Is this really what the world has come to? It seems even a legendary rally in the twisted minds of Al-Qaeda is contrary to their beliefs.

The Dakar Rally, the legendary race across the Sahara which is one of motorsport’s toughest and most dangerous competitions, has been cancelled for the first time in its 30-year history because of security fears. There have been security warnings in the past, but never potent enough to scrap the entire race.
Continue reading →

I reported in late December that MINI was looking to enter the SUV fray with a Clubman like vehicle that they will most probably dub the “Crossman.” Well Eurospies have gotten a sneak peek of the new SUV going through its testing paces.
Continue reading →

 ”Termite” Snyder #5

Back in the 50’s to early 60’s a short track racing show appeared on TV screens across America.  It was called “Jalopy Races from Hollywood.”  Filmed at the Culver City Speedway in California in glorious black and white, it was hosted by an old time announcer named Bill Welch. 

Some of the stars at the ¼ mile Culver City dirt track were the cigar smoking, grinning “Termite” Snyder and Scotty Cain, always referred to on the broadcasts as the “Pecks Bad Boy” of the Speedway.  

They packed a lot into the half hour. A little racing, a little personality and the always popular “Crackup of the Week” segment. Sort of fixated on crashes and wrecks, when Bill Welsh did his opening he always ended it with – “and the ambulance is standing by, just in case.” 

Culver City Speedway was also the site for some of the filming of the classic Mickey Rooney racing movie “The Big Wheel.” 

My problem is that I can’t find an abundance of history or photo’s from the old Culver City Speedway. I know that a lot of our friends who visit us in the Garage love racing nostalgia and can help me learn more about this old bullring.

Let’s take a trip across the pond to view the 10 most popular British drives of 2007.

The most popular car in the country - as it has been since 1999 - was the Ford Focus, of which 126,928 units were sold.

The Focus was one of only three cars to break through the 100,000 barrier, the others being the Vauxhall Astra and the Ford Fiesta. Completing the UK top ten were the –
Continue reading →

It seems you can’t go a week without hearing about the Chevy Volt. It also seems that GM wants us to forget that this is their second time around playing with batteries.

The EV1 was the first battery operated vehicle produced by GM. The car could do 0-60 in less then 8 seconds and spewed no harmful emissions.
Continue reading →

If you like abusing your internet privileges at work, here’s a great Thursday diversion.

To ensure all media and fans do not miss a minute of the official unveiling of the new Toyota F-1 TF108 car, the event will be shown live on www.toyota-f1.com from 10.30 CET until around 11.10 CET. If my time calculations are accurate, that seems to translate to 3:30pm eastern time.
Continue reading →

A couple from Kilgore, Texas, Craig and Sondra Harrington, have this thing about car names.

They are not car enthusiasts or employed in the automotive industry yet can’t resist Porsche, Audi and Lexus.

It appears the Harrington’s have a daughter named Lexus. To keep the car theme going they recently had twins and named them Porsche and Audi.

Both babies come with warranties. Can a “Baby” Mercedes be far behind?

As WHEC-News in Rochester, New York reports, it’s not every day that a car dealer’s son is arrested for assaulting a customer. But that’s what happened at Ralph Pontiac Honda in upstate New York.

Now the customer has filed a lawsuit.

The customer says she was in the market a year ago for a new Honda Ridgeline and found what she wanted at the Ralph store.

After negotiating a deal, she says that she returned to the dealership with her signed contract to pick up her truck. That’s when Mike Ralph, Jr., told her she needed to come up with more money. Mr. Ralph is an officer at the dealership and the son of the owner.
Continue reading →

Trying to generate some electricity for its Xebra electric sedan or pickup, the manufacturer ZAP announced that it is offering free electricity to charge there electric vehicles for one year.

When you reserve a Xebra electric sedan or pickup online at http://www.zapworld.com you get a free Kill-A-Watt Smart Power Meter and free electricity for one year.

ZAP created the Xebra electric vehicle through a strategic partnership with a Chinese automaker. It is one of only a few
street-legal electric vehicles in mass-production today that can travel faster than 25 MPH.
Continue reading →

Aston Martin Racing has revealed the first impressions of its new GT2 racing car.

Known as the Vantage GT2, the new car is based on the V8 Aston Martin Vantage road car. The new car will mean Aston Martin is the only manufacturer to offer cars in every GT racing category: GT1 – DBR9; GT2 - Vantage GT2; GT3 – DBRS9; GT4 – Vantage N24.

For the first time, Aston Martin Racing is designing this car to run on either standard race fuel or E85 bio-ethanol. In 2007, Aston Martin Racing successfully converted a standard DBRS9 to run on E85. Currently the American Le Mans Series allows E-85.