Holy smokes do we have a new product payload for you. Christmas time is around the corner, so we thought we should add some products that might make your shopping a little easier this year. Over the last month, we partnered up with Taxor, a manufacturer of men’s watches, women’s watches, and automotive clocks. But what makes these time pieces are extra special because they feature the logo of your mistress de la garage.
GM Watches for Men - Because you want the world to know that you drive a Corvette.
Nissan Watches for Men – So you can time your car going from 0 to 60 in about 9 seconds flat.
Dodge Watches for Men – Because strapping a Dodge Hot Wheels on your wrist is unacceptable.
Ford Watches for Men – Tired of holding your Ford key out in hopes someone asks what you drive? Wear a Ford watch instead.
Dodge Watches for Women – Unless your special talent is telling time by the location of the sun, you need this watch.
Ford Watches for Women – Because no outfit is complete without at least one Ford accessory on your wrist.
GM Watches for Women – To tactfully remind others what kind of fancy car you drive.
Honda Watches for Women – It’s about more than just punctuality–it’s about having mad style.
Ford Clocks – Hickory Dickory Dock, tell time with this Ford Clock. C’mon. You knew we had to use it.
GM Clocks – Better than running out to your car to check the time–now you can tell time the GM way on your wall or desk.
Honda Clocks – Don’t spend your money on a box. Don’t spend it on a fox. Don’t spend it on a sock. Spend it on a Honda Clock.
Jeep Clocks – Jeeps beep and clocks tock. Now, Taxor brings you Jeep Clocks–sorry they don’t beep.
And if time isn’t your thing, then we’ve got a few other items that’ll rock your Christmas socks:
AVS Seamless Ventvisor – Seamless stockings, seamless rain gutters, seamless plots and now—Seamless Ventvisors. Get’em today, they’re Ultra Low-Pro for a look that’s slicker than your grandpa’s comb over.
Tailgate Cargo Box – No, it’s not a miniature Doug Henning prop; however, the Tailgate Cargo Box does carry all your gear and then magically transform from a cargo carrier into 2 chairs and a table. Works great for camping too!
Hypertech Max Energy Sport – You may have heard about this, you may have even seen spy photos of it, but the day has almost come; Hypertech is entering the world of sport-compacts! We should have these puppies in stock soon, check back if you want to give your import some extra juice!
The idea is ingenious. We already use airbags in out steering wheels, dash boards, pillars, seats and headliners, so why not put one in a seat belt? If it works as intended, it should spread out the impact forces and reduce the amount of bruising that occurs. This could prove a major benefit for children and elderly people, who are often more prone to injuries during car crashes. The inflatable belts are only being developed for the rear seats; featuring smooth edges and more padding that a sheepskin seat cover, these belts should prove to be more comfortable to wear that traditional belts. Expect them to be released in the next generation Ford Explorer first, with more vehicles to follow. Get the full details from Ford after the jump.
Friends have asked me this question before. They seem to think its as easy as knowing the race course, kinda like F1. But rally is totally different; the courses are longer, road conditions vary and there are obstacles around every turn, not to mention fans hanging out on the track.
Watch as Irish rally driver Jimmy Deane pushes a Ford Escort MkII to the limits. Driving instructions come from Barry Meade, the co-driver, whose driving instruction is so overwhelmingly positive, you’d think his day job was being a motivational speaker.
Ford has released a fancy, schmancy new website that lets you build up a new 2010 Mustang with all the trimmings; custom paint jobs, rims, body kit’s and a custom level of smoke coming from the rear tires. My guess is that this is to help boost sales and beat out the Camaro, but Ford has done a great job here and although it takes forever to load, it’s a fun website to around with.
In case you didn’t hear, the 10 minute mark has yet to be broken at the PPIHC. Ford put forth two great cars and two world-class drivers, but this year, it wasn’t enough to shatter any records. But if nothing else, a high-def video of Marcus Gronholm’s run was recorded, edited and put together by the Motor Trend team. I think these guys had watched the Climb Dance video a few times, as some of the opening scenes share some resemblance. Imitation is the best form of flattery and this video leaves little to be desired and improves on many areas that climb dance lacked; new camera angles, high definition video and an incredible sound track. Check it after the break:
I’ve been to the Pikes Peak Hill Climb twice and it is nothing short of breath taking. Both times I sat in Devils Playground, which is a bank at the top of the mountain; other than being able to see all of eastern Colorado, the Playground affords you a view of a long straight flat twisty road which ends at a hairpin turn, immediately forcing the drivers up a steep incline.
