Street Burnouts: What’s the Point?

Posted on Dec 8, 2014 in Safety | 5 comments

I appreciate a smokin’ hot burnout as much as the next guy, especially when one of the six muscle cars profiled yesterday is laying down the rubber. A burnout, though, has a time and a place where it’s appropriate. Any burnouts outside that time and place are no longer cool, just pathetic attempts at trying to be cool. Driving yesterday during rush hour, a...

Gran Turismo 5 Cars

Posted on Dec 6, 2014 in Antique | Comments Off on Gran Turismo 5 Cars

Someone at Polyphony is a car lover, and one look at the new Gran Turismo 5 list will confirm it. This is Part II of my highlights from the GT5 cars, and it includes some amazing automobiles. Maserati – 35 examples of this fine marque are included in the new GT5, including the 250F, Khamsin, Ghibli, and Quattroporte. The perfect Italian mafia car is finally...

Advancing Technologies for the Next Electric Vehicles

Posted on Dec 6, 2014 in Technology | 2 comments

Fully electric as well as gasoline/electric hybrid vehicles have received ridicule for being unproven and expensive. However, dedicated electric automakers such as Tesla, Coda and Fisker as well as even established car manufacturers Toyota, General Motors along with Ford are banking that they are taking short-term losses for a long-term gain. The perils that...

All Signs Point to Bronco and Here’s Why

Posted on Dec 3, 2014 in Editorials | 1 comment

Ford is bringing back the Bronco. This is not a fantasy. It is not a request. And although our friends in Dearborn are not ready to talk about it, we do not need their official confirmation to see why a genuine Bronco will be back in showrooms in as few as 24 months. The return of the Bronco starts with the incredible emphasis Ford places on its leadership in...

On the 50th anniversary of its soggy victory, the Chaparral 2 returns to Sebring

Posted on Nov 26, 2014 in Featured | 2 comments

The Chaparral 2 in action. Given the focus that Ford had put into beating Ferrari in endurance racing, motorsport fans probably expected the Ford GT40 to repeat its 1965 Daytona victory with a win at Sebring. Instead, it was an innovative team from Texas, running an open-cockpit, Chevy-powered sports racer of their own design, that claimed victory in the 1965...

Gearhead Gift Guide: OBDII Scanners

Posted on Nov 22, 2014 in Technology | 2 comments

If you have a Gearhead on your gift list this year and you’re clueless as to what to get him, we’ve got you covered. Below, we explain what an OBDII scanner is, why your Gearhead wants one, and go over the differences of a few units based on skill level and what they need it for. OBD-II is an On-Board Diagnostics system originally meant for mechanics to...

Penske Wins Saturn; Castroneves Wins Indy

Posted on Nov 13, 2014 in Racing | 1 comment

Last month we talked about the possibility of Roger Penske taking control of Saturn and why that made good business sense. Today, he went ahead and did it. Penske Automotiveand GM reached an agreement for a price of $100-200 million, saidBloomberg. And let’s not forget: Helio Castroneves, driving a Penske car, won his third Indy 500 three weeks ago. These...

Study Proves It: Americans Can’t Drive

Posted on Nov 7, 2014 in Safety | 3 comments

Watch out… My 15-year-old nephew got his learner’s permit this month and has already blown past a stop sign onto a busy arterial. Luckily the incident passed without major consequence… the biggest problem for him being a seriously fuming father in the passenger seat. While experienced drivers might assume it’s the 15- and 16-olds we need to watch out for,...

Dodging the Grand Wagoneer’s Destiny?

Posted on Oct 20, 2014 in Editorials | 1 comment

Shandor writes: I used to have an ’84 Jeep Grand Wagoneer. When it died, I replaced it with a new ’99 Dodge Durango. It seemed to be a fairly solid, updated replacement for the Wagoneer. My mechanic, who was a master Jeep mechanic, said that Chrysler came up with the Durango to fill the gap in the market created after the Grand Wagoneer stopped production in...

Dr. Ford May Soon Monitor Your Health While Driving

Posted on Oct 2, 2014 in Safety | 1 comment

Ford is studying in-car health monitoring with apps to keep track of allergens in the area, for instance, and roll up the windows. There is no provision to automatically dispense Kleenex and wipe your nose. In combination with the Sync system, the company is figuring out ways to monitor blood glucose levels and possibly recommend a snack for diabetics. “Eat the...

In-Car WiFi Coming Soon to Ford Focus

Posted on Sep 25, 2014 in Safety | 3 comments

Ford Focus: WiFi hotspot I freely admit, I get kinda twitchy when I’m away from the Internet. Between my at-home service, the wireless hotspots at Starbucks and my beloved WiFi iPod Touch, it’s not often that the World Wide Web eludes me. The one place WiFi has yet to infiltrate my life is in the car, which only recently became glaringly apparent when my online...

Midweek Matinee: Corvair in Action, 1960

Posted on Sep 21, 2014 in Featured | 2 comments

The 1960 Corvair, in all its initial release glory. The Chevrolet Corvair was named Motor Trend’s Car of the Year for 1960, due in part to its air-cooled, OHV, 139.6 cu.in., horizontally opposed six, featuring an aluminum alloy crankcase and heads and detachable ferrous alloy cylinders, fed by dual single-barrel Rochester carbs—all of which resulted in 80 hp...

German Rockmeister Produces Inspirational Audi Song

Posted on Sep 18, 2014 in Racing | Comments Off on German Rockmeister Produces Inspirational Audi Song

Big whoop, you say? Well, Leslie Madoki (left) is no small potatoes in Germany. He’s a big-deal music producer and, as such, was asked by Audi to produce an inspiring tribute to the team which will race in the DTM, a big-deal German modified touring car championship race beginning tomorrow in Hockenheim. This is serious stuff. So, let’s not be too sarcastic...