This was my first year at the LA Auto Show, and to be perfectly honest, the crappy economy cast a chilly shadow over the whole scene. Most years, the media peeps are scrambling from press conference to press conference trying to keep up with all the new concepts and debuts, but most of the stuff on the floor in La La Land had dropped in Frankfurt, or even before, so manufacturers simply didn’t have a lot of fresh meat to toss to out. That said, there was still some killer stuff on display. While Audi had dropped its electric e-tron concept back in Frankfurt, the example on the floor here was painted a gorgeous, visible-from-space orange, which had everyone scrambling to get pics, and I absolutely loved, loved, loved Honda’s P-Nut concept (below). And don’t even get me started on the AMG SLS. Mercedes’ new baby is an absolute stunner, and I can’t even imagine how those lines will look when it’s out in the wild, stalking driving appliances. I was also pumped to see the 2011 Fiesta—Ford has a mega hit on its hands here—the CTS Coupe’s production sheet metal, and Porsche’s new Boxster Spyder. Head over to the events section and check out Part One and Part Two of our pics from LA.

OK, so a forklift isn’t exactly a car, but this was too funny not to post. Remember: if you’re going to take a forklift into the spin cycle, you best hang on tight!

At the beginning of this video, two cars are lined up and getting ready to drop the hammer on the freeway. Pretty standard, right? Well, just before the action starts, and out-of-control car slides into the shot and ruins everything. Yikes!

When Jay Leno appeared on Top Gear, Jeremy Clarkson called him the “world’s biggest petrolhead,” which is high and deserved praise for the former Tonight Show host. Leno probably knows more about cars than most of the people paid to work on them or write about them, so it’s always fun to watch when he gets serious about his favorite subject. Check out this clip where he heads over to McLaren’s Technical Centre in Woking, England and get’s the scoop on the company’s new MP4-12C.

We know that when a pair of twin-turbo V10s square off, anything can happen. And while Underground Racing’s force-fed Bulls are beyond burly, Ma Mopar’s Snake is no less poisonness. Watch as this pair take it to the Texas Mile for a drag!

Everything looks solid as this pair of ‘Vettes square off, but after they get moving, the guy on the left loses it and winds up nearly taking out his competition. This whole thing could have been so much worse…

Even at when it’s just sitting at idle, this Audi Quattro Turbo sounds meaner than a crack-addled pit bull. But when these guys get it on the dyno and wind up that 5-cylinder, it makes even more of a gorgeous racket. Damn, listen to it sing!

I’ve been at the LA Auto Show all day, which was kind of tedious, because of a near-total dearth of real news. But hey, this economy is pretty chilly, so it’s not like I expected manufacturers to be handing out glasses of champagne or anything. Of course, Rolls-Royce held a champagne reception, but I could have used a few more than the one I scored. Anyway, this week’s winner is b_daddyryhme, who came up with; “Role reversal: What you can’t see is the dog driving.” I actually laughed my ass off at that one. Tune in tomorrow for the next installment of our bubbly-deprived Caption Contest!

There are plenty of enthusiasts that sneer at the V6 Mustangs, and consider them to be just a lamer version of the GT. But the 2011 V6 Mustang will come stock with a burly 305HP and 280ft-lbs of torque—which is within spitting distance of the current GT. Ford also believes the new Pony will get 30MPG on the freeway, which would make it the most fuel efficient car in its class. Any way you look at it, that’s pretty impressive. The Blue Oval had two 2011 Mustang Club of America Editions in its booth at the show, a red convertible and the slick silver version below. The sheet metal is the same as the current gen, but the special edition models feature a billet grill, tape stripes (absent on the silver coupe), special badging, and—um, finally—body-colored mirrors. Check out some pics and walk-around videos after the jump.

Continue reading "2009 LA Auto Show: 2011 305HP V6 Mustang" »

Last year in LA, Ford was all about the Mustang—but 2009 is all about the Fiesta. And much like Hyundai did at SEMA, the company choose to show off some tuned versions along with the stock models. They were all pretty cool, but the red one in the pic below was the most performance-oriented. Designed by3dCarbon and FSWerks, this pocket rocket is sporting an FSWerks Stage 2 intercooled turbo kit and a free-breathing 2.25 exhaust, along with a body kit from 3dCarbon. My favorite exterior change was the addition of Work Meister S1 2-piece wheels. They might be hard to keep clean, but that brilliant while looks sick in person, and makes the racing stripe pop. I’ve posted pics and walk-around videos the versions from Ford Custom Accessories, H&R Special Springs, Ford Racing and Steeda Autosports after the jump, and even threw in a stock model for good measure. Check them out.

Continue reading "LA Auto Show 2009: Fiesta Party in the Ford Booth" »

Mercedes-Benz’s Gullwing is an iconic symbol of automotive beauty, and while some purists sweat when an automaker revives and updates one of its greatest hits, M-B has been so on point with its styling of late that I think any fears about the Gullwing’s rebirth were completely unfounded. There’s a far better chance that an asteroid is going to extinguish life on earth than there is of Mercedes releasing an ugly vehicle. And while the SLS AMG might have traffic-stopping good looks, its 6.2-liter 32-valve V-8 pumps out a burly 563HP and 479 lb-ft of torque, so this baby will go like a scalded cat—with a jet pack. Unfortunately, my plans to get a walk-around video were thwarted by the fact that the turntable it’s on takes a celestial amount of time to complete a revolution. But there are a ton of photos after the jump. Enjoy.

Continue reading "2009 LA Auto Show: Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG" »

This electric concept actually dropped in Frankfurt, but the one on the floor there was a comparatively staid fire-engine red. The e-tron Audi brought to LA, on the other hand, is painted in an orange that’s probably visible from space, even through the roof of the Los Angeles Convention Center. The body is so smooth and clean it almost looks like this eco-beast  was grown in a vat, and not constructed by something as mortal and clumsy as human hands. I don’t really care for the wheels—they look a little too much like food processor blades—but overall, this car is a complete knockout, and getting these few shots probably took close to an hour, because all the media peeps were swarming over it. The scene honestly made me think of killer bees attacking a bull. Oh, and it’s hard to argue with 3,319.03 Lb-Ft of torque. More photos and a walk-around video after the jump.

Continue reading "LA Auto Show 2009: Audi’s e-tron Stuns in Orange" »

This was easily the craziest installation I’ve seen at the show. It’s completely impractical, way weird, and huge. Around the perimeter it actually says “Don’t Feed the MINI,” and for some reason, I think that’s super-funny. I don’t know about you, but this kind of feels like SEMA to me… More photos after the jump.

Continue reading "LA Auto Show 2009: MINI Clubman With Spiked Color and Lease" »

Maybe it’s because I’m basically like a ten-year old that’s allowed to drink, but I always get a kick out of the cut-away vehicles at shows. They look like they’ve somehow be Photoshopped into reality, and this Ram 3500 had me at hello. More pics after the jump.

Continue reading "2009 LA Auto Show: Killer Cut-Away Ram 3500" »

When I went to SEMA for the first time, I was in charge of managing the photographer, and somehow he totally missed Mopar Alley. As you can imagine, this made Rob completely stoked. So when I have to cover any shows, I make sure to post some Mopar content as fast as I can. But I didn’t need any pressure to get a shot of this wicked Viper GTS R. Since you could eat off all the cars in the Convention Center, it’s kind of cool when you see one that’s dirty from being driven in anger. There were a bunch of other Vipers in the booth, including the new ACR, which just set a lap record at Laguna Seca. Hit the jump and check them out.

Continue reading "2009 LA Auto Show: Nest of Vipers in the Mopar Booth" »