Car News Articles

Aston Martin has just facelifted its Vantage, slotting a bigger 4.7-litre V8 under that gorgeous nose. Visually the V8 Roadster is identical but it’s beneath the gorgeous bodywork that the changes have been made. Watch the new Aston in action in our spy video below.

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Kyle Busch, left, raced side-by-side with Carl Edwards in the closing laps at Daytona International Speedway, each driver running wide open toward the win. When a multicar accident brought out the caution behind them, the field was frozen and no one had any idea who won Saturday night’s race. After an anxious few moments while NASCAR looked at the ending, Busch was awarded the win in the Coke Zero 400. It was Busch’s sixth win of the year and second in a restrictor-plate race. Matt Kenseth was third, followed by Kurt Busch and David Ragan. Because of the late melee, official results were not available immediately after the race. Read more about Busch’s win here.

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I recently came across a “money-saving” tip from the 1910s about dry-cleaning clothes with gasoline. Turns out, early dry cleaners often used gasoline and kerosene to clean clothes; it wasn’t until after World War I that they began using less-flammable solvents.

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I was wrong. In spite of indications to the contrary, the GMC salesman blogger defending your right to suck-up fuel and clog the roadways with oversized trucks didn’t have a change of heart about hybrids. In his latest anonymous posting on the Commercial Auto Dealers web site, the same person who warned us about the dangers of hybrids (so quiet we’ll all fall asleep behind the wheel) is “irked”  about environmentalists who “who think hybrids are God’s gift to humankind” because of “Al Gore’s half-truths and theories.”  And he’s specifically “annoyed” with those of you who’ve commented about his views on trucks vs. hybrids. Just to make sure you understand where he’s coming from, he states “I’m sticking with my truck and I’m not going to feel guilty about it.” Neither should anyone else “feel guilty about going to your local GMC truck dealer and getting the biggest, baddest truck you can find and driving it for no reason at all.” Gas prices be damned. After all, “when [hybrid owners] need a tow, the guys with the big trucks are the ones they’re going to call first.”

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By 1968, Elvis’ career was over. The King had squandered his cultural capital on an endless series of hokey flicks with soundtracks so forgettable I’ve forgotten them. Although the movies all made money and spawned the word “inelvitable” (the appearance of the Jordanaires whenever Elvis started to sing), they turned him into an roller rink singer. But in ‘68, Elvis’ got his shit together (i.e. used sleeping pills to lose weight) and taped a Christmas TV show for NBC. In what came to be known as “The ‘68 Comeback Special,” Elvis sang a finale written for him the night before the recording. The King grabbed a crappy microphone, reached deep inside his soul and belted-out “If I Can Dream” as if his life depended on it. Which, in some ways, it did. Elvis proved that F. Scott Fitzgerald was wrong: there is a second act in American lives. I like to think that one of the buff books (or American automakers) will stare oblivion in the face and channel their inner Elvis. They’ll return to the spirit of the “good old days.” But then I can’t watch my favorite band, Little Feat, perform anymore. Sometimes it’s best to move over for someone else. So if anyone wants to publish a TTAC magazine, let me know.  

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According to their press release, GMAC Insurance wants to “help you cut costs on the road.” To that end, they offer the same five gas-saving tips offered by every auto-related PR firm in the entire country. Oh, if you’ve got an inactive OnStar button in your car (ah, but is it REALLY inactive?), you can also reduce your motoring expenses by signing-up for their Low-Mileage Discount. Providing you live in one of 34 non-paranoid, insurance industry-dominated states, doing so earns you some time money off for good behavior not driving. Here’s how it works: “With the subscriber’s permission, the odometer reading from his or her monthly OnStar Vehicle Diagnostics email is forwarded to GMAC Insurance. Based on those readings, the company will adjust the premium using discount tiers corresponding to miles driven. Information sent from OnStar to GMAC Insurance pertains solely to mileage, and no additional data is gathered or used for any purpose other than to help manage transportation costs. Customers who drive more than 15,000 miles per year are not penalized. In fact, all OnStar customers receive an insurance discount simply for having an active OnStar subscription.” So, unlike OnStar, GMAC Insurance is promising NOT to provide law enforcement officials with OnStar data; you know, if you’re suspected of a crime or in the event of a crash. And if you believe that, GM’s got a high mileage hybrid SUV they’d like to sell you.

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When Kirk Kekorian’s mouthpiece Jerry York said Ford should get rid of Volvo,few commentators thought the deal would go down this quickly. Even though a Ford spokesman insists “we have been consistently saying since the end of last year that Volvo is not for sale,” Automotive News [sub] reports that Ford is negotiating with Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC) to sell their Swedish division. SAIC currently has joint ventures with GM and VW to build and sell cars in China. They also own the rights to Rover; they’re branching out with their own vehicles based on Rover cars under the Roewe brand. Buying Volvo would give SAIC a strong inroad to the European and American markets and/or another brand to play with in China. If this deal falls through, an unnamed Russian investor is rumored to be interested in buying Volvo. A word of caution to the brand’s suitors: Gott lära av andras fel, eftersom man inte hinner begå alla själv.

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Amidst all the buzz surrounding controversial abortion activist Dr. Henry Morgantaler’s elevation to the Order of Canada, you may have missed the fact that the same honour has been bestowed on long-time Canadian labour leader Basil Hargrove, or ‘Buzz’ as we know him ’round here. The Order of Canada is Canada’s highest civilian honour. The National Post reports that Buzz was given the award for “his contributions as a labour leader who is respected on both sides of the bargaining table, and for his advocacy for equality and human rights in Canada and abroad.” Though many will argue Buzz was intensely active in keeping Canadian labour costs artificially high, and thus, shares some responsibility for the current decline of Ontario’s automotive sector, Buzz’s long and illustrious careers remains one of great renown. From his humble beginnings as a Chrysler line worker, to his soldiering for the then-CAW leader Bob White in the 80s, to obtaining his own mandates as leader since 1992, Buzz was instrumental in every major CAW negotiation for the last twenty years. History will judge Hargrove harshly, though, for the closure of GM-Oshawa and the decline in the CAW’s bargaining power during his reign. 

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A widely touted goal of the environmental movement: increasing American’s percentage of renewable energy use to 25 percent by 2025. According to a report by the RAND corporation, meeting the so-called “25 by 25″ goal without significant consumer cost will require “major technological developments.” Green Car Congress reports that 9.5 percent of electricity and 1.6 percent of motor vehicle fuel currently comes from renewable energy sources. The RAND report identifies biomass and wind energy as the two greatest opportunities for meeting the 25 by 25 goal. But it also points out that both require significant improvement to make a low-cost impact on renewable energy usage. For motor vehicles in particular, biomass-based (non-foodstock) “second-gen” biofuels must become significantly cheaper and more prevalent. Reducing renewable fuel goals to 10 or 15 percent by 2025 would also disproportionately reduce consumer expenses. Then again, the higher the cost to consumers, the more competitive renewable fuels become. The preceeding was brought to you by the Energy Future Coalition of UAW Boss Ron Gettelfinger’s “Marshall Plan” fame. Over to you, taxpayers. 

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I should be writing about this week’s show, but if you’ll excuse me I have to take a moment to say a few words about the stuff in the papers, which basically states Richard and James are leaving unless they get a million pounds a minute, and that Jeremy is already on four million pounds a minute and also trousers 98 percent of all the profits from Top Gear, Dr Who, Strictly Come Dancing, The Tweenies and Big Brother.

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