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media

New York Times Goes Negative On Jalopnik El Camino Campaign

The New York Times's Lawrence "Lars" Ulrich took a swing at pithy commentary on the 2010 Pontiac G8 "El Camino" sport truck today, deciding to heap the bed full of liver-lilied liberalism and haterade. To wit:
"Who exactly was clamoring for a two-seat, gas-guzzling pickup with the cheapest-looking interior this side of a Motel 6?"
Who? Well, us for one. But we wouldn't expect Ulrich to understand anything about a vehicle... More »

12:00 PM on Fri Mar 21 2008
By Ray Wert
3,176 views, 91 comments

offbeat news

Empire State Building Disabling Cars?

The New York Daily News reports that the Empire State Building is creating "an Automotive Bermuda Triangle" within a 5-block radius of itself. Apparently, a number of cars have been unable to start after being parked in the area, only to do so immediately once towed a short distance away. The building could also be interfering with remote key fobs. AAA says they recover 10-15 cars from that area every day. More »

1:45 PM on Fri Feb 1 2008
By Wes Siler
4,489 views, 41 comments

transformers

Transformers Producers Steal 'Bee-Otch' Air Freshener Idea From Little Old Lady in Brooklyn?

We were pretty fascinated by the "Bee-Otch" air freshener back when we saw it hanging from Bumblebee's rear-view mirror in Transformers a few months back. We were so enthralled and amused we even tried to figure out how we too could own our very own li'l "Bee-Otch" air freshener. Well, it looks like there's now a bit of a legal tussle over the adorable little hang tag. Here's the story from the NY Post:
" Producers of the summer hit allegedly ripped off a Brooklyn woman's popular copyrighted design of an angry bee for a sight gag in the flick.
More »

4:30 PM on Sun Dec 30 2007
By Ray Wert
4,124 views, 17 comments

Latest by Collins1: @TexanIdiot25: You live up to your name. They copied the product and are selling it as Transformers merchandise! It's her copywritten idea and they're breaking the law! more »

media

New York Times Takes Bill Vlasic for a Ride as New Detroit Chief

Looks like there'll be a new sheriff in town for the New York Times. The Old Grey Lady's gone and stolen Bill Vlasic, veteran of many a Detroit automotive battle, from the Detroit News to act as their new whipping boy Detroit bureau chief. If you'll remember, Vlasic penned the classic story of the famed "merger of equals" between Daimler and Chrysler dubbed "Taken for a Ride." We're told the NYT even likened it to "Barbarians at the Gate...a spellbinding tale, juicy gossip and all, of how business is really done among the world's largest companies." Yes, it was exactly like "Barbarians at the Gate" except for the part about it making a big pot of money through selling lots of copies. We kid the new Times main-man and look forward to finally seeing continuing to see Bill at auto press events in the near future. Full press release from Larry Ingrassia below the jump. More »

5:01 PM on Thu Dec 27 2007
By Ray Wert
808 views, 5 comments

Latest by smokeydog001: He does make nice pickles, but I hope he can adapt to driving on the left hand side of the road. more »

detroit auto show

2009 Mercedes GLK Gets Naked on "Sex and the City" Movie Set

Our spy photographers caught a completely naked 2009 Mercedes GLK on the set of the new Sex and the City movie. The new Mercedes CUV sans camo is looking better than we expect co-star Sarah Jessica Parker probably does sans her own caked on camouflage-like makeup. Luckily our spy mistress Brenda Priddy tells us shows us with the above picture this particular shot featured the sultry cougar Kim Cattrall at the wheel in this shot taken not in the siren's normal hunting grounds of Manhattan, but rather on Rodeo Drive. Rowr! We hope she'll be riding the new GLK into Cobo Hall at the Detroit Auto Show for what we're told should be the mini-ute's world debut.

More »

Feature

2:16 PM on Sun Dec 16 2007
By Ray Wert
16,548 views, 57 comments

Latest by dotorg greg: Big Trouble In Little Stuttgart more »

alternative energy

Colbert: Hybrid Fuel is Blind People

Hard-hitting journalist Stephen Colbert has uncovered a vile plot by hybrid owners; they're intentionally running over blind people in order to use them for fuel. This stunning revelation comes only a day after the National Federation for the Blind publicized concerns over hybrid vehicle safety. Through in-depth investigative reporting, the heroic Colbert discovered that blind people make an excellent source of fuel, one that could potentially reduce our dependency on foreign oil. In a stunning new development, the Associated Press has learned that inattentive people could also be at risk of being turned into a green fuel source by Big Environment. Linda Murphy, who has perfect vision when she wears her glasses, revealed to AP that she too has had close calls with hybrids, "I'm walking right in back of it and it's moving and I didn't realize it until it nearly touched me, I never realized how dependent I was on my ears until I almost got hit." Remember kids, look both ways or Al Gore'll get you. More »

