Automotive News

Filed under: Etc., Government/Legal

A few months back, I paid $75 for a car wash. The young entrepreneur that took care of the cleaning service did a complete detailing job, including removing the front seats to properly clean the carpet, and beautifying the engine bay. The guy even painted the black lettering on the motor to make the engine cozy look brand new. Down Under at the Bubbles ‘n’ Babes car wash in Brisbane Australia, you can get a car wash from a naked woman and a lap dance, but it’ll cost you a cool $82. If that’s too much money for you, you can get the nude wash minus the up-close-and-personal element for $45. The establishment is owned by a strip club owner (shocking…we know), and it uses recycled water to keep in compliance with strict usage rules brought on by a prolonged drought.

It should come as no surprise that local government officials were against the nudie wash, but in the end, Brisbane’s mayor decided that no rules were being broken. We don’t know about you, but we have trouble ponying up the extra cash for high-grade motor oil or gasoline, and seriously, $45 for a basic car wash is pretty ridiculous, despite the “free” show that comes with it.

Thanks for the tip, BolderX!

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Filed under: Coupes, SUVs, Etc., BMW, Chevrolet

Sure, the BMW X3 has all-wheel-drive, stability control, and a large selection of standard and optional goodies, but if you’re looking for a budget Bimmer to handle lousy conditions both on and off the pavement, there’s a car for sale in Mansfield, Texas that you can score for less than the price of the X3’s Premium Package! Yes, folks, $2,500 will put you behind the wheel of the ‘81 3-series pictured at left, which has thoughtfully been placed atop the chassis and drivetrain of an ‘83 Blazer for maximum all-weather capability. The GM donor is presumably an S10, since a 2.8L V6 is tasked with moving the thing. Sure, the step-in height’s on the tall side, but the running boards fix that problem right up. And after all, who wouldn’t choose an E21 3-series over an X3, anyway? Decisions, decisions…

[Source: Craigslist via German Car Scene]

Gallery: ‘81/’83 Bimmer/Blazer

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Filed under: Motorsports, Etc., Misc. Auto Shows

The star of the new British kids’ show Roary the Racing Car will be making a public appearance at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed on June 22-24. Roary and his mechanic, Big Chris, will be joined by Sir Stirling Moss (who lends his voice to Roary in the show) in the Junior Festival of Speed as they pose for photos with the kids. The show airs on Channel Five in Britain will be showing up on Nick Jr. stateside starting June 2.

The Junior Festival of Speed will have lots of stuff for the younger set like functional versions of the cars from the Wacky Races cartoon and Greenpower, where kids get to work on electric car projects. In addition, Team Extreme and the Mountainbike Aerial Display team will be putting on skateboard and bike demonstrations all weekend. If you’re a car nut in Britain the weekend after the summer solstice, grab your kids and head out to Goodwood, there’ll be fun for the whole family. And maybe you can get your picture taken with Stirling Moss, too.

[Source: Goodwood Festival of Speed]

Gallery: Goodwood Junior Festival of Speed

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Filed under: Time Warp, Sports/GTs, Auction Action, Chevrolet

Look away, look away, look away, Dixie Land!

Some things are just unnatural, and should never be attempted. Does the paint job give this car any pop-culture cred via osmosis? Yes, yes, calling it the “General Zee” displays a modicum of wit, but we can’t condone trying to splice in cool with a paint job. Us Gen-Xers will always have a soft spot for the orange Charger with pushbars out front and “01″ emblazoned on its welded-shut doors. Giving that treatment to a 2002 Z-28 does not make it a collector car, even if the abomination has under 40,000 miles on it. There’s a “Dixie” horn setup, and enough amateur-grade extra wiring is present in the underhood shots to make us cringe visibly. Our favorite modification has to be the muffler, which “has holes added to enhance the sound quality of the V-8 engine.” The dead newspaper tycoon operating the T5-6 is a nice touch, too. Must be a one-off, ‘cause that’s the first we’ve heard of a “Hearst” shifter. Reserve is not yet met at a current bid of $7,100. Us, we’d use that cash as a downpayment on a General Lee replica that’s at least a Mopar, though an Omni GLH dressed up in this type of drag would be equally repugnant.

Thanks for the tip, Aaron!

[Source: eBay]

Gallery: General Zee - Z28 with Dukes paint

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Filed under: Motorsports

Dubbed “the world’s fastest Formula 1 magazine” by its publisher, auto racing’s newest publication, Grand Prix +, aims to combine the visual sophistication of a print magazine with the speed of an online news source, with an issue delivered to your email in-box by 9 a.m. (UK time) the day after each Grand Prix.

The new venture by Morienval Press, a sister company of GrandPrix.com, Grand Prix + combines the in-depth race reporting of grandprix.com with feature articles and news about the sport, as well as the stunning photography of Paul-Henri Cahier. The Spanish Grand Prix issue is available for free download here.

A quick review of the Barcelona edition suggests that the Grand Prix + team still has a few bugs to work out, and the design and typography are a bit uneven, but Cahier’s photography from the Barcelona race weekend more than makes up for the shortcomings. Another free issue is promised after the Monaco GP, before the e-zine shifts into profit making mode, with an annual subscription of £19.99 or a per-issue price of £1.99.

[Source: GrandPrix.com]

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Filed under: Gadgets, Tech

If four’s good, then eight must be better - that’s the idea behind this jewel-like V8 engine built by Hartley Enterprises from two Suzuki Hayabusa four-cylinder powerplants.

