Refered to as the "Pink Lady" in a non-Nixonian way, Mims was an employee of Yenko Chevrolet and started racing in the late 1950s. By 1963 she was the SCCA National Champion, 45 years before Danica Patrick was the first woman to win an Indy Race, and in 1968 she raced in the inaugaral Cannonball Run in a giant pink Cadillac limo.

She lived to be 82 and, as part of her funeral, more than 60 Corvettes are expected to be in the procession.

Photo Credit: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

She, and her deux amis are pitch girls in front of a parked display in Paris, France advertising a European drink called Oasis. Trouble is they're being completely upstaged by the Lamborghini Gallardo in a display advertising Need For Speed: Shift. Keep in mind those are Frenchmen back there ignoring a trio of ladies, and instead playing video games and gawking at an Italian exotic. In this context, the blonde's cold scowl is nothing short of hilarious. Thanks to tipster "Ant" for sending us this photographic proof that guys think cars are better than girls. [anthonygrimley's Flickrstream]

Frankly, we're not entirely sure what this video is supposed to say about the Mini Roadster and Mini Coupe — nor how it will serve to get MINI outside of their core demographic of women and gay men, but we did like the part about heaving breasts.

The "Gentleman Function" is an option in the iDrive directory under front seats which allows the driver to take control of the passenger side front seat. Any adjustment you can make on the driver's seat can be done on the passenger seat but with the driver doing the... er, driving. The feature may at first seem overly gimmicky, and the naming convention chauvinistic, but after a call to BMW, the feature makes perfect sense. Well, at least in a German kind of way.

In the previous version of the 7-Series, front seat control was done with a panel of buttons on the center console, so either front seat passenger could push the memory preselects, with the latest 7er, the memory panel is on the drivers door, with access for the driver alone. Gentleman Function lets you first of all make it easier for front seat passengers to get in, should they need assistance, however, since the biggest Bimmer is as much factory limo as luxo-barge, it's not just about catering to the front seat passengers. It's just as likely, if not more, that the Gentleman Function will come in handy for rear seat passenger side entrants. if you're chauffeuring and the passenger needs a touch more leg room (only a problem imaginable in the regular wheelbase 7) it would come in handy for moving the passenger seat forward.

As to the term "Gentleman Function," well, "passenger seat control" wouldn't be precise enough because it's also for helping the rear seat out. So since that doesn't make too much sense, BMW staff tell us it's thought the term came out of a translation from German, where only the men drive big Bimmers.

OK, so it's still totally chauvinistic.

[Edmunds Inside Line via The Frisky]

Photo credit: Edmunds

First shown on the Rolls Royce 200EX concept, this (to us car guys) crazy little contraption pulls out of the rear-center armrest, automatically detects the presence of a lady's purse and then adjusts the leather-lined grips around the purse very slowly and carefully as to not crush the sleeping bag rat Chihuahua sleeping peacefully from the Xanax it found inside.

In all seriousness, to our knowledge, this is the first of its kind and considering that the ten person UK design team had only one woman, a color & trim specialist, we're quite surprised a female-centric feature like this actually made it through the development process. It's quite the forward-thinking step to recognize the growing number of wealthy females in the business world and to apply features that they might find to be useful within the vehicle. Considering that the female "Spirit of Ecstasy" is the undeniable token figure for Rolls Royce, we wonder why something like this took so long to implement.

Will this feature make it to the production 2010 Rolls Royce Ghost? Most likely. Though, we'd rather use it to grip our In & Out Burger 4x4. What would you use it to hold? [via NotCot]

What's not ballsy is her now backing away from those comments. We're more inclined to believe what she said first as opposed to what she's saying now. Here was her initial comments to Dan Patrick:

Dan: "If you could take a performance-enhancing drug and not get caught, would you do it if it allowed you to win Indy?

Danica: Well, then it's not cheating, is it? If nobody finds out?

Dan: So you would do it?

Danica: Yeah, it would be like finding a gray area. In motorsports we work in the gray areas a lot. You're trying to find where the holes are in the rule book."

