• star car shootout

    Cannonball Lambo or Bond's Lotus? Which Is Cooler?

    Each week we'll let two silver screen automotive icons face off and let you decide which stays and which one goes home, tailpipe between their legs. That's right, it's like an online Thunderdome — except without the death thing. We call it the "Star Car Shootout." Let's get ready to rumble.

    Recently we told you about the Rinspeed sQuba, a vehicle which blatantly mimics 007's Lotus Esprit submarine from The Spy Who Loved Me. And while the scuba-diving Elise is pretty cool, it just doesn't compare to James Bond's original Lotus-sub when it comes to the "cool" factor. Which got us thinking: Sure, the Q-branch Esprit is one of the most famous movie cars ever, but just how cool is it? Superstar fame does not equate coolness; some people find infamy or obscurity much cooler. For instance, let's compare the Esprit to another wedge-shaped supercar that's capable of crossing a body of water: the Lamborghini Countach from the film Speed Zone. But before you make a knee-jerk decision, watch the clips below:
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    Feature

    12:00 PM on Wed Feb 20 2008
    By Mark Arnold
    4,523 views, 78 comments

    Latest by Shapeshifter: Oh: If we're going purely off the clip then obviously it's Bond. Unless they actually managed to pull that off, more »

  • evel knievel

    Here With Fanfare, Your Final Tribute To Evel Knievel

    Though the kitchy and hilarious "Jump of Legends" didn't make your cut in the vote for Jalopnik's final Evel Knievel tribute, the handsome and impressively constructed "Creation of Evel" did, with a commanding 37.4% of the vote. This tasteful work was contributed by reader Thomas Reynolds, who hails from the beating heart of hoon central, Australia. We asked Thomas to say a few words about his inspiration, process, and what Evel meant to him. His take on Evel, and stories of years gone by after the leap... More »

    1:45 PM on Wed Dec 12 2007
    By bwojdyla
    798 views, 10 comments

    Latest by racerx: I still can't believe mine (Evel on the electric scooter) didn't come in last! more »

  • evel knievel

    Evel Tribute Submissions In, Help Us Decide The Final Jump

    A few Friday's ago, the hoon world lost the renegade of the ramp, the sultan of speed, the king of compound fractures, Evel Knievel. We asked you to work up your personal tribute to this monster of pop culture and you responded in spades. In the last days, we put together the Jalopnik Counsel of Awesomeness and selected our ten favorite entries for you to vote on. The reasons range from impressive level of CIA style photo manipulation, to complete irreverence mirroring the life of the man in question. We've decided to leave the voting anonymous, so as to avoid the popularity contests that you kids get caught up in. The winner, and their commentary will be revealed on Wednesday afternoon. Voting, and as always, comments, after the jump. More »

    12:15 PM on Mon Dec 10 2007
    By bwojdyla
    2,043 views, 31 comments

    Latest by NovaloadMissesPolar: @Mad_Science: Same here. It captures the circus/Family Dog poster art. Which is so appropriate. more »

  • pickup truck

    Do Post-1955 Pickups Belong On DOTS?

    We've seen lots of cars and a few trucks in the Down On The Street series, but just one proper Detroit pickup truck. I've shot a couple more y'all haven't seen yet, but I've been sticking to an arbitrary cutoff year of 1955 for pickups to qualify for photographing (actually, I should probably use 1953, that being the year Hank Williams died). More »

    10:00 AM on Wed Oct 10 2007
    By Murilee Martin
    2,543 views, 41 comments

    Latest by AllenK: Yes! More trucks please. My uncle had a green Dodge stepside like the one in the pic. He bought it from more »

  • hoon of the week

    Who's the Hoon of the Week? You Decide!

    Last week, the Hoon of the Week award was won by the amazing Sprint Jumpers; since we've once again managed to find a hoon for every day this week (with a special Bonus Hoon to boot), we're going to celebrate Friday with another Hoon of the Week poll! Make like a Loyale and jump... More »

    3:00 PM on Fri Apr 13 2007
    By Murilee Martin
    1,664 views, 16 comments

    Latest by cgarison: Loyalicide considering that those cars cannot be destroyed until they are rolled. As demonstrated in the the video. more »

  • poll

    What Makes a Man Smoke Tires? Gasoline, Petrol, Benzin or Benzina?

