Wondering what has come of Rick Wagoner since he was jettisoned from prior to the company’s historic bankruptcy? The former Duke basketball player has stayed far away from the spotlight over the past year, but that hiatus ends effective immediately. Automotive News reports that Wagoner has accepted a spot on the board of directors of the Washington Post. Wagoner is the 11th member of the board, which also includes the extremely rich and extremely powerful Warren Buffet and Melinda Gates, wife of Microsoft founder Bill Gates.
TheWashington Post is like many other publishing empires that are struggling to keep subscribers in an increasingly digital world.The D.C. daily has fared better than many other papers, though it is reportedly exploring the sale of its once wildly popular and influential Newsweek magazine. Who knows, perhaps The Post is looking to draw from Wagoner’s experience in a struggling industry to help the paper navigate through tough times.
[Source: - sub. req. I Image: Bill Pugliano/Getty]
It doesn’t get much further up the pecking order than the . Before the came along, at least, it served as a rolling example of what the power-hungry speed freaks at AMG were capable of achieving. And in the process, they replaced the SL’s folding hard top with a fixed roof in an effort to trim some extra pounds off the roadster’s considerable heft. Thing is, not everybody is necessarily ready to sacrifice the flexibility of the collapsible roof in an effort to gain that performance edge.
Enter TC-Concepts, a German tuning garage that has given the…um, “stock” SL65 AMG the Black Series treatment, and kept the origami roof in place. The TC 65 is fitted with a custom body kit, complete with new grille, bumpers and more, plus 20-inch rims and custom interior to give it the Black Series look. But they didn’t stop there. By tuning the twin-turbo V12 from 612 horsepower “stock” (there we go again) to 700 even, TC-Concepts has actually surpassed the factory Black by some 30 horses. That may just be enough to compensate for the extra weight of the folding roof, but with the wind wafting through your hair, we doubt you’d even notice.
Make your own parking spot – Click above to watch video
Having just survived a trip to New York, we know all about the challenges of trying to find a space in the world’s busiest cities. Nabbing a spot for your car is one part luck of the draw and two parts being ruthless enough to swoop in and nab an open space no matter how many lanes of traffic you have to cross in order to do it. But that’s if you want to play by (most) of the rules. What if you had the power to manifest a legal-looking parking spot out of thin air?
We’re guessing life would be considerably less stressful, at least until the authorities caught on to your game and put a stop to creative parking all together. We can’t quite tell whether the video after the jump is the real deal or a cleverly-staged spot by one group or another, but it doesn’t really matter. to see how one smart young Beijing driver does when she needs to find a spot for her .
If the Corvette Stingray is the middle-aged guy who’s always thinking about sex, the Daytona Coupe is the guy who’s always getting it on. With multiple partners. On the same night. The Stingray is Bob in sales. The Daytona Coupe is Ron Jeremy.
General Motors has clarified its stance on the term Chevy. You can call the brand whatever you want. GM is going to call it Chevrolet all the time. Better get used to it.
The 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee is a really big deal for Chrysler. This first ad spot for the Grand Cherokee focuses on telling the world that American manufacturing is getting back on track, and that Chrysler is working hard to build the best new products for the market.
2010 Saab 9-5 hits the handling track – Click above to watch the video
For a while there, it seemed like the might have never seen the light of day. Thankfully, that worry has been wiped away, and we’ve now had our chance to in Gothenburg, Sweden.
In this video, available , Saab’s performance integration manager of vehicle dynamics, Stefan Rundquist, pilots the new sedan around a Swedish handling track, pointing out the different features that make the 9-5 an enjoyable steer (complete with footage!). Maybe it’s not the most interesting footage ever released – “We have a high level of front-end grip… Um, we also have a very high level of rear-end grip…” – but it’s always nice to see a sporty sedan being put through its paces.
We know we’re pretty impressed with now the 2010 9-5 turned out, and we’re eager to get another stint behind the wheel, this time in America.
