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2009 Coronado Speed Fest

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Internal Leaked Document on Lotus Evora

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70's Porsche Documentary

Le Mans 1969

1969 24 Hours of Le Mans Video

Mini-layland 1978 Layland Mini Propaganda

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Toyota to fix more Tundras for rust problems

 FROM REUTERS:  Toyota said on Tuesday it would fix all Tundra pickups sold in the United States for the 2000 to 2003 model years to address a risk that part of the truck’s frame could corrode, causing spare tires or even the gas tank to drop to the road.

In November, Toyota Motor Corp had recalled 110,000 Tundras sold in 20 cold-weather states, saying exposure to heavy road salt could cause the corrosion. Toyota spokesman Brian Lyons was unable to say how many additional vehicles would be covered by the additional repairs.  MORE»

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Audi saves Volkswagen’s year, sees 2010 improvement

FROM REUTERS: German luxury carmaker Audi contributed the bulk of Volkswagen’s cash and earnings in 2009 and forecast better results this year as it launches a dozen new models, including the A1 subcompact.

Although BMW  has yet to publish its accounts, it is almost certain that Audi surpassed its Bavarian rival, Daimler’s Mercedes-Benz and even future sibling Porsche as the most profitable premium carmaker in the world — underlining its importance to parent VW. MORE»

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BMW Chairman Confirms New Small Car to Share Mini Platform

FROM AUTOMOBILE MAG:  Tradition holds that BMW vehicles are either rear- or all-wheel-drive, but that mantra seems to be shifting. Executives have confirmed that the company is developing a small car to slot underneath the 1-series, and it will be front-wheel-drive.

Rumors suggesting a baby Bimmer, riding upon the same platform as the next-generation Mini, have been floating for some time now, but chairman Norbert Reithofer told Autocar the company actually is working on such a model.  MORE»

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F1 legend Moss recovering after elevator shaft fall

 FROM FOX SPORTS:  British motor racing legend Sir Stirling Moss was recovering in the hospital Monday after he was nearly killed falling down an elevator shaft at home.
Moss tumbled 30 feet and broke both his ankles, suffering four broken bones, gashes and four chipped vertebrae.

He underwent surgery to have pins and plates attached to his shattered bones after the fall from the third floor of his up-market pad in London’s Mayfair on Saturday. MORE»

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Opel, Chevrolet complementary brands as GM competes globally

FROM DETROIT FREE PRESS: Chevrolet is GM’s best-selling brand, the engine that drives the automaker’s U.S. operations, with 1.3 million sales in 2009. Opel, too, is vital to GM.

It’s GM’s No. 1 brand in the important European market, with 1.2 million sales last year. That makes Opel GM’s second-biggest brand worldwide by a wide margin. It exceeded Buick, Cadillac and GMC’s combined U.S. sales by more than 2 1/2 -to-1 last year.

Opel is the yin to Chevy’s yang. The brands are vitally complementary as GM shapes its new global strategy. Neither is complete — or able to compete with global automakers like Ford, Toyota and Volkswagen — without the other. MORE»

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F is for finance in F1

Virgin Racing's new F1 car for the 2010 Formula One season

 FROM BBC NEWS:  It used to cost up to $400m (£266m; 292m euros) to set up and run a F1 team – a financial fact, which has created almost an oligopoly of three or four teams at the front of the grid.  MORE»

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Chrysler Gearing Up for Dodge Viper Finale

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Toyota Moves Past Apologies, Aims For Sales

FROM ASSOCIATED PRESS:  New ads for troubled automaker Toyota Motor Corp. are skipping the apologies and easing back into sales pitches — too soon, some say.

The campaign pushes the idea that Toyota customers remain loyal, even as the company faces congressional inquiries and some reports that its repairs may not fix the problem.

The new campaign, by Toyota’s main ad agency Saatchi & Saatchi, emphasizes what Toyota says are real satisfied buyers testifying that they still feel safe in their new Toyotas even after weeks of revelations about accelerator problems. MORE»

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Can Sex and Saucy Ads Sell Chryslers?

FROM BUSINESS WEEKSex appeal has virtually disappeared from American car marketing. So when models wearing metallic minidresses shared a stage with a Chrysler concept car at the Detroit Auto Show in January, some onlookers declared the display passé and even déclassé. Olivier François, the impeccably dressed Frenchman in charge of Chrysler’s latest rebranding effort, was merely bemused. “I am doing here what I know from [home],” he said.

Chrysler is turning European again. This time, it’s not the Germans calling the shots, as they did during Chrysler’s short-lived marriage to Daimler . Now the Italians from Fiat and their French marketing chief are in charge, and the next generation of Chryslers and Dodges will resemble the quirky little cars that zip around Rome. François, meanwhile, is willing to push buttons with his marketing—even at the risk of offending prim American sensibilities.  MORE»

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Geely’s Volvo Talks on Track, No Deal Yet -Geely chairman

 

FROM REUTERS:  The parent of China’s Geely Automobile  said it has yet to sign an agreement in its ongoing bid for Ford’s Volvo car unit, but that its plan to purchase the brand are proceeding on track.

 hejiang Geely Holdings had previously indicated it expected to reach a formal deal last month, but company chairman Li Shufu said an official agreement had not been signed yet.

“We haven’t reached a final agreement so far,” Li told reporters on the sidelines of the opening of the National People’s Congress in Beijing on Friday.  MORE»