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It’s been seen by millions of viewers on television and the internet, it’s been run through the political wringer on both sides of the aisle and it’s been parodied by the comedians at Saturday Night Live. And, according to YouTube, Chrysler’s “It’s Halftime in America” ad staring Clint Eastwood has been named the top Super Bowl car commercial of 2012.

For those keeping track of such things, Chrysler’s commercial has over 10.5 million views on YouTube, though we do feel the need to remind everyone that the video was unavailable for a few hours the morning after the Big Game, which we’d imagine is one of the highest traffic times for such advertisements.

The only other commercial from an automotive company that made YouTube’s top five Super Bowl commercials was “2012″ from General Motors – itself controversial due to Ford’s attempted cease-and-desist request before it aired on the worldwide stage.

The number one ad, you ask? That would be M&M’s “Just My Shell” commercial. Guess there really is no accounting for taste… we prefer our M&Ms to be green, just like everyone else. Feel free to watch Chrysler’s winning ad one more time after the break.

Continue reading Chrysler’s Clint Eastwood ad named top Super Bowl car commercial [w/video]

Chrysler’s Clint Eastwood ad named top Super Bowl car commercial [w/video]

Seasons may change, time may pass, but the internet never forgets. It’s been six years since then-14-year-old Joey drove his father’s brand-new Ford Shelby GT500 through the back wall of the family’s garage. Video of the event and the ensuing carnage has racked up an astonishing 3.6 million views on YouTube on one account alone, and the clip remains a perennial classic. Now it looks like Joey is finally ready for a little redemption courtesy of the good people at Tosh.0. The show routinely features people who are internet stars for all the wrong reasons in the “web redemption” segment.

Daniel Tosh, the show’s host, allows those maligned by the power of the internet one more shot at infamy while reenacting the event that made them infamous to begin with. Joey will explain his side of the GT500 calamity on the newest episode of Tosh.0 airing on February 21. Click past the jump to see the crash one more time. Trust us, it never gets old.

Continue reading GT500-crashing kid to get Tosh.0 web redemption [w/video]

GT500-crashing kid to get Tosh.0 web redemption [w/video]

Ken Block might not be the world’s best World Rally Championship driver, but he might be the sport’s best entertainer. The Gymkhana superstar knows how to rack up YouTube views with jaw-dropping stunts and a panache that most of us can only dream of.

Beyond the jump is the latest Ken Block production, but instead of the real KB, we get funnyman Nick Swardson dressed up in full Block gear. Swardson pokes fun of Block just about every way imaginable, and the real Block sits in disguised as the interviewer.

It’s hilarious, and you can watch it after the jump. We’d watch it again, but we’re too busy looking for Ken-chantment cologne on Amazon.

Continue reading Latest Ken Block video is drift-free, full of laughs

Latest Ken Block video is drift-free, full of laughs

There are a few car photographers out there that we count among our favorites. Our own Drew Phillips is at the top of the list for obvious reasons (have you seen his recent ZR1 shots?), but close behind is Jordan Shiraki. We’ve shown you his work before, including a very special photoshoot where the Lamborghini Murcielago came face to face with the supercar that’s replacing it.

Jordan mainly shoots Lambos, rare ones at that, and he shoots them well. Recently, however, he decided to do something extra special for a shoot with an ultra rare Lamborghini Superleggera LP570-4 Blancpain Edition. Only 12 of these special edition Gallardos were made; this one is #11. So to set this shoot apart, Jordan decided to try his hand at producing video, and the result is after the jump.

The three and a half minute video is every bit as beautiful as his still photography, if not more so. We suggest setting the YouTube player to 720p and turning up the sound. Oh, and he didn’t forget to pull out his DSLR during the shoot either, so check out the gallery below.

Continue reading Our favorite Lambo photographer lets loose on Superleggera Blancpain Edition

Our favorite Lambo photographer lets loose on Superleggera Blancpain Edition

A video surfaced on YouTube last week that purported to show a Bugatti Veyron being driven at near top speed on public roads. Mind you, “near top speed” for a Veyron still means well above 200 miles per hour. The YouTube account owner who uploaded the video claims that the car made seven runs and reached speeds in the range of 215-225 mph. That’s well short of 253 mph, the Bug’s terminal velocity in Top Speed mode, but the Veyron was reportedly left in Handling Mode to accommodate the public road’s uneven surface.

