Autoblog

The Lexus Nuaero concept would look right at home running alongside its movie star sibling that appeared in Minority Report, though that concept vehicle got all the looks. Unfortunately, that's not saying much. Jon Radbrink has penned a futuristic blade of a car that comes out looking for all the world like a Stanley Pocket Surform. The forward thinking doesn't stop with the Hobie-Cat exterior, there's plenty of future-dreaming inside the Nuaero. Pedals have been banished for a steering wheel-based setup that operates sort of like an aircraft yoke. Radbrink thinks that people's hands are better for driving than our feet - something about accuracy. Mhm. John must ride the train a lot; we see plenty of inaccuracies happening out there by people using all four extremeties. While we're all dreaming, the Nuaero is intended to be rendered in lightweight materials, so it would theoretically offer the space of a larger vehicle while only pressing the scales with the equivalent weight of a SMART ForTwo. At least we now have a design for this years Pinewood Derby. Thanks for the tip, Ian!


[Source: Gizmodo]

It is our sincere hope that this rendering is as far off the mark as we think it is. The scary part is that if you look at the teaser and then flip back to this shot, the elements actually seem to match up. The horror. That big venty nose on an Aston? We sure hope this chop winds up being the product of a photoshop artist with bad taste. We'll lose all respect for Aston Martin if it ends up making an Attack Mode GT, even if it does pack a V12 and accelerate fast enough to catch a sprinting Chuck Norris.

[Source: TTAC]

It's got the preposterously huge wing, and race-burlesque stripe job; could this Viper spotted at the Nurburgring possibly be a Viper ACR? The red and black Viper was nabbed on one of the 'Ring's cameras, and there's also reports of a black Viper with graphite stripes tearing around the German racing venue. While the pictures showed up on the Viperclub forums, nobody's got any lap times, unfortunately. Could the ACR turn laps as fast as the scorching GT-R or ZR1? Who knows, but there's no doubt that it'll be fast. That big, silly wing is acceptable in this instance, as it will actually work to enhance downforce on the drive wheels. It'd be the first thing removed for street duty, were we the owners of a Viper GTS. Alas, we're not Viper ACR owners, though the idea of an astoundingly fast car that can kill you if you don't know what you're doing just seems right in these days of electronic safety nets. Cowboy attitude aside, we hope that this Viper owner managed to not stuff it into any hazards, and that his lap times eventually bubble to the surface. Thanks for the tip, Gustavo.

[Source: forums.viperclub.org]

Trevor Creed has decided that being the capo di designi capo for such programs as the Chrysler 300, PT Cruiser, Dodge Challenger, Viper, and Ram, among others, is a satisfactory way to cap a career in design. Creed has spent the past 23 years at Chrysler, and his departure as Vice President of Design on August 31st opens up the slot for Ralph Gillies to step up. Gillies will start his new role as Design Veep September 1st, and he'll answer to Frank Klegon, Executive VP of Product Development.

Hey Frank, get rid of focus grouping, give Ralph a bit more leash to manage a staff that can design a car that actually looks good. As Design Vice President, Gillies will now oversee the Product Design Office, so one imagines that, given the opportunity, there may be a glimmer of hope for righting the horrid wrongs of the Sebring, as long as some of that 2009 Ram mojo is still around.

Once Gillies and team work sheetmetal magic, Andreas Schnell is the newly appointed Vice President of Electrical/Electronics Engineering Core, the people that come up with the electronics that not only run the vehicle, but entertain and delight, as well. Schnell will also be responsible for "voice of the customer" efforts, and the voice of the customer should be heard loud and clear saying "please build better cars."

[Source: Chrysler]

In the book of Genesis, man was given dominion over all the plants and animals, so we're guessing that dead, liquified ones count, too. Since Rocky Twyman started his Pray At The Pump effort in April, average fuel prices have certainly fallen. Twyman believes that his groups' prayers have effected the change, and that no other factors like shifting consumer behavior, international conflict, or speculators has anything to do with it. Right.

The Pray At The Pump group is not just asking for divine fuel price intervention without also encouraging acts of sacrifice on behalf of man – Twyman's ministry strongly encourages car pooling and better organized trips to maximize conservation on a day to day basis. After all, committing the mortal sin of gluttony while asking for the Lord to make it easier on us all would ring kind of hollow. We suppose even the non-faithful can get behind Twyman's effort in that it's at least as effective as the various fuel-saving trinkum that internet scheisters are imploring us to buy (run your car on water? hydrogen "batteries"?), and it costs nothing, to boot. Combined with a regimen of proven fuel-saving behaviors, extra prayers certainly can't hurt in keeping the flow of car-sustaining manna trickling along at an affordable price.

[Source: BBC, AutoblogGreen, Photo: daylife.com]

click above to view a hi-res gallery of Beijing 008

China, that's what. Artist Qin Yufen has just unveiled Beijing 008 with the help of Aston Martin chieftains Ulrich Bez and Kenny Chen. The art installation brings together a ginormous tape measure, a quote about disorder, a statuary tribute to Stephen Hawking that hangs from the ceiling, and a V8 Vantage in a way that ambiguously represents the mystery held by the 21st century. That is, according to artist Yufen. We think the fuzzy meaning will make the work more accessible to the public at large, as any statements made by Yufen's work is deliberately soft-spoken and open to interpretation. It is a wine-and-cheese set kind of way to commemorate the opening of an Aston Martin dealership in China, too.

