Quentin Dupieux’s Rubber – Click above to watch video
We’ll let you all in on a little secret: when we aren’t furiously rowing away out our keyboards, snapping photos of our review vehicles or splitting knuckles on the , we’re stuck in front of Netflix sucking up a deluge of horrible B movies. We just can’t help ourselves. Bad acting and worse editing dipped in the sugary coating of a strange premise is the perfect concoction for shutting off your brain for awhile, which is exactly why we first got excited when we heard about director Quntin Dupieux’s new film, Rubber.
The movie centers on an old tire by the name of Robert that somehow comes to life, acquires telepathic powers and sets out on a murderous rampage. If that doesn’t sound like B-movie gold, we don’t know what does. But after watching the trailer for the flick, we can’t help but think this is a legitimate film that just happens to be slumming it alongside flicks like Death Bed – The Bed that Eats.
Even setting our questionable cinematic tastes aside, we can’t help but want to see this movie when it hits theaters on April 1. to check the video for yourself.
Group CEO Sergio Marchionne and Lisa Jackson, Agency Administrator for the EPA, announced a new research project to bring hydraulic hybrid technology to the marketplace. The new hybrid will be based on Chrysler’s Town & Country minivan, although this shouldn’t be confused with the other minivan hybrid Chrysler is .
Hydraulics in vehicles have been , (with its ) and others. What Chrysler and the EPA plan to do is produce a running demonstration vehicle (yes, just one) in 2012 using a hydraulic hybrid system the EPA developed in Ann Arbor, MI. The T&C will use a 2.4-liter, inline four-cylinder gasoline engine that will share motivation duties with a 117cc engine pump, a 45cc drive electric motor and a two-speed automatic transmission.
The hydraulic fluid will be stored in a 14.4-gallon high pressure accumulator that can reach pressures as high as 5,000 psi. If there’s enough energy in the accumulator, the motor will shut down until it’s needed again. If it all works as advertised, then overall fuel economy will be improved around 30-35 percent, while city miles per gallon will be improved by up to 60 percent. Although we’ve , it sounds like something real will finally arrive – in one form or another.
has announced plans to invest $400 million in its Kansas City Assembly plant in Missouri. The company is shifting production of the from that facility to its Louisville, Kentucky plant, which will open up a line for an unnamed model. There’s some indication that the FoMoCo crew is planning to build the alongside the at the Kansas City facility. Regardless of what model Ford plans to build there, the company’s investment will go toward new tooling, a new body shop and other improvements, while managing to save 3,750 jobs in the process.
Ford will receive around $150 million in tax breaks over 10 years for keeping the Kansas City plant up and kicking as part of the 2010 Missouri Manufacturing Jobs Act. The legislation provides tax incentives for automakers who retain jobs through new investments.
The Blue Oval is now in the process of retooling a total of four plants for upcoming products. The company just recently announced that it is investing $600 million in the Louisville, Kentucky plant to produced the next-generation Escape. for the press release.
BMW X1 2.0 Turbocharged Four Cylinder – Click above for high-res image gallery
The BMW X1 may , but when it does show up, it will come packing a turbocharged four-cylinder. The all-aluminum 2.0-liter mill cranks out 245 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque thanks to direct-injection and a single twin-scroll turbo. European buyers will be able to bolt the engine to either a six-speed manual or an eight-speed automatic and the company’s xDrive all-wheel drive system. BMW claims the manual-equipped X1 will do the 0-62 mph in around 6.1 seconds. while opting for the auto will tack another .3 seconds onto its sprint time.
The German automaker has bolted on a heap of fuel-saving technologies, including start-stop and regenerative braking systems as well as a shift indicator. All told, BMW is shooting for 35.7 mpg on the imperial scale, or just under 30 mpg by U.S. measure – not too shabby for a full-time all-wheel drive machine. The fuel economy marks an improvement of 16 percent compared to the old lump. for the full details.
Cadillac CTS-V Coupe SCCA Race Car – Click above for high-res image gallery
The boys and girls at have taken their newest toy out to play. The got its first sampling of track time at Sebring International Raceway in Sebring, Florida earlier this week. Drivers Johnny O’Connell and Andy Pilgrim took time behind the tiller for the car’s first real shake down as the car and team prep for the first race of the Sports Car Club of America World Challenge GT. The series kicks off in St. Petersburg, Florida from March 25 to 27.
