February 1, 2010Bentley Aero-Ace Project

The Bentley Aero-Ace Project, a collaborative design effort championed by Bentley and the Royal College of Art, challenged students at RCA in London to create an automotive design concept that married forward-thinking aerodynamic styling with Bentley’s traditional old-world aesthetic.  The collaboration yielded several stunning concepts.  I have highlighted a few of my favorite renderings below (photos via wallpaper.com).

concept by Anand Krishnan of India, age 29

concept by David Seesing of Germany, age 26

concept by Miika Heikkinen of Finland, age 26

concept by Philipp Siebourg of Germany, age 30

January 19, 2010Sighting: The Rambo Lambo

Winter’s three-day weekends are for skiing, fire lighting, and runs to the general store to pick up provisions.  This past MLK weekend was no exception, except that Friday’s typical Seven Eleven stop in Stratton, VT resulted in much more than the usual gasoline, Clif Bars, and beer.  Walking out of the store, toting my recently purchased breakfast items, my ears became overwhelmed by the sound of a booming 12-cyllinder engine.  Over the automotive music came the familiar voice of my friend, Eric, who motioned for me to turn around and said “Rach, check it out…a Lambo truck.”  It was that moment that set off an education when I immediately whipped out my cell phone to do some research on the Lamborghini LM002.

The LM002 is, by all accounts, ugly.  But then again, I’ve never found Lamborghinis to be particularly stylish or aesthetically pleasing.  Lamborghinis are rarely sexy.  Ominous and imposing are adjectives better suited to describing these Italian exotics.  The LM002 is thoroughly menacing and not in the slightest bit polished.  But the foreboding LM002 was originally conceived as an army vehicle, so its harsh and boxy architecture is not surprising.

Lamborghini’s departure from sportscars was well received and the LM002 became a big success among the public.  Civilian models were outfitted with luxury accouterments.  Military models were equipped with machine gun mounting points and other army-amenable features.  Though, only 301 of the brute vehicles were produced between 1986 and 1993, the car was popular in Saudi Arabia.  The civilian model was marketed toward wealthy Saudis as the car and its Pirelli Scorpion tires offered superior performance in the desert.  Saudi Arabia and Libya ordered several of the LM002 for use in the countries respective armies.

photo available here

December 22, 2009Man About Town

Well, here’s a new way of getting around…strap on one of these aeordynamic wheel-covered suits and let the good times roll (pun definitely intended).  Founded by master body blader Jean-Yves Blondeau, body blading (which is also commonly known as “buggy rollin”), is an extreme sport that came into existence in the early 1990s when Blondeau created the 31 wheel suit for an art project in school.  Body blading is NOT for the faint of heart.  Becoming “one” with the road requires a high tolerance for risk and a low regard for what I would deem “good sense”.  That said, there’s no question that watching those who fit the risk-phillic good sense-phobic bill is of the utmost entertainment value.  (photo via LIFE)

Watch this (the whole thing), to see what I’m talking about:

December 3, 2009There's A New A8 In Town...

And Lucy Liu, of Charlie’s Angels’ fame, is unveiling it in Miami?  Hmm. We’re not sure what that’s about, but we are sure that the 2011 Audi A8 is a stunner.  No pricing stats have been released yet, but we do know that the latest incarnation of Audi’s luxury sedan will feature a 0-62 time of 5.6 seconds (supported by an additional 24 horsepower over the model that preceded it) as well as some pretty cool technological advancements, including seats with optional massage capabilities, a patented Audi accident avoidance system, and a night vision assistant with pedestrian marking functionality (very cool stuff).

Here are a few photos (via Car Scoop) to wet your palate:

December 1, 2009One of Life's Great Injustices

I suppose there are a lot of things in life that just aren’t fair.  That said, you can add this to the list of life’s injustices: Spencer Pratt drives a 1968 fully-refurbished red and white Camaro SS that his wife, Heidi, gifted to him just before their nuptials earlier this year.

Just under 28,000 of the Camaro SS were made in 1968 and all came standard with 350 horsepower V8 engines.  Spencer’s red beauty appears to be in mint condition.

