We know that McLaren has a sense of humor, we simply never know when it's going to reveal itself. Happily for us, the team has decided it's time to laugh again. The Singapore Grand Prix, on September 28, is the first Formula 1 race at night, and team CEO Martin Whitmarsh gives us a little insight into McLaren's preparations. This is the kind of silly season that makes sense. Follow the jump for the video.
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MINI has a new commercial for the Clubman that looks like a teaser for a new Tim Burton film -- all it's missing is Johnny Depp. Detailing the arcane goings on at a funeral for a fly, we aren't sure how the commercial is supposed to make humans want to buy the car, but that's why ad guys get paid the big dollars and we don't. However, we do have to admit that the three-swatter salute was a nice touch. Follow the jump to watch the vid, and you can judge the... impact... for yourself.
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Top Gear is easily the most popular car show in the world, and one of the most popular shows altogether. But since it doesn't reach every corner the globe, the daily miracle that is the internet fills in the gaps. The BBC's approach to the online airing of Top Gear episodes has been an ongoing saga, with the company initially ordering YouTube to take them down, then putting the episodes on their own site before striking a deal with YouTube to allow episodes to be shown on the popular online video portal. The latest chapter in the saga now has Top Gear launching its own YouTube channel, which has now gone live. The channel features a vast library of Top Gear segments, including car reviews celebrity interviews and of course the famous epic challenges. All in all some 30 new clips have been added, and the channel will also host viewer competitions for prizes and whatnot. The new channel could potentially also host episodes of the American and upcoming Australian versions of the series as well, but we'll have to wait and see on that one.
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From the some-automakers-have-more-money-than-sense department comes a new commercial for the Audi RS6. The minute-long teaser spot features some kind of synchronized gymnastics routine that we guess is supposed to signify a bunch of people working together like a finely tuned machine. We think there are some gymnasts imitating the pistons in the blisteringly fast RS6 V10, and there was a human crankshaft and some headlights too, but it's hard to tell with it being people in tights and all. The last three seconds is the first indication that this is a car commercial, as the front end of the sledge hammer RS6 is finally shown.
We know it's a teaser ad, but next time we'd like to see a little more sheet metal and a lot less flesh. Besides, didn't Ford just do the people as cars thing a couple months ago? Hit the jump to view the minute-long commercial, then let us know what you think in the comments.
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The 2009 Cadillac CTS-V appears to have the power and performance to take on the best that Germany has to offer, and GM's marketing team is just itching for the chance to brag about it. Following the jump is a two minute long tribute to the most powerful production Cadillac ever built. If we're not mistaken, this is the same video that was shown right before the car was driven onstage at the Detroit Auto Show last month. Built on a bass-heavy sound track, the CTS-V intro video is a series of close-ups followed by power slides and quick track cuts, with graphic after graphic boasting about the many virtues of Caddy's 550-hp sedan. Considering the total package, we'd brag too.
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Ford would like to think that it's a car company for the people, and the Blue Oval's latest TV commercial for Canada features zero cars. What the ad does show is a group of men and women dressed in Ford-issue blue going Cirque Du Soleil to form the silhouette of a Fusion and an Edge. The vehicles are very recognizable too, even though the 18 or so hominids use very minimal props.
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Back in 1960, the sky was the limit in terms of technology and industrial growth. 60 years earlier, only the rich had cars and telephones, and television was a pipe-dream. By 1960, however, every family had a car and a television, nuclear power had been invented, and jet airplanes transported people around the globe. The rush of growth led to futurists coming up with wild fantasies of the world to come, and we've found a real classic in the YouTube vault. After the jump is a nine minute cartoon from 1960 that details the future of transportation, from self-driving cars and flying ambulances to highways that are constructed in a day or two.
In some ways, the futuristic video was right on. It shows families driving in what is basically a glass-domed minivan that features children watching TV while dad gets up-to-the-second navigation updates via a punch-card system and a synchronized scanning map. Of course the car drove itself, too, but that technology is also well on its way. The video short mentioned solar power, but the vehicle that relied on the sun for motivation had no wheels and used an electro-glide for movement. Oddly enough, solar power came after atomic propulsion. And even though computers had been around since the 1940s, no mention of the technology was described during the video. Hit the jump to check oit, it's well worth a close look.
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The Dodge Viper SRT10 ACR is a racing machine, that's what the three letter suffix denotes (American Club Racer), of course. You don't even have to be within 100 feet of the Viper ACR to know what it is, that wing on the back clues you in. Somewhere, a 737 is missing an elevator flap. If you were to somehow miss the gigantic horizontal stabilizer, the ACR's paint scheme with its wicked-looking asymmetrical stripes announce what it is from a mile away.
The current Viper enjoys a reputation as a natural at the track, though it needs to be handled with a steady, heavy hand. The ACR strips a lot of equipment away in the name of weight savings, and some componentry is swapped out to bring unsprung mass down, as well. The result is a car with even sharper responses than the already born-to-run "regular" Viper. PentastarVideo has supplied us with a very entertaining video, apparently from Chrysler Design Veep Ralph Gilles, of some ACRs ripping it up at No Problem Raceway in Belle Rose, Louisiana. Here we sit, using a corporate high-speed internet connection to live vicariously through a heavily compressed piece of video media. Oh cruel world, why can't we just have a Viper and a road course at our disposal?
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Be careful what you put up on YouTube, because the police could be watching. At least, that is if you're speeding in Scotland, where police have been monitoring the internet in a campaign to crack down on reckless driving.
Not only do the videos serve as evidence of moving violations, Scottish police say that a growing number of show-offs are speeding for the specific purpose of showing the world their reckless behavior. One such biker/videographer is currently being hunted down by Scottish traffic detectives, who vow to find him. We wanted to show you the video, but the motorcyclist who posted it is evidently trying to covering his tracks by removing the video from YouTube.
Very few vehicles have received the level of attention the Chevy Volt has been given, and we're still nearly three years before production begins. The reason for all the press is obvious. If GM can produce what they're promising with the Volt, with plug-in power and the ability to drive 40 miles on electricity alone, it'll be a game changer. The local Detroit NBC affiliate got access to the Volt design studio and brought their cameras with them. During the two minute piece, we're given a quick peek at the more rounded front end of the production model. You can see a headlight, a curvier bumper and little else, but it's enough to show that GM is on the right track. Hit the jump to view the video.
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