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December 29, 2009
Seasonal Automotive Affective Disorder
By Chris Trout
Troutster52
It’s that time of the season again, the time in the Midwest where the wind turns chillingly sharp and the roads begin their decay into traction-breaking, salt corroding wastelands for the classic and performance automobile. This season sadly lasts a good while into the over-celebrated New Year.
Despite the joys of the holiday season which include family, food, and, if you’re lucky, some time off work, this time of transition into a long season of cold leaves me disappointed and hopelessly obsessive towards the future. Do not misunderstand me—driving my 4×4 F150 on nearly abandoned, snow-drifted roads and parking lots is nothing but a thrill to me. However, the evading dream of a performance car, offers me no consolation during the winter season.
Continue reading after the jump!
February 18, 2009
Chicago Auto Show Pics Live!
By Rob Einaudi
Editor-in-Chief
Thanks for the great Chicago Auto Show pics, Matt! And if you missed Kathy and Matt’s awesome coverage, you can check it out here!
February 13, 2009
Suzuki Makai: Lawn Chairs are Everywhere
Atomicalex
Makai is Hawaiian for “close to the water”, which is exactly what you’ll be with no roof or windows. Check out the webbed seats—if you haven’t sat in an old lawnchair in a while, these will do nicely. The color-matched surfboards are a fun touch. Cool ideas, even if they have no chance of ever seeing production!
Continue reading "Suzuki Makai: Lawn Chairs are Everywhere" »
VW Jetta TDI Cup Car
Atomicalex
Displaying factory race cars at auto shows never gets old in my opinion, so I was pleased that VW brought this red Jetta TDI Cup car to Chicago. The spec racing series brought VW a ton of good press for its clean diesel efforts. If I had the money and time, I’d have auditioned for it.
Mazda: 20 Years of MX-5
Atomicalex
Has it really been that long?!? 2009 marks twenty years of the roadster goodness known in the US as Miata. Mazda’s booth had concepts and spec racers from each generation of the MX-5 platform.
February 12, 2009
Move Over xB, the Nissan Cube is here!
Neuwerks
Just when you thought boxy might be going out of style, we are starting to see more concepts and production models take on the two-box shape that Scion helped make popular again. Since Nissan skipped Detroit, this was our first chance to see their new North American offerings. Situated next to the GT-R, Nissan unveiled a US-ready left hand drive version of their Cube, a car that has been offered in Japan for years. More details and pics after the jump.
Chicago Section SCCA
Atomicalex
The local Chicago SCCA section had a great display showing off all of the different kinds of vehicles that are raced under SCCA sanction. Of course I liked this MkII Golf best, but check out the soap boxes and other cool stuff after the jump.
Hyundai Genesis DUB Edition
Atomicalex
Here are some pics. The wheels would be cool hanging on my wall, but they make the brakes look a little bit insufficient.
Flat Pink Mercedes
Atomicalex
I got nothing for this one. Bad things happen when RennTech gets ahold of anything. This is just more proof that the whole Euro styling thing is not grounded in reality or good taste. There’s enough Seibon carbon fibre on this thing to build a space shuttle.
Buzzword: Dynamics
Atomicalex
Matt is sick and tired of hearing the word “Dynamics” with regard to cars. It seemed like every single press conference we attended involved a discussion of dynamics in one way or form. Note to BMW: I’m personally sick and tired of anything that involves “ED” and “pleasure.”