This year, Ford has employed two world class drivers to push their 800 horsepower Ford Fiesta up the peak. WRC Champion Marcus Grönholm and Swedish rally champ Andreas Eriksson will be piloting the Fiesta and their goal is to break the 10 minute barrier and break the current record of 10:01 set by Nobuhiro Tajima in 2007.
Here’s a video of what Ford has brought to the table, do you think they’ve got what it takes to claim the title?
I don’t know about you guys, but rally racing has a special place in my heart. The raw horsepower, ungodly amounts of torque and the anti-lag systems just scream raw power. Unfortunately you won’t get to hear any engines in this video, but it does have an excellent soundtrack. Sit back and soak up some rally heritage.
If that doesn’t quite do it for you, here’s another with a more modern score. It’s an oldie but goodie:
We’ve seen some incredible machines as of late; a twin turbo M5 M3, an LS9-powered Camaro, even a 2700 horsepower F150! But this one probably takes the cake as the meanest, fastest street machine around; its a 94 Mustang Cobra powered by a Viper’s 8-liter V10, which is force fed by a couple of T-76 turbos. Some modification was needed to make everything fit, including moving the firewall back 10 inches and custom fabricating engine mounts and suspension linkages.
This has all taken months of work, but the day has finally come to turn the key. Listen and enjoy this deep hiss of this Cobra.
So did Chris Lentz. He’s actually wanted one for several decades, but his dream finally came true when he found a Czechoslovakian Motorlet M-701 turbo jet for sale. $10K later and a whole lot of JB Weld, the turbo jet was secured to the bed of his 2005 F150 STX. Despite the huge levels of power, this truck is still kinda slow; 0-60 in 8.5 seconds, finishing the quarter mile in 16.3 @ 103 MPH. Faster than a stock F150, yes. Slower than a stock Honda Civic SI, yes. But it’s not the lack of power, its all the extra weight. With the jet mounted to the truck bed, the curb weight of the F150 is a touch over 6,600 lbs! This must be the fastest truck in that weight class, and the coolest truck in any class. Video after the jump: (more…)
This is a big day for Ford as an automotive icon of their design turns 45 years old. The Mustang has had many competitors over the years as the muscle cars war raged on. To this day, many try to live up to the Mustang’s prowess; some do, but many don’t. Check out this time line to see how the mustang has evolved over the years.
Happy Birthday to all the Stang’s out there. Believe it or not, Hyundai considers their Genesis Coupe to be a main competitor with the Mustang, Camaro and Charger, so they also wanted to say Happy Birthday in their own special way. Check it.
Could it be? Would Ford actually bring they’re road-going rally car to the states? I sure hope so, because that means we’d be seeing these little beasts all over the place. The 2.5-liter 5 cylinder engine puts out to 305 horsepower and nearly 300 ft-lbs of torque… that’s STi and Evo territory! Ford says they’re considering bringing the RS stateside, but we wouldn’t see it in the showrooms for at least 2-3 years. What do you think they should do? Would you want to own one?
As if we didn’t have enough to worry about on the roads, Massachusetts has recently started using unmarked Ford F150’s to catch unlawful drivers. This was first brought to the public’s attention by Noah, a writer for the Pansy Patrol. The description of the vehicle is a late model blue/gray F150 with an officer inside and government plates. Hidden light bars also adorn the vehicle, but chances are the only time you’ll see them are when the lights are flashing red and blue.
While I support the officers who manage traffic violations, I personally think using unmarked police vehicles is borderline to “playing by the rules”, especially when you consider the safety aspects of pulling over for an unmarked vehicle. Now that they are using one of the most popular trucks on the road, the use of unmarked police vehicles goes farther into the gray area.
It all started with BMW, who developed the technology to have a car park itself in your garage. But that wasn’t practical enough for Toyota, who had been developing parallel parking technology. While it does “work”, many journalists have said the system is complicated to use and needs more refinement before being released to the world.
Most other auto manufacturers have been hush-hush about this technology, but Ford has decided to enter the ring with their own parallel parking system. and it looks like they’ve gotten it right. Despite the extremely larger area provided in this video, the system appears to be very simple to use.
