Hubinette to drift Smart Fortwo chasing Tom Cruise in Night and Day

by Jeremy Korzeniewski (RSS feed) on Nov 7th, 2009 at 4:22PM

2009 Smart ForTwo Cabriolet – Click above for high-res image gallery

Rear-wheel drive, two seats, short wheelbase, sequential manual gearbox, available in either closed-roof or convertible body styles... sounds suspiciously like a sports car, no? Yet no one in their right mind would conclude that the Smart Fortwo is the least bit sporty.

Regardless, a well-trained driver can make just about anything on four wheels respond the way he pleases. That includes drifter extraordinaire Sam Hubinette, who informed fans in a recent blog post that he's traveling to Spain to film a "pretty intense" car/motorcycle chase scene for an upcoming flick called Night and Day, starring Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz. Must be nice.

As you've likely surmised by now, Hubinette's chariot for the stunt will be a Smart Fortwo. Herr Sideways himself notes that he's never tried drifting a Smart. Perhaps the producers will be willing to shell out some of their $130 million budget to put something with a bit more power under the Fortwo's rear bonnet.


Gallery: Review: 2009 Smart ForTwo


[Source: Toxic Drift]

REPORT: BAIC/Koenigsegg may produce Saab 9-5 in China

by Michael Harley (RSS feed) on Nov 7th, 2009 at 2:26PM



Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co. (BAIC), announced as a minority partner in Koenigsegg's deal to purchase Saab from General Motors two months ago, plans to produce the Saab 9-5 on Chinese soil next year. The involvement of BAIC in the Saab transaction helps Koenigsegg close the deal and gives the Chinese company leverage to re-badge the previous-generation Saab 9-5 as its own or to simply expand the brand's existing reach within the country.

In September, Saab CEO Jan-Ake Jonsson told reporters he wanted to double the number of Chinese Saab dealers from 15 to 30, and that he had an interest in local Chinese production. "Beijing Auto is an opportunity for us to establish ourselves in the Chinese market with their experience," the CEO said. Under current plans, Saab imports all cars to China, where they're sold under the Shanghai General Motors network. Sales have been slow, but promoting the brand under the watchful eye of BAIC may help the brand gain traction in China's huge automotive market.

[Source: Gasgoo]

Triumph and TAG Heuer honor Steve McQueen with special Bonneville

by Jeremy Korzeniewski (RSS feed) on Nov 7th, 2009 at 12:22PM

Triumph Bonneville Heuer - Click above for high-res image gallery

Triumph and TAG Heuer have joined forces to create a one-of-a-kind Bonneville Heuer motorcycle. Inspired by Steve McQueen and the Porsche 917 K that the famous actor, racer and motorcycle rider piloted in the classic film Le Mans, the Bonneville Heuer is painted up in the classic Gulf Oil blue and orange scheme and will be used for promotional purposes.

McQueen famously wore a Heuer Monaco watch in the aforementioned silver screen race drama and was a renowned Triumph enthusiast. Says Neil Morley, Triumph's Head of Brand Communications:
We are delighted to play our part in this exciting project. The Triumph Bonneville and TAG Heuer Monaco are both timeless masterpieces, celebrating their respective 50th and 40th anniversaries this year. We also both have a natural connection with Steve McQueen, who famously wore a Monaco watch in the film Le Mans and was renowned for his love of our bikes, making this a very natural collaboration.
As much as we'd like to tell you this will be an optional color choice for the production Bonneville, that's not currently the case. If you like it as much as we do, perhaps a phone call to your local Triumph dealer is in order.


Gallery: Triumph Bonneville Heuer


[Source: Triumph]

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SEMA 2009: Gran Turismo Best in Show is the Trans-Cammer Mustang

by Frank Filipponio (RSS feed) on Nov 7th, 2009 at 10:33AM


Philip Koenen's "Trans-Cammer" 1970 Ford Mustang. Click above for high-res image gallery

Phillip Koenen brought a really gorgeous, miles-deep-black, 1970 Mustang to SEMA and came away with another fine piece of hardware:The Gran Turismo Best in Show award. For the past several years, Sony Computer Entertainment America has hosted these awards, which honor some of the coolest cars at SEMA.

Koenen's SOHC 427-powered "Trans-Cammer" snagged the Best Hot Rod award in addition to winning Best in Show. Gran Turismo creator Kazunori Yamauchi awarded the trophy himself at the awards ceremony, which rocked The Palms' Rain nightclub Wednesday night. In addition to the the trophy, Koenen's beloved "Trans-Cammer" Mustang wins the right to be featured in a future installment of the Gran Turismo series.

