Autoblog: News Thread

[monkeyboy]

Autoblog: CES 2008: Wagoner to unveil Cadillac Provoq Concept tomorrow

Filed under: Concept Cars, Hybrids/Alternative, CES, Green, Cadillac

In addition to announcing that General Motors plans to have invest heavily on research of driverless vehicle technology in the coming decade, GM CEO Rick Wagoner will also debut a concept vehicle tomorrow at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas called the Cadillac Provoq. While very few details were released, GM says that the Provoq will be "free from petroleum fuel and emissions." That means the Provoq could be either an all-electric vehicle or possibly another variant of the automaker's E-flex platform that has spawned the Chevy Volt and Opel Flextreme. Those two concepts are both series hybrids with a gas engine and diesel range extender, respectively. While GM did show off the E-flex platform with a hydrogen fuel-cell range extender at last year's Shanghai Motor Show, we've yet to see it paired with a body. Perhaps then the Provoq will be the hydrogen fuel-cell series hybrid concept that we've been waiting to see. There's one more day to go before Wagoner takes the podium in Vegas and reveals all.

[Source: GM]Continue reading CES 2008: Wagoner to unveil Cadillac Provoq Concept tomorrow

Permalink | Email this | Comments
</img> </img>

More...

 

[monkeyboy]

Autoblog: Fire-breathing, car-eating Robosaurus to be sold at Barrett-Jackson

Filed under: Auction Action, Etc.


Well, it's official. If it has wheels, Greg Jackson and Steve Davis will let you sell it at the Barrett-Jackson auction in Scottsdale, Arizona. The item in question is none other than Robosaurus, the forty-foot tall transforming robot dinosaur that breathes fire and enjoys snacking on Grand Ams. We don't doubt that it'll attract a flurry of attention during primetime, and that some deep-pocketed bidder will throw money at it. What would make it the best Barrett-Jackson auction ever is if Robosaurus went crazy and started eating some of the big-dollar garage queens on live television.

Video of Robosaurus doing his thing after the jump.

Thanks for the tip, Myk!

[Source: Barrett-Jackson]Continue reading Fire-breathing, car-eating Robosaurus to be sold at Barrett-Jackson

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
</img> </img>

More...

 

[monkeyboy]

Autoblog: GM admits Malibu in short supply

Filed under: Car Buying, Sedans/Saloons, Chevrolet, GM


The Chevrolet Malibu continues to do better than GM expected: the General moved 12,172 of the new model in December 2007, a 6.7% improvement over the same month last year. There are two factories currently building the car, and demand for the 2007 North American Car of the Year finalist is such that dealers still can't get enough of them.

It's a long way from the "we only expected to sell 500 Malibus in November" malarkey. The mid-sized segment champions probably aren't worried just yet, but they'll be watching. In December of '07, Toyota sold 38,831 Camrys, Honda sold 31,255 Accords, and Nissan sold 25,171 Altimas. The lack of Malibu inventory makes a good marketing and perception case, but GM won't want it to go on too long. The segment -- represented by what one Autoblog commenter called the "Camcordimabu" -- is highly competitive, and those buyers don't like to be told "Try us back in a month and we'll see if we can get you one."

Analysts say that what happens over the next few months will tell the tale. But really, this is about the next few years; the Camry and Accord have been doing around a thousand units a day, each, every single day for years. The Malibu will need to show it has that kind of endurance, and this is a good way to start. Still, GM better have a plan B in place to build as many Malibus as the market demands if it has any aspirations at all of swiping the Camry's title of Best-Selling Car in the U.S.

[Source: Seattle Times]
Gallery: 2008 Chevrolet Malibu LT


Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
</img> </img>

More...

 

[monkeyboy]

Autoblog: Honda hypes reliablity with Mile Makers

Filed under: Etc., Honda


Participation in online communities has exploded into the mainstream. It is a hot trend that large corporations cannot ignore, especially due to the advertising potential contained therein. Rather than just forking over the funds to sponsor enthusiast sites, automakers are also creating communities of their own. Honda is one that hopes to ride the trend wave by offering a place for customers to brag about their Honda's reliability. On the Honda Mile Makers website, visitors can join in by uploading a picture of their vehicle, reporting its mileage and writing a blurb about their experiences. Members are awarded a medal depending on the mileage, anywhere from bronze for 100,000 to diamond for 1,000,000 plus. Currently there are no loggers above gold medal status, though. And as far as we can tell, there's no way to verify an owner's mileage claim, so go for that diamond medal by Googling an old CRX image and bragging about your million-plus miles of fun. Memorabilia such as t-shirts, coffee mugs and computer wallpapers are also offered on the site so you can let everyone know you drive your Honda way too much via kitschy paraphernalia.

[Source: Honda]
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
</img> </img>

More...

