When I agreed to meet Hooniverse Editor-In-Chief Tim at Buttonwillow for an open trackday, I hadn’t fully considered what it would mean to coach in a 1964 Ford Falcon. To begin with, the car doesn’t have five-point belts; it has two-point belts. That’s right. Lappies only, no shoulder. And the bench seat moved from ratchet-stop to ratchet-stop in every turn, sometimes twice. Oh yeah, and there was the fact of vintage crash “safety” to consider. (The shot around 1:10 is particularly cringe-inducing.)

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When Chevrolet decided to reprise the ZL1 moniker for the fastest, most powerful Camaro ever, on one hand it made a lot of sense. The 1969 Camaro with the all-aluminum ZL1 motor, formerly the fastest factory Camaro ever, has achieved somewhat mythical status among Camaro fans and other knowledgeable gearheads. On the other hand, ZL1 is a bit of an inside baseball name. Brand names like Z/28, Mach 1, RS and Boss undoubtedly have more recognition among car enthusiasts and non-enthusiasts than ZL1.

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After seeing this 1969 Volvo 145 wagon a couple of weeks back, I figured I wouldn’t be seeing any more 140s for quite a while. Not so! (Read More…)

Growth of the formerly red-hot Chinese auto market is as slow as traffic during the Beijing rush hour. At least, there still is some growth. Sales of all automobiles in China are up 2.9 percent for the first half of the year to 9.59 million vehicles. Sales in June were up 9 percent. This according to data released by the by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM). (Read More…)

It’s an unbelievable pain. Or a pleasure worthy of a cold beer on a hot summer day.

Changing oil in a car can either be a 1-2-3 process that gives you an instant feeling of afternoon achievement. Or a painful and miserable endeavor that leaves stains on your clothes, oil slicks on your driveway, and cuss words on the tip of your tongue.

The question every car owner has to ask is, “Will this be worth my time?”

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Circa 1998, I was mentally ready to move from the (lower-middle class) suburbs of Houston to the College for Creative Studies’ (CCS) dorm in the heart of Metro Detroit. Oddly my big surprise came not from Detroit itself, but from the dorm’s many Sony PlayStations…and something called “Gran Turismo”.  I knew about the Nissan GT-R, but I was like every other kid playing this amazing game: absolutely blown away by the GT-R’s prowess.

That said, I raced all CCS’ contenders in “arcade mode,” in the big block ’67 Corvette.  With the most power and the easiest to rotate chassis, I wasted most of my Japanese car loving dorm mates. The GT-R was/is rarely my weapon of choice in Gran Turismo. Which kinda explains my general apathy to the GT-R in the flesh. (Read More…)

What would we do without the neverending saga of the Mahindra brothers entering the United States of America with a truck? The publishing of white pages again has been prevented by the news that  the U.S.-bound truck by Mahindra & Mahindra has suffered yet another of its many setbacks. The Indian company has halted development work on a pickup truck aimed at the U.S. market after a failure to win certification, Reuters says. (Read More…)

Luke writes:

Hi Sajeev:

Unlike a lot of those seeking your sage advice, I’m not going to ask you whether or not I should buy a different car. I know I am buying a different car. My mind is made up, so don’t take any of my words as a question about soldiering on with what I have. My summer car is a mint, nicely upgraded 1994 Chevrolet Camaro Z28 (full Spohn/Strano suspension, hopped up LT1, Corvette brakes, etc) with 60K miles and it is not going anywhere. What I need is a new winter/utility vehicle… (Read More…)

The blogosphere has been buzzing for the past two days over a test conducted by Swedish auto rag Teknikens Varld, in which a new Jeep Grand Cherokee nearly rolled over. The so-called “moose test”, which purports to simulate a 40mph swerve-avoidance maneuver, made Teknikens Varld world-famous in 1997 when it caused the then-new Mercedes A-Class to roll over. Although the magazine was able to coax some pretty acrobatic behavior out of a Toyota truck in 2007, the news that compact pickups can roll over in certain situations didn’t exactly shock the globe.
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Browsing TrueCar’s top lease deals for July, 2012 yielded an interesting find; a lease deal on the Chevrolet Volt that specifically excludes HOV-lane qualified versions.

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While the Scion FR-S is performing well in its initial months of sales, the lower volume Subaru BRZ already has some cash on the hood, to the tune of $400.

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One of two circular looms on the planet. 12 layers of seamless carbon fiber are woven into what will be part T3-3RH, part A-pillar, part roof support

Yesterday, we heard how the LFA really was born (in a bar, where many good ideas are born and pitched,) and why it is made from carbon fiber. Now, we are in front of the cleanroom, and while our little group is suiting up, let’s use the time for a quick course on CFRP. 

The basic principle of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer, CFRP for short, is not new. It dates farther back than metal. CFRP is a composite, made from two completely different materials that are joined together to give a much stronger material. Straw and clay was such an early composite. Concrete is a more recent one. In the case of CFRP, carbon fibers are combined with epoxy, the polymer. Sometimes, the material is also called “carbon fiber reinforced plastic,” but the end product is far removed from what usually comes to mind when we think of plastic. (Read More…)

Sergio Marchionne has been one of the most prolific alarmists regarding European overcapacity, and who can blame him? The economy is in the dumps in Fiat’s home market, as well as crucial export markets, and closing a plant would come with all kinds of blowback.

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Irvin Gordon bought the Volvo coupe in 1966 when an AM/FM radio was a big deal and an optional extra.  Gordon took Volvo P1800 and radio. 46 years later, the car holds the mark for High Mileage Vehicle since 2002 and is only 34,000 miles away from the 3 million mark. Yes, that’s 3,000,000 miles. (Read More…)

According to Brazilian enthusiast site bestcars.com.br, Fiat will start selling the 500 L in Europe this month. Deliveries will begin in October. The good news is that the minivan will be available in 100 countries, including the good old USA. Fiat took the opportunity to supply more info on the first stem off its iconic Cinquecento that will spawn a slew of cars including the 500 X. Read on to find out the details. (Read More…)