Author: UDMan

The Automotive Blogosphere seems to be filled with fan sites, empty content, and snarky comments. I have been as guilty as anyone in pushing the type of babble that permeates the big name websites, and almost all the sites have the same formula: Features on Exotics, LOL Cars (FAIL, That will buff out, Exotic Wrecks, etc.), Video Features, Top 10 lists, Caption Contests, Question of the Day, Recaps, Ebay and Craigslist car ads, and on and on and on. You get the picture, right? Sometimes, you have to ask yourself is there anything else? Why yes, yes there is, and two come to mind: Hemmings Blog, and one that I’m heavily associated with, Automotive Traveler.

I was tapped to become a columnist for Automotive Traveler by the managing editor, Richard Truesdell, when I filched an image that I used for an article I wrote at another site, without giving him credit. What is interesting is that I apologized, gave him credit, and he liked what I was writing about (Obscure Muscle Cars) and the rest is history. My column is called Ramblings because I was doing just that, rambling around the Northeast when I was a manufacturers representative for an Import Truck Distributor. I would write about some obscure Roadside Discoveries while I was driving around New England, or I would think about particular model that was just discontinued, or zero in on a vehicle I found that was for sale in a series called “Not Found on Ebay”.

The other contributors on the site are pretty diverse as well. Instead of content based on just Cars and Trucks, there are articles on where to travel, places to stay, traveling with children, and if pets make great traveling companions. That’s where the Traveler in Automotive Traveler comes into play. The writing is superb (if I say so myself), and the content is aimed at a slightly older audience than your typical blog. It is also a much more balanced blog because more than half of the contributors are women, something that is rare in the male dominated automotive sector of the blogging community.

If you would like to take a look at how different an Automotive Blog can be, follow this link. It is a site that you can recommend to your parents, without having to explain anything. It may not be up to the minute as far as breaking news, but it is full of interesting postings. After bookmarking Ride Lust, this should be the site you should bookmark next.

BBDO – which is a long time advertising partner of Chrysler – closed its Detroit office last Friday (January 26). BBDO Detroit failed to sign a new contract with Chrysler, and although BBDO works with several other companies, the Detroit office deals exclusively with Chrysler. With no new contract in place, it was forced to close the location.

Around 500 employees work at BBDO’s Detroit office, and the company is working to redeploy those employees affected by the office closing, but a number of workers will likely be laid off.

BBDO provides a number of services to Chrysler – such as dealer training, IT support and customer service management – but is best known for its marketing efforts. BBDO created a number of successful ad campaigns for Chrysler, including the company’s “That thing got a Hemi?” series. Chrysler’s ties with BBDO dates back to 1944.

Ah, the Auto Show season is in full swing, and starting this week, all eyes will be pointing to the 80th International Motor Show in Geneva, and there will be some significant debuts at this show, starting on March 4th.

Lets start out with the Italian Design Firm, Pinninfarina, which will debut an Alfa Romeo Concept Based Roadster, with design cues that mirror the BMW Z4. This is to cooincide with Alfa Romeo’s 100th Anniversary, and should follow recent Pinninfarina designs such as the Maserati GranTurismo, and the Ferrari 599GTB Fiorano. Rumors that this concept will become an actual production of an Alfa Romeo Roadster, set to make it over here in the US. We are all hoping for that.

Setting the sports car world upside down, Ferrari is set to unveil a Hybrid. Yes, a Hybrid Sports Car, that will be based on the Ferrari 599GTB. Rumors swirl around this particular car, including the fact that it may be AWD. This is an effort by Ferrari to keep up with ever tightening efficiency standards both in Europe and in North America. Much like Porsche, who took a different road to profitability with the SUV, this car should appeal to both the Ferrari aficionados as well as the Hollywood Green Fashionistas, and should help generate enough funding so that Ferrari can keep producing real Sports Cars.

Two Mazdas will make their world debut at Geneva, the facelifted Mazda 6, and the redesigned Mazda 5. All I have to say is this: It’s a whole lotta Meh!

Finally, there is the debut of the Audi A1. This is a model that never made it accross the Atlantic to North America, but Audi promises that this time, market conditions make it right to export this little rocket to the states. News coming from Europe states that this Mini fighter will have a Hybrid system, but we hope that a conventional powertrain will be offered.

