Jalopnik: Olympics

Beijing Olympic Restrictions Stomp On Local Auto Industry

Andrew Stoy — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 09:40:00 EDT

Chinese restrictions on truck traffic and chemical transport during the 2008 Olympics and Paralympics are forcing plant cutbacks among local automakers, reports Automotive News China. The restrictions have forced Beijing Hyundai and supplier Visteon, among other automotive factories, to reduce shifts and temporarily close factories, putting the kibosh on any Great Leaps Forward, at least during the games.

So why the restrictions? Security is ostensibly one goal, but mainly it's to improve Beijing's appalling local air quality, at least until the world stops paying attention again. Beijing Hyundai, for one, doesn't expect the difficulties to affect yearly output; spokespeople claim the company prepared in advance by arranging rail transport for new vehicles and ramping up output earlier in the year to ensure a steady supply of vehicles during the games. In the meantime, locals can rely on Mini rickshaws for their transportation needs. [Automotive News China, Sub. Req.; Photo Credit: AnandTech.com]

Beijing Mini Cooper Rickshaws Combine Car, Cycle And Ugly

Mark Arnold — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 17:00:00 EDT

In celebration of the launch of the Mini Cooper Clubman in the Chinese market, Mini has chopped the back half off a handful of cars so they can be converted into rickshaws. Mini is no doubt trying to capitalize on the global spotlight placed on Beijing with some kind of sporting festival going on right now, but if they had asked us, we would have done things differently.

If we were going to split a Mini in half and bolt a bicycle to it, we'd rather use the front part of the Mini. Not only is the rear half ugly, but it doesn't have any of the drivetrain. Even if we're just being taxied around, we'd rather be hanging on for dear life to a bicycle seat welded on behind the turbocharged four. [China Car Times]

Celebrate The Olympics With A 1972 Ford Mustang Sprint

Mark Arnold — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 14:40:00 EDT

With the Olympics kicking off, let's rewind to 1972 and take a look at some special "Sprint" edition Fords built to commemorate both the XX Olympiad in Munich, Germany and the XI Winter Games in Sapporo, Japan. The Sprint option was an appearance package on the '72 Pinto, Maverick, and Mustang. Of course, with the Soviet Union claiming first place in the medal count in both Munich and Sapporo (the US placed 2nd and 5th respectively), and that whole "Munich Massacre" thing, the '72 Olympics weren't exactly the best games to commemorate. But then, with the Pinto's explosive reputation, it brings a whole new definition to the Olympic Torch.

The Ten Most Amazing Chinese Cars And Trucks

Matt Hardigree — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 12:45:00 EDT

In honor of the 2008 Summer Olympics we've decided to dip into our extensive knowledge of the Chinese auto industry to pick out the most amazing cars and trucks from the industrial manufacturing giant. It's kind of like a Chinese car bingo cheat sheet for you to use if you're heading to Beijing this week. Some are cars or concepts that represent the unique design and spirit of China, others are ~~horrible attempts to copy~~ interpretations of western models and at least one has Gullwing doors. If we missed your favorite, drop us a comment below.

10.) Brilliance FRV

9.) CH Design Scorpio

8.) Lifan Mini Cooper Knock-Off

7.) Brilliance BC3

6.) MG TF Police Convertible

5.) BYD F6 Hybrid

4.) BAW B60 Jeep

3. Volkswagen Santana

2. Geely GT

1. Gullwing Amphibous Santana

Read more coverage of the 2008 Olympic Games.

Chinese Police Destroy More Than 14,000 Illegal Motorcycles In Orgy Of Destruction

Ben Wojdyla — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 10:41:00 EDT

Shenzhen police have confiscated and destroyed 14,277 supposedly illegal motorcycles in China's southern Guangdong province. According to ChinaCarTimes, new motorcycle registrations in the city of 12,000,000 have been outlawed due to roaming motorcycle gangs, bent on petty theft and a lust for purse snatching. Although the policy has been in place and mass motorcycle executions have taken place in the past, this orgy of destruction is by far the largest. Seems China's on a slippery slope here, because as everyone knows, when motorcycles are outlawed, only outlaws will have motorcycles. [ChinaCarTimes]

Olympic Gold Medalist Hearts El Caminos

Ben Wojdyla — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 17:00:00 EDT

Amanda Beard is one hell of a swimmer, racking up two gold medals at the Olympics and eight U.S. Championships. But she's also got a dirty little secret — she loves El Caminos. Even though she doesn't own one yet, she's plotting her next move and tells Autoweek all about it. The boys over at AW use the combination of athlete and car to make an argument for powered sport in the games, but we don't see that happening. Besides, the X-Games is already doing it, and you know how international organizations hate to look like copycats. (Thanks for the tip vwminispeedster)

[Autoweek]

Beijing Has Some Awesome Interchanges

Ben Wojdyla — Fri, 09 May 2008 10:40:00 EDT

Since the 2008 Beijing Olympics are coming up in only a couple of months, we decided to take a look at the ancient Chinese city through the magical powers of Google Earth. What we found was much like a Chinese Dragon, both beautiful and terrible. The preponderance of Geographic Web content on the digital globe has us thinking a trip there would be most awesome, but the traffic and interchanges would make a New Englander cringe.

