Random Sightings: original Batmobile spotted at SoCal car wash

It's no secret that Southern California is home to one of the best car cultures in the world. You can find a cruise or car show pretty much any day of the year, and it's always amazing to see the vehicles that show up. It's even incredible to see the kinds of cars that are simply out and about performing normal, everyday tasks. In addition to the usual Ferraris, Lamborghinis and Porsches, you can sometimes catch some truly unique cars out in the wild.


Take, for instance, this original Batmobile that was out getting a wash and wax at the Car Spa in Newport Beach this weekend. It's the fourth of four original Batmobiles built by George Barris back in 1966 and is known as the "dragster" version because of its 427ci Holman and Moody V8 underhood and dual parachutes attached to the rear. The car was built to serve as an exhibition model and actually raced at several drag strips around the country back in the 1960's. It also comes with a working saw blade that drops down at the front and can actually shoot flames out the back. We tip our hats to the fine gentleman that actually drives this thing on the street. High-res photos in the gallery below.
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First Mahindra pickups in U.S. will be assembled in India, not Ohio

Mahindra's plan to launch its midsize pickups in the United States has taken another interesting turn, as the Indian automaker now plans to assemble the first U.S.-bound units at home and not in Ohio as originally planned.

The change means that Mahindra will now be forced to pay the 25% federal "chicken tax" that was first created in the early '60s in retaliation against European tariffs on U.S.-bred chicken.
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Manhattan Project's "Los Alamos Limo" found

This car was used to shuttle Manhattan Project scientists between the Lamy train station in New Mexico and the project sites at Los Alamos and Trinity Base Camp. As we all know, the work of those men eventually ended World War II and altered the course of history forever.

As for the big Packard, it was supposed to be scrapped. Instead, it was acquired by a collector, and subsequently decayed over the the next several decades until its importance was realized.


The car you see here may not look like much, but it helped carry us into the nuclear age. Or, at least some of the scientists who brought us there. This 1941 Packard Clipper limousine is one of three that are still known to exist (coachbuilder Fitzjohn built 100 of the stretch cars that year), but we're willing to bet that the other two don't have nearly as colorful a history.


Now, the National Atomic Museum is embarking on a two-year restoration project of the big Packard, as well as a '42 Plymouth that carried plutonium used in the Trinity test explosion. An Albuquerque-based Packard specialist will do the work on the Clipper limousine, and enthusiasts interested in contributing to the effort can contact the museum for more details.
via:njection

2009 Caparo T1

The 2009 Caparo T1 will have its debut at Salon Prive on 12th February 2009 at London’s Hurlingham Club. The 2009 Caparo T1 is a two seater supercar that offers five levels of specification, from the most cost effective race track option to the Race Extreme version.

The top of the line 2009 Caparo T1 features an upgraded electronics package, carbon brakes and the latest light weight magnesium wheels.

The dealer network in which the 2009 Caparo T1 will be available will be announced shortly.

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Humvee-Mounted Laser Shoots Down Drone

The Laser Avenger, a military vehicle designed to safely take out unexploded ordnance such as IEDs or bombs, now has a new purpose—blowing drones out of the sky.

With a tracking system-guided laser mounted onto a fully capable military Humvee, the Laser Avenger is the newest in Boeing’s line of directed-energy weapons. Last month, it shot down an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) during a test in New Mexico, the first time a combat vehicle has done so successfully with a laser.
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Confusion about petrol price

Cape Town - Although fuel prices fall by R1.34/litre for 95 octane and R1.3/litre for 93 octane on Wednesday, the increased transport levy in certain areas, as well as the shifting of certain regions to new price zones, could cause motorists some confusion.

The department of Minerals & Energy has made adjustments to the price zones into which the country is divided, and for which different transport levies are applicable.