Other Gran Turismo Award winners included Scott Bailey and Tony Vanillo's Ford F-250 Unlimited 2 Class short-course race truck in the Best Truck/SUV category; Chris Rado's World Racing Unlimited front-wheel-drive time attack Scion TC as Best Asian Import; KC Howet's 2009 Underground Racing Lamborghini LP560-4TT in Best European Import; and Nicholas Ashby's Moment Carbon Camaro for Best Domestic Automobile. Sounds like a dream garage to us. Follow the jump to read the official press release, and don't forget to check out the gallery as well.


Gallery: SEMA 2009: 1970 Trans-Cammer Mustang


Photos copyright ©2009 Frank Filipponio/Weblogs, Inc.

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Laptop steering wheel desk is real. And real funny.

by Alex Nunez (RSS feed) on Nov 7th, 2009 at 9:01AM

Laptop DeskYou know, when we're driving along, eating buffalo wings and trying to manage a Super Slurpee while playing Cooking Dash on the iPhone, it sure would be helpful to have a place to keep all that stuff organized. Thankfully, there's the Laptop Steering Wheel Desk, which accomplishes all of the above AND finally gives us a place to keep our bleu cheese and celery sticks, to boot. (You see, our cupholders are already occupied by french fries.) This "Why didn't I think of that?" stroke of genius slides right around your steering wheel, which it uses as an anchor for your much-needed flat surface.

Listen, steering is overrated anyway, right? Actually, the official product description on Amazon.com says, "For safety reasons, never use this product while driving." But come on, we're excellent drivers. We're pretty sure we can handle this. Based on the user reviers, others have found this device to be exceedingly convenient. Some of the user-submitted photos suggest that the Laptop Steering Wheel Desk may indeed be troublesome in the hands of less experienced drivers, but we remain skeptical. We think we'll put one in the shopping cart with that Three Wolf Moon T-Shirt we've been eying. Then, when it arrives, we're hunting for a drive-thru pizzeria. Thanks for the tips, everyone!

[Source: Amazon.com]

SEMA 2009: Booth Professionals are anything but stock

by Frank Filipponio (RSS feed) on Nov 6th, 2009 at 8:00PM


Lisa Angeline, aka Catwoman - Click above for high-res image gallery

This year's SEMA show in Las Vegas didn't have quite the gravitas of years past, as the state of the economy and the automotive industry in particular seemed to be a wet blanket over the whole proceedings. Thank goodness there were plenty of friendly faces throughout the halls to keep our spirits up.

One smiling face especially caught our eye, although we weren't sure why. The eyes and smile were familiar but we couldn't quite put our finger on where we had seen them before. And then it hit us, it was our beloved Catwoman (a.k.a. Lisa Angeline) from last year's BatSmart gallery! We hardly recognized her stripped of her catsuit. We saw her in the Vertical Doors booth. We know this with great certainty because the name of the company was written in very strategic locations – like on the banner above her head and (*ahem*) elsewhere. Smart folks behind that BatSmart. But to be honest, we weren't really paying too much attention to the cars there, so perhaps this strategy is flawed.

This happened quite a bit during the week. We'd go down to shoot a certain car, and an hour later, we'd be scratching our heads wondering what we had come down for in the first place. Take a look at the gallery and you'll probably agree – down year or no, the distractions were quite spectacular.


Gallery: SEMA 2009: Booth Professionals


Photos copyright ©2009 Frank Filipponio/Weblogs, Inc.

SEMA 2009: What we didn't get to cover

by Frank Filipponio (RSS feed) on Nov 6th, 2009 at 7:30PM


2009 SEMA Show Las Vegas - Click above for high-res image gallery

Every year at SEMA, we fill the week with posts featuring special vehicles and products that we felt were important enough to share. Generally, they are the most newsworthy projects and new model introductions, but sometimes they are just things that caught our eye. When all is said and done, we think we've given all of you a good taste of what's on offer here in the desert.

Of course, there are always things we see and shoot that don't make it into the regular posts from the days we are here. We end up with a few hundred photos of random weirdness and cool stuff that just didn't make it into a dedicated post. That's what this post is for. It's basically a chance to dump some of that random wackiness and wonder that is SEMA into one big bowl and invite you all to take a sip. Click on the gallery below and you'll see race cars, hot rods, muscle cars, motorcycles, wheels and more. None are labeled, but all should provide a unique look at what we saw at SEMA 2009.


