NISMO 370Z S-Tune
Here's eight new photos of the
NISMO 370Z S-Tune package for the JDM version of the
2009 Nissan 370Z to add to those leaked scans we showed you last month. What they show is the design team at Nissan's in-house tuning shop's taking some serious risks with this angry-looking catfish. But rejoice, the
370Z S-Tune isn’t all show.
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top gear
If you had a chance to see last night's episode of
Top Gear you'd have seen the four-door BMW M3 take to the track against the Lexus IS-F. You'd also see Stig take the IS-F for a power lap, again while listening to the sounds of Morse code. The inability to understand what Stiggie was saying / hearing due to all those dots and dashes was buggin' us, so we enlisted the help of one of America's preeminent practitioners of the code of dits and dahs — who also happens to be an avid
Jalopnik reader (although he likes bikes more than cars for some reason. Jeesh, hasn't he heard the old maxim about "two wheels bad, four wheels good?" Whatever, we won't hold it against him). He's helpfully translated the two short bursts of circles and lines. Hit the jump for the full video as well as the translation.
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Wireframe Lamborghini
What you're looking at above is not a computer generated drawing, it is a full scale wireframe representation of a Lamborghini Countach created by installation artist Benedict Radcliffe. The car is the latest in a series of wire cars Radcliffe has completed. It's likely the most ambitious, painstakingly crafted from 10 mm steel tube welded together into that familiar shape we all know and secretly love. Upon close inspection you see fine details in the wheels and the intake gills, even the letters spelling "Pirelli P7" are worked out in tubing. We contacted Benedict to find what was behind his impressive creation and it turns out he's a real car guy, and a serial wireframe artist. His story below.
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novelties
Now that everyone is familiar with the glorious art of
automotive FAIL, it's time to introduce FAIL's kissing cousin to the automotive world: The "You're doing it wrong" internet meme. Let the good times roll below the jump.
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Carpocalypse Now
Ford announced today it is officially looking to sell Volvo, the premium Swedish automaker that the company acquired in 1999 and made an important part of its Premier Auto Group (PAG). Oh what a difference a decade makes. Ford paid $6.45 billion in 1999 dollars for the automaker in a fierce bidding war with Volkswagen AG and Fiat. In preparation for a sale Volvo will be made more of a stand-alone company. Volvo was the last of the PAG brands left after Land Rover/Jaguar were sold to
Tata and Aston Martin was sold to an
investment firm. Why sell the company? In the midst of a bad market the company's slumping sales are a thumb on Ford's already heavy scales. Who would buy Volvo? Why not Volkswagen or Fiat? Both companies could pick it up for an amount we assume is less than $6.45 billion. Press release below the jump.
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Carpocalypse Now
In yet another stunning display of GM's critical lack of understanding of the importance of transparency when asking for public assistance has asked aviation regulators to block the public's ability to track the company's leased private planes. When will this company learn a little thing called "message?"
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Tata Motors
Tata Motors parent company, Tata Group, owns the Taj Mahal Hotel at the center of the deadly attacks in Mumbai ending this morning. News the same company producing the
Tata Nano, the cheapest car in the world, also owns one of the largest and nicest hotels in India shouldn't come as a surprise given the Tata Group owns almost 100 companies with operations in 85 countries.
Ratan Tata, chairman of both Tata Group as well as Tata Motors, said the hotel had been warned of a possible attack and had increased security over the past few weeks but claimed it was not enough to stop given what he claims were a series of well-planned, well-organized attacks. Ratan Tata, in the same interview with Fareed Zakeria, went on to criticize the preparedness of the Indian officials. Which is interesting seeing as the hotel had returned to a normal level of security shortly before this week's terror attacks.
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Those Poor Lions
As the Lions continued their glorious downward spiral yesterday, reinforcing their spot as the losingest team in the NFL at 0-12, we think one Subaru enthusiast thought his beloved
Impreza would like to get in on some football watchin' action. With clearance coming in at just under an inch, the Subaru was driven up the porch and into the cozy disco-balled living room. We're mostly impressed it didn't fall into the basement.
[
ClubRSX]
Detroit Auto Show
We first saw
the leaked press shots back in September, and today the 2009 MINI Cooper and Cooper S Convertible are now official. The big scoop? An almost 10% hike in the price tag. Why the giant jump?
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Design Dissection
In case you may have missed it back in 2006, Ford released a trio of entries into the uber-boring mid-size sedan category. The just-right-sized triplets were built with the intention of targeting the best in the appliance segment. Alas, sales fell well short of the leaders of the pack — which is why you may not remember. Fast forward to this past week at the
LA Auto Show, where Ford dropped cloth on three redesigns for the
2010 Ford Fusion,
2010 Mercury Milan and the
2010 Lincoln MKZ. While the new look on all three may be a “Bold Move™,” all three cars retain the old Mazda 6-derived CD3 platform. So our question is – are the changes more than skin deep? Let’s find out.
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