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Recent posts
- Challenger 1320
- Chrysler recall rear-wheel-drive cars for dangerous wheels
- Great American Truck Racing
- Indian firm set to build electric cars in NY
- Tokyo Motor Show tries to go fun, and green
- Transformers-themed Camaro steals LI Auto Show
- Views of the LI Auto Show
- Those @#$! DMV Stickers!!!
- Porsche Panamera
- Ford engineer charged wtih selling secrets to Chinese
- Long Island Auto Show revs up
- Honda U3-X: Sit on it
- Toyota FT-86 Concept
- Chevrolet Cruz, electric Volt on fast track for 2011 production
- Bernie Madoff’s Mercedes station wagon up for sale
- Weird old Dodge Dart
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Challenger 1320
The SEMA show just kicked off today and I already have a favorite.
I love the cueball Hurst shifter and the paint job that'll make your eyes bleed. Let's just hope they remembered the spindle nuts.
Tags: Dodge Challenger 1320, SEMA
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Chrysler recall rear-wheel-drive cars for dangerous wheels
Chrysler has issued a recall of select 2009 and 2010 model-year rear-wheel-drive vehicles for a problem that could lead to the front wheels falling off. Apparently, some of these models left the factory without a front spindle nut—a part that keeps other parts in the wheel from coming apart
"While driving, a tire and wheel separation could occur increasing the risk of a crash," says National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) report.
Here are all the models that could potentially have been affected.• CHRYSLER / 300 2009-2010
• DODGE / CHALLENGER 2009
• DODGE / CHARGER 2009-2010
• DODGE / CHALLENGER 2010Chrysler started the recall last week, and owners of the affected vehicles should contact the dealership or call Chrysler at 800-835-1403 for more information.
Tags: Chrysler, Dodge, recall, wheel, dangerous, Challenger, Charger
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Great American Truck Racing
I’m sorry. Sometimes I just drop off the planet. I’ve been spending the last week lending a hand with our Yankees World Series preview section in the paper. I would call it a distraction, but it’s actually my job.
You must understand. It’s real hard to come up with random auto stuff AND THEN have to type it in the computer. This is especially challenging if you’re lazy and you have a tension headache from looking at pictures of Kate Hudson (but not tired of looking at pictures of Charles Frank "Chuck" Mangione, he rocks).
My whole world right now is Yankees but baseball isn’t my sport. What is my sport? (Like anyone cares) If someone ever asked, I’d come up with something random like women’s bowling. Now that I think about it, women’s bowling is awesome. (The hairdos)
Unfortunately one of my favorite sports only lasted for a brief period in the 1980s. Great American Truck Racing. What made it awesome was also what made it go away. Those trucks destroyed anything in their path and rumor has it that one of these races actually turned a paved track into a dirt track over night.
Get a load of “Smokey And The Bandit” director Hal Needham’s funky getup. Check out the prototype truck. Who’d have thought you could get a few mpgs more out of something as aerodynamic as an outhouse door… by putting something that looks like an outhouse roof on the grill.
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Indian firm set to build electric cars in NY
An Indian based carmaker, Reva Electric Car Company, is set to put New York on the electric market grid by opening an assembly plant in New York to build its latest version of electric car-the NXR.
The NXR can reach speeds of 65 mph with a range of 100 miles on a single charge of its lithium-ion battery pack. The car will come with a 15-minute fast-charge capability, although the full charge would take eight hours from a standard household outlet.
Reva and its local partner Bannon Automotive, hope to complete financing of a Syracuse plant to make electric cars by the end of this year and start rolling out plug-in hatchbacks in late 2010. They estimate the plan will produce 15,000 to 20,000 cars a year for the American market.
There is no word yet on the price or safety features, but 15k to 20k cars a year is an optimistic number for this market. The NXR looks decidedly like an anti American car. Unless the NXR is dirty cheap, this thing doesn't look like it will appeal to American sensibilities, especially since it will coincide with the release of the Chevy's electric Volt and Cruze.
What do you guys think of the latest player in the electric vehicle market?
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Tokyo Motor Show tries to go fun, and green
The 41st Tokyo Motor Show 2009 is reving up this week with 109 exhibitors featuring 270 vehicles and 39 world premieres.
The theme of this year's show is "Fun Driving for Us, Eco Driving for Earth," expressing the idea of balancing enjoyment and the environment.
Toyota, Mitsubishi, Honda, Nissan, Mazda, Subaru, Suzuki and more were on hand to complete this theme with their exhibitions on the latest hybrid gasoline-electricity vehicles and emissions-free electric vehicles with a user-friendly plug-in charge system.
>>PHOTOS: Click here for highlights of the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show
Motorcycles are also in the motor show, with Harley Davidson as the biggest American presence. Harley debuted the FLHTCUSE5, which pushes the term "fully loaded" to the edge. From satellite radio and heated handgrips to exclusive custom paint schemes and an 1,801cc Scream in Eagle V-Twin engine, the ride takes road tripping to the extreme.
Check out the vid below for a glimpse into Tokyo.
Above: Toyota Motor Corp. president Akio Toyoda introduces the Lexus LFA at the 41st Motor Show at Makuhari Messe in Makuhari, near Tokyo. (AP Photo / Oct. 21, 2009)
>>PHOTOS: Click here for highlights of the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show
Tags: Tokyo Motor Show, honda, auto show, nissan, mitsubishi, lexus, Toyota, Harley Davidson
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Those @#$! DMV Stickers!!!
Check out this latest spoof on defective DMV stickers spoofed by Newsday's two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning nationally syndicated editorial cartoonist, Walt Handelsman.
Tags: Walt Handelsman, spoof, dmv stickers
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Porsche Panamera
I’m not a huge Porsche guy, but this is so much fun to watch.