4:15 PM on Fri Oct 5 2007
By Wes Siler
6,579 views, 39 comments

Latest by mfeiler: Before long we'll be downloading ring tones that our cars can play while we drive. more »

new york city

Cab Catches Fire One Block From New York Times Office, Times Web Team Gets Crappy Video


We caught this off of the NYT YouTube feed this morning. We're betting they're totally glad they invested in all that video equipment. We wonder if anyone thought to run downstairs and actually get close to the taxi cab caught on fire — or was everyone worried it was a terrorist attack? Maybe this means there's going to be one more medallion up for auction — woo-hoo! A new top price story! Yay!

9:15 AM on Fri Sep 21 2007
By Ray Wert
862 views, 7 comments

Latest by cgarison: Ford really needs to make a biodiesel version of the Panther. No more explosions in rear end collisions. New motor would be quite torquey. And with propane injection, much faster than the current motor. more »

taxi cabs

New York City Cabbies Gouged Us Yesterday More Than Usual

Yeah, so one of us had the unfortunate need to take a cab from LaGuardia to the city yesterday in the midst of a two day cab strike over GPS systems in the lovely city of apples that are big. After seeing the traffic levels ahead of us on the Triborough Bridge, we decided it'd be best to just stop at an Astoria subway stop and take a subway across to Manhattan. The cab fare for the shared ride trip of two miles in mild to medium traffic? $20. Apparently the strike yesterday was causing something called "gouging" which is when a person offering a service overcharges you by reaching into your pocket and taking as much money as they can while threatening to drive off with your bag in the trunk of their dirty yellow cab. But I apparently was not the only mark fare suffering from this fate yesterday. Luckily, the strike's over today — and I've hit an ATM to replenish my twenty bucks. [via New York Post]

10:30 AM on Fri Sep 7 2007
By Ray Wert
5,019 views, 55 comments

Latest by danio3834: @milo_carrera: Bang on. You really put it into perspective. more »

they don't want to be a part of it...

New York Cabbie September Strike Threat Still Looms Over Tip Monitoring GPS System

A couple of weeks ago one of us snagged a cab with a very chatty cabbie on the west side of Manhattan to run uptown and meet some friends for dinner. The driver had a bone to pick with the Big Apple over a new GPS system set to be installed inside city cabs later this year and somehow he thought I could help him make this not happen — or maybe he was just venting, we're not sure. Whatever the reason, Ackmaz apparently wasn't the only cabbie upset by the plan to install satellite positioning systems with a fun little credit card swipe system, route tracking and passenger route view screen in every yellow FoMoCo vehicle in the city. It now appears he and the rest of the 8,400 member (out of a 26,000 driver total) New York Taxi Workers Alliance are threatening a strike come September if the city moves forward. So, umm, why are the yellow-car Ford drivers so upset about a GPS system? More »

9:20 AM on Mon Jul 30 2007
By Ray Wert
8,535 views, 55 comments

Latest by seldom: i think most drivers are getting screwed by the owners with the lease agreement.by going to the lease agreement, the owners get out of paying the payroll tax and classifying the drivers as independant contractors for which they have to more »

when streets attack!

Remember To Thank Your Road For Not Exploding Today

Roads really are great. Without them we'd all need SUV's in order to go from place to place because the ground would be all rocks and dirt and shrubs and stuff. But there's another reason I like roads this morning — they usually aren't exploding. Usually is the key word there, as I now have first hand experience with what it's like to see a road do the unusual — explode. Yesterday I was minding my own business, walking down 42nd street here in Manhattan towards Grand Central station — on my way over to the CNBC studio in midtown to talk about fuel economy standards on On The Money, when my world literally exploded in front of me. I had just past Second Avenue and was approaching Third. A little over a block away from Lexington Avenue, I heard this... More »

Feature

9:30 AM on Thu Jul 19 2007
By Ray Wert
4,679 views, 21 comments

Latest by Brian Gee: @Bumblebee: Asbestos me once, shame on - shame on you. Asbestos me - you can't - uh - get asbestosed again. Damn... It almost worked... more »

tiguan-a catch a glimpse of a new volkswagen?

