Jalopnik: Boston

Woman flips Corvette while exiting Ferrari dealership

Matt Hardigree — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 12:30:00 EST

A woman in her late 20s ended an evening of car appreciation at a Boston-area Ferrari dealership with car destruction when she attempted to do a little showing off in her yellow Corvette and a mistimed burnout left both the driver and the car upside down and in pieces. More »

Watching this video makes the idea of your car getting towed even worse

Tom Joslin — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 11:00:00 EDT

No one likes the idea of getting their car towed for parking illegally, but after watching "My Name is Two-Ten" we have a feeling you will like it even less. Filmmaker Michael Nusbaum produced this amusing short film which gives you a bit of terrifying insight into who is out towing your car late at night. More »

"I'm On My Way To The Auto Zone (At 3:30 In The Morning)"

Ray Wert — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 09:00:00 EDT

If you're stopped by Boston police at 3:30 AM while pushing home an electric scooter that you've just stolen, here's a helpful tip. Don't tell them you're just pushing it to AutoZone to charge it. They will not believe you. More »

Jaguar Mark IX, Jensen GT Down On The Boston Street

Murilee Martin — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 14:00:00 EST

Let's make today an Anglophilic Down On The Street Bonus Edition Sunday, with a couple of British machines that Dr. Danger photographed for us. More »

The 20 Most Traffic-Congested Cities In America

Matt Hardigree — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 12:00:00 EST

From New York to San Bernardino, drivers in America's cities live in their cars. Below we use Google Earth to take an in-depth look at the intersections of the nation's 20 most traffic-congested cities. More »

Massachusetts Tries, Fails To Fully Oxidize All Its Old Vehicles

Murilee Martin — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 13:40:00 EDT

This is Down On The Street Bonus Edition, where we check out interesting street-parked cars located in places other than the Island That Rust Forgot. Today we're going to look at a foursome of old machines that Dr. Danger has photographed for us in his native Massachusetts. We've got a Continental, a Nova, a Spitfire, and a Ford pickup. Make the jump to read Dr. Danger's descriptions and check out the entire gallery. More »

Big Dig Finally Dug?

Ray Wert — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 10:15:00 EST

Maybe it's just because we're from Detroit, Michigan, a land with two seasons — winter and construction — but we thought Boston's notorious "Big Dig" was already over. Seriously, we were just there in May and despite a few areas with some construction, we really thought the nation's most complex and costly highway project, was already done diggered. Apparently not. The AP is telling us when the clock runs out on 2007, Boston will officially mark the end of the $14.8 billion multi-decade "Big Dig" project. But don't worry, despite the cessation of federal and state funding, the lawsuits will still go on... More »

Massachusetts to Ban Modified Exhaust

Mike Bumbeck — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 15:30:00 EDT

Massachusetts is set to introduce a bill back into legislative review that would ban the sale or installation of any exhaust that falls under the following definition. The quote is best enjoyed if read aloud in a Boston accent.

An exhaust system which has been modified in a manner which will amplify or increase the noise emitted by the exhaust

SEMA has successfully fought the legislation up to this point, citing no clear standard by which an officer of the law could determine if an exhaust had been modified - or was just wicked rusty. [Modified Exhaust System Ban via SEMA.org] More »

Does Boston Have an Embarcadero on its Hands?

Davey G. Johnson — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 21:30:00 EDT

Should Beantown go the way of the City by the Bay? That's the question Close Personal Friend of tha Jalop ThnderBlt Doherty poses regarding Boston's Storrow Drive Tunnel and its abolition. In SF, the Embarcadero Freeway was universally reviled and generally best remembered via the intro sequence of The Streets of San Francisco. Since the envisioned freeway network in Sucka Free was never finished, the Embarcadero Freeway largely came to be seen as an eyesore, and its replacement with a wide boulevard featuring rail service is largely regarded of a triumph of urbanism over sprawl. Captain T'nderBoat argues that Storrow and the Embarcadero are not peas in a pod. Any other SF/Boston residents around? Bumbeck? Anybody? [The Highly Official Weblog of Phillip A.V. McCarthy] More »

Bullrun 2007: Mother's Day Morning Running With The Bulls

Ray Wert — Sun, 13 May 2007 19:58:25 EDT

We made it out of Boston this Mother's Day morning at what seemed like the crack o' dawn. In reality, it was like 9:00 AM. It just felt much earlier due to the pounding headache from the debauchery of the night prior but whatevs, as you can see — by the time the Team #70 Escalade made it to the lineup, we were already 7 or 8 cars in the hole. And don't even get us started on Team Twins. The Frankls must have been up late celebrating Annabelle's come-from-behind best-of-three pool victory of the night before, and didn't make it to the starting line until well after our car had already been released. But never fear, as you can see from the second gallery, they caught up quickly to our lumbering beast of burden and even helped us ~~cock~~ block out the Brabus-tuned Mercedes to give us our first — and only — lead of the day as we rallied our way to Long Island via the New London Ferry. – Ray Wert More »