I spotted the iconic muscle car last week while watching an episode of the riveting “reality” show, The Hills. During a scene when Spencer and his ever-so-slightly creepy friend, Charlie, were standing outside of the car wash having a rather serious discussion about picking up on signs that a woman may be pregnant, the only thing this viewer could focus on was the sight of pure American muscle, gleaming in the sunlight.

Ed: In previous seasons of the Hills, I had remarked at Spencer’s BMW 6-series, a car whose M edition has had me lusting since it came onto the scene in 2006.

Photos via Just Jared:

November 27, 2009Fordlândia: Failure in the Amazon

Deep in the Brazilian rain forest, Henry Ford, the revolutionary who crafted the Model T automobile and created the modern assembly line, attempted to bring his brand of industrial utopia to the Amazon.  Fordlândia, as the plantation that Ford established in 1920s South America came to be known, was intended to provide Ford’s North American operations with a direct supply of a critical vehicular component that had erstwhile come from British colonial Malaya: rubber.

This somewhat grounded and logical vision did not, however, account for the majority of the motivation behind Fordlândia (at least according to Greg Grandin, the preeminent author on the subject). Instead, much of the thrust behind the project lay in Ford’s perception of Fordlândia as an enchanting opportunity to carve out raw land and build an infrastructure from scratch; the great 20th century industrialist had designs on creating a glorified version of small-town USA in the Amazon.  Ford worked with the Brazilian government to procure a tract of land approximately the size of Connecticut.

In a post WWI era, a disillusioned Ford yearned for the simple times of his childhood, but he underestimated the implausibility of his grandiose vision to construct Main Street USA in the Brazilian rain-forest.  While  Ford successfully managed to create a village that looked and felt a bit like the small town America of his youth (complete with Cape Cod-style homes and ice cream shoppes), the industry that he hoped would keep the town thriving proved problematic; so, too, did the conservative/Christian rules that he tried to impose (including a prohibition of alcohol and tobacco).

The plan to harvest rubber proved to be ill-conceived.  In the first place, the land was hilly, rocky, and largely infertile.  Furthermore, the rubber trees were situated too close together, enabling predators to infiltrate and cause severe damage to the crops.  Finally, the rules that Ford imposed together with the unfamiliar culture that he had exported from America and forced upon the indigenous workers resulted in a very disgruntled workforce.

When 1945 yielded synthetic rubber, thereby ending the need for naturally harvested rubber from trees, Fordlândia officially became defunct.  Ford sold the land at a tremendous loss and the project went down in history as one of Ford’s most disastrous ventures.

NOTE: Photo via Damn Interesting

For more information on Fordlândia, please check out the following: NPR, Wikipedia, Damn Interesting

November 13, 2009$2 Million Bugatti Veyron Lands in Texas Lagoon (Paris Hilton NOT Responsible)

photo via USA TODAY:

You probably heard back in May about the $1.4 Million Bugatti that was keyed and egged outside of a party thrown by Paris Hilton at her home in Los Angeles…

But how about this?  A man (a wealthy man) is driving his $2 Million Bugatti I-45 near Galveston, TX and when he is distracted by a low-flying pelican and jerks the wheel, only to find himself, moments later floating (well, sinking) in a saltwater lagoon.  According to the Daily News of Galveston County, “The Veyron’s powerful engine gurgled like an outboard motor for about 15 minutes before it died.”  Guess that takes care of that curiosity: 16-cylinder engines can last for about 15 minutes in water.

Wow.

November 5, 2009The 10 Most Sinister Car Faces

It has long been the opinion of this author that some autos ooze with personality and that the choice of a particular car is an enormous reflection of the personality of its eventual driver.  Haven’t you ever noticed that Mercury Marquis drivers tend to be stodgy and boring?  Or that BMW Z8 drivers tend to be a little (if not very) full of themselves?  Or that Toyota Prius drivers tend to be do-gooder elitists?  To that end, what does the choice of any of the ten cars named “Most Sinister” say about their drivers?

photos via the LA Times:

#3: Cadillac CTS

#10: Lamborghini Reventon Roadster

To see the others, check out the slideshow at LATimes.com.

October 12, 2009The R8 Spyder: YES PLEASE

image via uncrate.com

I’ve been told that people in LA would sooner go into default on their mortgages than be seen around town in anything less than a hot car, but I don’t know if I really ever believed that until I was in LA a few weeks ago.  There are an inordinate number of fancy cars in that city.  And it’s really not like Miami where cars are seen as an opportunity to tastelessly display one’s money.  I would actually want to drive any one of the plethora of expensive cars I saw cruising on Melrose.

