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

Monday, November 26th 2007

TechArt Is Never Tacky

Porsche models always look good. However, there's always someone who can do better, so leave that job to TechArt, a world renown Porsche tuner.

They've taken a Porsche 911 Turbo Cabriolet and upped its horsepower rating to about 630. Naturally,  a few cosmetic changes have been implemented as well, but they're so subtle and professional that only the wheels give it away.

Monday, November 26th 2007

Since When?!
Yes, it's another edition of "What Are Hollywood Stars Driving?!?"

Hey Julia! Turn around! Last time we checked you weren't handicapped. Well, maybe artistically handicapped. Ocean's Twelve, anyone? Here's Julia Roberts taking up a blue space while shopping in Malibu.

Monday, November 26th 2007

Cadillac CTS Coupe In The Works?

The Cadillac CTS has just been named "Car of the Year" by Motor Trend magazine, but we're already looking forward to the Cadillac CTC as shown above in a digitally rendered photo. The four-door CTS isn't selling very well in Europe because... well... who wants an expensive Cadillac when they can get an expensive German engineered BMW or Mercedes? Basically, Cadillac needs a luxurious international sports car with two doors like the Cadillac XLR, but definitely more affordable than the latter's $90K price tag.

Monday, November 26th 2007

After-Thanksgiving Laugh: Rosie O'Donnell

We don't know why this is funny, but it is. It's probably from smoking all that wee.....tea. Yeah, tea will just give you the giggles. Especially when you smoke it. Chamomile will pull some tricks on you! ANYways... It's a goofy video of Rosie O'Donnell filming a scene for Nip/Tuck in which her character gets attacked by a Bald American Eagle. How patriotic!

We hope that eagle puppet gets some kind of recognition come Emmy time.

Monday, November 26th 2007

1,500 Units Per Year x $70,000 = Happy

Well alright! We thought the Nissan GT-R was a money pit, but apparently the math will prove to result in a positive cash flow if all 1,500 production models are sold. With a run so small, isn't that like guaranteed? Maybe that's the trick: make only 1,500 and run worldwide headlines like "GT-R Sold Out!" Ok, so we're bitter. Why? Because the damn car is growing on us and we can't afford it. To think, it's a Nissan!

Friday, November 23rd 2007

Saleen Tops Itself. Again.

We love the Saleen brand and their models are awesome. They take a Ford Mustang, make it look different and exotic, slap on a hefty surcharge and presto: limited edition Saleen models are born!

A couple years ago they introduced the 550hp Saleen S281E (for extreme, of course) and we were thrilled; nobody else had yet bothered to start mass-market customization of high-end Ford Mustangs. Now comes the 2008 Saleen S302E, which features 620hp for about $80,000. That's more powerful than a Dodge Viper and less money, not to mention waaay more limited at 100 vehicles.  more...

Friday, November 23rd 2007

It's B.S. At PetCo, Y'All!
Yes, it's another edition of "What Are Hollywood Stars Driving?!?"

You can take the acronym from this picture's title in two different ways -- they're both correct! Here's the legendary Miss Britney Spears (we'll always say that now) shopping at PetCo with her best friends, the paparazzi. In the lower left-hand corner you can see her beautiful new Mercedes-Benz SL65 AMG.

Sunday, November 11th 2007

X-Rated Automobile

The Lamborghini Murcielago LP640 Roadster is one sexy beast. NC-17 sexy! It looks great in metallic orange and we believe the ghost of Bob Hope is driving.

Friday, November 9th 2007

And The Point Is...?

Why do people -- or in this case tuner JE Design -- lower SUVs to such a ridiculous height. Don't folks buy sports cars if they want to be five inches above the asphalt while going 80mph in a school zone?

Here's the Volkswagen Touareg with a really nice body kit, but it's just too low and that detracts from the overall appeal. So there you have it: a simple critique for a problem that is becoming bigger and bigger. Or lower and lower. Whatever!

Friday, November 9th 2007

I Bought Your Dream Car, Y'All!
Yes, it's another edition of "What Are Hollywood Stars Driving?!?"

The legendary Miss Britney Spears just bought the most expensive and most powerful production car from Mercedes-Benz, the V12-powered SL65 AMG.

We were sick of looking at her old, beat up, dirty one. We were even more sick of seeing those baby shoes and plastic orange pumpkins on the dashboard. Oh, but this new one will be dented, filthy and broke down by Christmas. Trust this.

B.S. test drove a few new cars and thankfully skipped the G500 for the SL65. That way when she runs over some toes, she can make a quicker getaway.

Here's a video of another guy's $200,000 SL65 AMG cruising down the highway...