The changes are required because the existing divisions and transport levy do not reflect the most recent forms of transport and costs, fuel company Engen announced.
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BMW Created New Z4 is an Art Car of a different kind - Painting Dynamics

MULGRAVE, Australia – December 19, 2008: Imagine a canvas nearly as large as a football field. On it bold, swirling shapes in primary colors like red, yellow and blue.

As the eye uncovers the rhythm of the lines, curves, circles and color splotches, something else is revealed: these forms must have been created by tire treads! A work of art like no other, created by an artist like no other – the new BMW Z4 Roadster.
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Car News: Russian Marussia supercar unveiled

Nikolay Fomenko, who was probably busy enough being a popular singer, television new anchor and theater actor, also found time to become an FIA N-GT champion. And if that wasn't enough to keep this Russian renaissance man busy, he has just launched his country's first sportscar company, Marussia. To top it off, it's a hybrid, just to make things more difficult. Make the jump for all the details.


The Marussia is slated to use a 240-hp, 3.5-liter six-cylinder engine, most likely from Renault or Nissan, but it's unclear where the electric drive components will originate from. While much of the car's parts are expected to be sourced from established companies, approximately 35% of the content will be Russian.


Fomenko says that he brought a lot of knowledge from his racing career to bear on the Marussia. We see elements of just about every supercar on the market in its appearance, but it manages to still look unique. While he envisions producing a pure electric car sometime down the road, the company's first project is a hybrid.


The goal for the electric supercar is a 400km range, but Russian winters mean the batteries will need a boost. That's where nanotechnology comes in. Fomenko thinks the solution might be in a "nanotech project made at one of Russia's big construction bureaus." The company foresees a 0-62 mph dash of around five seconds and a Tesla-like price tag of $100,000. Plans call for the first customer cars to be delivered next Fall, with race versions taking part in the 2010 edition of FIA GT championship. Fomenko is clearly nothing if not ambitious.


Adding a bit of sizzle to its speed, the Marussia will also have "a host of gadgets," including a 4G Yota network with 10 Mbps data transfer rates at vehicle speeds of up to 120 km/h. Bluetooth, GPS and video screens all around, plus a 320 GB hard drive to round out the electronics.

Source:autoblog



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Car News: Pratt & Miller Introduces Two New Corvette Models

"We are excited and proud to announce the release of our latest customizable RIDE, the legendary Chevrolet Corvette," says RIDEMAKERZ ZEO and Founder Larry Andreini.

"The RZ 'Vettes are not just any Corvettes; they are the 'BadBoy' Pratt & Miller built, Le Mans winning race car, C6.R, and the quarter-of-a-million dollar, street legal C6RS Super-Car. It's an honor to make these models available so that kids, parents, and car enthusiasts alike can build and trick out their ultimate model Corvette."
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TAC Stark, a Brazilian Off-Roader That Runs on Ethanol

Growing markets are not always the best environment for newborn car manufacturers. If demand for resources is higher, the biggest and strongest tend to get what they want, while the smallest ones have to wait for their turns. This is exactly what has happened to TAC, a Brazilian auto industry that was willing to sell its first product, the Stark, in 2007. What has prevented the company from achieving its goals was the Brazilian car market growth, of little less than 30%. Some suppliers did not manage to develop specific parts for the new Brazilian off-roader on schedule. Therefore, its sales have been postponed for 2009. That was a pity, since it was supposed to be the first vehicle of its kind able to run both on ethanol and petrol in the world. That title was taken from it by Mitsubishi Pajero TR4.

The TAC Stark made its first public appearance in 2006, as a prototype. It already had its final measures: 4.08 m long, 1.91 m wide and 1.83 m tall, with a wheelbase of 2.54 m. Powered by a VW engine, placed behind the front axle, it promises to be a very well-balanced car. Although this is not a mighty powerplant (a 1.8-litre four cylinder generating 106 bhp on ethanol and 103 bhp on petrol, both outputs at 5,250 rpm), it seems pretty capable of delivering a good performance to the off-roader, which weighs only 1,300 kg.

