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Aiming to raise $1 million for families affected by pediatric cancer, Brian Johnson will be racing at the upcoming Rolex 24 at Daytona. Fans can send in donations by text all through the race in the frontman's "Highway to Help" campaign. More »
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The star of this weekend's Barrett-Jackson auction in Las Vegas was this 1964 Ford Fairlane K-code which sold for an amazing $700,000 with all proceeds going to charity. This very red Fairlane was originally constructed by Rousch Industries as a promotional vehicle for the auction company. Last night it was auctioned with all proceeds going to benefit the Armed Forces Foundation. More »
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Touring the world in a vehicle shaped like a Banana might be ridiculous, but it is also exactly what brothers Steve and Spade Braithwaite are planning to do this coming spring. More »
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Singer Neko Case became a favorite 'round these parts when she posed on top of a 1967 Mercury Cougar for the cover of her "Middle Cyclone" album. Now she's raffling it off for charity, footprints and all. More »
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Fiat 500s sell for around $16,000 to $22,000 USD. A little high, perhaps, but not unreasonable. Fiat 500s with some artist's scribbles all over the place apparently sell for around £200,000 (or about $390,540 USD with today's kick ass exchange rate). That's practically brain numbing. Yep, some English artist named Tracey Emin decorated a 500 with... something, titled it "Dark Dark Dark," and convinced some British wierdo to fork over a huge pile of cash (albeit to charity). It's more than likely a write-off for some hedge fund manager, but we sure wouldn't want our money in the hands of that guy. Wonder if Pammy has given him a call yet? More »
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We don't have an English press release to explain why this naughty little 2008 Mini Clubman was created, but we can piece together enough of an explanation with our limited German comprehension and even more limited analytical skills. For the past few years Mini has been teaming up with lingerie maker Agent Provocateur to create one-off cars for the "Life Ball" charity event, a star-studded occasion dedicated to raising funds for AIDS charities. This particular Clubman is inspired by some sort of sexy, stocking-clad police force of the kind that only exists in our weirder fantasies. Oh, Mini. You can turn on your red light for us. More »
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What do you do if you design up a car for the ALMS series only to have rules changes make it obsolete before you can even put it on the track? Most people would scrap it, but Sundoulos repurposed it for street use. This would be just another nutty boutique car but for the power source. They could have dropped a standard V engine or even a high-strung inline job in there, but that's boring. How about two Harley V-engines coupled to a Corvette Getrag transmission by way of twin belt drives? Wacky. That would be enough to make it unique on it's own, but the proceeds from the car go to the Free Wheel Chair Mission (freewheelchairmission.org). More »
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Everyone's favorite spy photographer, Brenda Priddy (just kidding Hans, we love ya, too) is doing a bit of charity work, perhaps as punishment for bringing us the Hunks of SEMA gallery. All you have to do to help charity is bid on this extremely rare badge from the Dodge Journey, which was originally named the Dodge CREW. It's a badge from a car that never existed! Just be the highest bidder, send the check to charity and Priddy & Co. will do the rest. Oh yeah, tell her you're a Jalopnik reader and she might even throw in one of her famous purple pens (it's our most treasured possession). Full details from Brenda below the jump: More »
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How Danny Bonaduce went from being a cute, redheaded bass player to the scariest individual outside of San Quentin is a mystery for the ages. Well, not as much a mystery as the confluence of Colombian cocaine, anabolic steroids and intense upper-body workouts. Nonetheless, the redheaded bodyslammer of marginal reality-show douchebags is lending his name to a SEMA auction to support Optimist Youth Homes and Family Services, a child welfare agency in California. The car is a 2008 Subaru Impreza WRX 5-door, outfitted with an ECLIPSE sound system. Bonaduce was here signing autographs yesterday. No injuries were reported. [eBay] More »
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A-list car spy photographer (and sometimes Jalopnik contributor) Brenda Priddy's always one to use her unique "star-like" status in the industry to make some dough for those less fortunate. Just as an example, last year she put herself in "jail" to look for some straight-to-charity bail money. This year however, she's snagged some littered duct tape and a sticky wad of camouflage from the not-yet-out 2009 Jaguar XF and she's auctioning it off along with a 12" x 18" shot of the Jaguar XF signed by none other than the spy mistress herself. So hop on over to eBay and snag yourself some super-secret sticky stuff and a pic of the Jaguar XF — it's for a good cause. [eBay] More »