(Hat tip to John!) [via SI.com]

Photo Credit: Jamie Squire/Getty Images

[CelebrityCarsBlog]

International Full Size Jeep Association member, rixcj, doesn't have to be ashamed anymore when his wife calls on him to make a late night tampon run to the store, knowing full well that he'll be able to use those little cotton pops for his own leaks. He had just completed a full rebuild of a 1989 AMC 360 engine for his 1979 Jeep CJ5 when he found a nasty little oil leak dripping from the oil pump. Tired from the rebuild, he didn't feel like tearing the whole thing down to find out where he'd gone wrong, he made his own little fix with the help of a fabricated bracket and a tampon. (Hat Tip To LTDScott!) [via ifsja]

We're not sure about that pelvic exam part, but you can get a new used car and at least one person on staff is qualified to go snooping around in lady-bits, at least in Cuba. Rudy, the Cuban gynecologist turned American car salesman, wants to liberate an Impala for you, perhaps freedomize a Ford Explorer, or, you know, do a pap smear. Next time you're in High Point, North Carolina and have an itching for a used car, give Rudy a visit. [TDM Auto Sales]

The survey, run by researchers at the University of Wales Institute in Cardiff, claims it shows women rate a man higher if he is behind the wheels of a "fancy motor rather than in an old banger." The University team showed women pictures of the same man sitting in two cars — a $100,000 silver Bentley Continental and a battered Ford Fiesta.

The women, aged between 21 to 40, picked the man sitting in the Bentley ahead of the same man in the Ford.

The researchers say findings confirmed women judge a man by his wealth and status, but men tested in the same way are not impressed by whatever car a woman drives. But guys, don't go running off to throw a copy of this study into your significant others' face as the same researchers also determined men judge their choice purely on a woman's face and figure.

Dr Michael Dunn, who worked on the study, claims: "Females focus on questions of wealth and status because if the male possesses those, that male would be in a better condition to rear healthy offspring."

So in other words, do middle-aged men in expensive cars seem more attractive to women despite their grey hair and expanding waistline? Dr Dunn admits yes, but also that his research could be interpreted as evidence that women are shallower than men. He claims: "Let's face it - there's evidence to support it." We always knew it.

[Telegraph UK]

This weekend was a cold one here in the Midwest so instead of going out and braving the weather we decided to hibernate instead, but not before heading out to our local cult video store and grabbing a couple of our all-time favorite classic movies. We got a couple of goodies including: Le Mans, The Great Escape and couple of our significant other's favorite Agatha Christie mystery TV episodes featuring the quirky detective, Hercule Poirot.

After watching a couple of these films we got to thinking about what some of these famous actors would be like if they were celebrities in today's day and age. We contemplated this for a while (mostly while suffering through Agatha Christie's, The Mysterious Affair at Styles) and got to thinking about what some of these celebrities would drive. So, thanks in part to both our boredom and ADHD, we've come up with the list below featuring some of our favorite classic celebrities and what we think they would drive if they were alive today.

Bettie Page	James Dean	Bob Ross
Louis Armstrong	Steve McQueen	Tiny Tim
Lucille Ball	Frank Sinatra	Elvis Presley
Audrey Hepburn	Charlie Chaplin	Marlon Brando
Marilyn Monroe	John Wayne	Bruce Lee
George Burns	Harry Houdini	Vincent Price
Cesar Romero	Agatha Christie	Ray Charles

[inspired by our ADHD and famousdeaddb, clips via YouTube]

To be fair to Patrick, her choice of creepy seductress Jolie is really just an extension of Patrick's bizarre level of self/brand-awareness. Angelina is an action star and more age appropriate for the role of a 26-year-old than the 40-year-old Aniston. For marketing purposes it would be a much better fit. And what about America's sweetheart Mandy Moore? Too tall. We're imagining a similar sequence passed through Pitt's mind when he ditched the former "Friends" star for the one-woman African baby kidnapping gang.

