Remember slot cars? I've been obsessed since I was a little kid, and I think it's time to pick up a new track. Hey, I can't spend all my money at the bar. Here's the news:
- The idea of hydrogen-powered vehicles seems pretty promising. But a pilot program to run busses in Santa Clara off the future-fuel has been pretty disappointing. And by disappointing, I mean, really, really expensive. Auto Observer
- Memorial services have been arranged for famed hot rod builder Boyd Coddinigton. If you're in SoCal, you can swing by his shop and pay your respects. Hopefully, the garage will continue to produce beautiful cars. Godspeed Boyd! AutoWeek
- Honda is recalling more than a quarter million TLs. Turns out excessive heat in the engine compartment can cause a power steering hose to fail, leak fluid on to the catalytic converter and start a fire. I thought Lambos and Ferrari's were the only cars supposed go up in flames. Detroit News
- The automotive press has a big, fat crush on Chevy's new Malibu, and rightly so. But is the hybrid option worth it? Some reviewers don't think so. Washington Post
While workers at American Axel are being asked to cut their wages in half—in half!—Bill Ford Jr. is flip-flopping on his promise to not draw a salary until Ford is profitable. Of course, maybe the guy deserves a break—it might have been tough growing up as the pampered scion of an American automotive dynasty. But it probably wasn't. What does he need the money for anyway? He already gets free cars, and you can buy a house in the Motor City for pocket change. Is he looking to pick up a Veyron or something? Verdict: WEAK!
It’s funny how seeing a car in real life can change your perspective on it. I had only ever seen Elfins in magazines and on the net, and hadn't really paid much attention to them. However, I have to admit that they're pretty impressive in person. Elfin has been producing cars in Australia for almost 50 years. Their current offerings are the Clubman (below) and the Streamliner. The Clubman really caught my attention. Powered by a 5.7 litre OHC 16 valve V8, it produces 245 kw (329 hp) which runs through to a 6-speed manual gear box. And weighing in at a mere 900 kg, the car has a very decent power-to-weight ratio. What's more, Elfin is quite happy to do custom jobs, and produced this interesting version of its Streamliner for the No Fear Company.
On the ride page he constructed this very morning, Ryan nicknamed his new smart fortwo "death-trap." Given that the dude spent two seasons racing motorcycles, and survived owning a vicious GSX-R1000, I can't really believe he expects this ride will hasten his demise. But hey, it's a cool name. Right now Ryan is planning to tint the windows, and has floated the idea of installing four-piston Brembo calipers for doing stoppies. Given the guy changes cars more often than most people change their oil, everyone here is curious to see what he thinks of the little smart. Have fun man, and keep us posted!
CarDomain member Freesol, who managed to get both his custom Solstice and his son into The Fast and the Furious 4 after hearing about the casting call right here in the blog, has passed along this video footage filmed at the set. You get some nice views of a lot of the cars, including the Solstice, that are involved in the opening funeral scene—watch for them taking off as they leave the set! At the website hosting this video, you'll also see some stills from the set of Vin Diesel hanging around, and Paul Walker looking especially spiffy, but nothing more on the cars. Enjoy!
Editor's note: Mozilla Firefox users, try this version of the video. The original sometimes won't play unless you're running Explorer.
We got a ton of funny submissions for last week's contest, but hey, not everyone can win. After careful editorial review, we had to go with Paul Morrison's submission. Congrats man, we're sending you out a great big bag of CarDomain swag! Check out what Paul wrote after the jump, and if you didn't win, don't despair! You've got a whole week to come up with a zinger for this shot. Just know, any submissions playing off the whole "stick a fork in it..." theme will dismissed immediately. That's just too easy. So think of something more original, and post it in the comments section—make sure to leave your contact info—by the end of the day Thursday, March 6th. We'll announce the winner the next afternoon. Good luck!
Continue reading "Caption Contest: We Have a Winner!" »
It’s interesting, the surprises that can come your way at a car show. I've never considered Skoda to be a world conqueror when it comes to making cars, and I approached their stand thinking I would give them a quick once over and move on. I have now realized that if I was looking for a small or midsized car I would have to give them serious consideration. The car that impressed me most goes by the endearing name of the Roomster, and it actually is pretty different from most of the small cars available in Australia. Boasting a total of 6 airbags, it also has ESP (Electronic Stability Program) which includes ABS, EBD (Electronic Brake-Force Distribution) and ASR (Acceleration Slip Regulation). With the choice of a fuel-sipping 1.6 litre petrol or 1.9 litre diesel engine, it really does have everything that you could want in a small car. It looks like Volkswagen’s money has been well spent.
As promised, I'm at the Melbourne Motor Show this week. As soon as I got in I made a beeline for the one car that I had to see at this year's show: the Bolwell Nagari. Australia's Bolwell produced only about 800 cars in the 60’s and 70’s, and I was left wondering if the legend was ‘bigger’ than the car. But the redesigned Nagari did not disappoint. Unlike other car makers that have hopped on the retrostyling bandwagon, Bolwell designed the Nagari as a breed apart from its 20th-century predecessors. With its supercar lines, it doesn't actually bear much resemblance to the original Nagari at all; the old and the new share only a name and a basic body style. The new Nagari has all the updated internals like a fully independent suspension and power-assisted ABS. And powered by a 3.5 litre, all-alloy V6, with an optional supercharger, it's a thoroughly upgraded in the power department as well—it really is a wolf in sheep's clothing. Go below the jump for some more views.
Continue reading "Melbourne Motor Show: Wolf In Sheep's Clothing" »
Dawn has owned a total of five 1969 Camaros in her life, and it looks like she's built a heck of an amazing ride out of all those cars—among other things, she's swapped the engine, gutted the interior, and had some truly gorgeous metal-flake sprayed. She calls it a "Z/28 Tribute Car," which I think means it wasn't badged a Z/28 when it came off the assembly line but has since been equipped with all the trim and internals of one. In any case, she seems pretty stoked on it—fantastic job, Dawn!
John Buscema of XV Motorsports was pretty surprised when he learned that one of the Challengers he built would appear in a Louis Vuitton ad. Turns out Louis Vuitton had seen the Challenger he sold to artist Richard Prince while it was on display in a museum in London. So now you can see it in the current issues of Vogue and Elle. Apparently Louis Vuitton has a whole series with models lying on American muscle cars. Hope they didn't mess up the paint.
The Honda Civic was voted "most mod friendly car" two years running in our People's Choice Awards, so I guess you guys really hate hybrids. Either that or you really love the TDI. Cause the poor Civic Hybrid only got two votes in our latest Showroom Showdown. Even a Civic owner voted for the VW. Oh well. The Jetta is a pretty cool car. And I guess it doesn't hurt to have a kick ass race series, too.
Post your ideas for new week's match up! If I use it (and you leave me some way to contact you) I'll send you a CarDomain t-shirt!
CarDomain member artie99 spent yeserday at the IIHS crash test facility in Ruckersville, Virginia. The photo below is of a 2008 Chevy Malibu waiting for the side impact test (it did pretty well). Be sure to go to page 5 of Brian's '67 Impala ride page for a full writeup and a ton of cool pics. He even got some video of the Malibu being smashed! Nice work, man!
Edmunds just started up a little fantasy car stock exchange game. Basically, you buy and sell stock in upcoming models--their value is based on predicting U.S. sales figures. You start off with a cool $1 million. It's kind of cool. They don't have a lot of models to choose from right now, but will be adding more. I'm waiting for the G8 to IPO. For the time being, I bought a bunch of stock in the EVO, and seem to be doing ok so far.