Gallery:
Photos by Chris Paukert / Copyright (C)2010 Weblogs, Inc.
[Source: ]
NCR Millona 16 – Click above for high-res image gallery
Step One: Start with a good platform. As far as motorcycles go, there are few (perhaps none?) more worthy of being called a good platform than , the Italian firm’s limited production MotoGP motorcycle for the street. So, that one’s a no-brainer.
Step Two: Add more power, take away weight. The first half of that equation didn’t need much tinkering, but NCR says it’s tuned the Duc’s engine to put out over 200 horsepower at the rear wheel. To put it mildly.. check. Lightness was a bit more important to NCR, and it’s left no stone unturned in its quest to remove every possible ounce from the Desmosedici racer.
Pretty much everything possible is molded from carbon fiber, including the frame, rear subframe, swingarm, fuel tanks, fairings and wheels are all in CF. Even the paddock stand is carbon! What’s not composite is mostly titanium, and we’re especially enthused over the minimalist undertail exhaust system.
Other goodies include a racing slipper clutch, lightened gearbox, ceramic matrix disc brakes with Brembo monobloc caliper, fully adjustable top-shelf Ohlins suspension front and rear and a fully custom ECU with traction control, data acquisition and telemetry systems.
Add it all up and you end up with just 319 pounds of lightweight goodness motivated by those aforementioned 200 ponies. Want one? Of course you do. Can you afford it? Probably not, but feel free to hit up NCR for all the pricing information.
According to The Detroit News, has been asked to stop destroying electronic documents by the U.S. . Representatives Darrell Issa (R-California) and Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) have sent a letter to GM CEO Ed Whitacre requesting that the company to halt its policy of destroying all electronic documents after 60 days for fear that evidence pertinent to investigations concerning the company’s is being erased. In the letter, neither Issa nor Jordan point to any specific instance where theoretically deleted evidence could have been helpful in the committee’s investigations.
GM has found itself in the crosshairs of a number of queries from the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, including everything from the reasoning behind the choice of certain new plant locations and a supposed secret agreement to help support new fuel-economy standards proposed by the Obama administration to the company’s ads bragging about full repayment of its government loans.
At this point, it’s difficult to tell whether this is a political witch hunt or two senators doing their best to keep an eye on GM’s activities. Either way, we can pretty much say so much for the government staying out of the carmaker’s day-to-day business.
The is a really big deal for . Not only is it the first product to launch since the takeover, but it needs to show the world that Chrysler is capable of making attractive, high-quality products, and that the brand is working to rebuild its image here in America. Thus, this first ad spot for the Grand Cherokee focuses on just that – telling the world that American manufacturing is getting back on track, and that Chrysler is working hard to build the best new products for the market.
We’ll be driving the 2011 Grand Cherokee in the coming weeks, so stay tuned for a full report. In the meantime, to not only watch the video of the new Jeep ad, but to read Chrysler’s full press release explaining the new advertising campaign. High-res images of the new Grand Cherokee are available in the galleries below.
Corvette Racing team celebrates 50 years at LeMans – click above to
When General Motors’ team hits the track at Le Mans this weekend, Chevrolet will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of a Corvette’s appearance at the 24-hour race. Before everything was packed up for the trip to La Sarthe, the celebration was initiated during the recent six hour race at Laguna Seca.
A trio of Corvette luminaries including Dick Guldstrand, Ron Fellows and Dr. Dick Thompson who drove one of the 1960 Corvettes were on hand with some of the classic racing Vettes for exhibition laps with the new GT2 C6.R and the limited edition Z06 Carbon. The new GT2 car is not in quite as strong a position this year as the GT1 has been in the past, but it should still put on a good challenge for class victory. The and the 24 Hours of Le Mans begins at 3:00pm CET on Saturday.
