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Monthly Archives: June 2009
a $60,000+ Hyundai coming to the US?
Firstly, whatever drugs and illusionary potions the Hyundai personnel are taking must be working tremendously. I think the press led you on to believe that your Genesis sedan and coupe were worthwhile options in the luxury sedan and coupe segments. Sure….be happy and think you made a solid product. The coupe is nothing more than a cut-rate Infiniti G37 (which isn’t a good thing!) and the sedan is a virtual rear end of a BMW E60 5-series and a Lexus LS (which is also not a good thing).
I thought (and still think) it’s pretty funny that Hyundai are selling a $40,000+ car in the Genesis sedan; i certainly wouldn’t buy one even if a kimchi covered gun was pointed to my head. But hilariously enough, they’ve decided to launch a $60,000 sedan known as the Equus. It will surely handle worse than 5-series, not have the majesty of an MB E-Class or S-Class, not be as modern of stylish as an Audi A6, and will be less reliable and more boring than an Lexus LS. So do we want one?
NO THANKS, Hyundai! Oh the horror….the horror.
vintage Saab 99 Turbo promotional video..
This is a 2 part video, and the 1st part of it is especially entertaining when they do some drag races of older Euro sedans! right on!
I used to love these old Saabs….and still do. Bring this kind of glory back, Koeniggsegg!
PART 1
PART 2
…and the most unreliable brand is: MINI!
I used to love the MINI, thought it was a great car for a great price. As time has moved on—i’ve become more and more weary of them; maybe because there are so many of them on the road and maybe because they’ve started to simply look dated and boring now. Once in a while, i encounter a tricked up version on the street which looks pretty sweet. But the run-of-the-mill Mini Cooper really is a slow and boring car.
What makes all of this worse? The MINI brand is clearly the most unreliable brand sold in the US at the moment, according to JD Power’s annuall assessment of brand reliability.
So all the hype….BMW backing….and the Mini’s reliability SUCKS. Nice one, Mini……Another reason never to buy one…
Maserati……Ramblin
This video was posted on Vimeo, and I dunno much about the video….aside from the fact that it’s great! Love it. It might be a commercial for the Quattroporte—judging by the outro….
Vodpod videos no longer available.
foto of the day.
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24 Hours of LeMans is here! Watch it online…
24 Hours Of LeMans is here! Can AUDI take its R15 TDI to further its domination of the sport? Or can Peugeot finally crack the code?
My money is on the R15. Audi really knows what they’re doing on this race….
LINKS!
WATCH IT LIVE: http://www.justin.tv/ekatesportshd
WATCH IT LIVE: http://www.justin.tv/tomcio6
WATCH IT (link 2): http://www.ustream.tv/channel/eurohd
WATCH IT (link 2): http://atdhe.net/7452/watch-24-hours-of-le-mans
LIVE TIMINGhttp://www.lemans.org/24heuresdumans/pages/chronos_fr.html
LISTEN TO THE ENTIRE RACE LIVE!: http://rlm08.0157.org/
SAAB will be cool again! KoenigSAAB is born!
Well i gotta say i was very happy when i learned today that Swedish supercar maker Koeniggsegg appears to be the buyer of the troubled GM-owned SAAB brand.
I had been pretty harsh on Saab a few weeks ago in my post about their direction, but it’s really nice to see them escaping the diseased hands of GM.
This is gonna be a fascinating combination. So will SAAB go back to being a smaller niche company? Or will K-Segg try and turn them into a higher volume, money-making swedish trickster? My suspicions tell me that they’re gonna keep SAAB very specific, very swedish, and bring some of the soul back that’s been lost. Whether they go retro or they go futurist—-i’m pretty sure that Koeniggsegg is really gonna put some good time and effort into resurrecting one of the cooler brands of cars around today. It’s also REALLY nice to see Saab going back to Sweden….and not being sold to some rubbish Chinese carmaker….