That said, the car I was most surprised to see in such abundance was the Audi R8 (a regular on this blog).  In Manhattan, I’ve seen two or three of these rare $120K+ supercars coursing through the city blocks over a very extended period of time (since I first became acquainted with the car during Superbowl XLII).  But in LA, they seemed to be everywhere (I could feel the silent “okay, enough already” vibes coming from Gabby, my traveling, partner after I pointed the 8th or 9th R8 out during the course of our trip).

Just as my enthusiasm for the R8 had begun to wane, my trip to LA served to get me revved about Audi’s super coupe all over again.  And then I read this on Uncrate a little while ago: “What do you add to the fastest, sexiest Audi ever made?  Open air.”

Um, hello.  What are my four favorite car things?  1) Luxurious/Tech-Savvy interior.  2) Speed.  3) German.  4) Convertible.  Check, check, check, and check.  The all new Audi R8 Spyder will feature a 5.2 liter V10 engine that will generate a whopping 525 horsepower (I don’t even know where I would be able to use all of that unless I was driving on the Autobahn).  Unfortunately it will also feature a price tag that’s beyond my reach, but maybe if I move to LA, that won’t stop me.

October 10, 2009"Watch, you're moving in elliptical patterns"

Kudos to Cadillac for featuring one of my favorite songs (“1901” by Phoenix) in their latest commercial.

Carbon Motors: The Future of the Po-Po

It’s hard to command respect when your ride is a Crown Victoria (or, at best, a Chevy Impala).  Such has been the plight of police officers across this great nation whose vehicles have been relegated to souped-up taxi cab status for the last several decades.

This is about to change.  A start-up, conceived in Los Angeles and currently operating out of Connersville, IN, called Carbon Motors has been hard at work for the last six years working to produce the first purpose-built police car.

The firm’s first product, the E7, will launch in 2012 with a 3.0 liter diesel engine, rear-wheel drive, a top speed of 155 mph (0-60 time of 6.5 seconds), and a host of safety-centric features including 75 mph rear impact crash capability and an option for ballistic protection panels.

The car will have other Kitt (Knight Rider)-like equipment: (i) 360-degree surveillance, (ii) remote start capability, (iii) integrated shotgun and rifle mounts, (iv) a rear seat compartment designed to accommodate cuffed passengers.

What’s more is that Carbon aims to produce the E7 as a cost-effective alternative to the modified second-rate cars that have ruled the police fleets since the beginning of time.

Why did it take this long to come up with this idea?

All Photos via CarbonMotors.com

September 30, 2009AND WE'RE BACK...

PHOTOS via freshnessmag.com

…and what a way to return.  The 2010 Mercedes SLS AMG has summoned me back to the keyboard from my late-summer/early-fall hibernation.  One look at the SLS AMG’s ground-hugging stance and brawny side vents was enough to entice me, but the real aesthetic hook is the car’s simplistic and flawlessly-designed grill which calls to mind a long-nosed ground-dwelling animal sniffing out the road that lies ahead.  Inevitably, some will be lured by the car’s sexy retro-futuristic gull-wing doors, undoubtedly a source of endless wonderment.

I’m inclined to be seduced by the red and black leather in which Mercedes has chosen to show the interior cabin; however, the cockpit looks a bit cramped and uncomfortable, a feature which is keeping my enthusiasm at bay.  But this car isn’t about its interior, it’s all about its engine…an edited version of AMG’s 6.2 liter 32-valve V-8.  Performance metrics will be top-notch with the engine generating horsepower to the tune of 563 hp at 6800 rpm.  The car will have a very low center of gravity owed primarily to the car’s dry-slump system, a newly developed method for engine lubrication that will allow the engine to sit lower than typical.  The engine will sit behind the front axle line, further contributing to the car’s very low center of gravity.

Production will start next year and sales will ensue thereafter; and word on the street is that the SLS AMG will succeed the McLaren SLR in the Mercedes lineup (an unfortunate loss to the streets of Palm Beach and Beverly Hills, if you ask me).

September 15, 2009Celebrate Tuesday, Submit a Caption!

photo via ffffound.com