[Source: ]
: Corvette Racing Episode 5: Fifty years of Le Mans
Porsche says thanks, but no – Click above to watch video
has officially put the sad trombone treatment on a to the Stuttgart-based sportscar manufacturer. As you may recall, USA head honcho (and former Porsche employee) Jim McDowell called out Porsche exec Detlev Von Platen in a hilarious video made just for Facebook. While the rules of the throwdown were a little vague, we did know that the Mini crew would be rocking a while Porsche would bring along its own at some sort of battle royale to be held at Road Atlanta.
Since McDowell threw down the gauntlet, we have heard that the competition was going to be held in the track’s paddock, not out on the actual tarmac, so who knows what Mini had up its sleeves. Either way, it doesn’t matter much now. Von Platen has responded in an open letter to McDowel saying:
While your challenge seems like a fun and lighthearted campaign, we’ll stick to racing the way we have over the decades. We welcome you at Sebring, Le Mans, Daytona or any other sanctioned race where there is more at stake than T-shirts and valet parking spaces.
Sick. Burn.
Porsche has also pointed Mini to a particular advertisement as a reminder of the company’s intent. to see both the video and read the full letter for yourself.
With Porsche turning the invitation down, we have to wonder, will Mini still put on some sort of event, perhaps inviting privateers with Porsches of their own in a move not unlike General Motors’ ? Over to you, Mr. McDowell.
Armando Galarraga with Corvette Convertible Grand Sport – Click above for high-res image gallery
The move may have , but he’s wrong. General Motors when a bad call blew what would have been a perfect game for Armando Galarraga, pitcher for the Detroit Tigers. It’s true that General Motors missed out on $53,000 by just handing a convertible over to the thwarted baseballer, but the company knew it was getting a screaming bargain in exchange for the car.
$53,000 buys a modest print run and an even more modest TV campaign. On the other hand, according to Joyce Julis & Associates, a Michigan-based firm that measures the reach of sponsorships, GM also received the equivalent of $9 million in media coverage thanks to every media outlet clamoring to cover the story. That, friends, is bounce, and when you’re in business to sell cars, it’s priceless. It’s a stunt, sure, a well-calculated one that turned out to be wildly successful. Rep. Issa doesn’t have to like it, but the people in the business of selling cars likely love the bang they got for their buck.
Chrysler eight-speed automatic transmission – click above to
has announced that it will begin fitting an eight-speed transmission to select models for the 2013 model year. The ZF Group-sourced slushbox will be built at Team Pentastar’s Kokomo, Indiana transmission plant thanks to a $300 million investment by the parent company. That cash commitment secures the 1,200 jobs currently working at the plant.
Eight-speed transmissions provide considerable fuel economy improvements compared to an automatic with five or six forward speeds. Chrysler isn’t divulging which products will receive the new transmission, but Wards speculates that the upcoming eight-speed tranny makes the most sense in Chrysler’s rear-drive LX platform vehicles like the and . That makes sense to us considering the fact that Chrysler will need to improve fuel economy considerably to meet stringent new EPA standards of 35 miles per gallon by 2016.
Senior Powertrain VP Paolo Ferraro says that the new transmission “will offer our customers refinement and comfort while achieving greater fuel economy and performance.” Chrysler plans to improve its overall fuel economy by 25 percent by 2014. For comparison’s sake, the ZF-sourced eight-speed transmission used in the 760i is said to improve the big Bimmer’s fuel economy by six percent. Learn more by checking out the officialvideo and press release .
Unless you’ve spent any time overseas during a celebration, you really can’t comprehend how crazy fans go for their respective teams. With the event only coming around once every four years, everyone has plenty of time to let their craziness build up, and as a result, localities explode with flags of every origin and diehards take to the streets to profess their team pride. Naturally, that includes hanging out of every available car window and sunroof with air horns in hand.
Now, we don’t speak German, so we have little to no idea who initiated this video , but it’s worth checking out. A safety organization wanted to show just what happens when a vehicle gets into a low-speed accident with its occupants dangling outside of the body structure – a World Cup . As you might imagine, it doesn’t go well for a bunch of crash-test dummy fans when their Avant meets an immovable object.