Makoto Ouchi airbrush drawings.
These are airbrush drawings by Makoto Ouchi. Very cool stuff indeed…
MORE INFO: http://www.khulsey.com/masters_makoto_ouchi.html
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1960 Maserati Birdcage Tipo 60/61
1952 Alfa Romeo 1900 Disco Volante
foto of the day.
a tribute to DODGE! the glory days….
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Fiat-Chrysler: DONE! Chrysler name = dead?
Finally!
So what’s gonna happen now? Is the Chrysler nameplate going away? Businessweek is suggesting there is a “high likelihood” that it will be Jeep, Dodge, and Fiat left in the end of the battle. At first, i was a bit surprised—but the more i think about it, the nameplate “Chrysler” doesn’t really offer much in terms of a solid product line. If anything, Dodge has always been the one carrying the brand. Plymouth used to be a big name in the 70s, but slowly faded away into the automotive graveyard.
So lots of questions! Will Alfa Romeo come back with Fiat? Will all the Chrysler products be called Fiats? Will there be Fiats sold as Dodges? Or will Fiats simply be sold as Fiats, Jeeps as Jeeps, and Dodges as Dodges? Is Fiat bringing the Tata Nano to the USA?
So many questions….but I do agree that Fiat will do a much better job than Daimler did with Chrysler. Let’s see what happens as the details unfold….
foto of the day.
probably THE hottest looking car i’ve seen lately…….makes the R8 look like a Lada….all hail the best looking sports car in the world—- the Artega GT!
(click twice to get hi-res)
The steady decline of BMW 3-series design…
Well, it’s a slippery slope downhill for BMW. Every generation of 3-series gets a *little* bit worse….Their identity is being lost completely, in my opinion. The E21 and E30 had alot of charisma—with the big twin kidney grille in the front. These days, it’s difficult to even SEE the twin kidneys on the grille. It looks more Pontiac than BMW.
BOOOO, BMW! You’re losing your class…
Check em out…in order, and see the steady decline in style:
more alfas….
oh yeah!
foto of the day.
Alfa Romeo Montreal…….SMOKING the tires!
(click 2 times to get hi-res)
Lamborghini driving gloves.
My search for the ‘ultimate driving glove’ continues….here are some “Diablo” driving gloves, sold directly by Lamborghini through their online store. NOT cheap at $136 a pair, but that Gallardo wheel button looks pretty damn sweet.
1938 Auto Union Type-D to hit the auctions!
Bonham’s is gonna be auctioning this ultra rare 1938 Auto Union Type D in August….and the real question is whether it will break the recent 1957 Ferrari Testa Rossa’s $12.9m record breaking sale last month.
Here’s hoping it does break the record….
SOURCE: http://www.luxist.com/2009/06/04/rare-1938-auto-union-d-type-could-break-records-at-bonhams/
Alfa Romeo 149 to the USA
Since Fiat is on its way back to the US market, using Chrysler like human traffic to do so—i’m more excited about the return of Alfa Romeo. FOR YEARS now, we’ve been hearing rumours about Alfa’s return to the US. Since 2006 or so, we’ve been holding our breath….but now it seems it would be practical with a foundation built to support the return of Alfa.
The 8C has already been on sale here for several months, but what else will they bring? The latest sources are saying the 149 (replacement for the Alfa 147) will also be making a move stateside, possibly renamed as the Milano.
I think that would be THE wisest car to bring to the US market. Affordable, classy, and a true competitor to the VW Golf, Audi A3, and the next BMW 1-series (out in 2010/2011 probably). If they price it in the low $20k range, keep the styling as shown in the above photo rendering, and bring the old-school Alfa Romeo attitude with it—-i’m pretty sure Alfa Romeo can bounce back in a very positive way in the US market.
COME ON ALFA! Bring it….
(photo sourced from: http://www.clubalfa149.it/en/)
IEDEI 