 

[monkeyboy]

Autoblog: Spy Shots: MINI Crossman CUV

Filed under: Spy Photos, Crossovers/CUVs, MINI
Spy photographers have caught the MINI Crossman practically naked. Unless BMW is keeping the car's final ride height a secret, this looks to be a branding exercise extraordinaire: the car is but a few millimeters higher than the Clubman. Its "rough-road" credentials are supposedly validated by the larger wheels, slightly longer wheelbase than the Clubman and a rear differential for AWD.

Auto Express claims the Crossman is meant to steal sales from the Land Rover Freelander, or the LR2 in America. Not that it won't -- after all, it is a MINI and they seem to be able to do as they please. But the Freelander is larger in every dimension and a genuine Land Rover off-roader. While we know the LR2 doesn't see much duty in the wild, we bet it can handle rough urban trials (like New England winters, say) far better than a MINI on tiptoes. Have MINI buyers really been asking for a much smaller and far less capable -- but cuter -- LR2? Nevertheless, when the Crossman goes on sale, and, we predict, sells well, it will move for about &pound;20,000 in the UK.

[Source: Auto Express]


Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
</img> </img>

More...

 

[monkeyboy]

Autoblog: Spy Shots: 2009 Ford F-150 grille

Filed under: Detroit Auto Show, Spy Photos, Trucks/Pickups, Ford

click above for more spy shots of the 2009 Ford F-150

We've already seen some revealing spy shots of the 2009 Ford F-150 that's scheduled to debut next week at the 2008 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, but the angle was such that we couldn't see the pickup's new face very clearly. Enter KGP Photography, which has just snapped a couple pics of the new grille head on. There's a clearly a lot of influence from the Super Duty line of truck's in the F-150's new design. You can also see the shape of the headlight clusters are very close to those on vehicles like the Edge and Taurus X, with a main headlamp sitting on top of smaller front turn signals. As there are practically a billion configurations for the F-150 that range from stripper work trucks to pampering pickups, don't expect this to be the F-150's only grille. Judging by the fact that there are a pair of foglamps on the front of this prototype, though, we suspect it's an up-level version of the truck.

UPDATE: Check out the F-150's new badge on the truck at Pickuptruck.com.

[Photos: KGP Photography]
Gallery: 2009 Ford F-150 - spy shots


Permalink | Email this | Comments
</img> </img>

More...

 

[monkeyboy]

Autoblog: Mercedes-Benz reveals Vodafone McLaren MP4-23 for 2008 F1 season

Filed under: Motorsports, Mercedes Benz
Lewis Hamilton is having a great 23rd birthday. Not only has he resigned with McLaren for a reported $138 million, but Mercedes-Benz presented him with a brand new car to drive next season, the MP4-23. McLaren's new F1 car was literally finished last night and then trucked over a 1,000 kilometers to the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart, Germany. There it was unveiled by none other than Daimler chief Dieter Zetsche (we last saw him getting the hell out of Dodge). Along with other execs and media, Mercedes invited 700 workers from its Stuttgart plant to attend the festivities, as well. The car should be back on a trailer and headed to the Circuito de Jerez in Southern Spain as we speak, where Hamilton and his new teammate, Heikki Kovalainen, will give it a proper shakedown. As work began on this car began all the way back in November of 2006, it's no surprise that development of its replacement is already underway.

[Source: Mercedes-Benz]
Gallery: Vodafone McLaren MP4-23

Continue reading Mercedes-Benz reveals Vodafone McLaren MP4-23 for 2008 F1 season

Permalink | Email this | Comments
</img> </img>

More...

 

[monkeyboy]

Autoblog: VIDEO: Bill Gates drives a Ford Focus Coupe

Filed under: CES, Videos, Ford

click above image to view video

Bill Gates gave his final keynote address yesterday at the CES Show in Las Vegas, at which he announced a new version of SYNC that adds OnStar-esque capabilities like calling 911 after an accident and recording diagnostic information. Being that Bill will soon leave the company at which he's worked full-time since he was 17 years old, the founder of Windows had some fun and showed a video revealing what his last day at work will be like. It includes cameos from such stars as Matthew McConaughey, George Clooney, Jay-Z, Bono, Jon Stewart, Hilary Clinton, Barack Obama, Al Gore and... the 2007 Ford Focus Coupe?!?!?! Done in the style of The Office, the video is hilarious and Bill's self-deprecating humor shows what a loveable billionaire he can be. The Ford Focus Coupe plays the part of his daily driver, on top of which Bill absentmindedly places things and then drives away. Thing is, we know Bill's a Porschephile, with a 911 Cabrio and a rare 959 parked in his garage in Redmond. Do they really expect us to believe SYNC has so much appeal that it can lure a wealthy man away from his German sportscars? Check out the video for yourself after the jump.

