Auto Clerks

While Dodge won’t even return our phone calls (something to do with this as well as insinuating Bob “The Builder” Nardelli tried to change the name of Home Depot to Home Despot), our friends at the magazine that finds being Popular just as important as being Mechanics did get a chance to drive the Ram-headed brand’s new muscular pony car — the 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8. The gist of what they had to say, below the jump:

galleryPost(’2008DodgeChallengerSRT8D’, 6, ‘One Bitchin Bad-Ass Buff-Bodied Pony Car’);

“This Hemi is most definitely not shy or watered down. But what surprised us the most about the Challenger SRT8 was its civility. Power is abundant, but never to the point that we couldn’t rein her in. Our two-hour highway drive home from Willow Springs was quiet and smooth—characteristics more akin to a grand touring car than a muscle car. The only things we miss are a more vocal exhaust note and a manual gearbox, the latter of which will be available in the fall of 2009. “

So the Hemi’s neither shy or watered down. Seems to us like it fits in quite well with that whole “delightfully tacky, yet unrefined” Hooters-like mentality of folks looking to buy this new pony express from Dodge. But most importantly for the Mechanics-inclined Popular party stars was their bottom line:

“After flogging the 2008 SRT8 on the track and driving home in insulated comfort, we can safely say that the Challenger ain’t what it used to be—it’s a whole lot better.”

So it may not have the horsepower of the GT500KR, but apparently what it’s lacking in get-up-and-go, it more than makes up for with beefcake and a buff bod. Perfect for Woodward Avenue cruising if you ask us. [via Popular Mechanics]

Original post by Matt Hardigree

When Gone in Sixty Seconds came out in 2000, the Mustang which held the lead role as “Eleanor” became an overnight sensation. You couldn’t throw dead blow hammer without hearing someone compare a car to Eleanor. The brutish fastback was just the right mix of vintage and modern. In that vein, the Obsidian SG-1 is a car as modern as anything on the road, but maintaining a throwback look. Originally a puke green ‘67 fastback, the SG-1 (which does not travel through wormholes to faraway planets) is now a study in excess.

galleryPost(’obsidian’, 6, ‘Obsidian SG1, Starring Richard Dean Anderson’);

We’re not too sure about everything that goes around the engine and drive train, but nobody is going to argue with the guns this car is packing. A stroked SVO 351W V8 good for 392 cubic inches, two, count ‘em, two Rotrex superchargers feeding two air-to-air intercoolers and firing up for over 830 HP and 770 lb.ft. of torque. That monster drives a Tremec 5-speed with a set of steering wheel mounted paddle shifters which cranks a Mittler Brothers 9″ rear end. Really damned impressive.

It’s all the other stuff that has us down. While it does sport a tube frame and a hidden roll cage, they managed to duct and reshape a little too much of the car. And while we know the mesh is high quality, it just has a certain Pep boys feel to it. The current Mustang headlights are worked into the nose, and we really can’t complain too much about them, but that seems like a weird choice. And don’t get us started on all the gee gaws and gadgets in the interior. A cabin should be an office and the business should be driving, not fiddling with a 3000W kicker sounds system and a 10.5″ LCD screen. Nonetheless, this is a damn impressive piece of machinery, even if it needs to have a couple hundred pounds of electronics garbage tossed to the curb. Obsidian SG-1

Original post by Ben Wojdyla

After World War II we were faced with the growing threat of communism and the shrunken economies of Western Europe. Equally as important, there were all sorts of countries that were going to need help rebuilding their awesome auto industries. Americans loved their Italian, (West) German, British, French and other European cars. Thus The Marshall Plan was born. We spent billions in Europe and, not only did they end up mostly loving us for a time, they gave us Ferraris, Bimmers and Citroens galore. Anyone who has read Charlie Wilson’s War knows that it was proposed that we pour some money into rebuilding Afghanistan while most of the country loved us. We didn’t do that. No Afghani cars. In fact, Afghanistan has been nothing but trouble.

We’ve been waiting for the El Camino to enter the JFG for a while, and we’re not surprised at the response. That being said, we were touched to hear that we gave our favorite Jaloper from the South of France, Franzouse, one more reason to heart America:

This is the car that made me discover Jalopnik, the car that made me love V8s, that makes me want to put a truck bed on everything… This vehicle has done more for my love of things american than the Marshall Plan.

