Auto Mobiles

Dan Mitchell is a Senior Fellow at the Washington-based Cato Institute, a free-market think tank.

Filed under: Etc., Technology, Volvo

An impact with an automobile will crack a human's bones like lobster claws at a clambake; an outcome Volvo aims to fight with technology. Pedestrian Detection with Full Auto Brake, a system that uses radar and cameras to stop the car and avert mauling pedestrians, makes its debut on the 2011 Volvo S60. While a visit to the recent Wellesley, Massachusetts stop of the Naughty Volvo Tour at Lee Imported Cars didn't net us any wheel time, we got our first chance to get hands-on with the new S60 outside of a convention hall.

Make the jump for the full story.



Photos by Dan Roth / Copyright (C)2010 Weblogs, Inc.

Continue reading 2011 Volvo S60 hands-on demonstration w/video

2011 Volvo S60 hands-on demonstration w/video originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 18 Jul 2010 20:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The driver of the highest-mileage vehicle on the road turned 70 last week, and Volvo is helping him celebrate.

Where is the correlation between fires and mid-engine, Italian exotics? I do not know but they all seem to wind up setting themselves on fire, spontaneously.

Filed under: Classics, Coupe, Etc., Safety, Technology, Celebrities, Humor, Specialty

As anyone with a passing interest in automotive history can tell you, the car world is rife with the kind of drama that could keep TMZ humming for weeks. While most of those tales live in the dark annals of Wikipedia, a few of them manage to work their way into the public consciousness. Such is the case with the dark and seedy story of the Bricklin SV-1.

A playhouse in the gullwinged sports car's hometown of Fredericton, New Brunswick has decided to not only bring the story to life on stage, but to do so through song. That's right, kids: this sucker is a musical. According to The New York Times, "The Bricklin" goes for a cabaret/show car/disco vibe.

If you're wincing already, you're not alone. The principal characters include Malcolm Bricklin, of course, as well as Richard Hatfield, the gent who managed to secure most of the money for the SV-1 venture. There's also a love story involving a couple that goes to find work in Bricklin's New Brunswick production facility. Perhaps the biggest star of the show, however, is the orange SV-1 that also finds its way onstage.

"The Bricklin: An Automotive Fantasy" runs from July 27 to August 15 at The Playhouse in Fredericton, New Brunswick.


[Source: The New York Times]

Bricklin: The Musical originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 18 Jul 2010 18:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Welcome to Project Car Hell , where you choose your eternity by selecting the project that's the coolest... and the most hellish! I walked into an East Bay self-service junkyard a few weeks back, and look what they had for sale! This particular wrecking-yard chain will usually have a handful of running cars for sale in a cordoned-off "rebuilders" ...

Filed under: Budget, Sedan, Videos, Hyundai

The next Hyundai Elantra was revealed a few months ago at South Korea's Busan Motor Show. It's been revealed again, this time outdoors, in a parking lot where it appears to be practicing parallel parking maneuvers. Hyundai's small four-door has grown in size, which helps it wear those stretched 'fluidic' design cues rather nicely. Once a portrait of anonymity, the Elantra's now as good-looking as its big brother, the Sonata.

When the restyled Hyundai Elantra arrives next year, we expect it to be motivated by a 1.6-liter gasoline direct-injection engine with 138 horsepower. And we have a feeling those new looks are going to make people take a good, long look at the Elantra in liew of say, a Civic or Corolla.

As for parking jobs like this? We have a feeling they'll be a lot easier than these drivers are making it look. If they had to find street parking in, say, New York, they'd run out of gas before they successfully stashed the car. Follow the jump to see the video, which does nothing to make parking seem any less mundane than it is. Hat tip to Avery



[Source: YouTube]

Continue reading Video: Next generation Hyundai Elantra caught practicing its parking?

Video: Next generation Hyundai Elantra caught practicing its parking? originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 18 Jul 2010 17:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Budget, Sedan, Videos, Hyundai

The next Hyundai Elantra was revealed a few months ago at South Korea's Busan Motor Show. It's been revealed again, this time outdoors, in a parking lot where it appears to be practicing parallel parking maneuvers. Hyundai's small four-door has grown in size, which helps it wear those stretched 'fluidic' design cues rather nicely. Once a portrait of anonymity, the Elantra's now as good-looking as its big brother, the Sonata.

When the restyled Hyundai Elantra arrives next year, we expect it to be motivated by a 1.6-liter gasoline direct-injection engine with 138 horsepower. And we have a feeling those new looks are going to make people take a good, long look at the Elantra in liew of say, a Civic or Corolla.

As for parking jobs like this? We have a feeling they'll be a lot easier than these drivers are making it look. If they had to find street parking in, say, New York, they'd run out of gas before they successfully stashed the car. Follow the jump to see the video, which does nothing to make parking seem any less mundane than it is. Hat tip to Avery



[Source: YouTube]

Continue reading Video: Next generation Hyundai Elantra caught practicing its parking?

Video: Next generation Hyundai Elantra caught practicing its parking? originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 18 Jul 2010 17:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Safety, Technology, Mercedes-Benz, Luxury

The refreshed 2011 Mercedes-Benz CL-Class coupe is a prime example of how engineers are starting to take some of the disparate hardware technology that has been introduced over the last decade and integrate it to provide new functionality. The CL employs the various optical camera and radar sensors used for features like adaptive cruise control to help prevent accidents by first warning the driver and then intervening if the driver doesn't respond.

We've had various lane departure and blind spot warning systems for several years now and like those, the Mercedes system starts by alerting the driver. At first, the blind spot system illuminates a yellow lamp in the relevant mirror, which changes to red and adds an audible warning if the driver doesn't react. If the driver keeps moving into the path of another vehicle, a motor sends a rumble through the steering wheel and the brakes on the car's opposite side are applied to pull it back in line.

Inifiniti has had similar lane-keep functionality for several years, but the CL is first car we're aware of that integrates it with a blind-spot warning system.



[Source: Mercedes-Benz]

Continue reading 2011 Mercedes-Benz CL-Class tries to overcome inattentive drivers

2011 Mercedes-Benz CL-Class tries to overcome inattentive drivers originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 18 Jul 2010 15:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: SUV, Plants/Manufacturing, Crossover, Chrysler, Jeep, Fiat

It's no secret that Chrysler's future plans are in a constant state of flux right now. After all, the automaker just went through a ridiculously fast bankruptcy where bits and pieces were shed before stewardship was handed over to Italy's Fiat. It's only natural that Chrysler's new management would need some time to get itself organized.

According to The Toledo Blade, Chrysler decisionmakers are still up in the air as to how the Toledo North Assembly Plant figures into the company's future roadmap. Previously, Chrysler said the Ohio facility would build three new SUVs based on Fiat's C-Evo platform to replace the Jeep Liberty and Dodge Nitro.

Apparently, however, Chrysler has three plants that could build the new 'utes - Toledo, Belvedere, Illinois and Sterling Heights, Michigan. The reality is that the Pentastar really only needs two of them to handle the project. Alternately, all three could build the vehicles using fewer shifts. At this point, it's anyone's guess which, if any, of these facilities will be left out in the cold, and what the resulting employee impact will be.

[Source: The Toledo Blade]

Report: Chrysler delays planned expansion of Toledo plant originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 18 Jul 2010 14:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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