CR Auto Cars: December 2011

Friday, December 23, 2011

George Harrison’s Aston Martin sold for $550,000 to Christian charity in Houston

Among the late Beatle George Harrison's many passions were fast cars; he was a fixture at Formula One races, drove his McLaren F1 in the Beatles "Anthology" movie and wrote the song "Faster" for pals Niki Lauda and Jackie Stewart. This week, his first Aston Martin sold for $550,000 -- to an anonymous Houston collector who vowed to use it for Christian missionary work.

If you're still struggling for that last-minute holiday gift for the person who has more cash than taste, a Swiss car builder has just the right ride: this Mercedes McLaren SLR customized with 900 rubies and enough gold paint to impress a pharaoh. Total price? $11 million. It takes a lot of money to look this bad.

Every weekday, we share a beautiful photo from the Flickr universe, like this colorful pose of a 1951 Chevy pickup from Photo Extremist. If you'd like to share a shot with us to feature here, please add it to the Motoramic group on Flickr.

Motoramic’s Dash for Monday, Dec. 12, 2011

Here's what we're reading this morning about Acura's revivals, a new Bentley and the former CEO of General Motors wearing a robe in public:

BMW's neverending quest to create and fill all possible permutations of luxury vehicles now extends to this: the 6 Series Gran Coupe, a four-door sedan with a coupe roofline for drivers who find odd-numbered BMW too stuffy.

This Ferrari 599 GTB, spotted in London by Ed Callows, is properly labeled. Every weekday, Motoramic features a photo from the Flickr universe. If you'd like to share a shot with us to feature here, add it to the Motoramic group on Flickr.

Suspecting it has a winner on its hands, Chrysler is giving the 2013 Dodge Dart a slow reveal that would make Gypsy Rose Lee wonder what's taking so long. Next up: the new dash, sporting what's becoming a trademark Dodge "racetrack" of light.

What we're reading this morning about idled Cruzes, big-fine lobbying and a new way to pace the world's fastest human:

Director and actor Ron Howard's only car-themed movie to date has been the 1977 cult hit "Grand Theft Auto." That changes next year, when Howard shoots "Rush," a true story of Formula 1's wild days in the '70s. What better way to get a feel for the track than from behind the wheel.

Chrysler building 2013 SRT Viper in Detroit, sans Dodge

There's few vehicles more ardently awaited than the resurrected Dodge Viper, the V-10 beast that had grown stale by its departure a few years ago. Today, Chrysler announced it would build the new Viper in Detroit later next year -- and that it was no longer a Dodge.

The 2012 Mercedes SL hardtop convertible isn't supposed to have a full reveal until next month in Detroit. And yet here it is, in its full big-eye glory. The interwebs win again.

What we're reading this morning about $200,000 Escalades in China, Ford's electrics and what it takes to get Bruce Willis shooting from the back of an El Camino:

For the new season of his MTV show, skateboarder-turned-entrepreneur Rob Dyrdek took on the challenge of doing a 360-degree mid-air roll. It's easy to grind out with a skateboard -- but a bit harder with a Chevy Sonic, as Dyrdek found out.

First, Gail Larkin had her Subaru Forester stolen from a mall parking lot while she was inside volunteering as Mrs. Santa Claus. Then, after news of the theft broke, the mall barred her from coming back, citing "bad publicity." Yet in the end, all involved saw the dangers of getting stuck on the naughty list this close to Christmas.

Our story Friday about former Obama auto task force head Steven Rattner suggesting UAW workers at General Motors should have taken a pay cut in the bailout, and the three-tier pay scale at a Detroit-area GM factory, drew over 11,000 comments and a response from Rattner. Here's what they say about working in America:

Among the debuts at the Detroit auto show next month will be this: an all-new version of the Nissan Pathfinder, teased here in half-moonlight and enhanced by Motoramic to reveal the flat roofline and swoopy fenders. We'll see the full path forward Jan. 9.

Motoramic’s Dash for Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2011

What we're reading this morning about Saab blaming GM for its demise, the latest peeks ahead of the Detroit auto show and Tesla holding its prices:

This is the front corner of something Toyota's calling the NS4, a plug-in hybrid concept it will show in Detroit next month. You now know as much as anyone about it.