So remember kids, keep your hands, heads and torso inside of the vehicle at all times, or the ze Germans will ruin a perfectly good long roof as punishment.
GMC Granite concept – Click above for high-res image gallery
The compact-sized concept shown by at the Detroit Auto Show proved extremely popular with attendees, and the “Professional Grade” division at GM really wants to put it in production. According to new GMC product marketing director, Lisa Hutchinson, the main stumbling block right now is figuring out how to build the doors. The Granite featured the same rear hinged back doors that are commonly used on concepts to show off the interior.
The goal is to retain the door design for production to maximize access to the rear seat. However, the doors will have to be engineered so that the car can pass side impact safety requirements, an extremely difficult task without a fixed B-pillar, especially on such a small vehicle. The engineering feat has been managed before, as seen on the and , but the rear doors on the concept Granite would appear to require a larger opening than the demi-doors on either of the two Japanese offerings, making engineering significantly tougher. Of course, GM could still build the model with a hidden pillar à la , but that might compromise some of its appeal, or its utility if they can manage to build it with the concept’s trick folding seats. In any case, GMC itself has shown that it can build rear-hinged doors, as it already has the Sierra extended-cab pickup, but that vehicle’s body-on-frame architecture and less weight-sensitive construction could make that an easier manufacturing feat.
At this point, the fate of the Granite remains up in the air.
2011 Suzuki Swift – Click above for high-res image gallery
has just dropped the first official photos of the new third generation Swift compact that goes on sale in Europe this Fall. The new hatch gets a slight smaller, but more powerful 1.2-liter inline-four that generates 93 horsepower thanks to variable valve timing on both the intake and exhaust cams. The manual transmission model now has a rating of 47 miles per gallon (U.S.) on the EU combined cycle with CO2 emissions of 116 grams per kilometer. That’s 6.5 mpg better than the outgoing model.
The new Swift spans an extra two inches between the axles and 3.5 inches overall. Even with that extra size, the Swift is still a whopping 9.5 inches shorter than the hatchback, but it splits the difference between the standard and the . Unfortunately, at this point we know of no plans for Suzuki to offer the Swift in the American market. In fact if the surprisingly good doesn’t start gaining some traction in the market, the brand as a whole might not be around in the States for much longer.
Mercedes-Benz CLC – Click above for high-res image gallery
Things aren’t looking good for the CLC, ’s small hatchback based on the last-generation (W203) platform. When the current-generation CLC was introduced in 2008, it never came to North America, mostly due to the underwhelming sales numbers that the original C-Class Sport Coupé garnered while in production. These cars have been moderately popular in other markets, but new reports state that the CLC production will come to an halt at the end of this year.
Currently, the CLC is produced at Benz’s Juiz de Fora facility in Brazil, which will be undergoing changes in its production line. This plant will be repurposed to build the , Mercedes’ heavy-duty commercial truck, and no plans have been made to shift CLC production elsewhere. Reports suggest that we could see an all-new version of the CLC when the next-generation C-Class drops in a couple of years (probably not slated for the States, of course), but until we get the official word from Mercedes-Benz, we wish the little hatch a fond farewell. Top tip, Rodrigo!
1931 Bentley 4½ Litre Vanden Plas Open Tourer by Harrisons – Click above for image gallery
You go ahead, try and find a car engine in production with a displacement larger than its cylinder count. It won’t take much to realize that means that each cylinder would have to displace over a liter. Only a few of the most monstrous of Detroit steel – venerable , for one – even come close. But this does: the 4½ Litre.
Sure, 4.5 liters may not sound like all that much, but when you consider that it’s a straight-four everything comes into perspective. Top that off with a supercharger and you’re talking some serious muscle. Well, 110-130 horsepower (depending on tuning), but that was a lot back in 1931. It was also enough to take this particular model – chassis #FS3621 – from London to Kenya, through Pennsylvania and New York, back to England a few times, to South Africa and Japan in the decades since its construction. Along the way it’d been put to all sorts of uses, from patrolling African game reserves to delivering war-relief supplies, and rebodied a couple of times as well by such coachbuilders as Harrison and Vanden Plas.
