• What is it? The first major update to the Scion xB since 2007 • The basics: High-rev V- 10 and rear-wheel drive fun • On sale: Now • Price: From $16,000 Toyota’s youth brand Scion has updated its boxy xB wagon for the 2011 model year, giving it an aggressive new look on the outside and adding more comfort and…
Today a report surfaced of an alleged affair between West Coast Choppers‘ Jesse James, and tattoo model Michelle “Bombshell” McGee while wife Sandra Bullock was in Texas filming The Blind Side. Now his Twitter page’s down. His show still sucks. More »
Filed under: Marketing/Advertising, Hatchback, Ford, Celebrities, Design/Style
In case you hadn’t noticed, Fox’s hit show American Idol is back in full swing, and this is the first week that the competition has been narrowed down to the top 12 finalists. As you might expect, then, it’s high time that the annual Ford sponsorship of AI goes into high gear as well.
Each of the Top 12 Idolists teamed up with four of Ford’s brightest up-and-coming designers to come up with their own unique take on the Blue Oval’s well-regarded Fiesta hatchback. Fans of the show (or fans of the car, we suppose) can enter the Ford Music Video Challenge once per week from March 17 through May 21, 2010, for a chance to win one of the vehicles you see here and a trip to the set of a Ford Music Video shoot. The grand prize winner gets a package that includes a Fiesta with their choice of one of the Top 12 designs and tickets to the AI finale.
We’ve gallerized a front-three-quarter shot of each contestant’s Ford Fiesta design below. You know, each one of them is just so…. unique… that we can’t quite goad ourselves into picking a winner. Therefore, we’ve just placed them in alphabetical order by the Idolists’ first names. Feel free to rank them yourselves in the Comments. Full details on the Ford Music Video Challenge can be found here, and you can find the official press release after the jump.
Gallery: American Idol Ford Fiesta designs
[Source: Ford]
Continue reading American Idol finalists team with Ford designers to create their own Fiestas
American Idol finalists team with Ford designers to create their own Fiestas originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 17 Mar 2010 22:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, Legislation and Policy
Since Monday, the state of California has been offering tax rebates for eligible zero-emission and plug-in hybrid vehicles under the $4.1 million Clean Vehicle Rebate Project (CVRP). The rebates are worth up to $20,000 for commercial vehicles and up to $5,000 for new light-duty vehicles. The list includes pure electrics like the Tesla Roadster and the Nissan Leaf, NEVs from GEM and a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle: the Honda 2010 FCX Clarity. The all-electric Zero DS and S motorcycles are eligible for $1,500. See a full list of eligible vehicles here.
Electric drive advocates at Plug In America are in favor of the program. The group’s legislative director, Jay Friedland, said in a statement that, “Our mission has always been to help consumers adopt clean plug-in vehicles and hefty rebates are the best possible way to get these cars out of the showroom and onto the road.” PIA also says that the list of vehicles that qualify for the rebate is expected to grow when more plug-in vehicles become available later this year and in 2011. Of course, not everyone is happy with the program. There’s the impact the rebates will have on the state’s tremendous deficit, and Gas2.0 wishes the start date could have been pushed back a bit, until the Leaf, for example, becomes available. $5,000 means a lot more when the car costs $35,000 (or whatever) and not the $109,000 for a Tesla Roadster.
[Source: Plug In America, Gas2.0]
Continue reading Why California’s new electric vehicle rebates are good, and why they’re not so good
Why California’s new electric vehicle rebates are good, and why they’re not so good originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Wed, 17 Mar 2010 19:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
Sometimes preconceived notions get you in trouble. That might the case—at least to some shoppers—with the 2010 Nissan Maxima; but with a little more time chances are you’re going to love this sedan for what it is. And that might not be a four-door sports car, exactly. Nissan sets the bar high in calling the Maxima that in nearly all advertising…
On January 16, 1920, America became a dry country. The 18th Amendment, a.k.a. the National Prohibition Act, a.k.a. the Volstead Act, made it illegal to produce or distribute alcohol within the United States. It was a dark and depressing time for many, and it marked the beginning of our great country’s descent into the cultural weirdness of the 1920s. More »
Filed under: Truck, Marketing/Advertising, Videos, Volkswagen, Humor, South America
When life gives you lemons… make lemonade. So goes the ol’ saying, at least. But what if the curveball life happens to be throwing your way (and the rest of your small Brazilian town) is an active volcano? Well then, make popcorn.
And we can think of no better vehicle with which to climb the fire-spewing peak than a Volkswagen Saveiro, which is sadly one of VW’s made-in-Brazil, non-U.S.-market offerings. The little trucklet features a flex-fuel 1.6-liter engine underhood that offers up 101 horsepower on gasoline or 104 when drunk on ethanol.
Check out the video after the break, and visit veryfunnyads.com for more gut busters. Now, we’re off to find a gigantic salt shaker and plenty of artery-clogging buttery goodness.
[Source: veryfunnyads.com]
Continue reading Funny Car Commercial of the Day: When life gives you lemons…
Funny Car Commercial of the Day: When life gives you lemons… originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 17 Mar 2010 18:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Filed under: Emerging Technologies, Etc., USA
Sad news for those of you waiting for a next-gen lead acid battery. It isn’t coming. At least not from Firefly Energy. Originally spun off from Caterpillar, the Illinois company had developed a carbon graphite foam lead-acid battery that was supposed to have a bright future in the military and trucking industry. Instead, the company has just filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
Co-founder and CEO Ed Williams puts the blame for the failure squarely on the downturn in the economy disclosing that they were unable the past 15 months to raise a needed $20 million in equity capital.
While there is no doubt they didn’t benefit from state of the economy, we can’t help but wonder whether this is a case of the lithium-ion video killing the lead-acid radio star. The Firefly group 31 Oasis battery had an energy density of 39 Wh/kg and was thought to be quite pricey while lithium batteries usually have double to quadruple that capability with prices that are cheaper than expected.
[Source: PJstar]
Firefly turns off the lights, files Chapter 7 originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Wed, 17 Mar 2010 17:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Last summer, lots of people thought it was a joke when famed British sports car maker Aston Martin said it would offer coachbuilt versions of Toyota’s tiny iQ minicar, in the guise of the greenest Aston ever, the Cygnet. (A cygnet is a baby swan, by the way.) Well, it wasn’t a joke. And now Aston Martin has released more details of the available…