As you may recall, it’s been a good long while since the Crest last suited up to go fender-to-fender. The company last competed in the World Challenge GT series in 2007. At that time, Cadillac had campaigned a CTS-V sedan for three seasons. is hoping that taking to the track once again will help establish the CTS-V Coupe as a legitimate performance competitor capable of taking on the best that Germany has to offer. for the full press blast.
2011 BMW X1 – Click above for high-res image gallery
American buyers may have to wait a little bit longer before sinking their teeth into the upcoming BMW X1. According to Automotive News, the CUV has been more popular in Europe than the German automaker originally anticipated, and as such, is experiencing a bit of a supply crunch. As a result, North American buyers won’t be seeing the X1 at the end of this year as originally expected. Instead, it’s beginning to look like the vehicle won’t show up here until early 2012 at the soonest. Automotive News reports that the X1 went on sale in Europe in November of 2009.
Since then, the high-riding hatch has sold out in every market it’s touched. BMW says that it fully expects the X1 to be a low-volume model here in the land of the free, with sales lodged somewhere in the same realm as what the current 1 Series Coupe and Convertible. Even so, the company says that it’s shooting for around 8,000 units per year. With the larger, more popular just now hitting dealerships, the X1 will likely serve to fill a slot for buyers looking for a compact luxury crossover.
Spy Shots: Cadillac ATS mule – Click above for high res-image gallery
has made it clear it plans to enter the rarified air generally reserved for such finely tuned machinery as the , and Mercedes-Benz C-Class with the same verve and gusto it’s done with its . And the vehicle it hopes will earn them entrance into the hotly contested market is the upcoming .
We know will attack the small end of the premium market with a multi-tiered approach, including engines packing four, six or eight cylinders. A new document that surfaced on seems to indicate just such an approach, culminating in a fire-breathing ATS-V with a 6.2-liter pushrod V8 engine sending 470 horsepower and 438 pound-feet of torque through either a six-speed automatic or manual gearbox.
Moving down a notch will reportedly get you the same 3.6-liter direct injected V6 engine that powers the bulk of Caddy’s CTS models; 330 horses and 280 lb-ft will be routed through an eight-speed automatic transmission. According to the supposed spec sheet, that combo should net 20 miles per gallon in the city and 30 on the highway using regular-grade gas.
Finally, the rumormill swirls with talk that a turbocharged four cylinder displacing 2.0 liters and putting out 270 horsepower and 250 lb-ft will serve as the base engine for the ATS, mated up to an eight-speed automatic. Naturally, that combo will serve as the fuel mileage leader, managing an estimated 22 city/32 highway rating, though it’s likely to require premium gas.
Certainly, all of this information is to be taken with a suitably sized grain of salt (mayhaps the whole shaker?), but it is in line with what we’ve been hearing for the last year or so. In any case, we ought to find out all the details in due time – Cadillac’s ATS is expected to hit the market no later than the latter half of 2013 as a 2014 model.
Honda Civic Si coupe concept – Click above for high-res image gallery
A for everyone. That was Soichiro ’s motto when rolling out the original Civic, and it’s one to which his company intends to stick with the launch of the next-generation model. When the all-new 2012 Civic is launched in April, Honda will roll out a whole variety of body and propulsion configurations within mere weeks of each other, instead of letting months pass between the debut of one model to the next.
Among those variants, we can expect both a sedan and a coupe, with several conventional gasoline engines on offer – including natural gas and hybrid versions – as well as the sporty Civic Si.
The new Civic, previewed recently at the Detroit Auto Show, was slated to debut in 2009. But when the global economy started going south, Honda sent the design back to the drawing board for a nearly complete overhaul before it ever saw the light of day. The result is expected to be much roomier than the current model, though the exterior design hasn’t changed all that much.
2012 Saab 9-5 Sportwagon – Click above for high-res image
will be unveiling the new WagonEstateSportCombi at the in March, and what appears to be the first official image has leaked, showing off the hatch’s svelte new rump. The during the automaker’s period of limbo between owners, but now that the company is safely in the hands of Spyker Cars, the stylish station wagon is quickly being readied for production.
Expect powertrains to be carried over directly from the 9-5 sedan, meaning the base turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-four and up-level 2.8-liter turbocharged V6 will be available. Saab’s XWD all-wheel drive system will likely be offered on V6 Aero models, and the full suite of optional goodies like adaptive cruise control and bi-xenon headlamps will be available for a price. We’ll have the full details closer to the car’s Geneva debut, and look for the 9-5 SportCombi to arrive in the United States near the end of this year.