Wednesday, November 7th 2007

Happy Wednesday Y'All!
Yes, it's another edition of "What Are Hollywood Stars Driving?!?"

It's the typical daily photo of our legendary (ha!) Miss Britney Spears exiting her Mercedes-Benz, so we felt you just HAD to see it. Don't forget to buy her new album, Blackout -- homegirl needs cash for all those damn Frappuccinos!

Wednesday, November 7th 2007

The BMW 1-Series Orgasm

Most BMW aficionados hated Chris Bangle's designs when they first appeared, but now -- some five years later -- we... umm... kind of love them. Who knew, right?!

Here we offer to your fortunate eyes the BMW 1-Series tti Concept, a special edition model that BMW can very easily produce if convinced. We think this is like the new M3, because god only knows the "real" M3 doesn't look so hot like the last generation did. The entirely new 1-Series is definitely making up for that.

If BMW builds this car, they'll have our money and our dignity. Imagine that!  more...

Wednesday, November 7th 2007

Screw The Mercedes Smart Car!

The Audi Metro Project Concept is the company's idea of how a small, two-person car should look. We can't believe we thought the Mercedes-Benz Smart cars looked kind of cool, because now we're ashamed we were so short-sighted...

It's obvious the buyer above regrets buying their Smart after seeing Audi's answer to the same vehicle category: tiny cars for the next Mr. Bean movie! But seriously, we love that Audi car and it proves that the smallest of automobiles can still have better designs than most larger models.  more...

Wednesday, November 7th 2007

Don't Look Now But...

If you ever look in your rear view mirror and see a semi speeding towards your automobile, we highly recommend opening your door and exiting the vehicle. This enlightening clip kind of proves the point, though it substitutes the semi with a double-decker bus. You know, because we have LOTS of those in America.

Tuesday, November 6th 2007

We Wanted Mean. We Got Dark Green.

It took three long years, but Ford has finally used all their expertise to create what has to be the most boring Ford Mustang special edition ever: the Bullitt. Technically it's the second time they've done it, because it happened with the last generation too. However, the last generation of Bullitts looked different enough from stock models so that we could appreciate their effort; this is just lazy!

It's not the car itself that's a disappointment, but more so the way Ford packages a Mustang GT with a different color and christens it a special edition. To us, offering an exclusive color like Dark Highland Green Metallic is not enough when Roush and Saleen are making stock Mustangs look bad-ass. Well ok, Saleen does the latter -- Roush just designs most Mustangs to resemble carnival rides (it's true!)  more...

Tuesday, November 6th 2007

Took Too Long & Now It's Boring!

Perhaps when we see it in person our interest will be renewed, but Lexus has made pictures of their new IS-F available for so long without any actual product, that we're kind of bored by it now! Just look at it -- not impressed like you used to be, right?

Monday, November 5th 2007

Nearly One-Of-A-Kind

If plans didn't call for twenty Lamborghini Reventon models to be built, life wouldn't be worth living! We want to see the real thing on the road one day, so twenty samples makes the odds of that happening a bit higher unless, of course, all of them are sold in places like Dubai or other countries in the Middle East.

Uh-oh, we can already imagine them now: YouTube videos of twenty-something Dubai rich kids joyriding their Reventons around town. Ugh, lol...

Monday, November 5th 2007

KLEEMANN's First Baby...

KLEEMANN -- the Mercedes-Benz tuner -- has finally revealed the first official renderings of their exclusive KLEEMANN automobile called the GTK. The GTK concept car was designed by Christian Brandt who has been the head on the top secret project which will also offer styling solutions for Mercedes-Benz.

Power in the KLEEMANN GTK comes from the Mercedes-Benz SLK55 AMG’s 540hp engine and is mated with an automatic seven-speed transmission. Estimated time for 0-60 is less than 3.7 seconds. Kind of looks like a futuristic Mazda RX-8!

Thursday, November 1st 2007

Volvo + Sexy = Heico

This is the Heico Sportiv S80 T6 High Performance Concept. In other words, it's a hotter version of Volvo's standard S80. You see, Volvo is run by cheap people who don't love cars, so EVERY car they make is a "base model" whereas Audi, BMW and Mercedes each offers a performance line for their base models.

Volvo used to offer R-Line editions of their S60 and V70, but discontinued those gorgeous halo-effect models for no really good reason. We miss them and hope they will return one day, but if Volvo could sell Heico models via their dealerships similar to how some Ford dealers sell Saleen vehicles, perhaps high-performance Volvo's will one day revisit the streets.  more...

Watch the video for some more sexy-time with this stunning Volvo!