When you think of the early days of NASCAR, brands like Oldsmobile, Hudson and Chrysler come to mind. What you don't usually think of is Tucker. In fact Tucker usually isn't associated with motorsports at all. With only 51 examples of the Tucker Torpedo having been completed before the lights were switched off, racing probably wasn't top of mind for owners of the time. Apparently, a Tucker did hit the roundy-round circuit, at least for one race. A reader over at Hemmings has turned up a photo of a Tucker at a race in Ohio in 1950. NASCAR records from the time indicate that the car was classified last with zero laps complete. It's not known if the car crashed on the first lap or simply didn't start. Either way, it appears this may have been its one and only appearance.
What happens when you combine a flamboyant Italian supercar with celebrity fashion designer Christian Audigier? You get... this. German tuner edo competition has teamed up with the clothing icon for a limited run of Murcielagos that feature custom design themes chosen by each customer. This ensures that each car is a one-off while simulaneously proving -- yet again -- that taste and income are mutually exclusive. On the positive side, the Lambo's been fitted with a completely new exhaust system along with more aggressive camshafts, upgraded cylinder heads, and a high-flow air filter that bumps output above the 700-hp mark. A new single disc clutch helps transmit the power to all four wheels, although edo also offers a conversion to rear wheel drive that shaves off nearly 90 pounds. Pricing gets a cue from the designer clothing industry, coming in at just over $690,000, nearly double the MSRP of a standard LP640.
Here's what happens when a designer sees the Solstice Coupe or Miata Coupe and thinks, "If they can do it to one of those, we can surely do it to an SL." StudioTorino, in conjunction with IAAD (Istituto d'Arte Applicata e Design), has created this Coupetorino based on the Mercedes-Benz SL. Designed for the 'Turin World Design Capital 2008' event in the "Bespoke Coachwork" class, this 1:4 scale model was created by Alfredo Stola at StudioTorino and Piotr Degler Jablonski at IAAD. The idea was to transform the Mercedes SL into an exclusive coupé with Italian flair. We'd say they succeeded, although we would have preferred a hatch to gain some luggage space. If the name sounds familiar, StudioTorino is the firm that brought us the wagon-esque Maserati Cinqueporte, the comically sinister Fiat 500 based Diabolika, and the Porsche Cayman-based RK Coupe.
We already fuel and lubricate our cars with animal byproducts, it just takes millions of years for the process to happen. Connecticut-based Green Earth Technologies has been marketing its G-Oil product for small engines at retailers like Home Depot, and the company is waiting on approval from the American Petroleum Institute new automotive applications. G-Oil is biodegradable (no word about the nasties that used oil holds in suspension, though) and made from animal fat that would typically be discarded by slaughterhouses. It's ironic that animal-derived oil is an alternative to petroleum, which shifted the world away from whale oil over a century ago.
Mobil 1 and other synthetic oils have been around for decades, and do offer an alternative to straight dino juice, but Green Earth's technology guru Mat Zuckerman touts G-Oil as "better than anything out there." As the whaling industry discovered back in the day, there's not enough animal byproduct out there to satisfy the demand for oil or supplant petroleum's primacy, but every little bit helps. GET's Oklahoma facility is capable of producing 5 million bottles per month, and we wonder if it makes your engine's innards smell like meatloaf.
Mazda has officially taken the wraps off its five-door hatchback version of the redesigned Mazda3 at the Bologna Motor Show today. As you can see in the gallery of new high-res pics below, the Mazda3 five-door gets the same swoopy sheetmetal as its four-door brethren, including the super happy smiley front end face. What's new is an extended roofline that drops down at a steep angle to create a wagon-esque profile. With a D-pillar that kinks up at a swept back angle, the look is very similar to that of a Pontiac Vibe/Toyota Matrix that's been stepped on by a giant. The new cargo capacity will no doubt be appreciated by families who can put every extra cubic foot to good use, and if the current generation Mazda3 is any indication, this will also be the basis for the Mazdaspeed model.
At the moment, all the specs for the new Mazda3 five-door hatchback are for the European market, so don't expect its new 2.2L and carryover 1.6L turbo diesel engines to be available in the U.S. Europeans will also have a choice of 1.6L and 2.0L gas engines, though we expect the U.S.-spec model to offer the same 2.0L and new 2.5L four-cylinder engines as the sedan.