This is probably the best thing about the Stark: it is light because of its plastic body (not vulnerable to rust) and its tubular chassis. In the video above, you can check out how its suspension system works. It is independent in all four wheels (double wishbone). The engine is controlled by an Eaton FSO-2405D five-speed gearbox, along with a BorgWarner reduction gearbox.

In 2009 TAC will present its first five dealers in Brazil. Exports are expected to begin in 2012, when production will be around 1,200 units per year. Prices in the Brazilian market will be around R$ 70,000, something like € 26,400 or US$ 41,300, but prices for foreign customers will be at least 30% lower, considering the company will not export the taxes it has to pay in the local market.

Source: TAC

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Speed Racer - The Movie. Watch the Trailer!

Most people that used to watch cartoons, especially the ones related to cars, are today also big fans of movies like “Matrix”. What if the the guys that created the movie had decided to put “Speed Racer” on the big screen? Well, this is exactly what you are going to see from May 9 on, when the Wachowski brothers will release their latest project, Speed Racer, but you won’t have to wait that much to have a glimpse of what the movie will be like. Here’s the trailer!

In the movie, Speed refuses to accept an offer from Royalton Industries to be one of its drivers, what uncovers the fact that, in the competition he takes part of, most drivers are manipulated in order to boost profits.

The only way Speed has to beat Royalton is to win the race that has killed his brother, Rex Racer. The name of the race gives a fair idea of what expects Speed: it is called The Crucible. In order to win the race, the famous cartoon driver teams up with a former adversary, Racer X.

All of the cartoon characters are present, including Spritle and Chim Chim. Will Speed Racer be a cartoon Neo? We will have to wait until May 9 to check it out.

Source: Warner Bros. Pictures

Future Supercars

Formula-One for the road

Take a good look at these cars here and now: you might not see many of them on the road even after they've been officially released. Andreas Conradt presents the supercars of the future.

Though a lot of things were unclear at Maserati until recently, rumour has it that the firm's all-new GT coupe will make its debut at the 2007 Geneva Motor Show. It is caught here out testing with Bosch on one of these lonely, slippery roads in the north of Sweden. The GT is a 2+2-seater, said to be much roomier than its predecessor thanks to a longer wheelbase - barely shorter than that of the Quattroporte - and redesigned suspension and transmission. It will have double-wishbone suspension with the Skyhook adaptive damping system, and the rear-mounted Cambiocorsa clutchless gearbox, as used in the Quattroporte; power will come from the Ferrari-developed 5.0-litre V8, derived from the current car's 4.2-litre unit and with new cylinder heads and induction system to give an estimated 470bhp. The Spyder, which will be launched later in the year, will also be offered with the 4.2 V8. The Spyder will, for the first time, have a folding metal hard top which will retract down to behind the seats. This is likely to be developed by Pininfarina.

Another Italian, but a totally different car, the Alfa Romeo 8c Cabriolet will be radically different from the new Maserati - provided it will make it into production which hasn't been decided yet. But if so, the car will be bigger than the Alfa Spider, and more powerful with engines up to over 300 bhp. More expensive than the Spider it will be anyway...

You might think that Mercedes wouldn't have a need for developing yet another supercar, but you'd be wrong: With the 612-bhp SL65 AMG on the one hand and the 626-bhp SLR on the other, there's hardly any room for a car in between. That is if you're taking performance alone. But as design and packaging matter, too, the Stuttgart-based firm is in fact thinking about a "baby" McLaren offering SLR-like supercar-feeling at the cost (and power) of an SL55. With a newly developed 5-litre V8 performing some 400 bhp, this light-weight mini-SLR will reach top-speeds of beyond the latest SL65 and will outrun the latter from 0 to 100 km/h. Being a pure two-seater with a rigid metal roof (rather than a 2+2-seater roadster like the SL), the "baby" McLaren will point at a totally different range of customers and will certainly be a success as an uncompromising driver's car.

