autothing.com's September 2007 News Room Archives (back)

Monday, September 24th 2007

But Will There Be A Turbo Edition?

Expanding from the recently introduced and limited-edition Cayman Design One, Porsche Design Studios is bringing some Stuttgart style to the boating business.

The 28-foot-long high-speed cruiser is a collaboration with Florida-based upstart Fearless Yachts and the German creatives set about designing a luxury racer that could dominate what they dubbed the "aquabahn." Prices will start at $300,000.

Monday, September 24th 2007

Blame Your State, Not Cadillac

Damn you, state governments! You ruin everything. Cadillac goes and redesigns their entry-level CTS sedan with a stunning new look, but where the heck is the license plate supposed to go? The entire front appears to basically have no bumper!

Seriously, this is a gorgeous car and the fact that some states will require a license plate to be slapped on the front is a real shame. Autothing is located in Illinois, just one of many states that obligates drivers to makes holes in their beautiful front bumpers. Who knows, a criminal may drive away backwards!

Keep making them this way, Cadillac! We at autothing will continue to say "screw you, Illinois!" and drive without our front plates. We'll pay for the occasional $75.00 ticket too; it's well worth it if our cars can look like the manufacturer intended.   :a)

Monday, September 24th 2007

Watch Out For The Needles!
Yes, it's another edition of "What Are Hollywood Stars Driving?!?"

Actress Diane Keaton continues to pull out the crazy! Homegirl seriously thinks it's safe to step down -- barefoot -- from the comfort of her Mercedes-Benz G-Class SUV onto the surface of Hollywood Avenue in Los Angeles. Does she realize what kind of things go on there? It's like an illegal Walgreen's... every two feet there's burned spoons, broken mirrors and rusty razor blades. Maybe she's walked the coals in Sri Lanka or something, so none of that crap will hurt her. She's a can full of nuts!

Monday, September 24th 2007

So Many Special Editions!

Since you can never have enough special editions of a car that already costs nearly $200,000, HAMANN unveiled their Lamborghini Gallardo Victory. Making the already beastly car more aggressive, HAMANN added their Victory wide-body kit along with a few performance upgrades.

HAMANN’s Victory wide-body kit consists of a new front apron, front spoiler, an adjustable racing-spoiler lip, fender extensions, wide body-side sills, a new rear apron, a four part rear wing, a rear diffuser and an ugly air scoop on the roof. The engineers also reprogrammed the ECU and added a new exhaust system extracting an additional 20 horsepower from the Lamborghini Gallardo for a total of 520.

Saturday, September 22nd 2007

Gimme Gimme More

Why can't there be more inventive ad agencies like this one? Although it appears to be for a paint company, it's just some insurance company hawking it's wares in a very unique, very awesome way. We believe it was set-up somewhere in Ohio, but we're not sure. It's definitely something we'd love to see here in Chicago.

Saturday, September 22nd 2007

Back To Its Roots

Here's the totally exciting information (eye roll) about the J8...

Chrysler's Jeep division recently announced its return to the military equipment market with the Jeep J8, a specially modified version of the popular Jeep Wrangler.

The J8 isn't armored and it's not designed for combat use. It would mostly be used "behind the lines," wherever a light but rugged vehicle is needed to transport people or equipment. Powered by a four-cylinder diesel engine with a four-speed automatic transmission, the J8 will not be available for use in the United States because it will not meet U.S. emissions requirements. The U.S. military will be a potential customer, however, a Chrysler spokesman said.

The J8 has a reinforced frame and rear leaf-spring suspension for carrying heavier loads. It will be available in a four-door version or as a two-door with an extended pickup bed. It will be built in Cairo, Egypt starting next year.

Friday, September 21st 2007

The Porsche Land Yacht Is Coming

Well it's not really THAT big, but seeing that it's a four-door car and all, it's big for a Porsche automobile (excluding their SUV model). The Panamera was recently spotted and this picture gives you a solid feel for how the car is taking shape.

Friday, September 21st 2007

Tick Tock, Tick Tock

Rest up, Chevy! Yeah, rest up from resting up! Their not-so-secret super Corvette is taking waaaaaay too long; does developing a car really take this much time?

Ford's Mustang has been out since 2005 and there must be at least twenty variations of that car already. We expect the Corvette ZR1 to debut at the 2008 Detroit Auto Show, and to go on sale in the summer of 2008 as a 2009 model. The price will likely be under $100,000, and while that may sound like a lot of money, it continues the Corvette's tradition of outperforming cars costing two and three times as much.

Tuesday, September 18th 2007

So What's Audi's Quattro For Again?!?

Audi's all-wheel drive quattro system is one of the best around, but surely it can't look good when an Audi R8 -- their halo car -- crashes due to a slick road after a storm. Well whatever! That driver deserves life in prison for making Audi look bad.

Monday, September 17th 2007

What To Make Of This...

Mansory, a tuner company we've never heard of (sue us!) has unveiled their latest creation at the Frankfurt Motor Show based on the Bentley Continental GTC. The Le Mansory Convertible GTC will have a production run of 24 units.

