Jalopnik

Grand-Am In New Jersey: The Guido-Free Gallery [Video]

Raphael Orlove — Wed, 16 May 2012 17:15:00 EDT

While the World Endurance Championship rests up from its last race, the Six Hours of Spa-Francorchamps in the Belgian forest, Grand-Am road racers hit the track in beautiful New Jersey. Our friends at MotorSportMedia were there to catch all the scenic racing. More »

COTD: Momma Got Cancer In Her Breast Edition [Video]

Raphael Orlove — Wed, 16 May 2012 17:00:00 EDT

Classic though it may be, Biggie's "Things Done Changed" doesn't really address cars. Thankfully, we have our readers for that one. More »

This Romanian Driver Tried To Kill A Bunch Of Children [Video]

Benjamin Preston — Wed, 16 May 2012 16:30:00 EDT

If you're going to carry children as passengers in your car, the best plan is to have them all in seats, wearing seatbelts. Not only did this Romanian motorist have four kids riding in the open trunk of a tiny sedan, he almost got hit by a semi as he was making a left turn. More »

The Complete Master Plan To New Jersey’s Formula One Grand Prix [Exclusive]

Raphael Orlove — Wed, 16 May 2012 16:00:00 EDT

A new leaked document reveals the exact layout and plans for the next Formula One circuit, the Grand Prix of America in New Jersey. The map explains some of the many challenges in bringing F1 to the New York metro area. More »

What's The Best Six-Figure, Damp-Weather Sports Car? [Video]

Mike Spinelli — Wed, 16 May 2012 15:30:00 EDT

Like many high-performance gew-gaws, the UK and Japan often get the good stuff, while we're left with the more economical stuff. That's the issue with the Nissan GT-R Track Pack. We don't get it, but blokes in damp places, like Chris Harris, do. More »

Thieves Are Stealing Wheels From Denver's Subarus [Car Crime]

Benjamin Preston — Wed, 16 May 2012 15:00:00 EDT

My friend Dave was pretty surprised when he walked outside to jump in his car yesterday morning. There it was, sitting on four small bricks, lug nuts clustered in little piles around each hub, missing its wheels. It's not like the car was in a crappy neighborhood; it was a couple of blocks away from the Denver Country Club. More »

Is This The Hottest Woman Ever To Ride In A Rally Car? [Video]

Wes Siler — Wed, 16 May 2012 14:30:00 EDT

For legal reasons, we can't tell you the name of the supermodel you see auditioning to be a navigator for our friend Skiny. But, we can tell you that we're pretty jealous he got to get take her for a ride. Skiny's the host of an upcoming show called The Gentleman's Guide to Racing. More »

This Man Drove Out Into The Desert To Die [Secret Cars]

Benjamin Preston — Wed, 16 May 2012 14:00:00 EDT

Last July, a Grand Junction, Colo. man left for work in his Ford F250 just like he did every day. But Jonathan Keith Kelly, 54, wasn't going to work. He was driving to a remote corner of the state to end his life. More »

New World Record For 2,000HP Ford GT [Video]

Raphael Orlove — Wed, 16 May 2012 13:00:00 EDT

Stop everything and watch a 2,000 horsepower Hennessey Ford GT break the world record for the standing half mile. In 2,640 feet, the twin-turbo Ford reached 212.9 miles per hour. More »

Yes, It's Ethical To Drive A Stick Shift [Rants]

Jason Torchinsky — Wed, 16 May 2012 12:00:00 EDT

I really shouldn't have to even be answering this question. This week in Salon David Sirota wrote an article asking "Is it ethical to drive stick?" It's great to see a mainstream, intelligent publication like Salon talking about manual transmissions, except for one thing: the article is inane, and the fundamental question its asking is insipid. And, some of the facts are wrong. And it's whiny and stupid. Okay, five things. Other than that, it's great. More »

What’s The Worst 'There I Fixed It' Car Repair? [Question Of The Day]

