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Car of the Day

Opining on Automotive Opinion

Car of the Day header image 1

Fav 5 IV

October 13th, 2008 · Comments Off on Fav 5 IV

Well its time for an another run down of some interesting autmotive posts for the week.

Comments Off on Fav 5 IVTags: Cars · Fav 5 · Miscellaneous

A Better Cop Car

October 11th, 2008 · Comments Off on A Better Cop Car

This week Police cars have been making the news.

One of the big stories is the new and improved Dodge Charger police car.  The Dodge Charger is still a fairly new car when it comes to seeing duty for the boys in blue.   This is the first major refresh of the police package.  If I was in acquisitions for a police department I would opt for the 5.7 liter hemis with 390hp and yet it only gets 1mpg less than the V6.  This would give police the power they need to give hot pursuit to all the bad guys out there.

An interesting fact about police cars is that no police car is built to be a police car.  Each police car is a conversion from a mainstream production sedan.  One company is looking to change that buy building a purpose built police car.  That company is Carbon Motors.

It is an interesting undertaking to make a purpose built police car.  

Comments Off on A Better Cop CarTags: Cars · Miscellaneous

Detroit 3 to 2?

October 10th, 2008 · Comments Off on Detroit 3 to 2?

GM and Chrysler merger?

This has been a rough season in the automotive industry.  Sales are way down across the board.  A person doesn’t have to go far to find negative news about the car industry.

The New York Times is reporting that GM and Chrysler are exploring a merger.  A merger that would radically change the face of the American made car.  

The reality is that our domestic car industry has already changed, this is some of the first proof.

You can read more at the New York Times.

Comments Off on Detroit 3 to 2?Tags: Cars

Mercedes Pens?

October 10th, 2008 · Comments Off on Mercedes Pens?

What do you do with 10,000 pens and a Mercedes that needs a paint job? Obviously, you glue the pens all over the Mercedes and create a Mercedes Pens.  

The Mercedes Pens is something of a celebrity at Art Shows and at Car Shows, however it is at Art Car Shows that this vehicle has really left its mark. 

There is community where artists and automotive enthusiasts meet and that is in Art Car world.  The man behind the Mercedes Pens is the same person behind ArtCarCentral that was referenced in the General Lees article.

Costas Shuler is a self described inspirational speaker and comedian that lives in California.  He took a 1981 Mercedes Benz 300SD and covered it in pens.  His current dream is to make it on the Jay Leno show.  I think he is a perfect fit as a minor guest on the show.  Jay loves cars and Jay loves funny; so he should love the Mercedes Pens. 

You can follow the adventures of the Mercedes Pens at http://pen-guy.blogspot.com.

Comments Off on Mercedes Pens?Tags: Mercedes · Miscellaneous

BMW M Coupe

October 9th, 2008 · Comments Off on BMW M Coupe

One of my favorite cars of all time was the BMW M Coupe.  I lusted after, shopped for and test drove this ultra rare BMW.

This car was only made for 4 short years and less than 3000 came to the US.  Only 690 got the newer M3’s engine rated at 315hp.  That is a ton of go for 3000lbs of Bavarian steel.  The car you see here is the result of engineers designing a car.  It was almost a rogue development.  If I ever get my warehouse for my car collection, this would be one car worth locating.  

In my research on this car I found that Johnny Lieberman at Jalopnik had already written a fantanstic article, I knew it would be a great read when Johnny claimed that the M Coupe could possibly be the official car of Jalopnik.  I feel the same way, this car has been a regular in my own “car of the day” daydreams.

Read more about the great BMW M Coupe at Jalopnik.

Comments Off on BMW M CoupeTags: BMW · Cars · M Coupe

Sport + Ugly = Spugly

October 8th, 2008 · Comments Off on Sport + Ugly = Spugly

 The Spugly Car of the Day is the Pontiac G6 GXP Street Edition.

I’m actually a fan of all things GXP even the G6 GXP.  GXP represents the best Pontiac has to offer in each model.  The G6 GXP features a 3.6 liter V6 good for 252hp, not the most powerful V6 on the market, but the best you can get in a G6.

The crime of the spugly car is more “show” than “go”.  

The Street Edition is guilty of being spugly.  