[Source: YouTube]Continue reading VIDEO: Bill Gates drives a Ford Focus Coupe

Permalink | Email this | Comments
</img> </img>

More...

 

[monkeyboy]

Autoblog: Rinspeed's X-Treme 600 hp Porsche Cayenne

Filed under: Aftermarket, Trends, SUVs, Porsche

Click the image above for a gallery of the Rinspeed X-treme.

It may seem like Rinspeed has been hitting the Absinthe bottle with its recent spate of far reaching concepts, but the Swiss tuner might be looking to another green libation for inspiration of its line of 957 Porsche Cayenne parts.

Despite stealing Mountain Dew's 1998 ad campaign when naming its modified Cayenne, the X-treme's parts list proves that it's more than just a tuning package for poseurs. Bigger air intakes, a new front fascia, front splitter, rear bumper, side skirts and flared wheel arches make the already imposing Cayenne more so. The rolling stock, consisting of 23x11-inch wheels wrapped in 315/25R23 rubber, is nestled within wheel arches that have been dropped by 35mm through a modified air suspension setup.

While a custom exterior and bespoke interior bits are nice, they've got to match the motivation. According to Rinspeed, it's boosted the output of the Cayenne to 600 hp through the use of a custom sports exhaust. Although Rinspeed didn't go into detail about how its achieving that number, we'd assume that some significant tweaks were made to the Porsche Turbo's ECU.

Rinspeed's full press release is after the jump and you can check out a gallery of the X-treme below.

Gallery: Rinspeed X-treme

Continue reading Rinspeed's X-Treme 600 hp Porsche Cayenne

Permalink | Email this | Comments
</img> </img>

More...

 

[monkeyboy]

Autoblog: Delorean's daughter speaks: Doesn't like DMC revival

Filed under: Etc.

Kathryn DeLorean appeared on the DMC talk forum as Dmckid recently and asked, "Do you have a question about JZD?" That would be John Zachary DeLorean. Members, would you believe, did have lots of questions about DeLorean, the man and the machine whose fortunes and iconic status are inseparable. Kathryn has taken the time -- in between midterms, it appears -- to address them as she can.

She says some things you might expect: it wasn't easy to grow up in a famous household that had to regularly deal with legal hassles, and the other kids weren't always kind. She even says that there aren't many memories of things that happened before she was nine years old, perhaps because she blocked them out. But she also reveals some unexpected things: DeLorean wanted to be a professional musician -- he played the clarinet -- but gave it up and went to night school for engineering. And it turns out she is not happy at all about the return of custom-built DeLoreans by the new DMC, though she doesn't say why.

Her father's favorite accomplishment is not the DMC. It's the Pontiac GTO. But the biggest accomplishment of all, for her is the man himself, who she says was "my best friend, my best teacher, my hero and remains the inspiration in all I do." Head on over to DMC Talk to find out more about the real DeLorean.

[Source: Winding Road]
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
</img> </img>

More...

 

[monkeyboy]

Autoblog: Help Pickuptruck.com build a custom Nissan Titan, and then win it

Filed under: Trucks/Pickups, Nissan

Our friends over at Pickuptruck.com are extremely excited about their big project in 2008, which is to use input from readers to customize a 2008 Nissan Titan Crew Cab PRO-4X community project truck. So far readers have helped pick the paint scheme, which is a nice red-on-black affair with some silver accents as seen above. In the future, readers will get to pick other exterior elements as well, including the wheels and more aftermarket treatments for the truck. When all is said and done, Pickuptruck.com will be giving away its project Titan truck to a reader who enters its sweepstakes that just kicked off today. Like our own sweepstakes last spring for a 2007 Dodge Nitro R/T, you can enter once a day to win the Pickuptruck.com custom Nissan Titan. Unlike ours, you can do so through March 7th. That's right, increase your chances of winning this one-of-a-kind truck by entering every day for three months. Throughout that time the website will be updating readers on the truck's progress and asking for input as it's built up. Having suffered through our own sweepstakes without being able to enter, you can bet the entire Autoblog team will be entering everyday to win this one.

Click here to read about the Pickuptruck.com sweepstakes or click here to go straight to entering.

[Source: Pickuptruck.com]
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
</img> </img>

More...

 

[Daf_Scott]

So Dave why have you pissed off this young lady so much.

daf

 

[damian]

So Dave why have you pissed off this young lady so much.

daf

He bought a Mustang

 

[Daf_Scott]

LOL

daf

 

[DMC]

" .. nor hell a fury like a woman scorned.. "

boys she's not made of wood...

 

[monkeyboy]

Autoblog: CES 2008: Navigon takes GPS back to the basics

Filed under: Gadgets, CES



To bring you every GPS device on display at CES, we'd need to start GPSblog. Instead we're gonna hit the ones we think stand out from the crowd, like the Navigon 7100 you see here.