The 75-degree V8 displaces 2.8 liters, weighs only 200 lb and puts out 400 hp at a window-rattling 10,000 rpm. Torque peaks at respectable 245 ft-lbs (at 7500 rpm!), although dyno runs for a 2.6 liter version show a fairly flat curve. Aside from boring out the ‘busa block from 81mm to 83mm, none of the wide variety of performance enhancements available for the bike version have been applied to the HE V8, so it’s safe to say we’re nowhere near the performance limits of the design.

Hartley’s diminutive V8 is produced to order, with the 2.8 liter version priced under $30,000, depending on options. Check out the Hartley Enterprises website for more details, including video of a dyno run with the engine installed in a Caterham 7.

Thanks for the tip, Matt!

[Source: Hartley Enterprises]

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Filed under: Sports/GTs, Etc., Misc. Auto Shows

check out the video after the jump, and click the above photo to view a gallery

The fact that we can’t have it makes us want it more. This nicely aggressive coupe from Mexico’s Mastretta Design is beautifully sculpted, with plenty of energy bottled up in its stance. The structure is bonded aluminum, just like a proper supercar, and with a production target of 150 units per year, the mid-engine MXT is appropriately exclusive, too. The styling may be writing checks that the powertrain can’t cash, with 200 horsepower from the 2.3 liter four, performance numbers are in the realm of the Camry; but we don’t think that’s the point. This is one stylish car, and we wish we could get our hands on it here in the US. Even without big power, it releases all the proper neurotransmitters — light weight, minimalist interior, spiffy shape — too much power may turn it into a widowmaker, anyway.

Mastretta designs all sorts of stuff, from buses to oil bottles. Their vehicular expertise has been honed by producing a handsome Beetle-based coupe, as well as a dune buggy-esque “fun car.” Moving off the old VW Type 1 architecture, a faux ‘62 ‘Vette was worked up with a custom chassis ready to accept GM components. Mastretta also pulled it all together on the nuts and bolts side and put the designs into series production, so they’ve also got the practical engineering chops to bring vehicles to fruition. This nectarine-hued creation will drop off the branch in Q1 of 2008, after its formal debut at the Mexico City Auto Show in December of this year.

[Source: Mastretta Design via Carscoop]

Gallery: Mastretta MXT

Continue reading Run for the border: Mexico’s 2008 Mastretta MXT mid-engine exotic

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Filed under: Motorsports

Max Mosely and the FIA are looking at some radically different and more restrictive rules for the future of Formula One racing. For the past couple of years, they’ve talked about trying to make the cars more eco-friendly and relevant to real world cars. The latest proposals are an interesting step in that direction.

For 2011 and beyond, Mosely wants the cars powered by turbocharged 2.2L V-6 engines running on biofuel. When F1 cars first ran turbos in the 1980s, there was initially a period where they ran unlimited boost and rpm and teams were building special qualifying engines that put out over 1,000hp from 1.5L! This time, it’s likely to be a little different, with a 10,000 rpm rev limit, a standardized ECU, and stricter restrictions on the fuel content.

So far, there’s no indication of what type of biofuel would be used, though given the current success of Audi and Peugeot with their LeMans prototypes, biodiesel seems a likely candidate. The big question is, can you imagine a diesel Ferrari running around Monaco or Monza?

[Source F1-Live]

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Filed under: Marketing/Advertising, Audi

Audi apparently thought it could pull one over on the residents of Toronto, but it got caught. The automaker from Ingolstadt applied for a permit from the Film and Television Office of Toronto to shoot a commercial that would allow it to place double “T” statues that measure six feet high and fifteen feet long all over the city for a period of three days. A press release issued by Audi, however, confirms that no commercial would be shot, but rather that the statues are meant to act as billboards advertising the new Audi TT. The placement of the statues as advertisements, though, violates the city’s signage laws.

About 50 of the statues were placed around Toronto, some appearing in park settings where residents go to enjoy natural beauty and a peaceful environment in the city. Clearly, the statues are regarded as a major eyesore, and people are ticked off that Audi and its advertising agency, Maverick PR, bent the rules to place them in the path of Toronto’s residents.

Well, the citizenry has risen up against Audi’s misuse of the permit and the fact that city officials ever granted it at all. Some have outright vandalized the sculptures, while others have appealed to the local government. City Hall has already responded by ordering Audi to remove all of the sculptures. Power to the people!

Thanks for the tip, David!

[Source: Seemsartless, Spacing.ca, illegalsigns.ca]

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Filed under: Sedans/Saloons, Etc., Chrysler, DaimlerChrysler

click here for high-res version

It’s already been made known that Cerberus Capital Management CEO Stephen Feinberg has already made public that he regrets naming his private equity firm after the mythological three-headed dog that guards the gates of Hades. We say, why? Embrace your name and figure out how to use it to your advantage. One Autoblog reader agrees with us, and has created this photoshopped homage to Chrysler Corp.’s new owner called the 300 Cerberus Edition.

The Chrysler 300 has already earned an itimidating reputation, being used as transportation for the Mafia and Secret Service alike in the movies and on television. What could make Chrysler’s baby Bentley more terrifying than a proper Cerberus hood ornament in shiny chrome? We think it suits the car and would demand the horn’s single pitch be replaced with dog barking sounds.

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