Click above for high-res gallery of Jay's Tank Car in Monterey
We were as surprised as anyone to see Jay Leno's name on the entry list for this year's Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. Then we saw that he would be arriving in a 1953 Chrysler. As nice as 1953 Chryslers may be, Jay's is pretty special. It's an imposing custom hot rod that is powered by a 28.4-liter Chrysler built tank engine. Most people call it the Tank Car, and last year this time it was on display across the country at the Woodward Dream Cruise. The heart of the Tank Car is the 1792 cid V-12 Continental-designed, Chrsyler-built tank engine that in turbocharged form puts out something like 1,600 hp and 3,000 ft-lbs. of torque. The engine alone weighs 2,000 lbs and easily qualifies Jay's car in this year's featured 20+ liter class.
While performance isn't this car's main goal, it can scoot along pretty well with all of that power being routed through an Allison 6-speed transmission. Switching from the original 3-speed trans doubled Leno's gas mileage, which now stands at around 5 mpg. As bad as that might seem, it comes across as almost reasonable when you hear it guzzles 80 quarts of oil every time Jay swings through a Jiffy Lube. We have to admit that we were among the many fans who rushed to see the car as Jay entered the Pebble Beach fairway. It's really a spectacular sight, even at an event that is known to stop even seasoned auto afficianados in their tracks every few seconds.
Click image above for huge high-res gallery of the AB team's pics from the track
The 35th Rolex Monterey Historic Automobile Races presented by Toyota at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca is a long title for a spectacular event. Saturday was actually day two of the Historics, which will conclude on Sunday. While the races are exciting and the action very real, the results are slightly less important here than just witnessing the spectacle. The sounds alone are worth a trip to Laguna Seca in August. Saturday's action featured the Toyota Race of Legends, with several other classes having their day in the sun as well.
We had photographers all around the track capturing glimpses of the action, so make sure to click through the gallery to see what you are missing. After witnessing Mario Andretti throw the checkered flag for the Legends and then completing what seemed like dozens of "demo" laps in his old Lotus F1 car, we thought we knew what makes this event so special. And then we saw Patrick Dempsey getting some demo laps in an old Chrysler, and we had to rethink our theory. Okay, Dempsey is probably a bit more maligned here than he deserves, but he does seem to be featured here a lot lately. Personally we were happy to see the Keno twins of Antiques Roadshow fame just as much.
Look through the gallery and you will see some of these encounters and dozenz of pics of the great cars you practically trip over in the open paddock. It's just sick how many of the greatest cars from throughout automotive history are here and being driven as they should be. Saturday's classes included the finals for Pre-1940 Sports and Touring Cars, 1925-1950 Racing Cars and Indy Roadsters, 1950-1960 Sports Racing Cars, 1966-1972 Historic Trans-Am Cars, 1966-1974 Historic Can-Am Cars and 1964-1975 FIA Sports Racing Cars. We also got to see some of the cars that will be running Sunday as their owners tweaked them for the final day of competition. If you make it out to the track on Sunday you'll likely catch the featured Alfa Romeos as well as 1955-1966 Production Sports Cars, 1967-1978 Historic F-1 Cars, and 1972-1983 Historic IMSA Cars. If you can't find something you like in those groups, you're not trying.
Press release after the jump with results and quotes from Saturday.
Click above for more sweet pictures of Uncle Rico's van
In the market for a sweet ride? Consider Uncle Rico's van, which is currently on eBay and located in Columbus, Ohio. The van in question is an orange 1975 Dodge Santana Camper van, which isn't all that noteworthy by itself... but this one was featured in the 2004 cult-classic Napoleon Dynamite, making its new owner an especially lucky fellow. It's got a couple of beds, a stove, a refrigerator and a sink, though a Liger is not included. Take a good look at all the pics in our gallery below and remember to Vote Pedro for President.
Standing seven feet and one inches tall and weighing in at 375 pounds, Shaquille O'Neal is one big dude. Must drive a big 'ol car then, right? Umm, not exactly. The Phoenix Suns star center has recently been spotted in his newest automotive purchase, a smart fortwo. Seriously. And, surprisingly enough, he fits! Don't believe us? See above for photo proof. Well, so he sorta fits. It's a good thing that Shaq opted for the convertible, as his head comes up several inches over the top of the windshield. Oh, and we can find no real proof that the door has ever completely shut with Shaq inside. Just sayin'.
Click above for high-res pic of the actual KITT F-150
Mike Levine from Pickuptrucks.com recently spoke with Knight Rider Executive Producer Gary Scott Thompson and got the skinny on KITT's new ability to transform himself (seriously, I just called it a "him") from a 2008 Shelby GT500KR to a 2009 Ford F-150 FX-4. The idea for having KITT morph into a truck came to Thompson when he needed his main character and that week's damsel in distress to make a quick getaway without KITT having to stop for them to get in, so he imagined the car as a pickup. This way the characters could hop right in its bed (we see this happen in the new clip that was released by NBC), though we're unsure how they survive the metal origami that turns KITT back into a car. We also disagree with Thompson when he alludes to the GT500KR being "about the same mass" as the F-150, but he feels justified in taking this direction with KITT after consulting with "futurists" at Microsoft who predict that vehicles will change their shape to suit our needs by 2030. We don't know what being a futurist entails, but we're not inclined to believe ones employed by Microsoft who failed to predict the backlash against Vista, how bad the Zune would sell or that the entire first batch of XBox 360s would fail. Clairvoyants they are not.