The video has attracted over 1,200,000 views after just one week on YouTube, and at least one of those views was the authorities in Arizona. Despite text in the video claiming that the high speed runs were shot “south of the border,” police in Arizona were still none too thrilled with what Arizona Department of Public Spokesman Bart Graves called “a criminal act.” The act in question is said to have occurred in late 2009, and since the driver’s identity is never fully revealed, there’s not much the authorities are likely going to do about it now. There’s also no know way to know for certain where the video was shot, though Arizona police say the driver would be thrown in jail if he were caught trying to repeat the act in their jurisdiction.

The ironic thing is that the police did apparently have an opportunity to bust the driver, though they didn’t know it at the time. The end of the video shows the Veyron pulled over on the side of the road by the Arizona Highway Patrol, but the video’s description claims the driver wasn’t cited because he was only going 80 mph at the time and the “officer stopped the car to take a look at it.”

Follow the jump to get a look at the Bugatti going all out on public roads for yourself.

Continue reading Arizona police upset over viral video of high-speed Bugatti

Arizona police upset over viral video of high-speed Bugatti

As we head towards the second half of February without having had a real winter here in the Midwest, we’ll admit to being ticked off. Those Blizzaks we bought for our long-term Mini Countryman? We haven’t had much chance to put them to use. Nor have we had any occasion to enjoy the singular pleasure of driving a massively overpowered sports car on an icy road, enjoying every fishtail, opposite-lock correction and powerslide, all while traveling under the legal speed limit, of course.

So what do we do to console ourselves? Watch videos on YouTube like this one, featuring the KTM X-Bow doing a little ice racing with an accompanying motorcycle/quad tandem. We love that this X-Bow’s owner is out getting down and dirty in the cold – and that he’s not willing to pull his buddies on a tube behind his race car.

Click past the jump to watch the video.

Continue reading Who said the KTM X-Bow isn’t good in snow?

Who said the KTM X-Bow isn’t good in snow?

Nissan clearly wants to get as much mileage as it can out of the “duel” it staged between its Infiniti M Hybrid and the Porsche Panamera S Hybrid. You’ll remember the spot, showing the M35h ripping through the quarter-mile in less than 14 seconds, ahead of the hybrid Porsche. Infiniti got Guinness World Records to proclaim it the fastest accelerating full hybrid last year, which served as the inspiration for filming the online ad.

Now, a new video has been posted to YouTube, showing some behind the scenes footage of the filming of the ad. It’s not exactly earth-shattering stuff, as the parts we found most interesting were the shots of the camera chase car, which is neither an Infiniti nor a Porsche, but actually a Mercedes-Benz M-Class.

While we like the spot, this second go-round with it had us contemplating other things. We always wonder about the effectiveness of comparing your brand to another when it’s clearly done to try and rub some of that competitive luster onto your own badge. And backing it up by throwing out a name that we most closely associate with overweight twins riding motorcycles? We like the M Hybrid, and we’re happy to get more of a look at it, but if Infiniti really wants to impress, we’d like to see some more competitive comparisons, like how it performs on a road course or even how it matches up with non-hybrid models.

Click past the jump to watch the full video.

Continue reading Infiniti takes us behind the scenes in World’s Fastest Hybrid vid

Infiniti takes us behind the scenes in World’s Fastest Hybrid vid

Chrysler has found itself in a bit of tangle with the company’s Super Bowl ad featuring Clint Eastwood. In it, Eastwood speaks to viewers about “Halftime in America,” specifically referring to Chrysler’s recovery while drawing parallels with Detroit’s own resurrection.

If Chrysler was hoping to put its weight behind a second term for President Obama, it chose an odd spokesperson in Eastwood.

Republicans like Karl Rove have come out in opposition of the ad, saying the spot was overtly political. It doesn’t take massive leaps to see a potential correlation between the tagline “Halftime in America,” itself a play on Ronald Reagan’s famous “It’s morning in America” line, and the current election season. Yet, in a radio interview yesterday, Chrysler Chairman and CEO Sergio Marchionne denied the advertisement was meant to do anything but stoke positive feelings toward the car company.

