[DC Shoes]

After storyboards are done, VFX artists move to a stage called pre-visualization — a crude version of the action. [PopMech]

Director Roland Emmerich shoots the limo — a Lincoln Town Car L — against a massive blue screen in Vancouver, Canada. [PopMech]

Next step? Rendering! [PopMech]

Better than the takes-a-couple-hours-per-frame renders is this. It's called a doughboy render that takes just a few minutes per frame. [PopMech]

The final result? Well, simply put, it's epic disaster porn. Want to know the rest? Head on over to Popular Mechanics.

The incident took place Sunday morning in Parklea, a suburb of Sydney, Australia, and the good news is that nobody in the house was injured when the "late model Commodore sedan" got out of control, hit a light pole, jumped a dirt mound, and flew about 90 meters through the air to land on the roof of a nearby house. The driver and passenger of the Commodore ended up in the hospital, where they're reportedely in stable condition with non-life-threatening injuries. We're sure they're answering a lot of very pointed questions posed by members of Sydney's law enforcement community right about now. Thanks to Alf, In Pog Form for the tip!
[Herald Sun, full gallery]

Hakimullah Mehsud became the leader of Tehrik-e-Taliban—the Afghan Taliban’s Pakistani franchise—sometime this fall, after his predecessor Baitullah Mehsud got the Predator treatment from the United States.

Baitullah left office similarly to how he had acquired it: the Pakistani Taliban’s founder, Nek Mohammad, met his fate in a very similar manner in the spring of 2004, handing over the reins to Baitullah, who expanded the insurgency into the very heart of Pakistan.

In a recent profile, the BBC’s Syed Shoaib Hasan recalls meeting Hakimullah in South Waziristan—the Pakistani Taliban’s heartland—in October 2007. The 28-year-old commander had already had a reputation with cars and guns:

[Hakimullah Mehsud] was already famous within the Taliban for his skills in battle – his ability to handle a Kalashnikov and a Toyota pick-up were legendary. “He is the best after Nek Mohammad,” our Taliban driver told us during a hair-raising journey before the meeting in 2007.

Of said hair-raising journey, the author offers a vivid recollection:

He took us for a drive. To demonstrate his skill with the vehicle, he drove like a man possessed, manoeuvring around razor sharp bends at impossible speeds. He finished the demonstration by braking inches short of a several hundred foot drop. While the rest of us sat in stunned silence, he just laughed chillingly and stuck the car in reverse to smoothly continue the journey.

To imagine that cruising in blood-curdling detail, remember that mountainous South Waziristan is not exactly known for its road network. In that tribal borderland wedged between Afghanistan and Pakistan, this is where you do your driving:

Source: BBC, Photo Credit: A Majeed/AFP/Getty Images, John Moore/Getty Images

This Escort gets some truly righteous air, and the scary backyard suspension mods plus the bumpy-ass dirt road leading to the jump makes that accomplishment all the more impressive. We've seen the work of the legendary Dave before, but this seems to be the best jump yet. Enjoy:

Yes, this '87 Accord (go here if the ad disappears) is now for sale, and it's a proven desert jumper! Why would anyone sell such a great car? According to the seller, "Reason for selling: it's too damn ballin for us. We want to tone it down a bit and maybe get a Rally Van." And there you have it! Thanks to LTDScott for the tip!
[KSL]

Add one part beat up 2004 Subaru 2.5 RS, one part spare set of donut tires, a flare gun, a dirt parking lot, a mobile home and whole lot of dangerous hoonage and you've got yourself quite a spoof on Ken Block's epic Gymkhana Practice videos. While shooting a video like this on public roads is probably not the smartest idea, it's pretty enjoyable to watch. Just make sure you skip ahead to the 50 second mark where the action starts. (Hat Tip To Matthew & Dave!)

A lack of supplemental information about the ticket other than it was received on the California State Route 73 toll road leaves us in question, but if it is indeed a true speeding ticket and not some ill-conceived joke, it may be the most epic display of supercar hoonage ever caught by the California Highway Patrol. And for those of you playing at home, here's what the California law for speeding above 100 MPH is:

"every person convicted of an infraction for a violation described in subdivision (b) of Section 22348 shall be punished by a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars ($500)."