Motoramic Drives 2012 BMW 3-Series

From the second story window of a lounge at the Barcelona Airport, I could see the red BMW 3 Series sedans parked in a line, like delicious fresh cherries waiting to be picked from the tree. Soon, I'd be behind the wheel of one of them, exploring the roads of Catalonia, an automotive playground where I speak at least one of the languages. The sky was clear, the temperature 65 degrees Fahrenheit. This, I thought, is the most glorious day of my life.

While most of the world's sports-car builders want to wrap their customers in Alcantara and a mini-multiplex of touchscreens, a few builders bravely move the opposite direction towards lightness and speed above any notion of comfort. Joop Donkervoort of the Netherlands is one such trailblazer, and the Donkervoort D8 GTO shows the benefits of not following the crowd.

Thanks to a Utah convenience store's contest, Frito-Lay truck driver David Dopp won another set of wheels last Saturday: this lime-green, 631-hp Lamborghini Murcielago LP-640, worth at least $200,000. Such an awesome car that will...oops, he already wrecked it.

Every weekday, we share a beautiful photo from the Flickr universe, like this one of a slammed '56 Ford F100 owned by Metallica's James Hetfield, shot by Nick Ares. If you'd like to share a photo with us to feature here, please add it to the Motoramic group on Flickr, or ping us via Twitter or Facebook

Motoramic’s Dash for Wednesday

What we're reading this morning about leaking Lexuses, hopeful Hondas and how dumb you have to be to write a bad check for a Maserati:

Those eight Ferraris wrecked in Japan earlier this month were reportedly en route to a supercar meetup. Today, video and photos surfaced of something called the All Japan Supercar Meetup, where Paganis and Aventadors parked next to Stratoses and F50s. My god, it's full of cars.

For millions of Americans, holiday travel this year will include packing into a rented family truckster for the final leg of their jaunt. A new survey shows just how much rental agencies are raising their rates in some popular destinations. The only way to decline this 200% increase is to hitch a ride.

To end the year with a righteous bang, we at Motoramic have chosen our Best of 2011 in nine categories, representing the heights of the automotive world this year. We'll be revealing the winners, and hailing a few other famous and infamous achievements, over the next several days. Here's the list so far:

When we set out to name Motoramic's Best Value of 2011, we instantly thought of this year's bumper crop of small cars: the Ford Focus, the Hyundai Elantra, the updated Mazda3. And then we dug into their prices, and after much debate decided that the best value for your dollar is the Chevrolet Equinox.

Every weekday, we share a beautiful photo from the Flickr universe, like this one of a pair of Shelby Cobras captured by Ted Van Pelt. If you'd like to share a photo with us to feature here, please add it to the Motoramic group on Flickr, or ping us via Twitter or Facebook.

Motoramic Dash for Thursday, Dec. 22, 2011

What we're reading this morning about Toyota's darkest days, GM's sharpened blades and makeup for barnyard animals:

For those Jeep enthusiasts who want to off-road to a drag race or vice versa, there's the Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 with 470 hp and enough torque to hit 60 mph in under five seconds. For those even more ardent and wealthy Jeepsters, Hennessey Performance will build 24 of these: the HPE800 Twin Turbo Jeep. Guess what the 800 stands for?

"How about a 'Bu?" said the guy from Chevy as I stood in the rain outside the entrance of the Four Seasons Austin, trying to choose my afternoon ride. The "Bu" was a 2013 Chevy Malibu Eco. My other choice was a Hyundai Sonata. The lady or the tiger. I went for the four-door Malibu sedan, which was, after all, the car I'd been assigned to review.

Every summer in Norway, the Gatebil festivals merge drifting, car show and amphitheater-quality concert events into a few weekends of fun, all bathed in the smoke of hundreds of shredded tires. This video of the best of Gatebil will make you wish for summer and a plane ticket to Oslo.

Some of our Best of 2011 picks couldn't be easier. In a year where the differences between the top 1% of income-earning Americans and the rest of us became a topic worthy of camp-outs and pepper spray, the Audi A7 stands by acclaim as the best new luxury car a one-percenter could hope to occupy.

