08/20/2007 Torrance, CA - August 20, 2007 - Torrance, CA - Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), U.S.A., Inc., announced manufacturer’s suggested retail prices (MSRP) today for the all-new 2008 Highlander Hybrid.
Buy any word or phrase on this site and thousands of others using Phrase Links™
Filed under: Sports/GTs, Etc., Lexus
To tie into its sponsorship of the U.S. Open, Lexus is going to host a “Virtual Tennis Open” using the Nintendo Wii. The tourney will be for charity, but the top prize of a one-year lease on a Lexus IS-F is for the winner to keep and use as he or she pleases. Hosted by tennis champ Andy Roddick, the tourney will take place at New York’s Rockefeller Center next month, while money gathered from entrant fees in the three-day tournament will benefit the Andy Roddick Foundation for neglected, abused and sick children. The IS-F, which we just saw in action up in Monterey, will also be one of the prizes awarded to the men’s champion in the real U.S. Open next month.
[Source: Brandweek]
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Click here to advertise on the Worlds largest Blog Advertising Network
On his way home one night, Chris Wilks was driving his black 1999 Saleen Mustang in Dallas when a mysterious Chevy Avalanche drove up beside him as though the driver wanted to say something. Used to the attention his 425h-p muscle car attracted, Wilks thought nothing of it and kept on driving. Up ahead, the two vehicles came to a stop light, and suddenly the passenger in the Chevy pulled out a gun and fired at the Mustang.
Wilks accelerated out of the scene, the bullet missing both the driver and car, but eventually the crazed Chevy caught up and began firing once again. Using skills learnt during a previous stint as a stunt driver, Wilks managed to get away once again and then dialed 911. He then began chasing the pickup himself in an attempt to get its license plate.
Barreling down the highway at 100 mph, the pickup eventually lost control and crashed into a shed containing a propane tank, which exploded. Nobody was seriously injured and police managed to arrest an 18- and 19-year old after finding a .45-caliber pistol. Sadly, Wilks may now be selling the car that possibly saved his life.
Thanks for the tip, Matt!
[Source: Dallas News]
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Click here to advertise on the Worlds largest Blog Advertising Network
Filed under: Etc.
It’s a Cinderella story gone all wrong! In Stockholm earlier this week on a quest to become the Scandinavian Masters champion, Oscar-nominated actor Bill Murray got his name in the papers following a run-in with police that involved the actor, alcohol, and a borrowed golf cart.
Murray was in Sweden to play in the aforementioned Scandinavian masters golf tournament, and the hotel where he was staying had a golf cart available on site. Monday night, Murray reportedly took the cart and drove it to a nightspot a mile from the hotel. On his way back later in the evening, the local constabulary noticed the cart being driven erratically and pulled it over to find Murray at the controls. The officer who made the stop asked Murray to blow into a breathalyzer, which he refused. That said, based on reports of the incident, the actor was completely reasonable in how he went about handling the predicament.
[Source: E!]
Continue reading Carting Under the Influence: Bill Murray busted in Stockholm
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Click here to advertise on the Worlds largest Blog Advertising Network
Filed under: Etc., Mercedes Benz
When we got the tip on this one, we felt the need to give it top coverage. You are looking at Costas Schuler’s Mercedes Pens, covered in at least (depending on the day, he says) 5,000 used writing instruments. Why, you ask? We’re guessing something just clicked one day and he thought it was the write thing to do. So he got on the ball and, using silicone and donated pens, made his point.
Schuler takes the car cross country, making an indelible mark on all those who see it. After all, a car covered in pens is bound to make a permanent impression.
A cursive glance will reveal a C-pillar covered in markers, the hood’s star design composed of mostly ballpoints, and to cap it all off, the car’s emblem is even embellished with a pen. There aren’t many photos of the car’s interior, but we hope the door pockets are equipped with protectors.
More photos are available in our gallery.
Thanks for telling us about your remarkable composition there, Costas!
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Click here to advertise on the Worlds largest Blog Advertising Network
Filed under: DaimlerChrysler, Ford, Jaguar
The history of Daimler Motor Corp. is very interesting and full of twists and turns. You can read about it here, but the part we’re most interested in today starts in 1960. That’s when Jaguar obtained the rights to use the Daimler name, and they have continued to use it on top-of-the-line Jaguars in every country but the U.S. since then. The latest Daimler model was the Super 8 introduced in 2005, pictured above.
