By Speedhunters

Car Culture At Large

Having posted a few R35 GT-R features so far I thought it would be interesting to see how the most affordable supercar on the planet is actually put together. It’s not often that manufacturers let you wander around their production lines, but Nissan has nothing to hide and gave us an in depth tour of how a car of this caliber comes together.

It all begins at the Yokohama plant, where the mighty VR38DETT is put together. The GT-R’s engine couldn’t have been assembled in a better place as this is where the RB26 and S20 engines of the two previous generations of GT-Rs were made. Away from the automated production lines where the MR motors are built, destined for use on smaller Nissan and Renault vehicles, is a separate climate and humidity controlled room. This is where a team of takumi or “specialist” skilled workers create the most powerful production car engine Nissan has ever built. Continue reading at Speedhunters

By Dino Dalle Carbonare

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

This is one of the more disturbing images I’ve seen come out of Cash for Clunkers debacle. Via VWVortex

By Mike Musto

RideLust.com

Day three of our excursion across this great land has come to an end. Johnny and I left from Pontoon Beach, IL en-route to Topeka, KS to meet up with some friends from one of my favorite message boards, www.dodgecharger.com. We gathered a group of around five cars on the Missouri/Kansas border and proceeded to make the 75 mile run to Topeka.

Continue reading after the jump!

Continue reading "Angry Goes West: Day 3" »

By Jim Brennan

UDMan

Yesterday marked the last day of production at the General Motors Delaware assembly plant. The 62-year-old factory was a victim of the automaker’s restructuring that has claimed tens of thousands of jobs and will close or idle 14 plants in the next three years. GM has stated when they filed for bankruptcy protection that the Boxwood Road plant would be shut down by the end of July. This is the place where the Kappa Roadsters were built, in the form of the short lived Pontiac Solstice, Saturn Sky, and they even exported them as the Opel GT. It was reported that the members of the Pontiac Solstice and Saturn Sky car clubs visited the plant to pay their respects to the manufacturer that produced their beloved cars.

Continue reading after the jump!

Continue reading "Short Term Memories: the Pontiac Solstice and Saturn Sky say Goodbye" »

By Rich Truesdell

Automotive Traveler

Aston Martin is one of Britain’s most prestigious and historic car companies, forever linked to Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels, surviving the 70′s after a close call with receivership, and prospering under the guidance of the Ford Motor Company. It is now again a proper British Motorcar producer, the marque owned by private investment firms based in Britain and Kuwait, with a future that is challenged given today’s economic climate.

At the 2009 Geneva Auto Salon, Aston Martin decided to dust off their Lagonda nameplate with a particularly garish concept that sent the Aston Martin faithful into a state of apoplexy. Is this concept really just another luxury crossover, arguably one with a historic name, or is it the taste of things to come from Dr. Bez and the team that has guided the marque through its current renaissance? With that being said I thought it was time to re-introduce you to the last vehicle that wore this prestigious badge: Introducing the 1976 to 1989 Aston Martin Lagonda Saloon.

Read more about the Aston Martin Lagonda at Automotive Traveler.

By David Clarke

highspeedhijinks

Since I’ve been into cars I’ve run across many people who needed my help with one thing or another. A jump start, a spare tire change, or a push to the nearest gas station. Most of these people have been friends of mine. But have you ever helped a stranger in need of automotive assistance?

By Alex Vickers

Katakuna

I’m only seventeen, yet I’ve gone through my fair share of cars over the last few years. My first car was a 1994 Ford Thunderbird LX with a 4.6L V8, sunroof, faded black paint, perfect interior, and enough grunt to make small Hondas think twice. At 200,000+ miles, it ran like a champ, but personal reasons caused me to sell it back to the previous owner.

Continue reading after the jump!

Continue reading "How Many Cars Have You Gone Through?" »

By John Coyle

Deputy Editor

When Chris Bangle was busy wrecking the rear ends of everything in BMW’s stable, there were plenty of terms I associated with the company, and none of them were as kind as “cute.”  But this ad for the new 5 Series Gran Turismo is just that, and I got a real kick out of it. Of course, I don’t like it as much as the “You Know You’re Not the First” spot they did a little while back…

By John Naderi

StreetFire.net

Went to Southern California’s El Toro military base today to check out the three-car Fiesta effort that Ford is hucking into this year’s X Games Rally. Normally this event is a Subaru-only affair with a light dusting of Mitsu Evo for good measure. Ford hopes to change things up at this annual super special that historically features an all-STI podium. Ford’s blend of Fiesta Rallycross cars and drivers could do the trick. Hit the jump to see a video of Tanner Foust’s car in action as well as some pics of the other drivers going for X glory.

Continue reading "Ford Fie-Xsta" »

By Dan Strohl

Hemmings

We hate to see things like this happen. Mike Gomez, of Glendale, Arizona, recently wrote to us looking for help locating a straight body for his Mustang. Why? We’ll let him tell the story:

Thirty some years ago I came to own my first 69 Mustang, little did I know how unique a car I had. It was a 428 Mach 1 Cobra Jet 4 speed with a 9″ positraction rear end, power steering, power brakes and tilt steering wheel. I bought the car from my cousin when he got too many tickets and his Dad made him sell it. I had the car for about three years, then got married and sold it to buy my first house. I’ve owned many other cars that today are worth a fortune, who knew that they would go up in value so much.

Well, years passed and I always regretted selling the Mustang so I made a decision with my Wife, Sheri, to get a project car. She found a 69 Mustang on the Internet back in Illinois and we bought the car looking only at the pictures on the Internet. That is the last time I’ll do that!

Continue reading this story and watch a news report about this terrible incident over at Hemmings.