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newVideoPlayer("50cent_elcamino.flv", 463, 387,""); Continuing our coverage of the Pontiac G8 Sport Truck ballot bowl naming contest , 50 Cent has announced that he is officially endorsing "Curtis" for the name of the new ute. This comes as no surprise to our best political team on television analysts, despite Bob Lutz's unofficial endorsement of "El Camino." Remember, if you haven't already, vote "El Camino" today !
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There's a trend I'm beginning to notice around the massive halls of auto shows: scattered among the sheet metal, booth babes and PR flacks, there's a hell of a lot of video games -- both your standard issue Xbox-PlayStation3 setups as well as the more elaborate simulators. Taking a look at just a few of the many examples that appeared at the New York Auto Show this past week, I think this is more than just a way of giving journalists something to do between press conferences -- it's representative of a trend. Here's our carmaker-by-carmaker breakdown of what has to be construed as either a strategy of building "appeal with the youths" -- or an attempt by the car companies to distract everyone from their impending new "Second Malaise Era" with flashing lights and loud noises. galleryPost('nyiasgaming', 9, 'New York International Auto Show Gaming'); Lexus : Lexus brought a video game setup that made me do a double-take. It wasn't...
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What to do with all of those cars smashed in federal and IIHS crash testing? In theory, you could take them back for further study to help improve safety for future vehicles. Of course, that would mean wasting an advertising opportunity. And while we prefer the RoboCop Taurus , we'll admit that showing a wrecked version of your car isn't the worst way to show off that the only major hazard that comes with driving a new Taurus is death-by-boredom. Press release after the jump. galleryPost('taurussmash', 3, 'Can We Watch Transformers Next?'); CRASH-TESTED FORD TAURUS SHOWS SAFETY LEADERSHIP NEW YORK, March 18, 2008 - Most cars at auto shows are highly polished and gleaming, except one - a Ford Taurus that crashed into a 1 million pound wall at 35 mph en route to the Jacob Javits Convention Center. Deliberately. Ford wants New York International Auto Show visitors to see how the Taurus - rated 'Top Safety Pick' by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety ...
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newVideoPlayer("PreciseBMW_Jalopnik.flv", 494, 280,""); Ze Germans are all about über-precision. So why is it that they don't even have a properly functioning set of perpetual motion balls? We found these at the BMW stand at the New York Auto Show , and our first thought was the Bavarians had busted their balls. But it turns out that these are supposedly part of some ironic demonstration of some sort of BMW safety somethingoranother. It's a bit confusing, but we still think the SLR 722 GTR parking struggle over at the Mercedes stand was a bit more embarrassing.
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Mike Allen over at Popular Mechanics had a chance to spend some time behind the wheel of the new plug-in microcar -- the Subaru R1e . With acceleration lower than a "determined taxicab," it wasn't what you'd call an "exciting" test -- and definitely a step below our test of the Hybrid Technologies' melty-looking Lithium-Powered Super Car but Pop-Mech can't have everything now, can they? [via Popular Mechanics ]
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newVideoPlayer("Iconic_Jalopnik.flv", 494, 300,""); At a glance, the Iconic GTR looks like just another Cobra replica. But taking a closer look you realize it's the bespoke details that make it special. Shiny toggle switches, plush leather, jewel-like gauges, a roll-bar that conceals LED turn signals with a full spectrum of color adjustment; it all makes the GTR feel like a creation made for winning the Riddler Award . But don't think that it's all show and no go -- the body is all carbon-fiber with ground effects that help make over 500 pounds of downforce. Open the power-operated bonnet you'll find a F1-style front suspension and the heart of the beast, a 800 HP naturally-aspirated 6.9-liter V8. And that's not just some crate motor, it's a hand-assembled custom with a unique fuel-injection system. galleryPost('IconicGTR_Exterior', 3, 'Iconic GTR Exterior'); galleryPost('IconicGTR_Interior', 3, 'Iconic GTR Interior'...
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Well folks, it certainly was a fun time had by all in the Javits Center here in New York City for the 2008 New York Auto Show . But it appears there's ten reveals that got Jalopnik readers more excited than the rest. Without further ado, here's the hottest of the hot from the city that never sleeps -- the Jalopnik top ten most trafficked galleries. Read 'em and weep. 1.) 2010 Pontiac G8 Sport Truck: The El Camino Is Back! galleryPost('Doane2010PontiacG8STExt', 6, ''); 2.) 2009 Pontiac Solstice GXP Coupe Revealed Live In New York galleryPost('2009PontiacSolsticeCoupeLive', 6, ''); 3.) 2009 Nissan Maxima Is Here, F'real This Time With Details galleryPost('nissanmaxnyc', 6, ''); 4.) 2009 Honda Fit Is Go, Again galleryPost('fitnyc2', 6, ''); 5.) 2010 Hyundai Genesis Coupe: The Epic Reveal, Live! galleryPost('hyundaistuntgirls', 6, ''); 6.) BMW Unveils CS Concept, Hopefully For Last Time galleryPost...