Icy Pittsburgh hill becomes the scene of automotive carnage – Click above to watch video
The east coast is under attack. The assailant? Mother Nature. Snow and rain continue to hammer this part of the nation, and when a downhill section of a road in the Pittsburgh town of Squirrel Hill became covered in ice yesterday, vehicular mayhem ensued.
Less a road and now more an Olympic-spec bobsled run, motorists had a hard time competing against physics and slick asphalt. Fortunately, no one was injured and a camera was rolling to capture the carnage as the hill consumed about a half dozen vehicles. to watch the clip, and when you do, remember this winter driving tip: Sometimes your brakes can actually work against you.
Middling Cabin, Magnificent Handling, Marvelous Car
2011 Cadillac CTS-V Coupe – Click above for high-res image gallery
has never made anything like the , a $63,000 monster that’s half hedonist and half hot-rod. Not only that, Cadillac’s never fought in this part of the market before. The brand had monster engines back in its early days, but they were always pulling monster barges that wallowed as much as, well, barges. Here we have a coupe promising to cut up the roads like one of those German knives, but we’ve heard that refrain so many times before. This time, however, it might be true.
Before officially debuts its replacement to the public, the automaker is holding a private event where a select few people will get to see the new car in its final, production-spec glory. An anonymous Autoblog reader sent us the invitation you see above, which loosely translated from Italian to English reads, “Get ready to jump on board… Ferrari invites you to discover an all-new Ferrari in preview.” The invite also includes a nice teaser shot of the car’s front quarter panel. The private unveiling appears to be an online-only viewing affair and will be held on Friday, January 21 at 12:00 CET, or 6:00 AM Eastern time here in the United States.
We’ve seen of the Ferrari 612 successor, and even though the final design has been nicely camouflaged with boxy cladding, it’s no secret that the new car will be all sorts of sexy. The front end looks to be inspired by the , and the very classic shooting brake proportions are fitting for a grand tourer such as the 612. Oh, and did we mention that the car is rumored to have around 670 horsepower from a 6.3-liter V12? Our interest is indeed piqued.
2011Chrysler Town & Country – Click above for high-res image gallery
, the automaker at the forefront of the minivan movement back in the 1980s, is seriously rethinking its family-hauler business. , Chrysler will be scrapping one of its two minivan twins by 2013, making room for a smaller micro-van to launch within the next few years – a vehicle that will compete with the likes of the and . Now, Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne has reportedly confirmed that a hybrid version of the company’s next-generation minivan is on its way, scheduled to debut by 2013.
The powertrain slated for use in the hybrid minivan will use the same powertrain technology that we’ll be seeing in the gasoline-electric version of the sedan, also . The new van will be built at the automaker’s Windsor Assembly Plant in Canada – the factory where both the and are built today.
Autocar is reporting that may soon drop the axe on its twin-charged gasoline engine. Why? The automaker seems to have come to the shocking revelation that the 1.4-liter mill is too complex and expensive to produce. In other news, researchers have discovered that water is still, in fact, wet.
The engine combines both a turbocharger and supercharger to decrease the effect of turbo lag and increase drivability. Moving forward, the people’s automaker is said to be interested in pursuing a turbocharged engine that can produce similar horsepower and fuel economy at a much lower production cost. If it’s good enough for the , we’re guessing that Volkswagen’s engineers think that it’s good enough for the company’s products.
VW netted several awards for its 1.4-liter, twincharged four-cylinder engine, including the Engine of the Year award in 2009 and 2010. Whether or not the rumors dusting up from Autocar about the lump’s demise are true or not remains to be seen. Stay tuned.
Pagani Huayra/C9 teaser #3 of 5 – Click above to watch the
An intricately-crafted example of rolling sculpture like a Pagani supercar is as much about the details as it is about the whole package. Typically, you take in the overall shape and then focus in on the details. But Pagani’s gone the other way with its latest teaser video.
The third in an anticipated series of five videos total, the latest clip is pretty dark – and still packed with vintage-style noise – so it’s hard to discern much. But you do get some shifting-focus glimpses at a few details of the highly anticipated follow-up to the Zonda.
