Well, we've been at this contest for a week, and we've gotten some great submissions. I was pretty entertained by Christopher's write up about his raggedy Malibu, though I'll have to check with our legal department about the fact that he still owes money on the car. Mark has kept his Grand AM spic and span, and I really like how the painted dash came out. Nice work man! It was also cool to see that someone who's put so much work into his Scion was willing to trade it for our project. Chris, you've done an awesome job with your xB! There's still plenty of time left, so keep those submissions coming in guys! Remember, you can't win if you don't enter!
One of the complaints we've had about Koenigseggs is that the base models just don't have enough power. That's why everyone at CarDomain will be glad to see the release of the CCX and CCXR versions. Finally, the company is going to deliver some cars with a little bit of pep! In all seriousness, I thought it was interesting that the biofuel-powered CCXR bests its more conventional sister's 245MPH top speed. Sure, it's by only five MPH, but that's still pretty cool. CNet has more details.
These Cubes were spotted at the Pratt Institute in New York, where they are being modified for the New York Auto Show in May. Still no word on when exactly these cool little cars will land at Nissan dealers. More over at Jalopnik.
I've never understood what's so difficult about staying on your own side of the road. Yet every year, hundreds of thousands of motorists insist on veering into the oncoming lane, causing horrendous carnage and maiming and killing themselves and others. A good portion of these people, it turns out, are asleep. The NHTSA reports an estimated 100,000 sleep-related crashes a year in the US, and in a terrifying poll on msnbc, at last count, 64% of respondents reported having fallen asleep at the wheel. Apparently it's not bad enough that our roads are full of idiotic drivers—now it turns out that we can't even count on them to be conscious. Ugh. Enter Saab and Volvo, ever at the forefront of automotive safety, now developing eye- and face-scanning devices to monitor and correct driver drowsiness. Forbes Autos reports that Saab's driver-inattention package will use a pair of infrared cameras to monitor eye movement, and a dashboard display that chimes and flashes a series of increasingly severe warnings each time the eyelids slip closed. Moreover, the driver's seat will sternly vibrate if the system notices the driver's head oriented toward anything other than the "primary attention zone." Volvo takes a gentler approach, monitoring the vehicle's movement in relation to lane markers and cheerfully warning the driver with an icon of a steaming cup of coffee any time the vehicle leaves its lane without signaling. I really don't know if this is all going to be enough to thwart the most ambitiously sleepy drivers; maybe electric shocks would do a better job.
By Jason
Marketing Lackey
As a person with little regard for my own safety, I was saddened by the news that Evel Knievel died. Now for the news:
- I'm not sure I could see myself commuting in this solar powered car: Winding Road
- WRC rally car racing may be returning to the U.S. of A! FIA wants to run a regional competition in North America next year: Autoweek
- I can't wait to see what Lewis Hamilton does on the Top Gear track in the reasonably priced car challenge: BBC
- GM is set to lose $1 BEEEELLLLION this year, but says it will break even next year and show a profit in 2009: DetNews
Evel Knievel pulled a lot of insane stunts during his career as a daredevil—including a failed jump of the fountains at Caesar's Palace which left him comatose for 29 days—but perhaps the most improbable stunt he pulled was living to be a senior citizen. In a world full of fake bad-asses, he was the real deal. Godspeed Evel—we'll miss you! For more info, see the Associated Press obit.
A manufacturing plant in California jointly owned by Toyota and GM has been accused of intentionally ignoring defects in the vehicles that rolled off its assembly line. The plant, which produces the Toyota Matrix/Pontiac Vibe, along with the Toyota Corolla and Tacoma pickup, may have deep-sixed evidence of defects in crucial safety features including brakes and seatbelts, and then retalliated against the whistleblower, a plant employee and certified auditor. The case may be getting a shot in the arm by a new lawsuit against Toyota, which alleges that a Corolla's seatbelt failed during a firey wreck, sticking closed and trapping the plaintiff's elderly father, who subsequently burned to death. See Leftlane News and CNN Money for more.
My buddy Jeff (AKA OzHemi) is making great progress with his Retro Rides Camaro (a '69 Camaro with a '99 drivetrain, dash, wiring, etc.). He just finished doing the hide-away headlights. The '69 used a vacuum system from the factory, but there was no room for it all with the '99 inner structure, so Jeff built his own electric setup, using motors from a '67 RS. It took some time to get everything mounted properly and to sort out the wiring, but it works like a champ. Check out this video of the headlights in action!
My dad's in Turkey and he just sent me this shot of what looks to be a '65 Galaxie vert parked out on the streets of Istanbul. It's always cool to see old Detroit iron halfway around the world. Nice whitewalls!
Left Lane News is reporting that the 'Cuda we spotted in the Mopar booth at SEMA is going to be auctioned off at Barrett Jackson in January. Somehow I'm guessing the owner of the car won't recoup his costs on this one--a rather spendy one-off with a body made entirely of carbon fiber. Hope he had fun!
But a good time waster if you don't have carpal tunnel. Post your high score!
MoparRob07 just uploaded this 1970 Charger commercial, and it totally cracked me up. Why didn't we see any spots like this for the new one?
Yesterday, I caught a little bit of crap in the comments for salivating over some of the wicked rides members have entered into the Trade for our Scion Contest. Apparently, you guys want to see our Scion project go to someone with a ride that isn't white-hot, and I'm sympathetic to that school of thought. But around here, they don't even let me decide what I eat for lunch, much less anything important, so while I focused on some humbler rides for this round, I can't make any promises. Victor's Saturn jumped out at me because he's nicknamed it "DeathTrap," Brian's "Probelem" cracked me up, and Twisted had me at "all paint work done with Duplicolor rattle cans." Honorable mention goes to Philip's 1994 Plymouth Acclaim, a car only Jen could get excited about. No offense y'all. For the record, I just wanted to remind everyone that the Scion doesn't have much space in the rear seating area—check out the pic below. Keep those submissions coming in guys! Remember, you can't win if you don't enter!
Why would anyone plaster their Cadillac with 5000 bent silver spoons... unless they were charlatan-magician Uri Geller, who reportedly has utensils to spare? AutoMotto wisely points out some of the practical concerns such a vehicle would surely present to its owner, like remembering that you're supposed to be taking it to the dishwasher instead of the carwash. We're going to have to second our buddy eric on this one: take it to Burning Man!
By Jason
Marketing Lackey
The California Fuel Cell Partnership welcomed Chrysler into the fold, giving it a total of 34 organizations and nine car makers. It looks like things are going well for fuel cell technology, in Cali at least. Now for the news:
- Bad news hits GM again. The new K.I.T.T is going to be a Ford: Winding Road
- On the brighter side, the General is still doing big things in India, opening its first design shop there: DetNews
- OnStar is coming to China. Does that mean the government doesn't think enough of the technology behind it to slap an export restriction on it? Jalopnik
- Tesla looks to be focused on getting their stuff together, begining with a new CEO: Motor Authority
SEMA is reporting that while gas prices have caused car enthusiasts to cut back on their driving a bit, gas prices would have to go quite a bit higher before most enthusiasts decided to start cut back spending on their cars. How do you guys feel? More at SEMA news.