Aston Martin is a strong supporter of artistic endeavors, and this is one way to celebrate the brand's entrance into the Chinese marketplace. It's not necessarily the way we would've chosen (autocross inside the Forbidden City?), but it's one way. The high level of craft that's historically gone into Astons also dovetails nicely with the handmade nature of the artwork. Easily interpreted art is all well and good, but the moment you fire up that Vantage, the intent is clear - go fast, be coddled. At least they didn't cut the car up to make some kind of pointless statement.


[Source: Aston Martin]

In the future, we'll eat all our meals from toothpaste tubes, everyone will be beautiful and healthy, and we won't need cars, what with the proliferation of nuclear-powered jet packs. Prediction is such thorny business, though Toyota isn't making such a fantastical claim by suggesting that each of its vehicles will have a hybrid option available by 2020. Wired's blog seems to agree that by 2020, hybrids will have proliferated like rabbits, and we'll be awash in electron propulsion systems.

We still feel a little cheated that eight years into the 21st century, we still don't have all those things promised to us fifty years ago, but at least automakers are hard at work pushing alternative systems toward viability. Justin Ward, a manager at the Toyota Technical Center overseeing advanced powertrain programs, told a Management Briefing Seminar in Traverse city that work continues on fuel cells to overcome challenges like climate extremes and range. Battery technology, too, will continue to advance, making the current Hybrid Synergy Drive even more efficient. Toyota is still holding off on diesels, and plug-ins present some issues when you consider where that electricity is generated, so it's looking like Toyota will continue to develop its fuel cell technology for the long term and bolster its hybrid offerings in the near future.

[Source: Auto News - sub req. Photo: itd.idaho.gov]

Click above for a gallery of the Veno.

Apparently, dreaming up a new design for a rarefied vehicle is too difficult for Veno Automotive, a Polish spinoff of UK-based Heros Capital Ltd. Rather than relying on design experts, with their fancy degrees and engineering knowledge, the company cribbed the Lamborghini Reventon so closely that we predict flying lawsuits.

Veno's car not only looks like a Lamborghini, the company claims it will perform like one, too. Underpinning the bodywork is supposedly a chassis that can make use of more than 1,000 horsepower. Coupe or convertible flavors are planned, with a low yearly volume of about 15. Carbon fiber will make up the bodywork, carbon-ceramic brakes are part of the package and there's an array of tech like night vision and an on-board computer with internet access. Power will initially come from Audi's 4.2 liter V8 in various levels of tune, and the company suggests that it will be able to wrest some LS9s from General Motors, a claim that's as plausible as space aliens at the White House. If V8s don't whet your appetite, there's also some idle chatter about an electric version. Our impression is that this car is just talk right now, and the pictures of the office look staged to some degree, so while the story is making the rounds, we wouldn't get our hopes up for anything real.


[Source: Carscoop]

Think of it as the Carsumer Price Index; new car sales are under pressure from other factors besides fuel prices and economic slowdowns, much like the Consumer Price Index strips out the price of fuel and food and then makes a proclamation about the economy. At least that's the theory that Pinny Cohen posits. Who's Pinny Cohen? As far as we know, he's an average joe with an internet rostrum and a budding web entrepreneurship who makes some salient points. He's also an Autoblog reader and he's got something to say, so we thought we'd share.

If it's not $4/gallon gasoline or economic stagnation that's putting the brakes on car sales, what else could it be? Cohen posits that the better construction of cars these days, a glut of leases that have led to a tsunami of used cars, and online shopping and telecommuting keeping people home are all contributing factors, says Pinny. Something's got to give for consumers, and new car sales seem to be the weakest link. Every automaker will eventually accept these facts, but the question is whether some will have to close up shop in order to realize that it's a brand new day of decreased production. Check the link to read Cohen's thoughts and let us know if you agree or think of more reasons why besides the crappy economy and high gas prices that new vehicle sales are down.

[Source: PinnyCohen.com, Photo: DealerConnection.com]

I once bought an ice cream cone with two fistfuls of pennies. It did not make me popular on that busy summer's day many years ago, but I got my sugar cone with a scoop of Black Raspberry. A 70-year-old Ohio man recently bellied up to the bar at his local Chevrolet dealer and allowed them to count $8,000 worth of coins as a down payment for a new Silverado. James Jones was badly injured by his last truck, a 1981 Chevy that ran him over when the parking brake failed, so it was time to put the old girl out to pasture. After the dealership spent an hour and a half counting through the various coinage in the 16 coffee cans that Jones presented, he got his truck. The full price of the truck was closer to $16,000, so whichever company is financing the truck should go out and buy a coin counter right now. You see, Jones explains that he just doesn't like banks, and wisely realizes that paper money will burn, so he kept his savings in coins all this time. When he says he bought his truck for pennies, he really means it. Thanks for the tips, everyone!

[Source: Cincinnati.com, Photo by Darren Hester | Creative Commons]