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To say the Scion Hako Concept went over poorly with the Jalopnik staff would be something of an understatement. Every time we checked the front page we'd recoil in horror as the Hako scrolled past on the screen. It became the generic stake by which other cars were measured. "At least it's not the Hako" was heard more than once. Now, considering the depth of photochopping skill we see from Chrysler here on a daily basis, we're betting you guys can do better than the awkward and boxy "American vintage style" Scion touted at the New York Auto Show . galleryPost('conHakoCoupe', 6, 'AAAH The Goggles They Do Nothing'); Instead of being only a contest for Photoshop whiz kids, for this one, we'll be giving bonus points to those who use the crudest software drawing package. If you send us a design using ASCII, you've got a better chance at winning than the guy using MSPaint who has a leg up on the guy using Photoshop. This is not to say the...
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Robert Farago took a few minutes away from joining the New York Times in their El Camino haterade to continue his search for truthiness by asking childhood hero "Maximum" Bob Lutz a few questions at the New York Auto Show the other day. Farago's account is more humorous than any re-cap we can muster, so head on over and spend a few moments on the read. [ TTAC ]
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In the "dare to dream" wing of the NY Auto Show , among the roadsters and air cars, was a pair of three-wheeled Chinese imports that are set to hit the market this year. Classified as motorcycles in most states, these lightweight vehicles offer 42 mpg fuel economy at a price just under $10K. You might think this means you'll end up with something powered by a two-cylinder chinese motor. You'd be wrong. This 1/4 ton truck gets its motivation from a 50 horsepower Delphi/GM/Wuling four-cylinder that will propel the driver to a max speed of 70 mph... assuming it doesn't catch on fire first. galleryPost('trifuntruck', 3, 'Just Try Not To'); And unlike the 09 Challenger SE of Spin's dreams, you can only get this with a five-speed manual. Oh, and it's got A/C, a CD player and a push-button heater. Though they claim the goal is to sell 3,000 of them, we think they're going to do ten times that. American salesmanship with Chinese quality. How can...
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The Javits Center, home of the New York Auto Show, isn't exactly a well laid-out place (take that I.M Pei). As opposed to one or two large halls, the Javits has a lot of smaller spaces where the non-major or custom automakers are forced to put their displays. This explains why there was a Hennessey Venom 700 NM Viper just sitting underneath a staircase in a far corner of the auto show. galleryPost('henvenomny', 6, 'Thats Just The Henny Man'); There weren't even any signs to indicate that this was a limited edition, $180K beast. Shiny black paint and 700 horsepower may get you into the Neiman Marcus catalog, but at the NY Auto Show it also gets you relegated to the Team Polizei corner.
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The Nissan Denki Cube Concept is something you've probably already seen. In fact, you probably saw it this morning when we caught the electric Nissan Cube sunning itself in advance of its press conference. What did we learn at the press conference? Fleet-use electric vehicles by 2010 and commercial vehicles by 2012. The big news is that the LA Auto Show this fall will see the introduction of the next generation Cube for the North American market. Press release, pictures of the Denki Cube and shots of two rather unfortunately customized Cubes below. galleryPost('nissancubeel', 3, 'Electric Cube'); galleryPost('nissancubeec', 3, 'Ecletic Cubes'); Nissan's "Denki Cube" Electric Vehicle Concept Brings Distinctive Spirit Into Play in New York Auto Show Debut New York City is about to get a lesson in what happens when geography meets geometry - specifically, when the world, which is round, meets the Nissan Cube, which is essentially square. The...
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newVideoPlayer("Hybrid-technologies.flv", 463, 387,""); Hardigree and I drove our respective red supercars are roughly the same time yesterday. While he went for the flashy Audi R8 V12 LeMans TDI Prototype and was escorted through traffic like a Russian Oil Baron by a phalanx of Audi Q7s, I hopped into the Hybrid Technologies Lithium Powered Super Car with the guy who built it. There was no top, so I enjoyed the welcome good weather--at last!--in NYC. OK, maybe the name needs a little work, but the car itself was a hoot to drive. galleryPost('redelectriccar', 9, 'Hybrid Technologies Lithium Powered Super Car'); "Yeah, go slow over this cable tray cause the nose is so low, but in the tunnel why don't you punch it and see what it can do"--those were the orders of the cars' keeper gave. Though styling is not necessarily the car's strong point, its simplicity and performance are respectable. The car starts with a tubular space frame...
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newVideoPlayer("SLR_FAIL.flv", 494, 280,""); What do you do with an SLR 722 GTR ? Yes, its a race car; but there's no real competitive series for it to race in. And you can't drive the GTR on the public street. So the only thing it's really good for is showing off, which apparently it isn't very good at either. Check out the video and you'll see just how many guys it takes to park a SLR 722 GTR at the NY Auto Show .
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Our auto show coverage slogan is "always say yes." This time we said yes to a first drive of the Audi V12 TDI Le Mans concept car, which looks ravishing in the same brilliant red paint scheme it wore to Geneva. But who really cares about paint? We were looking forward to stretching this one-of-a-kind vehicle to the limits. And by stretching it out we mean doing our best not to destroying this invaluable prototype by propelling it into a pot hole. galleryPost('audiR8mattdrive', 6, 'In A New York Minute'); galleryPost('11avenuetdi', 3, 'Audi Prototype Le Mans Details'); To make sure we didn't kill ourselves or, more importantly, the car, Audi provided three black Q7's driven by ex-cops for escort. I suddenly knew what it was like to be a Russian oligarch. Audi's best prototype protection feature is Uwe Haller, the car's affable project manager and my navigator. The car is his baby and he managed to point out every manhole cover on...
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