By John Coyle

Deputy Editor

Right now, I’m writing this from CarDomain’s Los Angeles’ office, and I have to say that all the swimming pools and movie stars are making it kind of hard to concentrate. The other thing that’s making it hard to concentrate? Catching the plane here involved getting up at 4:45, which was as brutal as it sounds. But at least the interior of Virgin America’s planes are soothing. Anyway, enough of my blathering , let’s get down to business. This week’s winner is Russjon, who came up with; “When I said Parallel parking this is not exactly what I had in mind!” Bravo, buddy! Tune in tomorrow for the next installment of our totally sleep-deprived Caption Contest!

By Antonio Alvendia

Antonio Alvendia

You don’t have to have a Harvard MBA to realize that “more” is the four-letter word that drives the exotic supercar market. More power. More speed. More sex appeal. More exclusivity. And, let’s get real: when folks slide into the driver’s seat of an exotic, many of them wind up needing more room — for their egos. So what’s up with the latest-and-greatest Lamborghini Gallardo?

As its numeric designation indicates, the new 550-horsepower LP 550-2 Valentino Balboni gives up 10 ponies to the reigning mainstream model, the Gallardo LP 560-4. (Lucky you, if you’re in a tax bracket where a $233,000 car is mainsteam.) The 550-2 takes a couple tenths longer to sprint from zero to 62 mph (3.9 seconds vs. 3.7). The Baboni Gallardo even comes up short in the top speed department: 199 mph vs. a hair under 202 for the 560-4.

If this all sounds, well, backward, no one at Lamborghini will argue with you. If fact Valentino Balboni himself is the first to agree, because the car that bears his name is about going back — to basics. Basic, in this case, being rear-wheel-drive like the Countach and Miura.

Continue reading and view more photos at MOTORMAVENS.Com

By John Coyle

Deputy Editor

Normally, I’m not a fan of Hummers, but I think this one is pretty awesome. The six-wheel set-up looks great, and you have to love how the automatic door and wheelchair ramp give it a space ship vibe. The only other Hummer I can remember seeing with this treatment was the one spotted in Moscow, but that baby was security-focused, while this example is all about the bling. And while I know that the hydraulics are functional, I’d be down with them even if they weren’t.

By Dan Strohl

Hemmings

I recently made a bonsai one-week run through northern Ohio to attend an auction (more later) and gather a few photo shoots, and one of my stops was Best of Show’s showroom in Mentor. These guys have their act together, and they graciously let me use their in-house photo studio to shoot a couple cars that will appear in upcoming issues of Hemmings Muscle Machines. While in the studio, though, something caught my eye. Continue reading at Hemmings…

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

Last week Ryan and I got the chance to drive the new 370Z Roadster back to back with the NISMO 370Z in Northern California. And I’m not talking about a quick test drive around the block. I’m talking about several hundred miles on the twisty backroads near Santa Cruz. We flew down to San Jose, signed a waiver and the Nissan folks tossed us the keys, along with a suggested route which included a catered lunch and a place to swap cars. Is this a cool job or what?

Continue reading after the jump!

Continue reading "Driving the 370Z Roadster and NISMO 370Z in Northern California" »

By Fireball Tim

Movie Car Design Master

I like old cars. But not just ANY old cars. Concept Cars. Cars with vision. Visions of futures that never happened. It was the reason I like Tomorrowland at Disney and then became their Chief Designer in the late 80′s. But these cars were created with an intense vision that was unlike anything anyone had ever seem. And it influenced millions.

So, I set it upon myself to ask WHAT IF? What if we were to re-design the visions of tomorrow, but with a mind for today? And then, I got a little squirrly with it. Oops. The result? MOTORAMA MAYHEM!!!!