Girls Go Wild Over Bullrun; La Femme Frankl Kicks Wert's Ass In Pool

Ray Wert — Sun, 13 May 2007 12:35:04 EDT

On top of the fast cars, Bullrun's also known for the fast women — but other than a few like the lovely Annabelle Frankl, they're normally not drivers. Usually, they're just a bunch of ladies with a penchant for wildness — drawn to the fast action and even faster dropping of bills at the bar. Once in a while however those girls are of the professional variety — like those hosting the Bullrun Beantown party last night, where we partied it up with some real Girls Gone Wild. Other than their choice of dress, they were rather tame, so we participated in a touch of the wildness ourselves, ending up playing one of the more liquored-up games of pool we've yet experienced. It's the only reason we're able to come up with for why Ms. Frankl was able to school us yesterday in both driving and billiards. Yeah, well — at least we told ourselves that to help us sleep last night. Judge for yourself while we run with the rest of the bulls this morning. – Ray Wert More »

Stop Snitchin': Zipcar Taggers Rat Out Taggers

Ray Wert — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 13:01:00 EST

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Five graffiti artists, including three from Europe, were busted in Boston this weekend for "conspiracy to tag" subway cars and various other public items in the run up to a massive underground naked graffiti party. This wouldn't be particularly newsworthy except for the fact that this international group of taggers were running around in a Zipcar. Though covered in paint, they claimed they were just looking for a place to eat in the middle of the night. Unfortunately for them, the GPS device ~~in the Zipcar was on~~ the hapless and clueless lawbreakers brought with them and police were able to trace the group to several incidents of graffiti. Fortunately for them, the cops didn't freak out and shut down the city at the sight of unsolicited public art this time. Let this be a lesson: if you're going to rent a car for a crime spree... ~~Enterprise will pick you up and won't follow your every move.~~ Zipcar makes a great choice because of its affordability...and really...has nothing to do with this obviously gadget-heavy story. – Matt Hardigree More »

More Tunnel Woes in Boston

Davey G. Johnson — Thu, 13 Jul 2006 16:00:00 EDT

We remember watching a documentary on Boston's Big Dig on the Discovery Channel a few years back, and we have to say, we were pretty amazed by the scope of the project. We're even more amazed by the apparent shoddy construction of at least three tunnels. The underground carriageway that collapsed on Tuesday apparently has 60 other signs of potential failure, and an undisclosed number of problems were found with two adjacent structures. Bostonians, thank your lucky stars you don't suffer from random and sudden plate-tectonic-induced adventures. More »

They Chahd My Cah in Hahvahd Yahd: Ivy League Parking Garage Goes Up in Smoke

Davey G. Johnson — Wed, 12 Jul 2006 00:26:37 EDT

Dear Thnderblt: We are sorry about this headline. Nevertheless, we couldn't resist. We found it, although juvenile, to be a momentary wicked pissah of a hed. Anyway, there was a fire in a garage at the Soldier's Field parking garage at Harvard Bidness Skool that left about fifteen cars in various states of smoked sausage-age. Authorities are still working to determine the cause, and once the building is deemed structurally sound, owners will be allowed to retrieve their vehicles. Bummah. More »

Wicked Breaking News! When Tunnels Attack: Boston's Big Dig Kills Woman

Ray Wert — Tue, 11 Jul 2006 11:18:38 EDT

It used to be $14 billion got you a tunnel system under a city that didn't kill people. Boston's Big Dig was once one of those tunnels. Alas, no more — last night a section of tunnel inside the Interstate 90 connector beneath an industrial area of the south side collapsed onto a car, killing a woman passenger. Apparently, a steel tieback holding a 40-foot section in place gave way. Mass. Turnpike Authority Chairman Matthew Amorello was quick to get out ahead of the PR explosion by telling Bostonites precisely what they needed to hear: More »

Sgt. Smirnoff Goes For A Ride: Vodka-Swilling Boston Homeless Man Steals Police Car

Ray Wert — Thu, 15 Jun 2006 11:00:00 EDT

We've got the police blotter timeline: More »

The Ice of Boston: Beantown Tows Record Number of Cars During Storm

Davey G. Johnson — Tue, 14 Feb 2006 11:05:24 EST

While we're sitting here on the Left Coast basking in warm, sunny days (a dramatic difference from the storms of a year ago which is a bigger problem than one might think because Angelenos have no clue how to drive in the rain), the kids back East got hit with some stormage, and the City of Boston, determined to keep the roads clear, towed a while mess of cars. Some folks are calling foul. After the jump, a somewhat telling paragraph from the Boston Globe. More »

Ikea and Zipcar Get All Bostonian

Davey G. Johnson — Tue, 13 Dec 2005 15:07:09 EST

While Philly may stand immortal as the East Coast's City of Brotherly Love, Beantown's vying hard for the City of Corporate Synergy title. Swedish furnishings despot Ikea and share-the-weath auto-leaser Zipcar have teamed up to give urban Boston dwellers a shot at the Rotera, the Ektorp and other oddly-named items for the home that sadly reside 20 miles outside of town. At six bucks an hour, the Ikean Zipcars are $2.50 off the regular rate. The only downside as TransportTrends points out is that at some point, what all Ikea-bingers really need is a truck. More »