Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Ferrari Testarossa



Produced between 1984-96, the Ferrari Testarossa is the archetypal red-braces symbol of eighties supercar excess - imagine it parked up in the City between a Countach and a 930 Turbo, its slash-cut side-strakes glinting in the light. It's an impressive image, but one that's anchored in a time period that, frankly, is a little embarrassing.

Which is a shame for the Testarossa... but not for anyone who might be in the market to buy one. You see, the image has unduly damaged the reputation of the flat-twelve-engined behemoth but, when all's said and done, it's still a Ferrari, and an immediately recognisable one at that. Being born in Maranello guarantees four things: 1) fabulous performance, 2) unparallelled handling, 3) exemplary build quality and 4) that wherever you go, people will be impressed.
But because the Testarossa image is rather Gordon Gekko these days, you can pick one up for around £35,000. That's the price of a new Mercedes SLK, for example. And what do you get for your money? A 4.9-litre all-alloy flat-twelve producing 390bhp and 361lb.ft, 0-60mph in 5.2s and a top speed of 181mph.

Of course, the best thing about the Testarossa is that it embodies everything a true supercar should be, in that it's utterly ridiculous. It's far too wide, the visibility is terrible, there isn't an elegant way to get in or out and you'll need to change the cambelt every couple of years, which will involve taking the whole engine out and will cost you two grand a time. All of these points are, of course, positives - if you're in the market for a £35k car, get a Testarossa. Get one now. You had a picture of one on your wall when you were a kid, admit it - now's the time to live out your über-ostentatious supercar fantasies.





Cortina Auto-Bobbing

Jim Clark driving a mkI Cortina down a bobsleigh run. Is this a good idea...?



Yes. Of course it is.

What not to buy

Some vintage TG footage - the world's smuggest man, Quentin Willson, tries to steer you away from such classics as the Ford Scorpio and the, ahem , 'Rover A Hundred', via the most agonisingly cliché-ridden script you've ever heard. Irritatingly hilarious.



Sorry, just how does a falling girder depreciate...? And how can you tell if a bison has a migraine?

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Driven - Ford Focus 1.6



The Ford Focus has a good chassis. Everyone knows that, right? It's a monumental victory - they've made a utilitarian mass-market car that handles, bringing driving joy to the masses.

Incorrect.

This was true of the mkI Focus. It handled in a sublime manner - chuckable yet predictable, playful yet planted, with an eager range of powerplants from the little 1600 Zetec through the diesels and up to the top-of-the-line performance models. So the mkII should be more of the same. But it really isn't.

I'll ruin the ending for you right now: there is no twist. This story doesn't end well. The new Ford Focus 1.6 is a fundamentally bad car. So bad, in fact, that when cruising on the motorway it's entirely possible to forget that you're driving it at all. I felt a strong temptation to take my hands off the wheel and grab a magazine from my bag, just for something to do - I didn't feel like I was driving the thing. Thankfully, the thrashy little engine makes a colossal noise at anything above 60mph, so there's no danger of falling asleep.
It's as if every individual element of the driving experience has been pinpointed by Ford and systematically blunted, one by one, to ensure that this is a car that caters specifically for people that have no interest in driving. The steering has a dead-spot an inch and a half wide in the centre, making it genuinely possible to wiggle the wheel from side to side like you're driving the Playbus, with absolutely no reaction from the front wheels. The finesse and poise of the mkI are totally absent - you don't so much corner in this car as waft... and not in the way that you might in a Bentley. You waft in a manner that suggests the spring cups have been stuffed with marshmallows. It's like they've deliberately tried to make it unpleasant and uninvolving. Actually no, unpleasant is too emotive a word. There's just nothing to the way the Focus handles. It's bland. It's beige.