Gallery: SEMA 2009: Random sightings


Photos copyright ©2009 Frank Filipponio/Weblogs, Inc.

Daily U-Turn: What you missed on 11.06.09

by John Neff (RSS feed) on Nov 6th, 2009 at 7:20PM

First Drive: 2011 Kia Sorento finally crosses over

2011 Kia Sorento – Click above for high-res image gallery Sometimes it's hard to remember what you did just yesterday, but think back to 2003 when Kia first introduced the Sorento mid-size...

SEMA Sweeps: Win one of five Sony PSP/Gran Turismo bundles - Day 5

We've made it to the last day of our SEMA Sweeps! We've given away four limited-edition PSP/Gran Turismo bundles, but we've got one left. Yesterday's winner has been randomly selected and...

REPORT: Toyota execs deny cover-up after feds rebuke automaker over runaway car investigation

Remember Toyota's massive 3.8 million unit unintended acceleration recall that was attributed to pesky floor mats? It appears defective floor mats doesn't tell the whole story, as the Department...

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Autoline on Autoblog with John McElroy

by John McElroy (RSS feed) on Nov 6th, 2009 at 7:00PM Featured

CHRYSLER CONSIDERS GETTING BACK INTO BIG RIGS

One of the more intriguing tidbits that dribbled out of Chrysler's grueling 8-hour press conference on Wednesday is that the company is considering getting back into the heavy truck business. They're not talking about heavy duty pick-ups, they're talking about 18-wheelers.

Up until the early 1970's Dodge sold heavy trucks, including semi-tractors. In fact, Dodge trucks were famous the world over. But like GM and Ford, the Chrysler Corporation decided to get out of that business at a time when the commercial truck sector was under pressure.

When times are good heavy trucks generate a significant amount of profits. Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Renault, Toyota (Hino), Nissan and Mitsubishi (Fuso) are still in the business. But it takes a lot of capital investment to get into and stay in the highly cyclical heavy truck segment, which is why the American car companies abandoned that market years ago.

In this case, the idea to get Chrysler back into the heavy truck market is Fiat's, not Chrysler's. And that is precisely why this could actually happen.

____________________________________________________________________________________

John McElroy is host of the TV program "Autoline Detroit" and daily web video "Autoline Daily". Every week he brings his unique insights as an auto industry insider to Autoblog readers.
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Quieter Spirit: Rolls reportedly planning hybrid Ghost for 15% better economy

by Chris Shunk (RSS feed) on Nov 6th, 2009 at 6:30PM


Rolls-Royce Ghost - Click above for high-res image gallery

If you've been pondering getting on the list for a Rolls-Royce Ghost but you're hesitant because of the negative environmental impact (and social standing) of the big, beautiful boat's V12 engine, we've got good news for you. British site Autocar is reporting that a hybrid version of the Ghost is in the works. It's rumored to be based off the mild hybrid system of the BMW ActiveHybrid 7, which makes sense considering that the two luxury sleds utilize the same platform. The nearly 18-foot long Ghost will likely still sport a 6.2-liter V12, but the brutish powerplant will be aided and abetted by a 20kW electric motor capable of an extra 15 hp and 155 lb-ft fitted into the baby Rolls' eight speed ZF auto transmission.

Battery power will reportedly come courtesy of a .6 W/h lithium-ion battery pack fitted to the Ghost's substantial trunk. The reported hybrid Ghost won't have the ability to run on battery power alone, but the luxury barge will employ start/stop tech and due to the battery's presence it won't need an alternator, either. The net result of the of the (relative) greenification of the Ghost will reportedly be a 15% bump in fuel economy.

A 15% efficiency bump probably won't do much to improve the Ghost's likely miserable fuel economy figures, but the added twist from the Ghost's electric motor may help it hit 60 mph more quickly than the gasoline-only 4.8 seconds (U.S. spec).

Sure, if this hybrid Rolls ever sees the light of day it'd make the already massive Ghost even heavier and more costly, but the negatives pale in comparison to the gratification of telling other rich people that your chauffeur drives a hybrid.


Gallery: Hands-On: Rolls-Royce Ghost


[Source: Autocar]

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Autoblog Podcast #151: With Car and Driver's Eddie Alterman

Eddie Alterman wades in with Sam, Chris, Dan, and Jonny to talk about SEMA and other recent events.

 
 

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