When you’re ready to park, you hit the Park button on the center console and drive forward until you find a spot that looks like it’ll work. The parking system will ding if it thinks the spot is acceptable (cutoff is vehicle length + 20%). All you need to do then is pull forward until its happy, put the transmission into reverse and let the system take care of the rest. Pretty neat, huh? Hit the jump to see the vid. (more…)
AutoAnything is committed to quality, which is why we carry big name brands that devote a lot of their time to Research and Development. It’s not often that our partners get nationally recognized for all their hard work, but when it does happen, you gotta give credit where credit is due.
The Travel channels television show, Worlds Greatest, did a feature on DiabloSport. After looking at their operations, the ingenuity of their products & their upcoming DiabloSport Trinity programmer, the show’s host dubbed them the Worlds Greatest Automotive Performance Company. Here the clip from the broadcast:
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen technology like this. BMW has the technology for their cars to pull forward into a garage after you get out of the vehicle and pull out the key. Toyota has a similar technology called Intelligent Park Assist, which lets their cars parallel park themselves into a parking space, although there have been some reports that this technology might need a little more fine tuning before it’s ready for the masses.
Ford has unveiled today their own parking assist technology which is similar to Toyota’s. The cool thing about it is that it will actually find (via sensors) a parking space before you can activate the system. It will be first rolled out in the Cadillac line of autos, but it should find it’s way to Ford and maybe Mercury, if that brand doesn’t hit the chopping block. Here’s a cool demo video from Ford.
There’s no denying that the American auto industry is in trouble. Ford, General Motors and Chrysler are all saying they could run out of operating cash by as soon as the first half of 2009. If they go down, an estimated 3-6 million Americans would lose their jobs over the next several years. These jobs are made up of the 355,000 people directly employed by the big three and also the companies that rely on domestic auto makers for business; dealerships, OEM manufacturers and financing companies would all go down the drain.
There is no doubt that it would be bad for our economy if Ford, Chrysler and General Motors all go bankrupt. The CEO’s of Detroit are in Washington D.C. today asking for another $25 billion dollar loan that they can use to invest in green technologies and to also pay their monthly bills. Although that seems like a sizable amount of money, it would be split evenly between all three companies. Considering that GM’s monthly operating cost is $13 billion, this loan would only keep GM alive for another three weeks!
I’m all for supporting our American economy, it really is in trouble. But did the CEO’s really have to fly in their private company jets to Washington DC ? Analyst Richard Aboulafia of the Teal Group estimates the roundtrip cost at $20,000 for each jet. A first-class roundtrip ticket bought this morning would have cost less than $1,000.
I think we do need to figure out a way to save the American auto industry, but Rick Wagoner (GM), Alan Mulally (Ford) and Bob Nardelli (Chrysler) are not inspiring any confidence with their not-so-thrifty decisions. Congress seems to agree; “There is a delicious irony in seeing private luxury jets flying into Washington, D.C., and people coming off of them with tin cups in their hand, saying that they’re going to be trimming down and streamlining their businesses,” said the Democratic Representative Gary Ackerman of New York.
Is scary to realize that Detroit’s treo hasn’t yet figured out that saving jobs should come before the preservation of their company perks.
Think trucks and truck accessories are dead? The 2008 SEMA Show proved quite the opposite. Two new full-size trucks, the 2009 Dodge Ram and the 2009 Ford F-150, are driving hundreds of new parts to the aftermarket arena.
Sure, accessories for green vehicles like the Smart Fortwo and Prius were given plenty of press ahead of the show. But there was little depth behind all of the high talk, as 2009 Ford F-150 accessories and 2009 Dodge Ram accessories outpaced parts for fuel misers by a cavernous margin.
Clearly, SEMA’s sharpest parts producers still want and need to be in the truck business. The big economic and environmental guns at their collective temples demand that a few highly publicized bones be thrown in trendy directions. Still, virtually no manufacturer suggests that green car accessories can replace the green lost when truck sales are sagging.
That’s probably why SEMA 2008 pushed a massive lot of 2009 F-150 accessories, but did so with little fanfare. Performance exhaust systems, suspension lift kits, lowering kits, style bits like billet grilles and body kits, and the usual utility suspects like tonneau covers and side steps all made their debut.
