Riding a Bicycle Backwards and Playing with Your Phone; What Could Possibly go Wrong?
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
The verdict on whether this incident was staged or not remains open, but we're going to assume that you will at least have a laugh or two after watching the video of a bicyclist riding backwards while texting on his cell phone.
Naturally, it didn't take long for a scooter (going suspiciously slow…) to appear on the road, and well, what you suspected from the beginning of the clip happened.
Read more »Toyota's 400hp GT86 GT4 Racer Ready to hit the Track
This tasty looking Toyota GT86 (Scion FR-S in N.A.) is the first GT4 racing version of the Japanese brand's sports coupe and it will make its first appearance on the track at the European GT4 championship in May.
The white and blue-liveried racecar was created by Buckingham-based motorsport outfit GPRM, with Nicholson McLaren developing its 2.0-liter direct injection and turbocharged four-cylinder ‘Boxer’ engine.
Read more »Edgy Mazda RX-8 Blacknightz Coupe Smiles for the Camera
Our friend Shawnz from Singapore is back with new material for his recently completed Mazda RX-8 Blacknightz Coupe project.
After having the heavily customized RX-8 professionally photographed, Shawnz is now preparing a promo video for the car, a trailer of which he released a few days ago, with the full clip to follow in the coming weeks.
Read more »Official: New Q50 will be the First Infiniti Model to Share Engines with Mercedes
After its world premiere at the North American International Auto Show in January, the all-new Infiniti Q50 that replaces the G series sedan, will head to Switzerland and the Geneva Motor Show in March for its European debut.
The big news at the Swiss show will be the presentation of the European engine range for the Q50, which will be the first Infiniti model to feature new powertrains sourced from Daimler and its Mercedes-Benz brand.
Read more »Facelifted Mercedes-Benz E-Class Saloon and Estate Priced in the UK
The cosmetically updated Mercedes-Benz E-Class sedan and Estate models will go on sale in Britain this April with prices ranging from £32,400 OTR for E220 CDI saloon to £75,510 OTR for the E63 AMG station wagon. Read more »
The CarScoop Diaries: Settling Down is Hard to Do
Monday, February 4, 2013
In the 2010 film The American, there is a scene where a catholic priest tells George Clooney “Journalism can’t make you rich”, hinting that he knows the latter is not the photographer he claims to be but something much more sinister.
Truer words have rarely been spoken, especially when it comes to the specialized sector that is motoring journalism. It won’t make you rich* but, on the other hand, you’ve turned your hobby into a job and that job does come with certain perks.
First and foremost, you get to drive nearly every new car and that includes some of the best. You also visit some amazing places, meet very interesting people and gain an insight about the inner workings of the automotive industry.
Read more »Meet the Ultimate Pizza Delivery Machine
Perhaps you may remember a competition launched last year by Domino's Pizza and Local Motors to find the "Ultimate Delivery Vehicle". The winning entry was a concept vehicle called the 'Domino's Pack' by Anej Kostrevc from Slovenia, which you can check out in the gallery after the break.
For all intents and purposes, Kostrevc's study for a single-seater model with a tiny Fiat TwinAir engine driving the front wheels would be fine for delivering pizzas, but ask any true car fan, and they will likely tell you that the idea proposed by "Team Door Bangers", sounds far more intriguing from a driver's perspective…
Read more »Spied: Did Citroen Just Pull a Nissan Juke-Styling Stunt on the New C4 Picasso?
We've known for a while that Citroen is developing replacements for the five-seat C4 Picasso and the longer, seven-seater C4 Grand Picasso, and that both minivans will feature a new design.
Nevertheless, these scoop pictures of a convoy of C4 Picasso MPVs driving on the streets of the city of Vigo in Spain, and which come to use courtesy of the crew over at Highmotor, caught us completely off guard - not so much by the fact that the cars were completely undisguised as by what is visible…
Read more »Scoop: Is This a Fiat Qubo-Based Ram Model or Something Else?
There's so much going on with the Fiat-Chrysler Alliance these days that's it actually hard to keep up. The constant changes to the group's product plan don't help either.
At the end of January, for example, Chrysler released a revised business plan for the North American market, axing previously announced models, adding new ones and delaying others.
Adding to the confusing is the appearance of camouflaged vehicles like this prototype minivan, which if we're not mistaken, was filmed by KGP Photography testing in Colorado.
Read more »The Bugatti Veyron…Beetle Edition
If you had any doubts that Bugatti belongs to the same group as the makers of the legendary Beetle, just take a look at this, admittedly humorous, but at the same time, high-quality digital rendering, from the creative minds at RC82 Workchop.
The Polish artist(s) incorporated all the design cues of the original (or classic) Volkswagen Beetle, from the deep-dish steel wheels and bug eyes, to the window frames and exterior door hinges, on the shape of the Bugatti Veyron hypercar.
Read more »Auto Industry Spent $6.3M Lobbying Decision Makers on Infotainment and Emission Standards
Last year, companies spent more than US$40 million lobbying Washington, D.C. decision makers – and according to watchdog Open Secrets, the biggest spender was the auto industry with US$6.3 million.
What is the industry lobbying for? Well, the automakers anticipate that distracted driving is soon going to become tomorrow’s CAFE; i.e. the next issue on the government’s agenda.
Read more »BMW Z4 Roadster Makes Zombies Feel Alive in "Warm Bodies"
In a world where advertising is just about everywhere you look, it should come as no surprise that companies are quite fond of the communication tool known as "product placement", in which brands and their goods are integrated into storylines.
In the automotive industry, BMW is no stranger to product placement in movies, with its cars having been prominently featured (indirectly advertised) in many films, including three James Bond flicks with Pierce Brosnan in the role of 007.
Read more »Spy Shots: Hyundai's ix35 Ready for its First Facelift, Tucson to Follow
Presented in late 2009 as the ix35 in Europe, Korea and other markets around the world besides North America where it retained the Tucson nameplate, Hyundai's compact crossover is approaching that time in life when most car manufacturers facelift their models to keep them competitive with their chief rivals.
These new spy pictures of a camouflaged ix35 where shot in Germany where Hyundai has its European headquarters.
Read more »We're Pretty Sure You Shouldn't Use a Daewoo Matiz as a Snow Plow…
Here's a minor accident with a somewhat humorous outcome. According to the author of the video, a large truck with Russian license plates T-boned a learner's Daewoo Matiz hatchback at an intersection at low speed (from what we understand, it may have taken place in Ukraine – if you know, tell us in the comments).
While the impact wasn't strong, the Matiz somehow got wedged on the lorry's front bumper! We don't know if the truck driver had any problems with his brakes or if he was trying to stop further down the road to allow the other cars to pass by, but we clearly see the lorry moving with the Matiz.
Read more »Renault Scenic and Grand Scenic MPVs Receive Second Facelift in a Year
It has only been a year (and a couple of weeks, to be precise) since Renault updated the Scenic and its longer-wheelbase Grand Scenic sibling last January, but the French carmaker took the opportunity of the unveiling of the new Scenic XMOD to apply another refresh to its minivan series. Read more »
Super Bowl XLVII MVP Joe Flacco Receives the Keys to a 2014 Corvette Stingray
After winning Super Bowl XLVII and scooping the MVP trophy for leading the Baltimore Ravens’ to a 34-31 win over the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday night, quarterback Joe Flacco was also awarded the keys to a 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray, worth somewhere between $50,000 and $60,000 (GM has not announced pricing yet). Read more »