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"They kept asking me what kind of vehicle I would want," recalled Jill Pryor. "I told them if it had wheels and a steering wheel, it would be just fine. It could have been dooty green, and I still would have been ecstatic." Pryor is beneficiary of the kindness of CARS of Southern Indiana, an organization that provides vehicles to disadvantaged women trying to catch a break. In Pryor's case, she's working her way toward a pharmacy technology degree and has two young children. What'd she score? a '99 Oldsmobile Silhoutte. And it wasn't even dooty green. [News and Tribune] More »
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Our pals at Team Polizei have pledged $10,000 toward the creation of a fund to benefit the family of Vladimir and Margarita Cepuljoski, the couple who died after an accident involving Gumballers Nick Morley and Matthew McConville last week in Macedonia. Other ralliers have expressed interest in helping the Cepuljoskis' relatives after the tragedy, so the Polizei stepped up and are organizing just such an effort. Interested in helping out? click here to donate. – Davey G. Johnson More »
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In the tony environs of Los Angeles, there exists a secret society of trophy wives, fading actresses and other members of the scratching-for-the-middle set. Not that there's anything wrong with that. And it's not secret in the least. In fact, the The Rodeo Drive Committee of the City of Beverly Hills is a high-profile organization that does plenty of good, charitable works wholly unrelated to visiting day spas. Take, for example, an auction this past weekend presided by actress Sharon Stone, which raised $500,000 for Elton John's AIDS foundation. They did it by auctioning a special Versace-edition Lamborghini Murci lago LP640 Roadster in honor of the late Gianni Versace and his sister Donatella Versace — having presented the two (one posthumously) with the Rodeo Drive Walk of Style Award. So today, we on Jalopnik raise our personal copy of Town and Country in their honor. May all their injections be Botox. – Mike Spinelli More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=235811&view=rss&microfeed=true Any of us who are passionate about music and cars can relate to this, no matter what our choice in vehicles or taste in music is. Bombing around in one's beloved automobile, favorite song cranked high, hitting apexes, rocking out, rolling slow on the cruise with the music blaring in a generally-futile attempt to run across a girl who'll think "Oh wow! Yes! The Meatmen! I'm getting in that guy's car right now!" In my early twenties, that music was often brilliant DC post-hardcore unit Jawbox. Their singer, J. Robbins, is one of the most fascinating guys I've interviewed in my ten-year history of interviewing people. And I'll never forget the evening after the show at Bottom of the Hill with my ex-fianc , driving out to the Sutro Baths in her Texas-plated, Hardbody-based Pathfinder with Elvis Costello's "Alison" on the stereo. J.'s aim has always been true, and he and his wife Janet have a big problem on their hands. Their infant son, Callum, is suffering from Spinal Muscular Atrophy, and they have shitty health insurance. Robbins has dedicated his life to the cause, both made and shepherded some amazing music, and soundtracked some of my most amazing, touching drives. More »
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Over at ForbesAutos, Nate Chapnick tells the tale of a Lexus GS450 that went for four grand under MSRP in a Hollywood charity auction for marine conservancy Oceana. Although entry to the event cost people 500 to 1,500 ducats, people started leaving when the car, donated by the Toyota unit, actually went on the block. It rather quickly went for $54,000 to Ted Danson's agent, who then crowed, "I just got the winning bid on the GS 450h, $4,000 under MSRP!" Ah, agents. They sure do love the art of the deal non? More »
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The Pohanka Automotive Group of Salisbury, MD made a mistake. They bought one more Mercedes-Benz McLaren SLR than they thought they could sell. Well, actually, they bought one for a customer who backed out nearly a year ago and haven't been able to unload it. According to Marketing Director Chris Hagel, "If it were New York or Washington D.C., then it would probably be a lot easier to sell it." But since it's Maryland, the task's a bit tougher, which is why Hagel has put together a charity raffle to allow his company to cover their loss while benefitting Toys for Tots. A hundred bucks gets you in, and as of the moment, 1,200 tickets remain. – Davey G. Johnson More »