So, no jail time as far as we can see, but a fairly hefty fine. (Hat tip to Less Lincoln!) [via Flickr]

Pricey rally cars eating snowbank is a perennial favorite up here in freezin' Atlanta, Michigan at the Sno*Drift Rally. Consider this a teaser for the massive, steaming pile of coverage we're about to bestow upon the internets. At the moment, we're digging through the 10 gigabytes of tasty action shots and miles of HD videotape we captured in the past weekend. To whet your appetite for now, please accept this epic shot we've lovingly placed below for your consumption.

To follow all of our obscene coverage of Sno*Drift and the rest of the scene from here on out, hit the RallyAmerica tag.

Photo Credit: Alex "Chocolate Lovin" Conley

A police officer on the way to the graduation ceremonies at Fort Largs noticed a man doing a sustained burnout on a road near the police academy. The officer pulled the man over and let him off with a warning only to spot him later in the day, during the ceremony, doing burnouts in the parking lot of the academy. Needless to say officers were not amused and following the ceremony went to the mans house where they ticketed him and impounded his car under the hoon laws. Police also found the man was cultivating three cannabis plants. To borrow a phrase: "Here's your sign." [Adelaide Now]

The UAW could be heard heaving a sigh of disappointment as we're stopped by mini-Shaft just before we would've mowed down Senator Bob "Nissan" Corker. Oh well, maybe next time.

References say that Hoon stood for "man living off immoral earnings (i.e. a pimp)" at the turn of the 20th century. The term has evolved to encompass drivers of either sex "who drives any vehicle dangerously and/or fast." The term hoon is typically only used in Australia or New Zealand, but we're doing our damnedest to bring it front and center into the vocab of American gearheads everwhere.

This t-shirt worn at Summer Nats, an Aussie-flavored SEMA, wraps up the definition of hoon in a succinct, efficient manner. We're hoping this hoon-shirted bloke launched out of the parking lot after a smoky, tire-shredding burnout, gained enough speed to nail the perfect Rockford, thereby instantly attaining hoon-god status among his peers. A man's outfit says a lot.

Also, as an FYI to the world's laziest journalist, you don't need to name your post "photo for Ray at Jalopnik" to get our attention. Just wanted ya to know that.

[WorldsLaziestJournalist and Reference.com]

A man who was "tagging" along with a funeral service jumped in and stole the waiting hearse. He decided to go for a little scenic tour of Florida and "ironically" drives to his house to grab a bible, talk to his mom, then asks if anyone wants to go for a ride back to the church. What? The jokes just write themselves.

Sheriff Al Lamberti said:

"Just when you think you've seen it all, this is obviously a first for me. We've had hearses stolen before, but not in the middle of a service (What kind of place is this?). It's obviously a very strange situation."

The situation ended when the man, on his way back to the church, almost ran over a Sheriff's Deputy who in turn shot him in the leg. After a short foot chase, our Hoon of the Day nominee ran into the church, disrupting the funeral for the second time at which point he was placed under arrest.

Video and bonus joke below:

(Thanks for the tip Goatrope!)

Here's a bonus joke because there's no better time to tell it than when you're talking about a hearse, here goes nothing:

A man was walking back home when he noticed a most unusual funeral procession approaching the nearby cemetery.

A long black hearse was followed by a second long black hearse about 50 feet behind. Behind the second hearse was a solitary man walking with a dog. Behind that were 200 men walking in a single file.

He respectfully approached the man walking with the dog and said, "I am so sorry for your loss, and I know now is a bad time to disturb you, but I've never seen a funeral procession like this. Whose funeral is it?"

The man replied, "Well, that first hearse is for my wife. My dog attacked and killed her."

He inquired further, "Well, who is in the second hearse?"

The man answered, "My mother-in-law. She was trying to help my wife when the dog turned on her."

After a moment of silence he asked, "Can I borrow the dog?"

The man with the dog replied,

"Get in line."