Raphael Orlove — Wed, 16 May 2012 11:30:00 EDT

In America, you need a car to get around. When your car breaks and you have no money for repairs, you don't give up on the car. No, you find a way to fix it for free, often with terrible results. More »

Ten Essential Pieces Of Automotive Survival Gear [Answers Of The Day]

Raphael Orlove — Wed, 16 May 2012 11:00:00 EDT

No short list of ten items is going to adequately prepare you, the complete novice, for self-sufficient driving in the absolute wilderness. But, here are ten essential items of survival equipment, picked by Jalopnik readers, that might just keep you alive. More »

770 HP, 74 MPG, Looks That Can Kill [New Cars]

Wes Siler — Wed, 16 May 2012 10:00:00 EDT

Releasing these new photos of the Porsche 918 Spyder, the company has announced some exciting development news: with the aid of its electric motors, the plug-in hybrid prototype is currently developing 770 HP and returning up to 74 MPG. Also, ummm...I messed my pants. More »

A Car Thief Crashed This Stolen 1970 Chevelle SS In A Police Chase [Car Crime]

Benjamin Preston — Wed, 16 May 2012 09:00:00 EDT

Salt Lake City police told KSL TV they may have averted tragedy when they apprehended a wanted man driving a stolen muscle car packed with firearms. But the car — a 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS — was trashed in the chase. Sounds like a tragedy to me. More »

For $1,500, You’re In The Army Now [Nice Price Or Crack Pipe]

graverobber — Wed, 16 May 2012 08:00:00 EDT

In his seminal work on what humans find attractive about babies and juvenile animals - A Biological Homage to Mickey Mouse (pdf) - Stephen Jay Gould implies that it's the proportion of head to body size that is key. At the other end of the spectrum, today's Nice Price or Crack Pipe custom combat caprice has cartoon-sized tires, but will its presentation and price prove to be just too mickey mouse? More »

American Le Mans Monterey: Über Gallery [Car Porn]

Raphael Orlove — Tue, 15 May 2012 17:30:00 EDT

The six hours of racing at Laguna Seca this weekend didn't make for any surprise wins in the prototype classes, but we got some classically close GT competition. Laguna Seca veteran Brad Fox caught the unmitigated grandeur of modern racing cars flooding through the corkscrew. More »

COTD: A Gearhead’s Dream Vacation Edition [Video]

Raphael Orlove — Tue, 15 May 2012 17:00:00 EDT

You can keep your tickets to Tahiti, because we're booking our next flight to the overpriced green fields of Cheshire and we have a good reason why. More »

More Than 10% Of Corvettes Have Been Stolen At Least Once [Car Crime]

Benjamin Preston — Tue, 15 May 2012 16:30:00 EDT

Americans love Corvettes and, unfortunately, so do a few unsavory characters. The National Insurance Crime Bureau found that, since the fiberglass two seat debuted in 1953, more than 90,000 have been stolen. That's 6 percent of the 1,526,747 'vettes ever built, or one in 10 over the past 30 years. More »

What Goes Through A Biker’s Head When You Try And Kill Him [Rants]

Wes Siler — Tue, 15 May 2012 16:00:00 EDT

As car drivers, you've been there before. Distracted by that game of Angry Birds, the burger you're shoving into your fat face or just asleep at the wheel, you've nearly killed a motorcyclist. You might even have tried to do so on purpose. But underneath that helmet is an actual human being. Here's what happens when you try and kill one of us. More »

Take A Peek Inside Porsche's Time Machine [Video]

Mike Spinelli — Tue, 15 May 2012 15:30:00 EDT

Porsche doesn't need a flux capacitor to turn back time. It's got a shop where the most haggard, wrung-out and beaten-down members of the vast Stuttgart diaspora can be rebuilt and rejuvenated. Welcome to Porsche Classic. Don't step on any 959s, please. More »