Though the Goog hasn't managed to lay out all the road maps there yet, we took some snaps of six of the most confounding or amazingly complex interchanges around the Forbidden City. As you can see, there is some very impressive spaghetti action over there. We found exactly zero traditional cloverleaf interchanges on major freeways and at least one traffic jam stretching almost 3 miles — without an accident, and this is just one snapshot by a passing satellite. We just hope all the drivers plopped into various cross-branded VW New Beetles have Olympic-level skills. [Source: Google Earth]

Ferrari To Brand The Italian Olympic Team?

Travis Hudson — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 12:20:00 EST

This may be a new low in our Auto Branding Adventures, but it seems the Italian stallions at Ferrari are looking to brand the entire Italian Olympics team for the 2008 summer Olympics in Beijing. Edmunds is reporting that Ferrari will be supplying the Italian Olympic team with aerodynamic equipment to be used in cycling, tennis, canoeing and sailing events at the summer games. Ferrari will also put its mark on bobsled, luge, skeleton, speed skating and other events for the winter games, but the fun doesn't end there.

The Italian Olympic team will also have access to Ferrari's wind tunnels for training. Giovanni Petrucci, the president of the Italian Olympic Committee justified the partnership by saying, "We want to be as fast as a Ferrari in Beijing," but hopefully not too fast. [Edmunds]

VW Unveils Olympics Edition Beetles for Beijing Games

Ben Wojdyla — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 12:15:00 EST

The people's car will be playing an automotive role during the people's games of this summers Beijing Olympics. Volkswagen is the exclusive automotive sponsor of the upcoming smoggy games and New Beetles will be the official shuttle for all manner of Olympic official and Government overseer. What you have here are the winning submissions from Volkswagens Vmagination online Olympic art car design campaign, held in China. Adding these snazzy paint jobs to the long-in-the-tooth bug will make them a bit more visible to the spectators and cameras alike. We think this is a pretty savvy move for VW, since this will probably be the most watched Olympics in quite a while.

Smoggiest Olympics Ever! Beijing Rules Out Car Restrictions

Matt Hardigree — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 15:45:00 EST

Transit officials in Beijing have opted not to limit the number of private cars on its streets, inadvertently giving athletes from America's big cities more of a hometown feel. The Chinese capital is well known for smog and congestion, with more than three million registered cars clogging approximately 90% of the city's streets. Instead of restricting usage like some Chinese cities, the booming metropolis is instead going to encourage usage of its expanded public transit system with lower fares. Commies. If you're planning on traveling to Beijing for the 2008 Olympics we recommend bringing a book, a gas mask and some Perri-air. [AFP]

With GM pulling out of Olympic sponsorship, ...

Ray Wert — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 15:45:00 EDT

With GM pulling out of Olympic sponsorship, Keith Naughton thinks Toyota can go...all...the...way...to the gold. [Newsweek]

GM won't be renewing their "separate-but-linked" ...

Ray Wert — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 10:45:00 EDT

GM won't be renewing their "separate-but-linked" Olympic sponsorship deal with NBC and the U.S. Olympic Team once the current deal ends after the Beijing Olympiad next year. Well, maybe they figure since they won't be building any cars in the UK — the site of the 2012 games — they don't need to drop the dimes on a deal. Of course, maybe it's just really expensive. [Advertising Age]

Making Things With Light: The VW Gala in Shanghai

Davey G. Johnson — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 20:30:00 EDT

In our day, we have witnessed some interminable press events, but this one literally wandered so slowly off with the cake that we're not sure that the cake was there in the first place or if the thieves may actually have left it behind. The shebang started off in a promising manner, oddly enough; the Pudong Expo building a stunning, gleaming cube featuring a lobby stuffed with art. We were then treated to a short fashion show. All well and good. Suddenly, the mind-numbing madness came. A television personality named Cathy hosted a panel featuring a group of execs who, barring Audi/FAW's Werner Eichhorn, literally dullarded us out of the room. As one attendee noted, VW China Kopfk se Winfried Vahland is one of those boring people who has no idea how boring he actually is. They were joined onstage by Mo Huilan, silver medalist in the '96 Olympics on the womens' vault. The banter was bilingual and pedantic. Out of desperation and disinterest we decided to fool around with long exposures on our camera. A galleria of streaky ennui is below for your enjoyment. Share our pain, won't you? – Davey G. Johnson

Russian Medallists Score Cars

Davey G. Johnson — Mon, 06 Mar 2006 18:29:45 EST

We knew we shoulda moved to Volgograd and taken up the USSR's offer of hardcore ice-fencing training back when we had the opportunity in 1987. But alas, we didn't and these kids today, well, they collected 23 medals for the Russians and they're being rewarded with Land Cruisers for the men and Lexii for the ladies. Freakin' ice-fencing, man. We totally screwed up.

Russian medallists rewarded with cars

Related:
Ferrari's Display of Olympic Hoonage [Internal]

Ferrari's Display of Olympic Hoonage

Mike Spinelli — Mon, 13 Feb 2006 08:28:48 EST

Leftlane News located a clip of the Ferrari F1 display during the opening ceremonies of the Olympics in Turin — practically the company's back yard. Since doughnuts in Italy are more like what we know as "doughnut holes," let's just say the center-stage display was an homage to the Olympics' five interlocking circles, and possibly even sponsored by Bridgestone.

F1 Ferrari performs incredible doughnut display at Olympics [VIDEO] [Leftlane News]

Related:
Hoon of the Day: Doughnuts at the Mall [internal]