The most recent chapter was written just a few days ago when this particular example sold for a princely £670,500 – that’s just shy of a million in American greenbacks, and not bad for the first auction held by rookie auction house Historics at Brooklands. Have a closer look in the image gallery below.
The Isle of Man is a veritable gearhead’s paradise. It’s located in the Irish Sea right between England and Ireland, but is its own independent island. Like Monaco (and a few other examples around the world), the Isle of Man has no speed limits. Which could explain, in part at least, why Jeremy Clarkson and Nigel Mansell chose to live there.
The Isle also plays host to the famous Tourist Trophy – commonly known as the TT – an all-out romp through the Manx countryside, covering 1,300 ft of elevation at ludicrous speeds: The first time it was run, in 1907, the race winner’s average speed came in around 38 miles per hour. Today? 132 mph, hitting a top speed in excess of 200 mph.
For such a test of testicular fortitude, you’re not going to hand out just any chintzy trophy, now are you? Of course not. That’s why Anglo-Swiss watchmaker Graham-London – sponsor of the event for the past two years running – was charged to make a special run of timepieces to be awarded to the winners in each of the 18 categories.
The Chronofighter Oversize Tourist Trophy Bi-Compax Chronograph packs a Calibre G1734 automatic movement with built-in shock absorption into a giant 47-mm PVD-coated stainless steel case. The galvanized black face features a 30-minute stopwatch counter styled after a 30-mph speed limit road sign, with the second dial bearing the Triskelion, the Manx coat of arms. It also features a domed, double-anti-reflective sapphire crystal, date indicator, and non-slip guard over the fast-action actuator. Only 211 examples will be made, but none will be as coveted as those 18 handed to the race winners.
The Jaguar XF Supercharged may be the “just right” Goldilocks model in the XF lineup, but the XFR is Papa Bear. That ‘R’ badge will cost you an extra $12,000, but its sharper set of chops are able to handle so much more than lukewarm porridge. This car is a real honey, finances be damned! Keep on reading to find out why.
When Ford announced that it was ending the Mercury brand, we were relieved. Mercury has been nothing more than a line-up of rebadged Ford models since 2002 when the Villager minivan and Cougar coupe ended production. Check out The Downfall of Mercury infographic right here.
With 600 horsepower and only 81 examples of the new Panoz Abruzzi Spirit of Le Mans scheduled to be built, you’re not likely to get a closer look anytime soon…. unless you watch the video after the jump.
Ever eat in your car? If so, we’re thinking there is a good chance there is currently at least one french fry stuck between the driver seat and the center arm rest. That’s pretty bad, but a study by researchers from British auto accessories retailer Halfords shows that there probably are a lot more disgusting things in your ride than some fried potatoes or a few chunks of shredded lettuce. Scientists swabbed the door handles, steering wheel, shift knob, radio and seats and found bacteria ranging from Staphylococcus to Bacillus Cereus. Those names just sound unhealthy, and in reality they are the germs that cause food poisoning, impetigo severe nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. Those nasty germs enter your car through the soil you walk on, the pets you travel with, the passengers you transport and the very hands you use to eat all that food.
That’s really bad news if you eat in your car regularly, and the study by Halfords shows that 70 percent of people do just that. Further, half of those study admitted to leaving food behind in the car, giving those bacteria the sustenance they need to help ruin your week. And don’t think that since this is summertime that the sun will bake your interior to the point where the germs die off. Quite the contrary, the nasty little microbes multiply faster as your vehicle heats up, bolstering the little buggers for the impending fight against your immune system.
To protect yourself from these germs, the best defense is to keep your hands clean and leave the eating for a clean kitchen table. But if you must eat while driving, scientists feel that car owners should clean their vehicles as often as one would wipe down that kitchen table. We’re not the type to shy away from every germ nature has to offer, but something as serious-sounding as Staphylococcus makes us want to make with the disinfecting wipes in short order.