Photo Credits: Car & Driver,

Limousine Services have been getting more creative in the era of downsizing, but this particular company may have found a new niche, Armored Limousines. The Armored Limousine Service Inc., a company located within the Dallas Texas Metro Area, offers a service in which their clients enjoy being DIFFERENT & STYLISH with a sense of SECURITY. The “Limousine” is, in all reality, a stretched Armored Car, the type that is used to transport valuables between banks, that has been up-fitted with your typical, over-the-top party limo interior, complete with two-toned leather, neon and strobe lights, and a retractable stripped pole from the ceiling.

According to the companies website, “The Armored Limousine Service, Inc. is the only company in the Soutwest United States that is 100% BULLET PROOF to provide “Safety at its Finest”, with a touch of ELEGANCE & CLASS.” The Vehicles are appropriately called “The Vault XXL2″ and “The Vault XXL4″. These “Limos” feature some unusual items, to distinguish them from other vehicles showing up at a red carpet event, including aluminum tread-plate, roof strobe light bar, large chrome lettering, and my favorite accessory, gun ports located along the sides of the “Party Barge”, just in case you want to mow down some unruly peasants while on your way to an event.

Some of the clients include Dallas Football Star Terrell Owens, and reality TV (and Sex Tape) Star Kim Kardashian. This proves that when in Texas, nothing succeeds like excess. I guess you have to have a limo big enough to contain the ego of the so called stars.

Source: The Armored Limousine Service, Inc.

While cruising around on the internet, I came across this little posting over at CarEnvy. First, take a look at how small a Honda N-360 is. Yes, it is packed inside a Toyota Hiace Van, comparable to a GM savanna Van here in the US.

However, when it hits the Dyno, the little engine that could virtually roars to life. All this from just 345 CCs.

Source: CarEnvy.ca

Art. The reaction to that one word can be polarizing in today’s society, depending upon your social status or political aspirations. People who attend art expositions find modernized conceptual art inspirational, meaningful, and a way for the artist to express his or her viewpoint. Other individuals revile in modern art, because they see it as a waste of time, resources, and most of all money. To those on that side of the spectrum, get ready to be reviled.

New York artist Jeremy Dean got inspired reading about horse-drawn “Hoover carts” made during the Depression from old cars. You see, during the 30’s the Great Depression was ever deepening, and as the artist explained on his web site, “Indebted Americans defaulted on their loans worsening the depression and found themselves unable to pay for basic goods including gasoline, so their cars sat idle. The solution in the rural south became to cut the car in half, attach poles to the front and hitch it to a horse. The resulting contraption became known as a Hoover Cart after President Hoover who was blamed for the Depression.”

Dean then takes the logic of the past and put it in the context of our current economic and environmental disaster, and this is where Dean’s thinking goes somewhat awry, as he embraces a satirical prediction of the future: “Unless the US comes up with alternative fuel sources and rethink our reliance on a hyper inflated consumption based economy, there may be no other choice but to hook our cars up to a horse.”

And so he purchased a Hummer H2, which he felt became a symbol of America’s consumption, greed and arrogance, and chose to convert it to a horse cart. It will maintain all its over the top features: chrome, rims, GPS, working sound system, DVD player, and TV screens, only pulled by horses. If you want to read more, check out Jonny Lieberman’s article here, or go to Jeremy Dean’s website here.

BACK TO THE FUTURAMA from jeremy dean on Vimeo.

Image Source: Back to the Futurama; Autoblog; The Car Connection

Hyundai Motor reported on Thursday that its quarterly profit had almost quadrupled as its small cars proved popular with recession-weary buyers. Fourth-quarter net profit reached 945.5 billion won, or $819.7 million, considerably more than analysts’ forecasts. That total compared with profit of 243.5 billion won in the fourth quarter of 2008 and profit of 979.1 billion won in the third quarter of 2009. Sales in the October-December quarter grew 9.3 percent from the same period a year earlier, to 9.65 trillion won.