Watch the video, shot by a group of Canadian bloggers, and you can see Patrick has already figured all of this out. The success of Danica Patrick has a lot to do with her being a really good driver wrapped in a fantastic marketing strategy. Fortunately, all of this is just hypothetical. Unless she dies in a horrible crash Patrick is only at made-for-TV movie level. For a feature studio film with a big star she'll have to win the Indy 500 or get killed by terrorists.

[MyHogtown]

Certain flavors of guys always tend to purchase certain varieties of cars. Find out who you are from what you drive.

Our original Ten Cars And The Type Of Women They Attract article was so popular, especially with the ladies, that we're all but required to demonstrate the way things are from the other side. Follow us through a wide array of dudes and their choice of noble steed.

10.) Luxury Euro

9.) Mini SUV

8.) Italian Exotic

7.) Windowless Child Molestation Van

6.) Minivan

5.) Overpriced Ecomobile

4.) Sensible Japanese Import

3.) Rocket Racer

2.) Jacked-Up Offroader

1.) Mazda Miata

If history repeats itself she'll probably drive it, crash it, go to rehab and then someone will put it on eBay. After a few cycles of "crashing" and then crashing we imagine she'll trade herself down to a Smart ForTwo, which you may actually be able to afford.

Oh well, now we have an answer for what should Lindsay Lohan drive?

[via Celebrity Cars Blog]

As we normally do when we're bored on a Saturday afternoon, we took a look around the auto forums for fun content. First things first was a trip over to our friends at VW Vortex where we found a delightfully mainstream almost-year-old thread that recently popped back atop the pecking order at The Car Lounge. Entitled "Celebrity Cars" — it appeared to be exactly what we were looking for — a by-no-means-comprehensive list of celebrities and the cars they drive. Excellent — something for us to write about. So we did some more pecking around and found a little site called "Celebrity Cars Blog." Even better!

So, without further ado, here's the best of what we found in an hour of searching. It's only 20, but it's a start. That's right, you heard us — a start. Now we need your help. If you're stuck inside tonight, we want to see what you're able to find. Wert said he'd help by hanging out in the comments below throughout the evening, so go ahead and have at it. Consider this like a "Bonus Question of the Day."

Kim Kardashian	Larry King	Adrian Grenier
Kendra Wilkinson	Audrina Patridge	Al Pacino
Ewan McGregor	Will.I.Am	Jennifer Garner
David Beckham	Miley Cyrus	Nicholas Cage
Conan O'Brien	Sienna Miller	Hayden Christensen
Larry David	Lauren Conrad	Simon Cowell
Daniel Craig	Jeremy Piven

[Inspiration from VWVortex]

Patrick went to the Dreyer & Reinbold Racing pit box after the morning practice to complain about her struggles to pass Duno, but Duno did not like Patrick's style. [...]

On a video shot by a friend of Duno's and shown to The Star, Duno told Patrick on several occasions to "go away." When Patrick didn't leave immediately, Duno twice threw a towel in Patrick's direction, prompting Patrick to use foul language before the minute-long incident ended.

All we have to say is Me-yowza! [via Deadspin, IndyCar, Indianapolis Star]

For starters, we've set up some ground rules:

1) Measurements are taken across the major axis of the badge vertically or horizontally, none of that diagonal baloney.

2) Script logos where not considered. Spreading letters out is too easy. So sorry Hummer, Jeep, GMC, Land Rover and others with the name spelled out in long-hand, get a real badge.

3) Only vehicles on the dealer lot of the Troy Motor Mall in Troy, MI where considered. Thus, this field study was subject to dealer availability. However, we did find ourselves some of the fattest, juiciest dealers in all the land, so not much was left out.

