Karmann Lives, Kindof

November 21, 2009

Nine months ago, German Karmann declared bankruptcy. The maker of the venerable Ghia, and until recently contract manufacturer and specialist for ragtops, fell victim to the sad fact that Fahrvergnügen doesn’t agree with carmageddon. Now, Volkswagen, one of Karmann’s main customers, picked up the core pieces of the maker. Volkswagen isn’t taking over Karmann (that would

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Mitsubishi Debuts Sync Rival, Called Fuse, In 2010 Outlander

November 20, 2009

It’s about time that another automaker took on Ford’s Sync hands-free communication and entertainment interface. One of the best rival systems–at least in affordable vehicles–comes from an unlikely source: Mitsubishi. The new 2010 Outlander is the first vehicle to get the handy interface. In a way, it figures. Mitsubishi used to have a geeky ..

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2010 Tesla Roadster Sport Gives Driver More Torque for His Environmental Causes

November 20, 2009

By Scott Doggett, Contributor Ask a Tesla Roadster owner why he drives one and invariably you'll be told it's for the environment. Mother Nature, you think. Climate change. Polar bears. And that's half true. Maybe even three-quarters true. But drive a Tesla Roadster – especially the 2010 Tesla Roadster Sport – and you soon learn about the other environment, the one few motorists know. Here are a few examples of what that environment looks like: In the next lane, at a stoplight on a road that skirts Stanford University, a smirking Corvette ZR1 owner revs his otherworldly 638-horsepower 7.0-liter V8. You twist the key in your ignition forward …

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2010 Tesla Roadster Sport Gives Driver More Torque for His Environmental Causes

November 20, 2009

By Scott Doggett, Contributor Ask a Tesla Roadster owner why he drives one and invariably you'll be told it's for the environment. Mother Nature, you think. Climate change. Polar bears. And that's half true. Maybe even three-quarters true. But drive a Tesla Roadster – especially the 2010 Tesla Roadster Sport – and you soon learn about the other environment, the one few motorists know. Here are a few examples of what that environment looks like: In the next lane, at a stoplight on a road that skirts Stanford University, a smirking Corvette ZR1 owner revs his otherworldly 638-horsepower 7.0-liter V8. You twist the key in your ignition forward an eighth of a turn, which instantly switches the drive mode from Standard to Performance. The traffic signal changes, you and the 'Vette driver floor it. Three seconds later the powerful Chevrolet is occupying space in your rear-view mirror. Traction-control limitations. The Chevy salesman probably forgot to mention them to the now-frowning ZR1 owner. Then there's the blue Infiniti G37 Sport 6MT with the close-ratio six-speed manual transmission and the short-throw shifter, one lane over on the 101 Freeway approaching San Francisco, Candlestick Park on the right. He's playful, as are you, and just like the Corvette driver soon he, too, is a shrinking part of the landscape behind you despite his best efforts to outpace and then just keep up. And then there's the Miata owner, poor thing, taking a sweeping onramp as quickly as possible, white…

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2010 Mazdaspeed 3: Not the Easiest Clutch

November 20, 2009

I'm going to have to disagree slightly with Erin regarding the Mazdaspeed 3's manual transmission. I've been driving it a fair bit this week and its clutch is still proving difficult to consistently drive smoothly. Normally, give me a few minutes and I'll acclimate quickly. But in the 3,

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2009 Dodge Ram: Our Favorite Caption

November 20, 2009
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Ethanol Giant Poet Says It Has Slashed Cellulosic Ethanol Costs by More Than 50%

November 20, 2009

There may be hope: Poet LLC , the world's largest producer of corn-based ethanol, says it has reduced the cost of making ethanol from corncob waste

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Reuters Reports Tesla Preparing IPO; Electric-Car Maker Declines to Comment

November 20, 2009

Electric-sports car maker Tesla Motors plans to go public soon, Reuters reported today, citing two sources familiar with the matter said. An IPO filing from the six-year-old start-up, best known for its $109,000 all-electric, zero-emissions Roadster, is expected any day, the news agency quoted one of the sources as saying. The person did not give a specific time frame, although IPOs typically take several months. Tesla spokeswoman Rachel Konrad, in an interview with Green Car Advisor , declined to comment on what she called “rumor or speculation.” Tesla would mark the first public offering from a U.S. automaker since the Ford Motor Co. debuted its shares in 1956. The IPO represents a landmark in the resurgence of electric-car technology that most carmakers had dismissed as impractical until recently. The company's chairman Elon Musk said early last year that an IPO was a possibility in either late 2008 or 2009. But the financial market turmoil following the collapse of Lehman Bros. in the latter half of 2008 virtually shut down the IPO market. The appetite for IPOs has picked up since mid-September this year with a robust pace of new filings. Tesla's IPO would follow the successful debut of lithium-ion battery maker A123 Systems, whose shares rallied 50 percent on their first day of trading on Sept. 25. Analysts have said that the success of A123, the first green-technology…

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Reuters Reports Tesla Preparing an IPO; Electric-Car Maker Declines to Comment

November 20, 2009

Electric-sports car maker Tesla Motors plans to go public soon, Reuters reported today, citing two sources familiar with the matter said. An IPO filing from the six-year-old start-up, best known for its $109,000 all-electric, zero-emissions Roadster, is expected any day, the news agency quoted one of the sources as saying. The person did not give a specific time frame, although IPOs typically take several months. Tesla spokeswoman Rachel Konrad, in an interview with Green Car Advisor , declined to comment on what she called “rumor or speculation.” Tesla would mark the first public offering from a U.S. automaker since the Ford Motor Co. debuted its shares in 1956. The IPO represents a landmark in the resurgence of electric-car technology that most carmakers had dismissed as impractical until recently. The company's chairman Elon Musk said early last year that an …

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Classic Ad: A.M.C. Javelin

November 20, 2009

This week’s classic ad is the AMC Javelin.

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