Hyundai’s robust earnings were reported as shares in Toyota Motor, the world’s largest auto maker, fell sharply because of concerns about its image and profits after it halted sales of several top models in the United States to fix an accelerator fault. “Hyundai still has a lot of momentum, particularly compared with Toyota,” said Mitsuru Kurokawa, an analyst at IHS Global Insight in Tokyo. “They’ve got a lot going for them: a broad compact-car lineup, attractive prices for the quality they offer and clever marketing.”

With its affiliate, Kia Motors, Hyundai is the world’s No. 4 automaker, behind Toyota, General Motors and Volkswagen. Hyundai was a big winner last year, which brought a shift to smaller cars and government incentives worldwide for car buyers. Popular low-cost models and savvy marketing helped it grab market share in the United States and in China, now the world’s biggest auto market, where its Elantra is the best-selling foreign car.

Source: New York Times

There was a time when the Indianapolis 500 was considered the crown jewel of motorsports around the world, and was a rival to the 24 Hours of LeMans and the Formula 1 Series. That was before the split between CART and USAC, which almost killed open-wheel racing in North America and paved the way for NASCAR’s ascendancy. Highly visible at each year’s race was the selection of the car used to pace the 33-car field, a selection often used by the Detroit Big 3 to promote new models. This is the story of one of the most obscure Indy Pace Cars: The 1990 Chevy Beretta Indy Pace Car Convertible, and the eighth Chevy to pace the Memorial Day Classic. Read more about the Beretta Pace Car after the jump!

This was the first Chevy Concept Car to pace the field Reports as to how many pace cars were built are conflicting. Some report three, while still others report five, but they all started out as Beretta Coupes. They were converted by the engineering firm Cars & Concepts, which fabricated a number of special editions and prototypes for the major Detroit car companies. They chopped off the top, engineered the chassis, and installed a “don’t-call-it-a-roll-bar” structure, along with a power activated top.

Chevrolet spent a great deal of money to prepare the Beretta Convertible, but the rigidity of the coupe was lost when the top was removed, and no amount of modification to the underbody could help in regaining at least some of it back – which was rumored to be one of the reasons the production ragtop was scrapped.

Once the convertible was killed, Chevrolet did produce 7,500 Beretta Pace Car edition coupes, available in Yellow (1,500) and Teal (6,000). These cars received color-coordinated alloy wheels, Indy 500 decals on the doors and some trim components from the previous year’s Beretta GTU. The Beretta didn’t share its platform with any other GM product except for its sedan sibling, the Corsica. So, will the Beretta Pace Car Edition become a collectible? I’ll answer that with another question: When did you last see one?

In 2009 one of the original Pace Car Convertibles sold at the 2009 Barrett-Jackson sale, and sold for $22,000 with a scrap title, which is a far cry from its reported development costs of $20 Million.

Source: Chevy Enthusiast

Welcome to UDMan’s Video Friday, in which we take a look at the unbelievable auto related Videos from around the world, and show them here on Ride Lust. Look what we have here, a couple of videos that showcase some vintage Group 6 racing iron, including Mustangs, Camaros, and Vettes. Just turn up the volume, and enjoy.

Source: Edmunds Inside Line

Welcome to UDMan’s Video Friday, in which we take a look at the unbelievable auto related Videos from around the world, and show them here on Ride Lust. We read the reaction to the SLS by Mr. Angry while attending the Washington DC Auto Show, now it’s time to take a look at an unbelievable video starring the car. The driver is none other than Mercedes-Benz Formula 1 driver Michael Schumacher. A Cockpit, An Engine, and Two Wings, Is it still a car…. which is the tag line at the end of this video. See if you agree.

Welcome to UDMan’s Video Friday, in which we take a look at the unbelievable auto (and truck) related Videos from around the world, and show them here on Ride Lust. Yesterday, a truck traveling with its dumper raised hit a pedestrian footbridge in Istanbul, injuring one person crossing. You can see at least three people crossing the bridge when the truck hit. It was miraculous that no one was killed in the accident.

Source: Telegraph

Welcome to UDMan’s Video Friday, in which we take a look at the unbelievable auto related Videos from around the world, and show them here on Ride Lust. 1st up, this Ferrari F430 Spyder, that fell off the back of the delivery truck while being unloaded at Ernie Boch Jr’s Luxury Auto Dealer in Norwood, Massachusetts. If you take a close look, you can see that the ramp the broke, causing the mishap. The windshield wipers moving during the video is priceless.