Chrysler CEO Bob Nardelli was the only auto exec who readily offered to work for a buck if it meant securing federal aid from Congress in the form of bridge loans. Ford CEO Alan Mulally famously told the politicians sitting before him, "I think I'm OK where I am." We would be OK too with the tens of millions of dollars that Mulally has received as compensation so far from Ford. GM CEO Rick Wagoner was described as being "demur" when asked about lowering his salary to a $1.
Now it seems that the boy from Boeing and the Ricker are reconsidering their previous reluctance to take a pay cut. The Detroit Free Press is reporting that both CEOs are prepared to tell Congress on Thursday that they would be willing to work for $1 if it meant getting the approval of Congress for federal loans.
Congress had previously demanded the each of the Detroit 3 automakers submit a detailed plan to Congress outlining how they would use the federal loans to return to profitability and ensure the long term viability of their companies. Ford is the first to turn their homework in, which reveals the Blue Oval expects to be making money again in 2011 and will have an all-electric sedan on sale by then. All it's asking in return is a $9 billion slice of the $25 billion federal aid package that would only be used if necessary. Ford already has enough credit to survive through 2010 and only envisions needing the fed's money if something happens to either GM or Chrysler.
Chrysler LLC has just announced two measures to help the privately-owned automaker scale back production to meet lower demand in the marketplace. The first is to move up the closure of its Newark Assembly Plant, which builds the Dodge Durango and Chrysler Aspen, from late 2009 to December 31, 2008. The second is to eliminate one of two shifts at the Toledo North Assembly plant that builds the Dodge Nitro and Jeep Liberty, also effective December 31. Chrysler says the Newark plant employs 1,000 workers, while 825 will be affected by the shift reduction in Toledo. According to The Detroit News, those 1,825 workers out of a job represent about 6% of Chrysler's hourly-workforce. These moves will also likely spell the end for the Durango and Aspen SUVs, as Newark is the only plant producing them and has been scaled back to one shift since July 2006.
Reader Joe Donaldson was out taking photos over the weekend when he happened upon a more-interesting-than-normal Dodge Caravan parked outside a Best Buy. While we generally find the terms "interesting" and "Dodge Caravan" to be mutually exclusive, we'll grant an exception here, because what Don stumbled upon was none other than a Caravan R/T sporting manufacturer tags. Is it the very same Caravan R/T that we saw in Detroit back in January? Who knows, but from the looks of things, it's identically equipped, with the hood scoop, darkened grille area, big wheels, Brembos, dual exhaust, and the requisite badging. We're not particularly big on minivans, but we thought that the Caravan R/T show car was pretty cool, and seeing it in the wild does nothing to change that opinion. Hey Chrysler, Dad might not feel as lame driving around in one of these boxes if you were to, you know, actually offer this.
A new study in the UK confirms that women like fast cars, but apparently it's not the sexy curves of a Lamborghini, Maserati or Ferrari that turns them on. Researchers discovered that it's actually the loud sound of their engines revving that gets a woman's motor to hum. The study was conducted with 40 participants that included both men and women who were played recordings of a Maserati, Lamborghini, Ferrari and Volkswagen Polo engine. Afterwards they got their saliva swabbed and analyzed for the presence of testosterone. A higher level of the hormone in their spit indicated that the subjects were more aroused, and the results revealed that 100% of the female participants experienced a big jump in testosterone levels after listening to the Maserati. Chances are the Maserati engine was actually sourced from Ferrari, but we don't know if the results after listening to the Maranello mill were identical. And what happened after participants heard the Polo's wheezy motor? Testosterone levels fell across the board.
The 2009 Dodge Journey carries the size and shape of a typical crossover, and it has seating for seven and all the amenities you could possibly ask for at $30,000. On paper, the Journey has a plenty of things in its favor, yet we had our doubts. First off, it looks a lot like the Dodge Caravan, which works against the Journey when considering that many crossover buyers want to avoid the minivan stigma. It's also based on the less than impressive Chrysler Sebring platform, which we have found to be just awful. Then there is Chrysler's corporate 3.5L engine, which is less powerful, refined and efficient than similarly sized engines from its competition. Chrysler's recent track record for vehicles that are less than class competitive also lent support to our notion that the Journey might be a letdown. Regardless, we tried to clear our minds of these things when the Journey arrived for a week-long stay in the Autoblog Garage.