Test Case: The Cadillac Escalade didn't even register on the list of the ten biggest sizes. The 'sclade sported a puny five-and-a-half-inch rear badge (by far the most prevalent size) and a six-inch diameter front badge. Surprising, right? Then we thought about the big Caddy's target market: Eight-foot-tall professional basketball players. And the new Cadillac CTS designed for investment banking weenies? An Escalade-besting 6.125" badge on its snout. So, even in this test case, maybe we're on to something. Anyway, here's the resulting badge-o-meter as proof of our contention that size matters — and an explanation of each below:

10) Mazda CX-7 and Mazda CX-9
As predicted, the nearly twin Mazda SUV's did indeed have some massive badges on them. Coming in at an impressive 7.125 inches horizontally, the big ol' badges didn't make us think "Zoom Zoom" any more than the tiny ones on the Miata. However, a male Miata driver generally needs to have pretty strong self-confidence given the public's general lack of awareness of its track performance potential — so maybe it means he's got nothing to worry about in his self-confidence in other areas.

9) Mercedes Benz R-Class
The minivan wagon Sport Activity Vehicle from Mercedes came in with a pretty substantial 7.25 inch diameter three-pointed star. The target buyer's a rather emasculated member of the male gender — the successful dad who doesn't want to seem like he's driving a minivan after he drops his kids off at school. Poor man.

8) Lincoln MKS

The Lincoln MKS has a pretty strong upper hand in this challenge — being one of the newest cars on the lot, it knows just how far the big-badge arms race has gone. With a target market of old men on Cialis, the 7.625 inch vertical badge snags an eighth place finish, making a statement that screams "Viva Viagra!"

7) Lincoln MKX
Sure, the MKX is a bigger vehicle than the MKS, so obviously it has to have a bigger logo, right? That's how the logic goes. True to form, the Lincoln MKS scores with 7.875 vertical inches of logo love. And considering the average buyer may very well be limited to bespectacled marketing metrosexuals, it makes sense they'd be even less endowed than their Viagra-popping pops driving the MKS.

6) TIE: Infiniti QX56 and Mercedes Benz C-Class
Both of these luxury rollers offer up some whopping chrome accentuation in the form of an 8.75 inch badge on both the Infiniti QX56 and Mercedes Benz C-Class. Sounds about right since they're pretty much both wheels for the white tennis playing country club types. We've been told by our female friends they truly need all the help they can get.

5) Almost Everything Ford Makes
What do we expect from a brand who uses a country crooner who uses his guitar as a phallic extension of his self? Anything bigger than a Focus in the Ford brand beloved-by-Toby Keith wears the same 7.875 inch big blue oval. Because if you're a Ford truck man, self-confidence is only as big as your truck with the big blue ovaled badge.

4) TIE: Chevrolet Tahoe and Lincoln Mark LT
Chevy's rolling tribute to the suburban lifestyle sports a hefty 9.75 inch bowtie mounted right on its nose. While it's a good way to tell you're not driving a GMC SUV, you'd need to somehow explain what the nine-and-three-quarters-inch sized badge means about what you've got in your pants. Same's true we guess of Lincoln's luxury truck.

3) TIE: Chevrolet Silverado and Lincoln Navigator
Our third place goes to two vehicles on the same platforms as the fourth place holders, each sporting a humongous 10.25 inch ornament to a lack-of-johnson size are the Chevrolet Silverado pickup and the Lincoln Navigator SUV. Sounds about right to us.

2) Chevrolet Express
This one was a shocker for us, we were really pulling for the even-bigger Silverado HD models, but they sport the same plate as the regular trucks. On a whim, we ran the ruler across the nose of the Express and lo and behold, a stupendous 10.5 inches of bowtie bone-compensation. Who said van owners can't hang high with the smallest of em?

1) Audi Products
We'd always known Germans were into some seriously freaky stuff. Something about issues of sexual repression. But we never knew the levels to which they were over-compensating. Every single member of the Audi family — with the exception of the TT — sport the same impossibly large 10.75 inch Audi badge. Maybe now it is the time on Sprockets when they dance and show off flat-as-the-world-is-round pants bulges.

So what did we learn from all this? In reality, badge size probably does not correspond to bulge size. Especially considering I own a nearly ten-year-old Audi with the same sized badge as its new breathren, and I was confident enough to put together this list. So go figure. (Hat tip to Mackenzie!