Ok, so this is really one big ass truck, but at least it sports a trendy color scheme. I received this video from the manufacturer, and so I thought I would share it with you. Want more? Just leave a comment.

Source: Freightliner

Image from Sport Truck.com

When I was covering the SEMA Extravaganza in Las Vegas, I have to tell you one thing; I wasn’t at all impressed by these types of trucks. I always thought they were over compensating for something (And get your mind out of the gutter!). There were at least 20 of these types of trucks, and to be truthful, I don’t even remember this particular truck. So when a video surfaced about a Custom Silverado built by the same guys who were associated with the famous “Bigfoot” truck that experienced a monumental failure, well I had to find it. And here it is…. only you will have to see it after the jump!

Now that ramp doesn’t look all that high, and a truck that was supposed to be “Over-Engineered”, with steerable front and rear axles, a 30 inch lift, and a custom fabricated suspension cradle, should have survived that small “Bump in the road”. An article in 8-lug.com states that the crew spent 2 weeks to do the truss work on the axles. Looks like they should have spent more time. The cost to put this Custom Silverado Duramax together? Some $350,000, though I’m guessing the truck is now worth significantly less.

Source: Great Lakes 4X4

The Toyota Prius notwithstanding, General Motors and Chevrolet squandered the leadership position in alternative-propulsion vehicles that they stated to hold with the twin introductions of the EV-1, and the Chevrolet S-10EV. What, you never heard of the S-10EV? Ahhh, come, sit, and learn how GM regained it’s swagger after two truly forgettable decades of producing mostly uninspired vehicles, and introduced a truly revolutionary car – The EV-1 – along with the companion S-10EV.

Much has been written about the EV-1, and how it was distributed through Saturn Dealers in warm weather locations on a fixed term lease arrangement, but what wasn’t well known was the fact that GM was developing the S-10EV at the same time, and offered generally to large commercial fleets. The induction motor used to power the S-10EV is based on the EV-1 powertrain, only smaller because the extra weight and aerodynamic drag could overstress the battery pack if the same motor was used. The 1997 model used 27 lead acid batteries, while the revised 1998 model used nickel metal hydride (NiMH) batteries that were both lighter – by 400 pounds – and offered a longer range.

Speaking of range, it’s wasn’t very good. The 1997 model, with the lead acid battery pack could only manage a 45 mile city range, and a 60 mile highway range. With the NiHM Battery Pack, and some aerodynamic enhancements built in for the 1998 model year, the range increased to 90 miles on the highway, which was still pretty pathetic. The EV-1 managed to double that range. There was some interesting engineering, and none more so that the adaptation of the heat pump, used for climate control of the interior of the truck, as well as keeping the battery pack cool in severe conditions.

Chevrolet built almost 500 S-10EV’s, and unlike the restrictive lease offered on the EV-1 coupe, Chevrolet actually sold 60 of these trucks to fleet customers, because of a legal loophole within the Department of Transportation crash-worthiness evaluation on the standard S-10 truck. Taken into account, while the engineering involved to produce and to run these vehicles was astounding, battery technology wasn’t keeping pace, and GM lost patience. When the leases expired on the EV-1 Coupes, and the remaining S-10EV’s, they were all scrapped, generating adverse publicity for the company they have yet to live down.

GM’s soon to be introduced Volt is using the decade old technology from the EV-1 as a starting point, with revisions as necessary. So, instead of leading the green car revolution, GM is just catching up – a pity, because it didn’t have to be that way.

According to our good friends over at Autoblog, the contract to award the Convertible Top Mechanism went to Magna Car Top Group. The contract was awarded to Magna after the initial contractor, Edscha AG, filed for insolvency, according to Automotive News. This is an attempt to keep the Camaro moving forward, and to keep the Retro Chevy fresh in the marketplace.

Apparently there’s no hard feelings over the fact that The Magna Group wanted to purchase Opel from General Motors late last year, but GM decided to keep it. Magna will reportedly build the Camaro tops at GM’s Corvette plant in Bowling Green, Kentucky with materials from Mexico.