(The G6 GXP sedan non-Street Edition however is not guilty)

Comments Off on Sport + Ugly = SpuglyTags: Cars · Pontiac · Spugly Cars

$27k Maserati

October 7th, 2008 · Comments Off on $27k Maserati

Here’s an interesting Autotrader find.  A 2002 Maserati Coupe with 49k miles for $27k miles.

It looks like the current economic environment isn’t just hitting the SUVs, but is also causing some deals to show up in the used exotic car market.   The Maserati Coupe has 4.2 liter V8 with 385hp for more details you can read about the 2002 Maserati on Edmunds.

Comments Off on $27k MaseratiTags: Cars · Maserati

Fav 5 III

October 6th, 2008 · Comments Off on Fav 5 III

Well its time for an another run down of my favorite autmotive posts for the week.

Comments Off on Fav 5 IIITags: Cars · Fav 5

911 vs GT-R

October 5th, 2008 · Comments Off on 911 vs GT-R

Last week Porsche and Nissan have been bickering over the Nissan’s GT-R Nurburgring lap times.  Porsche actually purchased a US spec Nissan GT-R to run around the famed German track. 

When the dust had settled Porsche run the Nissan around the track with time of 25 seconds slower than Nissan was able to run their own car.  This caused the folks at Porsche to speculate that Nissan brought in a “ringer”. (pun intended) Perhaps a car set up for track duty, with tweaked suspension and sticky track tires.  

Now Nissan has responded by standing by their claims that thier car was production spec and ran on actual street tires.  

The crux of the matter is the 25 second difference in the lap times for the Nissan.  Those 25 seconds represent the difference in which car is faster the 911 or the GT-R.  Either way Nissan wins, they have a car that legitimately competes with one of the great sports cars of all time.

Comments Off on 911 vs GT-RTags: 911 · Cars · GT-R · Porsche

Maser “Life”

October 4th, 2008 · 3 Comments

NBC’s Life has been featuring some great cars for its lead character Detective Crews.  This week we got to see Charlie Crews’ newest ride a Maserati Quattroporte GT S.  

The Quattroporte S gets a Ferrari developed 4.7 liter V8 with 430 hp motivating this six-figure sedan.  

You can read more about the Quattroporte S in Autoblog’s first drive report.

Charlie’s Quattroporte is a black-on-black or nero-on-nero version of this Italian super-sedan.  The Quattroporte S already blacks a lot of the Quattroporte trim, the car used also has blacked out wheels.  

When we see the Quattroporte S for the first time, the stealth undercover red and blue police lights are lit up and flashing.  Cool cars, make cool police cars and this third one of Charlie Crews doesn’t disappoint.  

I wonder cars we will see Detective Charlie Crews driving in the future and what demise this car will see?

I know this, his car will be rare, desirable and fast.  With his history of his Bentley, a Buick Grand National and now this Quattroporte I’m sure it will be a great car.  Perhaps the next car will be a another classic car.  Or it could be an exotic, it will be expensive and probably have a backseat.   

For the next several episodes I’ll just enjoy seeing the Maserati Quattroporte GT S in action on Life.

→ 3 CommentsTags: Life · Maserati · Quattroporte · TV Cars

Diesel Do

October 3rd, 2008 · Comments Off on Diesel Do

There have been a few diesel stories making the rounds in the last few weeks.  A VW TDI Jetta has set a new world record.  After 20 days and 9,400 miles John and Helen Taylor averaged 58.82 miles per gallon.  The record is actually for a cross-country drive.  The Jetta actually was getting better gas mileage as their trek eneded and averaging over 60mpg as the engine was breaking in and starting to work more efficient.

Volkswagen diesels are nothing new, they’ve been around for years and they have come a long way in terms of refinement.  The VWs have come such a long way that VW is ready to share thier TDI power plant with their corporate cousin Audi.

This week at the Paris Auto Show Audi is introducing a new A4 TDI concept that is rated at 59mpg.  Diesel engines are popping up all over the place in luxury cars and economy cars alike.  

If mpg is a top priority in your next car, whatever the type of car.  Do some research and find yourself a diesel option to test drive.  You just might be surprised.