A long overdue thank you for the Statue of Liberty, de Tocqueville, General Lafayette and the Citroen SM. Oh, and one more thing. As Harumph points out, we’re all about the diversity:

Can we cut the “you don’t belong here if you voted no” bullshit?
The best thing about this site has always been its breadth. I feel like the addition of -amino to any word in a comment has just become the refuge of lazy commenting and that sort of narrowing the scope of thought on these pages has made for some real tedium. Discuss the relative merits but the last thing we should be doing is declaring one car to be emblematic of the whole site. That will make for some serious boredom.

That’s right. As much as we love the El Camino and all -aminos, it is important to remember that we fought a World War and spent millions of dollars helping Europe rebuild itself so we could enjoy a world free of totalitarian and fascist insistence on thinking one way is the best. What about cars donked, slammed, biodieseled and wagonized?

Original post by Matt Hardigree

After World War II we were faced with the growing threat of communism and the shrunken economies of Western Europe. Equally as important, there were all sorts of countries that were going to need help rebuilding their awesome auto industries. Americans loved their Italian, (West) German, British, French and other European cars. Thus The Marshall Plan was born. We spent billions in Europe and, not only did they end up mostly loving us for a time, they gave us Ferraris, Bimmers and Citroens galore. Anyone who has read Charlie Wilson’s War knows that it was proposed that we pour some money into rebuilding Afghanistan while most of the country loved us. We didn’t do that. No Afghani cars. In fact, Afghanistan has been nothing but trouble.

We’ve been waiting for the El Camino to enter the JFG for a while, and we’re not surprised at the response. That being said, we were touched to hear that we gave our favorite Jaloper from the South of France, Franzouse, one more reason to heart America:

This is the car that made me discover Jalopnik, the car that made me love V8s, that makes me want to put a truck bed on everything… This vehicle has done more for my love of things american than the Marshall Plan.

A long overdue thank you for the Statue of Liberty, de Tocqueville, General Lafayette and the Citroen SM. Oh, and one more thing. As Harumph points out, we’re all about the diversity:

Can we cut the “you don’t belong here if you voted no” bullshit?
The best thing about this site has always been its breadth. I feel like the addition of -amino to any word in a comment has just become the refuge of lazy commenting and that sort of narrowing the scope of thought on these pages has made for some real tedium. Discuss the relative merits but the last thing we should be doing is declaring one car to be emblematic of the whole site. That will make for some serious boredom.

That’s right. As much as we love the El Camino and all -aminos, it is important to remember that we fought a World War and spent millions of dollars helping Europe rebuild itself so we could enjoy a world free of totalitarian and fascist insistence on thinking one way is the best. What about cars donked, slammed, biodieseled and wagonized?

Original post by Matt Hardigree

We had another nail-biter yesterday, with the Subaru XT6 edging out the BRAT by a 234 to 228 vote count in the Choose Your Eternity poll. We’re going to declare that one a tie, and that’s a good thing; after all, what’s Hell without difficult choices? Today we’re going to park a pair of European machines just inside the gates of Hades, where they will beckon enticingly to you with their only-one-in-town obscurity and double-take-inspiring appearance. It’s lots of fun having an oddball car whose mere presence makes onlookers question your sanity respect your taste in fine automobiles, and either of these two could be a life sentence highly fulfilling project. Thanks to HotRodElectric and Franzouse for the tips!

You love wagons, we love wagons, everyone loves wagons! But old Detroit station wagons are a dime a dozen, and parts obtainment is just too darned easy. You need something European, preferably from a defunct manufacturer and packed with weird engineering. We’ve definitely got you covered here, and we’re sure that once you lay eyes on this 1961 Borgward Hansa 1100 Wagon” (go here if the ad disappears) you’ll be a believer in a boxer-four-powered 47-year-old hearse-esque German wagon! Don’t worry about the body, because it’s “almost free of rust,” and your Subaru-driving friends will be envious of your wagon’s engine: “Subaru bought the blueprints and maybe some tooling too. I am told it uses a VW 36 horse cam and crank.” Imagine the fun of getting this engine of dubious ancestry running again (normally we’d advise swapping in a turbocharged Subaru mill, but it would be a sin to dump an engine this hopeless rare). Best of all, the Project Car Hell meme continues to gain fresh territory: “Need a small hearse to carry you off to project car hell?” You bet you do!

