The Bad Boy Of Formula Drift
He's Knownfor his aggressive driving and Vaugns Gittin Jr. got...
[VIDEO]
 
Extreme Drifting
The Fast and the Furious elevated drifting to the big...
[VIDEO]
 
Verena Mei: Car Model Babe Turns Racer
 You’ve seen plenty of them before at auto shows: the...
[VIDEO]
 
Stina Hublnette is More Than a Trophy Wife
When your husband is a world-famous Drifter, and you’re a...
[VIDEO]
 
Open Wheel Racing
At open track racing beginners are welcome, but the advance...
[VIDEO]
 
Bring Your Car & Let It Rip
Being stuck in traffic and wondering if you'll ever move...
[VIDEO]
 
Car Club Of The Week: The Shifters
Most car clubs try to take old cars and make...
[VIDEO]
 
Yellow Charger: Low-Rider and Muscle Car
Check out this car that can be both low-rider and...
[VIDEO]
 
Respect Tradition
Nothing turns heads like a classic hotrod! So forget today’s...
[VIDEO]
 
Alpine IXAW404 Digital Media Receiver
 For the ultimate in-vehicle experience with your iPod® or iPhone®, Alpine’s...
[VIDEO]
 
Chevelle SS Mod-Rod
Monday, 15 March 2010

The guys over at Canyon Rods put their touch on the full restoration of this hot rod. Just about everything’s on this ride has been replaced, and it looks and runs amazing!

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V?th V58 Turns Up the Wick on Mercedes-Benz SLK55 AMG to the Tune of 565 HP
Monday, 15 March 2010

The Mercedes-Benz SLK55 AMG is already a fierce little roadster, what with its 5.5-liter naturally aspirated V8 cranking out 355 horsepower and 376 pound-feet of torque. But for those who want something a bit more bonkers, the folks at Väth have just the solution, by way of the V58 - an SLK55-based beastie that produces - get ready - 565 hp and 568 lb-ft, gains of 210 and 192, respectively. Holy moly.

How does such a thing come to life? Väth starts by upping the Merc's engine displacement to 5.8 liters and adding things like a new compressor, new pistons, high-grade steel catalysts, a sport air filter and much more. In addition to these mechanical tweaks, the engine's electronics have been re-calibrated, and the end result is an SLK that will max out at 193 mph. To manage all of that added power, a new set of high-performance brakes have been added up front. Vath also offers a locking differential and a new fuel cooler as optional upgrades.

[Source: Väth]  [ Sources: autoblog.com ]

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Photographing Supercars with Weird, Old Cameras
Monday, 15 March 2010

Bored of the deluge of perfect photographs pouring out of motor shows? We’ve taken some old and strange film cameras to Geneva to show you another side of cars. Well, of supercars anyway.

Given that the Geneva Motor Show has been the birthplace of many icons of rock-and-roll fascination—both the Miura and the Countach were introduced here—it’s surprising how humorless, sanitized, corporate and depressingly adult the event is. Patterned shirts and rumpled hair did not make easy our entry past the gates, and that was before we produced our documents.

“These are a joke,” a stern lady by the name of Michelle greeted us with a smirk after inspecting our letters of editorial confirmation. No glossy magazines? No big-money advertisements on expensive paper? Then, upon my insistence, she visited jalopnik.com, and the joke was on her. “But you look so young” was all she could come up with as we waved her goodbye...

 [ Sources: jalopnik.com ]

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It's Friday: HMK 561 Carbon Fiber Electric Bike Looks Good, but Weird
Monday, 15 March 2010


Honestly, we're still trying to figure out exactly how the HMK 561 Carbon Fiber Electric Bike works. We like that it looks amazing and has four wheels (look closely), but those pedals seem to be placed awfully high if we were to actually ride around on one of these things. We wanted to ask where the chain and pedals are, but we found out that the propulsion system isn't a normal one and they're apparently not needed. Here's how designer Ralf Kittmann describes it:

The one-piece carbon frame was especially developed for braiding machines which allow for a fast, efficient and cost-effective production. Suspension and bearing are integrated in the frame during the braiding process.

We're not sure, either. We do get that this concept vehicle's entire frame can store energy and that two electric motors are built into the two swingarms. Those motors "transmit the power counter- rotarily directly to the rims. During speed reduction the energy is regained." What's even more amazing is that the HMK 561 doesn't exist just in computer renderings. A prototype exists, and we demand video.

[Source: Ralf Kittmann via Yanko Design]

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Hotchkis Track Day Proves "After" is Much Better Than "Before"
Monday, 15 March 2010

Suspension tuner John Hotchkis, principle of Hotchkis Sport Suspension and apparently at peace with the fact that we broke his precious E-Max, invited yours truly out to the Streets of Willow to pound some more hard fought miles into the amazing yellow 1971 Dodge Challenger. Actually, a whole bunch of people were on hand to do the pounding, and not just on the E-Max. Hotchkis was putting on a before-and-after clinic to showcase (and show off) a couple of its suspension packages. Not only was the mighty, heavily tweaked E-Max on hand, but the Hotchkis gang brought along a fairly stock 1970 Challenger, a rented Chevrolet Camaro SS and a Camaro SS that had been given the full Hotchkis suspension treatment.

