By John Coyle

Editor

Rich from Automotive Traveler has been spending a lot of time in the broiling heat of Death Valley lately, and he's got more than sunburn to show for it. Last week, he caught a Mercedes 2010 E-Class undergoing hot weather testing, and earlier today, he spied heavily camoed CLK doing the same thing. Check out two more shots after the jump, and head over to Automotive Traveler to get the full scoop.

By John Coyle

Editor

Thought it sucks to see one of Modena's thoroughbreds mangled, you have to admit this picture is hilarious. And while the driver is certainly lucky—he escaped unscathed—luck has nothing to do with the members we're calling out this week. Our first runner-up is Ricey, who came up with; "You weren't kidding, reverse is a pain in the butt," and our second runner-up is Erik, who submitted; "Wait, these aren't my braking shoes!" But while those were both great, creative entries, Brandon brought the house down with; "Does this make my butt look big?" I mean, that's just funny. And by the way, the answer is yes, it does. Congrats to all who entered, tune in tomorrow for the next installment of our outrageously popular Caption Contest!

By John Coyle

Editor

This weekend is SeaFair, the Emerald City's annual celebration of summer. The festivities involve a performance by the Blue Angels, and right now their F-18 Hornets are practicing over the city. While I really, truly, love watching fighter planes, seeing these babies ripping up the skies over Seattle always makes me realize how terrifying it would be if they were hostile. Anyway, here's the news:

• Ferrari has denied that Michael Schmacher was behind the wheel during the recent wreck of a F430 prototype at the 'Ring, but there's no doubt that the van he was driving nailed a pedestrian on Sunday. The man wasn't seriously hurt, and Schmacher was reportedly pissed at him for getting in the way. Classy. Daily Mail via Jalopnik
• Now, on the surface, letting anyone who can pay take a high-powered sports car out on to the road unsupervised seems like a great idea. But after one of its rental 'Vettes smashed into a Dallas restaurant, the folks at Hertz might be able to point out some possible snags in that otherwise perfect plan. Winding Road
• High gas prices have caused SUV sales to stall—some dealers are even refusing to take them as trade-ins—but are these road monsters really dead? One writer seems to think so, and he couldn't be happier. San Francisco Chronicle
• While rubble from a Dallas restaurant is pretty unusual stuff to find in a rental car, this list of weird items forgotten upon return is awesome. A half pint of beer and an instructional CD called the art of Speed Seduction? That combination has success written all over it! CarScoop

By Ron

aka WayTooFurious

I have to say that I'm always surprised by the number of ads that you find on eBay and in car mags where owners are selling their cars because they have "lost interest" in their projects. I sometimes wonder why they've lost interest: was it because they realized that life isn’t like a TV show where your car gets restored in an hour, but can in fact take months or even years? Did it just suddenly stop being enjoyable and just became hard work? There are a couple of things that may help you keep your project alive. Before you even buy the car of your dreams, you should consider what will be involved. Will it be a cosmetic makeover or will you be doing a complete nut-and-bolt restoration? Will you be doing most of the work yourself or will you be farming it out? Once you set aside the emotion involved in buying your project and hit it with a dose of reality, you'll have a clearer perspective of what it is you want to achieve and how you might go about doing it. Then, once you do get started on your project, it’s important to keep yourself motivated. It’s not always clear sailing and you should know what motivates you just in case your project does bog down. Personally for me, going to car shows helps a lot. I get excited by seeing how my car could look by seeing other completed examples. So what motivates you to keep going with your project?

By Alexander Portnoy

ВокругАвто.ru

This summer during the finals at a local drag racing event, our R32 Skyline burst into flames. The technical staff later commented that the N2O system failed and caused a fuel explosion. Fortunately the driver (Mikhail Maksimetc) managed to escape without serious injury. This GTR was a good drag car, with a turbocharged RB26-DET with Greddy T8838GK and Jerico 5MT transmission. It made 850hp + 100hp on N2O, with a best time of 9.7 sec. This clip was taped by one of the spectators on his mobile phone.

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

This '98 Civic with a B18C Type-R engine swap and a ton of JDM goodies just cropped on the Seattle Craigslist. It has appeared on the cover of Honda Tuning and has won over a dozen trophies at various car shows. The seller is asking $18,500 OBO, but I was interested to see that he is willing to consider trades for a "Pre-70’s Hot Rod/ muscle car/ Rat Rod." More pics after the jump, or see the full ad on Craigslist.