The bodies of the old ones are cool for sure. But nowadays, design is more than just form. It’s texture, color, light, purpose. We’re pretty advanced now, so movies like THE CRAWLING EYE don’t really cut it. Get my drift? I even took keys on these new versions from my Uncle Mike’s Hawker Sea Fury Racing Plane. He was a big cheese racer in the 60′s and won every race. (That’s ’cause the flames intimidated everyone…)

Motorama Shows of the 50′s inspired generations. Proposing what was next. But unfortunately, cars still don’t fly. They should… and will if I get a hold of ‘em.

Check it. MOTORAMA MAYHEM….

Continue reading "Fireball Asks… What If?" »

By Brian Lohnes

BangShift.com

For the past 26 years, Labor Day weekend has meant thousands of hot rods, customs, muscle cars, and street machines congregating at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa for the Orange County Cruisin’ Association’s annual Great Labor Day Cruise. This year’s 27th annual event did not disappoint with a show-n-shine, autocross, cackle fest, model car contest, live music, and more. BangShift.com’s man on the street was forum member Scott “Rebeldryver” Liggett in his 1965 Impala SS. Scott shot photos, took notes, and got us all the dirt while on the scene, and for his efforts earned our undying gratitude and some BangShift.com apparel.

The coolest thing about the Great Labor Day show is that it really is a weekend long family event with plenty of cruising, show cars, and music to keep you and your family entertained. And thanks to the fantastic facilities at the Orange County Fairgrounds, the event includes a huge campground area filled with tailgating barbecueing fools. Even with all the RVs, the fairgrounds offer great cruising, manufacturers midway, and even an autocross. This years event had more than 3,000 show cars in attendance for the three days, and all who attended enjoyed the always perfect southern California weather. Combine that with the OCCA’s well oiled car show running machine, sponsors like Barry’s Speed Shop, Global West, Magnaflow, Port-a-cool, Bendpack, and QA1, and you are almost guaranteed a successful show. If you didn’t make it out to this year’s show, put it on your calendar for 2010.

In the meantime, check out our gallery here.

By Speedhunters

Car Culture At Large

This BMW E21 belongs to Dieter Verboven, although you might remember his other car I featured back in March. Like his Lancia, the attention to detail on this build is top caliber and is definitely feature worthy during September’s BMW month. This isn’t the first BMW that Dieter has owned, before this one he had an E30 convertible. With the E30 he won several prizes, but because of the laws in Belgium, he didn’t had a lot of fun driving it on the open road. All cars need to be stock when taken to the garages for road permits, so the scope for performance modifications is limited. But this is not the case when your car is 25 years or older. So the plan was to look for another BMW that was older, and this E21 proved to be the perfect candidate. Continue reading at Speedhunters

By Jeroen Willemsen

By Jim Brennan

UDMan

Welcome to another installment of the CarDomain Obscure Muscle Car Parking Lot, a regular feature which aims to expand the definition of what a muscle car is, and to expand your mind while doing so. Avanti is an Italian word for forward, and was probably the perfect name for the newest Studebaker coupe that was introduced in the fall of 1962. The design had many design firsts that later became inspirational factors in future cars during the next two decades. Key features include a long hood and short deck, popularized by the Ford Mustang: grill-less front end, which was popularized a decade later with other performance oriented cars, a glass fastback rear, picked up for the Plymouth Barracuda, and other vehicles, as well as other styling touches, too numerous to mention here. Lets just say that when the Avanti was introduced, it looked like nothing else on the market. But is it a muscle car, and does it deserve a place in the parking lot?

Continue reading after the jump!

Continue reading "CarDomain Obscure Muscle Car Parking Lot: The 1963 – 64 Studebaker Avanti" »

By Tony Castellano

Tcassa

Hot rods were again on the agenda this past weekend here in London, with numerous hot rod and custom car events scattered around the city. But with so much choice, I found it near impossible to decide what show to attend! So I narrowed it down to location (the closer the better!) and made my way to a nice little pre-49 meet and greet. This event was more about quality then quantity, and as you can probably see by the photos, the rods were near spotless! Hi-Boys, Coupes, Buckets and even a Willys Woody were on display making it an all-round great show! Plenty of photos after the jump!

Continue reading "Pre-49 Jolly" »