Two bits of automotive movie history at a Profiles in History auction held earlier this month have drawn massive bids from collectors. As you may recall, Steve McQueen’s racing suit costume from Le Mans was poised to go under the gavel with the auction house estimating the Gulf Oil suit would fetch between $200,000 and $300,000. Hemmings says that by the time the last bid came in, the suit had fetched a staggering $984,000, thereby proving that when it comes to celebrity auctions, few names can draw dollar bills quite like McQueen. The actor’s Porsche 911, which he drove in the film, recently sold for $1.25 million.
McQueen’s Le Mans suit wasn’t the only big draw, however. The same auction also saw a DeLorean DMC-12 used in the filming of Back to the Future III pull sizable bids of its own. The flux-capacitor-equipped gullwing met the auction house’s estimates with a towering final bid of $541,200. Great Scot, indeed.
Unlike most cities, Japan’s capital city plays host to two major automotive exhibitions: the Tokyo Motor Show and the Tokyo Auto Salon. While these terms may be interchangeable when it comes to European expos, in Tokyo, they connote two different shows altogether. The first is the Motor Show, where new concepts and production models are unveiled by the world’s automakers. The Auto Salon is more of a tuner expo along the lines of the SEMA show in Las Vegas. So after Subaru made its long-anticipated splash at the Tokyo Motor Show with its new BRZ, now it’s heading to the Salon with some modified versions.
First up is a version of the BRZ Concept STI, packing some prototype carbon-fiber components, suspension upgrades, Brembo brakes and more. Subaru has also teamed up again with aftermarket tuner Prova (which shares its name with the traditional license plates carried by prototypes in italy) for a BRZ Black Edition. And you can bet there will be a handful or two of other tuners eager to show what they can do with the new rear-drive sports coupe, as well.
Subaru itself will also be showcasing an upgraded Impreza called the G4 STI with all manner of performance enhancements, and will, at long last, announce its return to a number of different motorsport disciplines. The Super GT300-spec BRZ, which we already know about, will be displayed alongside the Legacy-based racer it replaces. But there will also be a WRX STI that’s slated to be fielded at the Nürburgring 24, and Subaru will also be announcing its return to professional rally competition, though not the World Rally Championship series it left years ago, it will contest the Intercontinental Rally Challenge.
DashCommand for Windows, Android and iOS has been around for a while, but the most recent update for the iPhone allows you to view all the OBD-II-sourced data directly on your Pioneer AppRadio.
As we’ve said before, the real draw of the AppRadio isn’t just its 6.1-inch, capacitive multi-touch screen, it’s the ability for third parties to integrate their apps into the display. In the case of DashCommand, you can port over 229 different data points through your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch using an OBDII connector. A maximum of 27 customizable gauges show you everything from coolant temps to check engine lights, and using the built-in accelerometer and GPS systems, you can also display an inclinometer, G-forces and even race track mapping. Get all the details in at DashCommand’s site.
Mitsubishi’s conceptual Emirai system is a futuristic dashboard and user interface that the company hopes to introduce to vehicles within the next ten years. Although it appears to be more suitable for the cockpit of a spaceship, we probably won’t have too many of those ten years from now. Modern dashboards and interfaces are already becoming futuristic and intuitive, but Mitsubishi is definitely taking a big leap forward with this concept.
Rather than using a traditional LCD panel to display driving information, the Emirai concept uses a curved rear-projected display with capacitive touch sensors. The steering wheel, though it may be more appropriate to call it a joystick, is equipped with a whopping 18 buttons located on two separate keypads. To make all of those buttons a bit more manageable, the steering wheel is capable of retracting buttons which aren’t needed at the time.
In addition to its army of buttons, the steering wheel features multiple sensors, such as a personal health monitor that will surely be used to immediately notify officials in the case of an emergency. Other sensors allow for automatic mirror and seat adjustments based on the user’s preferences.
To top things off, each Emirai seat is equipped with a glasses-free 3D touchscreen located on its backside. As great as all of the Emirai features sound, we can’t help but imagine how much money such an interface would tack onto the price tag of a vehicle. But since ten years provides plenty of time for improvements and optimizations, we’ll just have to wait and see what Mitsubishi has in store for us.
You ever get the feeling that automakers are understating the performance capabilities of their cars? Some do, and some don’t. But it appears that Lamborghini has undershot the v-max on its latest mid-engine V12 supercar, the Aventador LP700-4.