While the thing to do these days for GPS manufacturers is to cram everything they can into that black box on your dash, Navigon is taking a simpler approach. No MP3, no video capability, no Bluetooth. The 7100 gives directions like a good GPS box should.

It's not a low-end device, though. Navigon helps you get where you're going efficiently and safely. Imagine speeding down the interstate and your nav system says "take next exit." If you're stuck in the center lane, which way do you go? Navigon tells you which lane you need to be in, and on the screen shows representations of the overhead exit signs you'll be seeing.

The 7100 will keep you out of trouble, too. In the upper left corner of its screen is displayed the speed at which you should be driving if you want to avoid the cops. It'll keep you out of trouble when searching for a place to eat, too. Navigon has exclusive rights to use Zagat data to help you make decisions on restaurants while on the road.

The 7100 potentially saves you money as well, with a lifetime subscription to traffic data. No more paying monthly fees to know how congested your route is because the price of traffic info is covered in the $500 street price.

It's a good looking device, too, as you can see from our gallery of high-res photos. The company's full press release is available after the jump.

Gallery: CES 2008: Navigon takes GPS back to the basics

Continue reading CES 2008: Navigon takes GPS back to the basics

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
</img> </img>

More...

 

[monkeyboy]

Autoblog: Chrysler, GM set sales records abroad

Filed under: Chrysler, GM, Earnings/Financials


Despite losing customers in its home market, both General Motors and Chrysler have set sales records overseas during 2007.

The General's CEO, Rick Wagoner, said during a Bloomberg News interview that around 75-percent of GM's sales will come from outside the U.S. within the next decade, up from 58-percent in the third quarter of 2007.

Chrysler's sales abroad have risen by 15-percent over the 2006 numbers, with 238,218 vehicles sold last year, compared to almost 207k the previous year. Good news, but that's a drop in the bucket considering that sales outside the States only account for nine-percent of Chrysler's worldwide retail action.

[Sources: Bloomberg, Detroit News]
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
</img> </img>

More...

 

[monkeyboy]

Autoblog: CES 2008: Danica Patrick hearts Autoblog

Filed under: Motorsports, CES


Well, sorta. The not-at-all unattractive Indy Car driver is at CES with one of her sponsors, GoDaddy. We figured Indy Cars are fully within our beat and raced over to get a couple of shots of Ms. Patrick.

And, whatdya know? Once she saw the Autoblog press badge she went nuts, grabbed a t-shirt and a Sharpie and went to town. We were able to stop her before covering the t-shirt in loving missives expressing her adoration of Autoblog, and refused to give her our autographs, too. We just can't go handing those out to everyone ya know.

OK, truth. She grudgingly signed our shirt after about a gazillion others and then even more grudgingly did the Autoblog thing. But the not-at-all unattractive bit is true.
Gallery: CES 2008: Danica Patrick hearts Autoblog


Permalink | Email this | Comments
</img> </img>

More...

 

[monkeyboy]

Autoblog: BorgWarner to supply turbos for Ford's V8 diesels

Filed under: Trucks/Pickups, Plants/Manufacturing, Tech, Commercial Trucks, Ford


BorgWarner has won the bid to begin supplying International Engine with a turbocharger setup that will help power Ford's F-series pickups. The new turbo system, which employs a two-stage snail and variable turbine geometry (VTG), will be slapped onto the 6.4-liter PowerStroke V8 diesel, and will increase the oilburner's output while simultaneously lowering emissions. This newest implementation of VTG proves what BorgWarner asserted back in March when it released a report saying that the new turbocharger setup will filter its way down to lesser models in the coming years.

[Source: Automotive News - Sub. Req.]
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
</img> </img>

More...

 

[monkeyboy]

Autoblog: Jeremy Clarkson's bank account hacked to prove a point

Filed under: Etc., Celebrities
Jeremy Clarkson's often-misguided rants have, up until now, only cost him readers and respect, but after publishing his bank account details in his last column for The Sun, he's now out &pound;500.

Clarkson's diatribe on why some 25 million people shouldn't be worried about two lost computer discs containing their personal information caused the lovable curmudgeon to print his own bank account details in the UK rag. He claimed, "All you'll be able to do with them is put money into my account. Not take it out."

As anyone who's been the victim of identity theft can attest, it doesn't take much, so when Clarkson checked out his bank statement a few days later, he noticed that a direct debit to the charity Diabetes UK was taken out of his account.

Top Gear's top presenter admitted that he made a mistake, and that "Contrary to what I said at the time, we must go after the idiots who lost the discs and stick cocktail sticks in their eyes until they beg for mercy." Beyond supplying said cocktail sticks, we think Clarkson shouldn't dispute the erroneous donation and chalk it up to a lesson learned while benefiting a good cause.

Thanks to all who sent in tips.

[Source: BBC]
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
</img> </img>

More...