Though the rendering at right reveals KITT F-150 was originally designed to bear a bigger resemblance to the GT500KR on which the car is based, it's ended up being just a blacked-out F-150 FX-4 with KITT's signature red light bar above and behind the top bar of the grille. That should make it easy for fanboys to recreate with their own 2009 F-150s though, because we just know sales of the truck are going to skyrocket after the new season of Knight Rider begins.
Just two days after taping the pilot episode of Top Gear USA, Adam Carolla took the proactive approach of revealing who the first Star in a Reasonably Priced Car is before the blogosphere could get those in attendance who signed NDAs to spill the beans. On his radio show Monday morning, Carolla got a caller to cough up the name, and it's none other than auto icon and generally icky dude David Hasselfhoff. Reports from people who attended the taping say that the Hoff was actually a great live guest and even had autographed photos of himself to pass out to the crowd who had been standing in place for seven hours. We haven't heard how Hasselhoff did running a Kia Rio around Top Gear USA's test track, but being the first will ensure his time gets placed atop the leader board.
Who else would you like to see be a Star in a Reasonably Priced Car on Top Gear USA? We can think of a whole red carpet's worth of B- and C-list celebrities, and yes, that includes Kathy Griffin. Click the source link below to make your way to an audio clip of Adam Carolla's radio show on Monday morning.
News coming out of Comic Con last week revealed that KITT would be able to transform into a pickup in the new Knight Rider series set to debut this fall on NBC. We thought perhaps the show and Ford, its biggest sponsor, would take the high road and have KITT's Shelby GT500 KR just grow a bed behind the B-pillar. Of course, we were wrong and this video proves that KITT will indeed transform into a full-size Ford F-150 FX-4. Never mind the fact that a Mustang just doesn't contain enough raw material to make up an F-150 truck, what really turns us off is Ford using a TV show that's already pimping one of its vehicles to push another one with sales falling faster than Goliath over a cliff. By this logic we expect that KITT will eventually encounter a resurrected KARR that's been stuffed into a Mercury Grand Marquis and the Knight Industries tractor trailer will be replaced by a fleet of Ford Transit Connects. Don't forget to watch the video for yourself after the jump.
Disney is planning a sequel to its cult classic, Tron. Jeff Bridges reprises his role as Flynn, though the character may take on a more menacing tone in part two. Teaser footage was unveiled just yesterday at the San Diego Comic Con. While Tron was just moderately successful at the box office, the film's legend has grown along with its 80s-era fans, enough to earn itself a sequel over two decades later. The Light Cycles starred in what was perhaps the original film's most iconic scene, and they make a grand comeback in Tr2n, the tentative (and very unfortunate) name of the sequel.
Seriously, watch the crappy, clandestinely-obtained footage from the convention panel after the break. Color us super excited based on this early teaser. When we see a proper copy of this, we'll likely be even more stoked. Seriously, how cool are the new Light Cycles? We think they look awesome in their new uncovered form, and the updated graphics make us hope that the new story, said to be written by Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz from Lost, lives up to our childhood Tron memories.
What would Top Gear be without a star in a reasonably priced car? Well... better, for one thing. But that hasn't stopped NBC from porting over the red-headed step-child of Top Gear segments to the imported version of the show. According to Jalopnik, during tomorrow's taping, B-listersC-listers D-listers Howie Mandel and Melanie B (former Spice Girl) will be piloting the U.S.'s own version of a reasonably-priced car – a Kia Rio – around the newly minted Top Gear test track. What can we expect? Nothing good, we thinks. Nor does it bode well that both pseudo-celebs are part of the NBC franchise. Depressed? We thought so. But the taping is tomorrow, so we'll try to remain upbeat until the first reports from inside the studio surface.
Click above to view live pics at ShadowyFlight.com
NBC is unveiling the new Attack Mode for KITT today at the very large Comic Con convention in San Diego. ShadowyFlight.com is covering the reveal of the car live in its forums, but this image has already made its way on the web and confirms that KITT has had his wings sheared. Gone are the various spoilers that cluttered the first version and what remains is a cleaner car with dual side exhausts, a deep chin spoiler that looks pretty heavy duty, an equally strong looking mesh grille, what appears to be rocket launchers where a shaker scoop would go, a still-very-big rear wing, rear air diffuser and new spokeless wheels that were stolen right off of a Bonneville Salt Flats racer. The rear tires are extremely oversized and still manage to poke out from the newly flared fenders. Is it better than the first Attack Mode version of KITT? Yes. That doesn't mean we necessarily like it, though. The Knight Rider fan community seems split as well. Make up your mind in the comments after visiting ShadowyFlight.com for over 20 more additional high-res pics of the new Attack Mode KITT. UPDATE: New live shots on KRO reveal Attack Mode KITT has lambo doors. UPDATE 2:ShadowyFlight.com returned with a big gallery of live images.
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