Our new SEMA 2008 photo album is now available!
To view, simply click here or find the Photo Album section in the left-hand margin.
Enjoy the views, and be sure to let us know any questions or comments you may have!
Next up - The Los Angeles Auto Show. We'll be there for the show's two media days, November 19th and 20th, and make sure you'll have access to all our photos and videos as soon as soon as we post them!
What with Geneva Auto Show, one of the world's biggies, opening this week, we thought we'd search high and low so you, our dear visitors, don't have to grind your way through the Web, searching for the most interesting stuff ... We've done the work for you! In fact, we're such a time-saving Website for our visitors, we think we'll have Billy Mays advertise it on late-night cable TV! But seriously ... And on another product: Isn't that shammy ad the best late-night ad you've ever seen? The guy does his entire shtick from the county fairs and auto shows where he usually works, and it's a blast to watch ... We especially love the on-screen title at the end, in big, bold letters: "Made in Germany!", so, if you don't believe anything else at all in the ad about the Super Shammy, or whatever they call it, we all KNOW that those Germans build great stuff!
If you do see any misspellings and/or unusual phrasings, it's probably the fault of whoever 
translated this stuff into English; if it's from an English company, well, then, they oughta learn how to talk and spell right, like we do here in the USA! So without any further ado, and in their own too-highly-paid PR people's words, are some of the great things being intro'd at Geneva this coming week ... and maybe some other cars which won't be at Geneva, but are big on the Web right now ... and photos of the cars are right below their descriptions:
"Quaranta"
Quaranta is an "extreme", clean-technology project embodying 40 years of styling research and engineering celebrated by Italdesign Giugiaro in Geneva.
The Quaranta is an "extreme" product, an environment-friendly, 4WD super sports-car which incorporates a series of innovative aspects: its styling, but also its drive technology, which combines a hybrid engine with solar energy, and its internal layout which, despite its mid-mounted rear engine, can accommodate three adults and a child, also providing a generous luggage compartment.
The idea which inspired the Quaranta project is that of the first single-volume concept car with central engine and drive. The original reference is to the 1968 Bizzarrini Manta which, at that time, represented a major breakthrough in styling, now adapted to state-of-the-art technology and enriched with Italdesign Giugiaro's forty years experience of research. 
Holden Special Vehicles unveil seven litre Supercar the W427
Holden Special Vehicles today unveiled a seven litre program at the Melbourne Motor Show the last installment of the company s 20th anniversary celebrations. The car to be known in its final development stages as the W427 is finished in the same Panorama Silver paint scheme as the original Group A SS VL Commodore, released at the Melbourne Motor Show of 1988, exactly 20 years ago.
The W427 will be quite possibly the fastest road registrable Supercar ever produced in Australia and among the quickest anywhere around the world. While power output figures are still to be confirmed, the W427 is likely to produce in excess of 370kW (near 500 horsepower) of power and 640NM (about 472 pounds feet) of torque. A new six piston front braking system will provide a 50% increase in pad area, while the W427 also receives a revised ESP calibration, six air bags, improved handling and new Magnetic Ride Control settings. The W427 receives a bimodal active exhaust system to improve noise quality and back pressure management. (Wow! Classic hot rod-style CUT-OUTS! I, your humble host, said that, not the PR hand-out).
Continue reading "GENEVA SHOW, OTHER SUPERCAR PHOTOS AND SPECS RELEASED" »
A story or so below this one we posted the latest news about some really hot new bikes, much of the state-of-the-art of our era's current choices (from BMW, MV Agusta, Yamaha and Honda). With that "ganging up" of vehicles by category seeming to strike a chord with you visitors, we're doing the same with three all-new small cars. Some are available in the US now; some will be coming to the marketplace in 2009 or a bit later.
The three cars found below (well, four if you're really counting close), are all, in their way, excellent choices for the young-at-
heart and, in some cases, for the heavy-of-wallet, ranging from the ridiculous (Toyota's iQ) to the sublime (entry-level Lotus 2-eleven) and everything, well, sort of, in-between ... meaning a combination purchase: A 2008 McLaren SLR by Brabus, combined with a smart ForTwo by Brabus, and they're calling this the "dynamic duo" (apologies to Batman ... and the Batmobile). Why we picked these photos to lead the post, we're not sure, but we thought it'd be nice for visitors who have not visited Japan to see a slice or two of "real life". Above is a police scooter, electrically-powered, and a "koban," or police box, both of which are in the same traffic circle in front of the very busy Narita, Japan JR station, about 50 miles north of Tokyo. In fact, this police box is a re-creation of the original Narita station, which had been destroyed.
As always, we'll let some of the PR fluff from the manufacturers do the talking, except when we feel the need to add some humor, realism and downright sarcasm as we see fit. We hope you agree.
2008 Lotus 2-Eleven - New Entry-Level Version 
The latest Lotus 2-Eleven, bristling with Lotus Sport options and wearing a dramatic carbon fibre body was exhibited with its premier last week at the 78th annual Geneva International Motor show. This car has been specified with, amongst other options, the 255 PS (252 bhp) power upgrade, carbon fibre tonneau cover, four piston front brakes, "Aero Pack" and "Sport Pack" as an example of how the new range of Lotus Sport options can be configured.