Doesn’t the Panamera just blend in? (It's the big one that's not legendary.)
I’m just glad to see they included the 917-30 Can-Am Killer. At least I think it's in the commercial. Would Mark Donohue drive a four-door Porsche if he were alive today? Maybe if it had a knob to dial up another 900 hp for passing at freeway speeds.
How they made the commercial
Tags: Porsche Panamera, Mark Donohue
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Views of the LI Auto Show
I work nights, and I’ve gotta admit, I don’t get out much. But I did make it to the Auto Expo at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale’s premier venue.
Was it worth the trip when I could’ve been mowing the finest lawn of crab grass in the county?
They didn’t trust me with a video camera, but I’ll put together a list of things to do. For all I know, it could still be going on (today ’till 10 p.m., Sunday 10 a.m.-6) Newsday sponsors it, so you should go. Really, you should. I’m serious. Even if you don’t like auto shows.
What to do
*Before you go to the main floor, look at the airbrushed vehicles Robert Luczun. (Note the awesome collection of Simpsons characters on the tailgate.)
*Sit in the Corvette
*Sit in the other Corvette
*Sit in the Bumble Bee Camaro (I’m a purist and Bumble Bee will always be a VW)
*Sit in the Camaro LT (One of my favorites. It’s an automatic so you can do burnouts… while eating a Wendy’s Classic Triple.)
*Give the Chevy Aveo a hug, it looked lonely
*Get on that “Green Trail” and learn more about those hybrids. (Because somebody has to)
*Try not to laugh when an elderly couple asks one of the assistants if they have any cars with bench seats.
*Marvel at the Cadillac station wagons. (A Cadillac station wagon will always seem like a hearse to me, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.)
*Don’t miss the giant Tundra tucked in the back corner. (You’ve gotta love a truck with a motto “Power and efficiency, like steak and eggs.”)
*Get a free bag from Toyota (I don’t know what you do with it. It’s free.)
*Check out the Kia Forte Koup (It’s cheap, feels cheap, engine looks cheap, I still like it)
*Freak out when you see the price tag on the Ford Flex (forghettaboutit)
*Try that Ford Fiesta challenge (although the biggest Ford Fiesta challenge was getting me to drive one when I could have an MX-5 challenge when I got back to the parking lot.)
*Buy some cheap sunglasses, they’re probably imported
*When you leave, make sure you donate to kids with cancer fund guy. And not just for the free lollypop.
*Also, on your way out, give the guy from David Lerner a hug, he looked lonely.
This is how the Kia Forte should've been displayed
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Transformers-themed Camaro steals LI Auto Show
The Long Island Auto is officially under way at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
Although the event showcases more than 150 new cars, trucks, sport utility vehicles and crossovers, the Chevy Corvette ZR1 and the Transformers Special Edition Chevy Camaro were the real showstoppers.
The ZR1 caters to car enthusiast who craves pure power. It's supercharged 6.2-liter V8 engine produces a blistering 620 horsepower at 6500 rpm and 595 pound-feet of torque at 4000 rpm. As far as looks, thhe use of carbon fiber is pretty obvious throughout the ZR1. The fenders, hood, roof panel, roof bow, front bumper, and cosmetic moldings are all made of carbon fiber. So if that is your thing, you'll be looking/feeling, your dream car.
But if your into the old school cars in all their heavy metal glory, the 2010 Chevy Camaro Transformers Special Edition will be keeping your attention.
The LI Auto Show has a Special Edition Chevy Camaro in the upscale SS-trim on display. The $1,500 Bumblebee package can be added to any of the Camaro trims including the base LS and the LT. The complete Transformers-inspired SS package with cost around $36,000.
So what will the extra dough get you? A car that turns into an actual robot? No, but I'm still keeping my fingers crossed for 2020. There aren't any performance upgrades -- you'll simply have to make do with the 304, 400, or 426 horsepower that comes standard, depeding on what trim you choose. But this is what you'll get.
-- Autobot insignia fender badges and wheel caps
-- An embroidered Autobot insignia on the center console
-- Gloss-black rally stripes with Transformers logos
-- Transformers-logo doorsill platesIt's not for everyone, but it is a pretty sweet deal if you're a big muscle car fan who isin't afraid to let the little kid inside you out.
It still isin't to late to get a peak at the Bumblee and the rest of the cars at the Long Island Auto Show, which runs through the weekend. Click here for all the details.
Photos: The Latest from the Long Island Auto Show
Photos: A preview of the Long Island Auto ShowTags: Long Island Auto Show, Chevy Camaro, Muscle, Transformers
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Ford engineer charged wtih selling secrets to Chinese
The Agence France-Presse international news service is reporting that a former Ford Motor engineer was indicted on federal charges of stealing company secrets and trying to sell them in China.
Xiang Dong, who went by Mike Yu, was charged with theft of trade secrets, attempted theft of trade secrets and unauthorized access to a protected computer.
Originally from Beijing, Yu was a product engineer for Ford from 1997 to 2007, when he took a job with the Chinese branch of an American company.
The indictment charges that Yu took Ford design secrets to China in 2005 that included 4,000 Ford documents in an external hard drive, where he shared them with Chinese automotive companies in the hopes of getting a new job.
The documents included system designs for instrument panels, engine and transmission mounting, doors, steering wheel assembly, sound and heat control, interior trim, and the wipers and washer system.
Yu later accepted a job with Beijing Automotive Corporation, a Ford competitor.
Yu, 47, was arrested on October 14 at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago after re-entering the United States following a visit to China.
He remains in custody ahead of a detention hearing set for Tuesday.
He faces up to 40 years in jail for the theft of trade secret charges and up to five years in jail on the unauthorized access to a protected computer charge.