If Chrysler was hoping to put its weight behind a second term for President Obama, it chose an odd spokesperson in Eastwood. The actor has publicly spoken out against the auto bailouts in the past and even served as the Republican mayor of Carmel, California in the ’80s. Hardly seems like the guy for pro-Obama flag waiving. A representative from Eastwood’s production company told the Detroit Free Press, “The ad is not intended to have a political message, but rather one of American pride and job growth.”

As if stepping into the pre-election mess weren’t bad enough for Chrysler, the automaker also found itself in the midst of a copyright spat with NFL over the ad that saw the video yanked from YouTube just as it could have drawn the most traffic. The video later appeared on a separate channel. Follow the jump to watch the spot one more time.

Continue reading Chrysler, Clint Eastwood respond to criticism that Super Bowl ad was political

Chrysler, Clint Eastwood respond to criticism that Super Bowl ad was political

The gritty Chrysler Super Bowl commercial starring Clint Eastwood may not have been as much of a shock – or as universally well-regarded – as last year’s Eminem spot, but it’s certainly going to have cube-dwellers trawling YouTube to catch another viewing. Problem is, Chrysler’s YouTube channel ran into some problems this morning. Viewers attempting to watch the commercial instead got a message saying “This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by NFL Properties LLC.”

When we reached Chrysler spokeswoman Diana Gutierrez earlier today, she could only say, “We are investigating right now.”

The video did become available on the Chrsyler YouTube channel by 11:00 AM Eastern time, though we are awaiting some explanation of what happened from Chrysler’s PR team. As a stopgap measure while the Chrysler channel was still down, the ad was posted to another Chrysler YouTube page, PentastarVideo. Still, Chrysler’s problems during a high-traffic part of the day means it must have missed plenty of eyeballs.

Watch the video after the jump.

Continue reading What happened to the Chrysler Super Bowl commercial?

What happened to the Chrysler Super Bowl commercial?

We’ve gotten various peeks at the Mercedes-Benz A-Class for a few months now, from the patent drawings to spy shots to QR-coded teasers. Then, of all things in all places, a cyclist with a handlebar-mounted camera gets a full-on shot of the real deal while riding in Lanzarote, Spain for what we assume is a photo or video shoot.

If you liked the look of the patent drawings, then you’ll be happy with the glimpse here. It even looks close enough to the Concept A for us to give Mercedes props for truth-in-concept-car designing. There’s debate as to whether this is the AMG A-Class, but regardless, the final version will be shown at next month’s Geneva Motor Show. Until then, watch the video after the jump.

Continue reading Production Mercedes-Benz A-Class spotted undisguised

Production Mercedes-Benz A-Class spotted undisguised

Motor Trend launched its new “Wide Open Throttle” news program on YouTube with a bombshell: “Cadillac Puts Hold on ATS Coupe.” While it certainly gave us reason to click play, there’s just one problem. The report – claiming that not just the coupe, but multiple ATS variants have been delayed or cancelled – may not be accurate.

Cadillac spokesman David Caldwell gave us the usual manufacturer disclaimer about not commenting on future product, but he did tell us, “There has been no recent radical shift in strategy” for the ATS. Reading between the lines, that either means an ATS coupe hasn’t gotten past the idea stage, or that GM is still working hard at bringing us a two-door version of Caddy’s BMW 3 Series fighter.

“On either end of the spectrum the reporting is inaccurate,” Caldwell said, referring to those who have opined that Cadillac will launch several variants of the ATS sedan that comes to market later this year, including a coupe, a convertible, a wagon, and a shooting brake.

“We do plan to do variants,” Caldwell told us. “We haven’t yet called our shot of how we’re going to execute that.”

So what do we make of all this? We’re pretty sure that we’ll still see an ATS-V sedan, and perhaps that could be it for ATS models if the standard sedan is not well received. If sales take off, however, don’t be surprised if Cadillac does move forward with at least one new bodystyle.

Click past the jump to watch the premiere episode of “Wide Open Throttle.”

Continue reading Cadillac denies ATS Coupe development halted [w/video]

Cadillac denies ATS Coupe development halted [w/video]

Kia has been spending big on Super Bowl advertising for a few years now, but its commercials have been hit or miss. Its ad for the big game in 2010 entitled “Joyride” was a hit for bringing toys from our childhood to life behind the wheel of a Sorento, but last year’s “One Epic Ride” was a definite miss. Kia’s ad for this year’s Super Bowl, called “A Dream Car. For Real Life,” will likely be a hit.