The 2-Eleven made its global debut at the 77th annual Geneva International Motor show in 2007 available in launch specification with the supercharged 255 PS (252 bhp) engine, in either UK Single Vehicle Approval (SVA) or Track Only guise for the introductory price of £39,995/ € 49,573/ USD$76,155. After suggestions from Lotus racers and owners, the 2-Eleven will now be available as an entry level car with a number of option packs to tailor to owners' individual requirements. 
As well as a number of performance option packs such as the Track Day pack and UK road SVA pack, there are a range of stand alone options that now include two different Limited Slip Differentials, an FIA approved 70 litre bag fuel tank (almost 19 gallons) and a removable competition steering wheel.
Continue reading "ENTRY-LEVEL LOTUS, TOYOTA iQ, BRABUS ForTwo; ALL IN OR NEAR PRODUCTION" »
(Make sure you click on all the photos to enjoy them in large format) 
When I did a bit of research on HOT WHEELS a few years ago, I learned that, if one were to take the number of people under 18 years of age worldwide and used that number to divide the number of HOT WHEELS ever sold, you'd come up with "6" ... That's right, so many of these things have already been sold that there are enough in the marketplace to equal six HOT WHEELS for every person under 18 on the face of the earth.
And HOT WHEELS had a great exhibit in the main lobby at last year's SEMA Show in Las Vegas, exhibits which caught the attention of just about every one of the 100,000-or-so show attendees. I mean, who didn't have a HOT WHEELS toy ... or many of them ... as a kid? And more than a few of us, truth be told, have them today, too.
There are a lot of stories about how Mattels' HOT WHEELS toys came to be ... The one I've
written about concerns Harry Bradley, a paraplegic instructor at Pasadena's world-renowned Art Center College of Design, one of the very few schools worldwide which produces the majority of designers for car, truck and motorcycle manufacturers --- As well as toy-makers of all types. All these artists come under the more general name of "industrial designer", the people who create can-openers to car door handles to sun glasses to milk bottles to Ferrari V12 engines to, well, just about anything which consumers buy and use. In short, everything! Pasadena's Art Center has a sister school in Switzerland. Bradley, the story goes, drove his customized car to Mattel to interview for a job there, and when his future boss looked out the window and saw Bardley's van in the parking lot, Bradley got the job on the spot and his van was one of the very first HOT WHEELS ever produced. Anyway, that's the story told to me ... by Harry Bradley. Anyone has a problem with it, they can talk to Bradley about it ...
So here's the news, and I'm content to let the Mattel people tell it in their own voice, with perhaps an
interruption or two from Yours Truly (all our photos are of the HOT WHEELS 40th anniversary car "under construction"):
Continue reading "BLING, BLING! HOT WHEELS' 40TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATED NATIONWIDE!" »
Because the Corvette Z06 does not come with a "valet key" or some other type of power-robbing setting, as far as I can remember, Chevrolet engineers and product planners might seriously think about making one available after the people at Bowling Green, KY (the only facility where Corvettes are built) read the news item which follows below.
When a Z06 owner leaves their trusty steed, which carries a starting price over $72,000, in the 
care of what more-often-than-not is a pimply-faced 17-year old valet with a white shirt and red vest at some restaurant or elsewhere, a "valet key" feature would easily rob some of the horsepower from the machine's 505-horse 7-liter V8 (a 427cid, for you old-timers out there --- Like us!), in order to avoid incidents exactly like the one described below. (Photo - Huge, drilled discs haul Z06 down from high speeds very quickly; the valet in this story should have used them while he had a chance).
We can attest from much personal experience that the car is definitely and absolutely one 
which should be driven only by someone with quite a bit of experience with high-horsepower automobiles ... In spite of all the modern safety systems in and on the car, 500 horsepower is still 500 horsepower, and this was certainly one wreck about which it could honestly be said: "It could have been a lot worse!" Thanks to KNBC/TV4, the NBC "O and O" (owned-and-operated) station in Los Angeles. That's the same station which carries the new NBC auto show, "Whipnotic", every Saturday at 3pm --- Be sure to check-out the Whipnotic page on this site; we provide that program's Whipnotic.com site with much of its content. Here's the story the way it ran on the website for KNBC/TV4, Los Angeles:
A valet at Van Nuys (CA) Chevrolet dealership is accused of a joyride that culminated in the crash of a 500- horsepower Corvette, police said Saturday, according to (Los Angeles') City News Service. (Photo - Cutaway of Z06's 505 horsepower 427 V8).
The man walked away without injury, police said.
The high-performance Z06 model Corvette hit a fire hydrant, a light pole and several parked cars on Oxnard Street near Van Nuys Boulevard about 9:30 p.m. Friday -- about a half-mile from Rydell Chevrolet, according to Los Angeles police with the Valley Traffic Division and a camera crew at the scene.
The driver suffered minor injuries and declined to be taken to a hospital, according to On Scene Video. (end of KNBC story) (Photo - Z06 interior).
And we might add: This fellow doesn't want to spend any of his time at a hospital; he'll be too busy looking for a job.
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