The process of changing gear is agonisingly torturous - a snatchy clutch that seems angry at you for bothering it, mated to a floppy gearbox that has such a comically long throw that changing from third to fourth involves moving the knob a good six or seven inches - and, sadly, you need to do it irritatingly frequently. Why? Because Ford's engineers have inexplicably seen fit to scoop out the innards of the 1.6-litre engine and replace it with something spinny and pointy bearing a Moulinex plaque. And everyone knows that blenders have a stupidly narrow torque band.

The interior is a depressing and bleak place to be. On the plus side, it's hugely spacious, the aircon's pretty good and the stereo is, well, not bad. But there are about thirty different kinds of plastic in there, ranging from the sort you'd find in a tin of biscuits to something you'd expect to have 'Aerobie' emblazoned upon it. It feels like a first-time design study by a group of enthusiastic but misguided sixth-formers on a tight budget, rather than the sort of thing you'd expect to receive in return for 14,000 of your hard-earned pounds. The benefit of this, of course, is that it suitably lowers your expectations - you already know, before turning the key, that the whole experience is going to be a big let-down.

It was a vicious bastard too. The fiddly passenger seatbelt clasp took a sizeable chunk out of my wife's arm (seriously, she's got a scar), while I walked away with a bruised leg from the aggravatingly intrusive driver-door armrest. It clearly hated us as much as we hated it. Still, at least we'd only borrowed the wretched thing - imagine how those poor sods who've actually bought one must feel...

Top Deer

Hyundai in sense-of-humour shocker. Lovely.

Monday, June 28, 2010

Los autos antiguos de Cuba



There are a quarter of a million classic American cars in Cuba, so you see them everywhere. SuckSqueezeBangBlow went on a mission to snap a few of them for you.
What you see more of, interestingly, is Ladas - they were imported on a massive scale from the sixties through the eighties. Your average Lada Riva would cost around 12,000 Cuban pesos (about £8,300-ish), while you'd pay similar money for, say, a fifties Chevy in usable condition. Fuel is so pricey in Cuba that pretty much every Yank tank you see has a diesel engine, and the only ones you see in reasonably original spec are owned by taxi companies in towns.

In a country where the average monthly salary is around £16, buying a car at all is beyond the reach of most Cubans - you need your lump sum in cash, along with an official government permission letter proving that the money is all yours and that you earned it legally. So owning a car in Cuba is a tremendously important thing, a much bigger deal than most of us can possibly imagine - hitch-hiking is the way most Cubans get about (indeed, there are official hitch-hiking co-ordinators in yellow jerseys, for whom government cars are obliged to stop), so drivers will never journey alone - there'll always be someone to pick up en route. So don't be surprised if you see a '57 Chevy belching out acrid black smoke with six people crammed into the back seat - that's just how the Habaneros roll.











Sunday, June 27, 2010

New electric cars in the world

New electric cars in the worldNew Electric Cars Design


This car a design eletric simple car for future. because this car environmentally friendly. The Reva is an Indian built electric car and one of the largest selling electric cars in the world. The Reva is a small 3-door hatchback measuring only 2.6 m long and with a top speed of 70km/h it is designed as a city car. Its small size and lake of pollution has won favor with London’s city council where it is exempt from London’s congestion charges. The car features a 13 kW DC motor mounted in the rear with 8 lead acid batteries under the front seats. It takes 2.5 hours to get to 80% charge or 8 hours to fully charge the Reva that gives it a range of 80klm although future use of lithium ion batteries will improve this greatly. The body of the Riva is made of colour impregnated ABS plastic that makes it dent and scratch resistant. In some markets the Reva is sold as the Reva G-wiz and as with most electric cars has found itself a niche market for people that want a cheap neighbourhood runabout and dont really need to go far or fast on a highway.