The Aston Martin V8 Vantage, known as the 'baby Aston', is the Ford Premier Automotive Group's proposed 911 rival. Costing from around 90,000 Euros, it certainly gives the Porsche a run for its money. To ensure Aston Martin's target to make the V8 Vantage play a major role in upping the firm's annual output, and for it to account for 40-50 percent of all Aston sales, the British are now developing this beautiful Cabriolet, definitely using a canvas top rather than a retractable hardtop.

The first Aston built on the company's all-new aluminium platform, the coupe is also the first Aston built at the former Rover site at Gaydon, where ultimately the next-generation DB7 and Vanquish will be built - and the V8 Vantage Cabriolet, too. Styled by Henrik Fisker, it has a wide-opening roof, a generous luggage area and a two-seat interior inspired by that of the Vanquish. Power comes from a Jaguar-derived 4.3-litre V8, likely to give a good 370bhp, and a 500bhp-plus supercharged R version is also said to be on the cards. The engine is front mid-mounted - positioned well back in the engine bay to give optimum front-rear axle weight distribution. Six-speed manual transmission will be standard, a sequential-shift auto optional, and both gearboxes will be rear-mounted.

But before the Aston, the 911 Turbo Cabrio will hit the marekt some time in summer 2006. At its heart is a reworked version of the current car's twin turbo 3.6 litre flat six with over 460 bhp in standard trim up by 40 bhp. The increase is said to come from a series of subtle enhancements to the ECU, coupled with further improvements to the VarioCam variable valve timing system and a moderate increase in boost pressure.

New transmission technology will also play its part in pumping the torque rating of the new Turbo. Along with a beefed up version of the existing six speed manual and a new six speed automatic, Porsche is developing the next generation Turbo to accept an advanced double clutch gearbox similar to that offered by Audi on the TT V6 and pioneered by Porsche itself on the 956/962 sports racing cars of the'80s/'90s.

Speaking about Audi: the firm has confirmed production of the R8 super-coupe, which will go on sale in spring 2007, and here's the real thing out on the world's most challenging race-track: the Nurburgring in Germany. The R8 is derived from the Le Mans Quattro concept car seen at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 2003; it takes the name of Audi's Le Mans car to emphasis its performance potential. Though some of the technologies used in the car, such as the FSI direct fuel injection system, were developed in the R8 racer, the production R8 is more closely related to the road-going Lamborghini Gallardo.

It shares a version of the Gallardo's structural underpinnings and will come with a detuned version of the Gallardo's 5.0-litre V10, giving 450bhp, as well as the 420bhp V8 found in the RS4. This is a measure to ensure that sales of the more expensive Gallardo will not be affected. Audi hasn't announced pricing for the R8 as yet, but it will undercut the Gallardo by some margin. A starting point of around EUR 95,000 has been rumoured, putting it up against the Porsche 911 and Aston Martin V8 Vantage.

The most extreme supercar in this collection is certainly the Lamborghini Gallardo S, derived from the standard Gallardo and using that car's space frame, permanent all-wheel-drive as well as the 500-bhp 5-litre V10. Its unique seating layout would certainly make the Gallardo S a real eye-catcher - though a Bugatti Veyron roadster would definitely be able to steal the show. As much as its metal-roofed counterpart is the fastest coup on earth, the 1001-bhp cabrio would be the fastest cabrio on the planet. Wolfsburg hasn't decided yet whether or not to build the car. So don't get out your cheque book yet...

However, the most speculative car we present here is the Renault F1, probably also named "Alpine" and hence reviving a legendary name of the French manufacturer's history. Penned here as a mid-engined two-seater, the car would definitely need an engine bigger than even the most powerful unit existing: the 210-bhp 3-litre V6. We reckon a 280- or 300-bhp engine should be the minimum. "Alpine", after all, is a name that reminds of a real fast French...

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