They made Borgwards in Mexico into the 70s, so you might be able to get some parts for that Hansa without having to pay vast amounts for shipping, which means you could be taking the easy way out with that car. How about a machine that wasn’t even sold in North America, a machine that will raise, then dash, your hopes repeatedly as you scour the world for parts, all the while taunting you with the fact that it was built by one of the world’s major manufacturers and should be easier than this? Come on down to eBay and drop a big bid on this 1971 Peugeot 304! There’s no reserve price, and the top bid is sitting at $100 with only a couple days to go. Come on, a 37-year-old front-wheel-drive French sedan that’s been sitting since 1990… for a hundred smackers? You can’t go wrong! We’re a bit put off by the seller’s punctuation and spelling (where’s the traditional eBay CAPS LOCK, not to mention the requisite “i saw restored one a thees go for $$$49000$$$ dollars resently” statement?) but the spare transmissions, heads, etc. compensate for that drawback. And hey, the seller says “it was every bit as reliable and efficient as, and much more “substantial” than, my 77 Honda Accord,” so you figure it will be a bulletproof daily driver once you’ve got it running again!

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Original post by Murilee Martin

At the Automotive X PRIZE debut party at the NY Auto Show there were a few interesting prototypes of cars their makers believed could meet the Auto X PRIZE requirements of making a marketable vehicle that gets 100 miles per gallon of dinojuice. The folks from Motive Industries were around to talk-up their proposed Battery Exchange Hybrid Electric Vehicle (BEHEV), which we think uses a small electric motor to create the energy needed to power the electric motors. Now we have renderings and a quasi-technical drawing for their currently nameless shooting brake concept. Press release and pics below. If you’ve got a suggestion for the name drop it in the comments.

galleryPost(’motivexprize’, 3, ‘Danger Danger High Voltage!’);

Motive believes that the transportation sector needs to undergo a rapid evolutionary change in order to maintain current standards of living while reducing our energy needs dramatically. In order to achieve this, a shift is required toward low volume high-tech manufacturing techniques. This will enable us rapid evolution of individualized vehicles that use a fraction of the energy required by today’s automobiles and public transportation vehicles. The Automotive X-Prize will help to push the boundaries of what is perceived not only as possible, but also as probable. Motive’s intent in entering the X-Prize is to demonstrate our capabilities in the fields of automotive design and engineering. Motive believes in the need for innovation and sustainability and is thus committed to developing and using ecologically sensitive materials and manufacturing methods.

The 2 initial renders below depict our BEHEV - Battery Exchange Hybrid Electric Vehicle that combines the appeal of a sports car with everyday versatility. The sporty 2+2 shooting brake is framed within a layered structure giving it muscular forms and proportions. Keep an eye on Motive for future developments.

* Four passenger, full size vehicle
* BEHEV tm - Battery Exchange Hybrid Electric Vehicle
* Modular composite/aluminium/steel chassis structure
* Lightweight bio-composite RIM body panels
* FWD multi-speed quickshift transaxle
* Regenerative braking, traction control
* High-performance ICE generator
* 1800lbs

[Source; Motive Industries]

Original post by Matt Hardigree

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We understand the Ford Ka is a roomy vehicle. Hell, it’s even big enough for James Bond and many Bond girls, but the means this Spanish commercial goes to in order to express that notion is going to cause us to have some serious trouble sleeping tonight. The first one to identify what the hell those creatures are gets a cookie. [Neatorama]

Original post by Travis Hudson

When we heard that Th!nk was coming to America our cynicism censors immediately lit up. Is this the same Th!nk that failed here before, went bankrupt, had their electric bike recalled and has annoying punctuation in their name? Yes. But they got that sweet sweet Kleiner Perkins VC money, right? True, that money has yet to produce a commercially successful car. The interesting history of all that below.

Our first introduction to Kleiner Perkins and the world of electric vehicles came with their investment in EEstor, a company based in Texas working on an electric battery for ZENN Motors. Unfortunately, the Canadian governor is making it hard for ZENN to sell cars in Canada. So as of now, things aren’t looking great, though battery development continues.

