Since the word “cool” is now officially the best word on the planet… I give you some Cool Designs For the Week. From concepts to ‘realies’ to crazies. Oh, and if you’re n Vegas this week, come by my booth at Circus Circus and get a free t-shirt. Just mention the Car Domain Blog… and say “Hey, Fireball! GIVE IT TO ME NOW AND GIVE IT TO ME FREE!”

In order of whatever, this week’s lineup is super duper pooper. Ok, let’s begin…

1) A Bentley Concept. Big. Silver. Expensive. No free toothbrush. 2) Finally, a Buick that looks cool. The Regal GS. 3) Big Phat Yellow Widebody Camaro. Take it and light ‘er up. Done. 4) The Kia Ray Concept. Sneaky little Kia people creating coolness without even tellin’ us! 5) My personal fav, the Lambo Murcielago… ala new. I want it, AND I WANT IT NOW! 6) The Maserati Tramontane. Not sure exactly what’s going on here… but a cool shot, eh? 7) My early Speed Racer concept called Metal Juice. Don’t think it would make it into my driveway, though. And finally, a sneaking Bentley Shooting Brake. More room for your Bullion.

Ridiculous amount of things going on this week. All new website, new toy, big show in Vegas and I’m buying a Toblerone. The BIG one. Peace.

The word “be” suggests the present moment. As in “I be bitchin.” Which you KNOW you are. Not grammatically the best of usages, but hey, we’re car people and we say things like that.

So, here’s the best of the “B’s.” Not all of them, as the list would go on around the moon, but just a teaser. So, after you’ve checked them out… “Be positive and make something of your day.”

The B’s. Oh, and join in on my upcoming CAR SHOW in Huntington Beach.

What separates ASI in my opinion as one of the best car builders in the game is what you see when you look more closely. Whether it is them affiliating themselves with a top Japanese artist to do hand painted accents in their interior, or the subtle and innovative integration of their logo as wheel graphics, it is the details that define quality.

On this particular car, the below image is what really left an impression a year after I took these photos in Japan.

As if a mightily impressive full dry carbon hood isn’t enough, ASI incorporated their artist affiliation once again into this demo car. This time instead of the art car concept speaking loudly with gold leaf paint, they played well into the concept of a mean black on black sports tuned Bentley and made the artwork understated and integrated, yet still present. The hood was painted flat black with the artwork left unpainted to showcase the natural dry carbon on the hood. The result is a win on a number of levels as far as I’m concerned. This is a great example of an understated use of carbon fiber parts to accent the car’s quality, something I’m a huge advocate of.

There were a number of questions raised when scanning through the list published on September 9th by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). To be eligible for the Cash for Clunkers program, vehicles were specified to only get 19 miles-per-gallon or less, measured by their previously published EPA rating. Yet a few vehicles that were submitted generally get better fuel mileage than the benchmark set by the program rules.

As troubling as that was, it is underscored by the list of truly desirable enthusiast cars that were traded in as clunkers. This raises some troubling questions as to the reasoning behind the transaction. Scanning through the list, here are 12 different vehicles that should have been saved from their eventual fate of being scrapped. These 12 cars will be met with the usual questions as to how this was allowed to happen in the first place, or what kind of person would trade such a vehicle, replacing it with a Hyundai or a Toyota? Continue reading about the “Dirty Dozen”, with details about each one at Automotive Traveler.

Wait.    Ok, where am I? OH! Car Domain!! DESIGN OF THE WEEK!!! RIGHT!!! Here we go…

1. THE BENTLEY MULSANNE

Kinda expensive. Kinda luxurious. Kinda bad gas mileage. BAD ASS. This is the car you want to roll up to the beach in. 9′ Longboard on top. Trunk fulla wetsuits, sexwax and extra bikinis. …I’m just sayin.’

2. THE GT CROSSOVER CONCEPT

What IS this? …Um. …Ok, what can I say about this weird inline 2 seater? It’s kinda not right in a whole “not right” sorta way. BUT, you have to respect design. My cup ‘o hot chocolate may not be your cup o’ hot chocolate. And THIS? Is not my cup o’ hot chocolate.

3. THE LEATHERMAN WRATH

I like this, despite that fact that you can’t really tell exactly what it is. Part Cyborg, part Harley, part… hula hoop. It just looks bug-like and cool. And that, my friends, is what belongs on the street. BRING IT!

4. MY REACTOR NUCLEUS

Now, I just got this the other day from REACTOR. It’s so cool, it should be a car. (In fact, I think there’s a button that transforms it into a Ferrari California. Pretty sure.) But, this watch is a clear statement that automotive design affects ALL design. And that’s cool.

5. THE JAGUAR MARK 21 LIMO

Yes, Limo. And since it doesn’t look ANYTHING like a Jaguar, it’s fair game for my design dissection. But THIS, is the most cool cockroach car I’ve seen in a while. The doors gullwing up and you step inside to Jaguar heaven. And what IS Jaguar heaven? Ahhh,,   …….gggrrrrrrrrrr….

6. SV9 COMPETIZIONE

Yes, in Italian, SV-9 means CORVETTE. Wait a tick… I think it actually means Bad Corvette. Or maybe Ripoff. I forget. At any rate, the Corvette,… uh, I mean SV-9, looks sweet. So sweet, that it reminds me of a car that the late GM use to build before they imploded. Now,… what WAS the name of that car? It was like a bird, or a fish. Started with a “C,” I think….

Oh, yea. Corvette.

Pricey for sure, but we aren’t drivin’ Pintos. In this episode of “World of Cars,” I’m screamin’ the best of the best. Serious machines through the streets of San Fran. And taking a Lambo down Haight Street yelling “Down with corporate greed!” made it a day worth remembering.

If you can’t buy an exotic, DO THIS.