The premise is simple: A fairy who visits bedsides with magic dust that guarantees good dreams accidentally trips over a slipper and spills his whole bucket of sprinkles on an unsuspecting, demographically targeted and non-threateningly handsome 30-something man. The resulting indulgent dream stars Victoria’s Secret model Adriana Lima, 80’s hair band Mötley Crüe (looking a little worse for wear, we might add) and UFC fighter Chuck Liddell. There’s also a school bus-sized sub sandwich being cut in half by lumberjacks and a roaring crowd of thousands of bikini-wearing beauties.

In the midst of all this REM-induced revelry is the Kia Optima, because what other car would your subconscious pick to impress Ms. Lima?

Kia has also published a five-hour-long video of Adriana Lima waving a checkered flag in slow motion on YouTube, because hey, if you’ve got her on set for the day, why not? Follow the jump to watch them both.

Continue reading Kia debuts Adriana Lima-infused Super Bowl ad

Kia debuts Adriana Lima-infused Super Bowl ad

Why is it that everything looks cooler in slow motion? And the slower the better, especially when you’re dealing with one of those new-fangled high frame rate super cameras. Case in point? When you add a MG Midget, a serious amount of explosives and a 1,000 frame per second camera and you have some very compelling YouTube footage.

Hit the jump to look on as Speed TV’s Stuntbusters lay waste to what looks like a rather tired (and likely non-running) MG. There is nothing but really slow demolition and some Mary Lou Retton-style tumbling, but it’s totally worth your 1:09.

Continue reading Watch a burning Midget flip at 1,000 frames-per-second

Watch a burning Midget flip at 1,000 frames-per-second

Reaction vids certainly aren’t in short supply. Whether it’s a mom screaming her head off during a hot lap of Laguna Seca, a little boy freaking out over the silent rush of acceleration in a Tesla Roadster, or a wife screaming expletives at her husband in Italian during a Sunday spin in a Honda Civic Type-R, these candid-camera-style videos are usually good for a few laughs.

More recently, the meme has been slathered with sex appeal to attract even more eyeballs. There’s this well-known example, plus someone on YouTube who just has pretty girls ride shotgun as he takes them for a ride.

We like it best when the passenger’s reaction is honest and unscripted, though. Like this example, in which a son takes his father for a ride in his pride and joy: a 530-horsepower Toyota MR2. Shot back in 2010, it’s not new, but we’d never seen it before and still get a kick out of the father’s response.

Take a trip with Dad after the jump to see for yourself.

Continue reading Dad disapproves of son’s 530-horsepower MR2

Dad disapproves of son’s 530-horsepower MR2

Do you love to hate speed cameras? We feel your pain. After all, no technology is foolproof, and we prefer our citations to come straight from a fellow human being. But what if the speed camera had a mind of its own? As in, a real brain inside its head?

Not sure where we’re going with this? Allow us to explain. Rémi Gaillard, a French funny man famous for his hilarious YouTube stunts (real-life Mario Kart ring a bell?), decided to play dress-up a full nine months before Halloween. Flashes fire, antics ensue.

We suggest you stick around to the very end, as the exhibition reaches it final, perhaps inevitable, conclusion. See for yourself in the video after the break.

Continue reading Rémi Gaillard lends speed cameras a human element

Rémi Gaillard lends speed cameras a human element

Remember when the dot-com ads started to flood the airwaves during the Super Bowl? The ads were almost always wacky, and half the time, we didn’t even know what was being sold. Well, it’s been a long time since the 1990s, and very few Internet-based companies are still hocking services during The Big Game.

Cars.com is one of the WiFi warriors that is still swinging for the fences, and some of their past work has been reasonably funny. Their 2012 ad is all about using Cars.com to gain confidence at the dealership, but we’re not sure what to think about it. There is something about a man with a freaky second head that doesn’t sit well with us, and we like it even less when noggin part deux is intentionally obnoxious. Seriously, we could do without the gyrating, it’s creeping us out. Hit the jump to preview the 30-second ad for yourself.

Continue reading This year’s Cars.com Super Bowl commercial weirds us out

This year’s Cars.com Super Bowl commercial weirds us out

To the millions of Gen Xers sitting in cubicles listening to New Wave bands on Spotify, wondering how they ever got to be so out of shape, so gray, so middle-aged and so much like their parents, this little 10-second clip that showed up on YouTube yesterday promised something great – the return of a hero, a new chapter in the generational totem that is Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Alas, amidst all the speculation that Matthew Broderick would be reprising his role in a belated sequel, comes this revelation: It’s just a teaser for a Super Bowl ad.