VW Tiguan Commercial Shoot This Sunday In Midtown

Are you just dying to see the new Volkswagen Tiguan up close and personal this weekend? Well if you're not doing anything from like 6:00 AM until Midnight on Sunday, and you happen to be in the city all about being big, red and delicious — feel free to head on over to Midtown East, around 1st and 42nd tomorrow and look for the film trucks.

1:00 PM on Fri Jul 13 2007
By Ray Wert
767 views, 4 comments

Latest by jgoddu10: I spent hours readying my incredibly complex film equipment (an ancient digital camera) for the Tiguan shoot. Excitedly, I trekked down to 42nd street and 1st avenue on the subway, a long ride for me, thanks to more »

news

Nevermind An Apartment Or Condo In New York, For $250K We'll Just Buy A Parking Space

Sure, you could play the parking game and try to find yourself an alt-side parking spot on the Upper East Side, or you could drop the couple of grand necessary for a parking spot in a rat-infested plebeian public underground garage. But if you really want your own little spot of land to park your ride, you'll have to pony up some serious bank in the big red n' delicious. More »

11:30 AM on Thu Jul 12 2007
By Ray Wert
1,942 views, 23 comments

taxis cost a lot of moolah!

New York City Taxi Medallion Goes For The Price Of a Midtown One Bedroom!

Over the past year, we've spent a great deal of time in the fetid vomit-encrusted nastiness that represent the majority of New York City taxis. We've got to say we've yet to find any we'd claim are worth $600,000. Despite the contrary appearances, that's the going rate these days for a taxi company to get themselves a new medallion. For those of us who didn't realize what the hell it is, that's the license that lets the driver take you from the tip of Manhattan to the depths of the Bronx and back — sometimes whether or not it's where you've asked to go. Yup, that $600 large sounds pricey, but given the real estate prices anywhere in Manhattan — you can probably get a one-bedroom for just about $600K, and yes, it'll probably be about the size of a taxi. – Ray Wert More »

2:45 PM on Fri Jun 1 2007
By Ray Wert
3,059 views, 18 comments

Latest by Turboner: @Hyman Decent: Burn! more »

the bourne ultimatum

Fourtitude In A Tizzy Over Matt Damon's Audi A6

The next Jason Bourne movie's been filming in the town where it's time to be a part of it, and Audi fan forum-site Fourtitude's all over it like Matt Damon on Ben Affleck. Or would that be Ben Affleck on Matt Damon? Who really knows for sure — the point is they're pointing us to the folks at aLive from New York who've taken some screen caps of Matt getting jiggy with a topsy-turvy A6. Enjoy. It's not Matt on Ben, but whatevs, it's car porn. – Ray Wert More »

10:30 AM on Fri May 11 2007
By Ray Wert
3,827 views, 15 comments

Latest by damnElantra: damn... i thought this was gona be a celebrity news story about matt damon coming home in a drunken stupper and flying off the top of a parking structure onto the top of a minivan and torus... at least i still more »

news

Breaking Even: CNBC's Phil LeBeau "Causes" Accident In Front Of GM World Headquarters!

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news

Today Show Highlights The Perils Of Driving In China; David Gregory Thinks All Of Asia Looks Alike

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news

New York Times Kills "DriveTimes" E-Mail To Focus On Making "Wheels" Blog Less Sucktastic

Anyone who's a subscriber to the NYT's DriveTimes weekly e-mail knows two things. First, it's a re-hash of the weeks stories in the Times having anything to do with cars with random stories from elsewhere peppered in. Second, it sucks. Lucky for those of us who've been on the receiving end of this amazingly dull weekly re-cap, it looks like today's e-mail will be the last. Or at least that's what we're told:
"A note from the editors: This is our last issue of DriveTimes. A new e-mail newsletter is coming that will keep you up to speed on the latest automotive news. In the meantime, visit the Wheels blog for news and notes about new products, about trends in automotive design and technology, and about the business of producing cars."
Rest In Peace, dear friend — we hardly ever read you. In its place, we've now heard the Times will be focusing its time and efforts on Richard Chang's new baby, the Wheels blog. We look forward to the daily recaps, YouTube clips, mini-articles or whatever the hell else is deemed appropriate from the automotive blog of the newspaper of record. – Ray Wert More »

5:45 PM on Wed Apr 11 2007
By Ray Wert
371 views, 7 comments

Latest by lascauxcaveman: @scotte: I bet Jamie Kitman reads the Times. I'm pretty sure he doesn't hate cars. Only a couple degrees of separation there. Oh waitasec. You're the guy who was using Rush Limbaugh as some sort of authoritative reference more »

new york auto show

Push It Real Good, Like You Would In The Back Seat Of A Bentley

More »

Feature