2010 Ford Mustang

The newly redesigned 2010 Mustang will be shown on the TV show “Knight Rider” tomorrow at 8 PM Eastern, coinciding with the LA Auto Show. Currently, the Shelby GT500KR is the new version of KITT, which sparked quite a bit of (understandable) bitching from long-term Knight Rider fans.

But don’t worry, the new show is terrible. I gave it a chance on the first episode and couldn’t make it through the whole thing.

More pictures of the 2010 Ford Mustang after the jump: Continue Reading…

Well check this out: Brabham has returned.

Brabham is a pretty storied name in racing circles. Founded by Jack Brabham (now Sir Jack, but every body called him Black Jack) in the early 60s. They won the manufacturers and drivers titles in 66 & 67, making Jack the only driver to win the title in a car of his own construction. Later, they were acquired by Bernie Ecclestone, but there’s no need to go into that at the moment.

Anyway, Brabham is back, and they are modifying BMW M3s, M5s and X6s. You know, because M3s & M5s are too slow to begin with. The new models will debut at the Essen Motor Show in Germany that runs 29 November to 7 December.

Details are scant, other than internal Brabham names. The BT 92 is based on the M3, the BT 60 is the massaged M5 and the BT 70 is the uprated X6 SUV (I know, an SUV, got to go where the money is, huh?).

So, the last time Black Jack’s company started playing with Beemers, they swept all before them, we’ll see what they can do this time around come November 29.

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Ford Motor Company announced today that it will be selling a large portion of their stake in Mazda to help strengthen their balance sheet. This will bring their share in Mazda from over 33% to only 13% - netting Ford a total of around $540 million.

Ford and Mazda will still share vehicle platforms and powertrains, so don’t expect a big change in their line-up. This change seems to be only numbers - we shouldn’t see any difference in operating procedures, vehicle line-up, design, or staff changes.

Anthony from Carzi.com turned me on to this funky-looking kit car. Made by Zorba, the kit goes on a stretched Pontiac Fiero chassis (as most kits do.) Starting at about $31,300, depending on options, that doesn’t include rear spoiler, wheels, or system upgrades. They also make a roadster version.

Funny thing is, this kit actually looks pretty well made, but the headlights and weird hood and roof scoop ruin the whole thing.

Check out Carzi.com for more pictures and a video

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Suzanne from RideLust.com has compiled a list of the 0 Most Incredible Cartoon Cars Of All Time. How cool! There are a few missing, sure, but the post brought back some old memories of cartoon past.

Check out 20 Most Incredible Cartoon Cars Of All Time at Ridelust.com for the list.

Another sign that the printing and publishing industry isn’t what it was: AutoWeek will start to publish their magazine every other week, rather than weekly.

AutoWeek has been around forever. Back in the 60s, they were formally known as Auto Week & Competition Press, or as it was called around my family’s house: “The compost”. Back then, it was a newsprint, tabloid-sized outfit, that was like a cross between “On Track”, “Grassroots Motorsports” and “Road & Track”.

It was THE place to go for the latest news about who won what, who was going to which team, and they had a classified section that would make you weep today (’58 Ferrari Testa Rossa, Raced two seasons. Spare eng & trans. $4500. contact R. Ginther).

It morphed into a thin magazine that still came out every week, and when it came to the print medium it was still pretty much the place to go to for up to date racing news (seriously, when was the last time Car & Driver did a half-way decent job of covering motorsports 1987?), but times are changing rapidly for our print journalist brothers in arms. With car websites popping up like mushrooms after a soaking rain, and with racing sites from SpeedTV & the BBC all the way down to race sites from individual fans, why does the world need a magazine like AutoWeek (or R & T or C & D etc etc etc)?

Well, it IS handy to have a print copy around, for one thing … and I’m not going to go into all of the particulars about why AW should still live, suffice it to say that I think the world is a better place when there are quality magazines (of all stripes) are available.

Time will tell whether the world agrees with me. Continue Reading…