    On the occasion of the day after D. Boon's birthday, and having had all manner of fuel scents drift in from the harbor over the last few days, we started wondering why what we yanks call "gasoline" has so many names around the world. The Germans refer to it as "Benzin," based on the fuel's benzene quotient. The Italians have been known to sell cars, such as the 308 GT4, in North America with a "benzina" gauge to measure the amount of fuel in the tank. And of course, the Brits, their former subordinates and Americans with a penchant for affectation refer to gasoline as "petrol." Which one is coolest? Watch the Minutemen play "Jesus and Tequila" out on San Pedro Bay while you decide. Godspeed, D. – Davey G. Johnson More »

    2:15 PM on Mon Apr 2 2007
    By Davey G. Johnson
    499 views, 9 comments

    Latest by lascauxcaveman: @Frogmarch: When my girlfriend in highschool learned that I spoke a little French, she insisted I say something romantic to more »

  • news

    Jalopnik Poll: Which Automaker PR Chief Is Out The Door?


    It's been a rocky thirteen months for the talking heads manning the turrets of the automotive towers of power in Detroit. There's been precious little good news to go around, and when it has come it's always been just before, just after or just during a fiery hailstorm of fecal matter flung from both outside the tower walls as well as via friendly fire. Now we're hearing for the first time in print something we've been hearing from a variety of different "anonymous" sources around town for the past week — one of the three D-town kingpins of spin may be taking his leave from his post very shortly. Marty over at TheCarConnection's blog is starting the rumor mill turning by asking:
    "Which top PR man at one of the domestics is widely rumored to be on his way out the door?"
    Given that we happen to feel our readers are not just as enlightened, but more enlightened, as any automotive pundit or industry observer, we're gonna let you tell us who you think is out the door — or staying on for a little bit more of the feces-flinging action. That said...
    More »

    12:37 PM on Tue Mar 13 2007
    By Ray Wert
    514 views, 4 comments

    Latest by Landcrusher: I can understand why the GM guy is "behind the scenes". He is hiding his size. It's a shame, more »

  • news

    Jalopnik Poll: What Will Alan Mulally Sell?

    Responding to alleged dealer grumbling at the National Automobile Dealers Association convention in Las Vegas, Ford CEO Alan Mulally agreed to step up and into an as yet undetermined dealership for one day to sell Fords directly. While details are still hazy as to when and where, we do know that Ford officials are busy selecting a time and place for the one day super blowout sale attempt at getting to know the customer. Mulally reportedly had more contact with customers when he was head of Boeing's commercial aeroplane division then he does now at the troubled blue oval, and is looking forward to meeting folks and selling some Fords. The big question is, what will he sell the most of? Now step right over here son, we've got a fine looking 707 only ever flown on Sundays by John Travolta with plenty of good hours left on her. – Mike Bumbeck More »

    8:24 PM on Tue Feb 6 2007
    By Mike Bumbeck
    114 views, 17 comments

    Latest by Old_Car_Guy: You left "Not a Damn Thing" off the survey more »

  • poll

    Question of the Day: Will the 1 Survive?

    We are very, very tired, and it's all BMW's fault. We were up much too late discussing Scotto's call out of CAR over 3-Series spy illustrations, but first, we got into another round of arguing with Kasey from Dubspeed (known to y'all as Punkey) about whether the 1-Series will actually sell in the U.S. Kasey, being like zero years old, barely remembers the US sales-failure 318ti, a car which we desired greatly as a college student (the E36 Bimmer is one of our all-time faves). We say it's too expensive for what it is. Kasey claims that it'll sell because people are dumb. We have a two-year-from-the-date-of-launch five-buck bet. What do you think? – Davey G. Johnson More »

    1:30 PM on Mon Jan 22 2007
    By Davey G. Johnson
    1,535 views, 22 comments

    Latest by MR42HH: Update: BMW 1-series is the #3 best selling car in Germany, with #1 being the Golf, #2 C-Class and #3 more »