"OLED-clad car " German engineers

car, concept, engineers, Geneva Motor Show, German, Light Car, OLED-clad, Open SourceOLED-clad car concept Design


This car concept design for future is name oled clad car. 'Leccy Tech With the Geneva Motor Show on the horizon, German engineering services provider EDAG has released a preview of what it hopes will be one of the stars of the 2009 Swiss auto gathering: the “Light Car – Open Source”, a concept it is describing as “visionary and courageous”. The LC-OS consists of a rolling chassis that can be adapted to a number of styles and roles by using different body panels. Drive will be provided by four in-wheel electric motors powered by a lithium-ion battery pack which give the vehicle a range or around 150km (90-odd miles).

Design Alleged Smart Car Body Kits

Design Alleged Smart Car Body KitsCool Car Body Kits design

I think this car body kits is beautiful because this car use minimalis design on body car.

German ww2 troop carrier half track car

German ww2 troop carrier half track carfierce half track car german design

This car looks fierce as having used to fight and this car made in german. i think this car can defend for situation.
Almost identical but not actualWe wandered through his multi level carpark taking the odd non-Benz car from its stands giving it a quick service, plus spray grease in and on door hinges etc. An hour or two on the private roadway to get a little heat in things then puting it away for another indeterminate period.
In our roaming we decided to go through the unrestored and non-running lot and came upon some treasures he had forgotten he had!First up a German ww2 troop carrier (half-Track) which is fitted with a petrol engine! In the medium light it looked like a Benz or Maybach built engine (not that I am that familiar with the prewar stuff)!We checked it out a little closer and even though it was in a well used condition and a bit rusty, we concluded we should have a closer look when it is pulled into the service area. Keep posted for that one!He recalled that he bought it in an 'Auction' lot that came from a deceased/dispossessed eastern bloc government auction where he had only narrowly been able to get it out (or so they made out). He was forced to buy a container load of Eastern-bloc motorcycles to make up the required minimum export value, then they were able to include the 'troop-carrier' in the shipment and be guaranteed safe passage for the lot.What was revealed when the container with the motorcycles was opened was quite a few new 'Jawa' and 'CZ' motorcycles and most unexpected a ww2 'BMW' motorcycle with a sidecar!
There was excitement in my voice as I suggested we check it out, the Motorcycle collection is not given the credence the cars are but I am keen to check that particular machine! We find it and it is complete, however, rotten tyres and a rusted-on fuel cap prevented anything happening but to pull it out and put in the order for tyres. The tank mounted gearshift and 'Hi/Lo' range lever moved and all gears seemed to be present, but who knows! So, we shall do all the oil and the rest while we wait for the tyres and check the 'Troop-Carrier' for viability for a run, since it has pads on the tracks (which need replacing) and the front tyres are cracked and ancient, we conclude this one will take a while! I encouraged my friend to just leave it in the condition it is in with a thorough clean-up only and renewal of parts that just must be replaced to run as it should.

New electric 3 wheeled car

New electric 3 wheeled carSimple Design electric 3 wheeled car

I think this car is simple electric car for future. The Zap Xebra is an electric 3 wheeled car produced in China and sold in the United States the Xebra has a 40klm range with a top speed of around 60klm an hour. Technically classed as a motorcycle the car features such luxuries as 4 seats with seatbelts and a radio/cassette and a heater. The Xebra is about the cheapest electric cars you could own with a price tag of around $11k US it could be tempting to some but also remember 40klm is not that far and walking or riding a bike is just as environmentally friendly with far less mechanical problems. Many owners who have ponied up cash for the Xebra have noted it has poor build quality with a tendency to leak water into the electrics, probably not a good thing in an electric car. Zap claim to have rectified the leaking issue but you really have to be keen to go green with a car that looks like this one.

clasicc car steam-powered

http://automotive-wallpaper1.blogspot.com/clasicc car steam-powered futuristic design

this classic car steam powered is beautiful futuristic design. Want a futuristic car that could possibly drive as at 150 MPH (241 KPH) but what powers this car? fuel cells? high octane petrol? maybe just regular unleaded petrol? what about steam? barely used since the wide spread use of oil, well this speed demon runs on good old steam. This odd vehicle was part of the British Steam Car Challenge, it’s powered by four boilers that give this babies turbine come serious pressure. Enough to power this car across the Utah Salt Flats at speed in excess of 155 MPH (241 KPH), until this thing become widely available I’ll stick to my old steam powered car.