 

The Plan: Put each car in the more-than-capable hands of John's brother, Mark Hotchkis, a former Indy Lights driver who also happens to campaign a Porsche 962 in vintage races. Each car would be put through a series of tests (slalom, skid pad and a lap of the track itself) revealing numerically just how much better the new Hotchkis suspension pieces worked...



Photos by Jonny Lieberman / Copyright (C)2010 Weblogs, Inc. and Dan Khan  [ Sources: autoblog.com ]

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2012 Camaro Convertible spotted with top down
Monday, 15 March 2010

While GM is still waiting with the official debut of the Camaro Convertible, spy shots reveal more and more about the car. A very lucky guy caught the car testing and at a stop light he also get the confirmation that the car will go on sale next April.

The Convertible version will be offered in the same three trims as the coupe version: LS, LT and SS. The LS and LT models will be offered with an advanced, 3.6 liter direct-injected V-6 engine with variable valve timing and a choice of six-speed manual or automatic transmissions while the SS model will come with a 6.2L V8 – including fuel-saving Active Fuel Management on automatic-equipped combination – and a six-speed manual transmission...

 [ Sources: topspeed.com ]

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Lotus Lovin
Monday, 15 March 2010

The last LA Auto Show just revealed the first brand-new Lotus in over a decade. But where did this fast, light and low legend come from? The Lotus was originally built in England as a high-performance race-car. Check out where a group of SoCal daredevils put this beautiful beast to the test.
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The Forgotten History of Automaker Tractors [Retro]
Monday, 15 March 2010

Ferruccio Lamborghini didn't start out as a builder of supercars. His first success came in the form of tractors and agricultural equipment. Here's a look at the long and illustrious history of automaker-built tractors.

With Spring bustin' out all over, farmers everywhere will pull their John Deere's and Internationals from the barn for planting season. We figure it's time to take a look at the long and illustrious history of automaker-built tractors.

Tractors and cars at the turn of the 20th century couldn't be further apart in design. Where cars were just coming into their own and the path of electric drive, steam power or internal combustion was still being sorted out, tractors had been steam driven since the late 1800's. More or less steam locomotives on wheels, they were huge, expensive, hot, dangerous machines requiring several men to fuel and operate and they weren't particularly powerful. When the early automakers began settling on internal combustion engines as the future, they also set their sights on the farm industry...

 [ Sources: jalopnik.com ]

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Toyota Problems Put Safety Agency Under Scrutiny
Monday, 15 March 2010

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration was caught in the crosshairs of Toyota's troubles Thursday as some congress members questioned their response to problem with stuck gas pedals in Toyota vehicles. NBC's Tom Costello reports. (Nightly News)

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Lowrider Stories
Sunday, 14 March 2010

 At the Petersen Museum, Lowriding is celebrated as an art form. And the most famous masterpieces of all-time, are on display.

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Nissan's Head U.S. Designer, Bruce Campbell to Retire at End of March
Sunday, 14 March 2010

When we first met Nissan's vice president-design for North America Bruce Campbell, we were amused by his name. Hey, we've seen Evil Dead II at least fifty times. But after a few minutes of conversation with Nissan's highest-ranking U.S. designer, we were deeply impressed by his humor, ideas about design ("The Corvette looks fast standing still, the 370Z looks fast at speed") and his soft-spoken grace. Sadly, Mr. Campbell is disembarking from the Nissan ship after more than thirty years at sea, reports Wards Auto.

Campbell's career reads like a Nissan greatest design hits list, having worked on the (still fab looking) "Hardbody" trucks, the third-generation Maxima, the Xterra and more recently, the new latest Maxima, the Rogue and the 370Z. Going back to our conversation, Bruce explained to us that the 350Z was designed only as a coupe, and that the 350Z Roadster looked odd because it was an afterthought. From the start, the 370Z was designed to be both a coupe and a convertible. We think he did well. We also think that his successor and current European design chief Alfonso Albaisa has some pretty big shoes to fill.

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Photos by Drew Phillips / Copyright (C)2010 Weblogs, Inc.  [Source: Wards Auto]

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Did Bankrupt Runaway Prius Driver Fake "Unintended Acceleration?"
Sunday, 14 March 2010

James Sikes, the San Diego runaway Toyota Prius driver, filed for bankruptcy in 2008 and now has over $700,000 in debt. According to one anonymous tipster, we're also told he hasn't been making payments on his Prius. UPDATE!

We received an email earlier today from an anonymous tipster who claims James (Jim) Sikes, the driver of the runaway Toyota Prius, was in financial trouble and even behind by five months on his payments for the Prius. If that's true, it's potential motivation for wanting to find an out — any out — on paying for the vehicle.

We did some public records searches (thanks to the help of Gawker's John Cook) and found Sikes and his wife Patty found themselves, like many in the California real estate business, on the bursting side of the real estate bubble last year. The two declared bankruptcy in June of 2008 and have a combined liability of over $700,000 dollars in debt...

 [ Sources: jalopnik.com ]

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