Turning Abandoned Railroad Tracks Into A Drinker's Paradise [Video]

Raphael Orlove — Tue, 15 May 2012 15:00:00 EDT

The broke-ass alternative travelers of Punk Nomad have shown that abandoned railroad tracks are more than just a rusty eyesore, but a whole world of potential for home-built motorized railroad carts, for adventure, and for carefree drunk driving. More »

Group B Is Back! Sort Of [Group B]

Raphael Orlove — Tue, 15 May 2012 14:30:00 EDT

Start signing life insurance papers because the manic, unrestricted, deadly Group B is back. Only the Quattros, Lancias, Fords, and Peugeots from rallying's golden age never really left. More »

Fiat Photo Bombs Volkswagen With Elaborate Street View Prank [Car Pranks]

Jason Torchinsky — Tue, 15 May 2012 14:00:00 EDT

Well played, Fiat. By paying attention to when Google's fleet of camera cars were snooping around Södertälje, where Volkswagen's Swedish operations are headquartered, Fiat zinged their rival good. How? By parking a Fiat 500 right in front of the front door when Google's Street View cars were out. More »

Alain Prost Heads To Goodwood In Turbo Renault [Goodwood Festival Of Speed]

Peter Orosz — Tue, 15 May 2012 13:30:00 EDT

Four-time Formula One world champion Alain Prost will appear at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed, to be held on the last weekend of June, for the first time in the event’s history. This is the car he’ll be driving, the yellow and black Renault RE30 from late 1981, whose speed could only be exceeded by its unreliability. The latter was a major reason why Prost left Renault for McLaren at the end of 1983, and the rest is, of course, history. More »

Electric M3 Scorches Pikes Peak [Video]

Raphael Orlove — Tue, 15 May 2012 13:00:00 EDT

All you hear is the squealing of the tires. There's no straight six in EV West's 1995 M3, set to run at this year's Pikes Peak, just a 420 horsepower all-electric drivetrain. More »

Did You Know Volkswagen Sells Ketchup And Sausage? [Volkswagen]

Jason Torchinsky — Tue, 15 May 2012 12:30:00 EDT

Volkswagen was doing a surprising amount of R&D in the 1970s. They developed one of the first computerized driving simulators, they introduced their first unibody cars, and they were preparing the complex migration of their product line from rear-engine, air-cooled cars to modern FWD water-cooled ones. Oh, and they developed their own currywurst and special ketchup. More »

This WWII Fighter Plane Spent 70 Years In The Sahara Desert [Planelopnik]

Benjamin Preston — Tue, 15 May 2012 12:00:00 EDT

A Polish oil worker recently stumbled upon a wrecked World War II fighter plane that's been sitting in the Sahara Desert unmolested for the past 70 years. More »

What Survival Equipment Do You Need For Driving In Remote/Rugged Areas? [Question Of The Day]

Raphael Orlove — Tue, 15 May 2012 11:30:00 EDT

Some people are content to drive into the desert in a rented Impala with nothing more than a few cans of PBR. There should be a simple checklist of what everyone should bring into the wilderness to keep that kind of thing from happening. More »

The Ten Fastest Comic Book Cars [Answers Of The Day]

Raphael Orlove — Tue, 15 May 2012 11:00:00 EDT

When it comes to boasting about the fastest cars in the world, why restrict yourself to cars that actually exist? These ten rocket-powered, flying, impossible vehicle-things are what Jalopnik readers call the ten fastest comic book cars ever. More »

Identify This Truck And Help Police Catch A Gas Thief [To Catch A Car]

Matt Hardigree — Tue, 15 May 2012 10:30:00 EDT

Law enforcement agencies from across the U.S. have reached out to Jalopnik for help with car identifications since your input was "critical" to solving a hit-and-run last month. More »

Hey World, Meet The Chevy Trax [New Cars]

