By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

It’s Thanksgiving week, CarDomain HQ is a ghost town, and I’m snowed in and chained to my computer. Help me out by submitting a blog for Autoholics! Also, check out today’s coolest stories:

• What the heck is this crazy dual-engined rat rod?
• Will this wrecked Murcielago command big bucks on eBay?
• Chaos in the streets of Seattle as the city freezes over.

All this and more at Autoholics.com!

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

It drives me crazy when people do this. How could you even think to ask a random passenger to “drive” for you from the right-side seat while you take your hands off the wheel to futz around? This hideous wreck occurred when a driver, allegedly high in a Chevy Blazer carrying drugs of just about every denomination, got the passenger to hold the wheel while flying down a two-lane highway in Washington state last week. The passenger promptly put the Blazer over the centerline and into the grille of an oncoming Outback carrying a Canadian couple returning from vacation. Bodycount included the Blazer’s two rear-seat passengers, and the man driving the Subaru, who was killed on impact. The survivors were the two idiots from the front seat of the Blazer and the Subaru driver’s widow, 7 months pregnant. I’ll ask again: how freakin’ difficult is it to stay on your own side of the road? Full story via KOMO News, and video here.

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

SEMA and the Street Performance Council teamed up to create a new “Racers Against Street Racing” website at rasr.org. The coolest feature it the Find a Track tool, which uses Google maps to show you all the tracks in your area. No more excuses! Full press release after the jump.

Continue reading "Racers Against Street Racing" »

By Speedhunters

Car Culture At Large

Here’s some not particularly good news regarding everyone’s favorite automobile of the future – the Toyota FT-86. Word out of Japan is that the release of the car has been pushed back to 2013, possibly to rethink the design or even to accommodate hybrid technology. Considering the overwhelming positive response the concept has had, I can’t see any reason why a re-design would be in order, but who knows what goes on behind closed doors at Toyota? If true, this could be a pretty big setback to the people around the world waiting for this car. Then again, Japan’s automotive tabloids aren’t always the most legit source of information. Hopefully we’ll hear more about this soon.

—By Mike Garret

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

Reportedly rubbernecking the film crew, this dummy slams full-tilt into a rockslide in Tennessee. Yeah, that’ll buff out.

Drunk Driver Slams Into Rockslide

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

Everyone always thinks electronic surveillance and intervention in cars is such a swell idea, with programs like GM’s OnStar having nearly become standard issue. But then something like this happens, and you just have to laugh. A car dealership in Texas that uses an online remote vehicle disabling service as an “alternative” to repossession for customers who don’t make their car payments found itself in an embarrassing situation this week when a disgruntled former employee got into the system. And wreaked havoc. Omar Ramos-Lopez allegedly accessed customer files using a stolen password and disabled over 100 vehicles, randomly killing ignitions and setting off honking horns to the point where many customers had to disconnect their batteries to make it stop. Hmm, what’s the take-home message here? Full story at Wired.

By Brian Lohnes

BangShift.com

Ford plans to cut 900 jobs from its Flat Rock, Michigan, assembly plant soon. The cuts come on the heels of a tough sales year for the Mustang, which saw volume drop 27% amid competition from the Camaro and a poor US economy. There are 2,300 employees at the facility.

Most of the employees will be offered jobs at other Ford plants, but that may be small consolation to workers with families or other issues that would make a move all but impossible. The Chicago plant, which produces the Explorer, will be adding 1,200 workers to its operation near the end of 2010, so there are some possibilities for displaced workers there.

Locally, Ford has announced that 1,000 jobs will be created in Michigan to build batteries for upcoming electric cars.

The Camaro has not outsold the Mustang since 1985, but last year, even after a late arrival (in the calendar year) it only missed the Mustang’s sales total by 5,000 units. 2010 is going to be a very interesting year in the on-going pony car war between Ford and Chevy.

Source — The Associated Press — Ford Lays off 900 workers at Mustang Plant

By Chris Borrelli

Chris Borrelli

For everyone that has been upset by the Mustang GT’s current 4.6 litre engine and it’s lack of power cry no more! Ford has just released the engine specs for the 2011 base Mustang and Mustang GT. The base ‘Stang will get Ford’s current 3.7 litre V6 that is currently offered in some Lincoln models, but it will receive a bump in power to 315 HP (that’s 11 HP more than the V6 Camaro). Now for the best part, the 2011 Mustang GT will get a new 5.0 litre V8 stunting a whoppin’ 400 horsepower and a six speed manual transmission! Other news in the Mustang’s future are an aluminum block for the Shelby GT500,  and a return of the BOSS! And no the Ecoboost is not planned to be used in the Mustang. Via Left Lane News

By Brian Lohnes

BangShift.com

Call us nuts, but we were actually feeling pretty good after reading this piece from the Detroit Free Press. Writer Mark Phelan brings up some great points and actually clues us in on some existing technology that is going to give some immediate help (when implemented) in the fuel economy department of gasoline engines.

There’s so much doom and gloom happening in the media on a nearly daily basis with respect to cars, especially the types of cars we like. It was great to read something that actually gave us some hope for the future that isn’t pie in the sky fantasy.

If you are looking for some positive muscle car ju-ju click on the link to the Detroit Free Press story.

By Chris Borrelli

Chris Borrelli

Back in 2002 Ford brought back its iconic Thunderbird. The Thunderbird was given a retro design (actually starting the whole retro look) making it seem as if it was taken straight from the 50s. The Thunderbird was discontinued in 2005 after dropping sales (possibly due to introduction of the redesigned Mustang). Well cry no more T-Bird lovers, it’s said that the T-bird will return in 2012 with a retro look, keeping the classic two seater design. Via Thunderbirdnest  Thanks ___nes___!