According to Jalopnik, the ad is for Honda, and it will rehash all the best scenes in the original film. It’s a big enough deal that Honda has drafted Todd Phillips, he of The Hangover fame, to direct (John Hughes, director of FBDO, passed away in 2009). Of course, this means the 1961 Ferrari 250 GT California Spider will not be appearing, replaced, according to the report, by a 2012 Honda CR-V.

Not to sound too Cameron-like, but if that’s true, it is depressing. Click past the jump to see the quick teaser video.

Continue reading Matthew Broderick to reprise Ferris Bueller role in Honda Super Bowl ad?

Matthew Broderick to reprise Ferris Bueller role in Honda Super Bowl ad?

You won’t have to wait until February 5 to see the new Suzuki Super Bowl commercial, as it’s hit the automaker’s YouTube channel in advance. Featuring an Eskimo who trades in his sled on an all-wheel-drive Kizashi, it’s fun and decidedly more upbeat than last year’s marauding snowmen.

Still, we kind of prefer the snowmen, which were more unconventional than the Eskimo ad’s predictable plot. This year’s ad also embraces two of the major Super Bowl ad tropes of recent years: adorable dogs and bickering couples. Neither of which is likely to win Suzuki any points for creativity.

Regardless, we have to admit that sliding a Kizashi at opposite lock across the frozen tundra looks like fun, and we think the underappreciated Suzuki is worthy of some extra attention. Click past the jump to watch the commercial in its entirety.

Continue reading Suzuki shows slushy Super Bowl commercial in advance

Suzuki shows slushy Super Bowl commercial in advance

The birth of a child is a beautiful thing.

Well… let’s rephrase that. A newborn baby is a beautiful thing (most of them, anyway) as is the elation such a bundle of joy can bring to its new mother and father. The actual act of giving birth, on the other hand, is somewhat less than beautiful, at least to our non-rose-colored set of eyes.

Regardless, the proud pair of parents you’ll see in the video after the break decided to film their newborn baby’s birth with a handheld digital camera. For the sake of posterity, we guess. That’s not so uncommon, though we can’t imagine ever wanting to relive the experience in full high-definition glory over and over again.

We feel the need to add that, while childbirth is a completely natural process, childbirth in a car, on the way to the hospital, is not. And neither is driving with one hand while filming childbirth with the other. We’d argue that brings a whole new definition to the term “distracted driving.” That said, when the baby decides it’s coming… well, it’s coming. Maybe next time, try pulling over, eh? Either way, the birth was apparently so non-invasive that the mother actually made a few phone calls while holding her new baby.

Witness the glory of roadway childbirth after the break in a segment from ABC’s Good Morning America, as well as the father’s unedited YouTube video footage. Umbilical cord and all… which is our way of saying that viewer discretion is advised. Seriously.

Oh, we almost forgot to mention that the parents plan on keeping the car for when the kid turns 16. We guess that’s better than selling it to some unsuspecting used-car buyer, no?

Continue reading Woman delivers own baby while husband drives, films

Woman delivers own baby while husband drives, films

Back on Thanksgiving Day of 2011, we saw what happens when a C5 Chevrolet Corvette goes head-to-head on public roads against a C6 Vette – the older Vette spears into the passenger-side door of the newer Vette. The video was our most popular post of 2011, so we know that well over a million viewers saw the ill-advised drag race. We think that video illustrated that racing on public roads was a bad idea, but sometimes, accidents happen even without a race.

Hit the jump to see what happens when a pair of tuned-out Nissan 350Z models do their best impression of the Thanksgiving Day Melee. The YouTube page claims that the two cars were actually traveling at the speed limit (read: not racing) as part of a caravan of Z models, when the black, supercharged Z coupe tapped its throttle and lost control, veering into the passing lane and right into the path of a Z roadster.

Still, the collision looks like déjà vu all over again, except the quick video is better this time and we actually hear the impact and see the parts flying all over the freeway. The accident reportedly didn’t result in any serious injuries.

Continue reading First it was Vette on Vette violence, now it’s Z on Z carnage

First it was Vette on Vette violence, now it’s Z on Z carnage