We’d been referring to the car under its developmental codename “C9″, but suggested the final product could carry the name “Huayra”. We’re pretty sure that “Deus Venti” (the name that accompanied and which many blogs have taken as an indication of the car’s name) actually means “two coffees”, as any Liberal Arts student working at Starbucks could tell you, so our money’s not on that nameplate materializing. Follow to watch the video.
For us, one of the best parts of watching the Barrett-Jackson auction proceedings in Arizona is trying to guess the winning bid long before the gavel falls. For the fourth year in a row, you can join us in going head-to-head against the rest of the world’s classic car buffs for prizes as part of the auction’s fantasy bidding game. Hagerty Insurance and Speed have teamed up to allow fans to try their hand at predicting the final price tag of some of the most gorgeous metal on the planet.
All you have to do is sign up over at the . You can submit your guesses through multiple entries. Fantasy bidding wraps up when the car hits the stage, and players rack up points by getting closest to the actual winning bid without going over. The player who takes home the most points over the four days of the auction will receive a massive prize pack that includes a 46-inch Samsung 3D LCD high-definition TV and a 3D Bluray DVD player.
Second place nets an Xbox 360 with Kinect and the runner up will nab a Sony Cyber-Shot digital camera. Even more impressive, fantasy bidders who grab the most points each day will be awarded a 32-inch Sony HD TV, and the players that get closest to each gaveled price will get the joy of owning a 16-gig iPad.
We’ll be partnering up with Speed for the duration of the auction to bring you up-to-date coverage throughout Friday and Saturday, so stay tuned. for the press blast.
Baseball, apple pie, Stars and Stripes… and . What do all of these things have in common? They are all classically American. Or are they? It seems that future Jeeps, specifically the replacements for our current and , will likely be assembled in Italy on the same lines uses to build Alfa Romeo models. These Jeeps would then be imported to America.
The plan to build Jeeps in Italy is moving forward after workers at a Fiat plant in Turin, Italy, voted 54-percent in favor of a new contract that, among other things, places limits on workers’ ability to strike or just not show up for work around holidays (yes, seriously). In exchange for such concessions, Fiat has pledged to pump a billion euros into the plant to tool up for new Alfa Romeo and Jeep models.
This plant is expected to be building salable Alfa Romeo and Jeep vehicles by the fourth quarter of 2012. Half the production is earmarked for European sales and the other half will be exported to North America.
still owns a hefty chunk of shares in . So many shares that it was actually able to block Vladamir Antonov from being a shareholder. Mr. Antonov is the Chairman of Conversbank Financial Group, which owns a major stake in Dutch automaker , and he has expressed a desire to be part of Saab. Now, GM is reportedly ready for him to take a financial interest in the company.
GM’s hesitation came due to reports that . Antonov states that he was the target of false allegations and has since cleared his name through the use of private investigators. In the past, Antonov spoke about opening a Saab manufacturing plant in Kaliningrad, Russia.
Bob Lutz rides again. And again. Everyone’s favorite former auto executive has saddled up with a new electric scooter company, investing a sizeable chunk of change into Current Motor and taking a spot on the company’s advisory council.
As of right now, the scooter maker offers a total of three different two-wheeled rides with varying top speeds. The base model, the Economy C124E, carries an MSRP of $6,499, maxes out at 55 mph with a range of around 30 miles, and supposedly charges in just four hours from a standard 110-watt home outlet. The lineup tops out with the Deluxe 130 which goes for a shave under $8,000, though its top speed of 65 mph and range of 50 miles makes it a slightly more appealing option.
Lutz says his work with Current Motors makes perfect sense given his dedication to bringing an EV to market throughout his career. He’s already championing a pilot program that will offer buyers $2,000 off the sticker price if they commit to providing feedback about their machines via Twitter and Facebook. for the full press blast.
We’ll let you all in on a little secret: when we aren’t furiously rowing away out our keyboards, snapping photos of our review vehicles or splitting knuckles on the , we’re stuck in front of Netflix sucking up a deluge of horrible B movies. We just can’t help ourselves. Bad acting and worse editing dipped in the sugary coating of a strange premise is the perfect concoction for shutting off your brain for awhile, which is exactly why we first got excited when we heard about director Quntin Dupieux’s new film, Rubber.
For us, one of the best parts of watching the Barrett-Jackson auction proceedings in Arizona is trying to guess the winning bid long before the gavel falls. For the fourth year in a row, you can join us in going head-to-head against the rest of the world’s classic car buffs for prizes as part of the auction’s fantasy bidding 