Comments Off on Diesel DoTags: Audi · Cars · VW

Cars of “Life”

October 2nd, 2008 · 2 Comments

The NBC TV show Life started its second season this week.  Life is a very underrated show.  Wikipedia says this 

Life centers around Detective Charlie Crews, who at the start of the first season (set in 2007) is released from Pelican Bay State Prison after serving twelve years of a life sentence. In 1995 he was wrongfully convicted of the triple murder of his business partner and his family. Thanks to the efforts of his lawyer Constance Griffiths, DNA evidence exonerates him of the murders. Having lost his job, his wife, his friends, nearly all contact with the outside world and even his grip on reality for a time while in jail, he emerges enlightened by the philosophy of Zen, a fixation with fresh fruit and an obsession with solving the murder that nearly cost him his life and exposing the conspiracy that framed him for it. After successfully suing the city of Los Angeles and the LAPD, he is reinstated to the police force and receives an undisclosed but substantial monetary settlement.

Life is a great show and I enjoy it on many different levels.  However, this site is about cars and one of the levels I enjoy Life is its cars.  Since Dective Charlie Crews recieved a $50 million settlement from the city he has the ability to purchase some great rides.  

The first car we see Detective Crews driving is a Bentley Continental GT Coupe. 

Crews spent time crusing around in his Bentley saying he loves this car and saying he is not attached to his car.  Unfortuntely one of the episodes ends with the Bentley being totaled by a tractor.  I was crushed to see such a fine automobile crushed.  

However, the next time we see Charlie Crews driving a car it is this.

A Buick Grand National.  Someone attached to this show has great taste in cars.  It looks like that the people behind Life don’t want just a single car attached to their main character. In the previews for next week see a glimpse of Detective Crews’ next car, a Maserati.  Stay tuned for more cool cars on Life.

→ 2 CommentsTags: Bentley · Buick · Cars · Life · TV Cars

Remember the Contour SVT?

October 1st, 2008 · 1 Comment

The Special Vehicles Team at Ford have been tuning vehicles for some time now.  They’ve tuned plenty of Mustangs, a few trucks, the Focus and even the Ford Contour.  

The Contour SVT was 200hp 2.5 liter naturally aspirated V6.  At the time it was called the best handling FWD sedan for sale in America.  It was built for 3 years from 1998 to 2000, a little over 11,000 of these little hot rods were produced.  

SVT took a slightly different approach when building its high performance economy sedan than most other car companies at the time.  If you had a small sedan with sporty intentions it was most likely to a be a turbo-charged or high performance 4 cylinder.  The Contour SVT took a page from BMW and built a quick reving 6 cylinder albeit in a “V” configuration instead of BMW’s inline 6 format.  

The problem with rare and special cars like the Contour SVT is the enthusiasts know about them and snatch them up or modifiy them away from their original setup.  A search of Autotrader shows a 2000 Contour with only 37k miles or only $8,000.   

If you’re an enthusiast with a limited budget, don’t settle on used Kia, just take a short trip back in time and pick up one of these little bad boys.  It may be a bit of hunt, but it will be worth it.

→ 1 CommentTags: Cars · Contour SVT · Ford

General Lees

September 30th, 2008 · 2 Comments

Growing up one of the coolest cars around was the General Lee from the Dukes of Hazard.  

The General Lee has aged well and is now a classic muscle car.  They say that imitation is the greatest form of flattery and there is some serious General Lee imiation occurring out there in the realm of General Lees.

There are some funny things that have been turned into a General Lee vechicle and that subject would make a great article.  As I started my research I found that an imitation General Lee article has already been written.  

Artcar Central wrote a funny article entitled 25 Ways to Spot a Fake General Lee.

Here are a few General Lees not included in the Artcar Central article.

How about an actual gondola spotted in Venice, Italy? What is Italian for “yee-haw”?

I’m pretty sure the General Lee wasn’t made in Germany.

How do you make a mini-van cool?

Check out the fine work over at the Artcar Blog. They even give a tip on how to spot an original General Lee.

 

→ 2 CommentsTags: Cars · General Lee · Miscellaneous · Movie cars

Fav 5 Automotive Articles from Last Week – 9/26

September 29th, 2008 · Comments Off on Fav 5 Automotive Articles from Last Week – 9/26

Here’s a quick run down of some of the best automotive articles of the week.

Enjoy!

 

Comments Off on Fav 5 Automotive Articles from Last Week – 9/26Tags: Cars · Fav 5 · Miscellaneous