The wave continued on the Mopar side. 2009 Dodge Ram accessories sharpened the horns of the latest 1500 from Auburn Hills. Lifts, slams, truck bed accessories and bold bull bars premiered at SEMA 2008, allaying some fears that this Ram is more Caravan than Power Wagon.
Ford itself bolstered the 2009 F-150’s excitement with eye-attracting show concepts like the much-anticipated Raptor concept and a loaded jobsite dreamboat courtesy of DeWalt. While Chrysler’s Mopar booth focused on Challenger muscle, 2009 Dodge Rams roamed throughout the show floor as the showcase truck for dozens of brands.
The hot story of SEMA 2008 may be about trying to make traditional accessories and performance parts for non-traditional vehicles. Behind this public face, though, truck accessories are alive and well – especially if you’re sizing up a great deal on a 2009 Ford F-150 or Dodge Ram. Expect no shortage of add-ons for the latest editions of these mainstay half-tons.
Image caption: Extang’s latest tonneau cover on a showy 2009 F-150 Platinum Edition.
Apparently, the design crew over at Ford’s Dearborn think tank remembers the spectacle that was the Jurassic McPark Summer of ’93. For 2 solid months, no one could venture out into public without being pounced on by prehistoric marketing, from reptilian underwear to dino-themed Scottish burgers so big that even Jeff Goldblum couldn’t, uh uh, wrap his, uh uh uh, enormous mouth around.
15 years later, Ford is reviving the memory of the film’s window-fogging villains by re-badging an F150 and dressing it up for intense off-roading. As I was circling around this impressive truck, complete with faux dust to simulate a weekend romp at Glamis, it became glaringly obvious that the Raptor is a real contender to swipe some of PreRunner market share
And it’s about time. Detroit’s oldest dinosaur has yet to put up a contender who can fight against the popularity of Nisson’s 4X4. The underwhelming yet similarly sized (Tremor, Edge or otherwise) has never proved to generate the same kind of cult following in mud-bogging circles as the Tacoma. However, the Ford Raptor may just kick start the company’s image in the minds of desert rats. This model at SEMA was decked out with deluxe upgrades, and I could see the reps from different suspension and tubular steel companies smacking their lips envisioning the accessories they could pump out for this killer
And, for the shameless self-promotion segment of this story, you can count on AutoAnything to be fully stocked with all the sharp gear that comes out for Ford’s latest best.
The F150 is undisputably the most successful vehicle in the history of automobiles. At its peak, Ford was selling an F150 every 34 seconds, which is nearly 930,000 trucks sold in one year. Unfortunately for Ford, escalating gas prices have nearly killed truck sales this year, leaving them with tens of thousands of unsold vehicles. Ford knows they have a goose that lays golden eggs, they just need to figure out how to capitalize on it given the current market conditions.
Enter PML Fightlink, a UK based electric-motor and drive technology firm. Ford teamed up with PML to produce this one-off concept Ford F150 for the 2008 SEMA show. They started with a base crew cab F150 and striped out the engine, fuel system, transmission, gearbox, drivetrain, differentials and fuel tank to make room for a 40 kilowatt battery.
That 40kw battery powers four electric Hi-Pa drive motors that are installed at each wheel, and each motor produces 150 horsepower and 150 ft-lbs of torque at any RPM. The stock 5.4-liter V8 motor produced a healthy 320 horsepower, but with the Hi-Pa drive system, this F150 is now has 600 horses and 600 ft-lbs of torque on tap. A built-in generator recaptures kinetic energy that would have been lost during braking. This system is reported to be even more efficient than similar systems installed on today’s hybrid vehicles.
There is no word yet on any compromises this vehicle may make, like estimated range before a recharge is needed or even how long a recharge takes, but one thing is for sure, this is a giant leap forward for EV technology in trucks. It may be several more years before we see Hi-Pa drive technology in road going vehicles, but I’m confident that this technology will be a paramount factor for trucks and SUV’s returning to the roads.
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Holy smokes do we have a new product payload for you. Christmas time is around the corner, so we thought we should add some products that might make your shopping a little easier this year. Over the last month, we partnered up with Taxor, a manufacturer of men’s watches, women’s watches, and automotive clocks. But what makes these time pieces are extra special because they feature the logo of your mistress de la garage.