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We journeyed down the road to Auburn Hills today to visit the American end of the German-American hybrid of DaimlerChrysler, and witnessed what may be the most bizarre event of the week — a Chrysler Group function to kick off the employee corporate campaign for United Way of Southeast Michigan. The highlight (lowlight, perhaps — depending on whether you happen to see the picture of Chrysler Group PR main man Jason Vines in some very interesting garb) of the event was the very un-Olympic-like games set up team-style, with one captained by Chrysler Group CEO and Prez Tom LaSorda (blue team) and Senior Veep of Employee Relations John Franciosi (purple-maroon-plum team). The games were at best, juvenile — and involved carrying sponge-squeezed water on one's head to fill a bucket and some sort of golf-like thing. Whatever you want to call it, it was hilarious — and unlike Michael Keaton in Mr. Mom understanding the importance of letting the boss win, Franciosi kicked LaSorda's CEO butt. We'll have video up from the event tomorrow late in the AM, but for the meantime, you'll have to content yourself with the picture gallery below. More »
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Okay, we know we've been on about mammary glands an awful lot over the last few days, but we swear it's a coincidence. Especially since at least one-third of Los Jalopniks is a registered ass man. But Jaguar's pitching in to sponsor a fashion fete tossed by the Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar (who knew such an institution existed?) which benefits breast cancer awareness. Still, being in Qatar, as it is, we doubt we'll see any more Lohanboobies. More »
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We're helping out our pals over at eMercedesBenz who wanna help out a homeless Trinidad man who rescued a Mercedes-Benz driver after his car went off a bridge and into a river. Derrick Lee Pack lost everything he owned in a fire a couple of weeks ago and has since been living under a bridge with his wife. When a Merc hurtled through the railing and into the river, he grabbed a piece of iron and brought the driver to safety. Unfortunately, he also lost his boots in the rescue attempt, which were apparently the last thing of value he owned. The eBenzies wanna set him up with at least a new pair of kicks, so why not click over and contribute? More »
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Over 100 sculptures of cars, all built on the same basic form, as well as some smaller models will be on the online block until Wednesday. The sculptures, part of the international public arts project CarTunes on Parade, decorated the streets of Detroit, MI and Windsor, ON over the summer, and the proceeds will benefit the YMCA of Metropolitan Detroit or the Windsor Endowment for the Arts, depending on whether the artist's native brethren have a propensity to use the word "Eh?" as a sentence modifier. More »
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It's hard to think of an American city less-well suited to the Lamborghini Gallardo than New York. Nevertheless, a raffle to benefit the Columbus' Citizens Foundation (and no, it's not a society to aid Ohioans in a bid to build a permanent monument to the New Bomb Turks; rather, they offer scholarships and organize the NYC's Columbus Day Parade) will be held on October 7th. The holder of the golden ticket will drive off in a black-over-red '05 Gallardo, which will be displayed in Grand Central Terminal starting September 25th. The tickets are a grand a pop; 300 will be sold. Philanthropist gamblers, here's your chance to score the fruit of Donckerwolke's loins for a mere fraction of a percent below list! More »
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Georgia-based Year One, one of the largest and most visible restoration parts companies in the country, has launched the "Hot Rodders' Hurricane Relief Fund," lending a hand to those in trouble on the Gulf Coast. We know two hurricane-related posts in a row puts us dangerously close to cable-news territory, but we felt that it was important to get the word out. Every red cent of the money collected will go to the American Red Cross to help fund their relief efforts. And although the organization has yet to be allowed into the Big Easy, they're coordinating efforts with refugees all over the nation, as well as other parts of the Gulf. Hot Rod has more on the story. More »
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Mercedes-Benz USA is offering 750 Signature Edition R-Class models for sale to help out Saks Fifth Avenue's Key to the Cure women's cancer research fundraising initiative. Now there's a much better brand-positioning strategy than using Tony Hawk as a spokesman. Skaters don't buy R-Classes; Saks-shopping women do (or most likely will when the crossover-wagon-suburban-luxo-car/van-utility vehicle drops in September). Which reminds us, we've gotta get to Saks, as we're running low on Prada lip balm. Seriously, that stuff does wonders. More »
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