Wes Siler — Tue, 15 May 2012 10:00:00 EDT

What the world needs right now is yet another over-styled, utility and sport-free crossover, am I right? GM sure thinks I am, this new Chevy Trax combines the high center of gravity, compromised interior space and crappy driving dynamics of an SUV with the styling of a Transformers movie. More »

The 3-Series Wagon Returns To The U.S. [New Cars]

Benjamin Preston — Tue, 15 May 2012 09:00:00 EDT

Now that America has the fifth-generation 3-series, BMW announced that the sport wagon version will be available next year. No word yet on what powertrain options will be available in the wagon — most likely the same ones offered in the sedan: a 240 hp turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder or a 300 hp turbocharged 3.0 liter inline six. More »

For $18,000, Is This A 280ZX-15? [Nice Price Or Crack Pipe]

graverobber — Tue, 15 May 2012 08:00:00 EDT

Lockheed's SR-71 was conceived at the company's Burbank California Skunkworks. Today's Nice Price or Crack Pipe 1983 280ZX is similarly turbine-powered, but does its price simply stink? More »

A 1967 Shelby GT500 And The Open Road [Car Porn]

Wes Siler — Mon, 14 May 2012 17:30:00 EDT

Alex Kostiouk snapped this picture of a 1967 Shelby GT500 this weekend. It's a fine example of American Muscle, American Roads and Americana. RIP Carroll. More »

COTD: The COTD Jalopnik Deserves Edition [Commenter Of The Day]

Wes Siler — Mon, 14 May 2012 17:00:00 EDT

In The Dark Knight, Michael Cane plays Alfred, a butler-cum-wise man. Not to be confused with guy. Speaking to Bruce Wayne about the futility of attempting to find reason in chaos, he states some things are the way they are because they simply are that way. Why would thieves torch an S5 they couldn't steal? According to Victorious Secret, the reason doesn't matter. More »

Watch A Lamborghini Driver Crash In A Stereotypical Lamborghini Manner [Video]

Wes Siler — Mon, 14 May 2012 16:30:00 EDT

Why on earth would you buy a "P&**& Magnet Yellow" Lamborghini Gallardo? Why, to show off of course! Something accomplished with esteem by this, sadly stereotypical "P&**& Magnet Yellow" Lamborghini Gallardo owner. We won't spoil the ending for you, but whether that's luck or skill, we're actually impressed. More »

How To Murder Your Mail Order Bride In Death Valley [Video]

Wes Siler — Mon, 14 May 2012 16:00:00 EDT

"Oh hey, do you guys know how far the nearest gas station is?" The guy was sunburned, clearly dehydrated and living in a fantasy world as he staggered into our hidden campsite, 25 miles or more from the nearest road. With a flat tire and no ability to read a map, gas was the least of his worries. His...companion, sassily sipping on a PBR in the background, seemed to agree. More »

How To Carve A Canyon, Two Wheels At A Time [Video]

Mike Spinelli — Mon, 14 May 2012 15:30:00 EDT

Canyon carving, aka tickling your knee, isn't for the motorcycling noob. Many a would-be Valentino has found himself soaring headlong into the Santa Ana winds, on the way to being smashed into anchovy paste on the granite face of a San Jacinto batholith. Here's how not to do that. More »

Land Rovers In Dubai Come With Delicious Edible Book [Car Ads]

Jason Torchinsky — Mon, 14 May 2012 15:00:00 EDT

If you're stuck out in the Arabian desert in your new Land Rover, don't despair: you've been provided with a survival book that should help you figure out how to survive, and, if that's not enough, you can just eat the damn book. More »

Thieves Couldn't Steal This Audi S5 So They Torched It [Car Crime]

Benjamin Preston — Mon, 14 May 2012 14:30:00 EDT

A Long Island, N.Y. car dealership caught the whole thing on its security camera: Two would be thieves, unsuccessful in their attempts to steal a 2012 Audi S5 convertible, returned an hour later, set it on fire and fled again. More »