Further on yesterday’s story on PSA’s, and by extension GM’s, alleged continuous supply of embargoed car parts to Iran, Bloomberg reports that Iran’s imports of automobile parts decreased by 47.8 percent to $254 million in the two months since March 20. (Read More…)

Edmunds compiled a list of the ten best cars “for teen drivers.” Edmunds did not pick the cars according to driftability or their magnetic force on chicks. Edmunds used criteria that should be on the minds of the people who usually buy those cars: Parents. As a parent, says Edmunds, “you’ll need to consider three factors above all others: safety, reliability and true cost to own.”

Once Edmunds was done with the list, it looked like a fresh arrival of exchange students. Except for a lone Malibu, all cars have foreign nameplates. (Read More…)

The engine just didn’t seem right… at least that’s what they said.

“Ma’am. I think you’re going to need a full tune-up. It’s going to be $487.38.”

“But this Volvo 240 just had the work done 10,000 miles ago?”

“It’s due ma’am. Sorry.”

(Sigh!)

(Read More…)

If you are seeking to conquer, subjugate, crush, annihilate, subdue, rout, defeat thy enemy on track, or, preferably, Autobahn, then collect all your pennies and buy the car that is synonymous for all that vehicular domination: The Aston Martin Vanquish, the car formerly known to a high net-worth clientele as the AM310. Yesterday, the Kuwaiti-held purveyor of handmade super cars finally unveiled its new flagship. (Read More…)

Who needs a mid-engined rice racer to drift? Latest dispatches from Russia show that with a little training, your can even drift when pulling a trailer. This creates so much enthusiasm that the camera car engages in a little sympathetic drifting as well.

TTAC commentator Jerszy writes:

Dear Sajeev;

Hopefully you & your fantastic community can help me here.

I recently purchased a 2002 Dodge Dakota Sport 4X4 (3.9 V6, 67k, Auto).

I bought it to replace my 2002 Cougar Sport Package (2.5 V6, 64K, Manual, speed-limited to 139mph) which as you know is not a good suburban truck and can’t really haul things. The Cougar was a fun car, very agile and could haul me around town and being a kitty-car it really did purr. Unfortunately it had to live outside in the rusty north for the last 6 years and was starting to age rapidly. Since I live in a “snow belt” (avg. snowfall ~120 inches a year) it had to be 4 wheel drive.

Now the Dakota is a definitely a truck. Almost as big as the ‘76 Silverado I had 30 years ago and just as four-wheelie as the ‘84 Toyota 4X4 truck I replaced it with. (That Toyota rusted, rusted, rusted so much I had to fabricate a wooden bed for it in 1987!) (Read More…)

Kelley Blue Book, normally not the epitome of cool, nonetheless compiled its list of the ten coolest cars under $18,000. Here is the list: (Read More…)

Toyota will cut its production capacity in Japan by more than 10 percent to some 3.1 million units by 2014, if The Nikkei [sub] is correctly informed. (Read More…)

Honda is mining for rare earth in unusual places: In cars.

Honda has been extracting rare earth metals from used nickel-metal hydride batteries since April. Today, the company announced it will begin reusing the extracted metals before the end of 2012. (Read More…)

When Renault had rolled out its Alpine A110-50 a few weeks ago, the logical conclusion was that this was not just to celebrate the 50^th birthday of Alpine. Today, Renault COO Carlos Tavares tells Bloomberg that Renault is thinking about bringing back Alpine as a brand for sports cars, and to create another high-end brand for luxury models in a bid to become a true global carmaker. (Read More…)

GM-partner PSA has repeatedly stated that shipments of parts to Iran’s carmaker IKCO (a.k.a. Iran Khodro) had stopped in February, and would not resume until September, if at all. The parts are for the 206 and 405 models, and PSA said it stopped shipping them in response to sanctions on Iran. IKCO says it’s not true at all, ships are unloading parts and the lines are running. (Read More…)

Bloomberg’s trademark monitor reports that GM filed an application to register “Electra” as a trademark, which triggered suspicion that a Buick Electra may see the light of day again. (Read More…)

Car companies the world over get in line to spend $185,000 (for starters) to register their brands as what is called a “Top Level Domain” or TLD. Instead of, say “Chevrolet.com,” in the future, you will be able to type only “Chevrolet” to get to the site. Google allows you to do the same right now, but also gives you a long list of other choices. (Read More…)

North Americans already get a “hot” version of the Vauxhall/Opel Astra – it just happens to come with a Buick badge. Perhaps the Gods of the Ren Cen will smile on us and bring us a Verano GS using the Astra VXR’s 2.0L Ecotec engine. Because we sure won’t be getting the oil-burner.

(Read More…)

My 1994 Toyota Camry managed to get 291,000 before it fell off the face of the Earth.

Did it become crusher fodder? Was it exported to a new and exciting life in the developing world? Or will Murilee someday find it among a junkyard menagerie of all too rare two door Camrys?

I wish I knew. I miss it. Neil Young’s, “Long May You Run” sometimes makes me yearn for that kinder, simpler machine.

(Read More…)