New inspiration design concept car

Concept Design Titan Car

Concept Design Superhero Car

Concept Design Peugeot Car


New inspiration design concept carNew Design Concept Renault Car Future

New inspiration design concept carNew Design Concept Peugeot Car Future

New inspiration design concept carNew Design Concept Hyunda Car Future

New inspiration design concept carNew Design Concept Future Car Ideas

New inspiration design concept carNew Design Concept Embryo Car Future

I think this design concept car future is amazing concept because this car is beautiful and modern high tecnology

Simple Electric car Tango T600 design

Simple Electric car Tango T600 design Simple Design Electric car Tango T600

This design simple electric car tango is nice car with red color. The Tango T600 is an electric car by Commuter Cars of Washington. It’s quite an odd car even for an electric car, and is about the width of some larger motorcycles. Seating two in tandem the car is fairly well equipped with racing style seats, air conditioning electric windows, a MoTeC dash, leather trim cruise control and a fairly decent stereo system. It has decent performance too with the ability of Zero to 60mph (100 klm) in four seconds and has can accelerate through the standing 1/4 mile in 12 seconds at over 120 mph (190 kph). Range is also expected to be up to 80 Miles (130 Klm) so this car seems pretty darn good performance wise for an electric car, so what’s the catch? Well firstly you have to get use to the love it or hate it styling, personally we hate it. I know the skinny size of the car is suppose to make it more nimble in traffic but there is something about it that makes it look weird, the next issue is the price tag, which is $108,000. The companies web site talks up the benefits and costs per mile of their electric vehicle compared to a standard car but we recon if you got 108k to pay for a car the cost per mile probably doesn’t matter too much. The company does have future plans for 2 cheaper models at approx $40k and $19k so we might hold off on our final judgment unit these cars are developed

Design Mercedes concept car with sticky out bits

Design Mercedes concept car with sticky out bits Cool Design Mercedes concept car

Design Mercedes concept car with sticky out bits Beautiful Design Mercedes concept car

Design Mercedes concept car with sticky out bits Cute Design Mercedes concept car

i think this design mercedes concept car is very beautiful and this car have modern tecnology. This odd spacey looking car is a Mercedes R500. Its an MPV/SUV crossover and this is an actual production mode

Elettrica Green Car Design

Elettrica Green Car Design Simple Design Elettrica Green Car

This design a simple elettrica green car because this car can environmentally friendlly with natural. A damp July Sunday in 2007 may well go down in history as the day the practical electric car finally came of age. From a start point just South of Clapham Common, London, an Elettrica two-seater made the 50 mile-odd run all the way to Brighton sea front on a single charge, with battery capacity to spare.
Range has always been the electric car’s equivalent of the Red Flag act. Like the Red Flag act, with recent developments in lithium-cobalt battery technology, it has now become more of a psychological rather than a practical limitation”, says Vaughan Richmond, partner at Elettrica’s UK agents’ Travelelectric. Organised by the Battery Vehicle Society, the 22nd of July’s London to Brighton EV Run event has become an annual gathering that attracts both amateur enthusiasts for this mode of transport, as well as commercial entries from the UK’s growing clutch of electric car and light van manufacturers. Retracing the route taken by those early internal combustion motor pioneers, one of the company’s Elettrica vehicles took in the climb over the Ditchling Beacon – proving that today’s EVs need no longer be restricted to central London flood-plains or the flat-lands of Cambridgeshire. As Richmond is at pains to make clear: “You have to remember that this is not a prototype, or a vehicle using technology that is 10 years in the future. What we achieved that Sunday, can be repeated day in day out, with two adults, and all from a car that has sufficient in reserve to cope with the cut and thrust of urban dual-carriageways”. Travelelectric, based in Ringwood, Hampshire was established to develop the Italian-built Elettrica into a form more suitable for this country. The vehicle now features a range of 60 miles from a single 5 hour charge, and a top speed of 40 MPH, using British-designed control technology and aircraft-grade lithium-cobalt batteries. Deliveries to customers are currently scheduled to commence during September of 2007.