So here we are in 2007 when DaimlerChrysler no longer wants to be associated with its American half, but Ford owns the rights to the Daimler name. AutomotiveNews (sub. req.) reports the two companies have worked out a deal that will allow both Ford and DaimlerChrysler to use the name Daimler, adding one more twist in the brand’s history. No word yet on how much money exchanged hands during the deal, but Automotive News says it was struck before Cerberus agreed to buy Chrysler.
Stay tuned for the next exciting development on “As Daimler Turns,” which just might some vocal Germans unhappy about the automaker not using Benz in its name.
[Source: Automotive News - sub. req’d]
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative, Green, Chevrolet
Does 60,000 Volts sound like a shocking number? Well, that’s the number of Chevy Volts that General Motors may be planning to produce when the car is introduced in its inaugural year of 2010-2011. By coming to market with such a large number of vehicles, it is believed that GM can keep the price below $30,000 and still stay somewhat profitable. Bloomberg reports today that unnamed sources have confirmed that production level as a definite possibility. To put it in perspective, when Toyota brought the Prius to market, just 15,000 units were produced its first year. The market for hybrids has since proven pretty viable.
The Volt is something unique, though, and 60,000 is still a pretty big gamble for GM. While production at that level is possible, industry experts are somewhat skeptical that sales would match those goals, at least so soon. This has been a quick development cycle for GM and the costs are huge. GM will have spent at least half a billion dollars to get the Volt to market. That’s a lot of money being spent in a short period of time, though fortunately the car’s got all of the right green buzz going for it.
[Source: Blogging Stocks]
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Filed under: Coupes, Sports/GTs, Supercars, Chevrolet, GM
All the way back in January, veteran automotive journalist Peter De Lorenzo alerted us to the possibility that the next-generation C7 Corvette may arrive with a low-volume, expensive mid-engine counterpart. We haven’t heard much about the rumor since then, but this week De Lorenzo reveals in his editorial that not only is it alive, but that GM is seriously considering dropping the front-engine/RWD drive layout of the car and switching it entirely to a mid-engine set up.
Citing only “impeccable” sources, De Lorenzo says that keeping the Corvette relatively inexpensive was the major obstacle for moving to a mid-engine layout. Supposedly Corvette engineers have found a way to produce a mid-engine Vette while keeping the cost reasonable, about around the price for a fully loaded Corvette Convertible today. Who knows how they’ve done it, but since Corvette faithful within General Motors would not allow the car’s price to swell, the achievement was a must for the mid-engine project to move forward.
[Source: Autoextremist via Jalopnik]
Continue reading Mid-engine C7 Corvette still being considered
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Click here to advertise on thousands of blogs including mine
Filed under: Garage, Sedans/Saloons, Cadillac
While the exterior styling of the new CTS has garnered its fair share of praise, it’s not until you step inside and realize that Cadillac’s design renaissance is not an aberration. Swathed in acres of high-quality material, the textures, colors and layout is provocative enough to get your attention, but subdued in a way that doesn’t distract from the task at hand.
Click here to read Part 1 on exterior styling and driving impressions.
Continue reading First Drive: 2008 Cadillac CTS - Interior and Infotainment
Permalink | Email this | Comments
Not content with its ever-tightening grip on the global auto industry, Toyota has expanded its goals and embarked on a quest to create a new droid army with which it hopes to take control of the galaxy. Without Jedi to protect us, we’re doomed.
Okay. It’s really not that dire, but we weren’t kidding about the Toyobots. The company has unveiled a new wheeled tour guide robot that will lead visitors around the Toyota Kaikan Exhibition Hall in Toyota City, Japan. The ‘bot moves autonomously, communicates verbally, recognizes visitor nametags, and is able to avoid obstacles without outside assistance. Furthermore, it’s equipped with three jointed fingers on each hand, which Toyota says enable it to sign autographs. (A word of caution: these had only three fingers, too.)
It’s the latest showcase for Toyota’s ongoing development of Partner Robots designed to assist people with the various tasks they encounter in their daily lives. Perhaps, in the future, one of the Toyota robots will be able to talk directly to the Hyper Hybrid Synergy Drive to diagnose and repair problems.
Until then, however, we’re really more interested in seeing one of these match up with Honda’s ASIMO in a fight.
[Source: Toyota]
Continue reading Toyota’s tour-guide robot seeks peace… and total surrender of mankind
Permalink | Email this | Comments
Get free blog up and running in minutes with Blogsome
Theme designed by Viewfinder Design
