Throttle Oversteer’s only real competition for the Index of Effluency. Team Adopted by Jets fished the little beastie out of a field, and arrived with a few blades of grass still intact. The exhaust running up over the roof was a nice touch, but it wasn’t the afterburner they would have needed to catch us. Good work anyway, guys!
Meguiar's MotorEx 2009
By Ron Honig
WaytooFurious
Saturday was an interesting day for me. I went to the Meguiar’s MotorEx show in Sydney which is a celebration of all things automotive. Before I got to the show I was starting to wonder if it was all worthwhile. Firstly I had a 4:00 AM start to catch a plane halfway across the country. Then on the way to the airport I almost killed myself when I missed a turn because of blinding rain. This resulted in me skidding the Valiant sideways across an intersection, barely missing a group of trees before I managed to stop the car! I made my flight with about a minute to spare. But once I got to the venue and I saw this beauty I knew it was all worthwhile. You may have seen 32 three window coupes before, but not like this. Running a V12 from a 60′s GMC truck, this coupe has all it’s running gear mounted on a truck chassis. I loved it because it was so different. One more pic after the jump.
LeMons: Chard Beef Racing
Atomicalex
Ok, so I’m not sure where the Swiss chard was, but these guys and their BBQed beef car were in the paddock at the New England LeMons race for, like, ever. In fact, they were in the paddock for so long that they swapped two engines (they had three). Let me rephrase that: they did two engine swaps, which required three engines. At one point, they were wandering around asking if people knew other people with engines. The amount of effort these guys put out was incredible. They took home a prize for their work, and the respect of just about every person there who had ever turned a wrench.
The Bling, Please Make Them Stop
By Ron Honig
WaytooFurious
At the Meguiar’s show on Saturday I would have had to have been blind to miss this set of wheels. I have to say that I have never been into the whole bling thing with cars, it’s just not me. But I have to say that this was totally over the top. I mean what inspired this? Starry starry night? Guess the car and check it out after the jump.