Every weekday we feature a beautiful car photo from the Flickr universe, like this shot of some classic racing Mercedes from the Mercedes-Benz corporate museum by Stephen Hanafin. If you'd like to share a photo with us to feature here, please add it to the Motoramic group on Flickr, or ping us via Twitter or Facebook

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Toyko Motor Show 2011 Nissan Pivo 3 turns the strange to 11

Every Tokyo Motor Show, Nissan shows up with some kind of wackadoodle pod car named Pivo that twirls around the stage, blinks its lights then promptly disappears. This year’s Pivo 3 keeps the tradition alive, but what does it say about the world that such a concept seems more realistic than ever?

Yes, even Nissan is not going to build a 1+2 seat electric runabout driven by an airplane yoke with four-wheel steering that can turn within a four-meter space. But the Pivo 3 looks far more like an actual city car than its predecessors, which resembled something Pikachu might hop from.

If there’s one feature loyal legions of Subaru Legacy owners have never asked for, its doors that scissor open like a Lamborghini Gallardo’s or tarted-up Pontiac Sunfire. Fortunately for them, the Vegas-quality feature on the Subaru Advanced Touring Concept is the one least likely to actually appear on the next Legacy.

The first-ever rear-wheel drive concept car from Kia, the GT was designed in a new studio in Frankfurt, Germany. The car is 184.6 in. long with a wheelbase of 112.6 in. and overall height of 54.3 inches. The powerful 3.3-liter turbocharged Lambda V6 GDI engine puts out 390 horsepower and 393.5 lb.-ft. torque, coupled to an eight-speed transmission. The front and rear doors open at a slight angle for faster access. The designers borrowed ideas from the aeronautical field for a sleek, but not overstated design.
This article was originally posted on Digital Trends
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Cadillac Ciel pictures

This four-door convertible is one of the most eye-catching Cadillacs ever made. This flagship concept is powered by a 425-horsepower, twin-turbo, 3.6-liter V6 engine, with a hybrid system that uses lithium-ion battery technology not unlike the tech in the Escalade hybrid. The vehicle looks longer than the CTS, and it is – by about a foot. No news about this vehicle ever hitting production, but then we never thought the XTS would ever see the light of day either – and it hits dealers sometime next year.
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Jaguar CX16 concept pictures

This sleek concept has three distinct angles: a front crease by the fender, rear haunches, and a slanted roof. All three come together for an unusually appealing design. The 3.0-liter V6 engine produces 375 horsepower and 332 lb-ft of torque. (That’s about 125 horsepower per liter.) An experimental “hybrid boost” system increases output about another 94 horsepower: Just push a button on the steering wheel called “push to pass.” The top speed: 186mph. Acceleration form 0 to 60 is fast, at just 4.4 seconds.
This article was originally posted on Digital Trends
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Honda EV-STER revealed at the Tokyo Motor Show, reminds us it can still do sporty

2012 Ferrari FF

Ferraris can be many maddening things, including pricey, mechanically petulant and prone to in-shop sojourns that cost more than, well, some new cars. But one thing they have been unfailingly is beautiful. With most bodies sculpted by Pininfarina, a Michelangelo of sheetmetal, Ferrari coupes can make a dusty Afghan backroad seem like the Champs-Elysee.

For those that might not be familiar with Confederate Motors, the award winning exotic street motorcycle manufacturer has been making top-tier street bikes for the better part of 20 years. The company was founded in 1991 and in 1992 set up shop in San Francisco, California. A year later, Confederate Motors moved production to New Orleans, where it produced its first motorcycle. August 2005 saw the city ravaged by Hurricane Katrina, thus forcing Confederate to move to its current base of operations in Birmingham, Alabama.
Although the company went bankrupt in 2001, they recovered in 2003, which is a good thing indeed because had it not, we wouldn’t be drooling over its latest creation, the X132 Hellcat.