Cool design style Cirbin V13R motorcycle

Cool design style Cirbin V13R motorcycleConcept Cool design style Cirbin V13R motorcycle

Taking the best of a car and a motorcycle and merging them together always brings up the question. Cirbin has done just that by taking a Harley-Davidson V-Rod and added a extra tire and seats and replacing the handlebars with a steering wheel.The look of the Cirbin is quite unique and will certainly have many people asking if this vehicle is really more car or motorcycle. But to those that get a chance to own one of these, the question will probally not matter. Just by the styling of the of the V13R, we can bet that people will flock to this and want one for themselves. The only thing that will stop all the gawkers from owning one of these is the price range starting at $40,000 dollars. With the styling of the V13R reminding me of the old style racing cars, it seems to show it’s speed just even sitting. The flow of the body to the rear wheel is done with a show of chrome that most bikers will love.

Design Amphibious Tang Hua Detroit Fish Car

Design Amphibious Tang Hua Detroit Fish Car Amphibious Tang Hua Detroit Fish Car with Yellow Color


This car looks uniqe because this Amphibious Tang Hua Detroit Fish Car a design car simple concept modern. We practiced our love with the Tang Hua Book of Songs earlier, and now for the less phallic, more idiosyncratic Tang Hua Detroit Fish. "Detroit Fish" would be an odd name for a car if it weren't for the fact that this fish can evidently swim. Yes indeed, this is the only amphibious crossover at the Detroit Auto Show. While this might not be the most popular segment at the moment, Tang Hua's marketing team has an ingenious strategy - sell one to President George W. Bush for use on his Texas ranch. Tang Hua wants the renowned environmentalist to help kick start its US product blitz with some top notch product placement.

Design Rhoades Car Quadcycles

Design Rhoades Car Quadcycles Concept Design Rhoades Car Quadcycles Classic

This design rhoades car quadcycles a design car concept classic beacause this car looks unique. Here's an odd ride: the Rhoades Car, a two-seater, four-wheel bike (quad?) that can be pedaled by one or both passengers to power through 36 hill-climbing gears. The company also makes four-seater and more ruggedized versions—you can even get a model powered by a pedal-electric hybrid motor. Accessories abound, with canopies, fenders, lights, and yes—chrome wheels.

Design Car Reebok Shoe Ideas

Design Car Reebok Shoe IdeasFunny Design Car Reebok Shoe Ideas

Design Car Reebok Shoe IdeasUnique Design Car Reebok Shoe Ideas


This ideas design from shoes reebok make car. I think this design is very unique because this design from inspiration shoes. Of course, with the fast-paced community we live in right now, everything changes and becomes newer, more awesome, and more modern-looking. Yes, even odd shoe car

Design Turtle car Ideas

Design Turtle car IdeasCute Design Turtle car with Modification Car Army

Design Turtle car IdeasCute Design Turtle car with Red Color

Design Turtle car IdeasDesign Turtle car with Concept Fierce Turtle


This design car from inspiration the teenage mutant ninja turtles. i think this car unique and cute ideas. I don’t think they need it but if ever the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles hanker for a ride, this would be it. Ladies and gentlemen, meet Turtlecar or.. um.. Shellby, whatever! Heck you can baptize it yourself if you want - the darn thing doesn’t have a name yet. The remodelled car is - of course the hump is a dead giveaway - no other than the iconic Volkswagen Beetle, named fourth most influential car of the 20th century by Global Automotive Elections Foundation. Now, a Beetle’s hip right? But a Turtle Beetle is beyond hip, it’s napalm. I love the smell of napalm in the morning. Where was I? Oh yes, Turtlecar looks like a piece of art there but I can’t imagine myself behind the wheel of this.. this mechanical contraption. I mean, what will the neighbors say? Plus we don’t know if it will pass the ultimate test: Will it sink or swim?