[via Sun Sentinel]

Well, he has called fixed speed cameras “arbitrary” and “unfair,” preferring instead the far less arbitrary and unfair average speed cameras. You know, the ones that record your speed over a large distance then send you a ticket in the mail should your average exceed the posted limit. He’s also proposed that drivers could lose their licenses after only two speeding offenses. Why?

No, not because speeding is dangerous — it seems that even the Ministry of Love Labour Party has lost faith in that lie — but, get this, because the faster you drive, the more you pollute. Coincidentally, Geoff Hoon has just approved an extra 23,000 flights per year at Stanstead and who supports a third runway at Heathrow.

Despite his anti-car policies, Hoon has had the gall to have himself described as “car mad” in newspaper interviews. Ignoring his car-hating policies for a second, let’s take a look at the Hoon fleet: a Ford Galaxy minivan, a purple Mini and his Government issue Prius.

What’s most interesting about Hoon’s appointment to the position isn’t the cynical policies or spin however, it’s the resigned acceptance shown by the English press. Writing in The Times, former CAR editor Jason Barlow cites all of the above offenses but doesn’t move on to present a cohesive argument for either Hoon’s dismissal nor the repeal of his policies; instead moving on to a tired and trivial Clarkson imitation, calling for people with stuffed animals in their cars to be banned. For this ex-resident of Blighty, it’s sad and frightening to see the degree to which the British are prepared to roll over and accept the slow progression of Orwellian rule. The United Kingdom used to be a bastion of reasonable laws and personal freedom. Not anymore. [via The Times]

In addition to the usual loud noise, high speeds and long black stripes that come with hoonage, locals complain about having to constantly replace fences.

Tramway maintenance worker Sid Shepherd lives at nearby Ravizza Drive and said hoons had crashed into his fence and yard seven times in the past five years.

"One time, we had just had it fixed and within an hour, it was knocked out again," Mr Shepherd said.

Public shaming is great and all but we're still holding out for real Australian justice to take the day.

[Source/Photo: Cairns.com]

According to The Age:

Wildlife officer Greg Chant, prosecuting for the Department of Sustainability and Environment, said when the koala began to make a loud noise, Seabrook tried to retrieve it by poking it with a stick.

Mr Chant said Seabrook then rammed the tree with his Toyota Landcruiser utility, which was witnessed by a number of nearby campers who alerted authorities.

Is that hoonage or insanity? We're leaning towards insanity, likely adolescence-induced. The teen was eventually arrested and charged with a variety of wildlife protection laws and has pleaded guilt to them, accepting a rather modest charge of $2,200.

[Source: The Age, Photo: China Photos/Getty Images]

The group of hoon-igans reportedly rented the cars for just under $10,000 apiece from Pearl Rentals of Wembley. The Sun claims the story is as follows:

"a sharp-suited group of Asian-looking men...wrecked a Ferrari on Saturday after smashing into another of the cars. The Lamborghini — one of three rented — was totaled when it hit a tree in Bridgnorth, Shrops, on Sunday."

Amid all the mashed-up metal, supposedly an Audi R8 escaped unscathed. New luxury triumphs again, apparently.

We're also told UK cops are still trying to find the drivers and other accomplices. So, if you're in the UK and you spot a group of "Asian-looking men" wearing ruffled, yet still quite sharp, suits walking down the side of the road. Be sure to call your local constable.

[The Sun]

It's those funny switches hidden in the ashtray that give away this 3-series as an undercover police car. The good chap who runs BridgeToGantry spotted it lurking around, we're assuming for off-track hoons or anyone engaging in fun stuff drifting while overtaking. [BridgeToGantry]

"Sveinbjörn Halldórsson, a 44-year-old real-estate agent from Reykjavík, drives a Chevy S10 pickup with a souped-up engine, 44-inch tires with spikes, and four kinds of radios and phones on the dashboard. Filling up the truck's 240-liter tank (about 63 gallons) for the weekend costs him nearly $500, with gas costing $7.84 a gallon. He rolls with one of many so-called gangs on Iceland's highly competitive 4x4 off-road vehicle scene...A once-booming real-estate market is now in free-fall. Last year, Mr. Halldórsson's company sold 30 apartments a month. Last month it sold three. "When the phone rings now, the noise shocks everybody," he says. As his payments balloon and times get tougher, he's having to skip jeep trips, including his gang's annual five-day glacier expedition later this month."