Most recently, Kleiner Perkins came up with relation to the Fisker Karma Luxury Hybrid, which is a vehicle that piqued our interest due to its attractive proportions and relatively low price tag of $80K. Though the company has yet to experience the usual electric car delays, it is dealing with an incredible amount of litigation in the Fisker-Tesla girl fight. Will this delay production of the car? Maybe, maybe not.

Speaking of production delays, what about the Tesla roadster? Everyone was so excited about it but it has been delayed thanks to transmission problems, lawsuits, et cetera. Yes, they claim they’re shipping production units now, but not only is it in low volumes, it’s not even enough to fulfill the backlog of orders. Did we mention Tesla is backed by Kleiner Perkin’s VC rivals at Draper Fisher Jurvetson.

And don’t get us started on the 2011/2012/201X Chevy Volt. An ongoing development that is being backed by an OEM — thus it relies not-so-much on VC dollars so much as R&D dollars. When will we see a production version of that particular vehicle? Your guess is as good as GM’s word.

But hey, a 65 mph-capable electric car with potentially a 110-mile range for $25K, which Th!nk is offering, doesn’t sound bad. Excuse our skepticism, but we’ll believe it when we see it clear all the hurdles and successfully market itself to the tens of thousands of consumer they’re planning to reach. Do we want cars like this to succeed? Yes. Electric cars, hybrid cars, biodiesel cars… whatever. Is it good, then, that firms are putting up the bank for these projects? Yes. We’re just glad it isn’t our money.

If you want an electric car for the city, full hybrids like the 2008 Mercury Mariner Hybrid can be driven in a way that they provide mostly electric power. While we’re not huge fans of these hybrids in spirited driving, you can stretch a gallon of gas pretty far in slow city commuting. That’s something.

[Photo: Th!nk]

Original post by Matt Hardigree

When we started out to build a V8-powered Volvo 244 for the May 10-11 24 Hours of LeMons race, most of the team members assumed we’d be using the good ol’ C4 automatic transmission. You know, automatics are way easier to swap, with no troublesome clutch linkage to futz with. But Crew Chief Hellhammer (formerly known as Dave) pointed out that he’s built plenty of manual-equipped rods, and then he directed our attention to several Ford V8-compatible T-5 5-speeds (and no C4s) sitting in the weeds behind his shop (he’s been working on a ‘57 Ford project, so his stash-o-parts is heavy on Ford running gear). With our minds filled with images of slushboxes overheating and dying at last year’s Altamont race, we decided to go with three pedals instead of two… then held our collective breath when it came time to make it happen for real.

As it turned out, this is a ridiculously easy swap (well, by the standards of weird engine swaps, that is). The 5-speed shifter even lined up perfectly with the hole for the Volvo’s automatic shifter. A bit of crossmember modification and it was in place.

What really had us worried was the potential nightmare of rigging up clutch linkage. We grabbed a Volvo clutch pedal and cable assembly out of a manual-trans 244 at the junkyard and settled down for what threatened to be agony-packed days of fabrication.

But no! The Volvo cable hooked right up to the Ford transmission and worked fine. We were stunned. Of course, all the time we saved on this project was promptly eaten up by a thousand other details, but we aren’t complaining. We forgot to grab a shift boot in the junkyard, so we fabricated a crude bracket and zip-tied a piece of inner-tube rubber in place. Now if we can just keep from breaking U-joints and differentials at the track…

Original post by Murilee Martin

A constricted passage though which fluid flows and accelerates while the internal pressure drops and an object or action upon which unreasonably excessive attention or reverence is placed, Venturi Fetish. It’s French, who knows. But, it’s still a pretty slick car and it’s ready to join the quickly expanding field of electric sports cars. Just as the Venturi is going into production, we’re hearing news…

…of a more powerful and lighter electric motor will be added to the mix. This motor is tiny at only 77 lbs, but it delivers 300 HP with 280 lb.ft. of torque. Mighty impressive, but then again, it better be for 100,000€. And by today’s exchange rate that gives the Fetish a pricetag in ‘merican bucks of about $14.2 million dollars. Or something around that.

galleryPost(’venturifetish3′, 9, ‘Maybe it means they love the Venturi effect’);
[WorldCarFans]

Original post by Ben Wojdyla