The supercar of radio-controlled racers can be yours for $1,100

click here : http://autos.yahoo.com/news/the-supercar-of-radio-controlled-racers-can-be-yours-for--1-100.html;_ylt=AvbUsg6jrXgHUIjVEXhVHRJOca9_;_ylu=X3oDMTRjOXNxbXJsBG1pdANOZXdzIGFuZCBSZXBvcnRzIFN0b3J5IExpc3QEcGtnA2ZiY2ZkMGJlLWUxMmUtM2I2Yi05OTMzLTJhYjRhNzRjNzUzZQRwb3MDNARzZWMDTWVkaWFTdG9yeUxpc3RMUAR2ZXIDMzA3YzY2M2MtMWVlNi0xMWUxLTgwMGUtNzM4YjQyZTU1NTZl;_ylg=X3oDMTJlNXVzaWoyBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANuZXdzYW5kaW5mb3xuZXdzYW5kcmVwb3J0cwRwdANzZWN0aW9ucwR0ZXN0Aw--;_ylv=3
Buying or building a car that can reliably hit 100 mph in under five seconds usually takes enough cash to acquire a house. The Traxxas XO-1 can get the job done for about $1,100 — as long as you're willing to only imagine yourself in the seat.

Although I haven't seen any breaking news stories on the dangers of catering to your children's demands while driving, it seems not a day goes by without hearing about accidents caused by texting and driving. In response to a nation-wide awareness, and in some states bans, on texting and driving, cell phone companies are coming out with new safety apps designed to help discourage texting and driving.
Sprint Drive First AT&T DriveMode In order to improve driving safety ratings, AT&T has come up with DriveMode for cellphone customers. DriveMode must be enabled before getting behind the wheel, and then it will send an automatic message to all incoming calls and texts saying that you are driving and will reply later.

It would appear that million dollar cars are en vogue at the moment, and why not, sometimes you need to get where you’re going really fast and cost is of no concern. So if that’s the case, the speed demons over at Hennessey have just the set of wheels for you.

For a declining industry with dim prospects for the future, Japanese automakers put on a surprisingly feisty display at this week’s Tokyo Motor Show, vowing to woo back and win fans with a renewed sense of what matters.

The Volkswagen Beetle R concept is an interesting update to VW’s brand new overhaul of the classic bug. Designers started by widening the stance of the concept just a hair – by 1.2 inches – with new front and rear bumpers. Air intakes on the concept are also new, as are the unique brake calipers, new front and rear spoilers, and 20-inch wheels. Inside, you’ll find bucket seats that seem borrowed from a racing car, a new instrument cluster and gauges, brushed aluminum pedals, and new upholstery.
This article was originally posted on Digital Trends
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Jaguar XKR-S convertible pictures
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Jaguar XKR-S convertible pictures Digital Trends

With hints of the Mercedes-Benz SLS roadster, the XKR-S is another sleek, fast sports car that will start with the 2012 model year version. Like the SLS, this racer packs a supercharged engine that delivers 550 horsepower and 502 lb-ft of torque. Top speed will be 186mph, with a 0-to-60 rating of just 4.2 seconds; the active exhaust produces a distinct rumble. List price: $138,000, but order one early, since Jaguar will only make 25 of them for next year.
This article was originally posted on Digital Trends
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Chevy Volt fire risk? Power cords may ignite

In response to a federal probe of battery fires in crash-tested Chevrolet Volts, GM took the unprecedented move of offering Volt owners free loaner cars and vowed that the car was safe.

Lit with bright overheard fluorescents and littered with massive wooden crates the size of backyard sheds, GM’s R&D garage feels less like a hangout for grease monkeys and more like a Hollywood sound stage. The sleek, pod-shaped vehicles dotting the floor could be movie props. – or perhaps leftovers from Blade Runner or Total Recall, maybe. Until they sit up, almost silently, and begin moving. On two wheels no less.

Eight Ferraris wrecked in million-dollar pileup

Authorities in Japan were still reconstructing Monday how eight Ferraris, a Lamborghini and a few Mercedes-Benzes wrecked on an expressway Sunday morning, coating the road in an Italian red metal sauce worth more than $1 million. It’s not a sight for those squeamish about totaled supercars.

We would probably run out of room and into some arguments if we tried listing off all the sources of inspiration that influenced the Honda Chopper, we happen to think it mixes a healthy splash of anime with a futuristic eighties flair, but only designer Peter Norris would be able to settle that dispute for sure.
What we can say with a certainty — is that this sleek and futuristic concept is impressive and saddens us simply because it is just that, a concept. Otherwise this sexy piece of futuristic machinery features a strikingly long suspension, an unorthodox feet-forward position, and brilliant LED lighting along its front and rear. Add to the design two electric motors placed into each wheel hub making it easy on the eyes as well as the environment,

Friday, December 23, 2011

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Monday, December 19, 2011