The 20,000 unit target was chosen because Chevy’s cross town rival, the Ford Mustang has the same goal. The number sounds ambitious because there were only 50,000 convertibles sold last year, down from over 200,000 units only four years ago.

Source: Autoblog

The 2010 Lancer Sportback

Under the file heading of Ambitious, Mitsubishi’s new U.S. sales goal – 100,000 units – may not seem like a staggering number, but considering it is nearly double what Mitsubishi sold in 2009, it is an ambitious figure. In 2009, Mitsubishi sold just under 54,000 units — down significantly from the 97,257 units it sold in 2008 and 128,993 in 2007, according to Ward’s Auto. The Japanese automaker’s lineup hasn’t resonated with American consumers, but the products apparently aren’t the only component to blame.

The 2010 Eclipse GT

That effort starts with additional advertising on products like the Lancer Sportback, a five-door hatchback that one executive tells Ward’s that Mitsubishi has “neglected” to promote enough. The recently refreshed Outlander SUV will likely help sales going forward, but the upcoming Outlander Sport will most likely have the greatest impact on Mitsubishi’s U.S. sales.

The Outlander GT Concept

In the next three years, Mitsubishi will have little trouble meeting its 100,000-unit sales goal if it can find the R&D resources to introduce desperately needed new products. The models in question are the now refreshed but very old Endeavor midsize crossover, the Mitsubishi Eclipse coupe and convertible, and aging (some say ancient) Galant midsize sedan.

The Honda… er Nissan… ah Toyota… oh yea the Galant!

Source: Automobile Magazine

More than half of the dealers terminated by General Motors and Chrysler last year have filed to have an arbitrator determine whether they should be reinstated. The American Arbitration Association, charged by Congress to oversee the process, said it had received paperwork from 1,550 dealers as of Tuesday morning. The deadline to file was Monday, but it looks like this number will grow because of the flood of applications received at the last minute.

There were around 2,800 dealers that were eligible to file for arbitration under a law passed last month. That figure includes the 789 Chrysler dealers that were forced to shut down last June and 1,300 G.M. dealers that will lose their franchise by October. An additional 700 G.M. dealers are losing the ability to sell one or more brands but remain with the company.

G.M. and Chrysler made the cuts as part of their bankruptcy reorganization plans. The companies said the terminations were needed to eliminate poor-performing stores and help make those that remain more profitable.

Source: The New York Times

As of 12:45 this afternoon, Spyker is now the keeper of Saab. According to The Wall Street Journal, Spyker will contribute $74 million in cash for the deal and the European Investment Bank will provide $556 million. GM will maintain about $326 million in shares, or 1% of voting rights.

So what is the value of Saab for Spyker? It gets a factory in Tröllhattan that employs 3,500 workers, the brand-new GM Developed Saab 9-5 and the $600 million in promised loans from the European Investment bank. Remember, Spyker hasn’t turned a profit in the decade since its founding, and has no experience in high volume production. Will the loan be used to fund Spyker’s ambitious plans to become another supercar company with the remains of Saab withering away, or will Saab’s lack of viability suck the very nature of the quirky Dutch company until it becomes a corpse itself? This is far from being over.

Source: Jalopnik

Monster Energy Drinks leaked the long awaited video on Ken Block’s new Ford Fiesta, and our friends at Jalopnik put it up on their site this morning, along with a couple of images of the car. The Video has it all; Panning images of the car, Ken with what looks like a light saber, and a sound track that is in no way related to the images, but had a drop dead hook. This is Ken’s most ambitious tour yet, including six stops for the Rally America Championship, 7 stops for the WRC, and at X Games 16 in LA. More information at Monster World Rally Team website, which goes live tomorrow.

Not to be outdone, Ryan Capes broke the distance record on a bike with a 290 foot jump, on his modified Kawasaki KX500. This was overshadowed when his Monster Army teammate Johnny Graves broke the distance record in a truck of over 300 feet. The video showcases how Capes performed the jump, with his 4 attempts. This is the closest any one has come to the magical 300 foot mark on a bike. Take a look at MonsterEnergy.com for more updates.

By the way, does anyone really like the taste of Monster Energy Drinks? I admit to being older than dirt, but does an energy drink have to taste like crushed up candy?