By David Wallens

GRM Editorial Director

Let's say that it's raining really, really hard, and you're facing a deep puddle while traveling down a major thoroughfare. Do you speed up or slow down? We did some firsthand research during a major downpour yesterday. The verdict? We didn't have a radar gun, but we didn't see many people slowing down.

By Ben Schaffer

Bulletproof Automotive

Voltex just recently announced on their website that they are stopping all production of their wet carbon CT9A Lancer Evolution 8/9 hoods. Why? Because they learned that Seibon made a knockoff of their hood and that people were actually buying the knockoff. Out of concern that people could accidentally mistake the Seibon quality for Voltex quality if they saw it on a car at a race/street/show, Voltex made a statement on their website that they will no longer make that hood in wet carbon.

Here is a picture of the Voltex hood which they wind tunnel tested and did extensive R&D with the Cyber Evo over the years, at their expense of course, with the hope that they’d be able to sell enough to recoup their expenses so they could continue on making more innovative original parts. Continue reading...

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

Inspired by Jen, I got a drip pan to put under my leaky old Mopar--I figured my landlady wouldn't be too thrilled if she ever waded into the Valdez-like disaster on the garage floor. Anyway, I found this Rothko-esque mix of Dexron-III and SAE 15W-40 after letting it sit for six weeks. How much does your car leak?

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

Some guys have all the luck. Mike, for example, didn't pay a penny for his awesome Charger. There are some pretty hilarious pics on his ride page of him winching this sweet find out of the woods, along with some nice shots of what he hopes it'll look like when he's done with it. Best of luck to you, man!

How about the rest of you—ever gotten a car for free?

By John Coyle

Editor

Back in the '70s, Jack Nicholson was probably on a bunch of stuff, but he was already thinking about getting off oil. In this clip, he's hyping a venture that proposed using solar power to make hydrogen, then using that "green" hydrogen to power cars converted to run on it. And while the 16 acres of hydrogen-producing solar panels along the California/Nevada border never materialized, this footage does feature Nicholson driving a hydrogen-powered Caprice, and he also fires off some sweet quips for the cameras. There's a pretty choice one about Preston Tucker's failed battle with the auto industry, but my favorite was; "If nothing else, of course, [hydrogen cars] will revolutionize suicide. Instead of carbon monoxide poisoning, you'll just get a steam bath." Is Jack the best or what? Enjoy.

By Edgard Zuniga

DUB Magazine

Electric cars have long been anticipated as the next step in the evolution of the automobile, but attempts to market them haven't yielded much, and their future has swung uneasily between fantasy and reality. In sci-fi literature and film, it was largely expected that in the 21st Century, we'd all be zooming around in electric—if not flying—cars, and since it's 2007, you're probably wondering what it would be like to get behind the wheel of one. Well, wonder no longer, the wry smile on will.i.am's face says it all. "It's like driving a Lambo without gas," he said. "It's fast, homie. Funny that last time we were on Hummer. Now, I'm on an electric car."

By Evan

NWSilverado

Rally Finland, set to begin on August 31, has been an icon of the WRC since 1973. With its long, sweeping curves, jumps, and gravel, it's known as the "gravel Grand Prix" and is a favorite of drivers and fans alike—well over half a million spectators tune into the event each year. WRC superstar Sebastien Loeb is out for first Finland win this weekend—in his six years of competing on this course, he's always been outdone by the likes of Mikko Hirvonen and Marcus Gronholm. With Gronholm now retired, Loeb is hoping to take the victory at last. However, "Flying Finns" Mikko Hirvonen, Jari-Matti Latvala, Petter and Hennig Solberg will be hard to beat on their home Rally so watch for the dust to fly this weekend as we rejoin the WRC season following its two-month hiatus.

Another one to watch is newcomer manufacturer Suzuki. After just entering the WRC this season, their second iteration of the SX4 WRC comes to the Rally Finland this weekend. Most manufacturers wait 2 to 4 years before releasing a revised version of their WRC car, but for Suzuki the learning curve has been steep—they are committed to fast-tracking the car up into the higher points scoring positions. Stay tuned to see how it turns out!