The Lincoln MKS is the biggest car I've driven in 6 years, I'll admit. It rides low enough to the road that I'd be concerned about scraping its cute-as-a-penny bottom in more than a few steep driveways, but it does look pretty damn cool — much more so than any Lincoln we've seen since the era that brought us Ben's personal project car hell. In the pre-driving presentation the design guys kept droning on and on and on about their new paint color "tuxedo black," which contains bits of glass to make it sparkle in a different way. But then they told us we'd be driving for two hours before getting to the next presentation, so I was more concerned with running for the bathroom and missed the assembled auto journalists making cute cooing noises when they got outside and saw it in the sun. At least I think they were. It was either "ooooh!" or "eeeeww!" — it's hard to tell from the bathroom stall. But it really does look like they poured glitter in the paint, though, so I felt like maybe it wasn't a total "old person" car.

Then they partnered me up with another to-remain-nameless reporter and we went rock-paper-scissors for who got to drive first and I lost, damn him. He started up the car and admitted he doesn't own one and never drives, so I knew I'd at least have one up on him even if he did go first. But for the moment, I looked at the route of windy back roads and hoped to God the airbags worked as we started off. Since he had to pay so much attention to the road, I got to play with the gadgets — it didn't read my off-brand MP3 player (but I guess if you buy a $46,000 car you'll probably also have an iPod), the jukebox selection was lame and just as I was settling on a musical choice the ass coolers kicked in. The seat blows cold air on your butt, which feels good for about a minute before it feels weird to have cold puffs of air constantly assaulting your ass and thighs.

But, it turns out, even with one of the world's least experienced drivers at the helm, the car handled pretty good, and I only worried about going off the road three or four times, so I looked around some more. They designed the glove compartment so that only one edge shows (which sounds good, but really just makes it easier to manufacture). For as big as it looked on the outside, it wasn't really all that spacious. The dashboard is all stitched leather, the seats were comfy and the moonroof extends into the back seat besides — but while opening it is pretty intuitive, it isn't quite as easy to get it shut. I probably should've read the manual, but I didn't want to be too much of a girl.

It was also a damn quiet ride, which made it hard to hear the engine shifting on the hills and such, but the tachometer said that, even on hills, the RPMs were pretty low. It's also a little strange to be roaming around the Virginia countryside (looking out for cops, even) in a huge car that feels like something a driver would drive you around in if you had a driver, but maybe that's just me.

When we got to switch positions, I realized that my companion was a rather unassertive driver. My concerns about pickup and handling were pretty much assuaged when I had to take a left turn across 4 lanes of highway traffic to head back to D.C. and laid rubber in the parking lot and didn't fishtail in the left lane, though I'm not sure he felt the same way about it.

As a short person, my problem with driving big cars is that I often can't visualize the corners because I can't get up high enough or forward enough without bumping my chest up against the steering wheel. Somehow, despite the size, I was able to get the MKS's seat adjusted to a point where I didn't feel like the air bag would kill me in a collision and I could see enough of what I was driving to take curves at appropriate speeds without worrying if I was over the line, and I never once felt that sliding sensation that the car was about to lose it no matter what the curve was or how fast I stopped. For a car that's bigger than my dining room, that's a pretty impressive accomplishment.

My biggest concern, other than not getting pulled over by the cops when my lead foot got the better of me, was how much gas I was using. On a 20 gallon tank, we went somewhat less than 200 miles on back roads (most of which was not in traffic, thankfully) and used up about half a tank, meaning we'd spent about $40 in gas to just tool around. Do people still buy huge leather-filled cars with backseats they'll never use (and navigation systems that will tell them sports scores, but not while the car is moving) when gas is this expensive? It was a question that I pondered pretty heavily as I sat in traffic in I-66 on the way back into the city to give the car back and retrieve my cuckolded Corolla.

[Kulttuuri (Translated) and Umbar's Flickr photostream]

"I'm just happy to win an event. That was the main thing," Ashley said. "Being a female, that's exciting as far as the records and everything, but my team, we just wanted to get our first win. We went a whole year last year and got close a few times. To finally get it done, we're just so excited."