
Back on January 16 of 1994, our 1985 Pontiac Parisienne Safari decided to blow a hole its radiator at the corner of Roscoe and De Soto in the San Fernando Valley. We remember noticing the temp gauge peg itself all the way to the right just as steamy white smoke began erupting out of the hood, and rolled into a local Shell station right there on the corner. The mechanic on duty was so used to repairing GM B-body cooling issues that he did it while we waited. We bet he could have done this particular repair blindfolded. Then he started talking.
"They've known how to make a water engine for years," He explained between pulls from his cigarette and dunking the Pontiac's radiator into a water bath. "My friend I went to school with, he invented a car that gets 160 mpg twenty years ago. But he was working for GM and they hold the patent." Doing our bestest not to roll our eyes too terribly much, we asked why not just release the motor anyhow, and surely the money his friend makes will more than make up for the money he'd have to pay GM. "You don't get it," the mechanic said to me. "They'll kill him."
A little less than twelve hours later, at 4:31 am, the Northridge Earthquake struck. Epicenter? Blocks from the Shell station where not only did our Pontiac's radiator get patched but a certain Iranian mechanic almost spilled the beans about GM's super high-tech secret stuff. Could this been a warning from General Motors to the loose-lipped mechanic? Probably. And if you think General Motors has some advanced engineering they're cruelly keeping under wraps, just check out Chrysler's Turbo Encabulator. Modial interaction of magnito reluctance anyone? Full video after the jump.
Exotics used to be confined strictly to sportscars, but not anymore. Porsche and Maserati have got four-door sedans on the market, and Aston Martin's is on the way. But in lucrative markets like the Middle East and Russia, demand is high for exotic SUVs, and automakers are stepping up to fill the gap left by the Lamborghini LM002 and currently occupied, with few other exceptions, by the Porsche Cayenne. Spyker wants itself a piece of that pie, and after years of preparation, its Peking-to-Paris "Super Sport Utility Vehicle" looks to be nearing production.
Apparently spied undisguised at Spyker's factory in the Netherlands, sources suggest that the SSUV is being prepared for its production debut at the upcoming Frankfurt Motor Show. The design has reportedly been updated to follow the lead of the new C8 Aileron, but the big question is what will sit underneath the hood. Expected to ditch the concept car's V12 in favor of a V8 – with an accompanying model designation change from D12 to D8 – the Spyker sport-ute was tipped to adopt American power (in the possible form of the Cadillac CTS-V's supercharged mill), though transplanting the company's existing Audi-sourced engine is always a possibility.

Volvo's new XC60 sits at the top of the pack when it battles head-to-head against the Audi Q5, Mercedes-Benz GLK350, and Cadillac SRX, says Edmunds in its latest four-way comparison. The entrants, each new members of the expanding Compact Luxury Crossover segment, were all selected for the battle based on size and their less-than-$40,000 starting prices. Veterans such as the Acura RDX, BMW X3, and Infiniti EX35 were left home as they aren't rookies to the field.
With a resolutely last place finish, the Cadillac SRX was clobbered over its outward visibility, weight, lack of overall space (despite being the largest of the bunch), and cramped second-row seating. The fact that the Edmund's test car was a base FWD model didn't help either.

Bugattis, Ferraris, an Maseratis are commonly among the blue-chip properties at classic car auctions, but Citroens don't usually rank among the big-ticket items – especially not Seventies models – but at Bonhams' recent Retromobile auction in Paris, one rare Citroen sold for a high bid of 337,500 Euros (about $440k), assumed to be a record for the French marque. The car in question is a rare 1973 DS23, converted by coachbuilder Henri Chapron to a convertible – one of only three DS23 convertibles built, and the only one with fuel injection.
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The 2010 Peugeot 3008 has been spotted in France wearing a scant amount of camouflage, and unless Peugeot is deceiving us, it looks just like the Prologue HyMotion4 Concept from the Paris Motor Show. Updating the sheetmetal of the 4007, this crossover Pug gets a much smoother grille treatment and a combination of lines and curves out back suitable for a display at MOMA. The interior isn't revolutionary, but it's expected to offer seating for five or seven and looks like it will hold up to consumers cross-shopping the Nissan Qashqai and VW Tiguan. Four-cylinder turbocharged engines are predicted to be sized at 1.6-liters, burning either gas or oil and driving two wheels at launch, with a four-wheel-drive variant offered down the line.