The car gets a complete new front spoiler, LED daytime running headlights, new air intakes, new side skirts, new rear skirt, new rear spoiler and carbon fiber elements around the car. Le Mansory also designed a very elegant two-toned interior for the Le Mansory Convertible. Fitted with the Mansory electronic engineering package, the Le Mansory Convertible GTC produces 641 horsepower. That gives the car the ability to do 0-60 in 4.4 seconds with a top speed of 205 mph. The car is fitted with Brembo 412/38 rotor discs with 6 piston aluminum fixed calipers in front and 405/22 with 4 piston calibers in the back.

It's not too bad considering that they've taken an already beautiful looking touring car and turned it into well, a sportier touring car. Paris Hilton, stay away from it before you cheapen the entire Bentley brand! Just kidding, we love joking about her.

Tuesday, September 11th 2007

Keep Playing Powerball & Mega Millions!

The $1,000,000+ Lamborghini Reventon is real, but all 20 samples have been sold before production has even begun. That may seem like a lot of money, but since most of us can't afford the cheapest Lamborghini anyways, we should all just keep our broke asses at home! (Special thanks to Fergie for that wonderful sentiment her father passed down to her, lol)

Based on the Murcielago LP640, the exterior design of the Reventon gets a little more aggressive with sharp edges, precise lines and clean surfaces. Just like the base model, the exterior of the second edition is made of CFC, a composite carbon fiber material. The exterior components are glued ($1,000,000 for glue!) and riveted to the body comprised of CFC and steel, resulting in the dimensions and proportions of the Reventon being very similar to the Murcielago.

Inspired by the F22 Raptor fighter jet, the Lamborghini Reventon is powered by a 6.5 liter V12 engine that produces 640 horsepower. The Lamborghini Reventon goes from 0 to 62 mph in just 3.4 seconds, with a top speed of over 211 mph.

Well that's great! You can pay $300,000 for a Murcielago or over $1M for a car that is just like the Murcielago. Please hold while we roll our eyes!

Got time? Visit autothing's favorite Lamborghini dealership here in the suburbs of Chicago. They won't let you in without a credit check. No no no, just kidding!

Tuesday, September 11th 2007

More Sexy Is Coming

Aston Martin is under new ownership, but that won't hinder the release of any new models. Both the DB9 and Vantage will be offered in some sassy new additions that as usual, make our hearts skip a beat or two.  more...

Monday, September 10th 2007

Brabus Takes On The C-Class

Mercedes-Benz already produces some top-notch special editions, but leave it specialty tuners like Kleeman and Brabus to pick up where the manufacturer left off. Here is the new C-Class model from Brabus, lovingly named the Bullit.

Yes, the Ford Mustang already took the "Bullitt" name, so them Germans simply dropped a "t" and voila, the Brabus Bullit was born!

The Brabus edition C-Class model carries aerodynamic design features such as a front apron designed to provide maximum cooling air supply for radiators and front brakes while minimizing aerodynamic lift. The 730 horsepower car carries a three-piece rear spoiler and a rear apron with integrated diffuser. Front and rear spoilers are manufactured from especially lightweight yet high-strength carbon fiber, baked in an autoclave. A special aluminum hood with ventilation slots contributes air to all engine components.

Woo hoo! Brabus has brought back our favorite detail: LED rocker panel lights! We're like small children when it comes to lighting details and this is one of the coolest.

Monday, September 3rd 2007

Another Hot One

Mercedes-Benz' Black Series has just released its second vehicle based on the SLK55 AMG. The price tag on the new beauty is nearly $125,000 -- a major amount of change considering the Mercedes-Benz SL55 AMG (their larger and more luxurious convertible) costs about the same.

While we wouldn't buy it, Mercedes-Benz amazes us with its ability to pump out so many models and variants of each one. Their quality has been suffering a tad bit lately, so perhaps the number of models is a factor. We still respect the effort though!

Monday, September 3rd 2007

This Spy Shot Is Mmm Mmm Good

BMW Motorsports division is finally working on a real "M" edition of the X5. The previous generation offered the smooth looking BMW X5 4.8i, which had a dual-exhaust, lowered driving height and more body-colored trim to distinguish it. The problem was they never called it an "M" model, which to BMW purists, means a lot.

Saturday, September 1st 2007

We Have To See It In Person

Jaguar's new XF model will replace the S-Type, which was a pretty neat looking vehicle; even if you didn't like the styling, you could spot it from a mile away. Meanwhile, the XF offers a smoother, more modern design similar to Lexus and Infiniti. The car actually seems to copy convey a Japanese-inspired "import look" compared to the S-Type's European-inspired flavor.

Regardless, the damn thing is cool inside... When the car is started, the air vents reveal themselves (they're hidden in the dash) and the shifter knob ejects from the center console. Seriously, just watch the video to see these forthcoming toys!

Saturday, September 1st 2007

Not Very Impressive

To be fair though, the 2009 Dodge Journey isn't supposed to be the exciting cross-over SUV everybody's looking for. It's the boring one nobody's looking for. Ha!

We say go buy a fully-loaded Dodge Durango or Jeep Grand Cherokee.

Saturday, September 1st 2007

John Edwards Forgot People Were Listening!

Presidential candidate, John Edwards, recently stated that he thinks Americans should not buy SUVs. Isn't that funny! Some pilot just happened to fly over the Edwards Estate (all 28,000 square feet of it) and spotted at least four SUVs parked in the meandering driveway. We'll just let the photo speak for itself!   more...