Light is Right

With the passing of ever increasing CAFE regulations, the auto manufacturers are looking to make their cars lighter in an effort to reduce fuel consumption while maintaining or improving their current performance envelope.  The everyday consumer market will hear about high tensile steel and aluminum structures that are more rigid yet lighter than previous versions of the same car.  This is even being touted by vanilla, people carrying toasters like the Camry.  For us enthusiasts, lightness usually comes in the form of carbon fiber, the most exotic material made from one of the most basic elements.  Check out this video of a carbon fiber weave under, what I assume is, an electron microscope.

Lost to Time

I've always found myself to be a history buff.  In college, I was actually a history minor... and by minor I mean whore.  Finding old pictures and videos like the one embedded below always fascinate me.  If you know of any articles, pictures, or videos about abandoned factories or dealerships please post the link in the comments.

Singing a Different Tune

tune - make more precise, intense, or effective

Within the automotive world, hidden away from all the shiny new supercars and drowned out by the lumpy-cammed V8 musclecars of the past, in a very dark corner sits the red-headed stepchild of automotive culture, the tuner.  For many, the word "tuner" conjures up the most vile and wretched kind of car enthusiasts.  He came to life in the 80s but started to gain notoriety in the mid-90s.  You could tell he was near by the incessant drone of his coffee can exhaust which was just a bit smaller than the subwoofer that filled the trunk of his Japanese import.  He was a brash, degenerate hooligan.  He was a ricer.

Icons: Chris Bangle

DRIVE.

Founded by the heavyweights of internet media, Drive is going to change the game. Assembling members from Fast Lane Daily, Jalopnik, The Smoking Tire, EVO Magazine and Team Polizei, what we're seeing is the beginning of the end of British motoring shows and the birth of the first international car show.

Here's their January 2nd debut episode as well as Drive's preview of things to come:





No question, 2012 is going to be a big year for us.

Snick Snick

2011 has officially come and gone and with it there has been some depressing news.  Ranking pretty high on the list of unapologetically stupid actions by carmakers is canceling all production of manual transmissions.  The primary culprits of this heinous crime are no other than Ferrari and Lamborghini for not only murdering their manual transmissions but, in the process, committing manslaughter against their beautiful gated shifters.  Instead of mourning the passing of the gated shifter, we've decided to celebrate its life.  Enjoy and Happy New Year!

It's Danny Choy's Birfday

Happy Birfday!