Although Sant’Agata says the Aventador should be capable of topping out at 350 km/h (217 mph), the folks over at Sport Auto, as you can see from the video after the jump, took one all the way up to 370 km/h – that’s 230 mph.
As super a car as the Aventador is, those are the kinds of speeds typically recorded by another class of supercar altogether: cars like the McLaren F1 (231 mph), Koenigsegg CCR (241 mph) or Bugatti Veyron (254 mph)… but without the million-dollar price tag that typically goes along with those kinds of bragging rights.
BlackBerrys are still the de facto standard in the work force and represent a sort of leash an employer has on an employee. If you see that indicator light blink, you better get to work. The problem with that is that no employee ever stops thinking about work! VW wants to change that. They’re turning off employee BlackBerrys after work.
It’s an impressive and progressive idea that’s sure to improve the quality of life of their employees. According to the Financial Times, VW’s e-mail server will stop sending messages to an employee’s BlackBerry 30 minutes after their shift is over and only start up again 30 minutes before their shift starts. That way, VW employees can really get away from their work and not feel weighed down by after hour messages. Live life! No stress! Save time for yourself.
Plus, the employees are probably thinking any reason to use a BlackBerry less is a good reason in itself.
Kia has introduced its Ray EV in Korea, and the zero-emissions city car has the honour of being the country’s first production electric vehicle. The car, which is only for the domestic Korean market, shares a general commonality with the company’s 1.0 litre gasoline-powered Ray CUV launched recently; it has the petrol model’s major dimensions. Operating range is up to 139 km on a single charge.
The Rose Bowl – The Grandaddy Of Them All, as they say – is one of the most storied bowl games in college football, and the pre-game parade is a big part of the pageantry of the event. Last year, Natural Balance broke the record for the world’s largest float with an 84,300-pound rolling display, but the pet food company seems thirsty for more world-record glory.
For 2012, Natural Balance is building a 100,000-pound monstrosity that is 116 feet long and contains a 65-foot wave pool built specifically for one Tillman the Dog. Tillman will be surfing the waves on the float, which sounds impressive if you didn’t already know that this super dog is also an avid skateboarder.
To tow this massive float, the folks at Natural Balance are counting on power from the tried-and-true Ford 6.8-liter V10. The 362 horsepower mill, which boasts 457 pound-feet of torque, is completely stock. The same can be said for the six-speed automatic transmission, save for a custom gear reduction setup behind the output shaft to get the float moving. The beefy 10-pot was pulled directly from an F-650, but we’re guessing the 28-foot long truck won’t be getting a 100,000-pound tow rating anytime soon.
Hit the jump to check out the entire infographic for yourself. You’ll learn that the float is larger than 2,000 Tillmans, and you’ll also catch a glance of the custom rig that will house Ford’s big V10. Read more…
Lexus has released its first official image showing the new two-plus-two in all its glory. We don’t know much about the new coupe, except that the design was “crafted from a clean sheet of paper,” and that “the LF-LC blends both high technology and organic shapes to connect the driver to the machine.”
We’ve suggested that the LF-LC could be a Lexus LS-based coupe to take on the likes of the Mercedes-Benz SL and BMW 6 Series, but we won’t know exactly what’s in store until the concept car is revealed next month.
‘Tis the season for Christmas cards. Standing in the aisles at Hallmark or the local grocery store, spending endless hours searching for just the right bifold slip of paper to express your own vision of the Christmas Spirit for your significant other, your mom, your dad, your brothers and sisters, grandparents and that irritating guy from accounting. And then spending a ludicrous amount on the dozen cards you’ve collected at the checkout lane while not being completely happy with any of them. You know the drill…
There must be a better way.
May we humbly suggest you try your hand at making a personalized card at home? It doesn’t have to be complicated… it’s the thought that counts, remember? And no matter how bad you are at drawing or expressing your innermost feelings, it’s got to turn out better than the card drawn by a professional illustrator that you’ll see in the video after the break.
Okay, perhaps we’re not being fair. It’s not that the illustrator drew a bad card, really. It’s more that the card was more representative of the effects of a professional driver on a racetrack with a 2012 BMW M5. In fact, as far as we’re concerned, the card is perfect. Check it out on video after the break. Read more…
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