New Modern Design Toyota Hi-Ct Concept Car

New Modern Design Toyota Hi-Ct Concept CarNew Design Toyota Hi-Ct concept car


New Modern Design Toyota Hi-Ct Concept CarCute Design Toyota Hi-Ct Concept Car on Back Body


New Modern Design Toyota Hi-Ct Concept CarDesign Toyota Hi-Ct Concept Car from Besides


New Modern Design Toyota Hi-Ct Concept CarBeautiful Design Toyota Hi-Ct Concept Car with Sexy Girl


To follow a development period, then the consumer needs and the design used in the model of car must use a modern technology and environmentally friendly. toyota car was designed in the modern era of change. Have you ever seen that Element that some people have been driving? I always thought those rectangular cars were odd, like giant shoeboxes. It appears that Toyota has rolled out an environmentally friendly box-shaped car. The Toyota Hi-Ct concept car was first shown at the Bangkok International Motor Show, but not at the more famous New York Auto Show. This hybrid vehicle can charge from an external electric source, such as a AC100V accessory socket

Car Classic Volkswagen with Design Tempo Matador

Car Classic Volkswagen with Design Tempo MatadorVolkswagen Car Classic with Tempo Matador


Car Classic Volkswagen with Design Tempo MatadorCool Volkswagen Car Classic Tempo Matador


Car Classic Volkswagen with Design Tempo MatadorNice Car Classic Volkswagen Tempo Matador White Color


Car Classic Volkswagen with Design Tempo MatadorNice Car Classic Volkswagen Tempo Matador Red Color

behind the distinctive design classic volkswagen car saved something unique. because cars are resistant to a condition. this car volkswagen with design tempo matador is nice car. The real reason we go to classic car shows is the odd chance of running across something like this. Ladies and gentlemen, I present the Tempo Matador. To our knowledge, it is the only air-cooled, mid-engined, front-wheel-drive pickup truck with suicide doors ever created. Produced in extremely low numbers between 1949-1951 as both a precursor and competitor to the Volkswagen Type II, this particularly cherry example is one of five known to exist in the world. As great as the actual truck is, the essentially perfect restoration is even better. Killer features include a backward Type I engine below and behind the driver's butt, a rear window flourish that looks like the hood from a Bug and several cases of Weizen bottles from a brewery in Reisbach. You owe it to yourself to click through the gallery.

Really weird car design style

Really weird car design styleUnique Really weird car Design Animal Lion


Really weird car design styleCool Design Really weird car


Really weird car design stylePanthom Design Really weird car


Really weird car design styleBeautiful Design luxury Really weird car


This really is a design idea in designing a car that was weird. This seems to be a very odd car to say the least and I would have loved to really get a picture of this from the front view but even without one like that, it would be hard not to call it the ‘Armadillo Car’ for the sheer metal work on its back as it reminds me quite a bit of the Armadillo. It also reminds me of the ‘Holiday Armadillo’ episode of Friends where he dresses himself up as one for the sake of his son Ben. Despite how much I really like that whole episode this car is just not to my liking. While the makers of this car are really proud of the whole welding work put on it and I would not really disagree with them on that as there must have been plenty of painstaking work put on it, it still does not feel an iota like a car that you would really want to parade around in. By the looks of things I am pretty certain that the front of the car would have a giant metal bird beak on it and even that only makes it all the more un-cool. Unless you are looking for a welder who would really dish out some horrible looking automobiles, it is hard to understand why anyone would want to put this up as their best work. Not a car to really die for!