Samúel "Wolf" Thór Gudjónsson, a lanky 21-year-old electrician with long blond rocker's hair, joined with dozens of other jeep fans earlier this month to protest climbing fuel prices, blocking oil companies' depots. Others drove their jeeps through the city's streets at 5 miles an hour to demand cuts in fuel taxes.

Demonstrations are rare in stoical Iceland, a country of only 300,000 people. But the threat to jeep habits is just too much. Alfred "Spotti" Bergisson, a 26-year-old plumber who drives a beefed-up Toyota Land Cruiser, is willing to fight for his right to party. "I just want to go where I want to go," he says. "I get energy in the mountains. I think there."

It's the reveal that ate Chicago. We're as guilty as anyone else, covering the Dodge Challenger SRT8 here, here, here, here, here and here. Commenter Udman took note:

Ok, enough with the Challenger already..... It's here, it's Orange, It has a Charger Interior, You can get a HEMI. Is there any other cars at this show?

Personally, I don't know. I'm handling editorial duties for the J-Lop from L.A. and am not privy to either the show floor or the deep-dish after-hours pizza orgies. However, as Hardigree pointed out in preview, what we got here in Chi-Town is a truck show, mainly.

So no. No, Udman, there are no other cars at the show. There's a Corvette, but we think it's actually a time machine or something that's intended to shred the fabric of the cosmos.

Here's how you Flick around a right-hander:

1. Set up the car in a straight line before the onset of the turn. The car should be just to the left of the road's centerline, to allow room for the tail to swing out.

2. Flick the steering wheel just slightly in the opposite direction of your intended turn, in this case a faint snap to the left. This will shift the car's load dramatically, and build up inertial momentum.

3. Quickly move the wheel back in the direction of your intended turn, to the right in this example. The sudden change in direction will upset the chassis just enough to cause the back end of the car to over-react, pointing you in the direction of the turn, or even a little bit past it. To heighten this effect, you can either lift the throttle or provide a bit of left-foot braking just after the initial, opposite-direction flick (Step 2).

4. Once the car starts to rotate, apply just enough countersteering to put the car on its final trajectory.

5. With the car on its new heading, apply enough throttle to pull you through the turn, gradually trimming back the car's rotation as you pull through the apex of the curve.

6. Exhale, unpucker, and declare to the onlooking moose that you're the king of the North Country.

That sounds about right. Or at least fun. Next time we're in the snow we're going to have to give the Flick a try. Or at least some aquavite. Oh, and if you click over to Motive, pay special attention to the car used for the demo. [Motive Mag]

Pssst, check out the water squirting up in the lower right corner. No, they didn't know why either.

Bad hoon. This guy spun team Dilligaf's CRX enough times to collect 3, count 'em 3, black flags. He's blaming the mud. Uh huh, sure. And yes Davey, the Rockford Pile Transfiremaro is A-OK.

Actually, the kid in the story was pouring gas into a carburetor of a farm vehicle (maybe a Holden SS V-Series Ute?) when the vehicle burst into flame, causing him third degree burns on one side of his body. We like his outlook though.

"And the smell will stay with me too. It is never going to stop me playing around with cars, but obviously I will be respecting the petrol side of it a lot more."

He's only had two minor fender benders, oh and that one little accident where he totaled his car. So it came as a shock to Jason's mom when she called to renew the insurance on his Nissan 240SX, only to be quoted $104,556. By calling around, she eventually got that number down to $50,000, still more than she was prepared to spend on insuring her son's car. Sometimes, life just isn't fair. [Via the Edmonton Journal]
Photo credit: Eric Castro

Police described themselves as "shocked" and "horrified" at the discovery and charged both with speeding and hoon driving. Both cars were also seized and, we're hoping, someone is looking into getting that kid into safer hands. Australia! [News.com.au]