By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

Penske cited “concerns directly related to the future supply of vehicles beyond the supply period it had negotiated with GM.” GM then announced plans to shut down the brand. Full story at the New York Times

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

Yow…

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

Thanks to Brayden for the tip! In case it disappears, I’ve pasted the text from the Craigslist ad after the jump!

Continue reading "Wild Custom 1963 Ford Galaxy 500 on Craigslist" »

By Brian Lohnes

BangShift.com

Our quest for answers regarding a long-forgotten race series that featured massive big-rig trucks on asphalt and dirt ovals started with a thread on the Bangshift.com forum section. One of our members posted a bunch of photos from a big-rig dirt track race back in the 1980s. That triggered a synapse deep in our brain and sent us off on a quest for answers. We found most of them. Continue reading at BangShift.com

By Ben Schaffer

The Real JDM

Really Japan? Has this what it has come to? All tuning news and innovation coming out of Japan seems to be either R35 GT-R or Prius/Insight. The rest of the tuning scene has very little news coming out. Can we get a little variety please? I’m already holding back on some GT-R blog posts because we have so many as it is, thats the big news these days.

Although you’ll find me being a huge supporter and fan of the R35 GT-R tuning scene, the Prius tuning scene is a bit different for me.

Dont get me wrong, I really respect the Prius (and Insight) for what they are (nature saving, efficient and affordable daily drivers). In fact I wouldnt be opposed to getting a Prius for a daily driver and if I did I’d probably be looking at one of these two companies for modifications (and Top Secret as a great third option for more simple lip kits). There is absolutely nothing wrong with the Prius and absoultely nothing wrong with making it look cool and perhaps even improving aerodynamics for better performance and economy (although these two probably worsen rather than improve Cd).

Continue reading after the jump!

Continue reading "Tommy Kaira and ASI Prius" »

By Speedhunters

Car Culture At Large

I’m still recovering from my first American Le Mans Race, and a strange race it was. Luckily I was there for a few days, so enjoyed the practice and qualifying before the ‘Trèz-Petit’!

One of the most impressive things about the weekend was seeing how the Patron Highcroft race team built up a new race car after Scott Sharp destroyed the original during practice (above, with Radio Le Mans commentary). It was one of the biggest accidents I’ve ever seen and it’s a testament to today’s safety standards that he walked away.

The car was completely destroyed and ended up back at the pits on two trucks! Only 10% of the parts were salvageable. A new tub was sent from California overnight and the mechanics built up the car during the course of Friday, amazingly ready for warm-up on Sunday morning. The mechanics looked shattered by the end of it. See a great time lapse video of the rebuild after the jump!

By Andy Blackmore

Continue reading "Acura Destroy and Build" »

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

This concept to be unveiled next month at the Tokyo Motor Show is an EV, but honestly, I don’t care what powertrain they put in it. I’m a sucker for well-executed retro and this brings back all the cool elements of the N600. Honda, please build this! More pics at Jalopnik

By Mike Musto

RideLust.com

The Dodge Challenger has been out for almost two years now and the response has been nothing short of spectacular. The Dodge boys hit the nail on the head when they took the essence of the 1970 Challenger and re-sculpted it into the new modern form we know today. Customizers were quick to jump on it, putting their own personal touches on Dodge’s beautiful design. In fact, last year at SEMA, there were no fewer than fifty custom Challengers present.

Located in New Rochelle, NY, Proformance Industries is a company that is quietly making a name for themselves by crafting and manufacturing some of the coolest one-off wheels to ever roll on pavement. You see the owner, George Gjokaj, is a certified car nut. And I’m not talking about a little hazelnut here. The man is a master of mechanical thought and implementation. One of his new creations is the 2009 Dodge Challenger you see here. Oh, and by the way, this particular Challenger was commissioned by Mariano Rivera of the New York Yankees. You know, the guy who’s considered to be the greatest closer in baseball history.

Continue reading after the jump!

Continue reading "Proformance Industries Dodge Challenger" »

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

This travesty was commissioned by Infiniti Canada to commemorate Infiniti’s 20th anniversary. Sadly, that’s paint, not a wrap… Via Motor Authority

By Fireball Tim

Movie Car Design Master

Everyone loves concepts. New cars that come out reflecting wild visions of future rides, future hot rods you want to build and concept art from film. But why?

We all want to be “inspired.” Being inspired leads us to action. The best kind of action. And in action, we create and manifest our lives in positive ways.

I get tons of emails from car people showing me their latest rides and concepts. That inspires me to always push the envelope. You guys keep “me” going. With our day in and day out lives, our only true escape is imagination. It’s why we like going to movies, watching “good” TV and socializing. Ideas make us use our imaginations creatively, then we work out plans to make those visions real. And the best part is that we share it in lots of ways. But they arent’ just cars.

We are all designers of sorts. You can design a weekend, a trip to Europe, a canyon run, clothing, an evening dinner. We draw, build, go to car shows, create, watch what we hope will be something good at the movies, just plain have fun to use our imaginations and build “our lives.” Something to make them better.My hope is that my books help to do that for you.

These books give a bit of background as to how cars for film are envisioned. But since it costs so much to buy things nowadays, I decided to create ebooks so that everyone could have them cheaply. Super cheap. They cover designs for “Gone in 60 Seconds,” “Batman,” “Green Hornet”and even Weapons like the H2Obliterator and the EMOdistruptor. I’ll keep ‘em coming as long as you guys want them. Check ‘em out and let me know what you think.